Leo No.8

I think even more telling than their poor turnout yesterday was the fact that their fans couldn't muster a decent noise for either leg of a Champions League semi-final. They really are embarrassingly poor at supporting their team.

'These Chelsea bitches take this many fingers in the ass homie no foolin...'

Ugly, baldy little c*nt falls over

Yeah I've seen Didi out in Mosquito with a fag in his mouth, the crazy old German.

I think he'll be very good indeed, he may take a little time to settle fully but when he does I've got high hopes for Mr Gonzalez. As I said after the Haifa game, something I didn't realise from watching him on the box was the way he's built; for someone with his pace he's much chunkier than you'd expect, built more like a sprinter than a long distance runner, you'd almost say he had a fat @rse! If anything I think this will stand him in even better stead for playing in England; once he adapts to the style he won't be easy to push off the ball for a flying winger...

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I was thinking about our players World Cup involvement and it does bode well for this season. Of those players of ours who did go to the World Cup (Kromkamp was there as well), only Gerrard and Xabi actually played significant parts. Carra, Crouch, Kromkamp and Garcia all played but a mixture of starts, sub appearances and being left out of other games, whilst Reina played no part at all. All things considered, for the amount of international players we have in the squad we had an amazingly low number heavily involved in many games in Germany, which means we should have the quality and the fitness to make a fast start...

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We've been hearing about Sami's demise for a couple of years now. He should say at the end of each season that 'reports of his death have been greatly exaggerated'. Seriously though, the Haifa player ran from deep in the midfield, so just because Sami was left running behind him doesn't actually make it his fault. Chelsea's goal came from a ball over the top and a run through the centre - if Hyypia was playing people would probably be saying the same thing. Agger's emergence should mean we have three top class players for two positions for another year or two, then if he continues his progression Agger will replace Sami as first choice and Paletta will come through to put pressure on him. Things are looking very rosy indeed in most positions...

Very honest of you to say so Salif...

I suppose it all depends what you think of Kromkamp Knox, presumably you're not a big fan if you still think we need further cover there. I actually think he's decent back-up for Finnan in terms of his ability, but if he isn't settling as some reports seem to suggest then I suppose he'll go and someone else will need to come in...

See I actually feel we're going to struggle to keep the players we've got happy in midfield if we bring any more in. Rafa already has the headache of having to not play one of Momo, Alonso, Pennant and Stevie in every game (hopefully we won't see anymore of Gerrard in the hole). Gerrard or Pennant on the right side for me is fine. I think one more striker is all we need personally...

I've been hugely impressed by Agger every time I've seen him play. He looks so composed and comfortable on the ball when bringing it out of defence, and his passing is exceptional. He really is a player who should be playing a fair few first team games this season. As with every position now we're strong enough to rest one top player at any time and not be weakened...

Momo is an immense presence in the midfield. He really is one of those rare players who makes the entire team better by the way he plays. I must have seen him cover for practically every other player in the side at some stage or another, the ground he covers and the speed he does it at is just incredible. With him, Gerrard and Alonso Rafa has three very different players who are all world class in their own right, and that allows him to tailor his team for every occassion. He can play all three or rest one every now and again to keep them fresh. I think what has really given Momo's game a new dimension is his running with the ball. Its one thing winning the ball and giving it to someone else; Sissoko now though wins the ball and bursts forward with it at pace. Not only is he breaking down opposition attacks, he's starting ours as well, and bombing on into the area at times. He's a lot more skilful than people think as well, actually coming up with some lovely turns and dragbacks. To me only his passing needs work, and thats improving with every game. Nice to see everyone outside Liverpool sitting up and taking notice - he was brilliant last season without getting much credit at all...

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Phil Neville being picked as a midfielder (which when you look at the squad make-up he clearly has) ahead of Reo-Coker is just downright embarassing. Kieron Richardson and Ben Foster as well - talk about United bias. Bizarre.

Everyone seems to think Drogba has been a disaster. In actual fact he's been a key performer in them winning the title for the past two seasons. He misses chances and is an odious diving c***, but he's a real handful on his day.

Well in that case mate we've been arguing at cross-purposes. One of the non-Liverpool finals I've enjoyed most in recent years was Milan vs Juve which was 0-0 after 120 minutes. The quality of the passing and movement was fantastic, the defending immaculate, it was just football at such a high level. I certainly agree some 0-0s can be the most fascinating games, but usually you'll find those are the ones which you walk away from saying it could have been 3-3. What really makes it for me and I take encouragement from is when we're passing the ball well and making chances. Last season we were making 20 or 25 chances in some games at home, last night we lacked fluency though and my point is that was largely down to the team selection. It wasn't 'boring', but there were issues Rafa needed to address such as Stevie playing in the hole.

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I'd just like to point out that I didn't find the game exactly boring, but I was disappointed with our lack of ability to create chances which does take the edge off the entertainment. As I said, watching the new signings (particularly Pennant who was quality) was exciting, but to create so little at home to a lesser side has got to be disappointing by Liverpool standard hasn't it? Last season we couldn't put our chances away, but I much prefer that than hardly making any like we did last night. It was overall a below-par performance; to say that isn't an attack, it's just reality. Every team is below par from time to time, but anyone who saw last night and thought it was a huge success is deluded. Like I said, we were a couple of minutes from having to go away and score or we were out and we couldn't have complained at the result based on chances. Before the game you wouldn't really have seen that as a great night would you?

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The truly incredible thing about the famous Didi crumple is he would always draw some contact. He's never really been considered a diver because what he does is so cleverly worked; he sees the player coming and allows himself to be overbalanced and nudged over but there is always some contact. Know what, I miss Didi...

Although a couple of senior players were a little off the boil, I felt more that the formation and positions in which players were used was the problem, that's the point I'm making rather than just that the players didn't play well. I hope Rafa has learned a few lessons regarding Gerrard in that forward role, Bellamy playing on his own and using one up front against a team we're aiming to beat and who come to Anfield playing for a draw. We need to be playing two strikers at Anfield, or even 3 forwards with the two wide men pushed right up alongside the striker and Momo, Xabi and Stevie playing as a tighter three. Last night was a genuine lone striker, and thats why we were so laboured going forward.

Rafa Wafts Stench