MFletcher

Put the Gerrard bashing stick away. He was fouled and it was a stonewall penalty.

Yes, but look at the way his body is positioned. He lunges to prevent the hoof up field. I've never seen Kuyt make a dirty tackle. He's an honest professional and I'm inclined to believe he was simply trying to block the ball. Yes, the challenge looked bad - but he didn't go clattering into the Ogre, he jumped in front of him. He was clearly trying to stop the ball going forward and a yellow card was given simply because he left the ground in such a manner.

Kuyt Mascherano Lucas

I felt it was an honest attempt to win the ball. His studs were well away from the player, he went in with his legs towards the ball and not straight into the player. A yellow card was more than fair.

His form has been brutal this season. I'd take £8M. Lucas is more than capable of making the step up. His cameo today was very, very impressive. Good at what he does, but we need players who are better at ball retention.

My view is that Gerrard was abandoning his position and tactical responsibilites in search of a goal. He was taking on too much and we were playing entirely through him. By bringing him off, we kept our positional and tactical discipline and Lucas was more than capable of collecting the ball and spreading play in order to stretch them. He also forced the second penalty. A great decision by Rafa. It was one that took real nerve, because if we had drawn - or lost - the Sky brigade would have been on his case and installed Rafa-bashing as the national sport. They'd only have stopped once we're in a major cup final again, at which point they'd claim they've understood his methods all along. Rafa's decisions were vindicated by the final result. On a different note, Lucas has to play more. To come in and give that sort of performance in a game like today... the kid is something special. He certainly looks a better bet than Momo. His ability to pass has completely deserted him these days.

I'm concerned at the ease with which he left Stubbs get in that cross prior to Sami's own goal. Also his miss was criminal. Apart from those two instances, he was perfectly competent.

You really are a clown Kaizer. Your agenda against Kuyt is pathetic. Do you really think Kuyt would have scuffed the shot that Voronin did instead of passing it back? He'd have passed it back and we'd have scored. And if Voronin had scored those two penalties, you would have been making the exact same comments that the sensible ones amongst us are making about Kuyt.

This is the sort of game where Sissoko could really prove his worth. I take it we'll have to have Lucas on the bench if we're going five in midfield.

Mascherano? Alonso starting would be great news though. We've missed him. I'm not sure how he'll cope fitness wise with such a difficult game straight after an injury like the one he's just recovered from.

I haven't seen any of the game, any highlights, any of the presentation etc. since I turned the TV off at the final whistle. If there any highlights on of the final, I turn the channel until it's finished. I was annoyed about the whole thing for a good month - more or less until the Torres stories looked like they had some substance. I think what really angered me about ultimately losing was that we deserved to win the final. I don't think I'll ever watch any part of the game/presentation again.

Is Torres definitely out then?

From those videos you'd think the ball was glued to him.

I imagine it will simply make clubs more careful as to who they try to sign. I don't blame Barcelona, they've lost some excellent talent already, but I can't see us being overly concerned. It's not like we'd have to sell the ground to pay them a £2M fee.

I imagine we kept Sissoko this year with a view to securing Mascherano permanently and allowing Lucas to settle. £17M is a bargain for a player of Masch's age, quality and potential. It would be a backward step if we didn't complete the deal. Fantastic player.

I suspect that players will be offloaded in January in order to accommodate new signings. I feel Crouch is as good as gone. Riise may or may not stay, depending on whether we can find anyone worth replacing him with - left back isn't an absolutely necessary area because he's perfectly competent. He's not great, he's not even above average but we can cope with him in that position until the end of the season if needs be. Some people seem to think if we took a cardboard cutout of him and stuck him on the pitch he would do more. I could see Mancini coming in as a replacement for Kewell - who would either be offloaded for a small fee or, more likely, will sit in the physio room until his contract runs out. I can't see the logic of Alves. Elisha has commented that Babel was "hot" in training last week playing as a striker, so it must be something Rafa and the coaching staff have been considering. Mendy baffles me. We already have our defensive utility man - and he's a great one that - can't see the logic of bringing another one in - especially if he plays on the right side of defence and we already have two good players there in Finnan and Alvaro.

I suspect Rafa was building him up in an effort to bypass the work permit rules - Gonzalez could then have been classed as an "outstanding talent" if Chile didn't reach the threshold for him to automatically get a WP.

The defending in the Dutch league is mediocre though. Kezman was consistently excellent at PSV, but really didn't click at Chelsea or Atletico. I'd be worried about him coming in, not playing a couple of games and going straight to the media to claim he's being victimised more than the other three strikers by rotation.

I'd love Mancini, but Alves' attitude sounds awful. I can't see the logic of Mendy either... Why would we go for another right back when left back is of greater concern? Unless he plans to use Arbeloa as our long term left back.

I reckon Fat Sam wants rid of Owen - he doesn't suit the system he likes (4-5-1) and he's already getting pissy by claiming he is fit for England. He'll probably end up at West Ham or something - and I'm being serious. None of the bigger clubs will touch him because of his dire injury record and clear determination to play for England regardless of club/injury problems.

Pennant as the main right winger in a supposed "title challenging" team is shocking. He'll never be good enough, but we won't be selling him in January. Maybe in the summer if his poor run of form continues.

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I can't remember the last time Sami was so poor in the air. The big man had an off day and we suffered for it. We still managed to pull a point out of the bag though, so it's not all bad. We should be winning those games though. 6 points from a possible 12 at home isn't really good enough so far, but it will inevitably improve as the season goes on.

Great to hear that he was being utilised as a striker in training this week. I don't feel I'm exaggerating when I say the lad could well be our Henry. I really hope we see him and Torres up front at some point. The most obvious situation would be if Crouch moved on in January, then we could move Babel up front and go for a left winger.