Leo No.8

Some people who go to the game talk a quite incredible level of sch1te. You wonder just what they're doing when the game is on, they can't possibly be watching the same game of football everyone else is...

It makes sense to say he's being rested as he looks far and away our best striker at present. The strange thing for me though is if that is the case, Crouch doesn't look tired at all and if anything seems really disappointed to come off rather than glad of a rest. You're trying to win a game, 1-0 up and we had given a few chances away at the other end, why do you take off your best player in that game when he doesn't look at all tired. It is odd the way Rafa brings him off so often. After all he probably won't play more than a half on Wednesday for England. Ironic isn't it; as a former member of the now disbanded and disgraced ABC group (anyone but Crouch), I didn't want us to sign him. Now he's here, he's won most of us over, we're made up with the lad and Rafa won't give us enough of him! Curse you Benitez and your Crouchery-pokery!

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Absolutely barmy. Much though I love the guy and for all the good things he did, Ged unfortunately wouldn't know a good striker if he came up to him and slapped him in the face. Diouf, Heskey and Cisse are testament to that; £35m plus God only knows how much in wages for three players who must have been worth no more than a third of that when we've wanted to sell them. Temperament problem or not, the one genuinely top-class striker he signed on loan he chose not to buy. Anelka may be a nutter, but as a footballer the other three aren't fit to lace his boots. I genuinely don't know who'd even pay us £5m for Cisse now, perhaps someone in France who hasn't seen too much of him lately. Ade Akinbye recently sold for £1.9m, and I can't see where Cisse is better than him. I think he's of the same level - would score goals in the lower leagues by sheer virtue of his pace getting him into so many scoring positions a number would go in.

We've been charged a few times coming out of Old Trafford - I'd agree that in recent years the policing of away fans there hasn't been brilliant.

Absolutely - Distin makes the odd error, but in general is very solid indeed. Presumably that's why Newcastle didn't eventually sign him after they had him there for a loan period. NUFC Check List for Signing Defender: Error Prone: Occasionally Defensively Inept: No Verdict: Not suitable.

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I now realise Roux was referring to the 'carnage' in the Liverpool boardroom when they realised they'd paid £14 for a complete lemon.

Poor, poor Djibril. He'll have to console himself by going for a ride around his huge country estate in a dune buggy, then perhaps throwing some £50 notes on the fire to warm the mansion up. £60,000 odd I would imagine we're paying him every week, as well as a £14m transfer fee, and he couldn't trap a bag of cement or hit a barn door from ten paces. I know his salary and fee aren't his fault, but you'll excuse me if my sympathy is limited...

Definitely - Cisse's touch would be ridiculed in amateur football. As for Moro, at the end of the day it's the important contributions which mark a top player. I'd liken him to Hleb at Arsenal in a way - as a footballer he's easy on the eye, some lovely touches, looks a real natural. But at the end of the day, what does he actually contribute? He's never involved in goals and doesn't score them himself. That's fine if you're a central defender or defensive midfielder in Sissoko's mould, but you'd even expect your full-backs to be involved in goals from time to time. Wenger must be asking questions about his £10m attacking midfielder, but if a striker isn't contributing to goals, then something is seriously wrong. In all the games he's played this season I can think of his assist to Gerrard against Birmingham, his goal against Anderlecht and his two goals against Boro. After that I'm struggling. He needs to go back to Spain, for the good of his own career as much as anything because his reputation must be suffering badly.

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The noises are more positive at least, which is good news!

Spot on that - from when I get into the ground I f*cking hate those b******s, and that's what makes it such a good fixture. When I walk away from the ground though, the blood cools and I don't feel any like hurting anyone or getting into a fight. Its all about channeling the hate in the right way. Take away the tribalism and football would be dull.

I went a bit over the top I know, but the basics of it stand. I think you'd find it hard to argue with this statement; Morientes has had perhaps two or three really good games in his entire Liverpool career to date. Gerrard as our best player and benchmark is exceptional two out of every three games. You can't expect every player to be as good as Gerrard I know, but you see the point. Moreientes hasn't come even close to pulling his weight since his arrival and looks completely unsuitable to English football. You see a nice touch from him now and again, but his overall contribution has been pretty shocking.

Re-written version, corrected to take into account reality... "My overriding memory of last night's game is the image of yellow shirts running past blue shirts all over the pitch. If I close my eyes I can still see them strolling through at will. Ask anybody who saw the game to close their eyes, picture a scene from the match and then to say the first image that comes into their mind. I bet you its a floundering Chelsea player on his @rse (well what did you expect!). I believe that their skill and passing gives Barcelona an unfair advantage on the pitch by making their players more capable of creating chances and scoring past their opposition. I know they would complain about playing more poorly, more like Real, but that's tough. They should have let us win. In a fast-paced game the team which passes, moves and controls the ball the best often wins. When you've spent all the money we have, the distraction of being passed into oblivion can cause problems. I don't think that their players were chosen by accident. I believe they intended to make our multi, multi, multi million pound team look stupid. Should a complaint be made to UEFA?"

Seein as how you're coming all the way from New York mate, least we can do is make the trip down the road. Would be good to meet you after all these years posting here and over on KT, and the other lads from YNWA and all...

Shirt swap at the end of the game?

Now that would be nice - if Yakubu had a release clause. Do you know something we don't... I saw it recently - about .75 I think, the best in top-flight world football by a distance.

You are Gerard Houllier and I claim my £5... Seriously though, I know what you're saying Amit, but I don't think the way we play is condusive to players being one on one with the keeper, which everyone puts down as a clear chance. However, some of the delivery into the box from the likes of Finnan, Gerrard and latterly Fowler has been outstanding, but we've been missing the opportunities that quality has been providing, particularly Morientes.

Every time I see a clip of him he's doing something really good, he looks very quick and seems to know where the net is, but I've got to admit I haven't watched him for 90 minutes at any time so I couldn't make a fair judgement.