Liverpool

[reder]

Chelsea look slick and effective, strong in every department with decent options from the bench. How they cope during the African nations cup will determine their season. I''d be interested to see the fixtures during that period. Any Champions league games effected?

Hull City (A)
Sunderland (H)
Birmingham City (H)
Burnley (A)

Nothing too difficult there. They have Arsenal at home on Feb 6th but most if not all will be back by then.

[swinfordfc]

Chelsea will win league comfortably this year (by 6 pts)...... man u will finish second and then it wide open .....

[CF1989]

united's midfield isnt as bad as everyones saying it is. fletcher imo is the most under rated player in the league for the last 2 seasons. giggs showed he still has talent in abundance, i also think carrick is a top player, another player who has a lot of critics but id prefer him than mascherano who cant play football. scholes still contributes alot to the team, when he plays he makes an impact. valencia probably needs to get a good run in the team to show what hes like and nani aswell, theres clearly talent there.
i think its better than kuyt, mascherano, lucas and riera in midfield

[reder]

id prefer him than mascherano who cant play football.

He is not in the team to play silky football.

[DeLorean]

A friend of mine, who's a Pool fan, says he only hopes that United don't win it this season cos he knows Liverpool won't. I find that's the general feeling amongst Pool fans I meet face to face, especially after losing Alonso. I had a bet with the same fella after the 98/99 season that Liverpool wouldn't win the league in the next 10 yrs worth £100 (€127). It ended at the end of last season and he was disgusted. He felt at the time it ended a year too early as Liverpool were gonna win it this season, but after the summer's activities/or lack there of, he's has them completely written off. The Reds on here seem to have a far more positive outlook.

[CF1989]

He is not in the team to play silky football.

carrick breaks up the play aswel and has an end product unlik mascerano

[KK77]

The Reds on here seem to have a far more positive outlook.

Probably coz their match goers!

[KK77]

carrick breaks up the play aswel and has an end product unlik mascerano

Mascherano is not in the team for an end product well from a defensive midfielders point of view he has which is why he's the best in that position in the league imo.

[DeLorean]

Probably coz their match goers!

Think people that watch them on TV every week have a fair idea what's going on too, although I'm not entirely sure that's what you meant.


Mascherano is not in the team for an end product well from a defensive midfielders point of view he has which is why he's the best in that position in the league imo.

Give me Mascherano for the big games every time. He's brilliant in the big PL/European games against quality opposition. His biggest failing would probably be against the lesser teams I'd expect him to dictate play a bit, even if it's not his exact role. I'd prefer a fully fit Hargreaves to the two of them.

[De Town]

Mascherano is not in the team for an end product well from a defensive midfielders point of view he has which is why he's the best in that position in the league imo.

Fletcher > Mascherano at that job in my opinion.

[KK77]

Fletcher > Mascherano at that job in my opinion.

Shock horror:D

[reder]

Think people that watch them on TV every week have a fair idea what's going on too, although I'm not entirely sure that's what you meant.

Dont agree with that. You get a far better picture of how the team plays and individuals perform when you are at games. TV plays minimal heed to runs of the ball etc.

PS: Im no longer a match going red.

[reder]

Fletcher > Mascherano

I think that is more of an undecidable conjecture, if you want to get Maths-y. Fletcher has improved vastly over the last year or so, I will give you that but he is no Roy Keane for United.

[old git]

I think that is more of an undecidable conjecture, if you want to get Maths-y. Fletcher has improved vastly over the last year or so, I will give you that but he is no Roy Keane for United.

no point talking about fletcher on liverpool thread...
and mascherano is not even close to graham souness all he does is work closing down / breaking up play very /very limited on his creative side but that seems to impress benitiz and loads of liverpool fans which is surprising coming from a club of great traditions based on playing great football and had a great history of creative / physical players when they needed to be :(

[KK77]

no point talking about fletcher on liverpool thread...
and mascherano is not even close to graham souness all he does is work closing down / breaking up play very /very limited on his creative side but that seems to impress benitiz and loads of liverpool fans which is surprising coming from a club of great traditions based on playing great football and had a great history of creative / physical players when they needed to be :(

Don't remember Roy Keane being creative.

[reder]

no point talking about fletcher on liverpool thread...
and mascherano is not even close to graham souness all he does is work closing down / breaking up play very /very limited on his creative side but that seems to impress benitiz and loads of liverpool fans which is surprising coming from a club of great traditions based on playing great football and had a great history of creative / physical players when they needed to be :(

Who mentioned Souness? Souness was a better player than any of the current side. I am too young to really remember Souness play and thus only have videos and comments from family to judge him by but I believe that he was better than any player in the current LFC squad and possibly better than any midfield player in the PL at present. Rafa B probably watched him, he may be able to tell you more about him. (;-)

Mascherano is not in the squad to link up play etc, why are people missing that point?

[gustavo]

Don't remember Roy Keane being creative.

He was , certainly in the earlier years of his career.

[KK77]

He was , certainly in the earlier years of his career.

In his early years he was a midfielder who broke from midfield and scored goals but he was not a creative midfielder player in the mould of a Brady, Alonso to name two.

[shakermaker1982]

if given the choice between:

Giggs
Scholes
Carrick
Nani
Valencia
Fletcher
Anderson
Park
Gibson
Hargreaves

and

Gerrard
Kuyt
Yossi
Mascherano
Lucas
Babel
Riera
Spearing

I'd take Man Utd's midfield every day of the week.

[DeLorean]

In his early years he was a midfielder who broke from midfield and scored goals but he was not a creative midfielder player in the mould of a Brady, Alonso to name two.

He used get on the ball and get things going, always making himself available for a return pass. He used try to control the pace of a game and vary the flow of the attacks. It's not creative in the Zidane way but it is constructive and creative in a different sense, certainly more productive that Mascherano, but he's good at what he does.

Reder- I agree that match goers would know more about the off the ball stuff, runs, etc. but you would still have a fair idea what your talking about from wathing on TV every week, that's all I was saying really.

[KK77]

[QUOTE=DeLorean;1238372]He used get on the ball and get things going, always making himself available for a return pass. He used try to control the pace of a game and vary the flow of the attacks. It's not creative in the Zidane way but it is constructive and creative in a different sense, certainly more productive that Mascherano, but he's good at what he does.

Sorry thought by creative this meant a player like Brady, Alonso, Molby not a player who plays the ball to the next available player if that's the case Steve McMahon was creative. Always remember Keane as a player who won the ball and passed it to the more creative players. Anyway going off topic a bit.

[DeLorean]

There's a big difference between what I said to describe him and what you said. You make him sound very basic, I don't think he was.

Shakermaker- I agree, I'd pick that list of United players everytime as well. I would probably have considered a first choice Liverpool midfield, with Alonso, better than United's current first choice though. He's an absolutely massive loss in the context of the quality of their squad. A lot depends on the development of Anderson and the fitness of Hargreaves.

[KK77]

[QUOTE=DeLorean;1238395]There's a big difference between what I said to describe him and what you said. You make him sound very basic, I don't think he was.

Never said he was basic just he was not a creative player in terms of his passing eg opening up defences. Anyway exhausted it at this stage.

[DeLorean]

Ok so lads, head over hearts....where will Pool finish? I'd say 3rd.

[KK77]

Ok so lads, head over hearts....where will Pool finish? I'd say 3rd.

Who knows time will tell i suppose.

[DeLorean]

Who knows time will tell i suppose.

Quite the prediction there Rafa:rolleyes:

[KK77]

Quite the prediction there Rafa:rolleyes:

Read my post i don't know hence i don't make predictions.

[reder]

Torres injured - 4th or 5th, Torres not injured for any length of time 1st.

[swinfordfc]

Torres injured - 4th or 5th, Torres not injured for any length of time 1st.

not a chance .......

[KK77]

not a chance .......

That's what i love about this site prediction asked prediction given and then it's shot down. Why bother asking:rolleyes:

[DeLorean]

Torres injured - 4th or 5th, Torres not injured for any length of time 1st.

Would you say the same for Gerrard? I know he's not as injury prone but is he as important?


not a chance .......

For which prediction, the 4th/5th or 1st? (or both?)

[Roadend]

For which prediction, the 4th/5th or 1st? (or both?)

Torres being injured of course

[swinfordfc]

Would you say the same for Gerrard? I know he's not as injury prone but is he as important?



For which prediction, the 4th/5th or 1st? (or both?)

For 1st - sorry but no way - maybe if they held onto alonso but not now - midfield too weak ....... can see the pool get 3rd but no higher.

[reder]

Would you say the same for Gerrard? I know he's not as injury prone but is he as important?

No where near as important as Torres for me this season.

[old git]

Don't remember Roy Keane being creative.

rafa b supposed to be a liverpool thread why do people keep bringing man utd players into discussions.. ;)

[old git]

Who mentioned Souness? Souness was a better player than any of the current side. I am too young to really remember Souness play and thus only have videos and comments from family to judge him by but I believe that he was better than any player in the current LFC squad and possibly better than any midfield player in the PL at present. Rafa B probably watched him, he may be able to tell you more about him. (;-)

Mascherano is not in the squad to link up play etc, why are people missing that point?

trying to keep man utd players out of thread so i thought i would throw in a liverpool player as thread is about liverpool.. mascherano is a profesional football player and you are saying his game is totally about breaking down opponents play...:confused: basic skills involve passing ball forward the odd time to team mates , setting up the odd attack .. as already said liverpools tradation /history was never based on having a midfielder purely just to stop other teams playing.. :ball:

[DeLorean]

liverpools tradation /history was never based on having a midfielder purely just to stop other teams playing.. :ball:

Liverpool's tradition changed when Houllier took over and Benitez carried on where he left off. Much the same as Wenger for Arsenal, although that was for the better.

[De Town]

Shock horror:D

Its an honest opinion. Fletcher is a better player, in my opinion.

[reder]

For which prediction, the 4th/5th or 1st? (or both?)


For 1st - sorry but no way - maybe if they held onto alonso but not now - midfield too weak ....... can see the pool get 3rd but no higher.

Dont worry lads, I wont go too hard on you guys but you know im right about Torres. Liverpool might have managed to sneak a win today if Torres wasnt playing particularily when Hull levelled. It was a stroll in the park with him playing. Granted Hull will be relegated and were terrible.

[shakermaker1982]

Nobody disputes Torres is world class Reder it's just that the majority of us don't see enough quality in the rest of the side to mount another title challenge.

[DeLorean]

Yeah I'd consider Torres a far superior player to be honest. Basically if I was picking a World XI Torres would be on it every time


Dont worry lads, I wont go too hard on you guys but you know im right about Torres

I don't think I underrated Torres

[Noli]

i think Aquilani will be a massive boost to the side when he comes in,defensively were lacking confidence,i dont mind when fans/media underestimate liverpool, kuyt/yossi chip in with a nice amount of goals and assists, there are no real superstars in the team but thats the thing there a unit.

[KK77]

i think Aquilani will be a massive boost to the side when he comes in,defensively were lacking confidence,i dont mind when fans/media underestimate liverpool, kuyt/yossi chip in with a nice amount of goals and assists, there are no real superstars in the team but thats the thing there a unit.

Good post. Sense.

[KK77]

rafa b supposed to be a liverpool thread why do people keep bringing man utd players into discussions.. ;)

Keep your nickers on and grow up. I was using Keane as an example nothing more and as you can see by the replies of the Man U fans on a "Liverpool thread";) that they to could see i was only using Keane as an example NOTHING MORE.

[KK77]

trying to keep man utd players out of thread so i thought i would throw in a liverpool player as thread is about liverpool.. mascherano is a profesional football player and you are saying his game is totally about breaking down opponents play...:confused: basic skills involve passing ball forward the odd time to team mates , setting up the odd attack .. as already said liverpools tradation /history was never based on having a midfielder purely just to stop other teams playing.. :ball:

Was at the game on Saturday and Mascherano played the last ten minutes or so and have to say his effort, tackling etc was an exaple to all. 4-1 up and the man was playing as if we were hanging on to a 1-0 lead. This is just my opinion as i am a supporter not an expert. I'll leave that to the tv experts!

[KK77]

Liverpool's tradition changed when Houllier took over and Benitez carried on where he left off. Much the same as Wenger for Arsenal, although that was for the better.

How are Liverpool scoring all these goals if they only set out to stop other teams playing? Serious question by the way.

[DeLorean]

there are no real superstars in the team but thats the thing there a unit.

Torres and Gerrard are two real superstars.


How are Liverpool scoring all these goals if they only set out to stop other teams playing? Serious question by the way.

I think Liverpool have become far more attack minded in the last year. Not sure did Benitez finally cop on to the fact that you need to win most of your games to win the league maybe, and being unbeaten in most isn't enough. For a good few years, starting with Houllier and continued by Benitez, they were mainly interested in not conceding. This has changed in all honesty. I still wouldn't consider them very easy on the eye, but they are involved in some high scoring games these days. Another reason, Torres!!

[Roadend]

Where have you been for the past 3 years? As for Rick Parry, he made a tidy sum when those two shysters took over.

[reder]

Tom Hicks and George Gillet.

Does anyone else think that the whole scenario with these two boyos stinks a little? They bought the club together and now seemingly are no longer on speaking terms. One of them will attempt to sell his half and the other won't allow it, all the time pushing the value of the club upwards. I'd say its all a cunning plan from the start. They are in it to make as much out of it as they possibly can. The rows and disagreements are all staged. Lets say Hicks sells his half for 300 million, Gillette won't let go of his for at least 400 million then. The club will be more expensive to buy in two halves rather than all together.


The same stuff will happen with the next owners and the next ones after that. Before you say it, things under DIC could have been just as bad and possibly worse.

[Noli]

[QUOTE=DeLorean;1240086]Torres and Gerrard are two real superstars.QUOTE]

Maybe i should have phrased it differently they are clearly the two best players the pool have they are not ones that go down the route of using the media to boost there career or crave the attention of the red tops