Leo No.8

In terms of goalscoring, I think these stats prove Ronnie is simply head and shoulders above the rest. IMO though, although he has kept on scoring he has still never quite been the player he was at Barcelona. That season he was the finest footballer I think I've ever seen along with Maradona - I used to make sure I watched La Liga every time they were on just to see him play. Then, he scored from everywhere. He'd beat 3 or 4 players before scoring seemingly every time, it was sheer football genius. One player though whom I think is shown in a very good light by those stats is Shevchenko. You read through the list and apart from Henry and Del Piero, both of whom are down near the bottom, he does far more in other areas of the pitch for the team. He has actually played fairly deep a lot of the time at Milan, with Inzaghi (the Italian Andy Cole IMO) being the poacher. Most of that list are out and out goalscorers, so for Sheva to rank equal third is mighty impressive. What a player - and even moreso after Istanbul but for different reasons!

Looks to me like the words 'Tony Blair' have been replaced with 'Rick Parry' or something like that. I hope so, if you wrote that mate, even yours truly being renowned for lengthy posts would say you need to get out more...

All of those players are comfortable passing at reasonably short range with both feet I agree; compared to say Riise whose right is no better than Sunday league level they are two-footed! But in terms of being able to do anything they can with their right with their left, personally I don't think so. The Spaniards are another level up. I don't believe any of the players you mentioned could score from 30 yards with their wrong foot, or play a 50 yard pass onto postage stamp they was Luis and Xabi can...

Isn't it incredible how many players in the Premier League can't use their 'other' foot? You'd think they'd just train on it loads and improve. We've got players who are terrified to use their wrong foot (we all know who the offenders are!). What is interesting to note though, is how superior our Spanish players are in that regard and generally in the technical aspects of the game. Garcia is equally happy with either foot; he slightly favours his left but he can score from distance with either foot, say looking at Juve and Charlton at Anfield last season, which is pretty damned impressive. Xabi is equally impressive in that respect; the newspapers certainly didn't pick up on the fact that not only did he score form 60 yards the other day, he did it with his 'wrong' foot. So why is it then that the player coming from over there are so much more technically adept? Is it drummed in more at a young age, or is it the different tempo of the game allows them to get used to using both feet? Perhaps it's just a latin thing? You see it said a lot that players from abroad are good technically, but none of the so-called experts really try to explain why. Any thoughts?

Batistuta was past his best from his second season onwards for Roma, yes. But in his first he practically won them the title single-handedly! He must have been about 32 when they paid over £20m for him which seems like lunacy, but I suppose by winning them that title he kind of paid for himself, even if he did fade away after that. I remember them being behind 2-1 in a crucial title game that season and he scored a hat-trick in the last 15 minutes, 2 of which were belted in the top corner from outside the box. Incredible striker in his day - used to score from everywhere.

I thought so too. Unfortunately the paper I picked up when we went round to my bird's sisters for Sunday dinner didn't. They actually gave him a 5 for his performance - how do these journos manage to keep their jobs?

Ah right, that would put it a little more into the realms of reality. I'm sure I've seen it quoted at £7m but Euros would make far more sense. Even still he must have struggled, but I'm sure Rafa knows what he's doing.

Back on the original topic - don't know anything about this particular guy, but interested to see the size of the fee Villareal paid for Kromkamp; £7m is one hell of a lot of money for a club of their size to pay for a right-back. He must have been extremely highly rated at the time, and to find himself now as a straight swap for Josemi, must also have been a spectacular failure. Certainly interesting to see how he turns out...

Interested to see 'Pleat's Ratings'. Here are another set from his halcyon kerb-crawling days... Name 'Dirty Denise' Age 19 Nationality UK Position Pretty much any for the right price, but usually found on a street corner Height 5ft 4in Weight 6st 5lb Arm Speed 8/10 Cross-dressing 7/10 Oral Skill 8/10 Precautionary responsibility 7/10 Likelihood of her making you Shoot 8/10 Pleat's valuation £50 for the lot (reflecting the amount currently in his wallet)

Thylvethter? Thuffering Thuckatash, he'th jutht like the restht of the United back four; thtrong and athletic but maketht too many mithtaketh...

Just been to get my hair cut near work, in Manchester city centre just off Deansgate. Turns out they've just taken on a Polish lad in there, who cut my hair. I was chatting to him (about Poland as my Mum is from there), and he mentioned Jerzy Dudek was one of his clients when he was back in Poland. Not a moment too soon either... ...I realised my Polish friend was in the process of putting one of those ramps at the front of my hair Jerzy sports, so I politely requested he desist the ramping immediately and make it messy on top instead, to which he complied. A near miss indeed!

I apologise if it looked I was taking a pop at Ged - I suppose I was but people would do well to note I was still defending Gerard for a long time after many gave up on him! I'm delighted to see him doing so well at Lyon as well; he will always have a place in my heart as the man who brought us a great many happy memories. Funny enough I've usually got a good memory for these things but I genuinely don't remember Carra playing consistently in the middle under Houllier, and if so certainly to nowhere near the level he is now. Quite simply the point I was trying to get across was that Jamie Carragher has, in the last season and a half, become a far, far better player than I'd ever dreamed he could become during the seven seasons before. Perhaps I just didn't hold him in as high a regard as some on here, and if thats the case fair play. But I don't think anyone here could honestly say, for all his qualities, Jamie Carragher would be a player of the stature he is now in the European game. When people spoke about Liverpool it used to be Owen and Gerrard; now its Gerrard and Carragher.

Agree with you Vic that Finnan was superb at Fulham; I remember reminding people he was in the official Premier League team of the season when he was there. However, people forget that at one stage he'd disappointed that much here he looked to be on his way out. I went to a pre-season game at Wrexham just after Rafa had taken over and made josemi his first signing; he played poorly in that game, and Blackburn were showing a strong interest. Of course after that he grew in stature; but at first he was employed on the right side of midfield as a makeshift winger due to injuries, and then as Josemi struggled he went about establishing himself again as our first choice right-back in 2005. Don't get me wrong, I have always rated Finnan very highly, but was disappointed with the way he had developed under Ged. He made quite a few errors in that first season, and if Josemi had turned out to be better than he did, things may have been different. As it is for me, Finnan was our most consistant player of 2005, and I hope to see him at right-back for us for a good long time now, in the way a similar player in Irwin served to his late 30s for United. But I put that re-discovery of the player he was and a new found level of consistancy down to Rafa. Regarding Carra, I of course loved him for his commitment and defensive ability, but I like full-backs to offer a threat going forward, and in general he didn't. Its not easy to criticise a player becoming an absolute legend at the club, but that was how I felt about him when he played at full-back. I freely admit I had no idea of the player he could become, and for me thats down to Rafa.

When you look around the team and the way the players have developed individually under Rafa, it makes you realise he must be an absolute dream to play for. Not only is Rafa quite clearly a decent, honest and straightforward bloke, with good man-management skills, he is technically something else. The man must have studied the game inside out practically since he left school. Stevie Gerrard has always been a phenomenal talent, and Rafa has either clearly bought wisely in Alonso, Garcia, Reina and Sissoko, or is being proved right with Morientes and Crouch. But more specifically looking around the squad at some of the players he inherited, its incredible to see their improvement. At full-back Riise and Finnan have improved dramatically; is that due to their improved positional sense and more intelligent running - I believe so absolutely, and that is completely down to the manager and his team. Its interesting on that front, to note the way Rafa talks about players 'wasting energy' last season. I thought that was a fascinating statement; it shows that although Rafa demands hard work from his players, it isn't just about giving 100%, but giving 100% in the right ways, using their energy to the best use of the team. A vast amount of work studying patterns of play and movement around the pitch must go in, and I think this is an area in which practically every player in the squad has benefitted, but most notably our current first choice full-backs. Then you look at something quite simple which is players' positions. One of Gerard Houllier's biggest errors was buying players then playing them out of position. The best example of knowing a players' best position is when Rafa came in and put Carra straight in at centre half. Now, personally I have to admit I'd always said I didn't see Carra as the long term future at full-back for us; although he was fantastic defensively I always felt we suffered from his lack of ability going forward and he'd eventually become a squad player. Little did I know the player he'd become in the centre under Benitez; again I think he has benefitted from Rafa's positional direction, but just as importantly his passing has improved dramatically, and over the duration of Rafa's management he has gone from a decent Premier league full-back to one of the finest centre-halves in Europe, no less. Training methods also fascinate me; how on earth have his coaching team managed to find Kewell's pace again? I never thought in a million years I'd see Harry shift as quickly as he has in the last few games again. There must have been very specific work done to improve acceleration over a few yards, and as a result he looks like becoming some player again if he can avoid further long-term injuries. The only player with potential I don't feel he has been able to mould yet is Cisse; but injury has of course hampered his progress, and I'm still hopeful after the way he took his goal last night. I suppose we should have expected it after what Rafa did at Valencia, but it really is gobsmacking to see the development of this squad of players. The approach is so incredibly scientific, if managers in the game received awards for their style our boss would have a PHD. If I was a football anywhere in the game, I would want to play for Rafa Benitez. He can turn the average into good, the good into great. A truly incredible man, and an absolute blessing to us and our football club.

Personally I don't think you have anything to apologise for - I think you were right to doubt Gerrard. It was with very good reason many of us felt he'd betrayed us last summer and the summer before. He did lose my trust, and that of many other reds I know. However since then Stevie has turned things round completely, and is now seeing for himself what we were all begging him to see then; that he can fulfill all his ambitions, achieve all his goals and dreams right here with us, his club and his people. At the time, after the initial shock of hearing he'd consider a move, my feelings were 'Rafa Benitez's Liverpool will be a great force to be reckoned with or without you Steven - more fool you for leaving now when things are about to change for the better'. He didn't, and now there is a spring in his step making him even better than he was before. Gerrard is playing with the same joy as someone like Ronaldinho, with the same thirst for the game, and a big part of that is he knows he has made the right decision and is where he belongs. He has always been an incredible talent and a phenomenal athlete, but he has matured as a player, and adding that to the passion he has rediscovered he is without a doubt better than ever. It is an absolute pleasure to watch Steven Gerrard captain Liverpool now - he is once again our infallible, untouchable, inspirational leader.

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Adam was subjected to the horrors of last years reserve team as I was. Attack of the Liverpool umpa-lumpas it was, Foy being the smallest of the lot...

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Seeing as we are a lot of Spanish fans' second team these days, that is truly appalling.

Well can I say in response to that I hate you and you smell of poo, no backs... *And if you're going to mention my performance against Adie Mike, remember to note he'd scored 16 Scots Prem goals the year before. Thanks very much.

You are completely wrong. I have had cartilege out of my right knee twice, but as it stands my left is fine, so I was only watching him with one dodgy knee...

Mellor just isn't mobile enough for the Premier League. Its a shame as he has all the strikers instincts and finishing ability, but not the athletisism to make it count. If you could put all of Mellor's abilites in terms of smart movement, finishing ability and reading of the game into the body of Cisse, you'd have a striker of Henry-esque quality. However, as cloning and general meddling with genetics is largely untested in the Premier League, unfortunately one will go back to France before too long and the other should eventually ply his trade in a lower division. As for Foy; some nice tricks, good attitude but just too small and ineffectual - not built for the Premier League like most of Heighway's graduates. The next Ritchie Partridge is exactly what Foy will be...

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Yes, lets model ourselves on Newcastle, the worst club in the entire f'cking world. They've had a 'good team on paper' for a decade now, but the actual concept of 'team' is entirely alien to them. People praising Newcastle for their dealings just because they've signed Owen need to get a grip.

Fair enough mate, it could've caught anyone out really having found out the facts.