beejay

Signed - 4017 now

I would have Reina in my MOM top 3 - he made 1 outstanding save at 0-0, but his distribution was sensational, either long throws to players in space or 40, 50, 60 yd punts straight to the feet of a player in an advanced position. One pass sent Kuyt clear on goal and he must have made another dozen or so beyond the halfway line to build the play. Can't honestly ever recall seeing a goalie pass the ball as well and as consistently as that - he could teach Xabi & Stevie a thing or two about Hollwood balls!!

Leave Agger where he is, meaning the choice is between Carragher or Guthrie. I'm all for giving the kid his chance because he has shown in sub appearances that he is not over-awed, but that said, I remember when Sven picked Jamie in centre midfield in one of the warm-up games before the World Cup and he was bloody excellent, creating a goal (for Crouch?) and generally making a real contribution in defence and attack. That didn't stop the press from slaughtering Carra and Sven for selecting him, but he did play well.

Liverpool and Celtic are trailing teenage QPR striker Ray Jones. (Daily Star) More possibilities

Robbie's still a good option to have. We could easily get a couple of injuries in the strikers - like we have now in centre midfield - and God would step in and give us a goal threat and clever link-up play just as he's done all his career. Ideally, you would hope that one of the youth team strikers would be emerging next season. Craig Lindfield looks a prospect and will be 19 start of next season, when Fowler will be 32. These two fighting it out as our 4th/5th choice strikers would work pretty well and I'm sure Lindfield is already learning in training from Fowler's movement in the box which is still second to none.

Same team as v Man City except Guthrie in for Zenden.

Much prefer to see Hyypia back in the middle, Agger at left back and Riise in left midfield. Agger/Riise would be terrific as a combination defensively and going forward in my opinion and there is plenty of life left in big Sami.

F*** Ronaldo, the thread was about Hamill. Calamity has been saying how good but greedy he is for the last couple of years. If you look at past winners of the Youth Cup, there are some top, top players to emerge and why should it be any different now we have won it? Villa are the latest to see a crop of young players coming through with Steven Davis, Cahill, Ridgewell, Ogwotevrhisnameiswhoscoredagainstus, Moore etc. We are so lacking in wide areas at the moment and it would be terrific if Rafa gives Hamill and some of the other kids a run in Istanbul. From the bits I have seen, Peltier, Hamill, Anderson, Guthrie & Lindfield all have the raw talent to make it but there is a big step up to senior level and all could follow the likes of Partridge or Newby and fall away. Some of the other lads with less talent could push on - remember thinking that Carra would never make it

Method?

We don't yet have a style about us that sets us apart from the opposition. We were getting there last year with a rock solid defence and a balanced midfield but perversely, with a better squad this year we have lost some of the strength & shape that made us hard to beat. Manu are quick around the pitch, press well and have several players who can run at the opposition so counter-attack incisively. Chelsea are the most athletic side and they overpower other teams. Arsenal are technically very good in all departments and pass and move better than the rest of the premiership. Each have their own style and are the best in the division at what they do. I think Rafa is trying to make us unique by creating the best tactically prepared side in the country with several different formations he can use to negate the particular strengths of the opposition and exploit weaknesses on a game-by-game basis. But this is a hugely difficult task relying on the intelligence of the players to adapt to different systems and a rotation policy that few like or understand. If it's confusing for some of the players, it is way, way over the heads of the media and all the dumb-ass pundits and if truth be told, most of our fans as well. We still have this notion that we are Liverpool so f*** who the opposition are, eleven of our own wearing the all red will beat all comers. Rafa knows however that we cannot match the spending power of our main rivals and find it tough to compete on a player-to-player basis therefore we have to be superior in our game planning and making the best use of our resources. It's not worked this season in the league but Rafa isn't going to change, if the players can't adapt he will work on them until they can or ship them out if they can't.

Who does Bascombe mean when he writes : "Liverpool show these qualities in dispatches against poorer opponents, but get found out against better sides. One or two individuals, despite several years at Anfield, still can't avoid the accusation games like this are too big for them. It's a recurring theme Liverpool fail to produce the necessary standardatthe toughest venues, and the simple explanation forthis is the overall quality isn't there to begin with. In some cases, you can't even say players have under-performed. Even if they all play to the best of their ability, it may not be good enough to win away at Arsenal. This conclusion might be the most worrying of all for Benitez, who now seems increasingly resigned to the fact the most realistic ambition forthe season is a Champions League place and more cup success." Riise? Finnan? Hyypia? Can't think of too many others who have been around several years and fall into this category yet Riise has scored crucial goals in big games against Manu & Chelsea, Hyypia has surely proved himself at the highest level. This is only Zenden's 2nd year otherwise he would be a suspect. Baffled

Agger Alonso Zenden All the rest did well except the strikers.

That got the longest airing last night. Funny as f***

Can't see that working. Alonso & Gerrard always seem to get over-run in away games and 2 wingers doesn't often work unless part of 5 in midfield. Rafa may try something else to achieve a more compact formation with Aurelio or Riise operating as a more defensively set-up left midfield

Arsenal are exceptional through the middle but not so dangerous out wide. You have to match them in centre midfield giving Fabregas, Rosicky, Hleb no time on the ball. We need to either play 1 up front and 5 in midfield or Kuyt drops deeper and we play a compact midfield 4 like Rory F says.

I was at the game and took a different view. Thought Pennant did really well and didn't show the same lack of confidence as in previous games, he had a good reception from the home crowd looked to be enjoying himself (boosted by rafa's compliments) and was lively throughout. Bellamy had a nightmare and if ever I have seen a player trying too hard it was him. You can see in his expressions that he can't believe himself how bad he is playing and it is eating away at him. The penalty was his chance for redemption and fair play, he didn't hide, he wanted to take responsibility, but he was so desperate to score he couldn't make his mind up and fluffed it making things even worse. Neither player is on the same planet in terms of bad buys as the likes of Diao, Diouf, Cheyrou and so many other misfits in the red shirt and it's absolute b*****s to suggest they are. Pennant is the best option, bar Gerrard, we have had on the right wing for donkeys years and Bellamy is a quality player who will come good when he learns to relax and settles in after his dream move. Both are young and talented enough to be regulars in Liverpool's next championship winning team so give them our support instead of this kneejerk b***s***t from TV highlight watching know-nothing no-marks.

Is no-one going to a pub pre-match?

I'm going - which is the designated ynwa pub?

In terms of the fans' expectations, Duff is right up there as well.

Reina is still the better keeper. Does the sweeper role far better than Carson which is so important to our game. Pleased to see Scott doing well but have to agree with some of the others, he is having to make more saves in a poor team, many of them regulation stops, so it's more eye catching. Pepe has made some crucial saves at important times in the last few games.

This content is not viewable to guests.

Wenger & Arsenal seem to attract less vitriol than us, ManU or Chelsea. They were cr*p in the league last year yet were lauded for their Champions League run to the Final. We were lucky when we won it after being poor domestically. The knives are always being sharpened for Ferguson and he has had some serious grief over the last 3 years about being past his sell-by date. Chelsea get slaughtered for winning without style, boring football, diving, poaching etc (quite rightly!!) We are getting it bigtime at the moment because of all the big 4, we are the ones who have under-achieved in the League so far. They will go quiet if we have a decent run and try to find fault with one of the others instead. Bottom line is they love nothing more than a CLUB [TOP 4] IN CRISIS banner headline to sell their sh*tty papers or wheel their no-mark presenters onto radio & TV.

Most supporters I know put his contribution up there with Stevie G and Carra. The little lad is a genius and is getting better at doing the simple things

Bordeaux were a classic counter-attacking side and we coughed the ball up in midfield too often at times, particularly start of the 2nd half, giving them the opportunity to break but our defending is starting to reach last year's standards and Carra especially looked back to his usual level. They pushed up on Alonso after about 30 mins, starving us of our main outlet of "safe" possession, but it's noticeable that the likes of Garcia & Gerrard were playing a lot of short, first-time lay-off passes keeping the pressing opposition players away from the ball, as opposed to the barrage of hollywood balls in recent games when we have tried to force the play. In short, we are looking like a team again rather than a disjointed set of individuals and it's no coincidence that 10 of the 11 starters were regulars last year.