G Richards

Xabi and Stevie in the middle, with Pennant or Garcia on the right, or Xabi and Zenden in the middle, with Gerrard on the right. I would have thought they will be the main options until Momo returns.

If Rafa now plays Xabi and Stevie in the middle for a ehile then that's a great option. Lots of people underestimate Xabi's defensive nous. I haven't seen the stats lately, but he gets through loads of tackles in a game, and his speciality is nicking an unguarded ball from an opponent. I agree with the point that if Pennant gets a bit more time and finds his form it will be a good thing too. We have a big squad. Momo's injury is a blow, but we have the personnel to cope. Bolo Zenden is also an experienced player with a lot to offer. He seems to be coming into form and should be another option for the middle, especially if Rafa wants to continue with Stevie on the right.

Rafa's transfer policy seems to be fairly successful so far. He has overhauled the squad and it is now his. I feel he needs to add a couple more players of the ilk of Xabi/Kuyt. We do not need much more quantity, but a couple of pieces of top quality next summer will be most welcome. The most impressive thing about Rafa's dealings is that he is quick to act on a mistake and put it right. This shows great humility in the man. Much better this than to keep playing the wrong player simply because you brught him in.

That descrobes Phil Neal, and he didn't do too badly.

Crouch is better at tennis and dancing.

Didn't see the game - was only able to follow along on here. It sounded like we were too vulnerable from high balls into the box. Although he has lost something of his best and Agger is doing very well, perhaps we missed the aerial strength Hyypia brings.

I think Le Tallec has the talent to pop up at a big club later in his career and do well. He certainly does not have the right 'mentality' at this point in his life, so he won't be in Rafa's plans.

I would still imagine they will finish top 6. They have a lot of quality - it's just not coming together for them right now but they will improve. Glad to see 2 wins on the spin for us. Starting to look much better than a week ago. Come on you reds!

The promise of Cisse and what he actually delivered are poles apart. Those who would have him back remember the promise IMO. He should have been better for us but sadly wasn't. No way back for Djibs.

Rush is the best finisher I've ever seen for us. Robbie had a couple of Rush-like seasons, but sadly did not sustain it for the long haul. Robbie is still a great finisher though - better than Bellamy and Crouch, and I'll withold judgement until I've seen more of Kuyt. Robbie will feature in 20 or so games this season (all comps, not necessarily all starts, mind) and he will weigh in with a useful 10 goals or so.

I expect things will start to click together a bit more tonight. Kuyt off the mark, 3-1 win. (Martins for them - he's not a great player, but his pace will be a concern).

Ground wise I'd expect us to be in a new stadium on Stanley Park and Everton to be at Goodison. (It will still have the same old obstructed views, but it might be rebranded 'Tesco Goodison' in honour of Leahy). As far as standing in the game is concerned, we will add 2 Prem titles and one more European Cup in ther next five years and will continue to compete at the top end for all the big prizes. Everton will continue to yo-yo between possible UEFA Cup place and relegation scare, though you may add a domestic cup over the next few years with a fair wind.

I'd like to see Stevie come aout and say something along the lines of: 'This is a massive game for them. We have a good record against them. We beat them in the Champions League, we beat them in the FA Cup and we beat them in the Community Shield. We all know we need to beat them in the league, and that's what we intend to do on Sunday. They already have a loss against Middlesborough, so if we beat them it might put them under a bit of pressure after all the money they've spent.'

Diao is well within his rights to sit tight and draw his wages. He will certainly never be paid so handsomely again, so in a short footballer's career he's accumulating as much as he can since you're a long time retired. Obviously it's not a noble thing he's doing, since we'd much rather see a player play and try to make a name for himself. But the problem lies with the club for giving him this option. It would be better if we just paid him up and made him a free agent and all moved on.

We need at least one out and out winger on the pitch, so we should never play Garcia and Gerrard on the flanks in the same game. Depending on where Gerrard is playing, we need either Pennant or Gonzalez on the pitch for me. I want to see more of Gonzalez, as he could be very good, but he just hasn't had enough time to adjust and show us what he can do yet. I agree that Riise and Aurelio are not really out and out left wingers. options.

Cally was a true Liverpool player. An unheralded great IMO.

It may well be that Rafa is prepared to take some flak in the short term because he knows it will be so much better for the longer haul. On the face of it, it seems as though we are rotating a bit too much, given that the players don't know each other really well yet. But then that might be precisely why Rafa is rotating them, so he can get to the point where they do. As I say, short term pain; long term gain.

I'm always sceptical when the media fawns over us, and when it's the other way and the knives are out we can certainly take it all with a pinch of salt. This is OUR Liverpool, and we know better than cheap journalists.

Meaningless internationals should be looked at. Totally agree with the suggestion of the better European nations automatically qualifying, with the smaller nations having to qualify. Agree with a mandatory 2 week midwinter break too. Those 2 steps should sort a lot of congestion problems out, as well as giving players a better chance to be at their best with a built in break.

Am I right in thinking we only had 8 points after 8 games last season? I bet we will be ahead of that this season. We've had a slowish start, but 3 games is nothing. Wait til we beat the Chavs and the barcodes - things will look rosy again.

I think the new system of £30 for all members is one last throw of the dice for Dunk. It will probably end up being his last main cash grab from Koptalk. There is just too much animosity towards him these days from too many people. The person behind the blog is also very tenacious, and this will contribute hugely to Dunk's downfall. I feel there will be charity commissioners investigating, as well as the tax man. It wil be like Al Capone IMO. It will be the tax issue that gets him.

Crouch is doing well at the moment, and his confidence is high. He is a good player and he brings something to Liverpool that few (if any) other strikers could do, so he is more than worth his place. Having said that, I have a feeling that our best partnership will be Kuyt and Bellamy (though that remains to be seen). If I'm correct, Crouch will become third choice striker for Liverpool, though he will still see plenty of action. Time will tell.

We've had a great summer's worth of business. We did very well last season and we are definitely stronger now. This is Rafa's squad, with most of the players he doesn't want departed. A great summer indeed. We area little short at right back. Back up for Finnan could be Carra, given Agger's good start, or it could be Paletta (it may be a bit early for Paletta, but we shall see). I feel Lucas Neill will come in if we want him. He will buy out his contract for £1.2M, and then we will reimburse that as a signing on fee. Blackburn have cut their noses off to spite their faces, as they could have had a straight £2M. There is a small possiblity we might land Alves in January. By then I think the Cisse money will be coming in if his transfer is made permanent. We shall see. But it has definitely been a great summer.

Assuming everyone is fit: Pepe Finnan Carra Hyypia Riise Gerrard Momo Xabi Aurelio Kuyt Bellamy I could just as easily go for Agger over Hyypia, Gonzalez over Aurelio, and Crouch over Kuyt.

Gallas (although I imagine he will move in the next couple of days or sign a new deal at Chelsea).