Sunderland v Liverpool match thread

[Johnny]

agree with that, how many times have the scum done this? Who cares how the 3pts turn up, they're on the board and thats that. Torres is a legend though, class goal and kudos to Xabi for the setup. Lets just concentrate on keeping on winning instead of player bashing, wishing Barry was here and all the rest. 3pts in each league game is all that matters

ManU accumulated alot of ugly wins last yr,heck we did it for yrs when we won the league 18 times.A win is a win.

[Robbie-9-Fowler]

What was with Xabi's back eye ?

he came on and won us the game in fairness ... well Torres did but Xabi was a big improvement in the 2nd half.

[-V-]

Xabi did well today. Pleased to see him perform. Its good that he's under pressure to perform now and hopefully now that he has had a kick up the backside he will play with real aggression and fight

[Johnny]

Xabi did well today. Pleased to see him perform. Its good that he's under pressure to perform now and hopefully now that he has had a kick up the backside he will play with real aggression and fight

Rafa may have had no intention to sell Xabi.Maybe he`s just did enough to scare Xabi into realizing he`s not indispensable and had better buck up and get his act together.

[Guest]

We have spent more than United and Arsenal (NET) since he has been here though.... sounds boring but only cos it's true.

In fact, going by your comments, the year Man United spunked all that on Nani etc, we spunked £71m.

Benayoun £5m
Babel £11.5m
Torres £20m
Mascherano £17m
Leto £1.8m
Insua £1.3m
Itandje £2m
Skrtel £6.5m
Lucas £6m

Next....

How much did we sell !? I can't believe people look only at buying FFS. Net spend is the real factual element.

[Guest]

No you are. You proved it before the match with your ridiculous self-contradictions then trying to make out you were joking

Xabi was class today and long may this continue.

Xabi was class but he wasn't for much of last season. I have no doubt he could be a key player but against the big teams and with much less space available to him (even Keane acknowledge that his team were tiring today - so they couldn't press properly) I just hope he can be as efficient.

But it was only Sunderland FFS. Don't drool over his half way line attempt, that was just for the gallery.

I Like Xabi but he's got to be more consistent and show me that he can cut it as a defensive midfielder. Fact is, as soon as Javier comes back, Rafa will have to put Xabi back on the bench, if he is to persist with Gerrard in central midfield.

[Rashid]

How much did we sell !? I can't believe people look only at buying FFS. Net spend is the real factual element.

We sold Garcia, Cisse, Bellamy, Gonzalez, Palleta, Sissoko for a combined £30m.

Fregie bought Anderson, Nani, Hargreaves and Kszciak for about £51m plus a £6m loan fee for Carlos Tevez.

They also sold Heinze, Smith, Rossi and Richardson for about £25m.

So NET and Gross we spent much more than them to go further behind.

[The_weatherman]

We sold Garcia, Cisse, Bellamy, Gonzalez, Palleta, Sissoko for a combined £30m.

Fregie bought Anderson, Nani, Hargreaves and Kszciak for about £51m plus a £6m loan fee for Carlos Tevez.

They also sold Heinze, Smith, Rossi and Richardson for about £25m.

So NET and Gross we spent much more than them to go further behind.

They were already way ahead though, we are playing catch up with a formula 1 car here, they are the best team in the world, best players, best commercial side, the biggest stadium in England etc. etc.

Chelsea are a freak show with endless pits of money.

We are competing with Arsenal and will have to settle for that in the near future IMO.

[Rashid]

They were already way ahead though, we are playing catch up with a formula 1 car here, they are the best team in the world, best players, best commercial side, the biggest stadium in England etc. etc.

Chelsea are a freak show with endless pits of money.

We are competing with Arsenal and will have to settle for that in the near future IMO.

We were one point behind United at the end of 2005-2006 - we have since spent much more money than them... only to go further behind.

[friedk]

I am not moaning, I am happy with the win. I just don't allow 3 points to cloud my judgement.... and I refuse to allow Gareth Barry to become Diego Maradona just because we didn't sign him.

Mate you wouldn't even allow winning the league to cloud your judgment

The first few months of last season, United were ****e, but still managed to string one nil wins together, which put them in a great position when the team clicked into place.

It wasn't a good performance, but it was still 3 very valuable points.

[Sarb]

Xabi was class but he wasn't for much of last season. I have no doubt he could be a key player but against the big teams and with much less space available to him (even Keane acknowledge that his team were tiring today - so they couldn't press properly) I just hope he can be as efficient.

But it was only Sunderland FFS. Don't drool over his half way line attempt, that was just for the gallery.

I Like Xabi but he's got to be more consistent and show me that he can cut it as a defensive midfielder. Fact is, as soon as Javier comes back, Rafa will have to put Xabi back on the bench, if he is to persist with Gerrard in central midfield.

Well that's been the problem with the whole team. I don't remember Gerrard having a stand out performance against the top teams either. That could be down to a combination of the players and tactics as we're too negative against them.

Xabi is class and lets hope we can see more performances like that for him and we can win the title

Oh and it wasn't a half way line attempt it was in his own half and I'm not drooling over it. Doesn't matter what team it is against, it was a very good effort that went just wide

[FatTony]

For all the Rashid bashing, he does make some good points.

At the end of the day, we're still playing poor football and still rely purely on moments of individual magic to win games far too often. We don't seem to attack as a unit or with a purpose, its all very fragmented. Even 5 years on if we were to lose Gerrard we'd be up **** creek because Rafa has not added enough quality where it counts. There will still be games this season where Rafa will try to rest Gerrard against a weak team only to have to bring him on in the second half to get us out of a sticky situation because the team does not function without him.

Rafa has spent a lot, but then he has had to play catch up, however he has blown a lot of cash on some severely mediocre players. He's achieved some magical results in Europe no doubt but I haven't witnessed an improvement in the football we play since he first arrived. Its still fairly one dimensional.

Our midfield sucks, it really does and for all of my pre season optimism, I think deep down I know that with this midfield we'll achieve little again this season.

[Craig_H]

It may have had a gradual slope,now it`s a mountain.It is a valid arguement,despite what you say.

So now it's not a level playing field, but a gradual slope?

Let's be honest, the top one or two sides have ALWAYS spent more than the rest. Despite what you say

[Johnny]

So now it's not a level playing field, but a gradual slope?

Let's be honest, the top one or two sides have ALWAYS spent more than the rest. Despite what you say

Chelsea and Utd took it to a whole new level though.

[The_weatherman]

We were one point behind United at the end of 2005-2006 - we have since spent much more money than them... only to go further behind.

That doesn't say much though it's only one season where we played well and they stumbled, since then Ronaldo came of age and that's like a 70m. signing for them, no-one expected him to be this good.