We're all doomed...

[Shaggy]

I thought we were excellent against Man Utd - perhaps you're having selective memory.

No we weren't. We lost, and created ONE clear chance. We were okay, had a lot of the ball, but never did enough to win the game.

[disco]

I genuinely cant believe how some fans are so forgiving.

Football has changed over the last 10-15 years, it's not a patient game anymore, no wonder we haven't won a title for so long.

Sentimentalism and complacency have cost us dear in the past decade, I hope to God these Yanks are more ruthless than Parry and Moores.

It's not forgiveness, it's just NOT being reactionary. Massive difference.

95% of the criticism on here can be dismissed as such.

[tomasjj]

Honestly, you should contrast the stuff said about Sissoko and Kuyt (for example) after Barcelona games and after Man U/Villa. It's laughable how fickle people.

Fickle?

I wouldn't be fickle if the players were consistent.

They are top pro's and should perform consistently.

[Shaggy]

It's not forgiveness, it's just NOT being reactionary. Massive difference.

95% of the criticism on here can be dismissed as such.

So let's have your non-reactionary appraisal of this wonderful domestic season then.

[Trousers]

Rafa's been backed heavily in the transfer market, dont get sucked in by his 'I've had no money to spend' media nonsense, he's spent 80 million inside three years, that's more than Man Utd in the same period.

Besides, if he rates Pennant at 6m, Kuyt at 10m and thinks there is any value whatsoever in bringing in players like Zenden or Aurelio, would you trust him with a massive transfer budget ? I'm not so sure.

To be honest, I think Rafa needs to change his style of football and get back to basics.

We'll never win the league playing the one dimensional, negative ****e we've witnessed for most of the season.

Rafa's transfer dealings

Players in= £81,596,000

Players out= £38,375,000

Net total= £43,221,000

Champions League Earnings for Two seasons £28,000,000*

Total Rafa Outlay= £15,221,000

*I include this as Rick Parry and David Moores have stated that all money won from champions league is reinvested back in the team.

[bazza76]

I genuinely cant believe how some fans are so forgiving.

Football has changed over the last 10-15 years, it's not a patient game anymore, no wonder we haven't won a title for so long.

Sentimentalism and complacency have cost us dear in the past decade, I hope to God these Yanks are more ruthless than Parry and Moores.

why didnt you answer my post about Rafa's tactics?

[disco]

So let's have your non-reactionary appraisal of this wonderful domestic season then.

My appraisal of the game on Sunday was that we were dominant in the first half without creating many chances, and both teams were giving the ball away in midfield.

However, the first half was at least promising and I can't understand why we took our foot off the gas in the second half. Gerrard seemed reluctant to get into the box. Bellamy should have been used more as an outlet as he was creating problems in the first half.

Personally, I would have substituted Sissoko for Pennant as we had the beating of Villa and needed more creativity and width - it seemed as if we were happy with a point from 60 minutes, with players not driving forward as much.

As for the season :

Unfortunately, fitting in new players took its toll and it's the usual story of losing when we should have won in the first half of the season (I'm thinking Chelsea away, Bolton away, Everton (home and away), Man U (home), Blackburn...) and that cost us. It might have been a different story yesterday if we were 3-6 points behind Man U and with a chance for the title - as it stands we'll come a comfortable 3rd or 4th (doesn't really matter which)

We've demonstrated that we are a match for any team, but we need 1 or 2 more genuinely world class attacking players who can win a game when we're playing **** (like Rooney and Ronaldo do for Scum).

[red g]

Rafa's transfer dealings

Players in= £81,596,000

Players out= £38,375,000

Net total= £43,221,000

Champions League Earnings for Two seasons £28,000,000*

Total Rafa Outlay= £15,221,000

*I include this as Rick Parry and David Moores have stated that all money won from champions league is reinvested back in the team.

Rafa has spent 43 million in 2 seasons, reshaped and remodelled our whole squad.....remember what it used to be!!!

[Trousers]

Rafa has spent 43 million in 2 seasons, reshaped and remodelled our whole squad.....remember what it used to be!!!

You Misunderstand I'm defending Rafa, including the two champions league runs (i've not included this year as I don't know how much it will be worth) he has spent just over £15million. Again I include the CL money because the club stated that all CL money goes back into the team.

[disco]

I think the source of the transfer funds is irrelevant to the overall argument.

However (sticking up for Rafa), a significant amount of the money was spent turning a mediocre (CL winning ) squad into what should have been possible title contenders.

Let's face it, back in August, looking at our squad, we looked a match for Man U and Arsenal - even the bookies had us 2nd favourites for the league.
However, time has shown that we're still not quite there.

[AFII]

We are as good as any team in the world in defense but we are a long way off the best attacking teams.

The reason is that the attacking players costs a fortune and so far Rafa hasn't been able to afford to sign the attacking players that gives us that little bit extra that we need.

You can get a world class defensive player for £10m-£15m but you would have to pay £25m+ for a world class attacking player.

Rafa has been forced to build from the back because that's the only way he has been able to build the team.

He will probably now have the money to build up our attacking strenght.

[red g]

We are as good as any team in the world in defense but we are a long way off the best attacking teams.

The reason is that the attacking players costs a fortune and so far Rafa hasn't been able to afford to sign the attacking players that gives us that little bit extra that we need.

You can get a world class defensive player for £10m-£15m but you would have to pay £25m+ for a world class attacking player.

Rafa has been forced to build from the back because that's the only way he has been able to build the team.

He will probably now have the money to build up our attacking strenght.

a world class to be centre back and keeper cost approx 11million between them.

i raised something similar earlier on what our attack cost. i reckon with the money in the bank and the back up, we may see rafa go after not just workhorses

[desertscouser]

Well I've seen about 8 of yesterday's starting XI get slated, as well as the manager. To me that's not "picking on individual players". It's giving criticism where it is due.

"A" bad performance you say. Well, pardon me for caring, but bad performances against Newcastle, Scum and Everton are still fresh in the memory and we haven't scored a ****ing goal since we beat Sheffield United.

If a Liverpool side twenty odd points off the pace, AGAIN, can't be open to criticism then I don't know what can.

I agree with you mate.

This isn't a knee jerk reaction to one poor result, it's a reaction to a ****e premiership season. Domestically we have been very poor this season with only one decent win of note which was our two nil win against an under strength Chelsea side.

We have been embarrassed in two cup competitions by Arsenal, and in the league we have lost badly against Bolton, United, Arsenal and Everton. In fact I can't remember a season where we have been beaten by 2 clear goals or more as many times as we have done this season.

Rafa's still the man for me to help us progress but he needs to address our weaknesses over the summer. He needs to go out and buy some real quality rather than the likes of Voronin, Gonzalez and Pennant. We need midfielders with flair and creativity and at least one striker who's attacking attributes outweigh their defensive attributes.

[Bob]

I agree with you mate.

This isn't a knee jerk reaction to one poor result, it's a reaction to a ****e premiership season. Domestically we have been very poor this season with only one decent win of note which was our two nil win against an under strength Chelsea side.

We have been embarrassed in two cup competitions by Arsenal, and in the league we have lost badly against Bolton, United, Arsenal and Everton. In fact I can't remember a season where we have been beaten by 2 clear goals or more as many times as we have done this season.

Rafa's still the man for me to help us progress but he needs to address our weaknesses over the summer. He needs to go out and buy some real quality rather than the likes of Voronin, Gonzalez and Pennant. We need midfielders with flair and creativity and at least one striker who's attacking attributes outweigh their defensive attributes.

Good summation.

I'm a glass half full kinda bloke, but this season has been pretty poor - domestically i can see no progress at ALL. Depressing, but i'm not reaching for Radiohead albums and razor blades just yet.

No.6 could be on its way after all.

[nobbylad]

I fell asleep during the second half yesterday.

That's not criticism, it's fact....FACT!