The question of who flame who first is moot in a Malaysian context because in all honesty, we all behave the dame way.

In the context of fans in England, its clear as day that mancs trump us in terms if taking the piss. They have a wide plethora of anti - Liverpool songs which are sung even when they are playing other teams. When was the last time anyone say the Kop taking the piss out of the mancs when we weren't playing them? Nuff said.

Winning the Champions League in 2005 proved to be a smokescreen unfortunately. In this day and age, it's been proven that the richest clubs finish in the top 3, if not the top of the table. We came close once under Rafa and once under BR. It would have been unrealistic for us to expect the team to challenge for the title every season unless we spend the way Chelsea and City have. Even Arsenal who have managed their financials well aren't challenging for the title although they have been consistently in the top 4. So the question really is, do we have the financial muscle to match the clubs above us?

If you look at the La Liga, you will get the occasional Valencia or Atletico challenging Barca and Real Madrid for the title. In the last 10 years only Atletico Madrid has beaten both teams to the title and only twice has a club other than Barca or Real finished in the top 2.

Did anyone see Suarez make Luiz look like a putz not once but twice this morning ?

Nice going buddy. Do give us an account of your experience there.

Not every defender costs $50 million though I'm still surprised that PSG thought Luiz was worth that much.

Good read this.

The club is looking to further cut their wage bill. Knowing that Stevie is on $150,000 a week and Sterling wants the same amount makes it seem that much more ridiculous. Sterling isn't even half the player Stevie was in his prime and he wants equal pay with a living legend.

http://www.thisisanfield.com/2015/04/liver...million-summer/?

With the amount they've spent they should be. Credit to Lyon for leading billionaire clubs in PSG and Monaco. In 2013, PSG and Monaco spent $250 million. The rest of the Ligue 1 clubs spent only $40 million combined. Aside from foreign players, PSG and Monaco has also been snapping up young local French talent.

As the old adage goes, "the club comes first".

There's no doubt that in modern football, a lot of emphasis has been placed on the buying and selling of players. It's rare these days for top clubs to promote from within when they can circumvent time and effort simply by buying "finish products". When I say this I don't only refer to proven players but also young lads that have been groomed since they were as young as 8 and already posses some degree of ability. With the increasing emphasis on players therefore, it's sometimes difficult to place the club first. To some, the player defines the club when it should be the other way around. It isn't therefore incomprehensible that there are fans who switch allegiances when another club with better players begins to achieve more success than theirs.

I just think that it is every more important for us to find a deeper reason for supporting the club. For me, it's about "The Liverpool Way", it's about Shanks and the foundation he built this club on, it's about the unwavering support shown by our fans (singing even in defeat - Istanbul anyone?), and lastly, it's about history and all the wonderful stories associated with the club (Shankly never turning down a kickabout session with the kids even inviting strangers into his home to talk football, Carra buying fans tickets to Istanbul, the mighty Spion Kop, players and managers attending numerous funerals after Hillsborough, Shankly offering Matt Busby 5 first team players after the latter's squad was decimated during the Munich Air Disaster; offering to pay for their wages as well), there are just too many.

Players and managers come and go but all that I've mentioned above, stays forever.

I'll probably spurge on numbered seats. The last time the team was here, I went for both the friendly game and the training session. For the former, I was queuing up about 3 hours before kick-off, not something I'd want to go given the choice.

Actually, we were somewhat fortuitous I must admit. Leading up to the final, it was actually our fringe players that scored important goals for us. Had Mellor and Sinama Pongolle not scored against Olympiacos, Gerrard's screamer would have meant little. Against Leverkusen, it was Igor Biscan that put in a stellar performance in the absence of Gerrard and Alonso. Whilst he may have been a fan favourite, Luis Garcia was also one of the more frustrating players to watch as he was guilty of being too fancy sometimes, but it was his superb strike against Juventus that carried us past them. Who would have thought? Against AC Milan, we were heavy underdogs on paper. I mean Harry Kewell had just returned from a season-long injury, and along with the likes of Djimi Traore, Vladimir Smicer, Milan Baros and Djibril Cisse, we hardly had a squad that would strike fear in the opposition. However this is what makes Istanbul so special and it will be a long time before we see a fairy tale like this unfold again. After we leveled, Milan battered us until the final whistle, and absolutely tore us apart for 80% of the match. Heck even Stevie had to drop to righback to nullify Serginho. One key substitution Rafa did make (and only because Finnan got injured) was to bring on Didi Hamann who had Kaka in his back pocket for the entire second half.

Can't discount the importance the 12th Man made that day. We outnumbered the Milan supporters and the half-time rendition of YNWA got too many whether in a positive or negative manner. It rattled Milan but more importantly, it rejuvenated the belief of the players (proven by the accounts they each gave after the match).

No doubting the best interest of the club is at the top of each of our minds, it's just we differ in what is actually best?

To be fair, I think every manager says the same thing when they are under pressure. I've yet to see a manager admit that he's a poor choice and the board should sack him. This is the first sign that a manager is feeling the heat. Rafa went through the same process but he progressed to the next stage where he started arguing with the owners and taking a swipe at his players by continuously citing that he needed better players which did no amount of good to their confidence. This is when he started to lose the dressing room. Although the majority of fans were still supportive of him, the pressure had clearly gotten to him and he started to embark on a series of incoherent rants. His responses to jibes from Fergie showed that he had lost his composure.

The similarity between Rafa and Rodgers is that they both got it right at some point. Last season, we were unplayable for much of the season and many pundits admitted we were playing some of the best football in Europe. The same could be said of Rafa's team the season we finished 2nd. There isn't a doubt that the loss of Suarez was a massive blow and the absence of Sturridge through injury for a further kick in the teeth. Doesn't help also that we've signed a misfiring "superstar" in Balotelli. I'm just hoping that Sturridge returns to full fitness and we sign a decent forward before the next season begins. BR didn't had his choice of forwards turned down by the board last season and we were left with Balotelli which was admittedly, a panic buy. Not the first time manager and owners have disagreed. The latter didn't even want to for out a bit more for Dempsey last time round. I'm hoping they'll sanction the signing of a Mandzukic, Lavezzi or Cavani this time round. I wouldn't want to have to rely on Origi given the season he's just had at Lille.

This post has been edited by Duke Red: Apr 24 2015, 04:28 PM