G Richards

If we can get Kuyt and Defoe that would do for me as regards strikers.

I've never heard of anything like this, so 10/10 for coming up with it. That said, it would be unworkable, and would no doubt trample over various European laws. But the spirit of the post - some sort of handicapping system to try to make things a bit more even - is worthwhile, though I don't see the will in the game to make it happen. BTW, out of interest, in such a system I wonder where we'd finish. We are not the biggest spenders, but we are one of the biggest. Teams like Wigan and West Ham would be doing very well, as would Bolton. Bosman players would be even more important, as would ageing players with low contracts left, but still able to do a job for a year or two (Bolton's strategy).

I think that 2 strikers, 2 right midfielders and a left back (plus what we already have - Gonzales, Paletta) is very plausible. The sale of Cisse and Morientes is plausible too, and the sale of Garcia is more debatable, but I'd go with that. His stock must be high in Spain after scoring a hat-trick for them. We'll at least get our money back, possibly £8-9M. Aurelia on a free, and Victor on a free (as back up right midfielder) would mean that all of a sudden we're looking at paying for 3 players. Mind you, they'd all cost a fair bit if they are to improve us enough in the areas we need. So a first choice strike partnership? Owen and Kuyt for me. A right winger? Hopefully SWP. Those three players would likely cost £40M. Sales may bring in £20M (£7M Cisse, £2M Mori, £7M Garcia, £1M Dudek, £2M Pongolle, £1M Kirkland), though they are unpredicatable. So can the board find the £20M or so we need (on top of sales)? It would be £10M more than normal, so perhaps that's why there have been a few headlines lately about backing Rafa with the funds he needs to build a team to challenge strongly for the title.

That's a bit provocative! Who should Rafa get this advice from? I'm sure he knows what he's doing! I also believe that Rafa signed 3 strikers (if we are to believe Parry, who said Cisse was already a done deal prior to Rafa). Fowler - a good signing for free. He offers a goal threat (shame his efforts have been chalked off so far though). He also links play very well and is intelligent. An excellent free signing IMO. Crouch - he's about par for me. He does some things well but is not quite the quality to be in a first choice pairing IMO. Should be on the bench next season, ready to come on for the last 20-30 minutes if a different plan is needed, and also able to play in certain away games. Mori - a big disappointment. Cisse and Crouch to be moved on. A new first choice striker partnership to be brought in (funds permitting!), with Crouch and Fowler offering something as back-ups.

That's starting to take the banter in an unfortunate direction. You coming on here is fair enough. We were happy when you failed in CL pre-qualifier and failed in first round of UEFA. Now the shoe is on the other foot and you are happy that your rivals are out of Europe. It's understandable, and I'm OK with a bit of banter. But the comment I've quoted above is OTT and there's no need.

Fair play mate. Plenty of reds struggled to hide the laughter when you were knocked out of the European Cup pre-qualifier and then UEFA Cup at the first hurdle. But surely even the most one-eyed Everton fan would be dancing for joy if you reached the last 16 of the CL (poor for us!) and were third in the league. For us there is a certain flatness about it all right now as it's not enough. For EFC it would be a banquet. Therein lies the difference. Forever in our shadow.

I agree with the view that we need 2 new strikers. If funds allow, we need 2 new strikers who can complement one another and form a first choice partnership. Crouch to stay. He offers a good option off the bench, though I hope for a better first choice pairing. Fowler to stay too. He offers a good goalscoring threat and can link play very well, though he should be third or fourth choice. Do we have the funds for a new strike partnership and a right midfielder?

Before tonight I'm sure Rafa already knew where we were lacking. Almost certainly the board would have known too. But seeing the deficiency so clearly might just create the added impetus to back Rafa in doing what much be done. I feel we need a new first choice strike partnership to come in, if funds can be found. Crouch should be used in away games and as an option off the bench. Fowler should also be retained, but as a back up. A new first choice pairing is needed, with Cisse and Morientes to be sold.

Gerrard and Alonso are great players. I want to say that before I make my point. I thought there were a lot of holes through the middle tonight. Part of that is because we were chasing the game, part of it is becasue of Stevie's energetic style and trying to influence the game all over the3 pitch. We ended up getting picked off by Benfica. And I feel a fair few teams in Europe would have picked us off too. IMO we look a lot more solid with Stevie on the right, and a central pairing or Alonso and Hamann/Sissoko. Don't slate me for saying this - it's just my honest view!

Benfica deserve credit. They did a good job on us. We lost. We're all disappointed. But the fans at the match deserve a lot of credit for backing the team at the death. We will fight another day. It's frustrating becasue deep down most of us believe we should have been able to beat Benfica. But they are through, and as I said above, they did a good job on us. To say they are the level of the likes of Charlton is inaccurate. YNWA

Rafa's 'obsession' with Mori will end in the summer. Cisse and Mori to be moved out. At least one top striker to come in, and if we can afford it, I hope Rafa buys 2 strikers to form a new first choice partnership. Crouch to be used in away games and as an option off the bench. Robbie to stay as well, though not as part of first choice pairing.

We're all disappointed. Before the game most fans would have said Cisse and Mori will be sold/moved on in the summer. That's still teh case. Crouch will remain a Liverpool player. If we have the funds there should be two strikers brought in who are both ahead of Crouch and can form a new partnership. Crouch to be used in away games and as an option off the bench for me, but he still has an Anfield future.

3-1. Robert for them (hate him, but a free kick will have his name on it tonight). Garcia, Fowler, for us. 2-1 with 10 mins to go, and Cisse off the bench to make it 3-1 late on and send us through.

Crouch had two differnt numbers in the one recent England game (12 and 21).

I think it will be a great night and the fans will create a fantastic atmosphere. But there's something about Benfica that doesn't quite stir the soul as much as the likes of the Chelsea or Juventus games. Still, having said that, it's do or die. We need two goals, three if they score. They have a goal threat (especially from set pieces) so the realistic prospect of not going through will bring all the fans to life and I feel the team will be well up for it too. Its got all the makings of another special Anfield night. I expect we'll go through a big range of highs and lows, but I'm backing us to win 3-1.

Very happy. Good progress. Still obvious needs for the team in order to put up a sustained title challenge next season, but hopefully rafa is on the case and the board will back him to get the players he needs.

Home from Germany to England? Or home to Anfield? And what's the fee? £12M? Have you heard any other striker news?

Winning games 1-0 is all well and good (three points is three points and all that). But if you are only 1-0 up you don't have any cushion and the slightest mistake (e.g. Xabi's own goals against Birmingham) will lead to points dropped. I think the players also use up a lot of mental energy if they are only 1-0 up (particularly if they should have had the game dead and buried). Don't get me wrong. I'd be over the moon if we manage 38 x 1-0 next season, but I think the way forward, now that our defence is so good, is to score more goals. Rafa knows this and Gonzales will give us a pacy and expansive option. I expect a decent right midfielder too, and there will surely be a new striker in the summer. In the meantime, for the rest of this season, it would be good if we started to take a few more of the chances we actually do create. As Robbie gets fitter I expect he'll start scoring, probably beginning with tomorrow against Charlton.

Van Basten went down in my book with his recent comments but I still can't bring myself to dislike him. He was such a good striker and it was a great shame his career ended early through injury. Still, he needs to learn to act a bit more like a manager and be more discreet with his comments. He should follow the example of Sven

Beckham might be worth a punt if there's a clear out, but I would not want to pay a ridiculous fee (say £5-6M). He is a good footballer and is well able to pass and keep possession - that's a Rafa trait. OK, he's not the fastest, but he does guarantee good crosses and a threat from dead ball situations. Part of me thinks why not? And that's all from a footballing perspective. As a secondary matter to the football, the commercial benefit should not be overlooked. Beckham is largely reposnisble for making Real Madrid have the biggest income of any football team in the world. If he could give us two good years, then I'm sure it would be worth £10M+ to us each season (and that would be clear profit, after paying his wages). In other words, one very good player a season, purely for having Beckham here (who as I said above, is still a good player and can keep possession and whip in a good cross - things Rafa is surely looking for). I think it would be good for all concerned. (Can't see it happening though).

I'd definitley sign him if we could. Proven top notch Prem quality.

I'd imagine Pennant will be the one we buy. Even if Chelsea did agree to sell to us (unlikely) and if the fee was one we'd be willing to pay (unlikely) then his wages would be a big problem (unless he takes a big drop). Pennant on around £30K per week and a fee of £5-6M. That's the way forward for me. (Plus it leaves more room in the budget for a top notch striker).

I would consider selling Garcia. Don't get me wrong, there are many players we need to let go before him. But Garcia could be a useful player to have to land a bigger Spanish fish (say a Torres or Villa?) By the same reasoning, Morientes might be sold too. Guess it all depends, but Luis and Nando would both be attractive to various Spanish teams, so we'd have to see what may come. I think we need one striker to replace Cisse. In many ways Nando could be replaced by Fowler. (Robbie has all the skill and link up play of Nando but has more of a goal threat too. Not quite as good in the air, but Nando has hardly been banging the headers in has he?) Crouch stays. Then Pongo stays, and Kewell can also do a good job up front if needed (especially if Gonzales does well on the left). We need a right midfielder. I think Pennant is our man personally, and £5-6M should do the trick.

Investment - deal not found yet. Maybe he's done a great job in this, becasue the deals so far have not been good enough for the club. Maybe he's also a strong leader and has held firm for the right deal in the face of overwhelming pressure to get something sorted. Then again, maybe he's been sitting on his a*** and not even making an effort for investment. Somehow I think it's closer to the former, but we cannot possibly say how good of a job he's done because this has not yet run its course. Ground - it is linked to the above. In the meantime we're hardly homeless. Transfers - Rafa is making great progress with the budget at his disposal. Parry has no doubt helped secure some very good players at Rafa's behest. Alonso looks the pick of the bunch, and Reina and Sissoko are great players too. Kromkamp for Josemi was great business, etc. I'm sure there's more to come on this. I applaud an unwilllingness to pay over the odds for players. We cannot have it both ways as fans. We can't smash Ged for the money he spent and then moan that we now refuse to pay over the odds. Overall I'm happy with this, but like eveyone else I'd like to see Rafa given a bit more money. I'm sure it will come, but in the meantime we are not doing too badly with what we have. Commercial activities - our income went up quite dramatically last year, so well done. We are also getting into a new arrangment with Adidas (presumably becasue we can better the Reebok deal). Then we've also tied up some sort of deal for academies in Northa America, and we've got a link with that Ghana club too. I expect there will be a new sponsor announced soon as well (either shirt, tadium, or both). Picking mangers - I cannot think of a manger I'd rather have at Liverpool than the one Parry brought in. That's my tuppence worth

If we want him I'd say we were favourites to sign him. Chelsea already seem sorted up front, ditto Man Utd. Arsenal might be interested, but do they have much money? (I suppose he could be a stadium filler). Still, I'd put us as favourites to sign him, if we are interested. I'd like to see a low-ish fee (say £8M), given that there will be little or no re-sale value. Then I'd like to see Ronaldo take a big wage cut to come into our pay scale. He'll hardly be on the breadline, but he should not be on a huge amount (definintely less than Stevie). Then I'd like to see some sort of deal structured where we could cut him loose without having to pay a fortune to him if it didn't work out. If he is hungry he will score a lot of goals for us. I think his strike rate since blowing his knees and getting fat has been 0.69 goals per game at Real Madrid. Not too bad at all. If he could do anything like that for us then we'd challenge Chelsea for the title IMO.