The 08/09 Liverpool F.C. Thread

[Locke]

That win against Chelsea, while nice, was not exactly awe-inspiring.

Dont get me wrong, Liverpool were far and away the better team, they absolutely owned Chelsea from whistle to whistle. That said though, it took a lot to score on even a 10 man Chelsea, and thats got to be worrying.

When Liverpool play a team that comes to win, like Chelsea did, then they show the fact that they are a great team, they walk over them, but they just cant seem to get those prolific goals, they get the last minute clutch goals from Gerrard or Torres, but thats about it. Where they run into trouble is when teams show up and play for a draw or just sit back and defend, essentially what Chelsea did for the last 40 minutes.

They just cant seem to draw them out and score.

[Jagger]

The Keane saga is over. He was sold back to Spurs today for a significant loss. Not 20m to 12m as reported in the press though. More like 4 million for a six month loan is what it's looking like. Not exactly a good deal. It's more worrying when you read that Rafa didn't want him in the first place and it was essentially a Rick Parry deal. Rafa wanted Barry and was overruled. Not good when your manager does not have total control over playing matters.

The sooner the Reds are shut of the American ownership and Rick Parry the better imo.

It's actually incredible that Liverpool are even challenging for the title given the farcical backroom situation.

[ShotDownInFlames12]

Originally Posted by Nuje

The Chelsea sweep!!!!! Lampard, red card. Liverpool coulda used some more wins in the meantime, but this one has made me happy as hell!

EDIT - Did anybody watching notice George Gillett's guest? Apparently, Canada's very own Steve Yzerman is a Liverpool FC fan. Someone at the pub noticed, and it was definitely him.

I saw that too. I actually rewound my pvr three times to make sure it was him and it definitely was. That's awesome

[ShotDownInFlames12]

Originally Posted by Jagger

The Keane saga is over. He was sold back to Spurs today for a significant loss. Not 20m to 12m as reported in the press though. More like 4 million for a six month loan is what it's looking like. Not exactly a good deal. It's more worrying when you read that Rafa didn't want him in the first place and it was essentially a Rick Parry deal. Rafa wanted Barry and was overruled. Not good when your manager does not have total control over playing matters.

The sooner the Reds are shut of the American ownership and Rick Parry the better imo.

It's actually incredible that Liverpool are even challenging for the title given the farcical backroom situation.

As I said before, Rafa's gotta go. We are in a situation now where if Torres goes down with injury, who will we have as striker? Ngog? Kuyt?

Maybe Rafa wasn't happy with signing Keano but he handled it all wrong. He is a top shelf striker and had 3 goals in his last three starts. Too much emphaisis is on Torres. Keane spent too much time trying to setup Torres, while he wasn't getting any support in return.

As a Keane fan, I'm happy that he's back to Spurs. He deserves so much better and this whole saga has proved to me how much we need a new manager. Give King Kenny a chance, hell I would take Mourniho right now!!

[Nuje]

Mourinho is fantastic! (at least that's what Setanta's puppets would have you believe )

I agree that it's stressful and frustrating when Liverpool needs to push that damn hard just to score a goal against a 10 man squad. Even with the opposing team is playing for a draw, I think that Liverpool can beat all of them if they can get some finish. Babel and Benayoun aren't doing as well at that as they were last year, and I really have no faith in N'gog or Kuyt. Riera is a nice surprise, but Liverpool really does need a bit of help from all 4 previously mentioned if they're going to do anything as far as winning the league this year. Also, another thing that needs to happen is, Lucas is to never see the pitch again. End of story. He's awful. Sell him. Useless.
Agger needs to return, and the Reds can not survive with injuries to any of the following:

Reina (obvious)
Alonso
Gerrard
Torres
and one of Agger and Skrtel have to be healthy.

I also do think that the return of Emiliano Insua from playing for Brazil will prove very useful. I think he should start most games, and even if not, he provides a very nice option at left-back.

As far as Benitez, I feel that he makes on-field decisions that make me rip my hair out. I have since shaved my head to avoid injury. As far as transfers, imagine this scenario (which thankfully, would never happen):

Ken King is replaced by someone who doesn't know a whole lot about hockey. This person is also next in command after the owners.
Darryl Sutter has no actual power to make trades, or sign players. Not even power to sign an extension. Any time he feels a change in players is warranted, he expresses his opinion to idiot in charge, and if getting a player is on the agenda, he gives idiot in charge a list of players he feels are worth targetting.

Even if there is clear markings on which he feels is more important, idiot in charge likes player B, or even C, over player A, so he puts acquiring player A on the backburner.
Player A never gets acquired, even if he's better/more integral to the team than player B or C, and costs roughly the same. This is what Rafa does. He doesn't have the luxury of negotiating these things himself, and refuses to sign an extension unless he receives just that. While Keane was on Rafa's list, Barry was said to be more important (allegedly). Parry liked Keane better (allegedly) so he pursued him more-so than Barry (allegedly).
As long as the arrival of Barry didn't coincide with an alleged departure of Alonso at the time, I'd be all for it. There is a massive difference in the squad with Alonso on the field as opposed to off. I think Barry would offer another similar presence.

Whoa that took a while. That's all for tonight. If anybody has flex-time, or just funny hours and feels like coming down to On The Rocks for the Merseyside Derby, I'll likely be there, unless I get slammed with a rough workload. We'll be there on Saturday as well (although I'll show up after the first half, as I'll be on a bit of a mission ), and a half hour after Liverpool Portsmouth, will be the Flames and Ducks. Great place to watch the Flames as well. I'll be the guy donning an Iginla jersey over my Liverpool shirt at around 12:45.

[Locke]

Is it wrong of me to have derided the players that I coach for being Chelsea fans? I know they're children and they dont know better, but one of them showed up for practice yesterday wearing blue Chelsea indoor shoes....

I made him practice barefoot.

As for OTR, I'd love to, its just down the street from my office, but I kinda have to be at work....maybe on my lunch break I might pop by.

[Locke]

Okay, I'm serious, if we draw Everton again, or worse yet, I'm going to go on a murderous rampage.

I should mention tough, I love British TV commercials....they're awesome.

[Locke]

Wow, strong lineup from Liverpool for a Carling Cup game.

[KevanGuy]

I just tuned into the game, what happened to Gerrard?

[cSpooge]

Originally Posted by KevanGuy

I just tuned into the game, what happened to Gerrard?

Hamstring injury... at least that is what soccernet is reporting.

[ShotDownInFlames12]

Originally Posted by Locke

Wow, strong lineup from Liverpool for an FA Cup game.

Fixed


tough blow with gerrard, and stupid lucas is on again too. I predict he takes his second yellow and gets sent off.

[ShotDownInFlames12]

wow. that didn't take long!

What an idiot. Maybe Rafa will realize now that he can't hack it.

[Nuje]

Bertlucoin. An amalgamation of every player off both teams I follow that I want gone. Leave it to Lucas to screw the team over...again. RRHGHGHGGHGHGHG.
Well, now it's time to completely focus on the 2 really important competitions.

[Locke]

[united]

Gerrard out up to three weeks.
http://www.skysports.com/story/0,195...897595,00.html

He will be back for February 22. No doubt about that.

ps. I like Rafa Benitez.

[Nuje]

Just when we thought it was bad enough...
Gerrard is said to be a "maybe" for the first leg against Madrid....oi. Riera, Babel, and the Wizard (Benayoun) to fill in in his absence it seems. Yyyyyipes. Just no Lucas, PLEASE!

[Locke]

Maybe this will force them to get someone else who can play with Torres. It just seems that Torres + Gerrard = All Kinds of Awesome, but split them up and the whole team labours.

Keane couldn't get it done, although I liked his work ethic and I'm sad to see him go, he just wasn't fitting in.

Sign David Villa....

[Nuje]

Originally Posted by Locke

Sign David Villa....

The excitement that happened from that would get me either fired, or kicked out of my apartment, depending on where I am at the time I hear the news. Luckily, there is no radio coverage, or I might cause a 15 car pile-up.

[Locke]

Jesus H. Tapdancing Christ!! That was TOO close.

Torres in the 92nd minute with the winner....that game was an absolute rollercoaster.....

Oh man....one thing I will say was that Dossena finally showed his character as a beast down that lefthand touch line....great game by him.

[Nuje]

Originally Posted by Locke

Jesus H. Tapdancing Christ!! That was TOO close.

Torres in the 92nd minute with the winner....that game was an absolute rollercoaster.....

Oh man....one thing I will say was that Dossena finally showed his character as a beast down that lefthand touch line....great game by him.

That was.....well you said it. Rollercoaster. My brother (Aston Villa fan) walked into on the rocks right as we tied it up. He walked into a calm pub that erupted into complete madness 2 seconds later (right as the Reds made it 2-2)

I totally agree though. Dossena did have a very good game. In contrast, Babel was great until the 20th minute, and promptly turned into awful.