The One Reason Why Liverpool Can Not Challenge for The Title

kermit - December 8th, 2009 at 12:02 pm

money

kermit - December 8th, 2009 at 12:57 pm

nice concise piece ynwa, manchester city are the team to fear in the fight for that fourth spot, they haven t even fully gelled as an outift and they will only improve as time goes on. They showed they were more than a match for us at home. have been unlucky against man utd, beaten arsenal and chelsea. tevez looks like he is hitting form, and with robinho coming back to full fitness they look an ominous attacking force. couple this with some excellent displays by de jong in the defneseive midfield position, and more games played together by lescott and toure together as a partnership and it looks like we are in trouble unless we get all our players back fit and all hitting top form and that looks unlikely at the moment.

a side note to all who savaged ryan babel calling him a crybaby for allegedly speaking to the sun , you ought to read his interview on lfc website.

kermit - December 8th, 2009 at 1:24 pm

to anon at 1 18
unfortunately anon our team is currently played as bad as it has done in the last ten years, they are disappointing to watch.

redrob - December 8th, 2009 at 1:45 pm

anyone who thinks we do not have a chance of winning the title should read the league table. we got one point closer to the summit on sat.toress and aquilani fit we will start scoring plenty of goals. lets fucking get behind the team and stop criticizing. you’ll never walk alone? not the way it reads on here so far.

y.n.w.a. i do agree with you, that we lack strenghth in depth, but i also think the good times are around the corner, a great young team rafa is building for the future. if three or four of these players can progress, then we will save money in the transfure market. our reserves are top of their league with some great young players.

rafa may seem to have his favourite players, but he made massive strides in the summer towars improveing our reserves he is not stupid he is paid plenty of money to do the best for our team and i believe he is doing this. did anybody critize him at the begining of 2009? or do they criticize wenger when he doesn’t buy many star players?

ecclestone, pecheco, ayala kelly, darby among others, with john mcmahon in charge are doing well. babel coming out yesterday like he did shows he is thinking towards his future as a red, torres has not yet reached his prime, masch can get better, agger, johnson and aquilani in a couple of years, we have plenty of reasons to look forward.

we have been on the back of 15yrs of domination from man u, chelsea in last 6-7yrs. we can go on to bringing back the succes of the 70/80’s and start dominating again. lets get behind them.

Retryboy - December 8th, 2009 at 1:54 pm

The one reason is rafa benitez there is nothing wrong with our squad! We have the biggest squad in the league and it was capable of winning the epl last year. United’s is weaker, chelsea never really added anyone its just down to the managers performance. Look at villas team on paper they should never beat the teams they do but O’Neill gets the best out of players, united don’t have 2 full teams of internationals ahead of their youngsters they trust their young players that if they get injuries they they will do the job. Obertan and gibson have made the breakthrough for them this year. Nemeth should have been doing the same for us not banging in goals in greece. Also the other teams don’t play in strait jackets because the manager is so scared of losing he won’t play any attacking players, we have kuyt and lucas in the team who would never get in any of the other teams yet match winners sit on the bench because of rafa’s favourites and his crappy system. Get rafa out, get Mancini, O’Neill, van basten, mourinho in and you would see how good the squad is. Rafa if you do care about liverpool walk away!!

Jed - December 8th, 2009 at 2:00 pm

YNWA = aftertimer of the century!! you couldnt see this before the season started?? i was saying this 4 or 5 months ago u retard…i seriously hope COS towers arent paying you for this drivel!!!

kermit - December 8th, 2009 at 2:32 pm

jed it dodnt take a brain surgeon to figure out that chelsea would be dominating the legaue this year either, if it wasnt for a few managerial problems last season you would have won it then, but beware the city, your boys dont have the big bucks to rival them, and your midfield is ageing, ballack 32 lampard 30, joe cole 28 john terry 28 drogba and anelka both over thirty ashley cole 28,
from your first team you only really have essien 26 mikel 21 ivanovic 25, alex 25( dont understand why he hasnt been getting more games), and kalou 24, you are gonna need to splash some cash in the next few seasons or its bye bye chelski

kermit - December 8th, 2009 at 2:34 pm

to anon at 1 52 i sure hope so , but city are starting to look the real deal at the moment

Retryboy - December 8th, 2009 at 3:09 pm

Anon swap babel for kuyt and yossi for riera then i would agree

Retryboy - December 8th, 2009 at 3:14 pm

Redrob you are just dreaming! The league title is gone take another look at the league table then consider while city and Tottenham are playing hull and bolton if we don’t beat arsenal with the teams aboves games in hand we are really 7/8 points adrift of 4th place with the teams above having plenty of spending power for january… Wake up to the mess rafa has put us in and the battle we have on our hands for fourth.

...samlfc.... - December 8th, 2009 at 3:17 pm

Aquilani better play atleast a half against Fiorentina otherwise i will be hugely pissed

Hoogleboogybugleboy - December 8th, 2009 at 3:17 pm

The Europa league trophy is the same as the UEFA cup. Only the name has changed same as the Champions league name change but trophy the same. I despair of some of the nonsense on here I really do.

Hoogleboogybugleboy - December 8th, 2009 at 3:19 pm

Oh and the title is “The one reason why Liverpool cannot challenge for the title”. What is that reason YNWA. You didn’t say.

RyanO - December 8th, 2009 at 3:33 pm

Jed, you would say that Liverpool will be awful before EVERY season. Stop acting like some sort of football profit. Everyone knew Chelsea would be at or near the top this season, they would have to be with all of that money they pay out, still nothing but fucking Rent Boys to be honest.

isaac hunt - December 8th, 2009 at 4:26 pm

retryboy

you know that i dont think that most of the youth players will be good enough. but i will admit that i was wrong before. i said that nemeth and others shouldnt be played and that they were not good enough but honestly why shouldnt he have been given a chance like lucas has been. i still dont think he will be good enough for liverpool but he has showed more quality by scoring goals than lucas has. they are different players and play in different positions but where is the logic in continously playing someone who has no effect on a match??. it is the same as ngog. i know that he isnt going to be a top quality player now. he may have potential but he like lucas does basic things wrong. we havent yet seen nemeth play in a proper match so we cant really make any judgements on him. but now we are out of the title race benitez should not consistantly play lucas and ngog and should recall nemeth and give him a proper chance.

i posted this on a different article but it appeared as anonymous.

isaac hunt - December 8th, 2009 at 4:37 pm

my perfect liverpool team with the players that we currently have:

—————–reina
johnson-agger-carra-aurelio/insua
—————-masch
———–aqua——-gerrard
benayoun————–reira/babel
—————–torres

i find it really hard to pick our left side. aurelio is steady but insua offers more going forward. babel would be there everyday of the week if he consistantly performed but hes like a bag of revels(never know what your going to get). reira is quality(i think im the only one who thinks this) but i cannot defend his season so far. injuries and anonymous games have made his future at liverpool unsafe.

now this would be my perfect liverpool team if we had decnt money (i think it is very realistic if we sell a couple of fringe players).

————–reina
johnson-carra-agger-insua/aurelio
—————masch
———-aqua——–gerrad
milner———————david silva
—————torres

redrob - December 8th, 2009 at 5:00 pm

retryboy.
last season after 15 games man utd were 6 pts away from the title. look how it ended up. you should have read what i wrote. Around the corner does not meen this year. i dont think that we will win the title this season, but we could still come close, you even said the same the other day. (short memory?)

our form this time last year was poor as well a row of draws against midiocre teams. we had nearly 2 months of poor results.(sound familier?)

i went on to say that we had chance to begin dominating again in a few yrs time. every season we have improved over the last 5 yrs. who are you to say we wont this year

yes i am dreamong that we will win the league this year, why arn’t you.

redrob - December 8th, 2009 at 5:24 pm

aquqman’s story on £133 mil rafa transfure analised. December 5th, 2009 at 3:44 pm if you need a ref retryboy.

Warren Bloggs - December 8th, 2009 at 5:49 pm

Strength in depth in our squad as a whole? Rubbish! No we need strenghtening in key areas such as up-font and on the wings, i have said this time and time again but no one listens…RAFA DO THIS:

We will not get any money in January from our owners, so we must sell to buy:

Sell:

Voronin £3m
Babel £8m
Dossena £5m

Leaving us with £16m…..than i have also heard Athletico are after Albert Riera and are willing to offer Maxi Rodriguez plus £4m! Make this happen!

So we have rid ourselves of the useless deadwood and have bagged Maxi Rodriguez and £20m in the process, then sign the following:

Pandev from Lazio for £5m, Arsenal are interested and may swwop in January so we cannot wait until the bloody summer….sign him now!

Eljero Elia for £12m, fantastic winger and the perfect replacement for the out-going Babel, he will suceed as he is primarily a left -winger! That is unless Rafa signs him and plays him up-front lol!

£3m left so we can streghten our defence with the signing of the Gabolonese defender we are reportedly after………

So IN/OUT:

DOSSENA>>>>>>MUMBA?
BABEL>>>>>>>>>ELIA
VORONIN>>>>>>>PANDEV
RIERA>>>>>>>>>MAXI RODRIGUEZ

Our Team? (Rafa’s formation….with everyone fully fit)

……………………………………………………………REINA………………………………………………………
JOHNSON……………………..CARRAGHER………………..AGGER………………….AURELIO
……………………………………………………………………..MASCHERANO……………………………..
………………………………………..AQUILANI…………………………………………………………………….MAXI RODRIGUEZ……………………………GERRARD………………………………………….ELIA
…………………………………………………………………..TORRES…………………………………………..

SUBS: CAVALIERI, SKRTEL, INSUA, LUCAS, BENAYOUN, KUYT, PANDEV.

(LIKELY BENCH IN SUCH AN OUTCOME)

What do you think then guys?

Jed - December 8th, 2009 at 6:07 pm

considering the shit i copped when i said liverpool would be pants this year i have been relatively quiet….i think a certain few on here have got off really easy, i just couldnt be bothered with the banter cos everyone can see how right i was. i know chelsea’s midfield are ageing, but im sure the chelsea management are more than aware of this. thats why players like gael kakuta and nmanja matic have been getting some game time….im not worried about city, they wont get any truly world class players until they win something or qualify for the champions league…and if i was a millionaire id prefer to live west london than manchester ;P

Retryboy - December 8th, 2009 at 6:55 pm

Isaac.. Definitely its just rafa taking that jump and losing a defensive player for an attacking player. Think ngog will be good too but nemeth has definitely always shown star quality think he is ready to be torres partner myself but even starting off as kuyt/torres with nemeth/ngog back ups would put kuyt in his real position would guarantee as soon as nemeth got a chance kuyt wouldn’t get back in the team. 4-5-1 only works with torres, gerrard, aquilani all fit with their injury records that isn’t going to happen a lot. Like your team would always have babel right side benayoun left. Think riera is a good player too definitely worth more in the squad than the £8m or so we would get.

isaac hunt - December 8th, 2009 at 7:24 pm

Warren Bloggs – December 8th, 2009 at 5:49 pm

Our Team? (Rafa’s formation….with everyone fully fit)

……………………………………………………………REINA………………………………………………………
JOHNSON……………………..CARRAGHER………………..AGGER………………….AURELIO
……………………………………………………………………..MASCHERANO……………………………..
………………………………………..AQUILANI…………………………………………………………………….MAXI RODRIGUEZ……………………………GERRARD………………………………………….ELIA
…………………………………………………………………..TORRES…………………………………………..

SUBS: CAVALIERI, SKRTEL, INSUA, LUCAS, BENAYOUN, KUYT, PANDEV.

———————–

we are struggling and having twelve men would definately help.

Retryboy - December 8th, 2009 at 7:29 pm

Redrob you were on about this season in the first paragraph and i remember what i said before Blackburn, it was could we get back into it. I said we could if rafa changed this, this and this. Do i believe he will change any of those things? Only thing he has ever changed is ditching his rotating everyone and replaced it with never rotating anybody. Last week we were playing Blackburn. Chelsea were playing city, it was always going to be a chance for everyone to catch up there won’t be many we needed to take advantage all we did was lose ground on the other chasing pack this could be a 5 horse race and we aren’t in it. We need to win at arsenal agree that with aquilani in the team we will improve and win games but torres, gerrard and aquilani won’t be fit all season and rafa won’t change the system when we haven’t got the players for it. If rafa went we would make fourth at least with him i don’t think we will thats my opinion on it. If he suddenly found an attacking bone and changed some things would have more optimism again.

Dirty Sanchez - December 8th, 2009 at 7:29 pm

What do you guys think of James Beattie? Looks like he’s up for grabs and probably on the cheap. Does he have the necessary quality? He’s done well for Stoke.

redrob - December 8th, 2009 at 7:56 pm

i am all for buying new players to improve our squad, but when fit what is wrong with our first team? yes its not good enough to win the league, but it is good enough to beet any team in the league.
(before you think i’m mad)
reina,johnson,carragher,agger,insua
masherano,gerrard aquilani,riera,kuyt,torres

skrtl babel,benyoun,lucas,ngog all can come on and do a job. injuries and confidence can all improve with time, and are almost there.

we are only missing alonso realy from last season when we gave the title to united.

we are dreaming thinking de silver, villa, elia etc will join us they are too exspensive.

Retryboy - December 8th, 2009 at 7:57 pm

Think his best years are behind him tbh.. Carlton cole probably the best name i have heard us in for. Would rather we went for Kenwyne jones. Few people have mentioned adriano if he is in good shape would be interesting.

Dirty Sanchez - December 8th, 2009 at 8:10 pm

Looks like Rafa has confirmed that Aquilani is starting tomorrow. Better late than never I suppose. Unfortunately I will not be able to watch the game for once. Sod’s law!!

redrob - December 8th, 2009 at 8:10 pm

retryboy, where do you think kuyt’s best pesition is? and do you think he is good enough?

Retryboy - December 8th, 2009 at 8:25 pm

Kuyts a 2nd striker but when he plays there for us he doesn’t stay up front playing off the frontman he spends all his time in midfield. You can see he can poach goals he just never gets in the right positions and think he is terrible on the right. I always think he looks like linford christie without the ball, chasing down players then when he gets it looks like he is running in quicksand! Would like to see him in his best position in a 4-4-2. Good player just not first team untouchable

Dirty Sanchez - December 8th, 2009 at 8:49 pm

Kuyt is definitely not well suited to play an out an out winger and he was very unconvincing playing on top against Blackburn. I think Kuyt has been at his best when Yossi has played in the hole and they have switched places and linking up with Johnson.

I do like the Linford Christie comparison! End of the day I think Kuyt needs to sit a game or 2. He’s been looking knackered.

redrob - December 8th, 2009 at 9:05 pm

i think he plays best, in the gerrard role just behind torres, and that he only plays on the r wing because they don’t have anybody else. as too babel on the left. if only we can get a r winger. in torres kuyt ngog and babel we already have four good strikers. other than that, riera is a good player he needs a good run on the team.

we can still make this season great.

kopman - December 8th, 2009 at 9:17 pm

well i can say that im happy to see some support going rafas way by some of the posters, yes we are in bad times but we will come through lets not panic, ok we might be a while of winning the league but last season man u dropped 10 points in 4 games remember, anything can happen, and im sure if we finish badly this season something will happen in the transfer window and next year we will be back.
what doesnt kill you makes you stronger right?
good to see stevie pledging his loyalty, should silence all those people from other teams who say he is leaving coz he wants champs league footy.
Masch will be staying too so barca can do one, trust me boys and girls we will come back from this dont worry

redrob - December 8th, 2009 at 9:50 pm

kopman. thankyou. your the first i have noticed who agrees with me. stay believing.

Aquaman - December 9th, 2009 at 12:03 pm

Ok, I’ve posted this before but I think its necessary to do so again. YNWA correctly states that this is more than just a matter of money. When you have cash at your disposal then its up to you to spend it responsibly (ala not blowing 30 mil on Berbatov). I dealt with the money that we have spent in my two recent articles (I’m working on the third). When it comes down to the squad though, money is more important than anything else.

Here’s a look at Rafa’s net spend since he arrived at LFC:

Year……………Bought……………..Sold……………….Net……

04/05…………..39.75………………10.50…………….29.25…
05/06…………..26.29………………12.00…………….14.29…
06/07…………..44.30………………13.83…………….30.47…
07/08…………..43.00………………33.20………………9.80…
08/09…………..39.00………………32.75………………6.25…
09/10…………..40.00………………35.50………………4.50…

The biggest problem that the Yanks have thrust upon us is the lack of squad depth. If you have to sell 30 mil in order to buy 40 mil then you have to sell the players who should be your squad.

Letting players go on a free is a different story (Finnan, Sami and others), but Cisse, Bellamy, Garcia, Gonzalez, Sossoko, Crouch, Guthrie, Carson, Riise, Keane, Alonso and Arbeloa all had to be sold (for a total of 90 mil) in order for us to buy the quality we needed for the first team. All of these players (with a few exceptions eg. Alonso and Keane) would be sitting on our bench right now if we had the cash to buy without selling first.

Note that the players mentioned above were all sold after the yanks arrived. Before the yanks our biggest sale was Baros for 6.5 mil (excluding Owen for 8 mil since that was organised before Rafa) and the second biggest was Kirkland for 3.5 mil. After the yanks arrived we have sold 8 players for more than Kirkland , 5 of which were even higher than Baros.

In terms of the squad, the yanks are to blame, not Rafa. In terms of the strength of the players that have been through our club, that is on Rafa’s head (though some may debate Keane and others).

redrob - December 9th, 2009 at 7:35 pm

aquaman on the ball with that comment.
i think that we have been skint for a few yrs.(prob since the yanks took over) it was not too long before we were spending top doller with the big boys. aquaman, you seem to be clued up about finance issues at the club.
my question is this.
we used to be able to spend big in the transfure market, why not now? is it just the yanks pulling at purse strings, or the new stadium eating up the money?

redrob - December 9th, 2009 at 7:37 pm

or depts

spota - December 13th, 2009 at 7:47 pm

its plain to see we cant compete with the likes ov chelsea or the scum ;man city when it comes to finances. so we have to play are best 11 whenever possible . but rafa has a different 11 to all ov us. they say its a beutiful game . under benitez i beg to differ !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!YNWA