Skillz

I agree totally. I am no expert but he made no defensive errors that i saw and the longer the game went on the more he seemed to take control of the defense. He is a very impressive young player because he has so much confidence. Its not all good news though. He again went forward, as he does, and tried a couple of long through balls which were easily intercepted as he has lately for us. They havent worked. Dont want to be too critical of that because he is young and we want him to develop that. I am sure Rafa will not only encourage it but develop it. As you say, future star. He hit a left foot strike from 30m low and hard (just like Spurs) but fortunitely for us (Oz) he hit it too clean and it stayed straight and was saved. Exocet missile it was, great left foot he's got. Harry (commentating) said "seen that before". Said earlier but i thought he took control of their defense second half and I personally gave him MOM for the game (didnt say that earlier because i am biased). Thomasson and Rommedahl deserve mention.

Thanks for the support, you may save from being banned Seriously though i think all quality wingers/dribblers are being coached this way early to avoid injury nowadays. Therefore a lot of players are deemed divers when they are protecting themselves. For example Stevie last year (cant remember the game) when he won a penalty jumping a crude lunge (which was no where near the ball) in the box, tried to score and was awarded a penalty. Opposition fans claimed a dive but it was great refering imo.

I'm far from an expert but i agree, he is class. In a top quality defense like ours i suspect he would get better. Would expect if we signed him we would of done a thorough check on his behaviour as i cannot see Rafa signing an idiot. Its a bit like Bellamy, these guys are tested young, but some of them grow up and see their own faults. It would be a risk but for 6m he's a bargain if he has his head screwed on.

I am going to be devil's advocate here (god knows why?). I do not believe he deliberately cheats all that often, although there has been some obvious examples, just nowhere as many as some claim. I believe it comes down to his technique which i must admit he has mastered. He is a player that runs at defenders regularly and at pace, something the game needs more of IMO. These type of players attract dangerous tackles due to their skill. I will point out a young Harry Kewell at Leeds who skinned players for fun but due to his want to play the ball got cut down regularly and eventually got injuries and is probably paying the price for that today. Ronaldo has been trained to anticipate tackles and lift his feet before impact. Therefore when he receives contact in mid air he loses balance regardless of the contact. Many players do the same thing (including Harry, now) its just that Ronaldo plays for a high profile club and does it more often because he is running at defenders more often as he is good enough and confident enough. Having said all that he does cheat at times PS i have been drinking and reserve the right to change my mind when i read this tomorrow

Yep i did. watching a replay as well as i type. He played very well and was one of the best for the Danes who won 3-1 in an entertaining match blighted by some very poor referring (Rob Styles ). All 4 goals were very good and many chances with both teams attacking regularly. It should be said the Danes had their best side bar one and we had 8 first teamers out. Having said that it was good to give some young players a chance against a very good side. Unfortunately for us we had a fairly young inexperienced defence (both CB's and keeper) and it showed although 2 of the Danes goals came from mistakes in midfield. Having said that both of those goals were class finishes that the keeper had no chance. Good Game. PS Harry Kewell commentated on Fox sports (better than i expected) and said he was probably a month away from action. Can't wait. PPS if you haven't guessed i am an Aussie.

Good post, Tosh. Agree entirely. The whole process seems to have been very arduous (?) but he took his time and hopefully has made the right decision. I have no doubt he made the decision with the club at heart regardless of what some want to believe.

My point is that Morgan + granada = > 10%. It is my belief (in fact i am 99% sure) that DIC's intention is for 100% control and they need 90% (i think?) before they can force the sale of the remaining 10%. Therefore if Moore's accepted DIC's bid knowing those two would not sell we would be left in a messy unwanted position. Simple answer is for DIC to match Gillet's bid. However they have decided to move on which to me shows a lack of desire to own LFC for anything other than a profit mechanism. nb. i am just trying to make sense of this as i was all for DIC's proposal. I think we all need to remember that both Kraft and DIC were sold to us very well through the media, that however does not mean a lot in the real world as we are privy only to the media. As a side note i will not be happy if Morgan is involved. Everything i have read about him stinks to high heaven

If they spat the dummy over a change of tone i am glad they have gone. Its a very strange situation but IMO the only sense i can see is - The board met and decided they needed to look at Gillet's bid. Mostlikely they had a duty to look at it. - Perhaps cetain shareholders had advised them they want the 5,000/share eg Granada and Morgan. - Those two represent more than 10% if i am not mistaken and therefore if Moores accepted DIC's bid they (DIC) would have a problem taking over full ownership. - Considering the above it would leave the whole situation in a mess. - Moore's advises DIC they need to match Gillet's offer in order to get a smooth transition - DIC spit the dummy and pull out as they are not prepared to pay that amount. Assuming the above is true i would be glad we do not have DIC in power as it shows they are purely looking at short to mid term investment for profit. In other words they do not have the necessary desire to own LiverpoolFC for what it is rather than what it can deliver financially. I do not believe for a second Moore's is in this purely for the dollar so there must be another reason. What i have said above is as close as i can come to. If DIC have moved on this easily i suspect Gillet is the best option.

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Spurs have very rich owners as far as i am aware.

Too right. We do love our Harry over here. Having said that it is good to see they know what Rafa likes over here.

Interesting we wouldnt pay 30k a week. that would tell him that he isnt seen as any thing more than cover for Finnan/CB for us. It is disappointing but he is in his prime and this contract is likely to be his biggest. If someoine else is prepared to pay 50k you cant really blame him. I am sure he would prefer to come here but not to sit on the bench. I am mainly disappointed because i would of won $50 if he came to us.

Alonso Bellamy Crouch

I cant. i have not lost faith yet. Thankfully we will see a different team than the one that played tonight. In particular our No1 keeper will be back.

Wow. I hope that is just knee jerk, otherwise you need to relax. Our second string got knocked out of the league cup. Personally i think this will help Rafa get more support in buying quality youngsters. Anyway i hope you feel better tomorrow Kev.

Except Rafa. We had the best team out there to come back IMO. If we took the lead we would of seen Bellamy, for sure. To counter attack. Personally i believe Crouch was effective, or more to the point more effective than Bellamy would of been with the a*** sitting back so far. It is why we bought Crouch. He also played a part in our goal. Crouch and Garcia are our most effective players when a team sits back so far IMO so i credit Rafa for predicting the style he was up against, it is unfortunate our defense let him down so badly.

Remember that those reporting know as much about what is going on as us, Sweet FA. Relax.

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