Dan

Its not looking good at the moment but this is the first major test of Benitez' tenure here so to not let him put it right is absoloutely pathetic. He's certainly not above criticism but he deserves our support - he's earned it. A couple of other points: Stop f*ckin harping on about Portsmouth and Birmingham matches these are not the reasons why we are playing sh*te - Pompey i would have played a different team but we should have beaten Birmingham. We were not lucky against Wigan - I'd say we were only lucky against Spurs and Everton and very unlucky against Chelsea. We've not been tearing up any trees but we're doing OK in the league and are still in with a realistic shout of challenging. The injuries to our spine can't be overlooked but can't be used as an excuse either. Lets see how we do when they are back though. Getting another number 2 in is not something that can be done overnight. Rafa has worked with Pako for how many years 11? So quick fixes like Sammy f*ckin Lee are not gonna happen. This is the major issue for me though. I'm not sure about anyone else but at the beginning of this season i did not believe we would win the league this season. I thought we'd challenge, which we are at the moment. Next season was always the one for me when Benitez would have to prove himself and win the league. Sacking Benitez would set us back years and is a hugely embarrassing call.

There's no probably not about it ffs. I agree we've got big problems at the moment but to give up and start again at the first real hurdle of Rafa's Liverpool career is the stuff of lunatics.

Maybe he was more bothered about takin it all in and celebrating. Its perfectly plausible you know.

You've just said he's compiled the best squad in the f*ckin country man. Give it a rest you're talking sh*te.

Who put the best squad (debateable) in the country together ffs? Anyway the question was: Do you honestly think it will benefit the club if Rafa was sacked tomorrow?

is this the worst comment that has ever been posted?

You didn't answer the question

Good call

Take a deep breath and think about what you're saying. Do you honestly think it will benefit the club if Rafa was sacked tomorrow? If you do you're either: a) Thick b) insane c) p*ssed I'm going for a combination of all three.

At least you've cheered me up. F*ckin hell almighty.

We weren't lucky against Villa we deserved it. Can't see how we were lucky against Wigan either - Torres missed a hat-trick of chances. And we were unlucky against Chelsea. Everton and Spurs only.

Got an awful feeling Torres will miss out.

In what sense? RL players are as naughty as it gets off the pitch.

Well over the top

Ha ha that was f*ckin shocking.

So what should he have said then when asked the question? Nothing? Lied? If he had kep tight lipped it would have just led to intense speculation from monkeyman and his bitter mate.

Right, so what has Sissoko's been like then? Carra? It's b*llocks this argument. He didn't do it to put him in his place - he's explained his reasons.

To be honest that should not come into it for me. Getting abuse off fans is part and parcel particularly in a derby. I know its particularly bad for Gerrard at Goodison but its the same for Gary Neville when he hears that he shags his mam up the sh*tter every time he comes to Anfield - as did Beckham with his missus. I didn't and don't agree with the sub but the abuse as bad as it was should not come into the equation. You're using it as a stick to beat Benitez with.

The original diagnosis was about 8-10 days so its probably about right if Torres misses this one. We need him back for Sunday big time.

Particuarly as Gray claimed last night that he had been watching Gerrard for years now and understands his body language and can tell when he's not happy. What about on the pitch at the end you bitter tw*t.

LIVERPOOL were today given a major boost when Rafa Benitez revealed he expects to have both Fernando Torres and Xabi Alonso available for Wednesday’s Champions League match with Besitkas. The Spanish duo both missed Saturday’s 2-1 derby win over Everton but are now training normally following injury lay-offs. Alonso has been absent for a month with a metatarsal injury, while Torres picked up an abductor muscle injury on international duty with Spain and was forced to sit out the derby. But Benitez believes the pair are now ready to return to first team action and either or both could feature in the starting line-up in Turkey. He said: “Xabi and Fernando are important players so it is good to have them back. “They will train today and we will see how they do, but they should be available for midweek. “They are both much better. “It is important for the squad to have them back because some players are really tired after the international break.” Meanwhile, the Reds manager explained his shock decision to replace Steven Gerrard with Lucas Leiva in the second half of the derby by saying it was “for the good of the team”. He said: “I looked at the situation and I knew I had to keep the balance of the team but I also wanted to use the quality of Lucas’s passing. “People must remember that I make decisions for the good of the team. “I spoke to Steven after the game and this is what I told him. “Steven is a key player for us and he is very important but on this occasion I wanted to continue protecting the defence by keeping Mascherano and Sissoko in midfield, but I also wanted to use Lucas’s passing. “And the way it turned out Lucas was unlucky not to score the winning goal because he was only stopped by a handball.”

Fair enough from Gerrard that

Bit black and white that - surely it depends who came on to replace him!

Tomkins from the offal: With regard to questioning Benítez's methods, I have to take exception to Andy Gray's performance on Sky. I actually think that, at times at least, Gray is one of the better pundits in the game, but this was never going to be one of those moments. It was a very bold move but I did find it incredible that a commentator could lambast Benítez for making a change while at the same time admitting he didn't know about the substitute's strengths. How can you judge a substitution if you know little about the man coming on? Lucas is the current Brazilian Footballer of the Year! He's also a player with a good goalscoring record. Benítez made a decision based on his own knowledge; Gray made a statement based on his lack of it. And it was Lucas' 'goal' that Phil Neville denied with an outrageous handball. And while Andy Gray criticised the Liverpool manager when Sissoko, on the pitch while Gerrard wasn't, missed from the kind of situation Gerrard often scores from (even though, had he been on the pitch, there's nothing to say Gerrard would have made that exact same run at that very moment), Gerrard's direct replacement won Liverpool the game. And not by luck. I also felt the Match of the Day team made too much of Benítez removing Gerrard; half-heartedly mumbling under their breath how well Lucas had played, as if it was an irrelevance. I do wish there wouldn't be such a fuss made when Gerrard is taken off, or left out of a game; which, admittedly, happens only rarely. He's a very special player, but it's not all about him. It's the same with his position –– he has good and bad games, and good and bad spells, in both the centre and on the right. But the criticism only flows when there's a bad result with him on the flank. Liverpool got excellent results when he was absent with a broken toe, and yet again this weekend the Reds showed that, should they occasionally need to or choose to, they can succeed without him. But of course, if ever he doesn't play and Liverpool lose, then the tiresome "one man team" stuff will resurface. This season the Reds have scored a lot of goals, but Gerrard has just one, back on the opening day. He'll find his goalscoring touch again soon, as he's too good not to (the same happened last season), but I'll bet that the next time he does score, a commentator or pundit will say "who else?" –– as if there is no other who's capable at the club, despite the heavily-rotated strikers already having 17 goals between them, and both Benayoun and Alonso currently outscoring him. Talk of rotation will continue, and yet little was made when David Moyes 'rested' James McFadden, who is one of their best players, because he'd just played two internationals in quick succession. At least Gerrard played 70 minutes at Goodison, rather than seven, and left the pitch before he could do damage to his tiring muscles. But the Liverpool manager has to have the right to remove any player he feels he needs to, for whatever reason, if he feels it will help the team get a result. Gerrard had just played two high-pressure games for England, the second of which was on an unforgiving pitch way over in Russia. He was playing well, but arguably (and in some senses understandably) trying too hard to win the game, while Lucas' fresh legs and fresh mind proved the difference. While Benítez was mocked for saying Gerrard was playing with too much passion, the subsequent events showed that –– sometimes at least –– a calmer influence can cut through the emotion of the occasion. After the change, Everton's ten men were exploited in a way in which they previously hadn't. More chances were created, and whatever the final result had been, Liverpool had by far their best spell of the game. So what's to argue with? So in every conceivable sense it proved an inspired substitution. It might have gone horribly wrong, but the fact is it went brilliantly right. End of story. And Gerrard will be back in the side for the upcoming games and, almost certainly before too long, back to his very best. Hopefully, with this victory in the bag, the same will be said of the most important thing: the team as a whole.

So Gerrard's got the hump then? He needs to man up.