yellow jumper

agree.

kuyt was outstanding. we still lack a top class dribbler to add a bit of unpredictability to our attack. bellamy would have helped, and while pennant was decent he doesn't look like he can come off his wing with much effect, or actually beat a man with any regularity. garcia presents the same old frustrations. can put up with the bouts of careless distrubution, and really think his basic problem is a physical one; a yard more of pace, a sinew more of strength, what a player he'd be. although the goals weren't their fault, and they did okay individually, i thought alonso/gerrard still look exposed to the quick counter-attack. don't think we imposed ourselves enough physically. arsenal looked like they wanted it more first half. thought a draw was probably a fair result. mosaic and 6 minutes was maginificent.

This content is not viewable to guests.

think it's more a stamina/strength thing then speed. was in istanbul and he's still looked quick-ish over five yards amd definitely a yard quicker than most in his head. doubt he has the constant movement and upper body strength that benitez would want from a starting centre-forward though, particularly one who tends to play deeper of the two these days. touch, skill, finishing are all still there.

prefer bellamy.

baines isn't a better defender than riise as anyone who saw his performance against chelsea will testify.

we are only s*** in the context of our terrible start to this campaign. every defeat now looks like a crisis, but our performances over the last season and a half, suggest we're closer to being a very good side than a mid-table one. thought we played reasonably well yesterday without finishing our chances. before this defeat we were the form side in the country. if we continue to win a similar proportion of our remaining league games as we have in the last month we'll make the top four with something to spare. which is obviously the bare minimum right now. invariably when we get the first goal we look like world-beaters, perhaps only chelsea of the last two years are better from a position of supremacy. in that context we look capable of going close to the title, but there are obviously still serious issues when we concede first. hard to say if that is a mental problem, a lack of top quality, or a tactical issue. probably a little bit of everything bound in together.

drogba/ronaldo are the difference between us and a league title.

bellamy's been at least as good as owen or defoe last few games. as you say sammya he offers more outside the penalty area too. just needs to keep it going.

probably been said previously, but alonso was truly magnificent. back to his best. bellamy looks increasingly good too, and i thought the ref offered him absolutely no protection at all yesterday. obviously should of had the game won by half time. if we don't get the first goal away from home we're struggling. and in that sense nothing's really changed from last season. bellamy offers hope, but i still think we need to splash a lot of money on a top quality winger/forward, notwithstanding a huge improvement in gonzalez or pennant, who although showing the occasional signs of class, can't yet offer anything like the threat the likes of robben, ronaldo, van persie etc.

you've never liked him though kev. hard to argue that riise's been anything but poor for a couple of months. but at least he's shown in past seasons that he can perform at a decent level in the premiership for liverpool. there are bigger question marks over other positions for me.

fletcher's played for wales.

horseface

i wonder if someone's said something to him about this, because early on and in the footage i'd seen of him in holland he seemed much more likely to lash it then place it.

This content is not viewable to guests.

maddock mentioned torres, guily and barraja links in the mirror a couple of days ago.

think another decent central midfielder option is quite high up the list of requirements given sissoko's injury problems, the loss of hamman and question marks over zenden's suitability for that role. anything happens to gerrard or alonso from here until january and we're pretty f***ed.

oh to have another barnes. derby manager slated him at the weekend, he did get the winner though. and seems to be scoring regularly from midfield. the usual t'net hype suggests derby fans think he's better than huddlestone ever was at a similar age.

yes. as long as he uses them conservatively and doesn't suddenly become blinded by options. at the moment i think he has a defined first eleven, with two or three others he can rely on at old trafford. results at southend and copenhagen show that beyond that he can't tinker with much confidence, although he might want to. other than everton at home i don't think he has taken many liberties in the league. i think, from our point of view, they have shown the importance of early season momentum, but then perhaps they had the right fixtures at the right time. they're going to have to play a lot of big games with tired legs and with any luck some big players missing. i think we'll finish strongly.

can't think of many january signings that have made instant impressions at big clubs. particularly players coming from abroad.

hopefully this investement will allow benitez to pay that few million extra for the up and coming players he really believes in and has already got tacit agreements from. although they weren't unknowns the reputations (and probably the price of) players like simao and alves has increased since we were first chasing their signatures. i think rafa'll continue to target those players that are bubbling under, rather than just write blank cheques for big names. if the liverpool way continues to be important, as moores, parry and even benitez have suggested, i'd expect the same from future managers too. god knows what ged would have done with a couple of extra billion though?

just back from the game. thought pennant (along with fowler and carra) was our best player on the night, although the fullback he was up against was s****. if he's got the beating of his man he's alright, it's when he doesn't that he seems to lose the plot. in that sense i understand the lack of intelligence criticism levelled at him. he needs to find another attacking option, ie. touch out of feet and swing it in a la beckham. doesn't do that nearly enough for me. wasn't close enought to see him bottling anything exactly, although i know he has in the past. but he certainly worked hard. bellamy's a fecking misery, and he needs to learn to stay onside.

le tallec got 2 for sochaux last weekend as well.

This content is not viewable to guests.

This content is not viewable to guests.