Enough is enough. i just can not take any more mediocrity. That last defeat to Barnsley was embarrassing. Credit to Barnsley as they were amazing but the squad is simply under performing and Rafa only seems to be able to motivate them for the European games. I’ve come to accept that Liverpool will never win the Premiership with Rafael Benitez in charge. He does not understand the complexities of the Premiership and his rotation of players means that the team can not settle and achieve any level of consistency.

Here we are again, the leaders out of sight again and only 4th place to play for domestically. And right now I’m really worried about that small club Neverton… they could pip us to 4th place again – that would be even more embarrassing than the Barnsley defeat! It breaks my heart to say this but Rafa simply has to go at the end of the season.

Those American clowns have pissed me off too! Yes they delivered us Torres (thank god) but their conduct has made Newcasle look like a well run club. They do not understand ‘the Liverpool way’ and what the club means to its fans. Shanks will be turning in his grave. They are quite welcome to leave too. I hope Hicks seriously considers any offers by the Dubai group. A new manager and new owners are what is needed to restore Liverpool back to their rightful place at the top of the premiership.

Does anybody else agree?

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

These two marvelous midfield Maestros would waltz their way into any team in Europe, but are both inconsistent on the international scene.

Following on from Ed Harrison’s argument that these two superstars of the premiership should not be guaranteed a starting place in the England line up, which one of these players would YOU pick should McClaren leave one out to give the team more balance?

For the basis of my argument, I will settle the matter comparing attributes which all midfielders need in their arsenal, rather like a game of TOP TRUMPS. I have given them a rating out of 10 for each attribute. Here it goes…( I know that many of you will disagree!)

GERRARD LAMPARD

Skill 8 8

Passing 9 9

Leadership 10 8

Shooting 8 10

Tackling 9 7

Defending 8 7

Speed 9 8

As You can see, Gerrard just shades it scoring 61/70 with Lampard achieving 57/70.

In a game of Top trumps, Gerrard would only be ‘Gazumped’ by Lampard in his shooting ability. Off topic slightly, how many other midfielders in Europe would score as consistently high across the board as Gerrard? Sure, there are those who are more sublime in the pass, stronger in the tackle, faster and better at shooting. But he has no weak aspect to his game. He can play central midfield (as a holding or attacking player), in the whole just behind the srikers, as a right winger and also as a makeshift right back or centre half.

Therefore (in my slightly biased opinion!), I rate him as the most complete midfield player in Europe…with Fatty Lumplard a close second. In fact why should McClaren leave one out? He should give them both a kick up the arse and demand that they get their act together. It would be such a waste otherwise.

Does anybody agree?

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

After Liverpool’s amazing victory over AC Milan in the 2005 champions league final, may disgruntled fans of Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal accused Liverpool of being lucky and undeserving winners.

After all, how could England’s 4th best team achieve such a mean feat? Manchester United could only do it once despite their decade of dominance. Chelsea’s billions and Arsenal’s pretty football haven’t been good enough either.

It must be luck, right?

I saw an interesting and compelling argument on the rivals.net web site. It went something like this….

Post #1:

Luck? Barcelona?

Post #2:

Just like all the luck we had last time eh!!

The year is 2007 and 6 year old Mong fan Chalks is talking to his Dad.

SON “Dad, my mates in school told me that Liverpool won the European Cup for the 5th time in 2005 – are they right dad?”

DAD “Yes son, it’s true, but they were dead lucky son, all the way through the tournament”

SON “Why dad?”

DAD “Well in the group stages …”

SON “What dad, did they have a team from Azerbaijan, Israel, and Ireland in their group?”

DAD “Well no, they had Monaco, Deportivo la Coruna, and Olympiakos”

SON “Well they still sound like 3 easy teams to me dad”

DAD “Actually Monaco reached the final the year before, Olympiakos had won their league 7 times out of the previous 8 seasons, and Deportivo finished above the galacticos of Real Madrid in their league”.

SON “Jeez dad, that sounds like quite a difficult group then”.

DAD “yeh I suppose your right son, but they were still lucky – it took a mishit shot by Gerrard against Olympiakos to get through”.

SON “oh is that the goal were your hero Andy Gray goes berserk shouting “you beauty, you beauty, what a hit son, what a hit!!!!”

DAD “yes son it is”

SON “oh ok. Well what happened in the last 16 dad, who did they draw?”

DAD “Bayer Leverkusen”

SON “Bayer who?”

DAD “Exactly son, but they had beaten Real Madrid 3-0 at home, and won their group that included Dinamo Kiev and Roma too.”

SON “Bloody hell dad, they sound good”.

DAD “Yes, I suppose you’re right son”

SON “So did they win on away goals or something”

DAD “errrrr, no, they won both legs 3-1 each”

SON “Oh – well, who next then dad”

DAD “Juventus”

SON “How the f#*k did they get past them Dad?”

DAD “Well they did – they won 2-1 at home, and cruised to a 0-0 away draw without Juve having hardly any chances”.

SON “Were Juve s*#t at that time – had all their decent players gone or something?”

DAD “Well actually they still had players like Del Piero, Nedved, Ibrahimovic, Thuram, and Buffon in the side. And they won Serie A a few weeks later.”

SON “wow, they beat the Italian champions elect – which p**s easy team did they get in the semi then?”

DAD “Chelsea”

SON “Chelsea – for f#*ks sake – what a p!*s easy draw – they’ve won nothing, Everton have won more than them”.

DAD “Well that season they won the Premiership and League Cup but the Red s**te didn’t let them score in 186 minutes of football”

SON “Jesus Christ – so Liverpool beat the English Champions elect too”

DAD “Yes son, they bloody well did”.

SON “So after all that I suppose all the good teams had been knocked out”

DAD “Not quite son, AC Milan awaited them in the final”

SON “No way – aren’t they the 2nd most successful team in the competition’s history”.

DAD “Yes son they are”

SON “So were Liverpool lucky because Milan had all their good players out with injuries”

DAD “No – they had Shevchenko, Crespo, Maldini, Nesta, Cafu, Kaka, Stam, Dida, Gattuso, Pirlo, and Seedorf”.

SON “Your ‘avin a laff”

DAD “It gets worse son, Milan were cruising, 3-0 up at half-time”.

SON “What happened, did they have 3 men sent off in the second half – how did Liverpool get back into the game?”

DAD “No, Milan had no men sent off, the Red sh**e scored 3 goals in 6 minutes”

SON “Against the best defence in Europe”

DAD “Yes!!!, against the best defence in Europe”

SON “So what happened next – extra time?”

DAD “Yes son, and Dudek made the luckiest save ever to stop a Shevchenko shot from a yard”

SON “Why was it lucky dad – did it hit him on the arse, nose, shoulder or something”

DAD “No son, his hand”

SON “Well aren’t goalies meant to save shots with their hands”

DAD “Yeah, but that’s besides the point”

SON “Then what”

DAD “Penalties!”

SON “English teams are crap at penalties”

DAD “Not this f#*kin time they weren’t – they only missed one. And that’s how Liverpool became the luckiest team to win the European Cup”.

SON “But I bet when they brought the cup home there was hardly anyone to watch as all Liverpool fans live anywhere but Liverpool you say. How many was there, 5,000 or so?”

DAD “1 million people lined the streets”.

SON “So let’s get this straight dad – Liverpool had 3 good teams in their group, they then knocked out a team who had beaten Real Madrid 3-0, they then knocked out the future Serie A champions, then knocked out the future Premiership champions, before coming back from 3-0 down to beat the 2nd most successful club in Europe. And then the whole population of Liverpool came out to welcome them home!!!!”

DAD “That about sums it up son”

SON “Dad?”

DAD “Yes son”

SON “Can I have a Liverpool shirt for my birthday next week, and can you stop calling me Chalks – I’m Stevie from now on”

Do you still think that they were lucky?

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

Football provides us with players we hero worship and love. It also creates villains and players we loathe and detest. Here are my top 5 most hated, reviled players, past and present (you are welcome to add yours to the list in the comments below):

1) Gary Neville

He is public enemy number 1 in Liverpool. He particularly endeared himself to Liverpool fans by wildly gesticulating and baiting them after victory. He regularly stirs up the hatred and ill feeling between the two sets of fans by making derogatory statements about the city and the people of Liverpool in the media. He dreams of scoring a last minute winner at Anfield. Scousers dream of punching him. I dream of a weeping Gary Neville lying on the Athens turf as Stevie G lifts that famous trophy. Again.

2) Craig Bellamy

I support Liverpool but just can not stand him. He moans and whinges through 90 minutes of football, contesting every decision with referees, even when he is clearly in the wrong. He is not a team player. He is a non-conformist, full of his own self importance and a complete nutter, as Graeme Souness and John Arne Riise will testify. If he wants to attack defenders with a small club he should sign for Everton!. Also why does he have no neck?!

3) Eric Cantona

An absolute nutter – a sandwich short of a picnic. But what a player! If the truth be told, i really hate him because he came back from that infamous kung fu kick ban to lead Manchester United to the treble and broke my heart in the Fa Cup final. It was one of my lowest moments as a Liverpool fan. what particularly annoyed me was his arrogance and cockiness on the pitch – the way he would strut around with his chest puffed out and his collar upturned, but with the ball at his feet he was poetry in motion. But his poetry was crap- what was all that nonsense about seagulls?? A true football genius though.

4) Robbie Savage

Another player from the same mold as Bellamy, who thinks that he is better than he actually is. A player opposition fans truly hate and love to bait. He is not a football player, but a spoiler. He will hassle, harry and hack at your ankles for a whole 90 minutes. He must be a nightmare to play against. I hope somebody smacks him one of these days!

5) Clinton Morrison

He famously boasted that he could have finished 5 of the chances Owen missed in cup match against Crystal Palace. This cocky lad loved and enjoyed every minute of the ensuing media publicity and headlines. He embarrassed himself in the return leg by being the worst player on the pitch and executed his famous air shot in front of a howling , baying Kop. That incident is part of Anfield folklore now. In fact i dont loathe him, i feel pity because he made a complete twat of himself!

Would anybody care to agree/disagree and add some players who get your own blood boiling?

From Soccerlens.com - Football News