Conrad

Yep

Is correct. But it also needs saying - Yossi Benayoun is a liability.

Maradona was by some distance the best footballer the world has ever seen, or will ever see. Pele - not even close.

Rejuvenated, but that would have taken a lot out of them. Torres (hopefully), Keane, Mascherano, Riera and Agger back and we should be relatively fresh. Plus the added belief that tonight will have given us that momentum is on our side...

weve now led at home for oh all of 32 minutes this season! Love it

F**K Me Arsenal 4 Spurs 4!

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arsenal 0 spurs 1 bentley doing an alonso apparently

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Gerrard Alonso Carragher

Bringing Heskey back in the January transfer window for a nominal sum as a (fit, in form) former Liverpool striker thinking he has a point to prove, makes as much, arguably a lot more sense, then bringing back (a over-the-hill, patently unfit) former Liverpool striker thinking he has a point to prove. Not that Rafa would ever do that, oh wait a minute...

That's a rather duff analogy seeing as The Beatles have sold gazillions more records than the Spice Girls

Cobs, stop being so rational. It isn't helping the drama quotient of the thread. Oh my God - Rafa could walk away at any moment!

No I don't want Itandje on the bench. Perhaps our scouts should have done a better job at bringing in (or bringing through the reserves) a second choice keeper - Itandje wasn't up to it. We obviously don't think Martin is - yet. And my point was in the context of the haggling over Barry's fee and the general lack of cash, it seemed a lot to spend on a second choice keeper. I'm not questioning his ability, but if Reina doesn't pick up an injury there is no reason why he should step on a football pitch all season.

None of those really reflect well do they? I think the third of the 3 - didn't have the cash - seems the most plausible. I don't believe for a second that Riera was Rafa's number 1 target for an orthodox left midfileder either. I believe if money had not been an issue Silva and Downing, to name two, would have been ahead of him. And, again, both could have been realistic targets. On tangent, I still find it baffling in amongst all the wheeling and dealing on Barry, that we went and spent £3.5m on a back-up keeper.

What absolutely infuriates me is not the Robinho deal, but Everton have just broken their transfer record to pay £15 million for a midfield player who yes looked good against us, but F**k me that really puts the whole Barry fee into perspective. Whatever the merits of Barry v Alonso (and we have spent all summer discussing it!), the manager of Liverpool decided Barry was his number 1 target. we negotiated as hard as we could - we got to the point where we had to pay £18million and our fking owners refused to back the manager. It's disgraceful and shameful, and it's made Liverpool a bit of a laughing stock this summer. and we're still stuck with these jokers. and parry. and I'm not even going to print what I think about Moores.

I can maybe understand the Kuyt one if he was knackered after putting in his usual shift over 120 minutes on Weds - but all the more reason to keep Keane on, he was looking sharp up front, linking things well. Really bizarre to bring him off. We lost any attacking impetus after Benayoun came on. And Benayoun is such a sh*house. Still, on the plus side, Carragher has been looking close to being back to his best so far this season. He was immense today.

agreed (although you didn't need the extra 'help' in there ). It's not as bad as "Twelvety" though - that really is tedious beyond belief

Yes it appears he was his top priority. And I do see the logic in his Barry-for-Alonso idea (though I rate Alonso highly). I'm just pointing out that there are quality wide players out there, and they are potentially affordable. Who's to say that G&H wouldn't have underwritten a deal for Young on the basis of resale value anyway (I'm NOT saying I agree with that as a basis for buying someone by the way).

Not havinga go at you but I find posts like this very frustrating - what is our price range? Is it £10 million? Is it £5 million? Is it £30million? It depends on whether you are talking about the start of the window, or the end of the window, it depends on the managers's priorities. If he had decided on 1 June that a top class wide player was his no 1 priority there is every chance we could have Ashley Young playing left mid now. He wouldn't have had much change from £20-25million grant you But then he could have sold Benayoun and Pennant and recouped roughly half of that.

It's so infuriating Mike. Surely Rafa can see it? Surely? I have a lot of respect for the man, who wouldn't after what he has achieved here, and the way he has has carried himself, but surely the team has to have more pace and fluency going forward whether that's provided by the full backs, or midfielders who are comfortable playing wide. We simply don't have the quality of personnel in approx 4 our of 11 positions on the pitch - the other 7 area as good as any in club in Europe. (How brilliant was Reina again last night by the way).

Benayoun is gash. Why we've spent the best part of £15 million on him and Pennant and are now about to spend another 8 million or so on Riera is simply beyond me. I can't understand how the spine of this team can be so strong, and the flanks so poor after 4 years of rebuilding. And yes Rafa has been backed although not to the level of the top 2 (it will be approx £30 million on Babel, Pennant, Benayoun and Riera) But he's had enough to spend (partly through his own ability to get decent money from sales, a welcome change from the GH era) to have made a better job of purchasing wide players.

that might also depend on whether Rafa is still the manager next summer...

Young is an outstanding talent - who would fit perfectly into Rafa's system. And I think if we had prioritised his signing above any other at the start of the summer, he could have been a realistic target. what else was the point of selling the club if not to finance these kind of signings. And no I don't know what he would have cost, but he was not a fantasy signing. Young, English, I'm sure he would have jumped at the chance of moving to Liverpool.

I am amazed the level of support Benayoun gets on here. For the type of player he is, he's nowhere near good enough. And while playing on the left isn't his best position he offers absolutely nothing there. At least Kuyt puts in a shift on the right.