Sami left out of the champions league squad again !!!

[kingfunk]

I would suggest we send him out in this:

[MrsB]

What sort of injury is it this time btw.?

[pondus]

The wind hit his head awkwardly from the left, so he has a neck strain.

[DannyMan2006]

Correct call IMO.

Think Sami is a shade too slow to play against the big guns and s rightly 4th choice behind Carra, Agger and Skrtel. I would be more confident with Carra in the centre and a fit Dege at RB than I would with Carra at RB and Sami in he middle.

But let's wait for the transfer window to shut before making an argument over it. We could yet sell one of the foreign legion and bring in an English player, giving Sami a spot.

[kingfunk]

What sort of injury is it this time btw.?

Foot injury

[Rich]

Correct call IMO.

Think Sami is a shade too slow to play against the big guns and s rightly 4th choice behind Carra, Agger and Skrtel. I would be more confident with Carra in the centre and a fit Dege at RB than I would with Carra at RB and Sami in he middle.

But let's wait for the transfer window to shut before making an argument over it. We could yet sell one of the foreign legion and bring in an English player, giving Sami a spot.

Why do people still knock Sami when pace has rarely been an issue with him - he's come up against the very best and is rarely made to look stupid.

I'd have put him in at the expense of Degen who is a crock and untested, I'd have preferred to have the aerial prowess of the big man.

Still, I doubt our success or failure in the Champions League will be down to whether Hyypia or Degen is in the squad.

[DannyMan2006]

Why do people still knock Sami when pace has rarely been an issue with him - he's come up against the very best and is rarely made to look stupid.

I'd have put him in at the expense of Degen who is a crock and untested, I'd have preferred to have the aerial prowess of the big man.

Still, I doubt our success or failure in the Champions League will be down to whether Hyypia or Degen is in the squad.

I know why you say this as many do, but the fact of the matter is that Sami is far slower now than he was when we won the treble for instances. If he wasn't he'd still be the frst choice pairing with Carra. The fact he was never that fast makes it worse. He is fine for the majority of games, but at the top level I hink teams are capble of exploiting this.

[el matador]

sami has been a great servant to liverpool football club over the past 10 years and he gets repaid like this.

An absolute joke decison from rafa which proves beyond all doubt that he has lost it completely.

[Elvis]

The problem here is that it seems Rafa is sticking to some scientific formula e.g. "the squad needs balance so I nned to sacrifice a cenre back for a right back....etc." BUT - if the right back in question has demonstrated not an ounce of the required ability at CL level, then the algorithm doesn't work. It's a shame cos people will use this as a stick to beat Rafa (again).

[DannyMan2006]

sami has been a great servant to liverpool football club over the past 10 years and he gets repaid like this.

An absolute joke decison from rafa which proves beyond all doubt that he has lost it completely.

Yeah, he should have signed Brian McBride and we'd have won the league last year

His ridiculous desicions reminded me of the subs he did one time when we were losing against Reading, a game that had we won we would have been right up there. The following game we lost to Man Utd and we got worse as the season went on. Before those games we had been unbeaten in the league.

Only Rafa knows why he made those changes.........

[el matador]

The problem here is that it seems Rafa is sticking to some scientific formula e.g. "the squad needs balance so I nned to sacrifice a cenre back for a right back....etc." BUT - if the right back in question has demonstrated not an ounce of the required ability at CL level, then the algorithm doesn't work. It's a shame cos people will use this as a stick to beat Rafa (again).

i understand that rafa wants the squad to be balanced but including a guy who hasnt been properly fit for the past 18 months, and hasnt played a full match for us this season gives out some really strange signals to the rest of the players.

what kind of message does it give to a player like sami and the other lads like gerrard and carra ? I will be very surprised if degen makes another appearance for us this season let alone play in the champions league.

[el matador]

Yeah, he should have signed Brian McBride and we'd have won the league last year

His ridiculous desicions reminded me of the subs he did one time when we were losing against Reading, a game that had we won we would have been right up there. The following game we lost to Man Utd and we got worse as the season went on. Before those games we had been unbeaten in the league.

Only Rafa knows why he made those changes.........

and what about some of his recent decisions that have cost us points which has dropped us from 1st to third ?

nearly forgot....

[DannyMan2006]

and what about some of his recent decisions that have cost us points which has dropped us from 1st to third ?

nearly forgot....

I think Rafa's main problem has been that his team have not performed since going top. I wouldn't agree with all his teams and subs, some have been down right daft IMO, but playing the likes of Lucas against Wigan should not be the reason we draw the game.

The team as a whole seems to lack guile and composure. And yet the likes of Keane, Babel, Benayoun and others all showed at their previous clus (and on international duty) that they have the capability to unlock even the tightest defences.

Many of our players are captains or strong personalities for the country they play for and should be able to handle the pressure. I'm at a loss for why we have crumbled.

[Craig_H]

Well I imagine the plan is for him to not be injured from here on in.

I bet Rafa's gutted that he didnt think of that plan back in august

[Craig_H]

Correct call IMO.

Think Sami is a shade too slow to play against the big guns and s rightly 4th choice behind Carra, Agger and Skrtel. I would be more confident with Carra in the centre and a fit Dege at RB than I would with Carra at RB and Sami in he middle.

But let's wait for the transfer window to shut before making an argument over it. We could yet sell one of the foreign legion and bring in an English player, giving Sami a spot.

I dont think the CL squad is inter-changable as the season goes on, you select it and then are stuck with your choice.