Mascherano

To George and Tom, please don't choke on your turkey, old friends. To Rick Parry and David Moores, you wonderful pair, open your presents carefully as paper cuts can be nasty. To the rest of you, merry christmas!

yes

Arbeloa Mascherano Babel Time to f*** Kuyt off out of it and play Babel in the support role to Torres. Thought Harry was ok, hope he carries on building up to full match fitness.

Parry gets alot of criticism and some of it may be justified. In relation to transfer c**k ups only, I think we should consider that the owners may not want to succeed with the managers targets and either Parry's incompetence masks that fact, or Parry is complicit. The owners may not be able to afford it, or are happy with a certain spend to maintain their own objectives. Conjecture I know, just something that I have been considering.

1. Gerrard (brilliant) 2. Arbeloa (Thought he was great) 3. Torres (A joy) Good performances from Lucas and Babel. Give Harry a new contract, pay as you play!

Lucas really does have class. He is really good on the ball. He will be a star for us. His decision making will improve, I think Gerrard was trying to force him into being decisive today on the right of Newcastles penalty box when Stevie played him the ball but Lucas gave the ball back to Stevie. So Stevie just kept on passing him the ball back. In my opinion, we have progressed beyond Sissoko because we are passing the ball so well as a team.

Agree 100%. I really liked the team spirit that I saw too. I remember seeing them interact, congradulate one another and offer support and it brought big hope to my heart. Gerrard did alot of it and it was great to see from the captain.

There was so much in that team that I want to see continue. The full backs did really well, Kewell looking really good and Babels confidence looked great after scoring and he is as quick as f***. Lucas has big potential. 1. Benny. 2. Mascherano. Amazing player. 3. Voronin. No more Kuyt please. A little mention to Peter Crouch. Well played Peter!

I was really impressed with him last night. He works well with Crouch which is encouraging. Reasonable pace and good on the ball with both feet. A good team player too!

I don't see why a mass exodus would necessarily follow from a new manager coming in. I don't think that they are suffering LFC for rafa's sake. They might be delighted with say, Jose Mourinho? Why would the gems he has signed want out? Younger players could, for example, have more of a chance at game time under a different manager? I agree that a new manager would have his own vision for the club. Why would you think that the man who starts the rebuilding job has to be the one that finishes it? It might improve the development of the club to have had Rafa take us to the stage we are at and allow a fresh approach to mould the base that Rafa has developed into something special.

Carragher Mascherano ?

I take your point big man. Its theoretical for me. I would like to see Torres, Babel, Gerrard, Alonso, Mascherano, and Lucas played as the front 6, with Benni and Crouch as back up. I think that would be better than under Ged, it would probably take time and entail trusting and supporting the players as an attacking force, which is why I am certain that Rafa won't do it and that we will continue with the likes of Kuyt and Voronin and Pennant and Riise at left midfield and thus the perception will remain that we are no better off in our first 11, if you get me? Even I'm a bit after reading that! It should be better, I agree with that.

I saw the exact same game as you, Ziggy. All of them exposed. Kuyt really is utter s****. Riise is utter f***ing s****. I don't tend to use such language, but sometimes I feel it is the only terminology that expresses the emotion effectively.

We were outclassed and given a footballing masterclass. We got a point yes, but they exposed numerous weaknesses. I disagree with you Wayne, in that I do think that the squad is better now than under Ged, I just think that we are playing the wrong players, in some cases in addition to the fact that we are too negative. Voronin, Kuyt, Hyypia and Riise are never going to win a league title. All due respect to Sami, but his best days are behind him. The hoofing and the first touches that are clearances break things down and causes problems over and above the negative tactics. One of the things that I initially loved about Rafa was the fact that we started to play football after what Houllier served up, but we are regressing towards that hoofing style again. "HOOF!"

Mascherano Gerrard Crouch

1. What? Its a response to florists post. 2. Who? I saw you in that thread, you already know!

I see Babel and Torres forming an amazing striker partnership. I take your point, Villa is a cracking player, but then we would have three really fine forwards and no one providing from wide. They are all best down the central area, so 433 is out, IMO. I would sign Micah Richards for right back and to be Carraghers replacement longer term.

Thank you. He looks in decent shape!

Welcome to the wonderful world of making a hard decision whilst still retaining respect for those involved.

Backed by very few, Regardless of what happens? Thats very head in sand. There seem to be plenty who want him out now.

I would wait until then to see whether the players are fighting for the cause. I want to see if Rafa has the players on side because I suspect that he may have lost some of them. If things have progressed then the owners must review our position at the end of the season and ask whether it is enough. Man management is very important. Jose Mourinho had Frank Lampard playing at Steven Gerrards level on a consistent basis. I wonder how he could get Stevie G playing? If January comes and real improvements have not been made I would replace Rafa with Jose Mourinho. As I wrote previously, Mourinho would take over a Liverpool in much better shape than the squad that Rafa inherited and Rafa deserves credit for that. I think that a fresh approach to what we have and what we need would be good for us, in the context of bringing in a top manager like Jose Mourinho. No one will catch me having a go at Rafa, he is a good man and he has improved us. My honest view is that we have been building up since Geds time here and that Rafa has laid some important foundations. I just don't believe that it has to be the same man who finishes the job that started it.

QUOTE(Herbie von Smalls @ Sep 14 2007, 19:14) In training, Babel noticed that Liverpool's players didn't berate each other as was customary at Ajax. If he screamed, "Where's your control?" everyone looked at him uncomprehendingly. Another surprise was how much Liverpool practised defending. "We are very compact, and then we come out with two, three passes, like madmen, and shoot." ..TX.- Yet judging by his first, good performances, he has Benitez's licence to run with the ball. "Of course. When it comes to attacking in matches, he has said almost nothing to me. I have tasks only when we defend."..TX.- I have brought up my concern about this a number of times and no one is able to address it. I am extremely concerned by it as it doesn't look like the team has a coherent attacking policy. Is this the reason? I hope Rafa can turn it around because he has done a good job. He has brought in some really good players and we have a few youngsters being brought to the club with real potental. The new messi and the young spanish striker seem exciting prospects. I want to see Insua developed. Lucas and Babel could be excellent with the right help. I don't think that he will win the league as manager of LFC however, but I do believe that Jose Mourinho would. I would say however, that Jose Mourinho would have been set up by the ground work done by Rafa. I would see how it goes to January.

You were drinking before the game, were you not?

Mascherano Yossi Kuyt