Davvo

OOT'ers / OOC'ers / Wools / Proper Scousers ? Match goer's / Streamers / Sky Generation

not sure they've actually played have they ? at least not in a week where he wasn't involved on the bench for the 1st team.

better to be waded than lambasted.........probably

about the time he got back more to his usual level ? or at least started to ? He's such a quality player that he can get away with not being quite on it, and still be a candidate for top 3 in MOM awards, but recently there has definitely been a change. Hopefully a good clear the air chat has put him right. Either that or Rafa has "Xabi'd" him, and told him if he keeps quiet, plays hard, and doesn't speak to anyone, he can go to Barca when they offer big cash ? Personally, if he's happy to stay, then I'd love to see him spend the next 3 or 4 years alongside Aquilani.

if we're playing Footie Manager here, versus the likelihood of no cash (or indeed no re-investment of cash made), then our pressing needs are Left Back, Centre Back and a Forward (who can play right up top or a little deeper/wider if needed). Who ? f*** Knows Out ? Dossena, Voronin, Babel, and either Skirt or the Greek.

I fancy that, plus a nice signing on fee, were the deciding factors. Of course moving to City for even greater wages, and an even bigger signing on fee, help to arrive at that impression.

Masch to Barca for 30 million Yoyo to Barca (and back ) for who cares how much Fabregas to Madrid for who cares how much Xabi comes home for a cut price 10 million after a poor season 6 months I'm clutching at straws aren't I ?

talking nonsense or ranting ? I assume both

Did we lose that 3-0 ? If so, the main thing I remember about that was watching Bo Derek in "10" on a dodgy old B&W portable whilst waiting for it to start. I've still never seen that in colour, the film not the game Thinking about it, was it not also on in the middle of the night ? That doesn't make sense with Tokyo being only about 8 hours ahead ? Would mean the game must have been played late morning or lunch time, or my memory is nonsense.

clever

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Have to say my perception is different. I get the impression most of those wading into Kev and Ant are regular matchgoer's, certainly a good percentage of those quickest to have a go anyway. That's not to say most matchgoer's are wading into Ant and Kev, which would be totally different of course.

They might for an undersubscribed away game in December, in the midst of a not so great run of form. A "coach" could quite easily be misconstrued as a minibus too, could be anywhere from a dozen to 50 tickets, not that far fetched for me. Quite feasible this "not up to much" could be an exaggeration/mis-read of Anny Road's comments about being hesitant on his ankle ? We'll see Wednesday, perhaps

Why am I humming "Tommy the Scouser"

you had your YNWA t-shirt on, no ?

Interesting, and highly believable. Just shows doesn't it, we live in a World where we can get anything we want NOW, and it makes it so so difficult to understand when things don't just happen the way we expect, and in the timeframe we believe to be acceptable. I don't blame anyone, myself included, for being overly anxious about wanting to see the fella play, but patience as they say, is a virtue. If we were winning games and/or playing well, there'd be more patience, no doubt. The situation is what it is, let's just hope he's able to show what he can do, and gain some confidence in that ankle, on Wednesday night.

Excellent to see him getting a break in management. Think they're a level below the MLS ? so no competition with Stevie Nic just yet, but if he can follow the same path he'll not go far wrong. Not sure if they're one of the cities in contention for an MLS franchise at some point in the future, you'd think so given their history.

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Pretty much agree with all that, especially the bit about Johnson being under orders, although to be fair there's a chance he's holding back to protect his injury a little ? The speed with which we move the ball is appalling, but it's Rafa's philosophy. He believes that you keep the ball, and then make 2 or 3 quick passes to create a chance. Unfortunately, teams in the Premiership get so many players behind the ball, and we seem to be lacking someone to execute these quick passes. Today could well have been perfect for Aquilani, but I didn't believe for one minute he was going to get on. I'm just praying there's a strong enough team around him against Fiorentina (assuming he does indeed start), that he might show what he can do, last 70 minutes or so with no issues, and win a spot against Arsenal. In reality, I expect he might be lucky to get much more than 45 minutes, and regardless of fitness/form, will revert back to the bench for the weekend. As for Johnson, whilst I can see the temptation to play him right mid, I think it's vital for us to have an attacking fullback, especially give the aforementioned lack of speed in our passing.

That'll fill him with confidence

possibly. says more about his priority in a game like today really, 1 point better than none.

Quote's from Rafa BBC Live footie chat thingie 1805: Benitez adds that Alberto Aquilani is fit and might start against Fiorentina on Wednesday. "Although I think he really suits sitting on our bench," he does not add. Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez after the draw at Blackburn: "It was a difficult game and we had some good chances, we could have scored. I'm disappointed because we couldn't win but positive because we kept another clean sheet and we're playing better. The team is doing well and we will have chances if we continue playing at this level."

Not sure I've seen any over the top expectations anywhere really. Just a lot of people eager to see what a £17 million midfielder with a creative footballing brain, can add to our side. noone's saying he's Zidane, or maybe I missed something, but quite clearly he's a talented lad who can, and should, improve us. The expectation has grown due to the increased time it's taken to get him out there, and our poor form, can't blame any fan for that surely.

Not according to Rafa. He has simply stated that there has not been a suitable game situation, in which he felt comfortable throwing him on. He clearly is ready to play some part, but not start, because he hasn't yet played enough minutes, which he can't do because he would be too much of a risk to our solidity in midfield. I didn't expect to see him today unless we were a couple up, fully expect him to start midweek though. The consequences of him not being fit enough to last 90 are not an issue in a game with less riding on it than a reserve game(in terms of competition, finance is another issue entirely).

I don't think you could be more wrong there really. I'm not saying he's going to be our saviour or anything, but he's exactly the type of player we are missing, and exactly the type of player that can turn a frustrating 0-0 into a 0-1* *away from home obviously