goodrobotusses

Maxi Rodriguez. More than decent.

Literally twice the player Raul Meireles is.

Spalletti is a top coach, but not sure if he'd have suited Inter (in the same way Rafa didn't). That Inter squad is still the same old (now older) dudes who played deep, containing football under Mourinho and struggled to sustain high-tempo pressing football under Rafa. Spalletti's similar in his methods – asks midfielders to cover a lot of ground.

See Villa are rolling out the star names for promo purposes.

Exciting times at youth level for us. Some really interesting stuff in here (sorry/delete if Romario'd)... http://www.aliverpoolthing.com/2011/07/pep-segura-explains-strategy-behind.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ALiverpoolThing+%28A+Liverpool+Thing%29

Was just about to post that. Seems the mohawk is 'in' in Denmark this summer.

I'm much the same. Never subscribed to the view that he's finished – his form looked to be returning in Kenny's first few games in charge (Wolves especially), which made his decision to go all the more bewildering. Still not sure if he'll ever get that burst of speed he had in his early days with us (watch videos from then, he was f***ing rapid), but it's not like Owen where losing acceleration finished him as a devastating forward (turning him into an Inzaghi-like poacher like in MO's case). Either way, can't see him coming back. Onwards and upwards.

Tactical instructions to be imparted via rapid-fire blinking. Looking forward to this. Good luck, Didi.

A lot of the football big brains on Twitter (TK Karlsen, J Wilson) reckon that Ricky Alvarez is a weird move for Arsenal (though looks like he's going to Inter now). They say he's talented but has poor decision making and lacks "garra" (guts, spirit). Now how exactly does that sound like a weird move for Arsenal?

We're not going for Chivu.

Wouldn't be like Gollivan et al to come across as corrupt and shady, nope.

This is a right flounce: http://www.mundoalbiceleste.com/Article.aspx?id=2467 What a fadge.

On ability alone I'd happily have him back. He's a more gifted footballer than the likes of Adam and Raul. It's just a question of whether he can find a position and adapt to English football properly. Many are willing to promote the good things about Aquilani's appearances in the second half of 2009-10, such as assists, etc. But there were many games where he looked like a rabbit in headlights. It's hard to judge either way off the back of his few appearances because of factors like his performances coming off the back of a major injury (given we're all giving Carroll the benefit of the doubt in this regard, and rightly so). But then I can't help but worry about the fact he never looked close to winning a tackle here. Tackling isn't everything, of course (just ask Raul), but it is definitely more of a factor in midfield in England. Then there is the matter of his position on the pitch. He seemed to give the ball away too much when in a deeper midfield role, though that's probably more his natural position (again, rustiness may have been a factor here). And though he did okay further up the pitch, I don't think that's really where he's most comfortable. So where would he go in a Dalglish-era Liverpool team? The football we played in the second half of the season would definitely suit him more, but could he be trusted in a deep midfield spot alongside, say, Lucas. The position as supporting forward is looking pretty crowded out now, also (Gerrard, Suarez, Kuyt). He can't play wide. Maybe we'll go 4-3-3 next season, which might suit him better, but there's no guarantee of that. I'd be more interested than confident about his return, though I do really like him as a footballer.

Are you that Tangerine Dreaming lad off Twitter? http://tangerinedreaming.wordpress.com/2011/06/13/charlie-adam-an-honest-appraisal/

That Milan wanted to sign Barnes, but signed Blissett by mistake. When most old domestic footage you see is of Liverpool you sometimes forget just how bad the football in England was back then. Dire, second-ball guff.

A real effort to promote professionalism throughout the grassroots and above would not only benefit football in this country, but with investment could be beneficial to the economy. If there was proper investment in promoting coaching as a career choice regardless of whether you were a player, while investing in clubs and facilities, it could have a brilliant effect on the country (kids might get fitter too). According to Paul Tomkins' piece in issue zero of The Blizzard, the stats for Grade A, B and Pro licensed coaches in four of the major European nations stands as follows... Spain 23,995 Italy 29,420 Germany 34,970 England 2,679 Pretty shocking, right? (Well, not really.) I'm guessing that those 20,000-30,000 coaches in Spain/Italy/Germany aren't all ex-players, nor working in the top divisions only. And we wonder why English players are invariably less technical and intelligent on the field.

Every possible date I could have seen them on this tour I can't make. Bloody gutted – especially now Victor Villarreal is back in the band.

Watched the game against Belgrano. River were gash. Lamela looks a player, but he's basically expected to carry everyone at 19 years old. They played him wide left in the first half and I don't think they managed to get near Belgrano's box until they moved him inside in the second half. They're in big s*** now though. Also, watching a match that gets delayed by 20mins while smashed at 3am is quite difficult. There was 24mins of injury time in the second half because of those sodding fans invading the pitch, must be a record.

Fair enough. Each to their own.

Really? Curious to know who was streets ahead of him last season. I'm sure arguments can be made for other players being better overall, but by a distance? Always rated Modric and thought he was brilliant last season. Will be gutted when he goes to one of United or Chelsea.

For me, yep.

He's also a complete s***house. Makes a dig about Liverpool or something and you call him out on it and his response is always, without fail, "Oh, people can't take a joke." Not that, just can't take s*** jokes. If you're going to have a dig, at least have the guts to stand your ground on it.

Modric was the best midfielder in the league last year. Henderson had an up and down season with Sunderland. As much as Redknapp is a c*** for making such a thinly-veiled dig at us by essentially aiming it at a 20-year-old kid, right now Modric (currently in his prime) is a much better player than Henderson (who's a kid). In a few years, who knows?

Cap'n Jazz.

That's key for me – he's brilliant at geeing players up and always offers advice to the young'uns. I know that might not seem like enough of a reason to keep a player, but we lost a few big personalities a few seasons back (Alonso, Arbeloa, Hyypia) and didn't fully replaced their character types.