uncle bob

I believe this is a must win game, we had the chance to put the pressure on the Mancs and blew it. They are always stronger in second half of season and have played all top teams away. We have to match their results and beat them by atleast 3 goals, therefore yes tomorrow is a must win game and if being realistic not sure we can afford to drop many more points till the end of the season.

very fair assessment And the previous summers buys - who apart from Torres has been a great success

If its not a serious weakness then it is a consistent one.

Is that the same as overly cautious and predictable,

yes according to a manx supporter I work with who I might add is quite happy with the Berbetov /Rooney partnership. If anything he leans more to Tevez rather than Rooney but then he is a manx

Maybe some of them are just disappointed. They may of started to believe the Chelsea Man U stranglehold on the prem was going to be broken and now believe there hopes were misplaced and just a little p1ssed off by a string of poor results against mediocre teams

Maybe its because those last minute goals and assists have help the manx over take us in the league. Whilst Tevez a very good player who works very hard it by his own admission doesn't score enough.

What is it about some fans that any time a reporter or journalist writes an article that criticises some part of our set up or manager/player they must be biased against us. If we were so good and beyond criticism we would already be 10 points clear and on course to win all four trophy's. Stop being paranoid. There were some valid points in the article. Most fans I sit with are nervous every time we concede a corner or free kick that gives a similar crossing opportunity. And regarding teams like Everton being defensive at Anfield, Rafa has to expect that, not complain about it, its not as if we are all gung ho when we play away from home or sometimes at home.

He wouldn't of bought him

They both stay and sell Gerrard and Torres for a s*** load of cash to cover there borrowing payments

Thank you MON

Like all fans firstly the hope that we will win and then we win in style. Sadly cannot afford to go to away matches ( so must rely on TV) but I expected better at home this season than we have had on offer. Lets be honest Everton are a poor team of workmen and we appear to be little better at the moment and with a full squad to select from. PS if we were playing in the conference league they would still be my team but I wouldn't be blind to their limitations and that goes for the Prem also

nonsense even at his worst always better than Babel for starters

Maybe when other supporters stop spouting Rafa as the second coming I won't be so critical of him. However to all those Rafa cheerleaders a little balance is required, even at the risk of upsetting some or being culled as those who don't agree with me would prefer. Rafa supporters cannot have it both ways, Good buys are his, bad buys are the boards Good results are down to him, bad results are down to individual players. Yes - I do not deny it, I donot believe we will ever win the prem with Rafa as boss. Rafa had a choice in the summer over signings 1. Full Backs - one we cannot judge as hardly played but when seen looks a shadow of the player he shipped out (Finnan) The other has been very poor and at £7m definately not money well spent 2. Wanted to ship out Alonso (at right price) and buy Barry - It didn't happen and guess what Alonso must be in the running as player of the season. 3. Bought a striker for £20m (with very little resale value) when that area of the team was well sorted i.e. Torres/Gerrard. 4. Sold Crouch who at least would of given us a Plan B 5. Could of used the wasted Dossena and Keane money to but a top class wide player (that nearly every Liverpool fan recogonised as been our priority). He also wasted another £12M on Babel and £5M on Blind alley benny. So foregive me but yes I will continue to be critical of our manager, who instead of complaining about Evertons tactics yesterday bearing in mind all the key players who were absent should look to his team/tactics that never even produced ONE decent chance in the first 45minutes. Our only goal was due to a piece of individual brillance by Torres and poor goalkeeping (to be so easily beaten at the near post) and owes nothing to our managers great tactical nouse.

Because of the number of times he has been substituted when not the worst player on the pitch or dropped after scoring. Perhaps he may of had the audacity to disagree with Rafa on the training ground or maybe Rafa is useless at simple man management. But I assume you agree with the rest of my previous comments. Also to those who believe Rafa is beyond criticism - grow up, you can still be a fan of the club without being a blind supporter of a manager - its called an opinion

In other words Rafa has very poor man management skills. Any fool can pick a team the art for a manager is to assemble the squad and then have them play at a consistent level. Rafa seems to fall out with players very easily. Keane has not been the success we hoped, but make no mistake he wouldn't have been bought if Rafa hadn't wanted him and since then he appears to have deliberately set out to break his confidence. Babel has been an absolute disgrace, cowardly at times, Lucas is nowhere near ready for the first team and blind alley Benny is a waste of space. Then our full backs, the ghost player and Tossenna. All Rafa choices not Parrys or the Boards. Our tactics appear to be very simple - keep the game tight, defend well (except corners and free kicks) and HOPE our special players (Torres or Gerrard) do something special to sneak a goal. When the team plays well everyone shouts what a great manager we have, therefore conversely when we play badly surely that must also be down to the manager as well as the players. For me thank God the new contract is still not signed. For forty five minutes yesterday we didnt creat one decent chance, Lots of ball but no one knew what to do with it. 4 1/2 years and we still do not have any decent width - Reira in patches and thats it FFS

Spot on - The Torres/Gerrard partnership was one of our best features last season, so if it aint broke why fix it. We all know that quality width was required more than any other position but vast sums were wasted - Keane/ Blind Alley Benny/Babel/Dossena/Degan (free but high wages) and now we are linked with Heskey FFS. This season is starting to smack of Houlliers last season. Rafa now wants more control over the transfer budget.

Not sure Real really would want him - yes he would in time win trophys but for Real Madrid that isnt enough - just look at the success rate of the managers they have sacked. Its much more likely Rafa would be poached from and Italian side or a Spanish side excluding Real or Barcelona (because of his madid history).

Couldnt that reason be an overly cautious manager

From that I take it you haven't. Maybe that explains why you are full of .....

Isnt it amazing the attitude of some 'fans' regarding ex players, some great ex players who dare to question Rafa, its not like they KNOW what it takes to win trophys unlike some of our well informed posters. Disagreeing with Rafa or questioning some of his signings does not make you a fool or bad pundit. What is pathetic is questioning the integrity of some of our great players of which Ronnie Whelan was one.

glad you missed me.

I agree with much in the independent Article. However it does gloss over a lot of other Rafa failures in the transfer market. But the most telling concern is the extent of overseas kids we have sign at the expense of local talent and to date we are not seeing much of a return. Insua has performed well but it is too early to call him a success. The timing of Rafa's recent comments regarding the inner workings of the club have come at a very inopportune time of that there can be no disagreement and if as a consequence performances on the park tail off then for me Rafa has sealed his own fate. The spate of draws in very winable games has been appalling more so when you compare MU attitude in similar games which often results in them sneaking a 1-0 win in the last few minutes. Is Rafa's desire to be overly controlling and at the same time too cautious on the park going to leave us as the nearly men yet again.

Rafa wanted Barry and Keane and to move out Alonso at a better price than was on offer - They are the simples facts. But he also wanted Dossena and Deggan. Maybe if he was a little more selective he could have had Keane and Barry and still kept Alonso who must be close to player of he season. But of course that would imply Rafa is partly culpable in the Barry fiasco. For me which I admit is in retrospective I am very happy we kept Alonso even if it meant losing out on Barry.

I think you are wrong - Rafa would not be happy under any CEO that had a say in transfer policy - His one major character flaw is his desire for total control. Maybe Ferguson has that kind of power but he earned it with trophys. If Rafa wins the league then maybe he would earn more control, rather than demanding it.