Redray

Agger Aqua Degen Lucas was poor, as was Gerrard, Carragher et all. Knives only out for Lucas though? Strange that.

I would say we did this in the first part of the second half and did quite well. Problem seems to be when we miss chances to get the second the belief seems to go.

I watched the Manc game again recently in it's entirety just for a bit of perspective. We were pretty average in that game also. Still had Insua and Aurelio on the left side, showed defensive frailties and a general lack of creativity. We got goal the through Torres fairly late on but it has to be said the game was pretty typical of what we've been watching all along. Maybe it is all just about results.

Stoke will be fired up for this one. We will do well for the first 20 minutes and then lose our way again. It's like a reocurring nightmare.

Care to make an observation now? Reds legend John Aldridge denies calling for Liverpool FC boss Rafa Benitez to be sacked JOHN ALDRIDGE today slammed reports that claimed he said: "Liverpool must sack Rafa Benitez". The fromer Anfield and Ireland striker and Reds legend was quoted in glossy 'lads' mag', Nuts which alleged he said, among other things, that Liverpool must sack Benitez, that the manager "can't claim injuries are a problem" and that "he could not see any way for Liverpool to finish in the top four". However, Aldridge, who says he is now considering legal action, was today mystified and furious with the offending article, which was also picked up and reported nationally elsewhere today, as he vehemently denied speaking to the magazine. He has spoken to members of Liverpool's backroom staff this morning to explain that he did not make any such comments and is now considering his options. "I can categorically say that I never spoke to Nuts Magazine," Aldridge, a Football Echo columnist, said today. "I certainly wouldn't say anything so inflammatory that Rafa should be sacked. "Rafa is under enough pressure at the moment and his job is hard enough; I have never, ever said that he should go. "The story is completely fictitious. I will be consulting my lawyers about the matter." Aldridge added: "As for this being the most difficult time I have ever experienced as a Liverpool fan, it's anything but. "Yes, things are not going as we would like them to be but we are just experiencing a bad season. "That's all." http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/liverpool-fc/liverpool-fc-news/2010/01/12/reds-legend-john-aldridge-denies-calling-for-liverpool-fc-boss-rafa-benitez-to-be-sacked-100252-25581088/

I thought he was being serious until I read that bit.

Or voting rights apportioned accordingly.

She http://www.swwb.org/user/182

Wasn't meant to be a moan, but yes I can see how it appeared like that.

It's fantastic what SOS have done, great example of what pressure from fans can do. My point is born out of the frustration from having these owners not the actions of SOS. I don't think it really changes anything, particularly insofar as Gillett is concerned.

Why would you think that?

and....? What next? Seems to me like a line has been drawn under the whole episode.

http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/news/latest-news/lfc-press-statement Liverpool Football Club today announce that Thomas Hicks Jr has resigned as a director of both the club and its parent company Kop Holdings. Three new directors have been elected to the boards of both companies.These are Philip Nash, LFC Chief Financial Officer; Ian Ayre, LFC Commercial Director; and Casey Coffman, Executive Vice President of Hicks Holdings.

"You don't get to choose how you're going to die. Or when. You can only decide how you're going to live. Now." Joan Baez

Agree with that but i'm pretty sure it is a storm in a teacup as far as they are concerned. Fans will keep going to the games and that is all they care about.

Not really a comparison is it though? Noel, despite what he did, actually honourably and tendered his resignation. These have no cognizance of what honour is. One of the many benefits of working for Daddy perhaps.

Appreciate that but was just thinking of the end gain insofar as LFC is concerned. Just wondering that if their business interests are restricted elsewhere then how this may possibly reflect their grip on the club. Possibly make it more 'vice like' than the other way.

So what exactly is the possible extensive coverage of this hoping to achieve?

How sweet a Birmingham winner in the sixth minute of stoppage time would have been?

Pretty much the norm i'd say.

According to Fergie, the reason he is not on the bench is because he has been playing with an injury for the last two weeks!

Just about hit the nail on the head perfectly; The Horrible Mistake that is Ruining Liverpool and the Media Lie That Won’t Die Lazy punditry, it seems, is now the standard for televised and radio broadcast football regardless of which channel you choose to watch football on. There was a time when listening to a pundit or reading an article would offer some fascinating insight or tell you something new about the game you’ve watched all your life. Even Hansen in his early years on MotD would dazzle you with something as mundane as his analysis of a defence’s positioning for a drop ball. Maybe there’s less to learn once you’re in your thirties or maybe pundits these days play to the mass market audiences with sloppy soundbites and sensationalism. The latter seems to be the main factor. One of the best examples of this slapdash and clumsy analysis, is the universal perpetuation that Liverpool are a ‘two man team’, those two men being Gerrard and Torres. Two man team. We’ve heard those words so often over the last 2 years that it would be no surprise if the Oxford English Dictionary included it in their next edition as a colloquialism. When it comes to Liverpool, it seems the pundits and journalists want it both ways. According to them, the Anfield outfit are a two man team and have been for at least 2 or 3 years, yet they also love to point out that the team really, really misses Xabi Alonso. So that’s at least a three man team last season, then? Perhaps two man team has a nicer ring to it. It does trip off the tongue nicely. But it doesn’t really end there. Even the most one-eyed Premier League fan would admit that Pepe Reina is amongst the top three goalkeepers in the league, and arguably the best given what he contributes to Liverpool beyond his keeping ability and the fact he won the Golden Gloves award for three consecutive seasons. So, Liverpool are currently a three man team at least surely? Then ask any Liverpool fan, or any keen observer of football in fact, what would happen to the team if Carragher and Mascherano were removed from the spine behind Gerrard and Torres. Collapse and chaos at worst, or a severely weakened midfield and defensive unit at best. Both Carragher and Mascherano are integral to their respective units in the team. Carragher has, for many years, marshalled and managed the defenders around him in a manner reminiscent of Tony Adams is his pomp, whilst maintaining a consistently high standard against Europe’s elite attackers. He may be struggling for form this season, but remember that he has been at the heart of a defence that has been the 2nd or 3rd best in the league for the past 4 seasons, and similarly stingy against the best the Champions League has to offer. So at least a four man team then? Mascherano too, is now integral to the midfield with his seemingly tireless running and tackling. He may not be the finished article but the 25-year old has been key in Liverpool’s best performances in recent seasons, particularly victories over Manchester United and Chelsea where winning the midfield battle usually dictates the outcome of the game. Really, Liverpool are a five man team, we could conclude. In reality, the list could go on. Glen Johnson, England’s right-back. Daniel Agger, the partner of choice for Carragher and a cultured young centre-back. And so on. Try taking Carragher, Agger, Mascherano and Johnson out the team and Liverpool would be a mess. But ‘Liverpool are simply a seven man team’ doesn’t really have the punchiness or impact required for modern media work. Conversely, most of the learned observers we are subjected to miss the other key point with alarming regularity. Whilst the current Liverpool team has accomplished players of the standard required to win trophies throughout the team, they are lacking horribly in one vital area – the wings. Much criticism has been levelled at Benitez’s tactics and team choices, some of it undoubtedly deserved and some of it way off. His main folly though, has been to play the robust formation that is currently in vogue with only two real attacking options – yes you guessed it, Gerrard and Torres. The 4-2-3-1, or 4-5-1, depending on which way you see it, is pretty much the favoured choice for the Premier League and Europe’s best teams, it’s principal benefit being the ability to accommodate modern all round attackers who can move fluidly anywhere on the pitch such as Rooney, Kaka, Messi, Ronaldo. Even Spain’s resurgence and dominance has deployed a version of it, although usually with just one in front of the defence in a 4-1-3-2 formation. What this currently fashionable formation requires in order to be successful in both attack and defence, is devastating attackers across the three playing behind the lone striker offering genuine outlets and posing an unpredictable goalscoring threat, whilst the holding midfielders provide adequate cover. Chelsea do this well picking from the likes of Lampard, Ballack, Deco, Kalou, Joe Cole and Anelka behind the world-class Drogba. Man United and Arsenal have a similar wealth of options including Giggs, Scholes, Valencia, Fabregas, Arshavin and Walcott. Liverpool’s best options are currently Dirk Kuyt and Yossi Benayoun, although a fit Rieira would probably challenge too. And there’s the rub. There is much that is admirable and effective about both Kuyt and Benayoun. Both are disciplined and hard working, with Benayoun also particularly adept at carrying the ball and occasionally picking a pass and Kuyt tireless and physical. But to describe either as devastating attackers would be laughable. Neither has any pace. Neither can regularly beat defenders, particularly on the outside. Neither scores or creates many goals. And Kuyt in particular seems to possess astonishingly poor control of the ball. The performance against Aston Villa was a case study in Liverpool’s weaknesses – Benayoun was bullied out of a scrappy and physical game, rarely offering anything with the ball other than cutting inside and looking for a pass. Kuyt was at his worst, sitting deep on the right flank, always passing sideways or backwards and never beating his marker. Benitez has, it seems, invented a new position – the holding right midfielder. Worse, what Benitez has really done is create the illusion of a two man team. With the defenders and midfielders knowing that a ball out wide will most likely come straight back to them and rarely see an attack down the wing, Liverpool’s play in possession then becomes an exercise in trying to find Gerrard and Torres. This undermines the abilities of an undoubtedly talented team. Simply imagine Liverpool’s best team but replace Kuyt and Benayoun with Arshavin and Giggs. Suddenly, it would not be so difficult to imagine them as genuine title contenders. Much of this comes from Benitez’s stubbornly defensive philosophy but also a lack of funds to buy genuine attackers of real quality. Until a solution is found for these and the two wide positions, Liverpool will continue to betray the talented players they have throughout their squad. They are, in fact, a nine man team but since when was that enough to win trophies, or make a good soundbite? http://www.caughtoffside.com/2010/01/06/the-horrible-mistake-that-is-ruining-liverpool-and-the-media-lie-that-wont-die/

This looks like a rehash of what he said a while ago.

Talking to Arry if you believe The Mail. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1240646/Spurs-offer-flop-David-Bentley-bid-beat-Liverpool-sign-Atletico-Madrids-Maxi-Rodriguez.html