Hansen talks more crap

[Fredo]

I'm not really sure I agree with all that, Nige.

I don't agree fully with the article but I don't think it's that bad. I'm sure he knows the owners are to blame ultimately. Does every article about Liverpool have to come down to that one, inescapable fact? If so, no-one's going to bother writing, publishing or reading anything pretty soon.

I do think it's interesting though that he was quietly critical of the squad for some time. I really don't think that stems from the usual anti-Benitez agenda in sections of the media. It makes me wonder what he heard from inside the camp - I just can't help feeling there was a split in the squad somewhere along the line.

By the way, this time last year Hansen said we were in trouble and had "real problems" getting a top 4 spot. Immediately slipping into ultra-defensive mode, I wrote it off at the time as crap but he was proved right. I certainly don't doubt his goodwill towards the club or his desire for us to succeed so while I may not agree with his analysis I don't think it's fair to slag him off for having a different opinion.

It's not as bad if you take it into the context of 'defending Hodgson' when he's trying to get through a tough period. He possibly aimed to diffuse the situation, giving him a bit of a breathing space, which isn't a bad thing.

But at the end of the day, all it seems to achieve is to pour scorn on the excellent work, overall, of our ex-manager. The club has been in decline for quite some time, but it doesn't help when no one is mentioning where our real problems lie. Sport analysts are culprit of that I think.

[Finnish_Red]

aqua did indeed cost an inital 5-6 mill upfront BUT the 18-20 mill fee comes out of the transfer budget so we did spend 20 mill on him in a way.

Indeed, but if we had the cash in transfer budget why on earth would have we done structured deal like that? To me it seems that only way we could buy a 20M player was by splitting the fee. We took a gamble with Aqua and it didn't pay off.

[Arn]

One point, a very important one, is that more or less everyone forgets who played as our left sided attacker. Insua didn't get much help and had to more or less defend the whole left side himself. He also had Lucas as the left sided defensive midfielder.

Compare that to our right side with Johnson and Kuyt. Johnson got a lof of help but looked even worse than Insua in some games. Mascherano was the right sided defensive midfielder that of course also helped Johnson out and allowed him to attack more because he had better protection than Insua.

Then you can add that Carra played on the right side of our central defense and Skrtel/Agger the left side.

Right side....Carra, Johnson, Masch and Kuyt.
Left side.....Skrtel/Agger, Insua, Lucas and Benayoun/Babel.

Do someone see any difference at all to our right side and our left? I think that you will discover that our right side was packed with quality and our left side wasn't.

Insua got the blame for that.

[Suarez]

jesus wept - if we paid it over 20 years he would still have cost us 18 mill. it was still 18 mill we had to spend and spent it on him.

Im not sure if you missed the sarcasim in my post or if you were agreeing with the point i was making, which was indeed the point you made to put me right on the point you think i missed.

[Suarez]

One point, a very important one, is that more or less everyone forgets who played as our left sided attacker. Insua didn't get much help and had to more or less defend the whole left side himself. He also had Lucas as the left sided defensive midfielder.

Compare that to our right side with Johnson and Kuyt. Johnson got a lof of help but looked even worse than Insua in some games. Mascherano was the right sided defensive midfielder that of course also helped Johnson out and allowed him to attack more because he had better protection than Insua.

Then you can add that Carra played on the right side of our central defense and Skrtel/Agger the left side.

Right side....Carra, Johnson, Masch and Kuyt.
Left side.....Skrtel/Agger, Insua, Lucas and Benayoun/Babel.

Do someone see any difference at all to our right side and our left? I think that you will discover that our right side was packed with quality and our left side wasn't.

Insua got the blame for that.

Yours sincerely insua's mum

[calvoboy]

One point, a very important one, is that more or less everyone forgets who played as our left sided attacker. Insua didn't get much help and had to more or less defend the whole left side himself. He also had Lucas as the left sided defensive midfielder.

Compare that to our right side with Johnson and Kuyt. Johnson got a lof of help but looked even worse than Insua in some games. Mascherano was the right sided defensive midfielder that of course also helped Johnson out and allowed him to attack more because he had better protection than Insua.

Then you can add that Carra played on the right side of our central defense and Skrtel/Agger the left side.

Right side....Carra, Johnson, Masch and Kuyt.
Left side.....Skrtel/Agger, Insua, Lucas and Benayoun/Babel.

Do someone see any difference at all to our right side and our left? I think that you will discover that our right side was packed with quality and our left side wasn't.

Insua got the blame for that.

There's a germ of truth in that, as he was often left exposed by what was in front of him, but that doesn't explain his own weaknesses throughout the season. He was regularly targeted by the opposition as our weak link, and the number of times a simple long high ball to that corner put us under pressure was ridiculous (because of his lack of height and poor positioning). It's a shame, because he showed a lot of early promise, but he had a full season to show what he could do and sadly he came up short.

[Exiled_red]

“If you set out to challenge for a Champions League position and finish in seventh, then the team are clearly not up to requirements.

“The big concern, just five games into the season, is that Liverpool already find themselves 10 points behind Chelsea because, at the outset of the campaign, there was real optimism that they could put up a good show in the title race.

“It was a lift for everybody and, with a couple of good signings in Raul Meireles and Christian Poulsen, the outlook appeared much brighter.

I find the quotes somewhat contradictory. He's saying that based on last season's finish the squad wasn't good enough for top 4 but with a couple of signings (and not even massive signings fee-wise) we could be challenging for the title

Last season we were poor (no-one will argue with that) but the 7th place finish doesn't represent the ability of the squad. Players were missing for large parts of the season, and the team clearly underperformed generally.

I find the bash Rafa, and praise Roy philosophy in the media somewhat tedious now.

[Jack D Rips]

Konchesky is a better LB than Insua. Fact. And that is by no stretch of the imagination a ringing endorsement of Konchesky.

Aquilani and Babel were bad examples to use in saying that Rafa did not not have enough money

[Shaggy]

It is not a fact and never will be.

[red g]

It is not a fact and never will be.

It would be very diffcult to be worse than Insua last season though........although sure Konchesky will give it a good go

[the rev leeroy brown]

Im not sure if you missed the sarcasim in my post or if you were agreeing with the point i was making, which was indeed the point you made to put me right on the point you think i missed.

in an attempt to save face i'll claim i got the sarcasm in your post ......

Yours sincerely insua's mum

[Jack D Rips]

It is not a fact and never will be.

Is so!

[Baracus]

It's an absolute joke of an article.

And even before you start to pick it apart, the entire article is undermined by the fact he never makes a single reference to the biggest problem at Liverpool. But then he wouldn't want to run the risk of losing his cosy little seat next to Kenny and Rushie, would he.

Exactly what thought before I even opened up the thread.

[Baracus]

Konchesky is a better LB than Insua. Fact. And that is by no stretch of the imagination a ringing endorsement of Konchesky.

Aquilani and Babel were bad examples to use in saying that Rafa did not not have enough money

How? Because he's bald and a couple of inches taller

[Jack D Rips]

How? Because he's bald and a couple of inches taller

In hindsight I probably should have said Insua is worse than Konchesky