Liverpool FC Forum

by **GRAHAM01** » Tue Apr 07, 2009 11:29 am

Ciggy wrote:
bavlondon wrote:Well that was fecking nice!!! Title run in thread ruined!

Make a new one Bav

there you go fanning the flames again ciggy :wwww

by **heimdall** » Tue Apr 07, 2009 11:34 am

Ciggy wrote:
bavlondon wrote:Well that was fecking nice!!! Title run in thread ruined!

Make a new one Bav

It's already back up and I've posted a sensible post in it. shock horror

by **Owzat** » Tue Apr 07, 2009 12:10 pm

So who was squabbling/bickering and about what? The usual negativity, "one point behind and title written off" kind of BS arguments? I thought I'd see a trail of cards to identify the culprits, not that I often notice who has how many

by **tubby** » Tue Apr 07, 2009 12:35 pm

Gerrard fit to face Chelsea
Liverpool skipper comes through training session

Last updated: 7th April 2009

Steven Gerrard will be fit for Liverpool's UEFA Champions League quarter-final meeting with Chelsea at Anfield on Wednesday night.

The Anfield skipper was a slight doubt for the first leg against their Premier League rivals after being substituted late on against Fulham on Saturday with a slight groin problem.

But the England international came through training on Tuesday morning without any problems and is expected to lead Rafa Benitez's men out on Wednesday night.

Gerrard has been the driving force behind Liverpool's recent resurgence and is the joint top-scorer in the Champions League with seven, including two in the thrashing of Real Madrid in the last round.
Mascherano out

Benitez must cope without the suspended Javier Mascherano against the Blues after the Argentina international was booked in the second leg of the Real showdown.

Mascherano's absence means that Xabi Alonso is likely to start alongside Lucas in midfield with Gerrard supporting star striker Fernando Torres.

Alvaro Arbeloa and Andrea Dossena will miss the second leg at Stamford Bridge next week if they are booked in the first leg clash.

It is the fifth consecutive season that Liverpool and Chelsea have met in the Champions League, with the Blues triumphing in last season's epic semi-final.

by **Owzat** » Tue Apr 07, 2009 12:53 pm

Dossena getting booked wouldn't be a travesty, he should not be first choice or probably not even second choice LB. Arbeloa is a worry, RB has proved a problem position with Degen near enough useless given injuries.

I don't feel Mascherano is such a miss, I think we'd need him more at SB when the blues will/should need to push for a win and we need a bit more defensive cover than offensive options. Hopefully they will sit back a bit, settle for 0-0 or 0-1 and we can get to 1-0 up and score a second. Losing wouldn't be the worst thing in the world, leaves us less fixtures during the run-in with a sole goal to aim at - the mancs with three to deal with. Being at home first is only a disadvantage if you don't do the business :

home side wins 1st leg 2-0 and win tie : 12 out of 12 times
home side wins 1st leg 1-0 and win tie : 8 out of 15 times (4 to the away side, 3 penalty shootouts)
home side wins 1st leg 2-1 and win tie : 4 out of 12 times

Draws : 0-0 favours the away side 15-6, 1-1 favours the away side 12-8 while 2-2 favours the away side 5-1. Minimum the home side needs to do to have a good chance is win, preferably to nil, but by 2+ goals leads to the home side winning through 88.46% of the time.

by **tubby** » Tue Apr 07, 2009 12:59 pm

Losing? No we need to try to win both! We are out of the FA Cup so we should be able to cope. I know less games = you can concentrate one a particular thing but there is no reason why we cannot do both.

by **Owzat** » Tue Apr 07, 2009 1:15 pm

bavlondon wrote:Losing? No we need to try to win both! We are out of the FA Cup so we should be able to cope. I know less games = you can concentrate one a particular thing but there is no reason why we cannot do both.

There is a reason - Rafa. We need to win every league game, I can see Rafa writing off the league in favour of the Champions League with the justification of our position in the league (behind, mancs have a game in hand) And we've a potential five more games in Europe and seven in the Premiership, so that is a lot more than the FA Cup (two games) Had we lost to Madrid then we'd have maybe half as many games left as the mancs, less chance of injury, fatigue and suspension and crucially no rotation.

You could argue not to put all your eggs in one basket, but also trying to juggle two things at once when both are pretty big is maybe too much for us. Just the loss of Torres and Gerrard could jeopardise everything, not to mention the demands of playing in Europe midweek and then in the Premiership at weekends, something we've never really mastered. I believe in the saying "learn to walk before you try running", we've never won the league so trying to do that AND win in Europe is going to be trying to run before we've learned to walk.

by **tubby** » Tue Apr 07, 2009 1:20 pm

True. But we could even get knocked out of Europe and then lose Gerrard and/or Torres to injury which would still making winning the league a hell of a lot more difficult. I know what your mean though - If we can give ourselves a better chance to win one of them then we should concentrate that. It could well play out like that. Just have to wait and see.

by **stmichael** » Tue Apr 07, 2009 1:23 pm

Gerrard passed fit:

http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11945_5157435,00.html

by **Dundalk** » Tue Apr 07, 2009 1:29 pm

Ref tomorrow is Claus Bo Larsen from Denmark

He has refereed us 3 times and Chelsea twice, and none of us have won on any occasion.

by **Kukilon** » Tue Apr 07, 2009 1:47 pm

I bet he is Aggers biggest fan and he will cut us som slack.

by **tubby** » Tue Apr 07, 2009 1:48 pm

That Darren Farley is on SSN outside Anfield doing a Gerrard impersonation!!!!!! :laugh:

by **Greavesie** » Tue Apr 07, 2009 2:28 pm

Just heard on SSN that Drogba trained this morn.

Has anyone got the full interview of Torres where he says he wants the CL more than the league?

by **lfcdude** » Tue Apr 07, 2009 2:42 pm

it'll be close, very close.
1-0 at home
0-1 away
extra time
penalties
Gerrard comforts a tearful John Terry as the reds march on!!

by **heimdall** » Tue Apr 07, 2009 3:07 pm

lfcdude wrote:it'll be close, very close.
1-0 at home
0-1 away
extra time
penalties
Gerrard comforts a tearful John Terry as the reds march on!!

Oh sh1t don't tempt fate, I'm not sure my nerves could cope with more penalty shoot outs. I'm going for a 2-1 tomorrow followed by a 1-1 at SB.

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