They still haven't agreed on how to pronounce Kuyt.

Lee Dixon? He was very critical of Steinsson's positioning which isn't a surprise as he is part of the legendary Arsenal back four and played in the very same position Steinsson does, rightback. First thing that came to mind was a young Michael Owen bursting past Dixon after a long pass from Paddy Berger to slot in our winning goal against Arsenal back in the FA Cup final of 2001.

Not much more to be said of this morning's game. It was clear that there was only ever going to be one winner but by how many goals? Watched the game in Movida with Flix and Jonno in a semi drunk state and lost count of the number of chances we had until I watched the repeat this afternoon. If you ask me, there was contact both times Suarez went down in the box. Also, it WAS a back pass and Jaaskelainen did get to the ball first.

Hmm what else?

- Charlie Adam has "Arjen Robben Syndrome". He looks 10 years older than he actually is.

- Weird to see Skrtel so far up the pitch. Thing is we played like a well oiled machine and I reckon we could have played Poulsen at rightback and still won.

- Suarez has amazing ability and movement. Not enough superlatives in the English language to describe him really.

- Both Henderson and Adam opened their accounts with their weaker foot.

- When Klasnic got their consolation goal, a grand total of 0 teammates congratulated him.

Here is something I found utterly annoying though. Did anyone watch Maxis Football Extra? There's a prick of a scum hosting it and he keeps making snide remarks like "Oooh Liverpool fans, it's still early days and come end of the season we'll win it again". "Oooppss I just blinked and missed it like Carragher". Eh WTF is your problem? You are hosting a TV programme and are paid to be a host and not a fan. Show some professionalism please. When we lose, we get stick, when we win, we also get stick. Here's another fact I digged up from the latest edition of FourFourTwo. Man Utd have 100 songs involving players, and out of that 25 are aimed at opposition players, the highest amongst all clubs. Seems to me that they believe making others look bad makes them look even better. Is it some coincidence that the scum host on Maxis Football Extra behaves in the same way?

This post has been edited by Duke Red: Aug 28 2011, 06:13 PM

That is high praise indeed. Alonso arrived at Anfield at around the same age. Let's forget that Alonso is a regular with Real Madrid and Spain for awhile. I still rate Alonso at 24 higher than Adam.
I think his passes are more consistent over the course of a game and he's a better defensive player than most people make him out to be. One season, he led the league in tackles made. You won't see him running across the park like Mascherano to make challenges. He's more like Didi Hamann an uses his positional sense to make up for it. Look at what a difference his departure made, amidst other reasons of course. We went from almost winning the league to struggling for a European spot.

I do hope that over time, Adam does fill those rather huge shoes left behind by Alonso but after just 3 Premiere League games, only a bold man would come to the conclusion that he can.

Oath and Jamie Yeo was onz bra. She's nice as well hey. Met her in SOMO once during a Tiger event. She looks as good in person as she does on TV

Is right. I stopped watching regularly after hosts like Andy Penders and John Dykes vacated their respective posts.

I remember that. He got 3 or so people sent off if memory serves me.

He has come in leaps and bounds. Took a really long time to settle into his current role having played a more attacking role while at Gremio. He isn't the biggest or toughest of lads but he is determined. There was a time he couldn't pass 5 yards. These days he goes about doing his job quietly while more illustrious teammates like Suarez and Gerrard take the plaudits. Cleaning up behind often goes unnoticed unfortunately. I'm sure glad I was wrong about him.

Too many overly dramatic fans these days I must say. A couple of bad results and it's a travesty. 3 seasons with no title and it's the dark age. Think fans these days need to gain a little more perspective. Assuming that what they claim is true i.e. to be a fan for life (a term I take loosely these days given the people I've seen jump ship), then are a few bad results really a disaster? Now Hillsborough, that was a disaster. Bad results are but a mere blip in the bigger scheme of things. We won the Champions League in dramatic fashion back in 2005, 7 years ago! Still fresh in our minds though isn't it?

I've never resented Arsenal although I think Arsene Wenger has underachieved despite the club being in a healthy state financially. I've always felt he needed to take more risks and spend a little to turn them from nearly boys into champions. Defensively, they were all over the place and it didn't help they came up against an in-form Man Utd team.

It's probably because the game has evolved. Traditional wingers work well with traditional centre forwards. Big, strong and tall but these days, athleticism is the more sought after trait. Mark Kennedy struggled to hold down a regular spot but he did have big shoes to fill. Until today I don't think we've signed any winger as good as John Barnes. Says something that Kennedy couldn't even get a game ahead of Mark Walters.

Football formations have become more complex. Often the lineup you see on the telestrator is deceptive. Teams change shape and players switch positions very often in today's game. When attacking, teams can adopt a 4-3-3 but revert to a 4-5-1 while defending. There is actually very little point in having traditional wingers that hug the sidelines if you have a Suarez or Hernandez lead the line alone. They aren't going to win too many headers that's for sure. Downing started out playing wide but if you look at him now, he often drifts infield. Wingers also swap sides now so teams have an option to play narrow with wingers drifting infield to take shots on goal with their stronger foot. I'm actually fine with the idea of not having any traditional wide players, especially if you consider how adventurous fullbacks are these days. In recent years we've seen the likes of Glen Johnson, John Arne Riise, Vegaard Haggem, Jason McAteer (who sometimes played at rightback), Stig Inge Bjornebye and Steve Finnan marauding forward so provide crosses from wide positions so having wingers that stay wide isn't a necessity. This is in turn possible because of increasing importance of playing a defensive midfielder as an anchor to cover either fullback (or wingback) if we lose position and they are caught upfield.

Yes I believe it was about a month ago that this was posted. I've since watched the trailer about 10 times. Another movie Liverpool fans should watch if you haven't already is the 51st State starring Robert Carlyle and Samuel L. Jackson.

To be honest I don't think there is much between our players on paper. I've always maintained that the reason you lot are so successful is because of the way you play as a team, not as individuals. There's a reason you don't see fringe players make the headlines after leaving the club e.g. Nicky Butt and Alan Smith. I'll be direct and say that I don't think you have the best players, but I think you have the best team.

With regards to the article, I definitely think that Reina is better than De Gea at the moment. I think the latter has had a shaky start to the season and I think the fact you scored 8 against Arsenal masked another mistake he made when he allowed Walcott's shot to go through his legs. He will improve in time but currently, Reina is the more assured keeper at the back and he is a rare breed indeed. The term sweeper-keeper comes to mind. Also, Reina excels in starting attacks from the back with the quick and accurate distribution.

Won't go into each player but I think the following players standout in their respective positions based on recent form of course.

Reina, Gerrard, Suarez, Agger, Lucas for Liverpool. Evans, Evra, Clevery, Welbeck and Rooney for Man Utd.

There are some players who play in similar positions but are different e.g. Agger and Vidic.

This post has been edited by Duke Red: Aug 30 2011, 02:51 PM

Well how else are we supposed to rate him then??? Maybe we should ask Nostradamus how good De Gea will turn out to be in the future? If we're comparing players, we can only rate them in the present.

The ratings are based on opinions and we were asked for ours you twat. If you don't want to hear the answers don't fooking ask the question especially when you cannot be objective. Makes me wonder who the childish prat is. I challenge you to a mature discussion on football then. You talk about maturity and yet the bold statement is juvenile. Djimi Traore has a Champions League title, so he's better than Rafael? Duh! Physical manifestation of dumbness.

Don't be sensitive. I don't think anyone was directing animosity towards you. It was your less than enlightened brethren that's got temperatures soaring. He spouts all this nonsense about maturity and runs off crying like a little school girl when what we say isn't what he wants to hear. So should we all be pro Man Utd on our own thread as well out of respect for his feelings?

There article was based on the authors opinions and if Mr. Maturity had any sense he'd have countered each point with opinions of his own if he had any.



This post has been edited by Duke Red: Aug 30 2011, 08:51 PM

Downing expresses his surprise at how enormous our fanbase is.

http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/news/latest-news...-than-i-thought?

I kinda like that some mancs constantly ask me how long it's been since we've won anything especially the league. Makes me proud that we still have a large loyal fanbase in spite of it.

Even before we signed him, Leeds fans were commenting on how Kewell can blow hot and cold. He could be brilliant one game and virtually invisible the next. Also, he didn't have the best time with injuries whilst he was here. Mmm... I don't think McManaman was a failure at Anfield. He was a crowd favourite until he held off signing a new contract preferring the sun and sand in Spain.

I don't think you'll find too many managers that use traditional wide men these days.

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Added on August 30, 2011, 9:27 pmMonths on and I'm still chuffed.



This post has been edited by Duke Red: Aug 30 2011, 09:27 PM

Under Dalglish we never really had big, tall centreforwards and we tended to keep the ball on the deck. Neither Rush, Beardsley nor Aldo were incredibly gifted in the air and scored most of their goals with their feet. Barnes was simply brilliant. He could stay out wide or he could come inside which he did a lot. On the other wing was Ray Houghton, not a traditional winger at all. I don't think we ever adopted a rigid formation or played route 1 football where we punted the ball into the opposition box, hence the term, "pass and move, the Liverpool groove". Ah wait I stand corrected. We did play route 1 football under Houllier where we often launched the ball forward in hope of finding Emile Heskey. Now that we have Carroll, it does help to have someone who can knock a few crosses in and Downing is an ideal candidate with that sweet left foot of his.

I think Kuyt does well on the right defensively, and when we do go forward, he operates like more like a right sided forward with Kelly or Johnson providing the width on that flank. I don't think we have a right winger but when your fullbacks push forward, you don't really need one.

It's always useful to have players who stay wide naturally to open room for your central players. Players like Riera and Nunez provided width when we needed them but never really cemented their places because it just isn't the way we play and like I said, with the emergence of wing backs, wingers who only stay wide are being phased out of the game.

Here's an insane video.



This post has been edited by Duke Red: Aug 30 2011, 10:12 PM

We did have good times under GH. When was the last time we won 5 cups in a single season? Problem was we became very one dimensional and predictable.

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Added on August 30, 2011, 11:01 pmMmm Ashley Young isn't a conventional winger though is he? I mean his stronger foot is his right one but he plays on the left, much like our Joe Cole.

This post has been edited by Duke Red: Aug 30 2011, 11:01 PM

I don't think we're in dire need of one especially if you consider we're only fighting on 3 fronts this season. Also, we have the likes of Adam Morgan and Michael Ngoo waiting in the wings. Would be nice for them to have some exposure. Ngoo looks to be a more athletic version of Andy Carroll.

Yup.

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Added on August 31, 2011, 8:38 amI love that King Kenny is back at the helm since crying out for his return almost 2 seasons ago but I really am concerned over the issue of one Raul Meireles. Seems we're doing all we can to flog him off.

http://www.metro.co.uk/sport/football/8738...ul-meireles-bid?

Fine maybe our wage bill does have to be trimmed but Meireles was key to us last season especially when Stevie was out. I think Meireles has an abundance of talent and it's no wonder Chelsea are willing to part with 8$ million plus Benayoun for him. He did after all score our winner last season at the bridge. I know Jonno is with me on this, we spoke about Meireles last season and both of us thought he was a top class player even when Hodgson decided he was better suited as a right winger. It'll be sad to see Mr. "Cool as f**k" go sigh...

This post has been edited by Duke Red: Aug 31 2011, 08:38 AM

We rank 4th in the world in terms of visitors to the official site, the highest of all Asian countries. They realize the potential of our market hence why business development executives have been busy securing commercial deals here.

Meireles signed on a relatively low deal with the promise to have it reviewed at the end of the season, such was his desire to join the club. Since then however Fenway group has changed priorities with focus now on paying higher salaries to young hungry, talented players, preferably English. Sadly, Meireles doesn't fit the description at 28. He was therefore at odds with the wage bill at Anfield and was never going to get the expected salary hike. More our fault than his actually.

In terms of facebook fans, Indonesia are highest in the world. I'm not sure if they refer to unique visitors when it comes to the official site though.

Yup I heard them mention an academy as well. They have big plans for the Asian market, Malaysia in particular. About time too. At least they aren't sitting on their arse like Rick Parry did.

I don't think you need to be incredibly young to play behind the front man. I mean the likes of Dennis Bergkamp, Jari Litmanen and Teddy Sheringham played in that position well into their twilight years.

Happy birthday Bill.

Gone but not forgotten.


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