The OFFICIAL Liverpool Supporters thread

[Ethan Edwards]

My Team would be


                                       Renia
                     Finnan    Carra     Agger   Arbeloa
                 
                     Gerrad   Mascarano  Alonso  Riise

                                  Kuyt     Crouch

[The Real Laoislad]

I honestly think we need Gerrard in the middle with Pennant putting decent delivery on the wing

[Goats Do Shave]

Wouyld you not consider playing Hyypia?

He is the only defender at the club who could maybe deal with Drogba in the air!? - although he will get roasted on the ground!

[The Real Laoislad]

You make a fair point there Goats,and Hyypia can always come up with a goal himself
I think though Agger will be better able for Drogba this time

Anyone else think if Drogba gets booked he won't bother trying to much as he'll know he's gone from the final?

[The Real Laoislad]

Micheal Owen expected to start for Newcastle tonight im delighted to see him back hope he stays injury free now

[Carmen Stateside]

Anyone else think if Drogba gets booked he won't bother trying to much as he'll know he's gone from the final?

Would expect him to be substituted if this happens! I like your team we gotta get wide and get crosses in for Crouch !! Starting to  sweat thinking bout it nervous as f***!

[The Real Laoislad]

Well its shit or bust now isn't it we have to go for the jugalar from the off,Chelsea must be tiring now

[Carmen Stateside]

Well it shit or bust now isn't we have to go for the jugalar from the off,Chelsea must be tiring now

Any word on Carvalho? would give up my right testicle to be in the Kop for this one !!! they seemed tired near the end of the game last week and that bolton game was no walk in the park for them either!

[The Real Laoislad]

Carvalho out as per Sky Sports News with Boularouz taking his place and he hasn't played for 8 weeks!
Ballack also out

Would give both testicles to be there

[Carmen Stateside]

 

[Stalin]

carvalho definately out. against bolton lampard, joe cole, and drogba all started on the bench, so fatigue will be a factor for terry, cashley etc rather than those three.

in the news today-bellamy claims he no longer enjoys a professional relationship with rafa, and also that the deal for simao is more or less done and dusted.

my team v bolton:
pepe
finnan agger carra arbeloa
pennant gerrard alonso riise
crouch kuyt

....would give all three of my testicles to be there  

[The Real Laoislad]

I see Scott Carson was named Charltons player of the season,He'll hardly be happy warming Liverpools bench next season so

[uselessfootballer]

Rafa to pull another tactical fast one on the "Special One" tomorrow and line out 3-5-2

Reina
Agger, Hypia, Carra
Finnan, Alonso, Gerrard, Mascarano, Riise
Kuyt, Crouch

Liverpool to run amock and win 2-0

[Stalin]

wouldnt be surprised to see the 3-5-2 either.

not feeling confident about tomorrow night. shame on me! hopefully rafa and stevie g can produce some magic and pull us through. someone from milan said recently about the necessity to have a few magic moments in order to win the Champions League, we havnt had too many of these this season, bar maybe the performance v Barca. In 2005 we had the 3-2 win over Olympiakos, Luis Garcia's goal v Juve, the Chelski affair, not to mention the final.

My dream/outlandish prediction for tomorrow night: Chelsea to score an early goal, and go in at half time leading the tie 2-0 with an away goal. Jose to give a cocky halftime interview, totally belittlling Rafa. The Reds to emerge in the 2nd half, (Hamann on for Finnan??), goals from Kuyt, Stevie and a last minute scrappy goalmouth effort from God see us through!! Fingers crossed!!

[Stalin]

RAFA: MOURINHO COST CHELSEA TITLE




Rafael Benitez has fuelled his feud with Jose Mourinho by claiming that tinkering with his Chelsea team at the weekend "cost him the league title".

Liverpool boss Benitez has had to listen to Mourinho's suggestion that the Anfield men have been playing "testimonials" for weeks because they have only one trophy to play for.

The Chelsea manager has also been critical of Benitez's decisions to rest players ahead of Liverpool's Champions League clashes.

But now Benitez, ahead of tomorrow's decisive semi-final second leg at Anfield, claims that by trying to do the same in the 2-2 draw against Bolton on Saturday, Mourinho lost Chelsea their Barclays Premiership crown.

"It has cost him the league title," Benitez said.

And that, believes Benitez, will make the pressure-cooker atmosphere at Stamford Bridge even more difficult for Mourinho to handle.

Benitez even took a sly dig at Mourinho's 'Special One' tag, saying: "We have our special ones here, they are our fans, who always play with their hearts."

He added of Chelsea: "They know the pressure they have, but everyone has their own problems. We want to win this game, we want to finish third and, as for them, I do not need to put them under more pressure because they know full well what pressure they are under to win things.

"They try to win everything - that is enough pressure without me saying anything.

"They know the pressures they are under, you only have to ask Mr Abramovich what he wants, the Champions League or the Premier League. They know.

"It is clear they will be under pressure because they were talking about trophies, trophies, trophies. Maybe they have one less to win now and that makes the Champions League their priority."

Mourinho has also been critical of Liverpool's fans over the past week, but Benitez hit back by saying that, unlike Chelsea, Liverpool do not need to hand out free flags to get their fans in the right mood.

He added: "At Stamford Bridge, we showed that our supporters won their battle, even though Chelsea had their fans all with flags to wave. But our supporters were there with their hearts.

"We do not need to give away flags for our fans to wave - our supporters are always there with their hearts and that is all we need.

"I aim to be concentrating on one competition after the semi-final, and I do not worry whether Chelsea have one or two to think about.

"They will know that Anfield is a difficult place for them. I know they can say it is not a problem and they have experienced it before, but we know it will be a problem for them.

"Our supporters, they are the special ones, that is clear. Chelsea know why."

Two years ago, the Anfield hordes roared their team into the Istanbul final on a memorable night against Chelsea, and Benitez believes they can do it again, with the Merseysiders 1-0 down from the first-leg.

He said: "We can use the memories of two years ago to our advantage because we know what the players and fans can do working together.

"I remember before the game in 2005, the Chelsea players spoke a lot about being ready for the Anfield atmosphere, but when the game was played they could not handle it. It's very difficult for any opposing team to prepare to play against 12 men.

"Our fans cannot give red cards or award penalties, but they can score goals. I like this about our supporters because we know they will show they are in the best in the world again tomorrow night.

"The players can also use these positive memories. We will go into the game with a lot of confidence, but we know Chelsea are a very good team and we cannot afford to make mistakes.

"They are a team which has been built with a lot of money to win major trophies. They spent a lot of money on [Andriy] Shevchenko and [Michael] Ballack last year because their priority is the Champions League. Now they have more difficulties in the Premiership, it's clear if they're going to win a major trophy, this is the one they want to win."

And Benitez reveals he has spent time working on the mistakes made in the first leg last week at Stamford Bridge.

He said: "We are trying to learn from our mistakes in the first leg, they are very good, but I have confidence because playing with 12 men is a great advantage for us.

"It is no secret we will try to play with a high tempo from the beginning, something we didn't do in the first-leg. If we can keep a high tempo going for 90 minutes, that will be perfect.

"We did not play to our best level in the first leg, that is the key for me.

"If we play to our best, we will win."