One more thing about Rafa, this season I wonder why his carling cup squad was not mouthwatering like MU or Arsenal squad..Boy we do have a nice reserve squad and hot youngsters.. yet he still play the fringe players.

I don't know what Rafa thinks, but from the comment on Aqualani, it seem like chicken and egg theory.

Aquilani recovered from injury just fit, don't have match fitness, so can't play him or can't start him, but if you don't start him or play him, how can he gain match fitness?

Same with youngster

Youngsters are inexperience, can make mistake and resulted losses,
If you don't let them have some chance to play, how can they gain experience and improve.

Or the reserves team/youngster are that bad? which I don't know.

But if those youngster are that bad, no point keeping them as well.

I don't see Liverpool has new face of youngster which being promoted from reserves team, may be except Insua.

Sometimes I really admire and salute Wenger has sharp eye on talent and dare to give them a try. Some risk need to be taken to try it out sometimes.

I don't mean criticising Rafa, as every manager has their fair share of poor signing as well, but Rafa until now is not known for shrewd in dealing in transfer market (he has no control of transfer back Valencia time). He also new in transfer market.

Apart from Torres and Macherano, others so so only while Liverpool often don't get cheaply on its transfer target while most of the time lose money in transfer market. (buy 5 million and after a year or 2, no good, ship out with 1-2 million)

What is the definition of "not fully fit" anyway? I mean Rafa played Torres even when he wasn't "fully fit", as he did Gerrard prior. So what does this term actually mean? I know for a fact it doesn't refer to a player who is still in crutches.

Well, you need the game intelligence to utilize the pace. Babel's the perfect example.

It's not easy to introduce youngsters when you're losing. As you could see, Plessis, Spearing and Eccleston suffered when they were thrown into tight games where the senior players aren't doing well.

On the contrary, I think Rafa has been putting more trust into the youngsters more than say, last season given the circumstances. Kelly got a start against Lyon ahead of Carra and Degen; Pacheco given a runout when it would have been safe to swap Aqua for Lucas or Voronin. Insua, though inexperience and often caught out defensively (And to think that we labeled him a defensive manager!) was played - in fact, overplayed - in every match despite Doss being available. Not forgetting Ngog has been selected ahead of Kuyt and Voronin. These are some that have done well so far, whilst the likes of Spearing, Plessis, Eccleston, Ayala and Darby have been used to mixed results.

This post has been edited by led_zep_freak: Dec 16 2009, 01:55 PM

+1,

If someone is not fit, he wouldnt be in the lineup or the subs anyway. I kinda lol'ed at the sentence fully fit. As long as the player is on the teams list, he's fit already. If not fit or "fully fit" means cannot even be on the bench list. I understand what others are trying to explain, but there must be another word for it.

Kuyt should rest, he has been playing like almost every matches for us, when torres and gerrard are away, or when bennayoun too, we see kuyt all the time. He's just not in good form. He has good control with the ball(holding the ball etc) which is why i see him playing on the right. He's damn hardworking too. A tireless player, not really performing this season tho..but past few seasons? I think he's been awesome. Even for the netherlands.

But guess besides that, we are lack of options to play on the right. Bennayoun maybe? But we'll need him in another position.

I have my support for Dirk Kuyt.

This post has been edited by gerrardtorres9: Dec 16 2009, 02:10 PM

Rafa put up some bold statement according to soccernet.com

Quoted from Soccernet.com


Something make or break statement?

I wouldn't pay too much attention to what's been said. I mean wasn't the Everton game supposed to be the turning point of our season, or was it the Man Utd game? Weren't we supposed to still be in the Champions League? Do the talking on the pitch I say.

Yes it is not easy to be a Manager, but Rafa just qualified for that,.he sign the contract that says he must bring Liverpool glorious day(something like that la)... so you must prepare to have problem like injured player, low cash flow, players form....

I can't even think of managing our country's football team. Imagine those successful managers in europeans leagues involving hugh sum of money -.-

UK's Daily Mirror reported that the ruling family of the UAE wants talks with the yanks to discuss possible investments.

Change of ownership is the no.1 thing that must happen before Liverpool can realistically challenge for honours again. No.2 is hopefully the new owner(s) will have enough money to throw Benitez out..

Then we then talk about 1st team players, reserve players and youngsters. Until then, we are just talking about hoping that the players can perform despite the manager and owners!

I will heave a sigh of relief when Liverpool gets 34 points .. then another sigh when we get 53 points. Anything more would be a big Bonus for this season.

How can a manager "guarantee" how his team finishes in such circumstances - I've lost all respect for this chap.

the yanks will make sure they gonna get huge profit before considering to sell. i read the asking price were 700m pounds.. thats double the amount that they never really paid for to buy the club.

a certain peter crouch (which is still the most ironic name i've ever come across ) will beg to differ.

well... they did turn. juz that after making the turn they continue turning and we are back to where we were.

thats why there is reserve league ... epl matches are not testing ground ... fans pay money expected to watch top quality football ...

---

Added on December 16, 2009, 4:40 pmhaha, i think people will assume player that just back from injury are 'not fully fit'



This post has been edited by hk_loo: Dec 16 2009, 04:40 PM

another home defeat tonight will be unbearable... especially if either Spurs or Man City triumphs tonight...

all the best

Tonight line up will be this?

======Reina=====
Carra==Agger==Skrtel==Aurelio
=====Lucas==Aquilani===
=Kuyt====Gerrard====Benny=
Torres

This post has been edited by darrengoh: Dec 16 2009, 05:50 PM

Don't worry Liverpool will win. I don't know why the fans here keep condemning their team because of "a" lose to Arsenal. I think it's nothing to be ashamed of losing to Arsenal. Liverpool is still a very good team from my point of view.

"a" lose?
yea, well you cant win all games all of the time, but at least ffs try to win some of the games some of the time.
7 wins in 16 games isnt what you call inspiring...

haha...livepool fans getting frustrated....don't forget saf takes how many years to build a man utd.....

Tom Hicks edges closer to Texas Rangers sale sparking hope of fresh investment for debt-ridden Liverpool

Liverpool co-owner Tom Hicks has moved a step closer to selling the Texas Rangers Major League Baseball franchise in a move that could free up funds for his indebted Barclays Premier League club.

Hicks found a number of interested bidders for the Rangers, and late last night selected a group led by Pittsburgh lawyer Chuck Greenberg to enter exclusive negotiations.

Hicks now has 30 days to agree a deal with Greenberg before submitting plans to MLB for approval.

The banks that hold Hicks' debt must also approve any sale. The deal would see the Hicks family retain a small share of the team.

No price has been revealed, but it is estimated the Rangers could fetch up to £300million.

'Our family has chosen to negotiate with the group we believe will be best to protect and ensure the long-term positive future of this franchise,'

Hicks said in a statement that appeared on the Rangers website.

'We understand that this is more than a transaction. You never really own a baseball team; you just have the right to be the trustee of a public institution.'

Hicks has been working since last spring to sell the Rangers due to the debts held by his Hicks Sports Group, which defaulted on debts attached to the Rangers and Dallas Stars National Hockey League franchise back in May.

Hicks also has significant debts attributed to his co-ownership of Liverpool with George Gillett.

Earlier this month, Gillett completed a deal to sell the Montreal Canadiens NHL franchise but is yet to invest any of the £333million that deal reaped into Liverpool.

The Anfield club's debts are estimated to stand at around £240million, and manager Rafael Benitez last week suggested they were hampering Liverpool's ability to compete.

Despite selling their other sporting interests, it is reported that Hicks and Gillett are continuing to seek investors in Liverpool.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/...l#ixzz0Zr1hnYRI