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Joaquin is too inconsistent and will never cope with the tempo of the PL. If a winger can't cut it for Real Madrid against so many poor sides in La Liga, then you would have to be a fool to bring him to the PL. He will leave crying for more time on the ball, like Morientes did. We must get real wingers this window and he is not the solution. Degen is a nothing player. I'd rather have Finnan! Rafinha, yes please! Obviously, we will sign a LB. Let's all hope it's the modern version in the Evra mould. Barry? Probably better for our side than Alonso but enough to get no 19? I thought that Mascher and the 18mill£ spend on him, would allow us to play with only one HM? I would argue that we need Diego as a playmaker behind Torres and that we could move Gerrard a little further back to cover Mascher. I really dislike LFC playing with two HMs and I think it will take us nowhere in regards to winning no 19. We need a team that can bring the football to the opponents to win the PL. I hope that we will move away from this 4-2-3-1 formation after this window. Voronin, Crouch, Finnan, Pennant, Riise, Kewell and Carson will probably leave. But for me the key is whether Alonso will stay or not.

NO no no no no!!!! SELL SELL SELL. Damn...

So... ...who wants to see Mono start against Chelski...?

I stand by every word. It made even more sense the second time I read it. Nobody gives a s**** about the Charity except maybe you. Obviously I have been OTT in my portrait of dear Momo but in general I fundamentally believe that you have to be a better footballer to play CM on Liverpools first team.

A very good shout! I'll buy that.

That has to be the saddest compilation ever! 4 tackles and a little diasshow with pictures of his shirt! String a compilation together of his s**** passing and we would be on to something. That 30 yard hoof he made to himself against United could start it off. So it should be easy for you to name one?

THAT is f***ing ACE! We were never brilliant last season with Momo on the midfield. Not even in the win over Arsenal. Effective, hard working; maybe. But brilliant?! Not in terms of ability on the pitch. We had a long streak but we were never brilliant. Not on TV. Was in different live, Carra? Please tell me.

Ohh, good one Kaizer. Some hard facts. The people in Momoland won't be happy!

Haha, cute Get the f*** out of here

I'll go to Athens. Happy now? You believe that you have to live in Liverpool to have an opinion about the team? Are you mental?

Haha - f*** me sideways. You think that Rafa has shown great tactical skill when it comes to LFC's away games? He's has been a hole in the ground. The Villa game was nothing short of hysterical. Wtf was that line-up about? Two "defensive" midfielders?!? From where I'm sitting it would be fairly easy to conclude that Rafa hasn't got a clue about how to travel in the PL. Are you also a hardcore "RCDNW" member? You might not see as much on TV but you get a pretty good idea about what is going on. Wouldn't you agree? If I could I would go more often but I live in Copenhagen...

But it was a different scenario. Will you give me that? He was never (Thx God) required to display they skills you would expect from a CM playing for LFC. Once he got a better understanding of how to position himself he really improved. Do you really believe that Momo can pick up great technique and passing skill over the next season or two?

I was there in 2001 when we beat the Scum 3-1. I was sitting right behind the goal when Riise smacked it into the corner. I was at the UEFA-cup final against Alaves in Dortmund. Anyway; you're saying it's impossible to know anything about football/Liverpool unless you live at Melwood and work at Anfield? That is a reasoned, well thought out argument. I like you

He was awful in the first half and Barca was s**** in the 2nd. Granted: Momo did kick them about with flair. He was the perfect wreckingball. So we are in effect talking about a player at CM for LFC who can only run and wreck! At CM? You wanna watch football or wreckingball? He's a match made in heaven for Wimbledon. Imagine him and Vinnie together. 'Balls' would be flying everywhere. Either he learns to play the holding midfielder posotion, or he's out. Pure and simple. With Mascher coming in I doubt he will ever play as a holding midfielder. What's more, he hasn't got the brains or the skill to play there IMO. I can't stand to see Gerrard being pushed OOP to accommodate a wreckingball. It's not what LFC is about for me. I want us to play attractive football and only resort to wreckingball when we are really up against it. (Que the Barca game). I think Rafa dropped his pacifier on this one. Momo might be the symptom but Rafa is the decease, when it comes to LFC and our poor traveling. That's where you're wrong mate. He has never showed us that he can pass under pressure. There has been no improvement. He will never learn. You think that Crouch can learn to head the ball? No way mate. It.is.too.late. Either you got "it" or you don't. Pure and simple. You might be able to improve you skill a little when you get older but the basic skill is groomed in your youth.

Precisely! If he can't pass now, he will never learn. No player has ever NEVER EVER learned to pass after they turned 20. They might improve their passing but they can't f***ing learn at that age. And folks; that's what were talking about here. The ability to hit a man over 5 yards with the minimum of pressure. He can't and he will never be able to. I'm so sorry. It pains me but it's true. YNWA.

The question is what he is Boss of. It sure as hell isn't a football.

That he isn't very fast...

True - but he wasn't really rated though? Not like Momo.

Well, what do you think? He can't pass. He's a cross between Bernard Langer and a turtle. He couldn't score at a fashion show in a diamond outfit. He couldn't even assist his wife in the kitchen. Name me one CM in a Liverpool shirt who has been rated higher with so little talent on the ball.

I think it could be down to the frequent rotation policy invoked by Rafa. If anyone remembers Milan/Baresi in the early 90's and the fantastic off-side trap they employed you will also recall that they had the same back four (+ the two CM midfielders) for almost every game during that period: Mauro Tassotti, Paolo Maldini, Franco Baresi, Alessandro Costacurta Rijkaard and Demetrio Albertini That is possibly the best defence I have ever seen and they used the off-side trap better than any other team in the history of the game. With the constant change in our line-up, implementing the off-side trap would be very risky business. Could that be a plausible explanation for Rafa not attempting to use it on set-pieces?

The stats have already been posted here. "Widening the net to all competitions, Liverpool conceded eight set-piece goals, compared with Chelsea's nine, Arsenal's 12, and Manchester United's 15. Liverpool "also played the most matches: meaning fewer set-piece goals conceded from a greater amount of games." I know we are doing well in this department. I knew that coming here. But there is always room for improvement, right? The new offside rules doesn't prevent an effective offside trap from working on set-pieces IMHO. I would say that on set-pieces the new rules has little effect actually because you often catch all 4 or 5 opponents in the box when you employ it. You will have to be careful with players 'running in' to the ox but that is no different than before. As for the corner comment - please...

Yeah - sorry about that. Just got annoyed with the smart-ass oneliners coming back at me! NOWHERE in the original post do I say that the zonal defense hasn't been good for us. I'm just saying that if we combined it with an off-side trap, we might be able to do even better. The Benfica goal is a good example of this.

So there is no reason to work on implementing an offside trap. I see - thank you experts...

Really? The Benfica game? See above link 0-1 to the Scum Rememer Rio? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40hgOPzbhzI Everton game: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNNM3S5LT0c...ted&search= Sheffield united game: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PwWfkyERZrE Take a look at more goals at youtube and you will realise that you're talking tripe. Try to control that unfortunate tendency and do some research. 2005/06 Fixtures Jul. '05 STATUS HOME SCORE AWAY ATT. COMPETITION Wed. 13 Final Liverpool 3 - 0 T.N.S. 44,760 UEFA Champions League Tue. 19 Final T.N.S. 0 - 3 Liverpool 8,009 UEFA Champions League Tue. 26 Final FBK Kaunas 1 - 3 Liverpool 8,300 UEFA Champions League Aug. '05 STATUS HOME SCORE AWAY ATT. COMPETITION Tue. 2 Final Liverpool 2 - 0 FBK Kaunas 43,717 UEFA Champions League Wed. 10 Final CSKA Sofia 1 - 3 Liverpool 16,512 UEFA Champions League Sat. 13 Final Middlesbrough 0 - 0 Liverpool 31,908 English Premiership Sat. 20 Final Liverpool 1 - 0 Sunderland 44,913 English Premiership Tue. 23 Final Liverpool 0 - 1 CSKA Sofia 42,175 UEFA Champions League Fri. 26 Final Liverpool 3 - 1 CSKA Moscow 80,000 UEFA Super Cup Sep. '05 STATUS HOME SCORE AWAY ATT. COMPETITION Sat. 10 Final Tottenham 0 - 0 Liverpool 36,148 English Premiership Tue. 13 Final Real Betis 1 - 2 Liverpool UEFA Champions League Sun. 18 Final Liverpool 0 - 0 Man Utd 44,917 English Premiership Sat. 24 Final Birmingham 2 - 2 Liverpool 27,733 English Premiership Wed. 28 Final Liverpool 0 - 0 Chelsea UEFA Champions League Oct. '05 STATUS HOME SCORE AWAY ATT. COMPETITION Sun. 2 Final Liverpool 1 - 4 Chelsea 44,235 English Premiership Sat. 15 Final Liverpool 1 - 0 Blackburn 44,697 English Premiership Wed. 19 Final Anderlecht 0 - 1 Liverpool UEFA Champions League Sat. 22 Final Fulham 2 - 0 Liverpool 22,480 English Premiership Tue. 25 Final Crystal Palace 2 - 1 Liverpool 19,673 English Carling Cup Sat. 29 Final Liverpool 2 - 0 West Ham 44,537 English Premiership Nov. '05 STATUS HOME SCORE AWAY ATT. COMPETITION Tue. 1 Final Liverpool 3 - 0 Anderlecht UEFA Champions League Sat. 5 Final Aston Villa 0 - 2 Liverpool 42,551 English Premiership Sat. 19 Final Liverpool 3 - 0 Portsmouth 44,394 English Premiership Wed. 23 Final Liverpool 0 - 0 Real Betis UEFA Champions League Sat. 26 Final Man City 0 - 1 Liverpool 47,105 English Premiership Wed. 30 Final Sunderland 0 - 2 Liverpool 32,697 English Premiership Dec. '05 STATUS HOME SCORE AWAY ATT. COMPETITION Sat. 3 Final Liverpool 3 - 0 Wigan 44,098 English Premiership Tue. 6 Final Chelsea 0 - 0 Liverpool UEFA Champions League Sat. 10 Final Liverpool 2 - 0 Middlesbrough 43,510 English Premiership Thu. 15 Final Saprissa 0 - 3 Liverpool 43,902 FIFA Club World Championship Sun. 18 Final S㯠Paulo 1 - 0 Liverpool 66,821 FIFA Club World Championship Mon. 26 Final Liverpool 2 - 0 Newcastle 44,197 English Premiership Wed. 28 Final Everton 1 - 3 Liverpool 40,158 English Premiership Sat. 31 Final Liverpool 1 - 0 West Brom 44,192 English Premiership We concede plenty on set pieces!

Hello! You don't know me as I post mostly on sixcrazyminutes.com. I just have a quick question for the YNWA experts. I've been thinking about our zonal defense and the goals we seem to concede on set pieces. Every team concedes on setpieces, obviously. It's almost always in the vacuum between the keeper and the two CB's. It just can't be helped. We all know that zonal works just fine and if you doubt the effectiveness just look at Italy for evidence. What concerns me is that an effective zonal defence in Italy is always combined with an offside trap. Especially on setpieces. Something Milan (1990!) and other Italien teams has done to perfection. The lack of this trap has cost us dearly! Remember the away game against Benfica to name one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=auX5Vfb2KBM...ted&search= I'm just wondering if anybody else think that it's a bit strange that we seem to have no real offside trap in place on setpieces? Thanks for a great website btw. /CAD