alias75

Wouldn't blame Carson at all if he wanted 1st team football, if it was an older keeper in front of him he should stick it out, but Reina is going to be here hopefully for the next 5-10 years. Tough to lose a very good keeper but at least after a season with Charlton his value is much more than we paid for him. Think we could get 4 million plus for him. Hes under contract here so he cant hold us to ransom and he could be used to get another player.

Agree with that, if we have a realistic chance of getting him i think we should go for it, hes someone that could be a top player for us for the next 10 years, you cant really put a price on that, 10million plus seems a lot now but hes only going to get better, even if he doesnt become real world class hes someone that can play in a variety of positions for us for the next 10 years. I think hes already shown he has what it takes to be a top PL player, physically hes as good as anyone and the other aspects of his game will improve with experience.

Think Paletta will improve greatly with a season on loan to a club in the championship. He needs to get used to the pace of the game over here.

According to the BBC this is the squad thats traveled. Not sure how accurate this is... Liverpool (from): Dudek, Arbeloa, Paletta, Hyypia, Riise, Zenden, Sissoko, Mascherano, Pennant, Bellamy, Kuyt, Fowler, Crouch, Padelli, Gonzalez, Anderson, Alonso, Agger. Likely team from that lot would be... Dudek Arbeloa Hyppia Paletta Riise Gonzalez Sissoko Zenden Pennant Fowler Bellamy

If form for the reserves is anything to go by Hobbs should be in there ahead of Paletta but Paletta seems to be ahead of him. Thats pretty much the team i was thinking maybe Insua on the bench or even starting if we're short of left sided players we cant afford an injury to Riise.

Rafa quoted in the Echo that a few of the young lads could be in the squad for Portsmouth, think that gives us a good indication of how he'll approach this game. Im expecting all our fringe 1st teamers to start and maybe even 1 or 2 young players.

Well done to the kids and Heighway but i agree a lot with the above point. The primary purpose of the Academy must be to produce players for the first team, of course thats much more difficult at a club like Liverpool than the majority of PL teams because the competition is so fierce and anybody looking to make that breakthrough has to be a very special young player. I think we have to look at the Academy as a place where top young players get the best chance to make it as a pro, occasionally someone special will make the step up, but we have to accept that this isnt going to happen every season. The way we make the Academy pay is making sure the quality of young players is such that even if they arent good enough for us they can have a career lower down the leagues, that way we can get fees for these players. Players are making the step up at an earlier age now, so someone very special aged 17-18 will most likely already be playing first team football somewhere, i dont think we're going to see many cases of a player coming through the academy and into the first team, if they are good enough they'll probably make the step up into the first team at an early age like Owen and Gerrard did. Theres also someone like Carragher that wasn't spectacular at a young age but through hard work, and unbelievable desire and consistency has turned into one of our key players, maybe some of the kids from this team could do a similar thing, i see maybe a few Carragher types but no Owen or Gerrards in the current crop.

I just think the atmosphere will be such that the players will come out firing i think having our strongest side available and being nice and fresh is far more important than 3 points against Portsmouth. Chelsea will be killing themselves for 3 points against Bolton we have the luxury of not having to do that this week, we should use that to our advantage.

Exactly you just have to have faith that the atmosphere will have the boys adrenaline pumping and they'll start much faster than yesterday. Im sure Chelsea will be cautious from the start so that should hand the initiative to us. risking anyone that will start on Tuesday would be stupid. It wouldnt necessarily have to be a bad injury though, the game against Chelsea is only 3 days after Pompey even a slight knock or muscle strain would rule somebody out. Let chelsea bust a gut on Saturday while all our starters rest and get ready for Tuesday.

Guess we'll have to disagree i think at this stage of the season the players have had plenty of match sharpness, at the end of the season its much better to be fresh, these guys have been playing week in week out for months missing 1 game 3 days after a CL game wont lose them any sharpness. I just think we started cautiously yesterday and Chelsea took the initiative, how stupid would it be if we lost 2 or 3 key players to niggles in a pointless league game. Theres only a short turnaround after Pompey for the CL game so even a small knock could rule someone out, we shouldn't start any of the players that will start on Tuesday if we can get away with it.

If the players cant get up for Tuesday they may as well give up playing football. No point risking injuries to most of our key players in a pointless league game.

Maybe Insua will start this one? We dont have many options on the left so cant really afford an injury to Riise this week. Dudek Arbeloa Hyppia Carragher Insua Gonzalez Sissoko Mascherano Pennant Bellamy Fowler

In a weird way it'll do us good, Chelsea do have a slight advantage as we didnt get the way goal and that may put a little bit more pressure on them, they are expected to get through now. But as we know Anfield on European nights is unique and if we start well and get the first goal they could buckle. I make Chelsea slight favourites but this tie is far from over.

Lets hope we can put some pressure on the ref on Tuesday night and Crouch may get the benefit a few times.

I think it depends on who you can replace him with. I think most would agree hes been a good player for us this season, but if we can sell him for a decent profit and that allows us to sign someone like Eto, or Villa then no matter how well hes done we'd have to do it, because those players are a level above Bellamy. We know how pragmatic Rafa is and if improving the team means selling Bellamy he'll do it.

Henry likes to drift on the left "when" we sign him we may need to stop looking for a traditional left winger as he plays a lot out there anyway.

With the 1st leg of the youth cup final tonight ive heard it said that the current crop dont have an Owen or Gerrard amongst them which is true, however that doesn't mean 1 or 2 of the current youth team couldn't become 1st team regulars. Jamie Carragher is the prime example of this, he never stood out like Owen or Gerrard did coming through the ranks, yet with hard work, amazing dedication and consistency and unrivaled will to win hes become one of our most important players. He is the clear example to our youth team players that you don't have to stand out like Owen or Gerrard did to make it here. There are 2 or 3 of the current crop that have a little bit of Carragher about them, Spearing, Ryan and maybe Threlfall are 3 players that maybe aren't super talented but with the right attitude they could become part of the first team squad, they should look at Carragher as a gauge to where hard work, 100% commitment every week and consistency of performance can get you.

Im sure i read somewhere that Rafa plans his training around the players peaking at the business end of the season and one of the main reasons behind rotating the team so much is to make sure the players are as fit (if not fitter) at the end of the season as they are at the start. We're certainly seeing that at the moment, the team looks fresh and we're playing our best stuff this season over the last month or so. So how do we continue that and also start the season well which is key if we want to challenge for the PL? Is it simply a matter of having a better quality of squad player so that at the start of the season when players are rotated we dont lose the quality in the team or are we not as fit and ready as other PL teams at the start of the season with the plan to peak at different times? I realise this season pre-season was disrupted with the World Cup but in the 2 seasons Rafa's been here the team has certainly looked better at the end of the season compared to the beginning.

UEFA better make sure Bayern make the final then and make sure its not an all English final!

Roma defended very badly, they also had no protection out wide giving Utds full backs and wide players far too much time on the ball. As soon as they went 2 and then 3 behind they gave up so the scoreline blew up with pretty much everything they hit finding the corner. Tactically you have to try and double up on Ronaldo i think Arbeloa at left back and Riise at left mid could be the go with Gerrard wide right in case Ronaldo switched wings. We did dominate them only a few weeks ago when they were at full strength so we have nothing to fear, we just need to turn that domination into goals.

Tactically Roma were awful, no width defensively, Utds full backs and wingers had so much time and space. One of those days where everything they hit ended up in the top corner and once Roma went a few down they just gave up. Chelsea seem to be playing well again but i wasnt impressed with Valencia, your asking for trouble trying to sit back and defend against the away goal which is what they did. Gonna be 2 tough games against Chelsea but we've beaten them before.

Charlton last game of the season could be interesting if we're still in the CL and have a CL place secured for next season, how strong a team would we put out if they need to win to avoid relegation? Think Arsenal will get the 4th CL spot, they've dominated the games ive seen over the last few weeks but have squandered so many chances that won't continue and you have to think they'll have enough quality to do it, financially it would be a huge problem if they arent in the CL next season. Ideally we have a top 4 place secured with maybe 2/3 games to go and we can give someone like Insua a game.

Not sure why you havent been impressed with Tevez hes a full Argentina international thats found himself in a relegation battle and if you ask any west Ham fan hes been their best player by a mile and that includes when they were constantly losing games. Hes now started scoring regularly and his attitude has been first class. Think hed be a good signing although i still think we need another type striker too. Tevez is more of a number 10 than a number 9 but he is capable of beating defenders and could be an excellent 2nd striker.

I accept that and of course the league is the one we all want to win but its just a perception as a fan. Back in 2005 against other really big European sides like Juventus or Milan there was that fear there that if we didnt play well we'd be outclassed, and always the way to win was defending well and hitting on the counter. Now i look at our team and feel we have no real weaknesses, yes we could do with more attacking flair but all of our strikers are doing well, whoever we face in Europe i feel we can hold our own and even if we're not quite at our best theres enough quality there to get a result. Its a subtle change from fearing the worst to not fearing anyone.

Just thinking about this with the CL in mind, if i cast my mind back to the final with Milan in 05 we were serious underdogs which should never really be the case with Liverpool FC but if you looked at our side we had Dudek, Troare, Smicer, Baros decent players but obvious weaknesses when compared with Europes best. Fast forward to 2007 and theres not 1 team left in the competition that i fear, thats not to say we're going to win the CL but if you look at our team now and compare it with 2005 we have really improved. Our defence is I rock solid we have a great goalkeeper that is so far much more reliable than Dudek who was fantastic in the final but he could also be a liability. Our midfield is very strong and Mascherano could take the team to another level freeing up Gerrard and also giving protection that allows our fullbacks to get forward much more. Up front we have 3 players in Crouch, Bellamy and Kujt that gives Rafa many possibilities. I really have the feeling now that this team is capable of facing the best in Europe and really taking the game to them. Whereas the 2005 triumph was based more on a very solid defence and counter attacking style the current team is able to dictate the play more and keep possession better we shouldn't have an inferiority complex against any team in Europe. Its all pretty exciting and the most exciting this is theres still lots of room for improvement with 1 or 2 top quality signings. The performances of Mascherano and how thats freed Gerrard up i think could take us to another level, him and Alonso keep possession well and cover brilliantly allowing Finnan and Riise to get forward and give us that width that maybe we lack sometimes, and Crouch looks like hes coming into some good form too. In less than 2 years Rafa has taken a team that won the CL but did so massively against the odds and playing the way of an underdog and now especially in Europe we shouldn't be afraid of anyone if we play to our best.