Rafa exclusive: "This is our best squad ever"

[PTP]

interesting reply from the manc scum bag cunt

haha just joking - i like the way he only dismisses players for man u but they are good enough for everyone else haha

I'm shocked by masher, i reckon this is a rejection response. A lot of mans i know ****ing raved and raved about masher for ****ing ages (well before west ham got involved) - they were convinced they were going to sign him and he'd be the man to replace roy keane - even whilst a west ham they wanted him and there was rumours they were after him - he signs for us and has been class for liverpool - he is one of the first names on the team sheet for a strong Argentina national side...and all of sudden cuase he's a red the mancs think he is **** He'd ****ing walk into their team - if not on merit and ability, then purely for the fact he'd snap all his competition into little pieces during training - i was trying to be unbiased and fair with the original list but follwoing the mancs response! **** it - he's going into the world class catergory

So they wouldn't take carra or skirtle - bollocks - granted ferdinand and vidic are a very good pair, but what happens if one gets injured! they move john o shea in there! haha, if they had either carra or skirtle they would be pushing/very close to their starting line up - i agree ferdinand and vidic looks impressive, but to dismiss skirtle as not being even close is an arrogant mistake

No to robbie keane at united! he plays a similar role to rooney and tevez - so that is difficult but he could play as a striker for them too which is something they haven't got (don't say saha!)


other than that - calling hyypia old is a old of bollocks - yes he is but he still a very good squad player with great experience!

[Abro100]

We have no good creative players on the wing i was recently trying to work out what formation we would play and it got me worried. No threat from the bench at all!!

[El Jefecito]

We have no good creative players on the wing i was recently trying to work out what formation we would play and it got me worried. No threat from the bench at all!!

We "created" more goals than any other english team last year.

We've added more goal creating capability in the full back positions and Keane will certainly improve upon what we had last year.

Worry not.

[PTP]

We have no good creative players on the wing i was recently trying to work out what formation we would play and it got me worried. No threat from the bench at all!!

agree - its the one player short! - overall we have a much stronger squad, but i feel we just lack a joe coleesque player - who i don't know but there has to be someone!

formation i reckon will vary from team to team but will be something like


Against **** teams, at home etc - (obv people will have different ideas on personal used so i have just picked whoever for the sake of it to show formations)

---------- ---reina---------

-arbeloa----jc----agger------dossena


-------------Masher-------------

kuyt-------gerrard---------babel


-------torres--------keane


And in tough games away, in europe, top four teams etc

----------- reina--------------

carra------skirtle--agger------dossena

--------masher----alonso/barry(depends what happens)


--kuyt---------gerrard---------babel

-------------torres--------

[Abro100]

We "created" more goals than any other english team last year.

We've added more goal creating capability in the full back positions and Keane will certainly improve upon what we had last year.

Worry not.

True we did if you count 'all competitions' and the 6-0 against Derby, but look at our games against the top who whom it is harder to create against and you'll see the difference.

[El Jefecito]

True we did if you count 'all competitions' and the 6-0 against Derby, but look at our games against the top who whom it is harder to create against and you'll see the difference.

Good point. Our record against them is poor. I think ultimately though that it will be addressed through more fluid movement and tactics, at least more so than by going out and buying a match winner.

Take Manure. We consistently struggle against them because they manage to isolate Torres by removing SG from build up play. This pre-season you have seen Yossi, Torres and Keane all consistently interchange across all of the front positions. If we can keep that fluidity going then it won't be good enough to just sit on SG to break the link between the midfield and Torres.

That's my hope anyway.

[Abro100]

It is a valid point you have, this year they will struggle to double up on Torres and Keane without leaving on our our midfielders free, so hopefully that is the case. But that is the case with Barry or not (going off subject) imagine having another threat of equal stature who they have to worry about (like them with Giggs Ronaldo Rooney Teves) and that is what sets them apart. (I am not taking into account Babel here, but that is because i don't rate him highly enough)

[El Jefecito]

It is a valid point you have, this year they will struggle to double up on Torres and Keane without leaving on our our midfielders free, so hopefully that is the case. But that is the case with Barry or not (going off subject) imagine having another threat of equal stature who they have to worry about (like them with Giggs Ronaldo Rooney Teves) and that is what sets them apart. (I am not taking into account Babel here, but that is because i don't rate him highly enough)

Agree on Barry to me he's a 10% improvement on our midfield.

Unlike you I think Rafa believes that Babel will prove to be the difference this year. Based on his form last year you would say it could go one way or the other. It's a pity he hardly played in pre-season because I was wondering if Rafa would use Babel in a different way this year and that is what inspires his confidence.

Listening to interviews with Lucas it sounds as though he will played more offensively this year and that last he was asked to sit in order to round out his development so that he could be more effective in the defensive side of the game.

Likewise, I wonder if Babel's first year was "developmental" and if Rafa has something else in mind for him this season. Maybe he'll play more on the right. Maybe he'll interchange with the others in the front 4 more often rather than sticking rigidly to the left.

Time will tell I guess, but I think its safe to say that this is big year for Babel.

[sackparry]

We "created" more goals than any other english team last year.

We've added more goal creating capability in the full back positions and Keane will certainly improve upon what we had last year.

Worry not.

really pisses me off that noone can see we need creative wide men.

Why can't people see this? we will be too narrow, too predictive and boring yet again this yea.

[Guest]

really pisses me off that noone can see we need creative wide men.

Why can't people see this? we will be too narrow, too predictive and boring yet again this yea.

Ask any woman and she'll tell you that width is not the be all and end all.

[el matador]

El Jefecito needs to be in the world class category. There is no oher DM in the world anyywhere close to him.

i agree with el jefecito that el jefe should be in the world class grouping. He is the best defensive midfielder in the world we know - to infinity and beyond.

[el matador]

Ask any woman and she'll tell you that width is not the be all and end all.

try this... a female perspective on liverpool

watching liverpool is like having sex with a guy with a really small cock. There's lots of poking and proding but no real penetration.

we really need more creative width.

[El Jefecito]

really pisses me off that noone can see we need creative wide men.

Why can't people see this? we will be too narrow, too predictive and boring yet again this yea.

Do overlapping fullbacks provide width?

[Redspin]

True we did if you count 'all competitions' and the 6-0 against Derby, but look at our games against the top who whom it is harder to create against and you'll see the difference.

Why mention the Derby scoreline? Chelsea also put 6 past them at home, Arsenal put 5 past them at home and I believe the Scum got 4, so it's not as if Derby at home completely skewed our goals for column in relation to the other top 4 teams.

[Redspin]

Good point. Our record against them is poor. I think ultimately though that it will be addressed through more fluid movement and tactics, at least more so than by going out and buying a match winner.

Take Manure. We consistently struggle against them because they manage to isolate Torres by removing SG from build up play. This pre-season you have seen Yossi, Torres and Keane all consistently interchange across all of the front positions. If we can keep that fluidity going then it won't be good enough to just sit on SG to break the link between the midfield and Torres.

That's my hope anyway.

As Torres has played a grand total of 2 league games for us against the scum, his being isolated (whether one believes this or not) can scarcely be used as the reason why we "consistently struggle against them". Let's use examples like that when he's actually played a few times against them and we still fail to score