...well...literally..in some way if u know what i mean

VILLA FOR NO.8!!!
uhh, wait, wrong thread

aston or david?

did u guys still believe we win coz benitez tactic..still think we should win easily that game...and torres should get hatrix...i dont think he is planning to win last minute goal and already plan for torres score the injured time goal..he should stop the stupid rotating system if want the epl..

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Added on February 8, 2009, 4:39 pmdid u guys still believe we win coz benitez tactic..still think we should win easily that game...and torres should get hatrix...i dont think he is planning to win last minute goal and already plan for torres score the injured time goal..he should stop the stupid rotating system if want the epl..

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Added on February 8, 2009, 4:58 pmKeane baffled by treatment from Benitez
In this section »

* Keane as mustard but not to Rafa's taste
* Be wary of a team who play with a voracious patriotism
* Zola putting a new perspective on a United front
* Ferguson concerned for Rooney
* With a little help from his friends
* SOCCER SHORTS

DAVID HYTNER

ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE: ROBBIE KEANE has admitted he was “baffled” by his treatment at Liverpool by Rafael Benitez and he believes that he would have been a success at Anfield if another manager had been in charge.

The Republic of Ireland striker, who is now back at Tottenham Hotspur as captain and is preparing for tomorrow’s north London derby against Arsenal at White Hart Lane, painted a picture of Benitez as resolutely non-communicative.

He said that the Spaniard did not explain why he had omitted him from the squads that faced Everton in the FA Cup and Chelsea in the Premier League towards the end of last month, and that he had not even told him why he had decided to sell him back to Tottenham on Monday.

Keane’s stay at Liverpool lasted 189 days and was pock-marked by the frustrations of being played out of position and substituted.

“I never regret anything I have done,” said Keane. “Never, ever. It wasn’t a mistake for me to go there, it just didn’t work out for whatever reason. I didn’t fit into the way that Rafa plays football. With a different manager there, maybe it could have worked.

“I was doing everything I possibly could to play football and do well for the team, which is the most important thing. I wasn’t going there to do well for Robbie Keane, it’s about the team.

“I never had one bad word to say about anybody there, I didn’t have a problem with the manager, I never had a fallout with the manager . . . I was never late for training, I trained every day and I worked my socks off. It’s as simple as that. You’re probably as baffled as I am.”

Keane was asked directly whether Benitez had shown the guts to tell him that he was jettisoning him, even though he would not sign a replacement striker. “I said before that I didn’t speak to him,” Keane replied. “Get the train up to Liverpool and ask him.”

Keane has swapped a title challenge for a battle against relegation and, ironically, he could yet collect a Premier League winners’ medal and go down in the same season. Any medal which may yet wing its way down from Merseyside in May, however, would feel wholly unsatisfactory.

“It would not mean anything at all,” he said. “The way I look at it is . . . if I was there (at Liverpool) and in and out of squads, it probably wouldn’t mean as much to me because as a player you want to be a part of it. When you are left out, sometimes you don’t feel a part of it.”

Keane is cup-tied in the League Cup, courtesy of a three-minute cameo as a substitute against Crewe Alexandra in round three and, consequently, he will miss Tottenham’s showdown with Manchester United in the final on March 1st. But he added: “It would mean more to me if Spurs won the Carling Cup (than if Liverpool won the league), even though I won’t be playing at Wembley. I am a Spurs player now and Liverpool is gone, it’s in the past.”

It was clear that being dropped from those two match days squads, with the unproven youngster David Ngog being preferred on the bench against Everton, represented the breaking point for Keane. “I’ve never been left out of a squad, ever, in my career,” he said. “I think I’ve proven over the years that I’m quite capable of doing a job and scoring goals and no disrespect to anybody but if you look at my record compared to most of them, it’s probably a little bit better.”

Benitez has suggested that Keane was not up to the challenge of playing for a club of Liverpool’s prestige. “That’s up to Rafa to say that,” replied Keane, biting his lip hard. “I am not getting into a feud with anybody. I am too big for that. I have too much respect for people.”

Keane now simply wants to prosper under Harry Redknapp, and get back to being the player he was when he left White Hart Lane. “Harry has a record of having a great relationship with his players,” he said. “He speaks to the players and when he gets a player in, he certainly gives them an opportunity and that’s something I’m relishing.

“Obviously, I feel fresh and that’s a fact. You don’t become a bad player overnight and I believe I could have brought a lot to that (Liverpool) squad. But it was the manager’s choice. With a different manager, it probably would have worked.”



buy 20m,sell 15m..lost 5m in 6 monts...hope we win epl..if not..benitez really have to go..

This post has been edited by utp_tyco: Feb 8 2009, 04:58 PM

Before you guys pounce on Babel's sitter... don't forget also that a certain goalscoring legend called Thierry Henry also missed a couple of easy chances during his early days at Arsenal...

Before you guys pounce on Henry's sitter, don't forget certain goalscorer called Mike Tee also missed a million of easy chances during his weekly futsal sessions.

Tactical wise... I think it worked. We were always attacking. Creating chances. Which is good.

I support the rotation policy though. You don't want to tire out your key players and risk INJURIES. Drawing a game is FAR better than losing Torres for a few months. You also get to give your wonderkids a run, give them a taste of EPL football. The future is equally important.

Yesterday result again show that, if Rafa is brave enough to attack attack, then Liverpool actually can score goal, which is lacking on various 0-0 matches.

Only went behind, the team shows urgency to attack and getting goal. While when the match is 0-0, Liverpool always play cautious approach.

Hmm, I beg to differ.His vision is making pass was worth mentioning.He made a couple of good passes last night.A decent 1st league start I would say.

This post has been edited by solstice818: Feb 8 2009, 05:43 PM

hey dude..dont even compare babel with henry..he is football genius..even torres dont come closer near henry reputation yet..better you compare babel with cisse,morientes,keane and others which also miss so many changes and now not wearing liverpool shirts..

It shows that we still need 1st team player to get goals. While fringe players like Babel and Ngog just wont get going, but I m fairly impressed by some of the nice passes ngog picked up for others.

Anyway, Agger always attack from the left side...Any chance of him replacing Dossena as LM?


Dossena did quite ok last night...Hope he can do better

Anyone also heard the Pompey fans were taunting Torres with his bounce songs? They were singing it without the lyrics like as though they were saying "what can Torres do?"

And when he assisted the 2nd goal, it was all quiet. Even quieter when he scored the winner.

Was at some mamak too, can sense Mancs cheering when Pompey scored. -.-

My observations are based on all the time I've seen him play, not just this morning. In any case, I don't thin he's ready for first team action. Yes he's been great for the French U-21 side but so were Anthony La Tallec and Florent Sinama Pongolle.

remember our home game this season against manu ? 2-1 come back with gerrard & torres on the bench

team A is what put out most of the day but team B is rafa secret little garage project with crazy stuff like 1-2-4-3 attacking wingback and free roll center back

I thought Aurelio did pretty well last night. Though not to the standard of Alonso. But switching from a wide player to playmaker in the centre. I think he did well.

Overall, I think we did quite well since the team is too much different from our usual team.The good thing is of course seeing even Skrtel and Agger ran all the way up to penalty box.Great match..Will certainly boost our team morale.

remind me of giggsy but aurelio doesnt have much of a right foot. but if its a choice between aurelio and lucas in the middle i would go for fabio babel lucas ngog are just too young at their game and rafa isn't wenger

personally i feel babel had a pretty good game this morning, apart from that horrendous sitter. throughout the match he made himself available for the ball and tried to create opporturnities for both himself and others, i don't think it's fair to single him out for criticisms just because of one miss.

ngog doesn't look like he's in the game at all last night, all those horrible and lazy one-touch and poor control, i don't think he touched the ball more than 10 times during his time on the pitch. he did make some good moves, but he isn't bringing his teammates into the game when he has possession. either his headers go all directions, or his control results in the ball falling 10 yards away from his boot.

reina was unlucky to have to pick the ball out from the net twice, poor defending especially for the second pompey goal. but he also made quite a few good saves.

kuyt doesn't look tired at all when he came on, created one and scored one. some people complains that workrate is all he have, but last night his workrate won us the match.

spectacular performance from benayoun, although i would have to say mascherano marshalled the midfield quite impressively. if you ask me the only reason benayoun edge him for my choice for motm it's because benayoun's playing so much higher up the pitch and thus involved in more attacking plays.

and surprisingly, aurelio and dossena had quite great games playing together, i'm particularly stunned when aurelio was playing in the centre of the pitch, but he looked to be doing quite well spraying passes a la alonso.

and lastly, i think the 5-3-2 formation is quite pretty. i remember we played the same formation against newcastle last season and we totally outplayed them. enjoy all the sweet passing and pacy fullback runs.

Paper Talk:

Liverpool are set to re-ignite their interest in Gareth Barry over the summer.

Rafa Benitez has made a dramatic Champions League U-turn and given Sami Hyypia a reprieve.

http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/b...ctid10417316001
we have five players joining up with the spanish squad.. torres reira alonso abeloan reina. damn