Speaking of which, it reminded me of one of the seasons of Real Madrid when their defenses were piss poor, and one of the commentators were saying like "Casillas is the one man defense of Real Madrid. The others? They were not even playing!"

Not to say that Liverpool's back 4 are disappointing, but what I'm trying to convey is that without Pepe Reina, we would have probably fared much worse. A goalkeeper that wears the Liverpool crest to the sleeve, has the Liverpool blood in him. I salute him.

i hope he will be the player of the year for liverpool this season..
much respect to him..
in his heart is truely the reds!!

This post has been edited by fhatz: May 3 2010, 11:05 PM

ya, wanna sell him to arsenal? i dun mind Arsene pay double than buffon

which video o match you try to said??

juz share with use lar..

finally received my LFC kit along with the preorder goodies!



pic quality not good though

This post has been edited by kabuto rider kick: May 3 2010, 11:39 PM

to be honest , in this kind of situation , no ppl will take up the anfield job

there is a reason why real madrid and juventus want rafa so bad

even I am feeling tired , woke up on friday morning to watch atletico game

The lap of honour on the last home game against Chelsea. The 10 minute video, free on LIVERPOOL FC TV. It was mentioned 1-3 pages back in this thread. While the camera focused on Gerrard's sad face, Gerrard realized that he was being caught on camera and said something before the camera moved away.

who report you that and what you write?

bitter sweet if you bring up Casillas...

at any other time, Reina will have more caps for Spain...too bad he remains an understudy for Iker..

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Added on May 4, 2010, 9:29 amproblem with Gerrard is

-He sets such a high standard..and many of his memorable moments involves rescuing Liverpool almost single handedly...

-He is playing for a team carrying the biggest history + biggest burden (2 decades) of winning the title...no other team, i repeat no other team in EPL carries this amount of weight....

-He does have his off days i admit... but more often, he is surrounded by mediocre performances while the likes of Lampard, Fletcher, Carrick, etc is constantly surrounded by class and quality

-I suspect he is not entirely convinced of Rafa either...

-Liverpool = uncertainties....Rafa, the owners, one moment you're playing alongside Alonso and finished 2nd...and the next season the whole game plan changed...


....and top it all......after another season of disappointment..and then ..making that mistake in front of your own crowd in the last home game of the season?

who can still smile?




I do place some measure of blame on the Yanks..but sorry.I have also lost confidence in Rafa too......

This post has been edited by nando: May 4 2010, 09:35 AM

i like this

These 2 points are certainly not good excuse imo. Firstly, he was elected captain as in the team he was always leading my example. Many times this season we have seen him hanging his head low when things don't go his way, shouting at players for misplacing passes while he was giving away possessions as well. Yes, everybody has off days but when he has one he drags everybody down. A captain never, never should do that.

Secondly, so what if he has lost faith in Rafa? The club comes before everything and he - of all players - should be playing for the club and not for personal interest or whatsoever. He has pledged his commitment for Liverpool and as a scouser he owes it to himself to put the club ahead of everything on the pitch.

I do know some people who have labeled criticism on our captain as uncalled for but I for one think there's truth in it. It's true that age is slowly creeping up on him and he's easily taken out of game especially playing in the hole. And that back pass on Sunday will definitely play around in his head questioning if he's suitable to fill in the more disciplined CM role (OT: Imagine if it's Lucas instead and the opponent was United, what a backlash it would cause in this board!). But first he has to realize that he is not Liverpool FC and the club doesn't revolves around him. Whatever he's doing from now, he needs to work for it because even without that pace at the end of the day, he still has the technical ability to influence the match. The sooner he realizes that, the easier he is imo going to adapt into the 30s.

I don't see there is drastic change on game plan. It's still the same Rafa and the same Rafa's formation.
In fact, Alonso had been playing crap for many seasons before Rafa had a plan to replace him with Gareth Barry.

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Added on May 4, 2010, 10:47 amThis should be another way.
Gerrard has not been convincing Rafa due to his poor performances.

This post has been edited by ALeUNe: May 4 2010, 10:47 AM

I was not offering excuses for Gerrard...there are some non-football related behavior of him that i dont fancy...especially his fondness of showing his displeasure to his mates instead of using a different method...

I just wanted to highlight that at this moment, its much easier for a Gary NEville to captain MU or a Terry to captain Chelsea... than for anyone to captain Liverpool...

He has playing qualities but maybe not as a skipper......perhaps a change of manager will breathe some fresh air to everyone...


BTW, how do we judge that he thinks he is bigger than Liverpool? there is a thin line between wanting to win/wanting your beloved childhood club to win to and thinking that you're bigger than the club...?

You mean Gerrard is bigger than the club? I do not think so.

It's not entirely about winning. It's about get the job done.
Let's not talk about winning games or trophies, it seems Gerrard has not "done" his job lately.

the tactics and formation maybe the same...but Alonso's style is so distinct and different ...the style and personality of a player of his type can be more influential than the formation

yes, he was crap the few seasons before...but my point was that somehow, things gel so well last season....it affected the whole team and even the fans...everyone was saying this will be our year...then Alonso left, and everything crashed down....it is bound to affect team morale and performances..

( this is not intended to start a whole series of debate about why Alonso left....its was linked to the discussion on Gerrard's performance)



As for Gerrard not convinced with Rafa and vice versa, i was merely saying that when you're a captain and yet not convinced 100% with your manager...its trouble....


This may sound controversial but unless some drastic changes happens...i doubt the Rafa-Stevie G partnership will work next season....My choice will be to replace Rafa but if anyone thinks its Gerrard causing the problem, i can understand too...

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Added on May 4, 2010, 10:59 amI dont get it..you think i am saying Gerrard is bigger than the club?

that's my point..captaining Liverpool now is not about just getting the job done...the weight of winning the title for this club is seriously heavy....not only for the captain...for the gaffer and any star multi million pound player......
I doubt if its only Gerrard starts `doing his job' everything will be fine...the club seems to have bigger problems...


This post has been edited by nando: May 4 2010, 11:01 AM

It has to work.
With or without Rafa around next season, Steve G will still be the Talisman of Liverpool, especially there is no player that can replace Steve G.
I think he really needs to pull his socks up next season.

he call pull his socks up next season and beyond...but looking at his strange love-hate relationship with Rafa...perhaps it wont take a lot to cause a big fiasco...and pull the club further down...

anyway, lets not get too involved with this love-hate relationship ...

Am looking forward to the outcome of Rafa's showdown with the directors..

I thought in last couple of matches he sort of like becoming anonymous I shifted most of my attention to Aquilani instead. He has alot to redeem himself if he wanted to get back to that talisman (marvel) cult status.

in this retrospec, I may have to say venables may be right that gerrard must make a decision to leave liverpool since $$$ can bring some into liverpool to buy reinforcements. his heart may be at liverpool but at such situation I will understand he is & will not leave because LFc is in a turmoil but more so in him leaving we can generate to rebuild. (in my mind gerrard is worth 3 workrate of a player)

torres cant leave, as much as he can generate a lot of $$$$$ (likes of RM, man city & even manU are willing buyers) but he is young to see the reincarnation of liverpool. that includes reina too.

let the process of rebuilding begin. rafa, gerrard & I hope the bloody yanks

I don't see there is love-hate relationship in between Gerrard and Rafa.
Rafa likes Steve G. He is still the first choice player as long as he's fit to play.
No problem.

What's worrying is the inconsistent performance of Steve G.

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Added on May 4, 2010, 11:19 amGerrard is still the BEST player we can rely on. Aquaman is still unproven *yet*.

This post has been edited by ALeUNe: May 4 2010, 11:19 AM