It's a stretch to link overall form to one player. Our crappy form also coincided with the return of Gerrard

I must admit that Lucas has been a revelation. I completely wrote him off early in his Liverpool career. I also think the absence of Agger made us a little more shaky at the back. One thing I can't seem to put my finger on is how come the slump after Stevie's return? It wasn't that Adam and Henderson were playing better early in the season, it's that the whole team looked more like well, a team. Not blaming Stevie either. Love him to bits. Just saying.

Not all but quite a fair few. What now? I thought Comolli leaving was good news? Pressure on Kenny for whoever he signs now. Can't help but wonder if FSG have any intentions of sacking him? I mean with so few games left and the FA Cup semi-final so near, it would have made little sense to release him now. I reckon he'll need a result tomorrow and in our remaining games to ensure he'll be given another year. Come on Kenny, if there is anyone I want to see take us back to the top, it's you. What a story that would be.

Nor can I but I'll be in PD! Hoping the hotel has the right channel else, I'll be wandering off to the nearest mamak.

I love the Merseyside derby. So much passion. What a fiery encounter it will be given the stakes. Two fiery Scotsmen go toe to toe. William Wallace comes to mind. No red cards lads. Jay, can you hear me Jay?

It's going to be Howard Webb. Mixed feelings about this one. I prefer Mark Halsey myself.

I actually thought that Rafa overthought the game. He was so detailed, that players often looked like chess pieces and were somewhat restrained. I prefer a much more expansive style of play where players are given more freedom, not that it doesn't come without it's cons. Kenny is not as tactically astute which is why Sammy Lee was asked to leave and Steve Clarke signed in his place. Sammy was the perfect man to compliment the cold, steely figure of Rafa but he's too similar to Kenny. Clarke is the perfect foil for the King. You mention Mourinho and I agree, but that's possibly another reason we signed Clarke, who enjoyed much success with Mourinho at Chelsea. Not a big fan of Mourinho's tactics myself. Find his tactics somewhat negative, however effective. I like playing the ball wide, especially since we have the likes of Johnson and Enrique storming forward from the back, but Mourinho likes playing through the middle. At least this is what I saw during his time at Chelsea.

Johan Cruyff as Director of Football? Interesting prospect indeed. What can be bring to Liverpool? Well the Dutch were the inventors of Total Football and Cruyff was one of the most famous exponents of this philosophy that was introduced by Rinus Michels. In short...



Also, Ajax has one of the best youth academies in the world, De Toekomst (which translates as 'the future') academy. Here's a short video. http://www.uefa.com/trainingground/grassro...id=1562470.html

Thirdly, a name as big as Johan Cruyff, we will surely attract some of the best players from around the globe.

The thing is, there isn't a specific job scope for the role. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Director_of_football

Jumping the gun I suspect but I'm excited at the prospect of he and Kenny working together. Total Football was all about movement and players covering for one another, and Kenny gives his players a lot of freedom, necessary for pass and move football. An integration of both philosophies is a mouth watering prospect indeed.

Possibly but there are dissimilarities. We didn't quite play as many short passes back then as Barcelona does now. We were more the run & gun type, rather than opting for a slow buildup from what I recall. We had Jan Molby who raked long balls across the park, and wide players like John Barnes who would get in behind defenders to seek out the likes of Rushie, Aldo and Beardsley.

This is friggin good news ahead. Hope I don't jinx it.

What time is tomorrow's kickoff anyway?

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Added on April 13, 2012, 7:42 pmSkrtel has been a revelation this season. Agger has brought out the best in him.

This post has been edited by Duke Red: Apr 13 2012, 07:42 PM

Well for all the hoofing he still has a 78% pass completion ratio

I've been a fan of Agger from the get-go. He's been a little unlucky with injuries and it befuddled me that Hodgson didn't want to play him. I was upset to have heard that he was going to leave for AC Milan but thankfully Kenny saw in him what only Hodgson did not. How "one of the most respected managers in Europe" didn't recognise the talent of what I rate as one of the best centre backs in Europe is beyond me.

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Added on April 13, 2012, 9:10 pmPs: Adryan. That pic looks damn gay

This post has been edited by Duke Red: Apr 13 2012, 09:10 PM

Good win yesterday but it doesn't overshadow the fact that 96 of our own went to watch a football game 23 years ago today and never came home. Justice has yet to be served. JFT96, gone but not forgotten.

If anyone doesn't know the signifance of today, I explore you to have a read. Please have a look at the 5 part documentary and join the call for justice. Today, all Reds around the world unite so that the families of the 96 may finally have some closure.

http://liverpool.theoffside.com/hillsborou...sborough-2.html?

This post has been edited by Duke Red: Apr 15 2012, 06:10 PM

What time is it on over there mate?

Sad isn't it? As time goes by, more and more will forget or will not have heard about it. It is the duty of those that do to enlighten those that don't. This is an incident so close to the heart of Liverpool fans. I was touched to see Rafa shed tears during last year's memorial service even though he was no longer at the club.

Here is the footage again.



Winning the Champions League made him a legend but it is his continued support for Hillsborough that has etched his name in Liverpool folklore.

This post has been edited by Duke Red: Apr 15 2012, 06:57 PM

Will catch it then. I've been posting for a number of years and more and more of the seasoned posters like redshaun, Jonno, jonc, popsoul, teeque, Flix, monstar, etc who used to grieve over Hillsborough have since left the thread, hence the lack of chatter on the subject.

Aye King Kenny and the rest of the lads attended funeral after funeral. Sometimes as many as four in one day. It's why fans are so much more patient with him despite the team underperforming in the league. I remember an interview with Aldo where the doc asked him to talk to a patient who was in a coma. He said some encouraging words to the lad but when he asked the doc when the lad would be coming out of it, the doc told him they were going to take him off life support in the evening. The incident changed a lot of people that day. With all due respect to the Shanks, it showed us that football isn't more important than life or death.

The Hillsborough Memorial is live on liverpoolfc.tv now. Just tuned in.


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RIP 96


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Memorial coming to a close. YNWA being sung. Nice tribute paid to Evertonians who went to Wembley yesterday and paid their respects to the 96.

Here's how I'll sum up the weekend.

1) Fantastic result over Everton. I say so because even though our tactics were a little questionable in the first half, we adjusted in the second by pushing Stevie further forward, having Suarez play more central instead of out wide and having Downing swap wings with Henderson for the whole half.

2) Chuffed for Carroll. Missed an open goal but made ammends when it mattered. Showed good work ethic by chasing down balls, and even displayed a willingness to play the ball with his feet instead of laying it off immediately. May be blamed for a lack of effort all this while but in this game, he tried.

3) Gutted for Carra. Not all his fault though. Agger should have cleared it first time and neither player took responsibility. His failure to pick up Jelavic in the second half almost led to a goal. Thankfully, the Croat put it into the side netting. Not one of his better games in a red shirt by far.

4) Very nice gesture from Everton, whose fans brought with them a wreath to honour the fallen 96. Many Liverpool fans will testify that the rivaly which has produced the most red cards of any derby in England, though competitive, has become a friendly one after the support that Everton fans showed after 15th April 1989.

5) Happy Birthday Rafa Benitez.

6) Learned not to take jibes from a certain Scotsman too seriously in future (http://www.thisisanfield.com/2012/04/ferguson-the-hypocrite-strikes-again/)

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Added on April 16, 2012, 10:48 amIn regards to the classless Chelsea fans at this morning's semi-final, here's a first hand account. Seems it was only a small group of them to be fair.

This post has been edited by Duke Red: Apr 16 2012, 10:53 AM

Some may say that expectations amongst Liverpool fans are high because we're accustomed to winning things. To be fair to Kenny, he did admit that we need to improve our league position. Winning cups are a welcomed addition but he'd like to win and qualify for the Champions League both. Better than choosing either or. To me, it doesn't matter if it's the league cup or the "Mickey mouse treble" that we won under Houllier. No club goes into a cup final with an eye on losing.

Quite right. The majority of Liverpool and Man Utd fans have deep respect for Hillsborough and Munich. Having said that, I still hate Man Utd with passion but I can respect what you've achieved.

It's been some time we can honestly say we were going to challenge for the Premiership. In the past 20 years, I can only only think of a small handful of occasions we realistically had a chance at climbing to the summit, most recently under Rafa when we went second and before that when we also finished 2nd under Gerard Houllier. Those were the only times I can remember us every being in pole position if even for just awhile. The season before that we finished 3rd, and thereafter we went on a freefall as our over reliance on Michael Owen's pace meant that we became predictable and as injuries blighted our fleet footed forward, we were blunt and toothless. More often than not, our target has always been a top four finish which is now made harder by the resurgence of Spurs and Newcastle, and the massive inheritence Man City have received. If there is one issue with Liverpool fans having long memories and drawing inspiration on our past, it's that expectations are sometimes unrealistic. If you read some early season comments, you would have seen some posters genuinely believe we were going to ursurp the mancs after just one closed season.

Winning cups has always masked our failure to compete for the Premiership. More so now than in the 90's when we won next to nothing. Rafa's win in the Champions League for example helped cloaked the fact that our league form was poor as we finished behind Everton.

Is right. They also littered the entire stadium by discarding the flags thereafter.

I think it was disrespectful of Terry and Torres not to have worn black armbands, especially in the case of the latter. I've always scoffed at suggestions that we should once again welcome him with open arms as I felt he left us high and dry at the last minute despite citing that he had reasons we don't understand. Reasons by the way, that he hasn't yet given until today. I wished him the best when he left but never thought it apt that he should return after turning his back on us. Not a Liverpool type player in my books for all his ability. Loyalty and passion are more important to me. I have no idea why he didn't put on an armband, but it strengthen's my belief that he should never return to Anfield in red. The lack of loyalty and passion he showed towards the end of this career is the same reason I would not want Carlos Tevez in the side.

To be fair to Chelsea fans, it was only a small group who chanted during the minute's silence. Let's not generalise just as we don't like it when they generalise us over a few bad hats. Let's not be hypocritical. We lay claim to being the most knowledgeable fans do we not? Well let's play the part.