Liverpool FC Forum

by **stmichael** » Fri Nov 09, 2007 12:54 pm

Courtesy of The Redfella of talklfc.com.

1. Harry Kewells's injury record and the fact he's still at Anfield. Would the club have been so kind to any other player or would they have got rid?

2. 1 point for a goalless draw. 2 points for a score draw. 3 for a win. Would this benefit football?

3. Alvaro Arbeloa or Steve Finnan - who should be the first choice right back and, more importantly, why?

4. Will Rafa not appointing a new number two ultimately prove detrimental in the long run?

5. If your country fails to qualify for Euro 2008, will you be supporting another nation? If so, who?

by **jymbojetset** » Fri Nov 09, 2007 1:03 pm

[quote="stmichael"][/quote]
Assuming we're talking about players in memory,not necessarily current

1 Kenny Dalglish, Ian Rush, Steven Gerard, Jamie Carragher, Cisse (?)
2 Yes - we'd have more points this year!
3 Either both looking good at moment.
4 I thought there were rumours that he was about to apoint someone? Pellegrino has been mentioned.
5 Seeing as I'm Welsh, obviously I'll be supporting someone else - Spain (seems the natural choice).

by **66-1112520797** » Fri Nov 09, 2007 1:09 pm

1. For me it pretty much shows how Rafa has failed to get in a better left mid than Harry, Harry has been out of the side for long enough now yet Rafa hasnt brought in adequate cover. Gonzalez flop, Zenden flop, Leto not good enough and Babel IMO needs time to settle, and I think he maybe better upfront anyway. This usually sees us picking Riise as left mid a Houllier signing and still prefered most of the time to his )rafa's) own signing.

So in answer to the question, they would of probably got rid had they a player anywhere near Kewells abilities coming in.

2. No lets not change the face of football finance is doing a pretty good job of that.

3. Tough one, I'd only just go Finnan, but in saying that against lower positioned teams I'd play Arbeloa because they usually defend for their lives and play with numbers at the back. Arbeloa coming forward and overlapping would give us width and options going foward. Against the likes of Arsenal and Man U I'd play Finnan as he usually is MR consistant and is a very good defender, but not too much rotating from me.

4. Possibly yes.

5. NO.

by **account deleted by request** » Fri Nov 09, 2007 1:20 pm

1. Harry Kewells's injury record and the fact he's still at Anfield. Would the club have been so kind to any other player or would they have got rid?

I don't think they really have any choice, no one would buy Kewell while he was injured and every time he comes back he makes the left wing spot his own. The only comparable one in recent memory would be Redknapp and I think he made it clear he wanted to go rather than Liverpool just wanting to getting rid.

2. 1 point for a goalless draw. 2 points for a score draw. 3 for a win. Would this benefit football?

No, because it would be open to abuse as teams drawing 0 -0 could decide to allow a goal to be scored by either side to gain the extra point.

3. Alvaro Arbeloa or Steve Finnan - who should be the first choice right back and, more importantly, why?

Finnan, but its much closer now due to Finnan's poor form of late than it was before.

4. Will Rafa not appointing a new number two ultimately prove detrimental in the long run?

Yes, if not by poorer results on the field then by the impact it will eventually have on Rafa's health. At a big club the demands are enormous and I think he needs someone to help him carry the load.

5. If your country fails to qualify for Euro 2008, will you be supporting another nation? If so, who?

No, I can hardly be bothered with England so I am certainly not going to start supporting someone else. I will support any of our players who are playing while still hoping they get knocked out early so they can avoid injury.

by **Sabre** » Fri Nov 09, 2007 1:27 pm

1. Harry Kewells's injury record and the fact he's still at Anfield. Would the club have been so kind to any other player or would they have got rid?

The obvious response is that Harry can count himself lucky, because Rafa did not doubt to offload players like Gonzalez or Morientes. Of course, it's not just luck, it also means Rafa thinks it's difficult to bring another winger of his abilities. The ones that could improve his game, are very expensive.

2. 1 point for a goalless draw. 2 points for a score draw. 3 for a win. Would this benefit football?

No. I've seen great 0-0 matches. Scoring goals is nice, but having your goal clean aswell.

3. Alvaro Arbeloa or Steve Finnan - who should be the first choice right back and, more importantly, why?

Maybe now it seems doubtful, but I think that Finnan has shown the previous two years he's very consistent in his game. My first choice is Finnan by a low distance, he's regular, he makes less mistakes than Arbeloa, his tackling is not as good, but he's a stronger player.

4. Will Rafa not appointing a new number two ultimately prove detrimental in the long run?

I don't know. I don't know how everyday work is in Melwood and my opinion would be baseless.

5. If your country fails to qualify for Euro 2008, will you be supporting another nation? If so, who?

In my case it's not a matter of if, but when Spain will fail. My traditional choices for second teams are Ireland and England. I have a soft spot for Italy aswell, yes, the cheating bástards that get a 1-0 and give you a lesson of how to win a game with that goal. They're bloody competitive.

by **Kharhaz** » Sat Nov 10, 2007 1:01 am

1: Its down to guy in charge of the team. Babbel was loved by all but once he recovered he was out of there ! Rafa likes what he sees in Kewell and has stood by him from the 1st day he came here.

2:Yes it would, especially with regards to the relegation battles.

3:Steve Finnan everytime, Mr consistant, not been as impressive lately but who has?

4:No, his stubbornness knows no bounds ! He is his own man and although I and many believe he does need an assistant rafa is stubborn enough to see this season through at least without one.

5:I dont support one now so I couldnt care less !

by **Owzat** » Sat Nov 10, 2007 10:19 am

1. Harry Kewells's injury record and the fact he's still at Anfield. Would the club have been so kind to any other player or would they have got rid?

He's potentially an asset so it is hard to tell, the mancs and chelski might have written off a player of his value. And how many years did spudz keep sicknote?

2. 1 point for a goalless draw. 2 points for a score draw. 3 for a win. Would this benefit football?

Try it and see! Better way is to reward goalscoring so that teams don't ease up when 3-0 up and coast which can be frustrating (England vs Estonia anyone?)

Quite how you reward goals scored is another matter, maybe abandon GD and simply go to goals scored. At the moment 3-0 is better than 3-1, under goals scored then it would be the same. Incentive to win? Three points.

3. Alvaro Arbeloa or Steve Finnan - who should be the first choice right back and, more importantly, why?

Finnan - because Arbeloa is currently our best LB and while he can play both positions, he can't do it at the same time!

[n]4. Will Rafa not appointing a new number two ultimately prove detrimental in the long run?[/b]

I think we had a poor run (comparitively) because our strikers aren't scoring enough goals, simple as. How much is down to the absence of a number two is speculation

5. If your country fails to qualify for Euro 2008, will you be supporting another nation? If so, who?

Nope, well I do have a soft spot for Austria but "support" isn't exactly how I'd put it. It's more well wishing, I won't be gutted if they lose because they have since I first had a soft spot for them back in the late nineties.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Austria_national_football_team

Austria still get slated for their efforts in Italia 90, they held on bravely against HOSTS Italy to lose only 1-0 to a late Schillachi winner, lost to a Kubik PENALTY against a very good Czech side and then beat USA. So they did as well as one might expect, it wasn't an easy group and the one match they might have hoped to win they lost by a single penalty. Of course they then lost famously to the faroes, in fairness they had Denmark and Yugoslavia that campaign so were unlikely to qualify anyway.

From there they've qualified only for France 98 where they had another tough group in Italy, Cameroon and Chile - losing only to Italy. They could and maybe should have qualified in 1996 but needing to beat Northern Ireland lost to them - Rep. Ireland benefited, but lost the play-off to Holland. The serious decline since has meant this is Austria's first finals for a decade, I feel it is no coincidence Toni Polster retired in 1998 and they qualified for Spain 1982, Italy 1990 and France 1998 while he was playing ie every other World Cup. He scored 44 goals in 95 appearances for a country that has a better record than many countries and indeed many people might be aware (given recent disappointments)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toni_Polster

Austria National Team

World Cups : 8/18
Owzat Ranking : =14/76

1934 - 4th
1938 - R1*
1954 - 3rd
1958 - R1
1978 - QF**
1982 - QF***
1990 - R1
1998 - R1

*Austria qualified, but were amalgamated into the Germany side http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anschluss

**actually a second group stage so last eight if you prefer

***again a second group stage of 12 teams but effectively the QF stage

European Championships : 1/12
Owzat ranking : 22/28

1960 - QF

OWZAT rankings are based on progress in the finals and only apply to teams who have played in finals. It's a quite simple point system with more points for getting further in the competition. So Scotland would score one point for every appearance.

England World Cups : 12/18
Owzat Ranking : =6/76

England European Championships : 8/12
Owzat Ranking : 10/28

In case you're wondering, England's score is 74 for World Cups, Austria's is only 37. A lot of teams qualify and do nothing at the finals

World Cup Ranking's (appearances in brackets)

1 Brazil 201 pts (18/18)
2 Germany 194 pts (16/18)
3 Italy 155 pts (16/18)
4 Argentina 104 pts (14/18)
5 France 87 pts (12/18)
=6 Uruguay 74 pts (10/18)
=6 England 74 pts (12/18)
8 Sweden 71 pts (11/18)
9 Holland 55 pts (8/18)
10 Hungary 51 pts (9/18)
11 Yugoslavia 50 pts (10/18)
12 Czechoslovakia 47 pts (9/18)
13 Spain 45 pts (12/18)
=14 Austria 37 pts (8/18)
=14 Mexico 37 pts (13/18)
16 Russia 36 pts (9/18)
=17 Poland 34 pts (7/18)
=17 Belgium 34 pts (11/18)
19 Chile 29 pts (7/18)
20 Switzerland 28 pts (8/18)

USA are 21st, Portugal 22nd, Rep. Ireland and N.Ireland =30th, Scotland 35th and Wales =40th (joint with 8 other teams)

Quite a timely question given our next opponents!

Irony is Austria will be there, England quite probably won't!

by **bigmick** » Sat Nov 10, 2007 10:51 am

Kewell has been simply "ungetridable" as the fecker is on huge money and never fit. That allied to the fact that we haven't in three years of Rafa trying various different options managed to find anybody who is anywhere near as good has meant that he has stayed. In actual fact, the second part of the equation may even mean we offer him another contract once this one runs out.

I wouldn't personally be an advocate of changing the points allocation, however I do like Owzats idea of simply counting goals scored. I suppose there muight though be a danger that if you're 3-0 down, you just bring all the defenders off and go for it. Getting beat 10-3 wouldn't be too bad a result.

Arbeloa for me is the better player as of this season. I think Finnan is some way short of his very best at the moment, and further think that his lack of form has been a much more significant factor in our bad run than most would imagine.

Rafa needs an assistant obviously but it isn't going to be easy to find one. All ex-players would be pretty much ruled out I would have thought as almost all of them would advise Rafa to cut down on the rotation within ten minutes of taking the job. Similarly, anybody who has been brought up on the football over here would probably say the same thing, as nobody has ever rotated to the same extent that Rafa does and had any success in the League yet. Given that the assistant will probably have to be foreign, and/or a devotee of Rafa's methods. There's probably one or two people off here who could do it

but other than that I've got no idea who else. I suppose one of the blokes who was around when he had his success at Valencia would be supportive and helpful.

If England don't qualify I won't be supporting anyone else, and even if they do I won't be breaking my neck to get up in the middle of the night to watch any team managed by that clueless tw@t.

by **Scottbot** » Sat Nov 10, 2007 9:53 pm

1. Harry Kewells's injury record and the fact he's still at Anfield. Would the club have been so kind to any other player or would they have got rid?

Have to agree with Bamaga and Mick on this one. Kewell's wages and injury record make him difficult to shift and when he is fit he is comfortably our best option on the left hand-side. We're no closer to finding his replacement, Leto is POOR (i'd rather have Guthrie back) and Babel is simply biding his time at winger for now. Was surprised to see Harry left out of the squad today, it didn't make much sense to me and i'm positive we'd all be lamented that fact had we failed to win the game.

2. 1 point for a goalless draw. 2 points for a score draw. 3 for a win. Would this benefit football?

Don't think so, i'd prefer not to see any whole-sale changes meself plus there would be so much debate on whether it was the right thing to do it would get pretty boring i reckon.

3. Alvaro Arbeloa or Steve Finnan - who should be the first choice right back and, more importantly, why?

I prefer Finnan BUT he's not been on his game so Arbeloa deserves to play right now.

4. Will Rafa not appointing a new number two ultimately prove detrimental in the long run?

I imagine he's looking around for new Number One but it wouldn't surprise me if he goes it alone until the summer. I think this one has been blown out of all proportion to be honest and you can bet the likes of Alex Miller, Gary Gillespie and the rest of the coahing staff have stepped it up in Pako's absence. I know the club offered Gary Mac a position last season but he was unable to accept due to his personal circumstances. I'd be delighted if he was offered the position. He's very popular with the fans, was/is looked up to by Carra and Gerrard and obviously Rafa rates him.

5. If your country fails to qualify for Euro 2008, will you be supporting another nation? If so, who?

Liverpool is my first love but if we fail to qualify i'll be gutted, i got a ticket for the Croatia game at Wembley and it looks like its going to be a dead rubber of a match, not even sure i wanna go to be honest. Qualifiers don't get me excited, they just get in the way of Liverpool's season but i love the tournaments when they come around. A big tournament without England, i'll just be hoping the thing hurries up and passes quickly. I'll get behind Spain but it won't be the same.

by **The Manhattan Project** » Sat Nov 10, 2007 11:31 pm

1- Quite frankly I'm surprised he is still at LFC. He's been a huge disappointment.

2- Yes it would.

3. Both are good players, but Stevie Finnan is an unsung hero who has always delivered the goods.

4- I think player attitude being negative is more detrimental.

5- I will support Spain.

by **Owzat** » Wed Nov 14, 2007 2:46 pm

Chairman walks casually over to one of my colleagues and gives her two tickets to the Croatia game! I said he should have raffled them off, he wanted to give them to someone who wanted to go - I'm guessing only touts and fans would by a raffle ticket for such a prize!

Liverpool FC Forum

The friday five - It's back

Who is online