Question for those who dont want rafa gone...

[Craig_H]

You mean Mourinho? No chance in hell, IMO.

We'll see buddy. It's gonna be an interesting summer.

[Dhav]

Net spend is a total red herring. Of course we'll recoup more than Everton, our players are better than theirs. If you want to compare us and Everton in the transfer market you have to look at the calibre of players that we're competing for. In that respect, they're a world away from us

We shouldn't be comparing ourselves with Everton in any kind of aspect, whether it be gross spending, net spending, calibre of players we're competing for, legaue positions, points tallies etc. We should be blowing them out the water in every single category.

Net spending is important IMO though. May be not so if comparing ourelves with Everton, but in terms of building a top squad and acquiring top talent, it is important.

[Craig_H]

We shouldn't be comparing ourselves with Everton in any kind of aspect, whether it be gross spending, net spending, calibre of players we're competing for, legaue positions, points tallies etc. We should be blowing them out the water in every single category.
Net spending is important IMO though. May be not so if comparing ourelves with Everton, but in terms of building a top squad and acquiring top talent, it is important.

Agree with this and one look at the league table should explain why i'm so ****ed off with things.

[Dhav]

AFII has it listed at £21m.

We spent about £40m and brought in under £20m i think, so he's pretty much right.

The guy on Talksport tonight said £12m. Sons of Shankly say £15m, accounting for Sissoko out and Skrtel in, and that seems about right to me.

[Craig_H]

Hmmm...

How about you pull your finger out and just post the incomings and outgoings from last summer to end of Jan 2008?

And what about Masher in?

[Dhav]

We'll see buddy. It's gonna be an interesting summer.

We will indeed, and "interesting" is certainly one way to describe what is happening at the mo and what will happen in the near future. My own opinion though is that if we don't get rid of the yanks we will not be making massive strides forward in terms of being a title winning team.

[Craig_H]

I agree and i'm very confident that their days are numbered.

[Dhav]

Hmmm...

How about you pull your finger out and just post the incomings and outgoings from last summer to end of Jan 2008?

And what about Masher in?

Nah, really can't be arsed to research this. Besides, I'm willing to accept the words of Sons of Shankly on this one, especially as it suits my anti-G&H agenda

Masher's not completed yet, and in spite of what we're being told, I'd be surprised if it will be any time soon, especially with Rafa's position looking so precarious

[Dhav]

I agree and i'm very confident that their days are numbered.

Hope you are right, but I'm strictly adopting a believe it when I see it mentality on this one.

[Johnny]

Hope you are right, but I'm strictly adopting a believe it when I see it mentality on this one.

[Joe Le Toff]

More than pace, we seem to be lacking in movement off the ball.

Watch our midfield/strikers in the last third (excluding Torres) and we pass and watch. Plenty of times (esp against teams that defend deep) there are players appearing to not know the basics of football i.e. finding space to recieve a pass and all too often they tend to stand back and and wait for it to come back to them rather than taking the initiative.

I think this is a major factor in why we have struggled to beat teams especially at home.

Totally agree, but i dont think its all down to the players, for me its a directive from Rafa to go along with the over cautious approach.

We pass the ball across the pitch, not down it, there is no penetration whatsoever from our wide players or full-backs to join the attack and stretch the opposition, or not enough should i say.

From midfield we only have Gerrard who makes runs beyond the front men to get into the box - we even have a striker who gets nowhere near the penalty area for most of the game.

We're set up as 2 banks of 4 across the pitch with no fluidity whatsoever within that set-up, certainly in midfield and for me the thinking behind that is not to concede, see what the opposition are going to do before we start to do anything ourselves. IMO we have players who can play a fluid game but theyre not allowed to.

Case in point for this would be a game pre-season where Yossi started behind Torres, and the movement and inter-action from both these guys was a joy, and i remember thinking that for the first time in years we looked like a genuine attacking force like the Mancs and Arsenal. In the second half Yossi went to the left but was still jinking around just behind Torres and cutting inside to get our opponents on the back foot

It seems to me though that this season Yossi is cutting inside and playing the little 5 yard through balls that he does so well, less and less. Again, i believe this a directive from Rafa to stay out wide where he will do little or no damage to the opposition, but will protect his full-back.

Just an example of something that has stood out for me this year to highlight the over cautious approach Rafa takes and imo, worrying too much about the opposition.

For me, its not the players not knowing the basics of football, but more that they are playing to the instructions of their manager, so that perhaps they have a chance of playing more than 2 games on the trot.

[carlton]

Can I just say that according to the Guardian ROTATION has been declared dead by Rafa (for the rest of the season). Thank Christ!

[Sarb]

Can I just say that according to the Guardian ROTATION has been declared dead by Rafa (for the rest of the season). Thank Christ!

Too little too late

[Craig_H]

Too little too late

Precisely. If he'd started the season thinking that way, i'd have been happier.

If he's still here next season and ditches the obscene rotation system, that'll be a good start.

[Skillz]

As always problems are far more complex than regular people like us assume. To pin underperformance on a single factor such as Rafa is just niave. Why have we perfomed so badly this season.

Heres why:

Rafa has over estimated he compotence of his squad and rotation has cost us a few games.

Kuyt has had such a loss of confidence that he basically doesn't contribute anymore.

Carra has underperformed and given away loads of penalties.

The owners have undermined the manager.

The press are proactively going after the team.

Confidence has been low.

Injuries to key players have not helped us.

I could add another 10 different reasons. ALL of these have contributed to our poor performance. If you can't recognize that then you are living in cloud cuckoo land. Anyone who thinks just replacing Rafa would have made any significant difference is either myopic or niave in the extreme.

That said how can we NOW as fans help the manager, the team, the club. SUPPORT THEM FFS. Nothing will happend till the end of the season so SUPPORT us until then.

That's my piece. A lot on here need to realize that this is not a black and white world

Another great post telling us like it is.

We have a big ****ing game tonight and we need Anfield to come alive.