Shanghai Shenhua v Liverpool

[stevie_gerrard_8]

I liked the look of Leto. He'll do well in the prem when he finds his feet.

I thought he was very impressive. Looked a little raw but that's what the coaches and Rafa are their for. Certainly looks better than Gonzalez

[Assassin]

I liked the look of Leto. He'll do well in the prem when he finds his feet.

I think he knows where his feet are as he had his boots on

It was a solid performance by him, it was good see all the crosses he put in were curling away from the keeper

[Marky]

I really liked the way the new young lads weren't afraid to get on the ball and get things going, also every one of them got stuck in and were energetic.
Ok, the opponents were a bit **** but you have to start of somewhere.
I was impressed with all of them.

[brightred]

I liked the look of Leto. He'll do well in the prem when he finds his feet.

I agree.

Thought he looked very good at times but probably needs time.

[Red Chilli]

Fair play to AFII, he's been praising Insua for some time now.

[murder_inc]

thought all the kids besides Paletta were very impressive. very much like what we have on the left as well. Insua and Leto look like there gonna be quality buys allwe need now is a few on the right to eventually replace Finnan(Hope not too soon).
All in all, a great workout against poor opposition and we got a little taste of what our squad is gonna be like 07/08.

A special mention for Momo. Thought he was ****ing CLASS today and has Rafa inserted a chip into his brain that tells him how to pass? I think i spotted one wayward pass today. Keep it up Momo lad and you could be pushing Xabi for a place in the starting XI.

[bigfooty]

I'm wondering why rafa plays Babel on the right? He normally plays up front or as a left winger, so he can cut in and shoot on his right foot.

I think it's going to take a while to figure out where his best position is. So far he hasn't really looked comfortable anywhere.

[checkpoint]

There was a lot of hair out there today.

What is it with the south americans and the long hair? I'm not an army cut myself, but really.......

Who's your favourite 'unknown' freshman in today's match anyway?

[Guest]

Leto has impressed me. Very good technical ability but does he have the turn of pace to take on defenders and cross from the by line ? Insua will be a fantastic left back. He's got great positional awareness, passes well and offers width in attack when needed. He'll be the future and is progressing very well.

[marcus50bucks]

Babel was his usal poor self.

[Harv]

Babel was his usal poor self.

****ing hell, some people are just plain old *****

give the lad a bloody chance. He has barely even had a chance to get used to our style of play.

[marcus50bucks]

****ing hell, some people are just plain old *****

give the lad a bloody chance. He has barely even had a chance to get used to our style of play.

Listen fella, I am entitled to my own opinion. In the matches he has played so far I fail to see an inch of quality which justifies the 11.5m fee we paid for him. As I have previously stated it doesn't take many months to spot whether a guy has talent or not, you can spot it in an instance. Take Torres for example, although it took him 4 matches to finally break his duck you could see straight away by the little things he did in games that he has talent and is a quality player.

For me Babel hasn't showed me that he has the quality we need particularly on the wings. To be honest he didn't impress me in the matches I watched him play before he joined us.

In terms of depth you could argue that we have strengthened our wide areas but I still don't think we have the quality on the wings we have been crying out for.

[Guest]

Listen fella, I am entitled to my own opinion. In the matches he has so far I fail to see an inch of quality which justifies the 11.5m fee we paid for him. As I have previously stated it doesn't take many months to spot whether a guy has talent or not, you can spot it in an instance. Take Torres for example, although it took him 4 matches to finally break his duck you could see straight away by the little things he did in games that he has talent and is a quality player.

For me Babel hasn't showed me that he has the quality we need particularly on the wings. To be honest he didn't impress me in the matches I watched him play before he joined us.

In terms of depth you could argue that we have strengthened our wide areas but I still don't think we have the quality on the wings we have been crying out for.

Wingers are not essential in todays game, more players who can run at defenders and with pace, which Babel has in abundance. He's still raw and young but from what I've seen of him I think we've got ourselves a very good player. Rafa needs to sort out his best position though.

[tommyg]

I have played in a practice match vs shanghai shen hua first 11, we were 0-0 after 90 minutes and then they scored in a make-shift extra time. They arent too good at all

[marcus50bucks]

Wingers are not essential in todays game, more players who can run at defenders and with pace, which Babel has in abundance. He's still raw and young but from what I've seen of him I think we've got ourselves a very good player. Rafa needs to sort out his best position though.

It's ok saying wingers are not essential in today's game but it's common knowledge Rafa's objective at the start of the summer was to improve our wide areas with quality players. For me this still hasn't been done, also it is clear as flippping daylight that Benayoun (although he looked sharp yesterday) is not a winger and prefers to cut inside alot. Babel is also the same and he really hasn't impressed me at all. He's got pace I give him that but in terms of skill and the ability to beat players I have yet to see it mate and it doesn't take months to be able to run at players. I'm sorry but I don't rate him.