goodrobotusses

Doubt it'll stop Ronaldo throwing tantrums at his own team mates, though.

Torres up front, Gerrard behind, Kuyt right, Riera left, Masch and Alonso in the middle. Then the likes of Keane, Babel, Benayoun, and Lucas all waiting in the wings.

Yeah, we seemed to go 5 at the back after Skrtel came on. I don't know if that was Rafa taking the piss (supposed negative substitutions of his being a 'hot topic'), or the players just got confused. I assumed when Skrtel came on Agger would go to left-back, Insua would go left-mid, and Babel would go up front. Babel seemed to move forward, but Insua seemed to hang around the LB area with Agger tucked inside. Neither one thing nor the other, really. Not that it mattered a bit. Also Hassony, I think you should make a point of tattooing that line onto the forehead of every single British football pundit.

Gerrard Lucas Benayoun

I'd split the catagory of Forward into Striker and Second Striker. That said, I guess it'd open a can of worms about some players and what you'd define them as.

Reina 6 Carragher 7 Hyypia 7 Agger 7 Insua 7 Mascherano 7 Lucas 8 Benayoun 7 Gerrard 8 Babel 6 Kuyt 7 Alonso 7 N'Gog 6 Skrtel N/A Oh, and Newcastle are the worst team in the league. Should have been 10-0.

This line seems a bit random in a thread titled "Liverpool Related Bosmans".

Plus, it's harder to be bobbing up and down and going back and forth to the edge of the technical area when you're in a director's box. Presumably Rafa has stitches from the operation(s), so he was likely under doctor's orders to move around as little as possible.

Back fit, but a sub for Valencia, behind Juan Mata.

Heads and various other body parts are going to roll...

I've not watched McGeady really, though I know Celtic fans think he's great (as does he, it seems). I'm always worried about 'big in Scotland' type players though... James McFadden, Shaun Maloney, Barry Ferguson - all players bonded by the fact they were considered among the best in the SPL, but were never anything more than woeful in England. Hutton and Gordon at Spurs and Sunderland have done okay though.

We should get Mellor back.

In fairness, Wenger's never had any issue with employing c**** past or present. Diarra is a good player, but seems to have an Anelka-like attention span when it comes to his clubs.

Government scheme to get vagrants in gainful employment.

Oh no, I wouldn't have described him as hidden, though Middlesbrough could aptly be referred to as "the rough". Remember seeing him initially for the Turkish U21s and he was great. Massive star at Fenerbache and for the national team too. But maybe his good performances at an unfashionable club in the PL have sometimes slipped under the radar a little. It'd probably help him if he were a better finisher - I've seen him do brilliantly to fashion chances, only to fluff his lines at the defining moment countless times. He'd be frustrating to watch at times, I daresay.

Touché, sir. Well called.

He is? Oh, well that's that, then.

Plenty of great players became great managers, just as plenty of mediocre players did also. The common mistake made is to assume that ability with a ball at your feet, or leadership qualities on the pitch, will equate to being a good tactician, coach, or man-manager. Completely different skillsets. Some good players have it (Guardiola seems thus far to be a good recent example), others don't (Bryan Robson). But there's a world of difference between charging around and being 'Captain Marvel' and actually understanding the tactical and psychological nuances of the sport, not to mention identifying and utilising the correct attributes within players to implement your ideas.

Maxi Rodriguez is a decent shout, though not sure if he'd leave Atleti - he's a bit of an idol there, isn't he? The other two can feck off.

As a slightly left-field suggestion, but a player I like, what about Tuncay at Middlesbrough? Definitely hard-working enough for Rafa, good technically, can play as a support forward or wide-right (though better through the middle admittedly). His biggest weakness (and something many of our forwards have shared in recent years) is that he's not particularly clinical - but I think that he'd be more likely to challenge for a first-team place than, say, Benayoun. Just throwing that one out there.

If this were to happen, then I'd hope we didn't sign someone else who'd expect to be first choice up front at a cost of moving Gerrard from supporting Torres, and therefore displacing one of Mascherano/Alonso. 4-2-3-1 is our best formation and shouldn't be messed with unless we need to change something tactically during a match. We'd ideally need someone who can compete with Kuyt, Riera, Babel and Benayoun, and a back-up #9 forward who's likely to be more effective short term than N'gog (the Heskey deal would actually make sense in this respect). In terms of our first choice team, we're fine down the centre of the pitch (Masch, Alonso, Gerrard, Torres), we just need a player to add quality and consistancy down the flanks... as ever.

Football pundits who plied their trade as players between the 70s and early 90s, when 90% of football tactics in this country amounted to "GET IT IN THE BOX". More strikers in said box, more chances of scoring goals goes the theory to these highly enlightened minds. Maybe teams should start fielding 10 strikers and a goalkeeper to just whack it forward all game. Bloody brilliant, this tactics lark.

Aye. I really do worry about Babel's decision making ability, or lack of. He has all the raw attributes to be brilliant, but always seems to take an age to decide what to do, by which point he's invariably lost the ball.

Yeah, it's a real worry. The treatment he receives from opponants combined with those repetitive hamstring injuries are a real threat to his future. The hamstring thing in particular could be a problem for him long term. Like Michael Owen he's a slight fella who plays in a stop-start, twisty-turny way, where a lot of his explosiveness is over the first few steps. That means if the muscle is naturally weaker (which is likely given his size), and he's likely to be playing 2 games a week throughout his career (which started at 18 years old too), he's probably more likely to suffer regular problems. And while Messi is technically on another planet to Owen (who's primary weapon was always acceleration, hence the reason he's only been an Inzaghi-level poacher for the last 7-8 years, once that acceleration was taken away by injuries/weight work), and isn't solely reliant on acceleration, if Barca don't find a way to protect him he may end up only being this explosive a player for a short spell.