bax

Good reasoning there. I don't think anyone is in cloud cuckoo land for suggesting that a player with a record of a goal every three games in goal friendly Germany, an even worse international record (I know he played some - not all - games at right midfield) is not good enough for Liverpool FC. I was surprised when we signed him and I'm even more surprised he seems to be playing every game now - even though Torres is injured.

Close between Agger and Torres but Torres just shades it for me. The annoying thing with Agger being injured is that surely we should have had a contingency in place if/when the Heinze transfer fell through? This was always going to happen if one of our CBs got injured.

Aye, strangely in my original post I was going to say he's too similar to Kuyt which is pretty damning for him as well.

I agree - the Crouch substitutuon was so late it was a joke. That'll do his confidence even more good. Benayoun did well when he came on as well. At least we're not out of it yet - two home games to come and we should at least win the first of them as Besiktas didn't look great.

This isn't a knee jerk reaction to tonight but Voronin isn't good enough. He has got no pace, isn't a good finisher and isn't good in the air. I'm just not sure what he offers us - OK - he works hard and is a good link man but surely we need better than that? The only plus point is that we didn't pay £30 million for our dud Ukranian. BTW - Yes, I know people will say give him time, he's only been here a few months etc but I don't think he'll be able to cut it - his career goals record doesn't exactly inspire either.

Given that all the talk from Gillett and Hicks has been (on the surface) positive, and given that Hicks has got a track record of splashing the cash when he signed A-Rod to Texas (albeit there was a salary cap in place and it didn't work out), who do you think Rafa's primary targets will be in the summer? Hicks and Gillett have stated that they would support Rafa for whatever players he goes after which kinda means that no-one is off limits. Now, being sensible we can't say that Ronaldinho, Kaka etc will all be coming to Anfield but I think we can realistically raise our hopes for this summer above other summers. Personally, I'd be happy with a new right back (Finnan is fine but we're desperately short of cover) and some much needed creativity in attack - whether that be from midfield, out wide or up-front. I hate to say it but a player of the mould of Ronaldo - hateful wee diving cheat apart - would be ideal. In an ideal world we'd sign Alves who looks superb every time I see him, Villa who would cost a helluva lot of cash but is gettable and an attacking midfielder but I'm at a loss to think of a realistic target that would excite the fans. The best players of this type, Kaka, Ronaldinho, Ronaldo are simply not options. Players in the tier below that - Ribery, Joaquin, Robinho don't exactly set the pulse racing. Aside from that it's possible that Sami will be moved on as well but I'd like to see us keep him as cover. If he is sold we'd need a new centre back if Rafa doesn't think that Paletta is ready/will make it. IMO, on the way out will be Kewell, Robbie, Pennant, Zenden and Dudek. Any thoughts?

Reina 8 - did the little he had to do well Finnan 7 - covered well at the back Carra 7 - solid as always Agger 7 - nice to have a CB that is comfortable bringing the ball out Riise 5 - just not happening for JAR at the momenet Pennant 5 - poor crossing all day, still looked to beat men for the whole 90 minutes to his credit Gerrard 6 - tried hard but wasn't his day Alonso 5 - some misplaced passes which is unusual kuyt 5 - didn't look like he knew where he was playing - not his fault really Crouch 6 - keeps getting in good areas, desparately needs to improve his timing when heading the ball Bellamy 7 - looks a threat when he's on the ball, can't understand why he keeps being subbed

I agree with you regarding Gerrard, sometimes he can be over-rated and often picks up 'Man of the match' awards when he hasn't even been in the game. Today was different, after getting the early lead his game had to adapt and he had to be a bit more cautious than normal. I thought this really suited him, his work-rate, desire, tackling and distribution were superb and he gave a real captains performance.

1. Gerrard 2. Finnan 3. Carra Kuyt would have been in the top three but he really should have tucked away one of his second half chances. Still, can't be greedy!

Great stuff with the YNWA - best thing about a bad night. So what if they were booed off at half-time? It shows how dissapointed we were with the performance, YNWA is about saying that we can have nights like this but we will all be here rain, hail or shine.

Of course Xavi played for it! That's what good players do. He chipped the ball over the defender, waited for the challenge and when he was caught he went down. Definite penalty. Surely we can appeal the yellow card as it is an absolute joke of a decision. BTW - if we'd scored the penalty then we'd have won by 2 or 3, I'm sure of that.

Tough - everyone was good........... Kuyt Finnan Pennant