fred milne

Look I think we have the right man for the job and I certainly wouldn't want him to go on the basis of one below-par season. However, I do think he has made serious mistakes this season (letting Hamann go, too much rotation), which combined with the World Cup hang-over that may be affecting Carragher and Gerrard as well as the tough fixtures we have had has left us well off the pace. I do think there is a grain of truth in the editorial in that if Rafa doesn't mount a strong challenge for the title in either this season or the next then I'd be inclined to start thinking its not going to happen for him. If the plan now is to play two up-top, two out & out wide players and Gerrard & Alonso in midfield with no real pace in the backline then I think we are in trouble. Personally, I don't think that is the plan or that there is a "new way of playing". Rafa will know as much as anyone that you won't the league with a suspect defence. Why would we want to fix something that wasn't broken in the first place?

I don't doubt you said it. I just find it difficult to understand.

I'll throw this into the mix too - its an editorial from TTWAR from 3 years ago: http://www.ttwar.net/articles/story.php?id=5 Clearly, you can draw a parallel between what Rafa did in Spain and what Ferguson did in Scotland. However, you can also add Mourinho to the list of title-winning managers who proved their credentials within 3 years.

I honestly don't get that. We went on two excellent runs last season. As has been pointed out many times, if the season had started in October we would have been champions. Barring the departure of Hamann, the squad that went on those runs has only been strengthened over the summer.

Did you feel that way the start of the season? I didn't. I thought we had a reasonable shout.

No more than I was when I suggested that he expected us to challenge this season.

"Hyypia, Gerrard, Carragher, Finnan and Alonso (although he has started to play better) have not got going yet.......The manager knows this"

I'd be surprised if Rafa thinks the same way. We may not have Chelsea's deep pockets but Rafa will have expected us to make a challenge for the title this year.

...because he was told Gerrard would be playing CM more than he did last year. If the recent form of Pennant, Sissoko and Gerrard is anything to go by, I think Didi would have played a decent number of games had he stuck around this season.

A few weeks ago, Armin quoted John Toshack saying that he thought that this year was too soon for us - not least because of the amount of football the likes of Carragher, Alonso and Gerrard have played in the last 2 years. That is starting to ring true to me as, with one notable exception, the squad is stronger than last year and yet we are undoubtedly playing worse now. The exception is of course the departure of Hamann, which in view of the recent form of Sissoko, Gerrard and Pennant, is looking increasingly like a bad call.

I'd have taken draws away to Everton and Bolton.

It was clear from day one that we had the toughest start to the season so we were never going to be ahead of Chelsea and your lot. However, we needed to grind out more draws from those away games (Everton, Chelsea, Bolton) so that we weren't miles off the pace. If (and based on our awful form at the moment, its a bloody big if) we were still only 8 points off the top after the game at Arsenal then I think we would still just about be in contention.

Agree with that. I know some on here (e.g. Rimbeaux) think in time he could be coached into playing a more measured game at CM but I have my doubts. I think those instincts of always going for the jugular are too far ingrained.

I'm in two minds between Crouch and Bellamy but the rest of the team should pick itself, albeit quite a few (including Reina, Carragher, Gerrard and Sissoko) need to pull their finger out sharpish.

I'm concerned he is going to fall between two stools. He looks lost in midfield and, while his overlapping runs from full-back show promise, his defending needs a huge amount of work. The frustrating thing is that he has shown signs of being a useful player - he is quick, knows where the goal is and works hard.

I'd be happy with that.

We are miles away at the moment. We aren't working hard enough - too often we're getting outfought by opposition sides who want it more. Too many key players are off their game - only Alonso is anywhere near the level we need. The rotation of players is starting to look like Rafa trying to prove a point. We need a heavyweight team out there for a good run of games. Rafa needs to make some tough calls quickly: 2 out of 3 at centre-back, where to play Gerrard, who to play at left-mid, 2 out of 3 up-front.

I'm getting more and more concerned about him. He's shown glimpses of ability but I'm starting to wonder whether he has the heart for it. There was a spell of play yesterday that stood out for me. He was breaking forward with the ball and 3-4 passing options in front of him. However, rather than releasing the ball, he kept on running towards a mass of defenders until he was tackled. He then made no serious attempt to track back. Rafa undoubtedly noticed it as he got subbed a couple of minutes later.

Gerrard could do it quite easily.

....and we don't have these. Its one thing having Souness and McDermott as your CM pairing when you have Case and Kennedy in wide midfield positions. Its quite another having Alonso and Gerrard in centre-mid with say Garcia and Pennant out wide. Thats the key point.

Adriano (Internazionale, Brazil), Michael Ballack (Chelsea, Germany), Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus, Italy), Fabio Cannavaro (Real Madrid, Italy), Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United, Portugal), Petr Cech (Chelsea, Czech Republic), Deco (Barcelona, Portugal), Didier Drogba (Chelsea, Ivory Coast), Michael Essien (Chelsea, Ghana), Samuel Eto'o (Barcelona, Cameroon), Luis Figo (Internazionale, Portugal), Gennaro Gattuso (AC Milan, Italy), Steven Gerrard (Liverpool, England), Thierry Henry (Arsenal, France), Kaka (AC Milan, Brazil), Miroslav Klose (Werder Bremen, Germany), Philippe Lahm (Bayern Munich, Germany), Frank Lampard (Chelsea, England), Jens Lehmann (Arsenal, Germany), Alessandro Nesta (AC Milan, Italy), Andrea Pirlo (AC Milan, Italy), Franck Ribéry (Marseille, France), Juan Román Riquelme (Villarreal, Argentina), Ronaldinho (Barcelona, Brazil), Wayne Rooney (Manchester United, England), Tomas Rosicky (Arsenal, Czech Republic), Andriy Shevchenko (Chelsea, Ukraine), Lilian Thuram (Barcelona, France), Patrick Vieira (Internazionale, France), Zinedine Zidane (retired, France). http://football.guardian.co.uk/News_Story/0,,1920879,00.html

I missed that. Ok you win!

And no-one has here. I don't think anyone would dispute that Giggs is a great player and has played at a high level for a much longer period than McManaman did. However, the point I was trying to make was that at his peak (circa 95-6 season) McManaman was as good a player as Giggs, albeit they had different roles. Your manager plainly thought a lot of McManaman based on what he has said on numerous occasions in print and how he geared your team during that period to specifically deal with the threat from McManaman.

Its not like Giggs was ever hyped by Utd and compared to Best.

Fowler on the dockers t-shirt: Talking of the fans, one of the things that endeared you to them was your support of the dockers when you scored a goal and at the end you lifted your shirt. How did that come about? I think it was Steve McManaman, he had a family member who was involved in the dockers plight' and just said before the game 'we?ll put these t-shirts on and just show out support'. Again I was probably a bit naïve, I didn?t know much about what was happening until Steve talked me through it. We felt they didn?t get the recognition they were deserving at that time and we felt at a big European game, if we got the chance, we would show our support in that way. Obviously, I scored a goal and lifted my top up and it got a big bout of publicity which is what the public needed. http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/news/drilldown/N...061011-1108.htm