beejay

Good article by Tony Barrett on this subject : http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liverpool-f...00252-20921354/

It's a balancing act. Some squad players are surplus to requirements or want to go - eg Crouch, Carson, Kewell, Itanje, Riise, Pennant, Voronin - and have to be replaced. Will Rafa be able to bring in better players without eating too much into his kitty? If he can, then maybe we can afford another gamebreaking player. It sounds like Rafa's plan is similar to last year ie to acquire 1) some freebies - Degan/Taylor or other veteran goalie as cover 2) some kids who can step up to 1st team level 3) some consistently effective players who may not be in the superstar bracket - Barry, Milner, Valencia, Riera, Bentley all linked. The price range is £0 for 1) ; up to £5m for 2) ; & £5m - £15m for 3). Last year we bought Voronin in category 1), Lucas & Leto in category 2) and Benayoun, Babel & Skretl (with the Heinze money) in category 3). That still left us enough to buy Torres and with even more proceeds from sales this year, should allow us to buy at least one player in the top drawer, maybe two if Rafa doesn't spend too much on his category 2) acquisitions.

The "uninspiring" bit is starting to look more & more credible. Xabi is off & Barry is his replacement, that looks on the cards. Barry's a top player with the left foot providing more balance so that in itself is OK but Xabi will be missed, no question. Pennant out, Milner in. Milner is more suited to the new Kuyt role but he is a very limited player. As ES said, a more consistent but less talented player than Pennant. More sweat than skill. New right back? Can't find anyone, anywhere with a good thing to say about Deggen & there's now some talk about Glen Johnson as part of the Crouch deal to Portsmouth. Johnson's big, strong, fast, young but top, top quality? Riise & Carson also on their way. Maik Taylor in as back-up to Reina, a better bet than Charlie. All that leaves us with money in the kitty for a couple of inspirational signings to actually make us truly competitive next season. We hope. Left back, left midfielder & striker

Good post, I agree with most of that. I would also add that we are really poor at attacking balls in the air in the box. Apart from Torres, we have barely scored from a header this season and with Crouch gone and Hyypia unlikely to play as prominent a role next year we could defo do with improvements in this area. Babel can't head to save his life, Kuyt likes to nod the ball gently towards the goalie, Voronin won't get his hair dirty and the rest never get in the box. If Kaiser can check, I reckon we must be one of the worst in the League in terms of goals scored from headers yet it is the main source of goals for a lot of sides & ManU & Chelsea score them by the shedload. I'm sure Rafa is looking at this and bringing in Barry will help us to produce more quality from set plays - but what's the point if we have no-one competent enough to attack the ball?

That's a great shout. Rafa loves an Argie as well

Me

Rafa messed up? Ha f*kin Ha. We have managed 3 Champions League semis, 2 finals & 1 win in his brief time after decades in the wilderness. He has performed all sorts of miracles with the squad he inherited and has moved us up to the point where we routinely outplay the best teams in Europe, home & away, despite the fact we are still short of class in some departments. But we are still a work in progress and "the small details" still matter. The only reasons we lost this tie were key injuries at crucial times in both legs (Aurelio & Skretl) and individual errors (Riise's lunacy and Sami's daft penalty).

Man up. Read the 1st post again, be inspired not afraid

The mancs have had a 24 hour advantage to buy up all the flights & hotels within 100 mile of Moscow. IF we get through we'll be outnumbered in Moscow given the strict regulations on visas. We all said it couldn't get any better after Istanbul. Well if we pull this off and take No 6 it will be more of a miracle than coming back from 3 down to Milan at half-time.

A score draw or win to reach the Champions League Final again? I would have taken that after losing to Besiktas in Istanbul. Another roller-coaster of a cup run, extraordinary. This is a benchmark of where we are as a team. If we can do Chelsea on their own ground you start to believe we can beat anyone, anywhere.

-------------------Reina------------------ Babbel------Hansen------Hyypia-----Nicol McManaman---Gerrard---Souness---Barnes ----------Dalglish--------Rush-------------

I'm pretty sure Rafa isn't revealing all his hand and there is at least one top notch target on his list. There will be quite an exodus this summer with Crouch, Alonso, Pennant, Riise, Finnan, Kewell, Itanje perhaps leaving. Interesting that Carson & Guthrie are reported to be back from loans, both will be little used squad players so I can still see them being sold on. That could give us a warchest of £35-40m and free up a shedload in wages. Hicks (or our Champions League run) will cough up another £20m+ so Rafa won't be short of funds. Rafa tends to mix it up by bringing in a few kids & cheap gambles, Premiership players at lower levels who have impressed and are prepared to fit in with rotation and one or two expensive first teamers. The list we have seen leaves plenty in the kitty for another Torres-type signing and it would be dumb for Rafa to disclose to the world who that might be.

He's even got Parry doing some work by the sounds of it

Some more quotes http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/foo...icle3810148.ece

Interesting about the meeting with all parties http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/news/drilldown/N...080424-1451.htm

Someone on TLW saying we are buying Oscar Trejo Argie striker from Mallorca for £8.5m?

This is the biggest single advantage we have over Chelsea. Our boys can put their feet up, work on tactics, set plays etc and focus solely on the 2nd leg over the next 7 days. They have to play ManU in a high intensity game they have to win. We have to make the most of this advantage by resting all our key players so we go into the 2nd leg fresh and ready to go all out for 90 mins. I would play v Birmingham Itanje, Darby, Hyypia, San Jose, Insua, Pennant, Lucas, Plessis, Riise, Crouch, Voronin. Reckon we would still win as well

Today's Echo says Rafa does have an interest in Barry if he becomes available, but Rafinha is not on his hit-list

Rafa has been bigging up Yossi in the last week or so, saying he will have an important role in the season's end. I think Benayoun will play with Babel on the bench.

I have a concern about the old conspiracy theory - Final in Moscow, Ambramovich has bottomless resources = ? Chelsea are very, very strong & our best chance is Rafa outwitting them tactically again. The fact he has been quoted as saying Chelsea haven't changed suggests we will go into the 1st leg with the same game plan to keep it very tight & don't concede. That said, we have gone for the jugular in previous home 1st legs so will Rafa try to blow them away early on?

Crouch £8m, Alonso £12m, Riise £3m, Voronin 10p, Carson £7m, Guthrie £3m

We're in the same boat so I just rang the ticket office. They said to complete in the name of the person actually going. The fancard number will verify the number of games attended

Garoi Barroi

O'Neill isn't denying it http://www.birminghammail.net/birmingham-s...97319-20766937/

RIP A survivor's tale from the post http://icliverpool.icnetwork.co.uk/0500liv...-name_page.html