alias75

I think when your winning regularly these things get over looked, im sure if youd watched Man utd or Arsenal or Chelsea a lot this season the same happens where players play well one week and not so well the next the difference is they keep winning and that deflects all the criticism. Players arent machines but certain players in our team have performed consistently at a certain level and that level isnt being met at the moment, whereas last season a Gerrard goal might have taken the deflectino away from an average performance now if we dont get the win everything is scrutinised. The truth is today we were the better team and deserved to win, had we done so the boards would have been far more positive. if we compare our current team with Man Utd, Chelsea, Arsenal id say the 1 main difference is they have those 2 or 3 real world class players that perform most weeks. Utd werent great today but they have players like Rooney, Giggs, Ronaldo that can produce out of nothing, similarly Arsenal have Henry. Stevie has been our goto guy for a while but at the moment the simple fact is he isnt playing well.

My point is i cant remember many (if any) occassions this season when Gerrards been the difference between winning a game and not winning a game. Yes the players should take more responsiblity, but the fact is Stevie is our key player hes the one player we have that can do it all in the attacking third, his not performing is certainly having a knock on effect on other players. In a perfect world we'd have 11 leaders all chipping in and sharing the work load but football isnt like that, just as Arsenal look to Henry or Barcelon to ronaldinho we look to Stevie and at the moment he doesnt look bothered which is the most worrying part.

I dont think thats been the case this season, at the moment Stevie isnt leading by example Alonso is the one playing like the captain at the moment. I agree we need 4 or 5 leaders on the pitch and our main problem has been that the players that are usually reliable havent been and that has a knock on effect on the rest of the players especially young new players. In an ideal world you have 4 or 5 players that play every week to a very high standard and thats what we had for the most part last season, then new signings come into a team full of confidence and that helps them settle. We've had the exact opposite happen this season, the team struggled from the word go, even in pre season and thats had a knock on effect. its time to get back to basics and its time for the leaders in the team to step up, Alonso has been our best player the last month and Carragher was solid today, we need Stevie desperately to find some form and find some passion.

Far too many knee jerk reactions on the other thread, i think most fans agree Benitez is the right man, but at the moment too many of the players are letting him down. Of the new signings Pennant is the only 1 im not happy with, hes shown me very little that he has what it takes to make it, its obvious he was only bought because right mid was a position we needed cover for desperately but the injury to Sissoko means he now start games he wouldnt have if Momo was fit, and so far hes not looked good enough. Gonzalez has struggled but ive seen enough of him in La Liga to know what a good player he is, once he settles in and builds some confidence we'll see the real Gonzalez. Its clear to me that the main problems this season is not the form of the new signings, they were always going to take time to settle in. The problems are with the performances of our established key players, that core that we've been used to being to able to rely on week in week out. Ill single out the following players, Reina, Carragher, Alonso, Gerrard all of these players were excellent last season, you could rely on them every week, this season they've all struggled and so that has a knock on effect on the rest of the team especially the new players. Ok my short term solution is scrap 4-4-2 our wide players arent performing so we should go with 3-5-2 and use finnan and Riise as wing backs, this is a formation we've tried a few times before and on the whole its looked much more fluid. With Sissoko injured the midfield 3 id go for is Alonso, Gerrard and Garcia as the link man with Kujt a definite starter and Bellamy and Crouch rotated. There has been some criticism of Bellamy and its true hes not playing well, but i can tell you as someone thats watched him play very often that he is a confidence player and im sure he'll improve, what you always get out of him whether hes playing well or not is lots of effort which we badly need at the moment, once he gets a few goals and his confidence grows we'll see a much better player. Id also like to see Anderson on the bench for some PL games, he may not be ready to start but can he offer any less than Pennant has? I think bringing him on late in games he will play without the fear that Pennant is showing at the moment, in a similar way that Owen did when he broke into the side, that sort of fearlessness is what the team is lacking at the moment. The Gerrard situation has obviously been a huge factor too, no matter what anyone else says hes obviously a key player for this team and hes been well below par most of the year. I have no idea if the stories about him and his personnal life are true but that would certainly explain a lot. At the moment he may have far more important things on his mind than a game of football but we need the real Stevie back quickly im sure hed rather be playing than not but he needs to show hes ready for the fight, hes supposed to be our leader but at the moment hes not setting the example. I still have complete faith in Rafa i think the squad is certainly stronger than the last few seasons, but at the moment the players almost en masse are low on confidence, its not an easy thing to build but we need our key players leading by example and that will help the new guys.

Think theres plenty to be positive about... 1. Our home form is as good as anyone... 2. In Agger, Kujt and Sissoko we have 3 players that will be 1st team reulars for the next 5 seasons (and beyond) 3. Our form in the CL is excellent, even away from Anfield we've got good results. 4. For the vast majority of our players form wise the only way is up, we know guys like Gerrard, Carragher, Alonso, Bellamy are quality players their form will improve.

Thats what i think too, i really believe we have a strong squad of 20 players but too many of them are short of confidence and under performing. Add 1 or 2 real top class attacking players and that would improve the performance of others within the squad. Look what happened when Utd brought Catona in he got the rest of the team playing thats the type of influential players we need. I think the lack of real quality attacking players also affects the defence, the less threat we have fgoing forward the more time we spend defending and therefore the pressure they have to soak up, it sounds simplistic but its true, the more time we spend attacking the less pressure there is on the defence, at the moment we lack maybe 1 or 2 real attacking threats and thats putting more pressure on other areas of the team. But i think if we brought in a couple of really top notch players in the right positions we'd see the performances of others already in the squad improve.

I made this point a few weeks ago but i think its an important one, i dont think squad wise we're that far off. What id like to see is us sign 1 or 2 real top class players preferably attacking players. If you compare our squad with Man Utd id say we're stronger overall, but they have spent big on 3 or 4 players like Rooney or Ronaldo and in the tight games its that class that makes the difference. Our record signing is still around the 10 million mark other top clubs are spending double that, of course the player has to be the right player but we need a couple of "Harrods" signings that will have an immediate impact. Lots of the games we've lost this year the first goal has been crucial we need that little bit of quality in the final third that will make the difference in these close games. I think you'd find if we brought in maybe 2 real top class attacking players you would see the performances of others improve. Im happy with the players we have here for the most part but at the moment too many are underperforming, sometimes it needs 1 player to come in and get everyone playing, Cantona did it at utd and it could happen here.

Agree about Agger hes been our best defender this season and while Sami still offers something for the 1st team he has been exposed, away from home especially, id like to see Agger and Carragher given a good run together. As for the other new signings i have no worries about Bellamy, he hasnt got the goals but i think his performances have been good, hes similar to Kujt in that even if he doesnt score hes always a threat because of this workrate. Ive seen enough of Gonzalez to know hes going to be a good player for us, but he was always going to need time to settle in, Aurellio hasnt been great but on a free hes a good squad option. Pennant had to be brought in simply because that position badly needed filling but i think hes a squad player at best. I fully agree with your final point though, the last 2 years Rafa has had to move out a lot and bring in a lot, he now has a squad thats his players, id like to see us buy 2 real top quality players next season that will immediately strengthen the first team.

Yeah thats what i meant more of a 4-3-3 than asking him to defend etc... Pennant is the one new signing im not sure about, im not sure hes good enough to start against the top sides although he may prove to be a good squad player for the majority of home games. For the money we paid for him though im not sure although this was obviously a position we needed to sort out and we couldnt really afford to wait for someone like Alves; the position needed filling. Its still early days though and he has shown brief flashes of what he can offer.

The type of winger Pennant is will always be hot and cold the same with Gonzalez but that type of player while being very inconsistent always has the potential to beat their man and create something out of nothing. For most home games id like us to play with Gonzalez and sometimes Pennant (when were playing Stevie in the middle or resting someone) because these are the players that will help us stretch the game against teams looking to defend, we also have now in Kujt and Crouch 2 strikers very good at feeding off service from out wide. Maybe we could try Bellamy wide for some games?

What i meant was is it just a coincidence that the performances have picked up a little with 10 of last seasons squad in the starting 11. Its always going to take time for new signings to settle in and not all of them will produce immediately playing 3 or 4 new players at the same time is always risky although its a catch 22 as they have to play to become comfortable with what Rafa wants.

Any coincidence that the last 2 games have only featured 1 new signing in the starting 11?

The tough job has been done, Rafa has had to move out so many players and bring in lots to strengthen the squad. Even this year we have 6 or 7 new faces they were bound to take time to settle and not all of them will be successes (as we saw with some of the first year signings) the squad is unquestionably stronger than last year and they are almost exclusively players Rafa wants. From now on we should look to bring in the 1 or 2 real top notch signings like Alves that will make a difference. For a club with our heritage if you look at our record signing amount its miles behind other top clubs in Europe, these are the type of players that make the difference when trying to win a championship. If you look at Man Utd for example their squad is no better than ours (in fact its probably weaker) but they have spent big on guys like Rooney, Ferdinand, Ronaldo that maybe give them a slight edge on us in terms of winning the league, the next step is the real top quality player that will immediately improve the first team.

Agree entirely with the original post, everyone is looking for tactical reasons why we've had the bad start when the obvious fact is too many of our players are off form. Now it could be argued that their off form because their playing out of position, but as has been pointed out the players are in the main playing in the same roles as when we went on those great unbeaten runs last season. The squad is stronger than last season, almost all the new players have shown signs of being good additions (Pennant is the one im still not convinced by) but the problem isnt the rotation or the formation its the simple fact that our key players havent been performing to a consistently high level. We're so used to players like Gerrard, and Carragher and Alonso being at least 7 out of 10 every week that when they're not we start asking questions about the manager when the truth is their simply not playing well. Players arent machines and they will go through dips in form, it just so happens that most games this year we've had 4 or 5 (or more) off form at the same time. Im not sure what the solution is except keep playing these guys and eventually they will find some form, the league is gone for this season, but as we saw last year once the team gets on a roll and our key players are playing well we're a match for anyone and another CL run isnt out of the question if we can find form at the right time. My one comment on team personnel is Agger must now be considered first choice centre back when fit, his distribution and ability on the ball is badly needed.

Momo and Alonso are the best combination in midfield the problem this year is both have been off form, playing Gerrard there doesnt work as he leaves too many holes, he proved last season he can be more effective starting on the rigth with licence to roam but again hes not playing to form so people are questioning the formation when the problem is that our big players are off form. Agger has to start when fit, his abilty on the ball should allow us to become more fluent in posession, both Sami and carra hoof it too much which means we dont keep the ball and build through the midfield enough. We have too many players playing poorly to simply leave the out of the side, we have to play them and hope they find some form sooner rather than later.

Agree with that to some extent but i dont think you can take that approach in todays game. What we should have is a core of maybe 9 players that play every PL game (injuries permitting) and maybe the strikers get rotated now and again or play a less attacking player at left mid for certain away games. That would give us a back 5 that plays together week after week, (Agger needs to start every game when fit simply for his ability on the ball) and a midfield that knows their role, and strikers that can get some sort of understanding going. I think the problem this season has been we've had so many new faces and Rafa has tried to blood them all and give them all game time. We're also coming off the back of a world cup year and is it any coincidence that our usual consistent performers like Stevie, Carra and Alonso have been badly off form coming off a very long season?

to be fair our back 5 hasnt really changed that much this year, Agger has come in and i think done enough to be first choice when fit, his overall play has been superb but he should be in there simply for his distribution which we badly need from one of our CBs. I think the rotating hasnt helped but i can understand why its been done, on the back of a world cup players need time to recover unfortuneately we've had to blood more than half a team of new players as well and on top of that our key players are badly out of form. If we remember last season Rafa rotated quite a lot for the first third of the season but then settled on 90% of the team which played (inuries permitting) most of the games, and the results picked up, we need to get to that position again and players need to find form. The league has gone but the ability in the team is still there, i think we're potentially a better team than last season and the season before and so if we can find some form and a settled team we may peak in time for one of the cups.

wont happen, Rafas been banging on all year about keeping his players fresh so why play them midweek in a nothing cup that he really couldnt care less about? We'll probably see Paletta, Zenden maybe Gonzalez and Fowler but also lots of ressies.

I get the feeling hes out thinking himself too much in this league. The PL isnt a very techncial league sometimes with his team selection hes been too clever i understand his thinking about trying to keep the players fresh and with CL games being so important thats a consideration when we have midweek games, but its so important to start the year well to get some momentumn and once again that hasnt happended. I dont see other top teams that had many players involved in the world cup rotatting as much. Even Chelsea with all their resources keep 90% of their team the same most weeks. Last season it took Rafa a while to get a consistent team selection but when we found that formula we went on some great runs, at the moment, our key players arent playing well which makes things harder. So yes Rafa must take some of the blame, but our key players like Stevie, Carra, Alonso, Sissoko arent playing well.

Theres always the chance with this team in one of the cups but obviously the league is well and truely gone already. The fixture calender wasnt kind to us this season with all those early KOs at the beginning of the season and some real tough away games first up, the team isnt playing with any confidence and the constant changing personell isnt working. I think Rafa had a poor 2nd season at Valencia too but that didnt stop him winning La Liga the following season, this year we've had to implement almost half a team of new players and given Rafas importance on his players knowing their role in the team there was always the possibility that so many new faces would take time to gel. Theres also a couple coming to the end of their time at Liverpool, Agger should now be first choice centre back we lack someone with his ability on the ball from the back and Sami is looking more and more like a player coming to the end of his career at the top level, Gonzalez has shown glimpses of what he can do but he still looks like he feels he needs to prove himself and so far he hasnt been able to relax and just play his game, that will come with more time in the first team. So obviously everyone is dissapointed at the moment, the team isnt playing well but i do think we are a stronger squad compared to last season but at the moment we have too many players not playing to form and too many players still settling in, i expect things to improve as the season goes on and i also expect Rafa to have a more consistent team selection as the season progresses, this is similar to what happended last season but eventually Rafa struck on a core of 8 or 9 players that played most weeks, we need to get to that point again. ive written this season off and we may not even make 4th spot at this rate, but i have total confidence in Rafa to build a very strong squad of players, we already have that now, the new players need time to settle but im happy with almost all of them, who knows we may peak just in time for another crack at the CL. So yes its dissapointing at the moment especially given the hope going into this season but with another huge turn over of players i always thought it would be crucial as to how we started the season. We've been very lucky to have had so much success in the last 5 years in truth given the players we've had we've probably over achieved in terms of winning silver ware. Dont lose faith in Rafa, hes shown at Valencia he can come back after a poor season and win the big one.

I think we're all missing the key news... "Liverpool striker Salif Diao is set to join Stoke on a three-month loan deal. (News of the World)" No wonder hes been so poor for us the poor lads been playing out of position all this time.

Notice he scored for Depor on the weekend, anyone know how hes been going this season? With no real cover for Finnan im sure Rafa is keeping track of how hes doing and i think we have a buy back clause with Depor if we want him back within the next 2 years.

posted over at the betfair forum this morning someone claiming the club has been sold to an unnamed Irishman and it is a total takeover whch will be announced soon. no details given and of course its probably rubbish but there are a few knowledgable people on that forum. Have any Irishmen been linked before?

I understand we're going to be on TV a lot but so far this season its ridiculous. Sheff Utd - early KO West Ham - early KO Everton - early KO Chelsea - early KO Next week Spurs early KO and then the week after Bolton is an early KO All this plus we've had to play CL in between, why have all our games so far been early starts?

just think if Rafa wants a more attack minded team with 2 out and out wingers thats going to leave us more open at the back and thats where Sami's lack of pace gets exposed badly. Agger has that little bit of pace and agility to cope in those situations i think before the end of the season it will be Carra and Agger that are first choice although im sure Sami will play his fair share of games this year.