G Richards

Kuyt is doing great. Whoever said he reminds them of Keegan was spot on. He's not excellent in any one thing, but his all round play and never say die attitude means that he will make an impact on the game that will stand the test of time. I feel that next season he will get a few more goals once he's fully settled. A permanent top draw partner for him would be ace (Huntelaar or Villa).

He was wearing the glove against Arsenal because Pennant asked him before the game to help him find the mobile phone down Cashley's shorts.

We've got three hard games coming up. If we can win all of those (West Ham away, Newcastle away and Everton at home) then let's have another look at the situation going into the Manc game. It's not unrealistic to argue that we'll be further behind them than 11 points when we play them. How I wish they had Tottenham away next, but alas it is Watford at home. That should steady their nerves, while we have 3 tough games coming up. If we can keep winning and Man Utd lose at Spurs (possible) then when we play them we will only be 8 points down. If we beat them it will be down to five points. Lot's of ifs and buts though. It is well and truly on if after playing them the gap is down to 5-6 points. But I have to be honest and say it's possible we'll drop more points than them over the next 3 games. Yeah, but no, but yeah... Ask me again when it's coming up to the Man Utd game!

Carra angry with Finnan for playing it out when Robben down. Rightly so. It's up to the ref to stop play if player is sufficiently injured - new rule this season. Robben makes miraculous recovery. Surprise surprise.

That team has a lot of great individuals but it doesn't look very balanced. There are 2-3 central defenders I could pick ahead of Puyol, and it seems like there needs to be a bit more steel in the midfield. The team would probably win most games 8-6 or something like that, so whoever said it was a Keegan team was spot on.

Thanks for the info on Ayala. I didn't realise he was so good in the air. Sounds like he'd be a good acquisition, if for a relatively short period of time. As for cover for Finnan, if we can't get the right player I'd rather make do with what we have until the summer. Finnan can play every game we have left (barring injury). It's not a huge amount of games now, simply because of the events of last week. By the summer the DIC money will be in and perhaps Rafa could go in for Alves or possibly Richards.

How good is Ayala in the air? He's not that tall is he. I know he has been a great defender for many years, but I can't help but feel if we swap Sami for Ayala then we'll lose aerial ability in the back line. That's importnat anywhere, but perhaps even more so in the Prem. Ideally, I'd rather anyone coming in be very good in the air, as well as a good defender, footballer, and with a decent turn of pace. If Jonathan Woodgate can prove his fitness, he fits the bill for me (as a footballer).

First manager to get 82 points in Premier League.

That crossed my mind too. If Cech play it really could go either way. He might have a big performance to announce his return, or he might have a stinker with thoughts of injury swirling around his head. The atmosphere will be electric and it will be strange for him with his stetson on. Can't wait.

I think that teams are all over our corner routine. The player striking the volley usually has a defender on top of him by the time the cross arrives. We should drop it (at least for a while). I'd like to see us whip some corners into the danger area, ones that clear the front stick but don't float in for the keeper to easily collect. With the quality at our club I'm amazed we don't do better on corners. As for the Riise free kick, again defenders shut that down. SOmetimes they infringe on the rules by charging out before the ball has been played, but as long as refs overlook that we should again look for more variety. I've been hoping that Aurelio might score from a free kick or two since he's supposed to have a good reputation with a dead ball. Maybe if he plays a bit more we will see it.

Dudek is one of the nice guys in football. The heroics he performed in Istanbul mean that he has earned a special place in our history. It's a shame for him that he never moved on after that night. He could have left a hero. Now he looks devoid of any confidence (not his strongest suit anyway) and he just does not look robust in goal. The goals he has conceded in the past two games... He will be gone soon enough. I can't bring myself to slag him though. He's a gentleman and he should not walk alone.

I have to say that Palletta has not really impressed me in the bits I've seen of him. Normally when you get a young player who is going to make the grade, you see flashes of something that make you look beyond the mistakes and raw play and hope for better to come. I just don't see that with Palletta. We need to sign a commanding central defender. Hyypia is fading fast and Carra and Agger leaves us too thin on the ground. Palletta is too far behind first team level to be considered.

1. Villa (maybe Huntelaar) 2. Alves 3. Richards 4. Bale 5. Mascherano That's a top striker and right winger, options for both fullbacks, and a superior midfielder to Zenden. That lot will give us a great chance to win the league. Arguably just the top two signings in the list would move us on considerably, though we'd have to get into our stride quicker than the past 2 seasons.

I've a lot of respect for Dudek. He was a hero in Istanbul, and in many ways that would have been the fairytale ending for his Liverpool career. I feel he was at least partically at fault for all three goals today. I'm as certain as I can be that Reina would have saved at least two of those today.

Reina would have saved at least two of those today, possibly all three. Bad mistake by Rafa for not playing him. If he wanted to give Dudek a run out then the lesser cup in the week is the place for that. We missed Momo too. Gerrard and Xabi are more than a match for most, but against the better sides (ones with good pace and movement) Xabi gets overrun when Gerrard is on the offensive and play goes behind him. Momo would have made a big difference. We also missed Bellamy. Crouch is a decent Premiership striker, but he looks a bit out of his depth against the best. He gets outmuscled by Toure, Ferdinand and Terry. The way to trouble those kind of defences is with clever movement and pace. Kuyt and Bellamy were forming a good understanding and they would have done better. Shame about Bellamy's hamstrings. Today illustrated why we need another pacy striker and why Rafa is interested in Villa. 2 big signings from DIC will put down a good marker: Alves and Villa. The icing on the cake would be an improvment on Zenden (Mascherano) and competition for the fullbacks (Richards and Bale). That might be getting too greedy though.

Crouch is a decnet player but he never seems to have a big game against the best. He is outmuscled by Toure, Ferdinand and Terry. The best way to beat the best is by good movement, allied with pace. It's a shame Bellamy wasn't 100%, since him and Kuyt were forming a good understanding and the movement looked good between them. Crouch is a better player than most of the country realises, though I do feel that us Liverpool fans have tended to overdo how good he is simply because everyone else has been late in seeing his good points. He is a decent Premiership striker and a good option for us. Ideally we would have any two from Kuyt, Bellamy, Villa/Huntelaar, with Crouch offering us a different option as the probably fourth choice striker. This may not be enough to keep him here when we buy another top notch striker to go with Kuyt and Bellamy, but time will tell.

Unless he's talking about his age and not his name!

Hysen was a decent enough player, but unfortunately not quite top draw. Had we signed Pallister and let the Mancs take Hysen then arguably our time at the top would have been extended.

Sorry, I misunderstood. Still don't think Doyle is good enough for us though, but I am pleased for the lad. He has come from relative obscurity and is going very well for Reading.

I just wanted to say how much I rate Pepe's distribution. When he makes a save he is quick onto his feet to get some attacking move going. His throwing is quick and accurate, but he's brought another dimension to his distribution this season that I don't think I've seen (at least to the same level) from any other keeper. Pepe does this kick - it has a low trajectory, and basically arrows towards the target - whether 40, 50, 60, 70+ yards away. It's quite phenomenal. The ball flies over like a rocket - giving the defenders much less time to get into position to cover any danger. This is a great asset and it is markedly different from the hopeful looping punts that most keepers do when they kick it. When we consider his athleticism, shot stopping ability, pace off his line, mental strength (coming back from his blip this season has demonstrated a strong mind), I think we would be very hard pressed to replace Pepe. He is still very young and will presumably continue to improve further. If Rafa wants Villa then he should get DIC to pay and keep Reina at Anfield where he belongs.

Zenden is our 4th choice central midfielder. I can't see that Barry Ferguson is any better. At best that damns him with faint praise.

My take on the situation was that it was an opportunity that came their way and they took it, which seemed reasonable at the time. The opportunity came because of Joorabchian (?) who was trying to buy the club at that point. PS - as for us buying Mascherano, it could well be a good bit of business, but a transfer deal is probably a mess to work out, given that Juve seem to have pulled the plug becasue it was all getting complicated with MSI.

Would that make Doyle 5th striker? Kuyt Crouch Bellamy Villa Doyle Doyle in a rich vein of form and good luck to the lad. But I would go with the view that he is one for a fair to middling team. As for the Fowler comparison, Doyle would be about as useful as the great man at this stage. That is to say he would not be very useful, since neither Fowler nor Doyle would be getting much playing time. The difference between Fowler and Doyle is that Robbie is nearing the end of his career and so can perhaps live with a peripheral role, since his best is clearly behind him (much as we all love him). Doyle might yet have his best ahead of him, but if he was sitting on our bench as our fifth striker no one would ever find out!

They are both great buys and their hard work will always ensure that they are well thought of. For the past few games when Kuyt couldn't buy a goal he was still putting in solid performances and benefitting the team. This is Rafa's mantra. As a tactical point, I'm not so sure about Momo's automatic place in the team when he is fit again. Xabi and Stevie have both played so well in the middle. We have looked so much more threatening and we are playing much better football and scoring many more goals. Perhaps the solution will be to move Stevie out to the right again, since Momo brings more to the team than Pennant. I'm not sure what Rafa will do if we sign a first rate right winger like Alves. Would Momo be benched then?

A five minute hat-trick against Arsenal would be welcome, but those days seem to be behind us now. Robbie will only get a few bits and bobs here and there now. League Cup and a few late sub appearances when the game is already won. I can't really see him having the hunger to play lower down, so I can honestly see him retiring in the summer. I hope I'm not writing him off too soon, but I think that will be the way of it.