How many players.......

[JohnDoe]

Do we have in the squad that are not LFC standard? And by that I mean: aren't good enough to play ANY part, I don't mean not good enough to start.

I think Rafa has gotten rid of most of the dead wood now and one of his best attributes IMO is the way he gets rid quicksmart if he feels they won't cut it even if they have only been here 6 months, but there are still a few stragglers that should be shipped out.

So, who doesn't belong at the club?

Now that I feel a bit less playful, I'll answer this question.

There's not one player in the squad who I can consider a liability, maybe Kewell but only because of his fitness.

I'm comfortable with any one of them in the team, no-one possesses the "Traore effect of horror" for me.

Obviously improvements can be made and there might be some excess fat in central midfield, but every player that is here today earned his right to be in the squad and has the manager's faith, which is a good situation to finally be in.

[carheex]

Hyypia
Riise
Kewell
Benayoun
Crouch
Pennant
Kuyt
Sissoko

We would of course need to sign two or three new players to replace them.

I'm glad we have those kind of players adding numbers to our squad - too many stars and you get problems a la real madrid and chelsea. Only 11 can play at a time if you've got 22 who all think they should start,......trouble.

[carheex]

I don't see the funny side - how many premiership medals do that lot have compared to our "LFC standard" players?

[JohnDoe]

I don't see the funny side - how many premiership medals do that lot have compared to our "LFC standard" players?

Which is exactly the point I was making.

You don't need 22 world beaters to win the league.

[AFII]

I'm glad we have those kind of players adding numbers to our squad - too many stars and you get problems a la real madrid and chelsea. Only 11 can play at a time if you've got 22 who all think they should start,......trouble.

A guess is that you can't read.

I said that we would only need to sign two or three players to replace them and that means that we would not have 22 players.



We have to many players and must get rid of a few of them so Rafa can keep everyone match fit without changing five, six players every game.

Look at our central midfield or striker positions. Lucas can't even get a game and he need to play to get used to the PL. Rafa is also rotating the strikers all the time to keep them match fit.

We need better wingers than Riise, Kewell, Benayoun and Pennant.

That means the players I have mentioned out and one or two new wingers and a central defender in. Maybe an attacking playmaker in Kuyts position.

[Parm]

I would replace these:

Benayoun: not sure why we bought him at all
Crouch: Should have sold in the summer and invested in a Huntelaar, Tevez or similar
Aurelio: Never fit, whats the point?
Riise: Good player and good servant, but our style of play has passed him now
Kewell: One of my favourites, so this hurts. He is out end of the season anyway, so hope he can go on a high.
Sissoko: not a bad player, but not sure what he brings, other than protecting a lead for the last 30 minutes.
Pennant: When I saw Ronaldo for the scum in Europe, it made me realise that we just do not have anything of that quality. Drop this lad and get someone in who can beat a player, showboat a little and shoot too. Again, not a bad player, but when you raise the bar, you have to know which players no longer match up.

The pleasant thing is, at least the value of the squad is higher, which should fund the replacement.

some fair points there mate. The players you've mentioned are decent quality, but when you see other teams, you know we can improve.

Thing is though, every squad has simialr duffers (Wes Brown, silverstre, O Shea, Park, Dong, Saha, Sidwell, Cudicini, the portugese keeper,pizarro, ben haim, lampard, Alex,Bridge, FFerrira, flamini, Almunia, lehman,Sendros,gilberto ) just the way it goes, I'm sure all the gooners/mancs/chavs have simialr chats about why the ****they have been lumped with these donkeys and god they wished they got Torres, Xabi, Machser, Stevie, Carra, Reina, Agger, Arberloa, Riise (bizarrely a lot of non lfc fans I know really really rate him!) Babel, Finna

[cobain]

I don't see the funny side - how many premiership medals do that lot have compared to our "LFC standard" players?

To be fair mate, you need to add a few referee's names to that list and also the fact that refereeing at Old Trafford is different than at any other venue in England

[The Erectile Banana]

Now that I feel a bit less playful, I'll answer this question.

There's not one player in the squad who I can consider a liability, maybe Kewell but only because of his fitness.

I'm comfortable with any one of them in the team, no-one possesses the "Traore effect of horror" for me.

Obviously improvements can be made and there might be some excess fat in central midfield, but every player that is here today earned his right to be in the squad and has the manager's faith, which is a good situation to finally be in.

Not every player in our squad can be a world beater.

I am very happy with our current squad and think that they all deserve to be here.

As you said there's no one there who's really ****e, no one whose name on the team sheet causes loosened bowels and heart palpitations.

Sure, we can improve in some areas, but the same can be said of every other team in the EPL.

[JPK]

some fair points there mate. The players you've mentioned are decent quality, but when you see other teams, you know we can improve.

Thing is though, every squad has simialr duffers (Wes Brown, silverstre, O Shea, Park, Dong, Saha, Sidwell, Cudicini, the portugese keeper,pizarro, ben haim, lampard, Alex,Bridge, FFerrira, flamini, Almunia, lehman,Sendros,gilberto ) just the way it goes, I'm sure all the gooners/mancs/chavs have simialr chats about why the ****they have been lumped with these donkeys and god they wished they got Torres, Xabi, Machser, Stevie, Carra, Reina, Agger, Arberloa, Riise (bizarrely a lot of non lfc fans I know really really rate him!) Babel, Finna

In fairness some of them players you mentioned are good.Saha is better than 3 of our strikers when fit and Pizarro is a very good forward.Lampard wins Chelsea matches weekly.Alex has been one of the best defenders in europe for years and Bridge would get our left back slot.Gilberto is a super player and a good captain and plays for Brazil.Were you taking the piss?

[cobain]

In fairness some of them players you mentioned are good.Saha is better than 3 of our strikers when fit and Pizarro is a very good forward.Lampard wins Chelsea matches weekly.Alex has been one of the best defenders in europe for years and Bridge would get our left back slot.Gilberto is a super player and a good captain and plays for Brazil.Were you taking the piss?

Nah, I think he just hates them

[Icon]

I say we all calm down a bit.

At the end of the season we WILL be right up there.

Support the damn team!

YNWA.

[JPK]

Rafa on Reading and there second season dip.
The sentence in bold is very interesting.

Rafa Benitez admits he's mystified by the start tomorrow night's Carling Cup opponents Reading have made to the season.
The Royals finished eighth last year after gaining promotion but are struggling in 16th after seven games of this campaign.

However, Benitez has warned his players that early season form will mean nothing when the two sides meet at the Madejski.

"Reading will give us a hard game, I am sure of that," said the Spaniard. "But I have been surprised that Reading have not started the season as well as they played last season.

"I do not understand why. Last season they were really good, they knew what to do and with the same manager for some time, it clearly worked for them.

"It is strange that after one season the team are not playing as well and getting results, it is strange.

"I do not believe in what is called a second-season problem after promotion. It depends on the players you have, nothing more. And they did a very good job last season."

I wonder does he look at our team and think "he is'nt good enough".
I hope so.

[Farside]

**** sake, we are fourth in the league and unbeaten and the doom and gloom merchants are having a field day. What will it be like with this mob if we get beat? Wise up!