The Liverpool discussion thread 2006/2007

They're not a bitter, twisted bunch of tossers from Wrexham and they're definitely not moving out of Liverpool to Kirby. There's just no way.

Liverpool midfielder Javier Mascherano insists there are no hard feelings with former club West Ham and hopes to be at new coach Rafael Benitez's disposal as soon as possible.

The former Corinthians player told Argentinian newspaper Clarin that he is still mystified by his lack of first-team opportunities at Upton Park, under both Alan Pardew and Alan Curbishley.

"I had no arguments with anybody, no disputes. I don't know what had happened or what things I did wrong there," said the 22-year-old.

"I have no rancour. Fans and people in general treated me very well. It is obvious that I was not a player for that club.

"West Ham can live without me and I can live without West Ham."

Mascherano is awaiting clearance from the Premier League before he can turn out for the Reds, despite FIFA having already granted dispensation for the Argentina international permission to make the move even though he has already played for two clubs since July 1 last year.

And Mascherano admitted he is desperate to put an end to the affair and get back to doing what he loves most - playing football.

"I wish to repay Liverpool's efforts to sign me on the field," he said.

"I want to gain the respect of the Liverpool players in training and win a place in the team on merit.

"Now, a new door is open and, as always, I will get my head down and fight for a place in the team. If I don't play, I am not happy."

The 22-year-old also insisted his time with the Hammers had not dimmed his view of English football.

He said: "I wanted to prove to myself that I can play here in England."

"I've not been a on the pitch enough yet to know if I can. Now, there is a chance to play in a top team and fight for a place in the team with great players like Steven Gerrard or Xabi Alonso.

"It's a fanstatic challenge."

How come Mascha hasn't been added to our squad list on the official site? he is our player, he just needs clearance to play

premiership are waiting til thursday to make a descision i think. Fucking ridiculous.


CotR - Did you watch Dunfermline beat Hearts yesterday? Apparently our boy Hammil tore them to shit. They had to take off the fullback half way through because he was getting destroyed. A load of Dunfermline fans on some of their forums reckon it was the best performance they've seen for like 20+ years.

Sounds promising. All I remember about him is endless step-overs and I think he scored from the half way line against someone too - Southampton maybe?

THURSDAY!?????

FFS

@ obi.. don't live in edinburgh anymore so I don't have the pleasure of being subjected to scottish football.

hammill will no doubt thrive in that league. he's an inferior aiden mc'geady type player. he would surely have been closer to the first team by now if he had a chance of stepping up. but you just never know. he has the skill so maybe he can add the rest.

10 starts
8 sub appearances
7 goals
3 assists


Which one of our world class strikers is that?

... The one out on loan with a promoted Spanish team

Obispo wrote:10 starts
8 sub appearances
7 goals
3 assists


Which one of our world class strikers is that?

... The one out on loan with a promoted Spanish team

Pongo back in the summer hopefully, we would then only need to improve our wingers

Moyes blasts critical Benitez
David Moyes has voiced his disapproval at Rafael Benitez for calling Everton a 'small club' after their Merseyside derby draw.


The two sides drew 0-0 at Anfield on Saturday and Benitez was quoted as referring to his fierce rivals as a less significant club - three times in one onterview!


And Moyes has slammed his counterpart for failing to show any respect or 'humility'.


"I'd be disappointed if Rafa had called Everton a small club," he told The Sun.


"I think if he were managing Everton, he would have tried to do a similar job here.


"It would be nice for these managers to show a bit of humility. I would never criticise the opposition. It's not the right way to do things."


Furthermore, the Toffees boss taunted Benitez by emphasising that his side have taken four points from their last two meetings, despite investing less significantly in the transfer market.


"We came here and matched a football club that has spent an awful lot of money in building their side. We also did it four months ago at Goodison Park.


"There's a difference of about £100million in spending between the two clubs and we have not done badly against them."


And the fiery Scot insists Everton are in fact one of the more established clubs in the Premiership.


"Everton are not a small team. Everton are one of the big clubs in England.


"We are, at this time, smaller than Liverpool, but we are a competitive football club, a determined football club, and we are trying to achieve as much as we can."


Benitez, however, has tried to justify his comments by claiming that they were based on the fact that Everton are not considered part of the 'Big Four'.


"It's easy for me to explain what I've said," he declared.


"We are in a position where we are trying to compete with Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal, while for other teams and managers that's more difficult.


"The top four are considered the biggest clubs in the Premiership, and even managers from other teams accept it's different for them when they play against the bigger teams.


"That's what I was saying."

Pongo back in the summer if we can't sign someone like Villa, definitely. Besides, the dutchies on here insist that Kuyt will be in a position to fire us to the title next season, we'll give them the benefit of the doubt

I really dont like Moyes, he always has snidy comments to make about Liverpool, without trying to show intent, going on about money for instance, get over it Moyes, we might as well take Chelsea's last two titles away then

gotta laugh at the fuss everton are causing over this.

Moyes probably even cracked open the champagne again after the draw just like when they won the trophy for fourth place in the league.

WE DO NOT GIVE A FUCK EVERTON

Obispo wrote:Besides, the dutchies on here insist that Kuyt will be in a position to fire us to the title next season, we'll give them the benefit of the doubt

Not all of them ..

My bluenose mates tried to give me a bit of stick, i simply told them to look at the league table

Hendrik Krol wrote:

Obispo wrote:Besides, the dutchies on here insist that Kuyt will be in a position to fire us to the title next season, we'll give them the benefit of the doubt

Not all of them ..

you're a manc though, dirty dirty manc

Hendrik Krol wrote:

Obispo wrote:Besides, the dutchies on here insist that Kuyt will be in a position to fire us to the title next season, we'll give them the benefit of the doubt

Not all of them ..

Ajax fans aren't dutchies. You're israelites in disguise

Luis wrote:My bluenose mates tried to give me a bit of stick, i simply told them to look at the league table

Thanks, I'll use that in the future.

Parks lives wrote:

Luis wrote:My bluenose mates tried to give me a bit of stick, i simply told them to look at the league table

Thanks, I'll use that in the future.

I also told them to look at how many times we've won the European cup

Luis wrote:

Parks lives wrote:

Luis wrote:My bluenose mates tried to give me a bit of stick, i simply told them to look at the league table

Thanks, I'll use that in the future.

I also told them to look at how many times we've won the European cup

we've won it two times.


I just cannot get over this song. it's hilariously pathetic. nice of the mancs to belittle themselves so much though

such a witty song, i always knew Mancs had a high level of intellect..

Luis wrote:I really dont like Moyes, he always has snidy comments to make about Liverpool, without trying to show intent, going on about money for instance, get over it Moyes, we might as well take Chelsea's last two titles away then

Hahaha Everton are pathetic.

Moyes comes out every year with this "Peoples club" bollocks and then cries because something Rafa said was misinterprited. Funny thing is when Fergie, Big Sam, Mourinho or countless others come out with similar jibes, they're 'charismatic'.

Evertiny proved - whilst they have a big history - they're a small time club by repsonding on their official website within minutes.


Can I tell you the story of a poor team
Who were sent far away from their home
To live in the styx out near Knowsley
Where only the cattle do roam

They were banished to a lower division
Had no hope of seeing far foreign lands
And the fans swarmed around in their hundreds
with Tesco plastic bags in their hands

Oh a battle it started next morning
Over at aisle number 1
Oh those poor Evertonian Bastards
Were scrapping over the last currant bun

As they lay on the aisles of the Tesco, Tesco, Tesco,
Knocking over the cakes and the bread
and the bread!
As they lay on the aisles of the Tesco
These were the last words they said

Oh we are the Evertonians
And our ground is made of wood
We're horrible bitter Blueshite Bastards
And we've never been that good

We support a team that's dressed in blue
It's a team that no-one knows
It's a team that’s sponsored by Tesco cause that's where we buy our clothes….

1, 2… 1, 2, 3…. 1, 2, 3, 4……Pound off!

Obispo wrote:Did you watch Dunfermline beat Hearts yesterday? Apparently our boy Hammil tore them to shit. They had to take off the fullback half way through because he was getting destroyed. A load of Dunfermline fans on some of their forums reckon it was the best performance they've seen for like 20+ years.

Sounds promising. All I remember about him is endless step-overs and I think he scored from the half way line against someone too - Southampton maybe?

I have a friend / ex friend who moved back to Scotland last year - He's a Dunfermline fan, and he described Hammil as 'fucking amazing.' Not the in depth performance review I had been looking for, but sounds good none the less.

I'll find out more if he ever appears on MSN.

Cuddly Tiger wrote:

Obispo wrote:Did you watch Dunfermline beat Hearts yesterday? Apparently our boy Hammil tore them to shit. They had to take off the fullback half way through because he was getting destroyed. A load of Dunfermline fans on some of their forums reckon it was the best performance they've seen for like 20+ years.

Sounds promising. All I remember about him is endless step-overs and I think he scored from the half way line against someone too - Southampton maybe?

I have a friend / ex friend who moved back to Scotland last year - He's a Dunfermline fan, and he described Hammil as 'fucking amazing.' Not the in depth performance review I had been looking for, but sounds good none the less.

I'll find out more if he ever appears on MSN.

http://forum.dafc.net/read.php?f=1&i=526611&t=526611

erm...whats with the name tiger?

Luis wrote:such a witty song, i always knew Mancs had a high level of intellect..

More often now, its the Ronaldo version that is sang .. but it can be thrown in.

Obispo wrote:

Hendrik Krol wrote:

Obispo wrote:Besides, the dutchies on here insist that Kuyt will be in a position to fire us to the title next season, we'll give them the benefit of the doubt

Not all of them ..

Ajax fans aren't dutchies. You're israelites in disguise

You cant mess with Israel

Rafa Benitez has caused something of a stir this weekend by calling Everton a 'small team'.

So why all the fuss? Benitez is only stating what everyone in football, (minus deluded Everton supporters) already knows to be the truth.

Everton have long lived in the shadow of their more illustrious rivals, bar for their golden era of the 1980s under Howard Kendall when they had, admittedly, as good a club side this country has seen in modern times.

Even then though, their League championship triumphs in 1985 and 1987 and their European Cup Winners Cup triumph in 1985 were probably overshadowed by Liverpool's Double in 1986.

But Kevin Ratcliffe, Neville Southall and Co are now long forgotten and David Moyes' current class of 2007 are just not in the same league as either their predecessors or Rafa's Reds.

True, Tim Cahill and Mikel Arteta are a touch of class on their day and it surely won't be too long before some of Europe's big guns come calling for these two supremely-talented midfielders.

And if there is a more suited player in the English game to assume Paul Scholes' eventual mantle at Manchester United than Cahill, then I have yet to see him...

But let's not wander too far away from the fact of the matter here: Everton are the second-best team in Liverpool so therefore as a 'small-minded' (if not a 'small') club, would regard a point at Anfield as a great result. That, coupled together with a 3-0 victory over the Reds back in September, probably means that for Everton supporters, the 2006/07 campaign will be regarded as a successful season.

Everton fans might count Benitez's comments as that of a bitter manager, frustrated by his side's inability to crack a defence expertly marshalled by Alan Stubbs, Joseph Yobo and the ever-improving Joleon Lescott.

And whilst there is an element of truth in that assessment, you can't help but admiring Benitez's honesty in stating what all football fans were thinking. No-one wants to watch a side sticking 10 men behind the ball and showing no ambition to gain anything more than a dreary point. Everton went to Anfield with 'small ideas', 'small-minded tactics' that befit everything associated with a 'small team' with a 'small mentality'.

So was Benitez wrong to say what he did? No, because it was the truth. The fact that he touched a nerve in every bitter Everton supporter nationwide is not his fault.

I mean, it must be hard being an Evertonian. No-one wants to watch their most bitter rivals collect trophy after trophy over the years and even rain on their parade when they were in fact themselves quite good.

As a supporter of a team who have fallen on far harder times than the likes of Everton, I'm easy ammunition for any bitter Toffees. And I admit, if my team went to Anfield, we'd be lucky to get away with a 5-0 stuffing. And if we collected a point, then I suppose I too would be celebrating. But that's the point that Everton are missing. It was a great point for them because for a 'small team' living on past glories (and recent qualification for the preliminary stages of the Champions League does not count!) a draw at Anfield is to be savoured.

Rafa's frustration was that when Chelsea came to Anfield recently, they didn't come looking for a point. They came looking for three. Big team equals big mentality. As a result, Liverpool were able to play their natural game and collect a victory that was possible because they weren't facing 11 men with the sole intention of suffocating the life out of what should have been a decent game.

Therefore, who can say Rafa was wrong? Small team, small expectations, big point.

- And if there is a more suited player in the English game to assume Paul Scholes' eventual mantle at Manchester United than Cahill, then I have yet to see him...



No point in reading the rest if the writer has them kind of opinions.

Rafa's comment was true and the overreaction has proved it.

Nonetheless we should be expecting teams to come to Anfield and park the bus, and we should have a way to deal with it. No-one can argue that Benitez's formation wasn't attacking enough. But the bottom line is that on the day we didn't have the quality or the luck to break them down.

Might have been a different story if Luis wasn't injured

Parks lives wrote:- And if there is a more suited player in the English game to assume Paul Scholes' eventual mantle at Manchester United than Cahill, then I have yet to see him...



No point in reading the rest if the writer has them kind of opinions.

Aye I did gloss over that bit. But then again, I don't really care on what his opinions are with regards to strengthening the mancs.