adayinthelife

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I know transfer fees aren't paid up front in full, but the total fee for Walcott is probably based on at least 50 first team games and a handful of England appearances. Compare that to Alonso where the vast majority of the reported fee probably would have paid out no matter what, all be it over a season or two. I could be wrong, if I am then RP can show me the error of my ways.

That is a serious problem, which is mainly due to the fact that the vast majority of players that Benitez has bought were simply not good enough. Benitez has had no hesitation in getting rid of these players, most of them within a season of arriving at the club. For example Gonzalez who Benitez went to a serious amount of trouble to sign, then a season later he is gone. The worrying result of all these comings and goings is that despite keeping the same manager, which is what usually brings better results, there is no continuity in the squad as it has been chopped and changed so many times. In the little over 3 seasons at the club, Benitez has incredibly signed 45 players and sold 46. However 15 of those players were under 18, but none of them have looked good enough, with the exception of Anderson. That still leaves 30 players signed for the first team squad in just over 3 seasons, which is what would be expected if we had changed manager 2 or 3 times in that period. Is it any wonder our team struggle to play with any fluency?

What makes you say that? It wasn't like he was getting long balls played up to him.

I don't think the recent managers at Valencia have had too much say on transfers.

http://www.saintsfc.co.uk/news/?page_id=6171 Terms were finally agreed today between Saints and Theo Walcott for cancellation of his Scholarship contract, and for the compensation for training and development with Arsenal FC. The compensation agreed involves a down payment of £5 million followed by contingent sums based on both club and England appearances. Total compensation over the full term could amount to £12 million, a record for a 16-year-old. You were saying?

We desperately need proper wingers, which we have done for years now. We should have paid the 15m for Jaoquin, which was an absolute bargain, but instead he ends up at Valencia. The have another winger on the other side who isn't too bad either... We should have gone for Guily in the summer, but instead he was snapped up by Roma for 2m. Although he is 31 now, he could have done a good job for a couple of years and been a much better option than Pennant.

Walcott was 5m up front, while Alonso alone was more than twice that, so your rant really holds no weight. The amount of money spent is not really the issue, I think it's much fairer to judge on the quality and quantity of players signed. Benitez has said something like the price of a player doesn't make him the right player. I think we were very lucky yesterday that he was playing instead of Van Persie, as time after time he got the ball in great positions, and if his decisions weren't so poor we could easily have lost by a few goals.

Warming up does not mean get ready to come on. Crouch wasn't told to get ready till it was right on half time.

Just a few months after Benitez took over we played at home to a fairly average Charlton team, but we absolutely ripped them apart right from the first minute and should have been 5-0 up at half time. That was with Baros and Cisse up front, no Gerrard, Riise at left mid and Traore at left back, but despite that we played a quick incisive passing game with loads of movement. In the end it was 0-0 at half-time and we had to rely on a couple of screamers from Riise and Garcia in the 2nd half, but our general play was so good it was frightening. All this just a few months after Benitez took over, so the future looked incredibly bright, which was then reinforced just a month later when Arsenal (the reigning champions) came to Anfield and were again played off the pitch, although it took that last minute goal from mellor to win it. Our first goal was an absolutely beautiful team goal finished off by Alonso as we totally dominated and completely played them off the pitch. Just have a quick read of this match report... The players we have now are much better then back then, so why have the performances gone downhill? Since then I can't really remember a 90 minute performance even close to rival those two games, whether that be against a mediocre side like Charlton were then, or the reigning champions like Arsenal were back then. People on here who blindly trust Benitez should watch those 2 games again now. We have gone so far backward since then it is beyond belief, despite having spent plenty on much better players. Just a few months into the job and Benitez had us playing the reigning league champions off the pitch, now here we are 3 years later and despite playing as well as we have done for the last 2 months, we just got taught a lesson in how to play pass and move football by the same team. There is only one man who can put us back on track and that is Benitez, so it really is time to step up and show everybody how good a manager he really can be. That means getting back to basics and get us playing the way we did just a few short months after he arrived at the club. So basically we have to go backwards to go forwards.

This has been going on since last season when Crouch was left out of all (but one) of the biggest European games, despite him playing out of his skin, especially in Europe. The final was the first time I had serious doubts about Benitez, as Milan were a team there for the taking, yet we went with Kuyt up front on his own. That game was made for 4-4-2 with Crouch up top and us pressing the ball high up the pitch, which is exactly the way we played many times under Benitez to great effect, so why didn't we play like that? In the end Crouch only got on the pitch with about 10 minutes left, when we were 2-0 down. Again against Besiktas, we were struggling desperately yet Crouch gets just the last 7 minutes on the pitch. Yesterday it was obvious Torres was struggling pretty much right from the start, so why did it take Benitez until the 46th minute to tell Crouch to get ready to come on? Has it become personal? or does Benitez simply not rate him now, despite spending 7m on a player who couldn't score in a brothel at the start, yet Benitez persisted with him and Crouch repaid his faith by finally finding the net on a regular basis, but also played some very good football, which was right out of the top drawer and as it turned out proved to his biggest doubters that he was good enough to be a Liverpool player. The only person who doesn't seem to really rate him now is the man who put his reputation on the line to sign him... Very strange. Could it be that Crouch simply scored too many goals last season and is now being punished accordingly?

Why do you get so upset over a simple observation I have made? This horrible run we have been on has seen Benitez come out after nearly every match and he has basically blamed the players, which he did again yesterday. True or false? If I was able to get to Anfield I would support the team way more than the vast majority of dummies who are lucky enough to be there, so lay off with your superfan attitude.

If people think our best side from 3 or 4 years ago would beat our best side now then the manager has done an incredible job of continuing to buy players that are worse than we had, or players who simply won't do as they are told. The problem is that the whole squad, which is now massive, cannot all be shipped out in the unlinkely event of them all being unable to do as they are told, instead is it a case of the players brought in simply not being good enough? Or could it be a case of the manager simply not being able to get anywhere near the best out of a very good squad of players? Before anybody claims our first 11 isn't good enough, remember that Benitez has had plenty of money to spend, but has seen fit to concentrate on improving the squad, rather than the team.

Yeah, but then again something is seriously wrong. It looks like benitez doesn't trust the players/has lost confidence in them, which is starting to become mutual?

It's not over yet, which goes to show just what a big chance we have thrown away after the good start we made. The major problem is that we will have to win 20 plus matches out of the 30 remaining. Considering we still have to play our major rivals in 5 of those matches we haven't got a chance, especially if you consider our shocking record against them under Benitez. Home and away combined it is Played 19 Won 4 Drew 4 and Lost 11. That is shocking, but should it really be? Our home record against them reads played 10 won 4 drew 3 lost 3, which is still not great considering how good we have otherwise been at home until recently. 3 of those wins were against Arsenal aswell. We scored 10 goals in those 10 home games, while amazingly 7 of those were scored against Arsenal. So that leaves us with 7 games against those other two teams, during which we managed just 3 goals in 7 games. Our away record is absolutely woeful, which reads played 9 won 0 drew 1 lost 8. We scored a pathetic 3 goals during those 9 games, with just 1 goal in the last 6 games, so where is the improvement? The answer is that there is none. Without it the only way we can win the league under Benitez is for us to win nearly every game against all the other teams in the league. Just not going to happen, is it?

Any chance you could ask your mate how often they play 5 a sides or focus on passing and movement? Does he still have total confidence in the manager?

Same old tired twisted logic yet again. It doesn't matter who said it, try to focus on what is being said instead, as that is the important bit. As for Shankly we were struggling in the bottom half of the old 2nd division when he arrived, so your comparison is ridiculous, as we had just finished 4th when Benitez arrived. Here are a few more quotes from the great man, the man who in case you forgot, created the Liverpool way. Football is a simple game based on the giving and taking of passes, of controlling the ball and of making yourself available to receive a pass. It is terribly simple. A lot of football success is in the mind. You must believe you are the best and then make sure that you are. "Sorry, boss, I should have kept my legs together," said Lawrence. "No, Tommy, your mother should have kept her legs together!," replied Shankly. My sig also reminds people of what Shankly was all about, which is where I'm afraid Benitez is severely lacking.

All on his 34th birthday... Carragher was woeful too I thought, which is far more worrying.

One good game from Voronin proved that? Did they play well together? Which is much more important and relevant when considering who is the best partner for Torres.

I think it's more a case of him feeling like once he finally scored he was then playing as well as he ever had, yet despite that he was left out of the big games. He had done exceptionally well in Europe with 7 goals in 8 starts. However, he only started once out of 5 matches against Barca, chelsea and the final, so he probably feels that he has every right to be pissed off. He just wants to play and having played better than he probably imagined then he must feel totally dejected, as it seems like his very best still isn't good enough for the manager. Do you not wonder about the mentality of a player like solskjaer who never once moaned about hardly ever playing, but was happy picking up his wages every week?

'Football is a simple game made complicated by people who should know better.' - Bill Shankly 'The game will always be about players, though, not systems or technology. We talk about 4-5-1 and 4-3-3, but the most important thing is to get players to understand why they are doing things. If you don't really believe in something, you'll do it without giving your best. If you understand why you're doing it, you will. Then if it works, you can go a long way.' - Paul Jewell Those quotes could easily apply to Benitez and our team right about now.

They were better players on the fringe of games? He isn't as good as he was 5 years ago? Or are you saying he hasn't got the stamina he used to have? If not then what is stopping him being that box to box central midfield player apart from Benitez? If I remember Benitez was quick to say how he wanted Gerrard to make less runs to conserve his energy. That's like saying Fowler in his prime wasn't good enough, so that's why we didn't win the league. The real reason is because we didn't and still haven't got enough players anywhere near the class of Fowler and Gerrard. I doubt I'm his biggest fan, but he has the talent to be as good as he wants to be. We could win the league without him, but would need even more top class players, which are rarely available. It is time for Benitez to let the players off that leash he has around their necks, especially Gerrard's.

It's true. Watch the video of Benitez, watching videos. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NpFa373jbqg

I agree to a certain extent, however this is nothing new and most of the players should be well used to it by now. Benitez should have earned the trust of the players, but I can't help but feel he just doesn't trust them at all. Pako leaving has meant Benitez working more with the players on the training ground, so why has it coincided with some of the worst football we have played in years, especially at home? His negativity and the lack of freedom he allows the players seems to be hindering the team to such an extent that they have simply forgot how to enjoy and express themselves on the pitch.