Liverpool thread

[Darren]

REDS TO FACE SERIE A LEAGUE LEADERS Paul Hassall 21 December 2007
	Liverpool have been drawn to face Inter Milan in the last 16 of this season's Champions League.
The Reds will entertain Roberto Mancini's side in the first leg at Anfield on February 19/20 before travelling to the San Siro for the second-leg the following month. Inter are having a wonderful season in their domestic league and currently sit in top spot seven points ahead of second placed Roma. Of the 16 games played so far they've won 12, drawn four, scored 35 goals and conceded just eight. The draw in full: Celtic v Barcelona Lyon v Manchester United Schalke v FC Porto Liverpool v Inter Milan Roma v Real Madrid Olympiacos v Chelsea Fenerbahce v Sevilla Arsenal v AC Milan

[Darren]

A tough draw for us, but then it was always going to be. Of all the sides we could have faced I think only Barcelona I wanted less that Inter. Ah well, 2 years ago I was happy when we drew Benfica at this stage, and we went out. A year ago we got Barca and went through.

Its a proper contest from here on in though

[Darren]

Crouch set to avoid FA action

Liverpool striker Peter Crouch is set to escape any disciplinary action from the FA for remarks that have been dubbed "potentially racist".





Crouch was dismissed in Wednesday night's Carling Cup quarter-final defeat for a lunge at Chelsea's Nigerian midfielder John Obi Mikel.
Mikel's representatives, the Sport Entertainment and Media (SEM) Group, responded angrily following comments made by Crouch that foreign players were prone to diving.
They called on the authorities to deal with the matter as a racist issue.
But an FA spokesman said: "We would certainly not see Peter Crouch's comments as being racist.
"He is unlikely to face any sort of disciplinary action because of them."
Crouch said on Thursday: "What I'm thinking is if you go in on Frank Lampard or John Terry, would they roll around like Obi Mikel did? I don't think they would have done.
"Would someone like Carra [Jamie Carragher] have gone down like that? I think it's safe to say that he wouldn't.
"Foreign players have brought a lot to our game but that's something you don't want to see. I didn't catch him but he's gone down like he's been shot."
Liverpool are understood to be unhappy with Chelsea's demands for action against Crouch, who is far from the first football personality to suggest foreign players were more prone to diving.
The FA believe they cannot bring Crouch to book for expressing an opinion - and it was not a personal attack on Mikel.
SEM do not intend to let the matter rest and told The Sun: "SEM feel the comments were potentially racist to all foreign players, not just black or African ones.
"We are intending to speak to Trevor Phillips at the Equality and Human Rights Commission on Monday.
"We hope football's governing bodies, who are meant to be committed to stamping out racism issues, will also get involved."
Mikel has also denied he is a play actor.
"There is nothing to say to Crouch. All I know is that I am not a diver and will not start doing that now," he said.
"Foreign players bring a lot to the league. That's why there are so many here at the moment.
"There is Didier Drogba, Michael Essien, Cristiano Ronaldo and Dimitar Berbatov, amongst other top players.
"They make the league very competitive and we cannot all be bad just because one player feels so."

[AJ]

I was wondering, do any of you think that Liverpool are still in a postion to make a serious title challange this season ??

Liverpool currently have 36pts, let's assume they win their game in hand, they'll reach the half way point on 39pts, on course for 78pts.

In the past that was good enough for a league title, United won the EPL in 97 with 75pts, with Newcastle 2nd on 68pts. In '98 Arsenal took the title with 77pts, in '99 Utd with 79pts. All of these are well within the range of points Liverpool are likely to finish on.

In 2000 Utd won the title with 91pts, in '01 Utd won with 80 pts, in '02 Arsenal won with 87 pts, in '03 United won with 83pts. In '04 the great Arsenal team won with 90pts, in '05 Chelsea win with 95pts, in '06 they won again with 91pts, last year United won with 89pts.

So my point is this, clearly the league is less competitive these days, the top teams have (sadly) pulled further and further away from the pack. Judging by the figures of the past 5 years, you need 90pts to win the league. That means Liverpool need to hit 54pts in their last 20 games. That's 18 wins out of 20 required for the title, with away matches at Manchester United, Arsenal and Chelsea still to be played.

So, I'll ask again do any of you think that Liverpool are still in a postion to make a serious title challange this season ??

[Football-Tipper]

For the simple fact as you have put before, Liverpool are under-performing at the minute so I would hope the the lets say 39 points would be improved on in the 2nd half of the season. Also a tricky Champions League draw could see us aiming for just the league come Feb time...

[Darren]

DERBY COUNTY 1-2 LIVERPOOL Wednesday 26 December 2007 15:00 , Barclays Premier League

DERBY 1-2 LIVERPOOL: THE REPORT Steven Gerrard might not have a white beard, but he dresses in red and may well go by the name of Santa after delivering three points at Pride Park with a dramatic last-minute goal. The skipper helped Liverpool snatch a 2-1 win from Boxing Day 2007 after Jay McEveley equalised Fernando Torres' superb opener. The contest provided another reminder that, with no room for slip-ups going into the New Year, the Reds can't afford to take any fixture for granted. Paul Jewell had feared the worst before kick-off, doubtless aware of the 6-0 drubbing handed out to Derby on Merseyside weeks before his arrival. He'll be proud of the way his side performed, especially during a gutsy second half. Liverpool had totally dominated the opening 45, the hosts not helped by a serious pre-match blow when 'keeper Stephen Bywater injured his shoulder in the warm up. Not a bad Christmas present for his replacement Lewis Price, though: a Boxing Day debut against the 18-times champions. The Wales under-21 international could have been forgiven for wishing he'd kept a gift receipt after only 11 minutes, however, when Torres delivered a Christmas cracker - and not the sort you get in Woolworths. No, this was the kind of festive treat George Gillett and Tom Hicks paid Harrods prices for. It was Ryan Babel who fed the £20 million man 18 yards out before Torres discarded the Derby defence like a piece of yesterday's wrapping paper. First the Spaniard nutmegged the hapless Darren Moore, then he cut inside Dean Leacock before coolly slotting past Price. From there the floodgates could and perhaps should have opened. Babel dragged wide after great footwork in the box. Minutes later Gerrard fizzed one narrowly over, then it was back to Babel, who volleyed over a Riise cross when he should have scored. The Dutchman was enjoying one of his best games since his summer move from Ajax, weaving inside from the right and giving the solid McEveley a torrid time. Things went from bad to worse for Jewell midway through the first half when he was forced to replace midfielder Stephen Pearson with a suspected broken arm. He'd collided with one of his own teammates, Moore. Liverpool continued to probe, though it was sometimes a little too long and hopeful from the Reds. Mind, you know there's holes to be exploited when Jamie Carragher bursts through the opposition defence for a left-footed volley. Was a fifth career goal on the cards? Not this Christmas, Jamie. The travelling Kop smiled en masse as his effort spun harmlessly over Price's goal. Carragher had a new central-defensive partner eight minutes after the restart when the injured Sami Hyypia was replaced by Yossi Benayoun. The Israeli made his way over to the left wing while John Arne Riise found himself in an unfamiliar position at the heart of the Liverpool defence. A period of Derby pressure followed as the home faithful found its voice. Babel wasn't finding the ball as he did in the opening 45, while a concerned Benitez opted to shift Andriy Voronin over to the right. Equally as worrying following recent events were a pair of atrocious tackles, first when Steve Howard acquainted his studs with Carragher's thigh, then when Eddie Lewis lunged in on Liverpool's returning midfielder Xabi Alonso Riise had to concede a corner on 60 minutes and for a moment Pride Park believed. Then Giles Barnes overhit the kick by a good 20 yards. Still, the midlanders continued to ask questions. And then, on 67 minutes, bingo - their persistence paid off. Benitez will be furious with the way his side defended Lewis's free-kick as the ball ricocheted off a red shirt to the unmarked McEveley. The defender still had work to do to beat the often impregnable Pepe Reina, but the Spanish stopper was given no chance as the ball bulged the bottom right hand corner of his net. Babel made way for Dirk Kuyt as the Liverpool bench attempted to rescue three points from a game that most would consider an away banker. The Dutch striker nearly made the difference with 15 minutes left on the clock when he ghosted down the right to tee up Voronin. The Ukrainian just couldn't find his composure. Gerrard, meanwhile, was everywhere as Liverpool stepped up their endeavours. His chest and volley was the first in a series of long shots which, for a second, had the 3,039 away fans on the edge of their seats. The skipper hit the bar, Fabio Aurelio tested and Alonso twice forced excellent saves from Price, who was turning out to be a secret Santa for the men in white. At the other end Derby came close to stealing it on 85 minutes when Barnes surged unnoticed through the Reds defence to get on the end of a Lewis cross. He headed just over. Then, a revelation. Father Christmas is a Scouser. And his name's Steven, not Santa. The skipper bombed 50 yards down the left, laid it to Voronin but continued his run. When Torres's shot was saved he was there to bang it home. Derby, after a fierce resistance, had been slayed - merry Christmas everyone. Stay logged on to LFC.TV for match highlights on Thursday. Teams Derby County: Price, McEveley, Leacock, Moore (c), Mears, Barnes, Pearson, Teale, Lewis, Howard, Miller. Subs - Earnshaw, Fagan, Feilhaber, Hinchcliffe, Johnson Liverpool: Reina, Aurelio, Carragher, Hyypia, Finnan, Riise, Alonso, Gerrard (c), Babel, Torres, Voronin. Subs - Benayoun, Itandje, Kuyt, Leiva, Mascherano Referee: Alan Wiley Conditions: Unavailable Attendance: Unavailable Liverpoolfc.tv Man-of-the-Match: Xabi Alonso

[Darren]

Originally Posted by AJ

So, I'll ask again do any of you think that Liverpool are still in a postion to make a serious title challange this season ??

Just about. It needs a better 2nd half of the season though. We need to be able to pick up wins when we play badly, not just draws (although yesterday was a start on that). And stop with the stupid rotation.

Need to win our game in hand, need to go away to the 3 above us and win probably a couple of them, and not lose the other. And then not mess up in the vast majority of the other 16 games

I think with the change in the CL format for next season we need to be top 3 at the very worst, coming 4th looks like being a lot tougher to get into the group stages now.

[AJ]

It's the home form that's killing you, 16pts from 27 at home isn't title winning form. The away form is good though, 20pts from 27pts. Best away record in the league in fact. Problem is you've still got all your hard away matches to come.

I think you need 18 wins from 20, it's going to be very difficult. Iif you do it I'll come on here and congratule you as worthy champions. If you fall any further behind I think you're finished, even a draw when Utd / Arsenal win would kill you stone dead.

[aliando]

what stood out for me a few years back was that you needed a good run in from xmas to win the title - now it needs to be a good run in from september.

i think we've left it too late. 3rd spot imo.

[laudrup27]

Originally Posted by Football-Tipper

For the simple fact as you have put before, Liverpool are under-performing at the minute so I would hope the the lets say 39 points would be improved on in the 2nd half of the season. Also a tricky Champions League draw could see us aiming for just the league come Feb time...

Judging from the last two season's performance, I'd say the team's focus would slide off to the Champions League rather than aiming for the league.

[Darren]

Originally Posted by laudrup27

Judging from the last two season's performance, I'd say the team's focus would slide off to the Champions League rather than aiming for the league.

Can't disagree with that. If by the time of the Inter game we are still just hanging on in thre in the league it'll be all key players dropped to prepare for that match.

Just like for the Marseille game, Reading faced a shell of a team. Just the way it is I guess. You appoint a European manager, expect your best in Europe. Leagues never been the priority under Rafa, very annoying that.

What amazes me most is that Rick parry is still in a job though. He's failed to do most aspects of his job. Right back to the first Gerrard issue, to the one here Stevie was set to leave in 2005, after the epic win. The reason was Parry wanted a holiday and couldn't be arsed to sort it before he went. Get that man out of here!

[peteg40]

Played well today chaps....but the end of the day you have dropped another 2pts ....

[Darren]

Citeh did it again, how the fcuk we didn't win that one is beyond me. Richard Dunne was absolutely superb though. I laughed when we were linked with a 5M move for him pre season, he was class today.

[DJ]

Originally Posted by Darren

Citeh did it again, how the fcuk we didn't win that one is beyond me. Richard Dunne was absolutely superb though. I laughed when we were linked with a 5M move for him pre season, he was class today.

I think Richard Dunne is one of those solid, no nonsense but small reputation defenders about. I think he has played solid all season at Manchester City but because he's unfashionable he never gets the reputation or acclaim that perhaps he can deserve.

[laudrup27]

Originally Posted by Djlion

I think Richard Dunne is one of those solid, no nonsense but small reputation defenders about. I think he has played solid all season at Manchester City but because he's unfashionable he never gets the reputation or acclaim that perhaps he can deserve.

He is quick, strong, and get the ball around.. would be an ideal replacement Hyppia if you ask me.

[doublecee]

4-5-1 at home against Wigan. Who does he think he's managing, Derby County?

[kevshat]

You can come to our gaff and play 4-5-1 if you like. We'll match up perfectly for a stalemate then

[Matt]

89'

Liverpool

1 - 1

Wigan Athletic

next year eh lads?

[PAULM03]

Another manager apparently on the thinnest of thin ice.

[peteg40]

Originally Posted by doublecee

4-5-1 at home against Wigan. Who does he think he's managing, Derby County?

Well that's another 2 pts lost at home....to the mighty Wigan