The OFFICIAL Liverpool FC thread - Arne to Slot right in?

[Doogie Browser]

Other than the goal (which Torres did very well with) I thought Rio and Vidic both kept him very quiet. Any time he was on the ball they forced an error or dispossesed him. He is an awsome striker and if he had a quality team around him every week he would be the best in the world.

Even in defeat the blinkers are on for some

So outline Torres' contribution to the match, goal scoring opportunities and chances created bar the goal he scored?

The goal itself wasn't even really a defensive error. Superb ball through from Benayoun and a great finish from Torres. Nothing Rio could do really apart from dive in and concede a penalty.

How about you outline how The Donkey and Vidic kept him quiet?
Vidic shit himself everytime Torres was within a few yards of him

Well if you're not contributin much to the game you're quiet. Apart from the goal Torres was quiet. Not that Andy Gray's word is gospel but he seemed to agree. It was a very well taken goal but it doesn't follow that Torres was somehow wreaking havoc for the rest of the match. Vidic fouled him a couple of times but that was about the height of his involvement.

One chance, one goal, he did his job perfectly. 

[TacadoirArdMhacha]

Other than the goal (which Torres did very well with) I thought Rio and Vidic both kept him very quiet. Any time he was on the ball they forced an error or dispossesed him. He is an awsome striker and if he had a quality team around him every week he would be the best in the world.

Even in defeat the blinkers are on for some

So outline Torres' contribution to the match, goal scoring opportunities and chances created bar the goal he scored?

The goal itself wasn't even really a defensive error. Superb ball through from Benayoun and a great finish from Torres. Nothing Rio could do really apart from dive in and concede a penalty.

How about you outline how The Donkey and Vidic kept him quiet?
Vidic shit himself everytime Torres was within a few yards of him

Well if you're not contributin much to the game you're quiet. Apart from the goal Torres was quiet. Not that Andy Gray's word is gospel but he seemed to agree. It was a very well taken goal but it doesn't follow that Torres was somehow wreaking havoc for the rest of the match. Vidic fouled him a couple of times but that was about the height of his involvement.

One chance, one goal, he did his job perfectly.

No-one's disagreeing with that Doogie.

[brokencrossbar1]

Strikers are played to score goals, end of story. Torres scored, he doesn't have to do anything else and that is that.  Defenders' job is to stop strikers scoring goals.  Vidic and Ferdinand failed to do that.  Torres(and N'Gog ) win the duel!

From a Liverpool perspective I still stick by my belief that a one off win is not the answer to the problems within the club.  Hicks can punch the air all he likes and give high 5's but they need to sort out the off field stuff this week.  If they don't then Rafa is in a serious invidious position.  You cannot build a strong house where the foundations are sand, at the minute the clubs foundations are all over the place.  The top needs sorted to allow Rafa to work.  If the Yanks(Gillett) doesn't support him and is he is not going anywhere, then for the good of the club long term they need to either put their money where their mouth is or get their own man in.

[nrico2006]

Torres is the best striker in the World by a country mile, end of.  United lacked any quality in the middle of the park, Carrick is a passenger, Scholes' passing ability is on the wane now also so he has not much left in the locker.  Delighted for the scousers, keeps it interesting at the top.

I would disagree.  I would love him to be a United player, but I would say he isn't even the best Spanish Striker out there.  For me that is Villa, unbelievable player who scores goals for fun - see he got another cracker at the weekend too.  The best strikers in the world include Torres, Villa, Eto'o, Drogba and Henry.

[Abble]

i picked up on this comment from young el nino on the bbc website

"I feel a bit of pain when I shoot across so I could only shoot towards the near post (for the goal) - it was the only thing I could do!"

surely he's only cod-acting !? he cant seriously say that and now not expect to be half covered by brainy defenders and goalkeepers, if he really has this weakness as he says ?!

[Abble]

yeah, he was probably just trying to be modest, genius. roll on 100% fitness and hopefully also get stevie sorted plus this aquilani fella and we can start getting serious again, no point in getting big one-off wins here and there....we need to be getting more consistent now (in a good way!).

[blewuporstuffed]

never have been a massive Lucas fan but he grew on me especially yesterday and I hope that his performance will give him a bit of confidence to go out every week and play like he did yesterday.

yeah i think yesterday for the first time the fans seen what rafa sees in him.
a bit of confidence will do him the world of good and hopefully he can turn into a decent cover player at least.
was very tidy yesterday and worked his socks of, could do with working on the shooting though 

[full back]

How was Lucas not booked yesterday?
He committed at least 6 fouls, yet Evra was booked on his 2nd 'foul' (even though for the first one the 'bitch' tripped over her own feet)

Overall he looked decent yesterday, better than Utd's midfield anyway

[Rafa]

Strikers are played to score goals, end of story. Torres scored, he doesn't have to do anything else and that is that.  Defenders' job is to stop strikers scoring goals.  Vidic and Ferdinand failed to do that.  Torres(and N'Gog ) win the duel!

From a Liverpool perspective I still stick by my belief that a one off win is not the answer to the problems within the club.  Hicks can punch the air all he likes and give high 5's but they need to sort out the off field stuff this week.  If they don't then Rafa is in a serious invidious position.  You cannot build a strong house where the foundations are sand, at the minute the clubs foundations are all over the place.  The top needs sorted to allow Rafa to work.  If the Yanks(Gillett) doesn't support him and is he is not going anywhere, then for the good of the club long term they need to either put their money where their mouth is or get their own man in.

Nice attempt at backtracking there BC but I cant let you away with it.

Your position is very confusing. Who do you blame for the problems at the club, the owners or Rafa? So you want Rafa to stay but only if he is given more money and if they cant give him more money you want him to go and have them install a presumably lesser manager? So not only would we have nothing to spend but we would have an even worse manager in place, not to mention having to pay out Rafas contract. That doesnt really make much sense?

So you said last week Rafa had to go, now i can just about conclude from your post that you want him to stay, for the time being anyhow, and all that has changed in between is that weve picked up 3 premier league points. You certainly are one of the more fickle fans.

[full back]

Strikers are played to score goals, end of story. Torres scored, he doesn't have to do anything else and that is that.  Defenders' job is to stop strikers scoring goals.  Vidic and Ferdinand failed to do that.  Torres(and N'Gog ) win the duel!

From a Liverpool perspective I still stick by my belief that a one off win is not the answer to the problems within the club.  Hicks can punch the air all he likes and give high 5's but they need to sort out the off field stuff this week.  If they don't then Rafa is in a serious invidious position.  You cannot build a strong house where the foundations are sand, at the minute the clubs foundations are all over the place.  The top needs sorted to allow Rafa to work.  If the Yanks(Gillett) doesn't support him and is he is not going anywhere, then for the good of the club long term they need to either put their money where their mouth is or get their own man in.

Nice attempt at backtracking there BC but I cant let you away with it.

Your position is very confusing. Who do you blame for the problems at the club, the owners or Rafa? So you want Rafa to stay but only if he is given more money and if they cant give him more money you want him to go and have them install a presumably lesser manager? So not only would we have nothing to spend but we would have an even worse manager in place, not to mention having to pay out Rafas contract. That doesnt really make much sense?

So you said last week Rafa had to go, now i can just about conclude from your post that you want him to stay, for the time being anyhow, and all that has changed in between is that weve picked up 3 premier league points. You certainly are one of the more fickle fans.

Say that about many fans, but you are barking up the wrong tree by saying it to bc1

[EC Unique]

Strikers are played to score goals, end of story. Torres scored, he doesn't have to do anything else and that is that.  Defenders' job is to stop strikers scoring goals.  Vidic and Ferdinand failed to do that.  Torres(and N'Gog ) win the duel!

From a Liverpool perspective I still stick by my belief that a one off win is not the answer to the problems within the club.  Hicks can punch the air all he likes and give high 5's but they need to sort out the off field stuff this week.  If they don't then Rafa is in a serious invidious position.  You cannot build a strong house where the foundations are sand, at the minute the clubs foundations are all over the place.  The top needs sorted to allow Rafa to work.  If the Yanks(Gillett) doesn't support him and is he is not going anywhere, then for the good of the club long term they need to either put their money where their mouth is or get their own man in.

Nice attempt at backtracking there BC but I cant let you away with it.

Your position is very confusing. Who do you blame for the problems at the club, the owners or Rafa? So you want Rafa to stay but only if he is given more money and if they cant give him more money you want him to go and have them install a presumably lesser manager? So not only would we have nothing to spend but we would have an even worse manager in place, not to mention having to pay out Rafas contract. That doesnt really make much sense?

So you said last week Rafa had to go, now i can just about conclude from your post that you want him to stay, for the time being anyhow, and all that has changed in between is that weve picked up 3 premier league points. You certainly are one of the more fickle fans.

Say that about many fans, but you are barking up the wrong tree by saying it to bc1

Never mind him FB, Corn was always a bit condisending!

[heganboy]

You certainly are one of the more fickle fan

harsh- very harsh. One of the biggest issues that Liverpool fans have is that after 20 years of pain, we all want to see a return to the top (champions leagues and FA cups do not count- and if the score is 18-18 and you have owned the last decade Man U are in the ascendancy)
The question however is how to we get back to the top- and rafa does waiver- but the facts are pretty simple, Liverpool lack the spending power to compete at the highest level, a bigger stadium will help, but the current owners have no way of financing that , so new owners would seem to be the best option.

be interesting to see how Liverpool compete in the second half of this year with aquilani in with SG in midfield, Torres fit up free from injury and a back line playing with the confidence and tenacity they had at the weekend. As many journalists noted on Saturday if Liverpool could play every game as if it were a must win situation, they would have had a couple of titles under their belt, but poor teams continue to grind out wins against an unmotivated Liverpool team. That lack of motivation lies with either the players or the management, and if the team can lift when their season requires it then the management need to figure out if the resting and rotation strategy needs evaluated more closely. Obviously the days of "the starting 11" making it through a full season are done, but the sub par effort from a rotated team are not going to bring a premiership to anfield.
Which basically bring me back to my point- BC isn't fickle- he's a liverpool nut, it's just the frustration that the liverpool fan faces through a season has us reaching to pin the tail on the donkey in terms of what to fix and how to fix it...

(apologies if that doesn't read well, but it's more of a rant than a well thought out post...)

[brokencrossbar1]

I'll think you'll find that far from being fickle I have been one of the most regular upholders of Rafa on here, and I'll think you'll see that I have repeatedly said I want him to stay, just not under the current status.  There is a serious power struggle within the club and the upper echelons are in a mess.  If the Yanks stay and do not sort put the current financial mess the club is in then I think that Rafa will not succeed.  He is too much of his own man to be able to work in this environment and not very good at the politics.  As a result of this he does not have the control that he requires.  If he had the background shit sorted out then he would thrive but since he has been in the job he has been playing against turmoil.  I would love him to stay as I think he is a great manager but if he does not have the full backing of the owners it would be better if they had someone in who they back and not someone they inherited.

I have been posting on this board for years and the one thing I have always been is consistent about my views on Rafa.  I will not have a johnny come lately come on here and accuse me of being fickle.  One swallow does not make a summer and one great win does not make a season.  If there are a run of good games and the owners sort out their differences then I will be happy.  Until then I am a frustrated long fan who remembers watching a former great team as a bnoy and wants to see them get back there.

[Gabriel_Hurl]

So, anything exciting happen over the weekend?

[full back]

Very little Gab
Little Stoke beat the spuds & the Pats hammered the Bucs at Wembley

Nothing else of interest