alias75

Lucas flying into the tackle, didnt think he had that in his game..

Carra off, Hobbs on

as for the game dont think the shape is right id get Masch on, we're losing 2 many 2nd balls, think Kewell looks tired and hes drifting inside a bit we need his width to stretch the game and Stevie cant get into it much although the pass for the 2nd was sublime (as was the finish) Bolton have looked pretty dangerous on the break which is why id get Masch on.

Whatever you think of Quaresma i think its quite funny how all of a sudden Pennant is this great productive player for us. You only have to look at someone like David Bently who has 6 or 7 goals this season and numerous assists for Blackburn this is the sort of return we should be expecting from our wingers. Pennant has 1 goal in his Liverpool career and i can't think of many games that hes really dominated. Ill accept that his form for us has improved after a slow start but its clearly still not good enough.

Agree with the general point of the first post although i disagree that Gerrard/Mascherano is the worst central midfield pairing we could pick, but i certainly think we're a better side playing Mascherano with Alonso or Lucas with Gerrard given license to play wherever he wants. And i certainly think Stevies best games in recent weeks have come in that type of formation.

Regarding the furore over Benitez’s job and the fans who marched in his support on Wednesday, Hicks said: “The fans are very passionate and that's what we love about them. “It's been a big misunderstanding blown very much out of proportion. George and I are happy to see that it has settled back down. Thats better than nothing, i think we just have to keep winning and keep showing our support for Rafa..

R.N.Parry B.Sc, F.C.A. I can certainly think of 3 words beginning F,C and A

beat me too it, looking at the Times website it was the 26th Nov, hopefully things have changed slightly since then. Also Hicks cant sack Rafa on his own, id like to hear Gillett on this matter every quote from the Americans seems to have come from Hicks.

When was that podcast recorded?, things may have changed in the last week or so...

Obviously Kaizer put it better than i could

Fine but how many assists / goals do we get from him? Its all very well working hard etc.. but we need wingers that are going to score and create more than anything else. We may be sacrificing work ethic but we'd be getting a winger much more likely to score or create and with the players we currently have i think thats more important. (we have plenty of workers in the squad) Also Quaresma did surprise me in the first game we played when he'd obviously tracked back a long way and stopped Kuyt scoring the winner so i do think he understands its a team game and he has a role in that team. Yes he can strop a bit and maybe goes missing sometimes, but remember Pennant v Porto then he was a red card waiting to happen so i don't think hes the ideal player to be using as a model professional.

Lets say we could sell Pennant for 6-7 million and get Quaresma for around 12 million i think for 5-6 million that'd be a decent improvement for that position.

But I was hearing it was all about my ego. That is not true, the team is my responsibility. I can stay around and at the end of the month just go to collect my wages. "But I cannot be like that, I want to improve my team and my squad. That is what I was trying to do. But I can only repeat that I do not have any personal problems with the owners." Liked this bit too, this is a manager that lives and breaths football hes always thinking about the team and trying to improve it. Obviously G+H arent this way, and of course we shouldn't expect them to be, but Rafa shouldn't be criticised for being totally committed to his job. We're lucky to have a manager thats so dedicated to this club and improving the team. Im a lot more hopeful that this can be sorted out and hopefully the upshot is both parties communicate much better so similar problems don't arise in the future. The fact that Rafa is prepared to back down so much should tell us how much he likes it here we know how stubborn he is im sure that wasnt easy for him to do.

Havent seen these quotes on here... http://www.sportinglife.com/football/premi...ol_Benitez.html Rafael Benitez hopes to have clear-the-air talks with Liverpool's American owners before the Premier League showdown with Manchester United next month. The Anfield boss, with his position strengthened by the Champions League victory over Porto, experienced a week of acrimony with owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett that threatened his job. Benitez had been told by the US sports moguls that they would not discuss transfers until they made their next trip to Merseyside for the clash with Sir Alex Ferguson's men on December 16. That is after Liverpool's last group match in Marseille and would leave Benitez precious little time to plan ahead for the January transfer window. But Benitez, while being careful not to upset the Americans with his transfer kitty demands, revealed on Thursday: "I would hope to speak to the owners before the Manchester United game. "I don't know if that is possible but we will try. But I don't know for sure." His answer to a question regarding whether he still had a January shopping list was met with the now familiar line: "I am enjoying this result and concentrating on coaching and training my players." But Benitez, who has stopped short of apologising in public for his outbursts, was prepared to underline his own stance. He added: "My relationship with them was good before. Now we need to talk about what the problem was and move on. "Maybe my English is not that good, maybe that was the problem. But it is clear we have to understand the situation and talk to each other. "We must decide what is best for the future of the club, we can manage that. We will, I am sure, try to do that. "I prefer only to say that as a manager you can only think about your squad. So January is nearly here and next summer is close also. "So you must do your job, and I was trying to do this. Maybe we should talk now and analyse the situation. But I only want to talk, it is easier to talk face to face rather than to send e-mails or talk by phone." Benitez had received astonishing backing from the Liverpool fans before, during and after the 4-1 mauling of Porto, and they chanted "Rafa's going nowhere" as they celebrated a victory that keeps alive the club's Champions League dreams. But the row with the Americans, and how Benitez continues to handle the volatile situation, has become key to the club's immediate future. Benitez added: "We knew the fans were preparing something, I was being told about the petition on the internet. But all I wanted was for everyone to calm down, in particular the players. "They had to prepare for the game properly. But you hear and see the support, but then I have always known that our fans are the best in the world. "We have talked (with the owners) bout different issues, but we did not have the same opinion at this moment. "But I am sure we will talk again, they will understand and I will also understand their ideas. "But I was hearing it was all about my ego. That is not true, the team is my responsibility. I can stay around and at the end of the month just go to collect my wages. "But I cannot be like that, I want to improve my team and my squad. That is what I was trying to do. But I can only repeat that I do not have any personal problems with the owners." Benitez has also received support from Fernando Torres, the Spanish international who produced two fine goals against Porto that went a long way towards lifting the pressure on his manager. He said: "The atmosphere was amazing. For many reasons, because all that was going on this week with Rafa, the people here really got behind the team when we needed their backing most. "They really support you as much as they can and that is a gift for all of us. "It was great for those that had never enjoyed a night like this before, and especially for Rafa because we have seen that the supporters are really behind him. "I think Benitez is more than a manager. He is one of the greats in their history and people feel that way about him and they show it. "We all had an idea that he is special here but, honestly, what I saw at Anfield was really impressive. "I am really impressed at how much he is loved by the people, above anything else, even the players. "I feel their affection, the support for my team-mates, and with each passing day I am feeling more a part of this and happier with everything. In the end those things are reflected on the pitch."

Not seen a lot but i don't think hes ready yet, still very young (only 16 i think) but he also reminds me of another young striker we had that made an impact at 17 years of age. (Guess thats 2 of them!) From what ive seen though he has lots of talent, very pacy, very tricky and knows how to finish. Hes pretty small though and i think he needs to develop physically more, but the signs are very good.

Not disagreeing with that my only point is these types of flair players rarely dominate games between 2 big teams, even Ronaldo's influence is less in Utds big games. Their value is that their very effective against the lesser teams, thats what i think Quaresma would bring to us, someone that would make us much more effective against teams that look for the draw. Lets face it we play far more of those type of games than we do against Utd or Arsenal.

I cant remember many of Utds really big games where Ronaldo has dominated, against us he hasnt done a lot, similarly against Arsenal / Chelsea hes not the same influence. Against Milan in the CL last season he didnt do a lot, and i cant remember him dominating a big CL game. I agree for the vast majority of games Ronaldo is a huge influence and Utds key player, but hes clearly not the same influence in the really big games.

Because i think a lot of opinions that have formed over him are based on 2 games against us and not a lot else. Be interested to see how those opinions changed if we watched him week in week out. I agree that hes not at the very top level, but in terms of wingers we could realistically sign i think hes among the best. Even someone like Ronaldo rarely dominates the big games, but their value is that their very good against weaker teams i think Quaresma would be that type of player for us.

Clearly he didnt want to upset his future supporters last night! Part of me would love us to sign him just to bring this thread back!

There were several of our players last night if you were judging them on that 1 game you'd say they weren't that good. I agree with the poster that said he'd be a good signing for us but not at silly money. I still think hes a player that would offer us something we don't have at the moment, and thats a winger thats very confident on the ball, isnt afraid to receive the ball with men marking him and keeps it most of the time. He gets goals and assists in Portugal and for the national team so theres no reason to suggest that would change. He certainly has more end product than someone like Pennant.

whose the 1?

Think Spearing deserves to be a regular member of the first team squad, he can cover several positions and needs now to test himself at a higher level, at reserve team level hes usually one of the better players and is very consistent. If we need to save some money we could sell a couple of the higher profile squad players we have like Sissoko thats probably now 5th choice central midfield and use Spearing. He needs to go out on loan maybe in the new year and then next season we can see if he can do a job in the 1st team squad.

I realise its not everyones favourite radio station but Hawksbee and Jacobs are probably the 2 best people on that station. Someone from RTK is going to be on there soon to discuss what will happen at todays game.

At least this time he has a partner so he can't make this type of decision off his own back. Hopefully Gillett is more level headed and less likely to make a stupid rash decision.

Not sure if thats aimed at my post but i do think thats a valid line of attack. The whole spat seems to have stemmed from Rafa not being allowed to get potential deals done and dusted and if we believe the Echo its meant we've already missed out on 1 player because of this. We can debate whether or not Rafa was out of line the way he behaved in the press conference but the point is should overseas owners that know very little about football be telling the manager when he can and can't discuss potential ins and outs? I think thats a valid question to ask.