great player, wrong attitude

hope he doesn't end up at United though!

I hope so, as both Crouch and Kuyt are nowhere near the class expected at LFC. Both Rafa buys though. However, this story is a red-herring as the yanks will not fork out 10mil plus.

I could see Crouch doing well at Spurs actually.

Would they even want Kuyt as part-ex though probably only knock off a few £M for him.

We've already had and got rid of Crouch.

The irony is of course that Berbatov has about as much chance of winning the Championship at Liverpool as he does Spurs.

berbatov and torres up front wow formiddable

this is a no sense topic. the lad isnt coming to us, we cant afford mascherano never mind a player wanter by manure chelsea and others. and he is a baby, he is a sulk, he constantly needs an arm around him which if you remember we dont do at liverpool, ie rafa rotation, being dropped and rafa not being a one on one guy, do you think berbatov would be happy with that??? he isnt coming, crouch isnt going to spurs and we havent the money to wipe our arses with on bog paper cause of these lying sceeming george bush fans. the main fortune of these yanks is in steel and we are looking at a recesion next yr world wide, hitting the building trade big time, hmmmm and we think we are broke now?? get shut of them now

how about a late bid from us but with but maybe with the possibility of Crouch or Kuyt going the other way?

HAHA Spurs never want those strikers!

berbatov would be great and his attitude would change at a big club. crouch, kuyt and voronin all need to go for the start of next season and one world class forward is needed, along with cover.
my recommendations for now and summer would be:

in- daniel alves, david silva, ujfalusi/heinze, barragan, pandev/berbatov/david villa (or another top striker)

out- finnan, riise, sissoko, voronin, crouch, kuyt

Please Please Mr Benitez! do not buy Wayne Bridge, he truly is sub standard.
Am I the only person to think that Carragher needs no should be included in the rotation policy that raffa implements. though i think he has been an outstanding servant for the club, he has not the pace or skills required for the modern centre half (unless you want a player who passes back to keeper all the time INSTEAD OF GOING FORWARD, and boots the ball into row z in swash buckling leave it all to me style defending)
Liverpool needs to go back to the basics, pass and move and to forget that zone rubbish.
and my last rant to Mr B would please start buying big names like Henry, Berbatov, Decca these types of players will inspire the youngsters (Look Arsenal did it)combined with the Stevie G attitude.

if liverpool are to win the title they will need to buy better players than him how bout lahms robinho and quaresma.

The way we are playing this season , we do not deserve to be called one of the top four teams. Were not capable of beating the bottom teams let alone the Man U's Arsenals Chelseas of this world. Where has it all gone wrong in one word ROTATION , that and a Manager who thinks he knows it all. We are a disgrace at the moment we should be beating teams like Wigan 3 or 4 nil. I am fed up with hearing Benitez giveing us his excuses, the reality is we arn't good enough and never will be until he changes his tactics, either that or we change him.

1) Shitty as it is, i dun see Rafa gettin the sack.

2) This is football, not fantasy football. Kompany, Quaresma, Berbatov etc etc wil neva happen!

3) As much as Rafa stil asks for patience, i think everyone has run out of it!

4) Again, as much as Rafa thinks we're still in the race, we were actually out a long time ago.

5) This list can actually go on!

Red4life

I agree with u totally there julez as i said in my forum lastnight we was out of the title race weeks and weeks ago but everyone said oh dont talk crap and i aint had an apology 4 it yet lol! we need a new manager and FAST
red4life

Will dumping Rafa help?
Will it GUARANTEE success?

The answer is NO! Not many can come in to a team n bring IMMEDIATE success.. Long term maybe, but not immediate..

But so long as the new coach doesn't rotate, i think we definately stand a better chance than we currently do..

Red4life

"In four seasons under Benitez, the closest Liverpool have been to the leaders immediatley after the Christmas programme has been the 11-point gap between themselves and Chelsea at the start of 2006; five months later they had reduced it by two."

"They know how to win in Europe but beating fellow members of the Big Four is something Benitez's Liverpool have yet to master. In 21 games against their nearest rivals, they have picked up 15 points. Manchester United's return is 38. Liverpool have still to go to the Emirates, Stamford Bridge and Old Trafford and they are dropping more than a point a game at Anfield."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/main.jhtmlview=DETAILS&grid=A1YourView&xml=/sport/2008/01/04/sfnliv104.xml

I'd also like to show a fact to all these fans who say Wenger has built his team over TEN YEARS while Benitez has only had four years.

Here's the reality to destroy this myth; In the last 4 years since Rafa arrived at Anfield Wenger has bought, Rosicky, Hleb, Adebayor, Sagna, Alumnia, Gallas, Edwardo from his first team. He already had Fabregas, Toure, Clichy, Flamini, from the current first 11 at Arsenal.

Of Benitez's usual 11 this season he already had Gerrard, Carragher, Finnan, Hyppia from the previous manager.

Therefore in the last 4 years Wenger has actually bought as many of his first 11 as Benitez. Yet Arsenal's first 11 are TWELVE points ahead of ours. And they also make our style of football look stone age as was shown at Anfield this season.

Go figure all you people who love to blame anyone but Benitez for our LEAGUE failings. No one disputes Benitez does better than Wenger in Europe. But do we want Europe or the league title?

The post on the Arsenal comparison should end any lingering talk of Benitez needing more time. We have not improved in the League one iota since he arrived and we never will. He is a negative manager, will take a draw anytime rather than "risk" a defeat. He simply does not have the winning mentality it takes to win the title. We all have a desire for the title and rightly so - Europe can wait. We need to change the manager now - we need a leader. motivator and some passion. Mourinho would walk to Anfield to be with our supporters.

Look at the team Rafa put out against Wigan and tell me who you woudnt have played other than perhaps another forward. The team selected was Reinna Finnan Carragher Arbeloa Aurelio Pennant Gerrard Mascherano Alonso Kewell Torres. Subs included Kuyt Crouch Bennyoun. THAT TEAM WAS EASILY STRONG ENOUGH TO BEAT A TEAM LIKE WIGAN. So either Rafa's tactics were wrong or the players under performed, to my mind it was a combination of both we should have played two players up front, but having not done so the players selected should still have been far too good for lowly Wigan. Just look at our midfield Gerrard Mascherano Alonso Kewell how the hell were these players not good enough to beat Wigan. THE PLAYERS HAVE TO SHOULDER SOME OF THE BLAME.
Rafa Benitez doesn't do himself a lot of favours by constantly changing the team but there is something fundermentaly wrong if that team he selected can't go out and win. These players are earning £30-40,000, £100,000 a week in some cases are they LACKING AMBITION ? , ARE THEY LACKING MOTIVATION ? OR ARE THEY PLAYING IN THERE COMFORT ZONE ?

edit • reply

Aint rocket science, hence u've figured it out.. For me, i oni see a few players who give it their ALL n luk most likely to win the game for us..

1) Gerrard
2) Gerrard
3) Gerrard, and..
4) Gerrard!

Red4life

theres no doubt that kuyt and voronin need the flick keep crouch though he hasnt scored much he is still very hard to contain berbatov doesnt cut it either id look at robinho and silva they are real class and can play wide.

Are our players hungry enough to win us the premiership ? Is Rafa unable to motivate the players ?
With all this rotation does it leave players not really caring as to wether they play or not ?, play well get dropped next game , play badly so what Rafa will give me another chance in a couple of games time. I get payed the same money wether I play or not. Ive said it before and I'll say it again Rafa's rotation policy is the ruination of this club.

Get him now and get Fergie, Wenger and Chelski shaking!!! No league win in 19 years not good enough. We need a manager who knows how to win the premiership and unless King Kenny can do a job then its Mourinho for me!!

Mourinho asap for me. There's too many Liverpool fans with their heads in the sand with Benitez. It's obvious to most people in football he's part of the reason we are 12 points off the top so we need a change of leadership in June.

Maybe Mourninho won't win it next year, but I'm certain we won't be 12 points off top by xmas with the players we have.

Maurinho is SHIT!! Without Abrahmovich's money he would have not even won the League Cup in England... The EPL is was so tough for him that he bought 4 players for each position to be able to know who can play there..Do u call that a manager??? He was making trials with likesScot Parker,Paulo fereira and other craps from portugal..wasting loads of money...If you think he was the one who brought Drogba..then you need to go to inquire at Chelsea, Coz Without Frank Arnessen...Chelsea would have been full of mediocre players.
Ranieri had already build 80% of the team before Moaninho came.
He Sucks, and will never succeed at Liverpool especially with the American Beggars as Owners.
With the Millions of money Available he should have won the title even last year, What happened, when the Abrahmovich stopped giving the money??? This year, When he was in Charge, Chelsea was lying in 9th position, may be would have been further down if Maurinho was not sacked.

I think Jose Mourinjo would make a good manager for us, He is a great motivator, and has been successfull where ever he has been. I know people like criticalmind reckon he can only buy success, but that is incorrect. At Porto he won them the league year in year out , the eufa cup and Champions League without spending millions and the reality at Chelsea was he bought an entire team from scratch. Yes he bought a few duds at Chelsea but he delivered the Premiership twice and left Grant with a very good team. JOSE MAURINHO IS A WINNER AND THAT IS WHAT LIVERPOOL NEED AT THE MOMENT WINNERS. RAFA BENITEZ IS PAST HIS SELL BY DATE AND SHOULD BE ROTATED OUT THE DOOR.

Did Mourinho not win the Uefa and Europen Cup with Porto knocking out MaNuRE along the way? Did he spend millions there? I think not.

Mourinho is more than worth a risk. As Eddie says, he's more likely to motivate the team. And he won't accept losing to Reading so easily as Rafa did.

Ive been saying it all along mourinho 4 me aswell rafa cant and wont win us the PL title END OF

i dont think we should get jose..he has too big an ego and he would be fightin with hicks n gillet everyday..n anyways they dont have enuff money as abrahomiwich did..JOSE is a cunnin manager but i would prefer someone like MARCELO LIPPI u know..FABIO CAPELLO would be my first draw but he sortin out england's problems these days..what abt FRANK RIJKARD..?rumors abt him leavin Barca

I think Rijkaard wud be awesome! tho he may take sum time to adjust to the league n learn about it..

Mourinho DID win a champs league wit a small team n he seems to know how to motivate players.. Any of these 2 wud be gud for me, jus no Rafa pls!

To comment bout Masch, NO, i dun think he's worth tat money.. We cud get better cheaper.. Big names dun guarantee success, small ot unknomwn names cud be better.. Even Lucas cud do better, n he attacks better too..

Red4life

i still think that benitez is the right man for the job, he will come good, give him some more backing and have some faith the man knows what he is doing, getting any other manager in would only set us back even more as for mourinho i think i agree more with critical mind, winning the portugese league is nothing compared to the prem, plus look at the players that were at the club, players like deco the players clubs had it all set up nice for him, he just took over and got the rewards, plus if rafa let you could say good bye to half the team, torres, mascherano, reina, maybe leiva, alonso, aurelio and arebeloa would leave in my opinion, which obviously would not be good, but if he was to be replaced rijkard would probably get my backing, hopefully he won't though, keep the faith

It's best we all wait til May before talking about replacing Benitez. Many people are changing their minds from one result to the next about Rafa and that's pointless. He might still win the Champions League again so that'd earn him more patience!

However with trips to Old Trafford, Stamford Bridge and the Emirates to come, we could be a large distance from top next May.
If we are and he doesn't do well in the Champions League it would seem inevitable his head will be on the block.

I think Rafa need to get a former player as assistant also along with the little time left for him to do something at the club, May be Phil thomson or McAllister or Rush or somebody else.....they'll have more passion and hunger to win the EPL and motivate the players..they'll also got the time and experience to manage the team should the owners decide to part with rafa.
Its clear, The Spanish Armada in Benitez squad don't have the will to win the title...Changes need to be brought in the staff, i said it in the forum last month, we need a more skillfull and creative technical coach...Even Alex seems to have failed in that job, else Kuyt should have had regained his goalscoring skills, Pennant should have had been better, More youngsters should have had come to first team from the academy...
I think it was a good thing Pako left. But he need to be replaced by the right person.

Luton was all over us in the first half crouch and KUYT have missed chances again! nothing new there then fingers crossed it gets better in the 2nd half!

rafa's english isn't the best by his own omission maybe like criticalmind said a former player would be good least he'd get message across too many fatcats in our team now thats why we r not up 2 dodgy mancs they av settled side & work ard 4 each other( my god thats hard 2 stomach) why have nobody mentioned robbie keane,playing outstanding at present , there's also a bit of beardsley in him ,but i've said it b4 we av some talented youngsters we really do need 2 try some out we r carrying 2 many players @ the moment & it not down 2 bad run of form they were never good enough in 1st place , i no kids r inconsistant but gotta b better option than kuyt, vorinin,sissoko to name a few there's no hunger, excitement and the team played like they don't no each other least with kids they try and don't stop running we were so far off the pace maybe now they r leagues we look at signing players from cause our foreigners with the exception of a few cannot hack p/l or fa cup .WELL PLAYED LUTON we never deserved a replay our teams of old would av distroyed em.

Can anyone tell me why its taken so long 4 skertel 2 sign 4 us? he passed his medical on weds and agreed personal terms on weds and there still isnt any word that he's actually a liverpool player SO WHATS THE HOLD UP!!!

What about Ashley Young? I'd love to see him pinging balls in to the box and attacking the wings like he does for villa. Swop / sell voronin/Kuyt/Kewell

Yes he IS a gud exciting player.. We seriously need a player like Ronaldo who has trickery, pace, skill n finishing, n can make sumtin outta nothin n take it too..
Minus the diving n acting tho..

Sumone like Quaresma.. but reality check, we're neva gona get him.. even if we do, adaptin to the PL wud be another thing altogether.. I still think we shud hav gone for Nani at least.. Play him regularly n i'm sure we'll hav sumtin similar to Ronaldo..

We SERIOUSLY need a major overhaul! Kuyt, Crouch, Sissoko n several others MUST go!

Red4life

In todays papers Sami Hypia has said that the players have to spread the goals around and cannot keep relying on Fernando Torres. Sami had three headers on goal against Boro , two went over the bar , one was saved by Swartzer late in the game, if Sami can do it why cant others ?
Also Dirk kuyt ( who allways seems to have something to say ) says he will start to ease the burden on Torres and feels he will go on a scoring spree. Well my advice to Dirk is don't talk the talk , but start producing on the pitch were it matters. Kuyt needs a serious kick up the arse. If I was the bungler Benitez I would have him in my office and tell him in no uncertain words that I expect some goals from him, I would also give him a wake up call and tell him he was playing for his Anfield future. That said I would then tell a number of other players exactly the same thing.

What are ur thoughts on the mourinho rumours speculating him with the liverpool job? although its been denied by his agent and what have u. i was watching SSNEWS 2day and there has 2 be something 2 this story guys what u think? ID LOVE HIM 2 BE THE NEXT LIVERPOOL MANAGER

Ferguson was almost hounded out of Old Trafford during the first 3 years of his spell. If he hadn't of won the FA Cup he'd of been on his backside.

No progress? We've accumulated the highest points total in the club's history in the league under Rafa and improved our away form, not to mention 2 major trophies in 3 years.

If that's not "slow progress" for you, then I suggest you find a different club to support.

THE REASON RAFA BENITEZ SHOULD BE SACKED IS BECAUSE LIVERPOOL ARE PLAYING ATTROCIOUS FOOTBALL, HAVE YOU EVER SEEN THEM PLAY SO BADLY ?

ARE WE REALLY IMPROVING ? OR ARE WE ON THE DECLINE ? ONE THING IS FOR CERTAIN WITH THE QUALITY OF SQUAD WE HAVE, WE SHOULD BE DOING 100 TIMES BETTER.

WE PLAY NEGATIVE FOOTBALL, WE ARE A DEFENSIVE TEAM, MAN UNT, ARSENAL, CHELSEA PLAY ATTACKING FOOTBALL, THEY PLAY WITH STYLE, THE PLAY WITH PASSION AND PRIDE, LIVERPOOL LACK PASSION AND PRIDE WE ARE A SHAMBLES AND RAFA HAS TO TAKE THE BLAME.
HOW CAN WE PLAY SO BADLY , WITH THE BEST SQUAD WE HAVE HAD IN YEARS ?

SOMETHING IS BADLY WRONG WITH THE WAY WE PLAY, WE NEED A MANAGER WHO CAN MOTIVATE THE CURRENT SQUAD TO PERFORM TO A LEVEL OF ACHIEVEMENT, A CONSITANCY, UNDER RAFA WE ARE LIGHT YEARS AWAY FROM BEING A PREMIERSHIP WINNING TEAM, BUT THIS SHOULDNT BE THE CASE.

THAT IS WHY RAFA THE TINKERMAN BUNGLING BENITEZ HAS TO GO.

You're a Manc and I claim my 5 pound.

I see kuyt is talking out of his fcuking dutch arse again! saying he has 2 score more goals! NO SHIT SHERLOCK!!! that is something he cant do at liverpool he is so full of shit i wish he would fcuk off back 2 holland coz he will always be fcuking crap! just like voronin id rather windass in my side 2 kuyt or voronin! and that is saying something!
KUYT OR VORONIN COULDNT HIT THE FLOOR IF THEY FELL ON IT!!! crap b*st*rds!

Very defensive aren't we over the Manc criticism?

http://www.anfieldroad.com/news/200801132773/owners-welcome-to-leave.html/

Have a read of that, and then tell me you want Benitez to leave.

kEIREN I HAVE READ THAT ARTICLE AND AM CONCERNED ABOUT THE YANKEE DOODLES . I'D MUCH RATHER SEE DIC AS OUR OWNERS, THE SULTAN OF BRUNEI OWNS DIC AND IS TO MY KNOWLEDGE HE IS THE WEALTHIES MAN IN THE WORLD. IF HE CANT FINANCE OUR CLUB NOBODY CAN.

I READ YOUR COMMENTS RE RAFAS TRANSFER DEALING AND HAVE POSTED HIS TRANSFER OUTGOINGS WHICH HAVE BROUGHT IN 56M APPROX, IN FAIRNESS TO RAFA HE'S TRANSFER DEALINGS HAVE BBEEN VERY GOOD.

I JUST CANNOT COMPREHEND HOW SUCH A TALENTED SQUAD OF PLAYERS CAN PLAY SO BADLY WEEK IN WEEK OUT.

MY ANALERGY IS ITS HAS TO BE DOWN TO BAD TACTICS AND ROTATION, THERE IS NO CONSISTANCY ABOUT OUR PLAY, WE ARE TOO NEGATIVE IN OUR APPROACH, TOO DEFENCE MINDED. AND THE ONLY PERSON TO BLAME FOR THAT IS THE MANAGER.

WHATEVER WAY YOU LOOK AT THINGS RAFA BENITEZ IS NOT GETTING THE BEST OUT OF THE PLAYERS. WE ARE DRAWING WITH THE LIKES OF LUTON FOR CHRIST SAKE, WHAT WILL HAPPEN WHEN WE PLAY THE BIG THREE AWAY FROM HOME ?

THE CLUB IS AT A CROSSROADS WE NEED TO DECIDE DO WE STICK WITH RAFA OR DO WE GET RID. RAFA HAS DONE WELL ESPECIALLY IN EUROPE. BUT IS HE THE MAN TO BRING US THE HOLY GRAIL THE COVERTD PREMIERSHIP TROPHY.

PERSONALLY I DONT THINK THAT HE IS, WE ARE ALLREADY 12 POINTS ADRIFT OF MAN U AND PLAYING BADLY, WILL WE EVEN GET FOURTH PLACE ? I'M SORRY KEIRON BUT I HONESTLY FEEL WE NEED TO CHANGE OUR MANAGER, I UNDERSTAND YOUR OPINION AND SUPPORT FOR RAFA , BUT SOMETIMES YOU HAVE TO AGREE TO DISAGREE AND THIS IS ONE OF THOSE TIMES.

It's been confirmed today the two Yanks were already making plans to get rid of Benitez so there's no point all these "In Rafa we trust" sheep harking on about it. If he was near to the top of the league getting the team to play proper football his job would be fine. He isn't and that alone is why he's heading for the exit.

Everyone knows it.

It seems that there is a hand full of us that realise that rafa is finished red eh? but then there are others out there still insist that rafa is the right man 4 the job they need 2 wake up and smell the coffee the only thing that will keep him at liverpool next season is if he wins the PL! and there isnt a chance he will win it! so as red said he is finished GET USED TO IT!

WITH THE WAY HICKS & GILLET OFFERED HERR KLINSMAN THE MANAGERS JOB, PLUS THE WAY THEY ARE GOING ABOUT THE DAILY RUNNING OF THE CLUB. DO THEY HAVE THE SLIGHTEST IDEA ABOUT RUNNING A FOOTBALL TEAM ? , OR ARE THEY LAUREL & HARDY IN DISGUISE ?
THATS ANOTHER FINE MESS YOUVE GOT ME INTO STANLEY.

It looks like skrtel will be playing sooner rather than later 4 us as agger has broken his foot again which is a shame 4 us coz we have missed dani so badly this season i hope he makes a speedy recovery.