Walrus

It isn't that hard to understand from Rafa and the club's point of view, no. But if you have a player on your hands, who is openly pissed off about this decision having not been made known to him prior to Tuesday, then you are really gambling on said player being a real professional if and when needed. He's pretty damn ruthless with his players, is Rafa, which can work for or against him and the club, depending on the player in question.

Yep, here's the full story for those of you who can understand Finnish : The Finnish FA To be honest that's a big, big surprise to me as well. I'd see Sami as the perfect player to be rotated into the side for some of the CL group games, as for me, the priority should definitely be in the league. This decision, however, probably means that he'll play around 15-20 games in the league, which I'm not sure is the best solution. Or maybe he will frozen out completely, in which case, you have to wonder why he wasn't allowed to leave.

Only need Heskey to support Owen and then we're sorted.

Where did that come from?

Wouldn't need him. Pepe would be sufficient for the playmaking role

People complain about our style of play and yet they want Owen signed. He would not fit in to this team at all. Long balls over the top to Torres and Owen would be the ONLY way of playing if we signed him. Rather sign Dean Windass.

Stop that Owen s*** right now

1.Arbeloa 2.Carragher 3.Mascherano

We've woken up a bit now, promising.

We look as poor as we have done all season.

sure

Chelsea away too.

Pompey - Man U tonight. Come on Crouchie!!!!!!

Hi Kaizer, I suppose Alonso was man of the match in your opinion on Saturday, just like in almost every game last winter (when in reality he was way below par)?

1.Carragher 2.Keane 3.Dossena

RAFA: COMEBACK SHOWS HOME PROGRESS Jimmy Rice at Anfield 23 August 2008 Rafa Benitez praised the spirit of his players following their remarkable comeback against Middlesbrough – claiming Liverpool would not have taken all three points in similar circumstances last term. The Reds trailed 1-0 with five minutes remaining before Jamie Carragher and Steven Gerrard saved the day with unstoppable strikes at the Kop end. Benitez said: "Carragher was amazing, because normally he isn't a great finisher. After that Gerrard showed his quality too even though he isn't 100 per cent fit – he can change games. "The team showed its winning mentality. This is the kind of determination we want to see for the rest of the season. "Last season we were drawing or losing these kind of games at home, so it was important that we won. It sends a positive message to the fans, who were maybe thinking about last season. "We did it the hard way. I was pleased in the first 15 minutes because we were creating chances but after that we did not play well and they were controlling our attacks. "They scored a good goal and were on top of us. I thought it would be difficult but we changed – we played with three defenders and that was the key." Carragher's goal on 85 minutes took a wicked deflection off Emanuel Pogatetz, with some news agencies crediting the 'Boro man with an OG. Benitez added: "I think Carra will claim it. Sami was joking with him, saying it was a deflection, but at the end of the day we won and that's the most important thing."

Seeing as you're back, any comments on this?

An experienced talker like him will always do well. Dr. Dre

I think this was pretty much what Rafa had in mind for us: ----------------Torres----------------- -Babel---------Keane--------Gerrard ---------Barry-------Mascherano----- Dossena-Agger-Carragher-Arbeloa -----------------Reina----------------- with Cavalieri, Skrtel, Alonso (?), Lucas, Benayoun, N'Gog, and Kuyt on the bench. Well something along those lines anyway, maybe a fullback on the bench and Keane and Gerrard could be swapped around. However, I don't think Rafa is looking for a "starting" player for the left, as he has spoken of Babel's emergence and his bigger expectations for him this year. More likely IMO, now as Barry is probably not signing, is that we will get a player who is able to play on the left or on the centre of the midfield as a squad player rather than "a first eleven" one.

...the world as we know it?