The Big Footy Liverpool Army

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Kewell7

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Kewell is injured dude and will be out for a while.

My Starting 11 is:

Reina
Finnan Carra Hyypia Riise

Alonso

Pennant Sissoko Gonzalez

Gerrard

Bellemy
 

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JLC

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I very much doubt Kewell will play as he has not played one practice game yet. Finnan and Gonzelez are also under injury clouds.

I think it will go something like this.

Reina

Finnan Hyypia Carragher Risse


Pennant Sissoko Alonso Gerrard

Crouch Bellamy

Subs: Fowler Garcia Gonzalez Zenden Kronkamp Carson

jlc
 

Lowie01

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Fowler and Fabio Aurelio are out of tomorrow's match. Gonzalez and Agger are doubtful. So I'll have a stab at this team:

-----------------Reina-------------
Finnan---Carragher---Hyypia---Riise
Gerrard---Alonso---Sissoko---Zenden
----------Crouch---Bellamy---------

Zenden's probably our only other left-sided option if Gonzalez is not right, the other option to put Luis Garcia there. But I think we'll go with two up front at Anfield which mean he'll probably be first off the bench.

In other news, we're reportedly chasing Dirk Kuyt one more time, if we qualify for the group stage (it seems the money is needed to add to the transfer budget).
 

JLC

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Well we got £2,000,000 from selling Traore which should be of help.

That team you posted looks pretty good actually as without Aurelio and Gonzalez and Kewell we are short ont he left.

jlc
 

apollo_creed

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Just a personal opinion, but Liverpool's midfield still looks too uninspiring to me (compared to the three other big 4 clubs) and I feel it lacks any real excitement. Even with Gonzalez and Pennant I think it still looks quite B-grade compared to the midfields of Chelsea and Arsenal.

Kuyt is a must imo, or someone of equal quality. I've seen little of him, but I'm not going to judge or comdemn him on a couple of below average World Cup performances. He was highly rated for, I'm sure a valid reason in the first place.

Even the defence with an older Hyypia (surely Agger will feature more this season?) and no real solution to the LB problem doesn't look as good as it could.

I'm prepared to eat my words, but I'll make a prediction (in here of all places, where it won't be forgotten) that Liverpool will finish 5th.
 

Ed_Gein

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I think we'll finish 3rd. Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool then Man Utd. I think the players Rafa have signed, while people may think they arent in the league of what the other big 3 teams would sign, are still good enough players to keep us in the top 4. They are also players that have inproved our squad and depth.

I can see Spurs challenging again for top 4, and perhaps Newcastle if they can keep all their players fit.

Who did you have above Liverpool Nip/Tuck to finish 4th behind the usual 3 suspects?
 

JLC

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Looks like there might be a bit of rain about tonight as the weather has been Melbourne like today lol

Interesting to note that on talk sport radio most people see Liverpool as the main threat to Chelsea. They think Man United are treading water at best and Arsenal do not have a big enough squad to challenge Chelsea. Reyes and Cole will depart, Bergkamp, Pires, Campbell have all departed as well.

I think people are underestimating the Liverpool midfield. Sissoko is set for a huge season and Gerrard and Alonso should provide more than enough creativity. We have a fit Zenden along with Pennant and Kewell its looking pretty good.

jlc
 

jod23

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Nip/Tuck said:
Just a personal opinion, but Liverpool's midfield still looks too uninspiring to me (compared to the three other big 4 clubs) and I feel it lacks any real excitement. Even with Gonzalez and Pennant I think it still looks quite B-grade compared to the midfields of Chelsea and Arsenal.

Kuyt is a must imo, or someone of equal quality. I've seen little of him, but I'm not going to judge or comdemn him on a couple of below average World Cup performances. He was highly rated for, I'm sure a valid reason in the first place.

Even the defence with an older Hyypia (surely Agger will feature more this season?) and no real solution to the LB problem doesn't look as good as it could.

I'm prepared to eat my words, but I'll make a prediction (in here of all places, where it won't be forgotten) that Liverpool will finish 5th.

Dude do you have any idea what your talking about? We have just about the best midfield in England, maybe equal with Chelsea but far better than Arsenal's or Man U's. Arsenal have quality through the middle with Ljungberg and Rosicky was a great signing and the young Cesc will only get better but it falls off dramatically after that. Silva is average as is Hleb, Flamini is ok and still young and Reyes is off to Real.

Man U's midfield is becoming laughable. Very average players like Fletcher, Richardson, O'Shea, Park and Smith... the very old Scholes and Giggs. United's only quality lies with Carrick who is really a poor man's Alonso and Ronaldo who is very talented.

Chelsea are very good though and certainly on par with us with guys like Wright-Phillips, J.Cole, Lampard, Essien, Ballack, Robben and Makelele. That's pretty awesome but we can match them with the best midfielder in the world, Steven Gerrard. Xabi Alonso is one of the best defensive midfielders in the world and his passing range is matched by very few. Sissoko is young and improving with every game. His energy and tackling break up so many attacks, he is up for a huge season. Pennant gives us width wide right and the left is stacked with Kewell, Riise, Aurelio and Zenden. Throw in Garcia for good measure.

No real solution to the LB problem? I was unaware we had a LB problem. If anything LB is one of the least problems we have. Riise is in the top 2 or 3 LB's in the premiership and we sold our problematic LB to Charlton in Traore. Then we brought in Aurelio on a free who is touted as the best LB in Spain and decent cover for both in young Warnock. Your definitely crazy.

I respect your opinion but I certainly dont agree. We will definitely finish top 4, runner-up most likely, definitely ahead of Man U with Arsenal giving us the most trouble. Winning the league isnt out of the question though. I believe.
 

jod23

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Well that game was fairly uninspiring. Our form has been a bit dodgy of late and were certainly not firing on all cylinders just yet. But with our late winner, we are still in a good position to go through, MH would have to beat us to go through and I dont think they will. A draw will be good enough but I think with the Charity Shield and the first game of the season behind us we will have found some form and win comfortably away from home.

Encouraging to see both Gonzalez and Bellamy score on their debut's. Im confident Bellamy will turn out to be an inspired signing. Cant complain so far. 1 game, 1 goal.
 

JLC

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Just out of note i was reading the match programme last night and in Rafas message he pointed out that during his time at Valencia he coached against Maccabi. Valencia drew the first leg at home 0-0 and won the return leg on neutral ground 4-0.

Heres hoping for a similar scoreline on the return leg.

Sissoko is the player to watch. Rafa is going to find it very very hard to leave him out of any Liverpool team. He is even developing a more attacking side to his game which is great news.

jlc
 

JLC

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Interesting to read in todays paper that Benitez is really throwing down the challenge to Crouch by basically saying it wont be as easy for him this campaign as in he wont be guaranteed a start and will need to obviously score and create more goals rather than being content being at Liverpool. He wants Crouch to take another step forward.

I think the fact that Crouch did not start in the CL qualifier came as a surprise to most but maybe that is a sign of things to come ? If Kuyt does come then competition for spots is going to be even tighter.

jlc
 

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mulhollanddrive

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It's a fair call by Benitez as he's finally saying what we all thought. Having said that he kept playing him game after game last year so I'm not sure where Crouch stands in the pecking order. Perhaps he felt obliged to play him as the 7m signing, and now he's just another option with Bellamy being the new 7m signing.
 

JLC

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Yup i would say third at best. Given the predicament he faces in midfield the easier option may be one striker up front and have Sissoko as holding midfielder with the others a licence to attack. Gerrard and Alonso are naturally good defensive players anyway. Fowler or Bellamy could be given first crack at this.

Then if he goes with two strikers its Fowler and Bellamy with Crouch playing more of an impact role until he proves himself again. Crouch needs to become hungrier so all for Rafa keeping him on bench.

jlc
 

jod23

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Id like to play two up front though because Fowler must play. He is slow but very clever, reads the play so well and his finishing is still world class. I cant see Rafa using Fowler off the bench. If you went with one up front, being Bellamy, surely Crouch would be the striker off the bench just to throw something different at the opposition defence late in a game.
 

JLC

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Yup we really missed Fowler on Wednesday as we were lacking someone to deliver that killer pass (normally that is Gerrard or Alonso) to set up Bellamy who made quite a few runs that went unnoticed.

Hope Fowler gets a game Sunday against Chelsea and ideally partners Bellamy although that may mean Alonso starting on the bench ? Unless Gerrard switches to the right and Pennant starts on bench or Gerrard plays on left ??

jlc
 

moomba

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JLC said:
Interesting to read in todays paper that Benitez is really throwing down the challenge to Crouch by basically saying it wont be as easy for him this campaign as in he wont be guaranteed a start and will need to obviously score and create more goals rather than being content being at Liverpool. He wants Crouch to take another step forward.
This is pretty much exactly what I've been saying about Crouch for much of the past year. While he has shown glimpses of being able to add an attacking threat to the bread and butter hold up play I think Benitez will be looking for him to do it on a more consistent basis.

Still with Robbies fitness he will get plenty of opportunity to do that. It does seem clear that Benitez will be looking for the intelligence of Fowler or the height of Crouch to create opportunities for Bellamy to get behind the defence. I wonder how a new striker such as Kuyt would fit in with that.
 

Cooldude

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JLC said:
Interesting to read in todays paper that Benitez is really throwing down the challenge to Crouch by basically saying it wont be as easy for him this campaign as in he wont be guaranteed a start and will need to obviously score and create more goals rather than being content being at Liverpool. He wants Crouch to take another step forward.

I think the fact that Crouch did not start in the CL qualifier came as a surprise to most but maybe that is a sign of things to come ? If Kuyt does come then competition for spots is going to be even tighter.

jlc
That's actually very far from the tone of Rafa's words, he was more complimentry of Crouch more than anything. Said he was impressive last season, no one rated him at the start and suddenly he's an established international player and everyone knows he can play. He's saying he needs to build on that and become even better

So your summary was pretty far off the mark
 

JLC

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No actually i dont think it was.

This was the article

Crouch told to leap up to higher levelAug 11 2006

By Nick Smith Daily Post Staff

RAFAEL BENITEZ is urging Peter Crouch to prove his value to Liverpool all over again this season.

The manager has already signalled his intention to make Crouch work for his place next season by securing the signatures of Robbie Fowler and Craig Bellamy, and continuing to pursue Feyenoord forward Dirk Kuyt.

And although Benitez was satisfied with the contribution the 25-year-old England man made to his squad's achievements last season - after a painfully long wait for his first goal - he feels he can add more to his game and prove the doubters wrong once more.

"This year, Peter is more mature and he needs to understand what it means to be a Liverpool player," said Benitez.

"People were talking before he signed that he wasn't good for us.

"But after a while he was in the squad with the national team and now people know how good he is.

"But he cannot think that is enough.

"He now needs to continue improving as he has a lot of potential and possibilities."

Last summer it was Crouch who was piling the pressure on the likes of Milan Baros and Djibril Cisse when he joined from Southampton for £7million.

The fact that he has since managed to see both of them off is merely a clear warning that Benitez isn't willing to waste time on players who don't perform to the standards Liverpool demand.

Now the Spaniard is looking for Crouch to build on last season's modest total of 11 goals and use the experience of his World Cup exploits in Germany to improve his all-round contribution to the team.



jlc
 
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g'day fellas
I recently bought Futbol: The Brazillian Way of Life and it's a bloody good read for anyone with even a passing interest in the sport of football... With that in mind, I was hoping some fellow liverpudlians could recommend any books about the L.F.C. There are probably a stack of them on Amazon, but it would be a great help if anyone can help me pick out the cream of bunch.
Cheers,
Brad
 

Cooldude

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JLC said:
No actually i dont think it was.

This was the article

Crouch told to leap up to higher levelAug 11 2006

By Nick Smith Daily Post Staff

RAFAEL BENITEZ is urging Peter Crouch to prove his value to Liverpool all over again this season.

The manager has already signalled his intention to make Crouch work for his place next season by securing the signatures of Robbie Fowler and Craig Bellamy, and continuing to pursue Feyenoord forward Dirk Kuyt.

And although Benitez was satisfied with the contribution the 25-year-old England man made to his squad's achievements last season - after a painfully long wait for his first goal - he feels he can add more to his game and prove the doubters wrong once more.

"This year, Peter is more mature and he needs to understand what it means to be a Liverpool player," said Benitez.

"People were talking before he signed that he wasn't good for us.

"But after a while he was in the squad with the national team and now people know how good he is.

"But he cannot think that is enough.

"He now needs to continue improving as he has a lot of potential and possibilities."

Last summer it was Crouch who was piling the pressure on the likes of Milan Baros and Djibril Cisse when he joined from Southampton for £7million.

The fact that he has since managed to see both of them off is merely a clear warning that Benitez isn't willing to waste time on players who don't perform to the standards Liverpool demand.

Now the Spaniard is looking for Crouch to build on last season's modest total of 11 goals and use the experience of his World Cup exploits in Germany to improve his all-round contribution to the team.



jlc
"This year, Peter is more mature and he needs to understand what it means to be a Liverpool player," said Benitez.

"People were talking before he signed that he wasn't good for us. But after a while he was in the squad with the national team and now people know how good he is.

"But he cannot think that is enough. He now needs to continue improving as he has a lot of potential and possibilities.

"You cannot stop improving. "He needs to know how important it is to score goals, to make assists and to work hard for a club like this, and I think he is going about things the right way.

"He needs to improve in some areas and keep doing the things he has done well."


How's that any different to what I said?

You're reading the added input from the journos, not the actual quotes from Rafa, which was on a far more positive light. Journos are always skilled at twisting the actual meaning of the quotes and add their own opinion or two
 

Korn

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with Sissoko's brilliant form, we need to fit in all of Alonso, Gerrard and Sissoko in the starting line up, so this means we will be playing 4-5-1 for the whole season? unless Gerrard plays on the right again, then we can have two strikers up front.
 
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