Walrus

Rafa inferior to Mourinho and Ferguson? => disagree

Goes without saying that Parry will be in goal for us, then.

And what's this b******s about Pennant's 2% crossing rate? I don't remember any better crosses from any of our wide players in the past few seasons than Pennant's have been. Granted Finnan crosses well and Gerrard occasionally, but other than that Pennant's crosses have been a breath of fresh air for our side. Oh and Kewell used to also whip in good crosses, let's hope he can finally overcome his injuries.

f***ing hell, Pennant was one of our best players from February onwards. The lad is 24 and was possibly our MOM in the CL final last May. No amount of Kaizer stats will convince me that we need to get rid now that he seems to have found his feet. He has also been one of the best player for us in pre-season as far as I am concerned.

Whether we sign Alves or not, I can't see why we should get rid of Pennant, who has been top notch since about February.

He laughed this fella off:

Dunno, but that was doing the rounds 2 months ago and Sami completetly laughed it off.

Since he left Ajax, the longest time he has been fit is 3 hours and 12 minutes. Anyway if Owen and Litmanen are not injury-prone, what about Harry Kewell?

We should sign this lad Warnock from Blackburn, he's a decent player and a tough c*** to boot.

True that.

Not sure we really need either. Sami is able back-up for the centre halves, with Paletta hopefully improving this year. Then there's Arbeloa who played there most of the time in Spain. For left back we have Riise, Aurelio (from October? onwards) and Insua who needs bedding in at some point. I'd much rather a top quality winger in the mould of Quaresma, Mancini etc. Obviously Rafa disagrees with me.

Never seen as much hype as Cissè. Personally I blame this bloody forum for it McManaman??? How long til' someone mentions Gerrard ffs?

Think he was 29 at the time, so wouldn't call him over-aged. Under-used and often injured though. I wonder would Will consider him 'injury-prone'?

What happened there? With your unquestionable knowledge of stats and professional career in football I would have thought you had a 98,57% chance of being correct. Or is it Jan '08 we're talking about here?

Seems to be having more fun in training these days at Malmö FF: Still eternally injured mind.

Can't we not 'not sign' him?

Before Kaizer gets in here, I'll save him from the trouble: Seriously though Pennant will score a few this season if he keeps playing like he has this summer and at the end of last season.

Disagree completely. Momo even in form doesn't give us the same stability that Mascherano does by keeping possession AND harrrying the opposition.

He has hinted as much as well (can't remember where, might have been in one of the e-season interviews). You'll be disappointed if you think Rafa will rotate less this season, I think he's planning to rotate as much as ever.

Sack Parry.

That was funny

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More from Pako Pako aims at peak fitness Jul 27 2007 by Chris Bascombe, Liverpool Echo Pako aims at peak fitness THERE’S a mound of turf at Melwood which the Liverpool stars have dubbed ‘Pako Hill’. As metaphors for the last three years at Anfield go, you’d be hard-pressed to find a better one than the sight of the team regularly struggling to reach its peak. When Rafa Benitez’s chief lieutenant, Pako Ayesteran, created the training aid – a man-made hill which players pound up and down – he visualised Liverpool becoming the fittest team in the world. He said: "Every year we're trying to improve the facilities, and the peak is another way of doing this. There are three. One is is 34m long with a gradiant of 5. The other is 24m with a gradient of 5. Another is 70m long." As someone disinterested in plaudits, it’s no surprise he dismisses any suggestion he’s near to achieving his goal. It was once said of one of Ayesteran’s legendary predecessors, Ronnie Moran, that no matter how much hype surrounded Liverpool’s progress, he could be relied upon to provide the reality check and demand much more. Ayesteran is cut from the same cloth. He’s a confessed sceptic when it comes to assessing his team’s current standing. Despite welcoming a series of leaps in the right direction, he maintains Liverpool will only be ready to make the final step with a fundamental change in the psychology of the club. “We have to change the culture surrounding Liverpool,” says Ayesteran. “All of us have responsibility, from the coaching staff, the players, the board and the supporters. “The change I’m talking about is a mental one. I’m not sure if Liverpool is ready to accept change, and this could be our biggest obstacle to taking our next step. “Everyone needs to accept there are too many games in England but everyone says every competition is important, but I don’t agree with that. “If we expect the same players to start in every competition, we can not be successful. We would be able to get more from all the players in the most important games if it was recognised a club of Liverpool’s size should not see all these competitions as important. “Also, in English football too much is made of starting with the same 11 each week. “It would be fantastic for the board if this was possible. We could use just 11 players every season and not have tospend money to have a 23 man squad. “Some players have had too much pressure on them for too long. When we arrived, people were saying how in the years before Stevie (Gerrard) had to carry too much responsibility for the team on and off the park. This was not fair on him or his team mates. “To be successful, you can’t be looking to the same individuals all the time. It has to be group effort.” Ayesteran senses danger if too much is anticipated in the months to come. “I’m not thinking in terms of expectations for this season,” he says. “To have a winning team is a process. If you have to sign six players in the summer, I don’t think it’s a good situation if you want to win the title. “I’ve never seen a major transformation in any team within a year. Even when we won La Liga with Valencia for the first time, the side had been improving gradually in the years earlier. “Manchester United did not win the title because of last year. They won it because they’ve improved over three years and earned their reward, buying just two or three players each season. “First we must put ourselves in a position where we can see ourselves winning the Premier. I don’t think we are in that position yet, so that’s the first ambition. “Can Liverpool say it has been close to the league in the last five years? No. Of course we have to believe we can be close, but I think to expect to win it this season would be a big mistake. “Sometimes when you react to big expectations you make decisions to get quick results when you should be thinking over the medium and long term. “That also leads to mistakes. This is where Manchester United have done things properly. “Winning the Champions League in our first season increased expectations on us, but we were not a great team. You only have to get through 11 games to win that competition.” No doubt Ayesteran’s brutal assessment will be interpreted in some quarters as negative. He refutes this, insisting he’s being realistic for the club’s own good. “As a group, we are all thinking positively,” he insists. “That’s how you get the best from everyone. Whether positive thinking alone is enough, I don’t know, but whatever the situation you can be certain we’ll all be working hard. “The spine of our team is as good as any in the league. I wouldn’t change the spine of our team with that of Chelsea or Manchester United. The rest of the squad is where we need to improve and that will determine how close we can go, but the new players must also be given time. “We’re on the way to where we want to be and we have more solutions now thanwe did three years ago, but people must realise there’s still a way to go.” Until then, Liverpool’s players will still be trying to reach that elusive summit. “It was Robbie Fowler who first called the area of Melwood Pako Hill, or Pako Peak. I tried to get the players to work with me for a week to build it, but they wouldn’t!” laughed the assistant boss. As long as Ayesteran keeps leading them up it, Liverpool may eventually hit the heights they’re craving. Gotta love the man

Our Tom doesn't seem to think so Kroenke's takeover bid at Arsenal is bound to fail, claims Reds rival Last updated at 11:33am on 27th July 2007 Liverpool co-owner Tom Hicks has written off Stanley Kroenke's chances of buying Arsenal. The Texan billionaire believes any takeover bid for the club will fail while key members of the Arsenal board remained opposed to the idea. Hicks and his partner George Gillett bought Liverpool last March in a £470million deal after being persuaded to invest by former Liverpool chairman David Moores. The cordial relationship between buyer and seller at Anfield stands in marked contrast to the hostile battle for Arsenal - which has already cost vice-chairman David Dein his job and seen the club issue repeated "hands-off" warnings. Property tycoon Kroenke, who has built a 12.2 per cent stake in Arsenal, has been linked with a £650m takeover but has so far failed to sway leading shareholder Danny Fiszman. Along with the rest of the club's board, Fiszman has signed up to a "lock-down" agreement pledging no share sales before next April. Hicks, an acquaintance of Kroenke from the US ice hockey circuit, where they own Dallas Stars and Colorado Avalanche respectively, told Five Live: "Stanley's a good businessman but there is a lot of emotion around the [Arsenal] issue with the other shareholders. It was different for us. We were invited in. "If people get invited in they may end up buying. If they are not invited, I suspect they won't." Earlier this week, Fiszman underlined his commitment to Arsenal and manager Arsene Wenger following speculation linking Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone with bid for the club, possibly in conjunction with Kroenke.