The OFFICIAL Liverpool FC thread - #DankeJürgen

[corn02]

If there is anything more cringe-worthy this season i'll be shocked.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4o2bLb9f_E&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fforums%2Elfconline%2Ecom%2Fshowthread%2Ephp%3Ft%3D91922&feature=player_embedded

[GalwayBayBoy]

If there is anything more cringe-worthy this season i'll be shocked.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4o2bLb9f_E&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fforums%2Elfconline%2Ecom%2Fshowthread%2Ephp%3Ft%3D91922&feature=player_embedded

[DennistheMenace]

What the hell were they thinking, terrible altogether.

[charlie stubbs]

Oliver Kay http://timesonline.typepad.com/thegame/200...tez-debate.html

So, Rafael Benitez is at it already, is he? Bleating about transfer money before the season has even begun? Getting his excuses in first? This from the man who has spent £240 million in five years at Liverpool, and still has not won the Premier League title!

Sorry about that. There is an unwritten rule that you are allowed to tell only one side of the story when analysing Benitez's record at Liverpool, so it seemed only right to start in that vein. While we're at it, Benitez blew their hopes of the Premier League trophy last season by ranting at Sir Alex Ferguson, refusing to pick Fernando Torres, selling Robbie Keane and insisting on zonal marking at corners. Of course he did.

Benitez is not without his idiosyncracies, but to judge from some of the reactions to my Final Word column yesterday and to a couple of comments he made in which he was vague about the funds the club's owners were making available to him, you would think he was the one who was responsible for Liverpool's various ills.

Americans at fault for financial shortfall

Someone e-mailed me yesterday with a list of Benitez's 83 signings as Liverpool managers, listing six as successes and 77 as flops. Given that the flops included players such as Fabio Aurelio (first-choice left back signed on a free transfer) and Dirk Kuyt (£9 million, vastly underrated) as well as nine home-grown players who have come through the youth academy, as well as the admittedly terrifying number of teenagers the club imported from abroad, you might say that the list was rather skewed.

Clearly, Benitez has made a number of dodgy signings. At right back alone, you can list Josemi, Jan Kromkamp and Philipp Degen. Further forward there have been Antonio Nunez, Mark Gonzalez, Sebastian Leto, Fernando Morientes, Craig Bellamy and, of course Keane, none of whom lasted more than 18 months.

But these are not the names that define Benitez's success or failure at Anfield. He likes to wheel and deal, far more than is normal for a manager at a club of Liverpool's size, but it is beyond dispute that his net outlay of £85 million over the past five years (£230m spent, £145m recouped) has brought a huge improvement in a team and a squad that came within four points of winning the Premier League last season.

My point yesterday was that Benitez would have needed only a reasonable amount of backing in the transfer market this summer in order to establish Liverpool, the second-best team in the country last season, ahead of a weakened Manchester United, a transitional Chelsea, an inexperienced Arsenal and an embryonic Manchester City as favourites for the Premier League.

By reasonable, I mean even something like his past net annual budget, which has amounted to £17m.
Nothing excessive, just the kind of outlay that might have facilitated a little fine-tuning. For a club that made a pre-tax profit of £10m in the most recent financial year, since which they have raised another £5.8m in the transfer market (with the outlay on Albert Riera, Peter Gulasci and Victor Palsson more than offset by guaranteed fees of at least £12.8m for the sales of Keane and Steve Finnan) and generated vast sums with their success in finishing second in the Premier League and reaching the quarter-finals of the Champions League.

On the face of it, he has made two big-money signings: Glen Johnson from Portsmouth for £17.5m and Alberto Aquilani from AS Roma for £20m. And yes, both fees look a little inflated. But they have been offset, almost to the pound, by the sales of Xabi Alonso, Alvaro Arbeloa, Sebastian Leto, Paul Anderson, Adam Hammill and Jack Hobbs.

There have been notable costs this summer in the new contracts for Torres, Daniel Agger, Kuyt and others, including Benitez, not to mention the expensive business of paying off an enormous number of staff in a dramatic revamp of the club's technical and youth academy staff.

But by far the biggest drain on Liverpool's resources is the debts brought on by those wonderful owners, Tom Hicks and George Gillett Jr – huge interest bills to be paid on money borrowed so that, erm, they could keep clinging on to a club that they clearly cannot take forward. Money well spent, I'm sure you will agree.

Liverpool left with striking problem

Could Benitez have made better use of his resources this summer? Time will tell. A personal view is that he needs another striker as cover for and sometimes as a counterpoint for Torres. But strikers (with the exception of Michael Owen) cost money. Benitez has had none. When it comes to the final reckoning at the end of the season, which admittedly is 38 games away, I wonder whether that might the difference.

Fair enough article I thought. Makes sense.

good enough article i suppose.  rafa always seems get a bit stick re the money he has spent but he needs deserves alot of credit for making us genuine contenders again after he mess he inherited.  agree with the atricle in relation to arsenal and united being weaker and chelsea have onlyreally purchased zhirkov(dont know where fit into carlos tactics) and essien be like new player

[Cowboy Bob]

We don't need any new signings. We are going to walk this league with 114 points because we are the mighty Scouses!

Yee ha

[Eastern_Pride]

We don't need any new signings. We are going to walk this league with 114 points because we are the mighty Scouses!

Yee ha

Yeah exactly and i also cant wait for rubin kazan to win the champions league and Burnley to snatch 2nd place on the last day of the season........

[charlie stubbs]

whats the current status/likelyhood of the injured lads to play ie stevy/carra/skrtel/dagger?

[blewuporstuffed]

anyone have any views on more signings before the deadline?it looks like rafa might be finished in the spending
personly i think they need to bring in one more player at least, but al seems to be quiet now the alonso saga is over.some of the players being cleared out at real would fit the bill, van der vaart, robben or negrado.

[stevo-08]

whats the current status/likelyhood of the injured lads to play ie stevy/carra/skrtel/dagger?

gerrard the most doubtful of the above I think. But I'd say he'll start.

reckon it'll be:
             reina
johnson skrtel carra insua
kuyt lucas  masch riera
         gerrard
          torres

a tough opening game. if gerrard starts with torres, then we'll always threaten to score one or two. question is can we close the door at the other end. And lets see can Lucas continue his good form from pre season, and step up now that alonso is gone.

[stiffler]

How to people see Babel's role this season?


he has done reasonably well in pre-season, but this has to be his last chance to make an impression.

I hope to see him in a more central role if possible.

[The GAA]

reckon it'll be:
             reina
johnson skrtel carra insua
kuyt lucas  masch riera
         gerrard
          torres

Not much progression from last season there...

[stiffler]

reckon it'll be:
             reina
johnson skrtel carra insua
kuyt lucas  masch riera
         gerrard
          torres

Not much progression from last season there...

At least we havnt regressed 

[Archie Mitchell]

reckon it'll be:
             reina
johnson skrtel carra insua
kuyt lucas  masch riera
         gerrard
          torres

Not much progression from last season there...

At least we havnt regressed 

Wouldn't beat Dungannon Swifts IV's 

[Goats Do Shave]

reckon it'll be:
             reina
johnson skrtel carra insua
kuyt lucas  masch riera
         gerrard
          torres

Not much progression from last season there...

At least we havnt regressed 

You're kidding yourself!

[stevo-08]

I'd agree that certainly on paper we havent improved from last season and Alonso is a massive loss.

That said, I think with Johnson & Insua, Liverpool have finally got some decent attacking full backs, something we havent had for years. The only danger there is that it might leave the centre backs more exposed than usual.

In midfield Masch is as good a holding midfielder as there is, and Lucas has actually impressed in pre-season - he might do ok now that he's stepping out from under Alonso's shadow, he'll certainly get the opportunity until Aquilani is fit. Dont know much about the Italian but IF he stays fit, he should add another dimension to our attacking play.

On the wings, kuyt had a great season last year and I think himself and johnson could form a very good partnership on the right. Riera can be excellent but needs more consistency. Dont need to say anything bout Torres & Gerrard.

As always we dont have great depth in the squad, but if bennayoun can continue his form from the latter part of last season then he's more than capable of coming in if required. Would also like to see Babel get more game time and prove he's worth his place, maybe in a more central role as stiffler says.

Can Liverpool win the title this season? My heart says Yes, but my head says No - I just dont think Liverpool have enough to break the stranglehold that united & chelsea have on the PL.