Liverpool FC Forum

[wee_boi888]

I think Rafa chose Nando because Benfica do not play the physical type of game that we play week in and week out in the premiership, and thought Nando would be able to play some of his old magic without the robust challenges etc.

I will continue to support Nando, but it does not mean Rafa was right in picking him for the game.

Back on topic, I'm not sure if fan and supporter really have much difference. You gotta be very pedantic to seperate the two words as they are oftenly used interchangably (sp?). To be a real fan/supporter you have to stick by the club week in week out no matter the results and i think importantly that though we may disagree with decisions Rafa or whatever manager makes, you support it, even though you may disagree. You can vent your frustration and claim whatever is not good enough, but when its game time, we follow, support and live the high's and lows that come with the club and its people.

[JBG]

we are dominating virtually every game we play,

In the vast majority of games that I have seen this season, even those we have lost, we have utterly dominated in possession, time in the opposition's half, shots on and off target and corners.

[Ace Ventura]

we are dominating virtually every game we play,

In the vast majority of games that I have seen this season, even those we have lost, we have utterly dominated in possession, time in the opposition's half, shots on and off target and corners.

I know mate, even Chelsea away, we outplayed them for long periods, but we are just missing that player that will score goals from most chances.
Obviously the Owen debate drags on, and his injury problems wont help convince Rafa that he is worth breaking the bank for.
I might get slated for saying this, but i really think Craig Bellamy would be a viable option.
He is a c@ck but he is a really top notch footballer who would score goals galore in this Liverpool side.
I dont think he would cost silly money either, although he might not want to leave Mark Hughes's club.

[65-1140560321]

JBG you mention in your post that we are having one of our best seasons for years?

No we are NOT!  8 goals in 13 games? worse than any Gerrard Houllier or Roy Evans Rein as manager. Rafa may NEVER win us the league. that may be the case.

Half of you, who rant about "plastic fans" just dont want to believe that Rafa is only human, has made large mistakes this season, and is buying cheap alternative players instead of the worlds very best.

ie; Crouch, Agger, Kromkamp, fowler, morientes, garcia, sissoko, are all unproven or past it, and a bunch of unproven younsters for the youth team.

then out on loan go Pongolle, Mellor, Le tallec, and Cheyrou. bad decision IMO.

Real plastic fans are those who claim to be real Liverpool fans, and slate other fans in here for slating the team, after LFC lose a big match! it happens every time.

Go home and get your dummies and grow up.

[laza]

You make a valueable contribution to this forum Hustler

You sad attention seeking stirring is great therapy for those of us wanting to express our frustration you sad inadequate bed wetting little leech

Now fornicate off back to Manc land , i know its not your fault that mum and dad were brother and sister but you really should shut the up

[tubby]

The difference was this year that were were not underdogs and sometimes that burden in too much. Everyone has conmfidence in the manager though and that is all that matters. I just hopes Benitez gets the backing he requires

[Anfield rapper]

So long has they give money to the club i don't care how many plastic fans we have.

[Ace Ventura]

JBG you mention in your post that we are having one of our best seasons for years?

No we are NOT!  8 goals in 13 games? worse than any Gerrard Houllier or Roy Evans Rein as manager. Rafa may NEVER win us the league. that may be the case.

Half of you, who rant about "plastic fans" just dont want to believe that Rafa is only human, has made large mistakes this season, and is buying cheap alternative players instead of the worlds very best.

ie; Crouch, Agger, Kromkamp, fowler, morientes, garcia, sissoko, are all unproven or past it, and a bunch of unproven younsters for the youth team.

then out on loan go Pongolle, Mellor, Le tallec, and Cheyrou. bad decision IMO.

Real plastic fans are those who claim to be real Liverpool fans, and slate other fans in here for slating the team, after LFC lose a big match! it happens every time.

Go home and get your dummies and grow up.

That post sums up why Rafa Benitez is a GREAT manager and not just a decent one.
Lower budget players and a strike force that cant score goals and still points wise in our best ever Premiership position (at this stage).
Of course he makes mistakes, there is nobody that doesn't.
What he seems to be able to do is admit to them and correct them.
Josemi and Nunez are examples of this, as is our away form in the league compared with his previous season.
I dont mind hustler coming on stirring it up a bit, it gives us a chance to take things in and think about how lucky we really are being fans of this great club.

[woof woof !]

The way I see it is that those who have gone completely over the top in their criticism betray their shallow natures as Liverpool  fans, as genuine long standing fans who had to endure the disappointment of every manager since Daglish will recognise the great thinks Rafa Benitez is doing for this club.

I think 99.9% of people in here, even those who have strongly criticised the team/players in recent weeks . all acknowledge that Benitez has done an outstanding job since arriving at LFC . However he is not infallible and long standing supporters such as John Bull  imo have the right to criticise what they percieve as shortcomings within the team and it's selection without being labelled as plastic fans . Expressing bitter disappointment at our exit from Europe coupled with a strong albeit negative view over team selection surely in itself doesn't make someone a shallow fair weather fan ? .

Rafa has breathed new life into our club and once again made us a feared force in both domestic and European football BUT if we are to remain that way some long standing issues need to be addressed . I can't pretend to know the extent of Rafa's budget but we've all seen that the right mid position has been a problem since the day Rafa arrived , but 18 months and 3 transfer windows later it's still a problem . Our strike force is looking increasingly toothless , Crouch is a very good player but on the evidence we've seen , a very poor striker . I can only assume that Rafa bought him so some ace predator could feed of him , a great idea IF we had an ace predator . I won't have a go at Rafa for buying Morientes  , at the time I think we were all rubbing our hands at the prospect but  Morientes has been a major disappointment , Rafa latest plan brings in Robbie Fowler , kop legend and although long past his best still the nearest thing we have to a natural goalscorer and yet Rafa persists with Morientes .

Looking back Liverpool have been blessed with outstanding goalscorers, Billy Liddell ,Ian St John ,Kevin Keegan ,Ian Rush ,Kenny Dalglish, Jon Aldridge , Robbie Fowler and Michael Owen .but at present we are light years away from possesing a stiker that comes close to the calibre of the above named (I haven't forgotten that a past his best Robbie is back with us ) .

Long standing Liverpool fans have been raised on a tradition of mean defence ,dominant midfielders and net busting forwards .Rafa has restored the first two elements but until the final element is installed long standing supporters will continue to question why a manager of Rafa's undoubted ability perseveres with our goal shy strikers ,and especially so when goals from other areas of the team have apparently dried up .

As i mentioned in a previous thread , there's a fine line between faith and reality , Wake up Rafa .

[laza]

Well Woof if your talking about reality, the reality is Rafa has tried to get RM position filled and hasnt been successful.
He by his own admission lives by creed of not getting shafted over transfer prices and we arent only club that has found it difficult to fill places ever since Mr Monoplyski arrived in London


Long standing supporters would probably be better received if they didnt only turn up mouthing off after major losses

If we dont try and sign a major forward in the summer then you probably want to raise  Rafa from his slumber

Expressing geninue disappointment and fair critique after cup exit or kneejerk fair weather slagging off, i guess that one will always be in the eye of beholder and most fans will have different view and opinion on where one starts and where ones ends.
End of day everyone is off and gutted and i guess we all take it out on  different things

[Lando_Griffin]

JBG you mention in your post that we are having one of our best seasons for years?

No we are NOT!  8 goals in 13 games? worse than any Gerrard Houllier or Roy Evans Rein as manager. Rafa may NEVER win us the league. that may be the case.

Half of you, who rant about "plastic fans" just dont want to believe that Rafa is only human, has made large mistakes this season, and is buying cheap alternative players instead of the worlds very best.

ie; Crouch, Agger, Kromkamp, fowler, morientes, garcia, sissoko, are all unproven or past it, and a bunch of unproven younsters for the youth team.

then out on loan go Pongolle, Mellor, Le tallec, and Cheyrou. bad decision IMO.

Real plastic fans are those who claim to be real Liverpool fans, and slate other fans in here for slating the team, after LFC lose a big match! it happens every time.

Go home and get your dummies and grow up.

You really are a thick b*stard aren't you?

Sissoko is an international, and had been part of a title-winning Valencia side. Hardly unproven.

Kromkamp is Holland's best right-back. Hardly unproven OR past it.

Agger is a full international for Norway, and made Rooney and Owen look pathetic in the friendly a few months back.
He had been injured when he arrived, and is still regaining match-fitness.
Unproven? You're having a laugh, you punk.

Crouch's 17 goals last term make him unproven? Cause if he's past it at 25, then you really ARE a joke. Remember how many droughts Owen had in his time with us?

Fowler is STILL the finisher he always was, and the fact that he scored 3 (legitimate or not) proves that. You numpty.

Mori - 28, and arguably one of the best strikers in Europe when we signed him.

I heard even the Lord God Almighty lost a tenner betting on him being a success.   

Garcia - off the pace currently, but one of our stars last season, particularly in Europe. You distended rectum.

And finally:

Le Tellec and Cheyrou.

Go to f*cking sleep you tw*tbag.

[JBG]

Hustler: you're only ever happy in here telling us all what a rubbish team and manager we have after a bad result. Well, you're a rubbish supporter and most likely a supporter of an opposition club.

Woof: again, like Bull, I think you have misread my post. I didn't say that all people who criticise the team are plastic fans, I was directing my post at the countless people on this very website who are only part time Liverpool fans, people who might only have started "supporting" us in recent years and who might see the occasional league game on the telly and put most stock in the glamour of the Champions League.

Traffic on this site has trebled since last May, so there are plenty of new "plastic" fans out there.

These people know who they are.

I did not call Bull a plastic fan, far from it. He is a local man who has been following Liverpool since before I was born, so I'm perplexed where that accusation came from.

Still, there are fans and there are fans, you know what I'm taking about, they come in all shapes and sizes and guises in sport. Go to a game - any game - and you'll see a dumb old chap constantly whinging about the team, the manager, the players, then the team goes out and scores and its all perfect again. In every match I've ever gone to, regardless of the sport and the teams, you get those chaps.

What makes me laugh is that these chaps actually put their hands in their pockets and spend their hard earned cash and will fly to places like Istanbul to watch the team. And guess what they do in Istanbul as well? They walk out of the stadium at half time.

I'm not directing that at Bull, although I do think Bull is living in a time warp, but just because a person goes the game regularly and spends all his money following the club, doesn't necessarily stop him from being an idiot.

Criticism in small doses can be a good thing and its in the very nature of every supporter to criticise his own team at some stage, but for me, Rafa isn't entitled to and deserves a lot of more faith and support from fans. He did, after all, deliver the big one, something Abramovich may never achieve, with all his money.

Get behind the man, get behind the team, thats what supporters do.

[woof woof !]

If we dont try and sign a major forward in the summer then you probably want to raise  Rafa from his slumber

Just love the way some in here have the apparent ability to mind read . (not) !

Don't know were you get that idea . Perhaps the names of past Liverpool legends I mentioned gave you that impression ? But for the record with the exception of Dalglish they were all playing in the lower leagues or youth teams before playing for us  e.g. .Rush-Chester,Keegan-Scunthorpe,Aldridge-Oxford.  I'm not expecting Rafa to "sign a major forward" as you put it. I am hoping he will however admit that his faith in Morientes needs to be reassessed and that he'll find us a player who can put the ball away .I don't care where the player comes from .

[bigmick]

I hope that the silver lining to last night's result is that we'll lose a few of those bandwagoner fans that came out of the woodwork last May.

You know the type: the guys who think Rafa was stupid to sell Baros, that the board were nuts to let Owen go to Madrid for peanuts and then not re-sign him 12 months on at twice the money, the guys that think we are a rubbish team and that there are major problems blah blah blah.

People that have been fans of Liverpool for more than 5 minutes will understand that this is one of the most promising times we've been in for 15 or 16 years, and if people thought things are bad now, then they weren't about when it all went pear shaped under Souness, and such like.

Our great European adventure came to an end last night. It had to end somewhere. At halftime last May 25th, when we were 3-0 down, any one of us would happily have swapped being thrashed 4-0 by TNS in the first round of this years competition if we could come back against Milan and win, let alone going out to Benfica in the last 16.

And for those who say Benfica are a mickey mouse club, well, such is another sad indictment of a Sky Sports era football supporter. Benfica have had as proud a European history as most, and while their current side are not going to set the world alight, for me there is no shame in going out to a club that has such great heritage.

I've been reading many of the posts today and you'd swear we had just been relegated. I'm as disappointed as anybody, but one poor display doesn't mean the end is nigh. Its just part of sport, and even the great sides of the 1970s and 1980s had their bitter disappointments and setbacks.

The criticism of the team, for me, has gone way too far, which is perplexing, given that we are actually having one of our best seasons in years, in so far as we have been consistent and steady all year and real, genuine groundwork is being laid.

Winning the big trophy last year had the one downside in that it was always going to raise expectations to ridiculous levels, and last night's result has seen that particular chicken come home to roost.

I'm sick and tired of fair weather fans and this place has its fair share of them, and they come in the usual guise, although I'll refrain from getting into that.

The way I see it is that those who have gone completely over the top in their criticism betray their shallow natures as Liverpool  fans, as genuine long standing fans who had to endure the disappointment of every manager since Daglish will recognise the great thinks Rafa Benitez is doing for this club.

I'm just trawling through the forum and must say that is the very best post I've read in ages. No surprises about the author, absolutely spot on mate.

[woof woof !]

Woof: again, like Bull, I think you have misread my post. I didn't say that all people who criticise the team are plastic fans, I was directing my post at the countless people on this very website who are only part time Liverpool fans,

I understand that JBG , but not sure everybody else did . A couple of people were having a right dig at John Bull .

I know we get loads of whingers and wind up merchants in here and they p'iss me off just as much as they do you, but we also get a lot of part time evangilists who appear to consider criticism of our club or it's manager as verging on the blasphemous . I think there is cause for  concern over our strikers continued inability to score coupled with Rafa's continued use of Morientes, and yet to voice that concern is to invite ridicule and abuse .

John Bull also asked in effect was he supposed to pretend everything in the garden was rosy when in his opinion it isn't. The answer apparently is unless you want the PC brigade jumping down your neck you have to just keep on singing and waving yer flag.

Some f'ucking forum this is turning into .