RedTillImDead

Becoming the great player we all knew he would, I think we need to wrap him up on the longest contract we can he is the future of the club with Torres up front they could annihilate all

anyone got the game lineups?

He only cameback at the end of 2005 didnt he? Since then they have improved their league position both seasons and are on course to have an improved finish again this year and have added a trophy to the cabinet. Dont know if that consitutes stagnation does it. To me they are making steady improvement considering they came up in 2003

"A friend of Styles said: 'Not only is Rob a top referee but in order to officiate at the top you need a great deal of resolve. He has had good support from his family and friends and that is what is keeping him in the game at the moment. 'But nobody would be surprised if that situation was to change because despite his love for the game there is only so much he can take." Who would admit to being a friend of Rob Styles...lol he rates him as a top ref too must go to the same opthomologist as Rob. If Rob truly loves the game so much then he should retire. If he really loved the game he would leave it up to the players to decide the outcome not take it upon himself so ofetn.

It's the managers' responsibility to motivate his players and develope a system to best harness the sqauds abilities. From the games I've watched of Spurs this year he didnt appear to have accomplished either of those aspects of his job. To be fair to Ramos tho the players havent shown anything much at all either, whether that is down to a lack of planning or tactics by the manager. Or a lack of belief in Ramos' system by the players or perhaps the lack of action by the management to replace Berbatov, Defoe and Keane with suitable players to retain the squads depth we will never know. Very surprised to see HR take the position, only one team has ever comeback from the position Spurs are in to avoid relegation so he is up against it. Seems an odd move to me tho when you have a great squad at Pompey which won the FA Cup last season and are in contention for a European spot. This isnt the first time he's stitched up Pompey either is.

Game Hightlights http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=C6DENkCFIUA

Rob Styles has again shown himself to be either corrupt or totally inept. I'm glad you resurrected this thread I was gonna start a new one but given the frequency of Robs' poor decisions it would appear this thread may just remain around the first page for the whole season. It is getting to the stage where his personal safety is going to be in jeopardy leaving the ground. I am by no means advocating violence in anyway(disclaimer) But to be honest he is bringing it on himself. We all know about the militant fans out there and we all know the horror stories about fan related violence. I hope for Robs' sake his eyesight improves

Maybe its the alchohol talking but I love you Dirk

My mate said Torres was out but i thought he was just taking the piss, now I get back to my PC and see it is true I hope Rafa plays Kuyt and Robbie upfront they worked well together v Man U

Superb

Can only hope, just about every other sport has embraced technology for officiating yet Football lags behind. Hopefully there is at least a game review or challenge setup of some description so diving and non goals/fouls/penalties can be eliminated from the game.

Hope Martin is ok looked a really nasty injury, we all know how tough he is, and the way he reacted when he went down I would say he will be missing for more than 2 months. Looked like an ACL or possibly even a broken leg. We've all seen his tats, pain is his friend so lets hope he comes back asap. Great win too, just knew we where going to win once we equalised....thanks boys its gonna be a good week now!!

I hope we can hang onto him he is a great player and would fit very nicely with Martin Skrtel once Jamie has hung up the boots.

That or he smokes crack before games, jokes aside there has to be something behind it all though, otherwise how can someone be so consistently wrong? I highlighted this example because of RS's position in the play as it unfolded. He had the best view of anyone and still called the Pen. I can understand a Ref being unsighted and getting it wrong that happens in every game but when the Ref is in perfect position and still gets it wrong there is more too it. He would be at the top of my least respected player in pro sport. Regardless of his acheivements he will always be known as a diver and cheat. People dont forget being shafted quickly so maybe in a generation or so when people havent seen him play and only have stats and highlights he may be regarded as one of the greats but not in my lifetime I think. 1. Ronaldo 2. Drogba 3. Michael Schumacher/Ferrari All the same type, have to cheat and try to expose every loop hole because they cant win fair and square, they want an edge an advantage over their fellow competitors and they are not afraid to bend or break the rules to get it. More or less a syptom of the new milenium tho isnt it. Players like Ronaldo and Drogba are the reason why Football(soccer as its known here) will never get to top level status in Australia. We play mostly full contact sports here so when Aussie guys see R or D go down it's perceived as weak or soft(which it is) and people who dont watch soccer frequently think it happens all the time and every player is that way. Such a shame they only ever show Chelsea and Man U on the news here so its all the average guy who doesnt have cable tv sees so what else would he think. As I said in another thread post game review MUST be introduced into the PL. If players knew that the FA were going to have a match review panel looking for diving or other cheating and that anyone found offending would first receive a warning followed by multiple game bans for 2nd or more offence I think the problem would be solved. It would also give the FA a chance to discuss poor decisions the Ref made and actually have the Ref be accountable and also have a ban system for clearly wrong decisions or automatic demotion to the second or third tier something. It cant go on as it is!!!

Same top three that I would have only I would have the one against Olympiakos at #1. Martin Tylers' commentary sends shivers down my spine even now when I watch the Road to Istanbul DVD. I remember watching the game, we had about 100 Reds fans crammed into this tiny pub here in Adelaide we were all crying tears of joy by the end. FA Cup final goal v West Ham same story, cant split them really think those two are the standouts for me in what has been 100 pretty awesome goals.

Couldnt agree with this more, a post match review is standard umpiring practice in many sports. A severe ban would all but eliminate diving from the game.

How can a Ref make so many mistakes and keep his job? In any other profession if you fail to perform you get sacked and replaced with someone who can do the job and yet somehow Rob Styles still gets to umpire in the best league in the world. Surely the best league in the world should have the best referees in the world but yet we are forced to accept a group which continually underperform and in some cases(Rob Styles) want to be the difference in the game. Todays display by Rob Styles was perhaps the worst umpiring display i've ever seen, regardless of the Pen decision, the 10 mins of play leading up to that decison where a disgrace. My mate who is not overly interested in Football watched the man U game with me and even he said Rob Styles was like Man U's 12th man at times. Mike Riley wasn't much better, but I dont want to complain too much cause he didnt change the game but for the Bolton fans out there I feel your pain. Rob Styles was the difference in the game today and should retire from professional umpiring as soon as possible. He must be adicted to seeing his name in the papers, maybe he thinks any publicity is good publicity but for mine he is a disgrace to the game. I cringe at the thought of him umpiring another Liverpool game.

I wonder what the deal is with some of these Ref's so many obvious mistakes makes you wonder sometimes anyway... Surely given the farcical decisions made over the weekend the time now has come to allow a challenge system or third umpire or some kind of review process to enter the game. Each team could have 1 challange per half and retain the challenge if the Ref is shown to have been inaccurate in his decision or lose it if the Ref is shown to be correct, much like the system Pro Tennis is using to great effect. I appreciate there will be delays in the game however I think the fans want to see the right decisions being made and would accept the delays with minimal fuss in the name of better more consistent officiating.

Amazing the difference width and alittle guile can make, I thought Riera was outstanding on debut he consistently created space and opportunity for his teamates either beating or drawing the defender. He also came inside a few times and helped out when needed and then worked hard to get back into position to help continue the attack. He also delivered reasonably well from the wide areas actually giving our strikers a chance to attack the net. His contribution was more than I had hoped this early in his Liverpool career and he will only continue to add more to our team as he settles further. If he continues to improve he appears a shrewd investment at what 8 or 9 mil. Babel was excellent, he nearly had his best game in a LFC shirt today, his runs where constructive, he showed real improvement in his decision making and appears to have maybe not bulked up but hardened up to the point where he can now hold the ball up and create for his teamates as well as himself. Yossi made a good contribution as did Keane and Dirk looked the most dangerous he has in along time and again underlined his status as the hardest working player in the premiership. All round great game for the squad tho, most people gave us no chance tonight. Xabi and Masch where excellent and controlled the pace for the majority of the game bar maybe the opening 15 or 20 mins when Man U looked like they where going to open us up again. Carra and Skrtel where solid as always winning almost everything that came in their way. While Arbeloa and Aurelio made some good contribution down the wings particularly Aurelio who combined with Riera a few times to good effect. What a difference a week off can make tho, we have been awful by and large so far this season and have lucked out in the final minutes. Tonight we dominated the balance of play and where finally rewarded. Normally we draw or even lose these games so a big 3 points I beleive. I hope we can continue to improve on tonights performance, it is results like tonights that will help the squads confidence no end. It shows we can play with the best in the world and more than hold our own. Far play to Rafa as well, I have been critical of his negativity but tonight he showed real intent to win not just not lose. He could have settled back but he chose to turn it up a notch with Babel, Gerrard and N'Gog(before changing to Sami) which indicated his intentions clearly. This is what i wanted to see more than anything. We showed the ambition that Man U have shown us for several years, we said "we're not equally as good as you..we're better and we're gonna keep attacking until we beat you. This shift in mentality is not to be under estimated I hope we can use it as a platform to a really challenege for the title this year....Go City in the Billionaires club match..

Some of you guys need to actually read the press releases. I cant see anywhere where he has "thrown his toys out of the pram" as someone put it, he clearly says he will give his best in whatever position he is played but prefers to play in the centre of midfield. How is that a tamtrum? Regardless of what you guys think Stevie knows where he is most effective, given the comments so does Rafa, read the part where he says Rafa and he talked about the formation and that Rafa wanted him in the centre of midfield so I fail to see what the last 4 pages of garbage has come from. Seems like some of you will take any excuse to bash a player, when it is clear to all that the ONLY trophies we have won in the last few years have been won with Stevie playing in the centre of midfield. People can say all they want about when he played on the right but at the same time we didnt win the premiership even with his 23 goals and the FA cup we did win against Arsenal in 2001 Stevie played in a central role along side Didi so at the end of the day the results speak larger than the " I think he should play here, I think he doesnt have the discipline etc etc"

Both I think There is certainly a restriction on available fund however, I think there is a belief around our club that we dont need the best players in the world to compete at the highest level. Unfortunately our competition dont think this way and they keep moving forward while we remain exactly where we are. And given the steps forward our closest competitors have taken in the most recent window we will have to fight tooth and nail for fourth position this year. When I see players like Robinho go to Man City, I know that had we presented the sufficient offer we could have brought him to Anfield. Robinho is only one example tho and obviously an expensive one at that, but it demonstrates that if the resolve is there to sign the player then a deal can be done and the best talent can be obtained. Make no mistake their are now several teams in the the PL and one team in the Championship which are better funded than we are, give it a few years and that wealth and inturn the investment in the club will make its mark. Look at City, they have been under new ownership for 1 day and they broke the record for transfer fees in England. They realise you cant compete with teams like Man U Barca and Chelsea without the ability to return their fire so what do they do make bids for both Berbatov and Robinho and annouce intentions for Ronaldo and Torres. Sure they won't get all their targets but they have made their intentions clear, they want the best arsenal of talent they can get so they can put up the best fight possible.

The above point is the crux of this whole problem, we had a system that was working and now we dont. If we had spent 40mil on players and had improved on how we where playing last season then there would be no problem with 7 from 9. But instead we have lucked our way to 7 from 9 basically on the back of two players sheer brilliance. We scraped into the groups stages and our players are playing like they have no confidence in each other or the system we are currently employing. I had about 6 points quoted and I could go on all night about the issues we face, but the more and more I think about it the less I see Rafa as the man to lead us to the promised land. People can harp on about the owner distraction etc but at the end of the day it is Rafa that picks the squad and formulates the tactics. Thus far he has shown a distinct lack of ambition in his match day planning and for mine a lack of clear planning as to the direction of the squad and the formation.

Interesting top 20, Babel infront of Shevchenko back in 2006, hmmm dont think so, strange list that is

I think so too, after the emotional high from the weekends win over Boro I am hoping the boys can ride the crest of the wave and get the win for us tonight. 2-0 is my projection Goals to Torres and Keane Hope you all enjoy the game

I have to agree, its robbing Peter to pay Paul. Stevie switched back to playing centrally because he said himself he doesnt enjoy the right wing as much as central midfield, for mine a happy player delivers his best a player who is out of position has an excuse for unperformance. What is bizarre about asking questions, it helps people understand. You should be concerned if people stop asking questions because it means they dont care or arent interested anymore. I have to say my support for Rafa has dwindled since he persisted with the rotation system and we lost and drew a swag of games in a row and effectively ended our title hopes last season.