Liverpool

[GaelForce22]

Re: Liverpool........(well Aston Villa have a thread!)

Benayoun isn't a top class player Alonso. He's alright in patches, and a good player, but he shouldn't be starting in your team if you want to win the League.

I thought that before this season but now I'm not so sure. He has been brilliant for them, showing himself to be a real matchwood even in the big games.

Ibby - Can't see him getting into our side though, nor Chelsea's or United's. That said, he'd be a great squad player at all 3 clubs.

 

[ibby]

Re: Liverpool........(well Aston Villa have a thread!)

Who's wouldn't he get into then? He's a better option than Kalou and Malouda for Chelsea, he's better than Nasri and Walcott for us and is better than Berbatov, Tevez and Giggs for United.

 

[alonso14]

Re: Liverpool........(well Aston Villa have a thread!)

Benayoun isn't a top class player Alonso. He's alright in patches, and a good player, but he shouldn't be starting in your team if you want to win the League.

i disagree

he has been fantastic since Feb for us

I think he is quality against opposotion we struggle to break down at home

 

[GaelForce22]

Re: Liverpool........(well Aston Villa have a thread!)

Who's wouldn't he get into then? He's a better option than Kalou and Malouda for Chelsea, he's better than Nasri and Walcott for us and is better than Berbatov, Tevez and Giggs for United.

Well when everyone's fit he doesn't seem to play for Liverpool/ he gets rotated with Lucas, Babel and Riera. And I don't believe he's better than any of the above players except for Giggs and Kalou and both of those have lost their places this season.

 

[ibby]

Re: Liverpool........(well Aston Villa have a thread!)

Who's wouldn't he get into then? He's a better option than Kalou and Malouda for Chelsea, he's better than Nasri and Walcott for us and is better than Berbatov, Tevez and Giggs for United.

Well when everyone's fit he doesn't seem to play for Liverpool. And I don't believe he's better than any of the above players except for Giggs and Kalou and both of those have lost their places this season.

He's definitely better than Nasri, Walcott, Tevez and Berbatov. Malouda is debatable because of the way they play.

He doesn't get into Liverpool's because they have a guy called Rafa in charge.

 

[alonso14]

Re: Liverpool........(well Aston Villa have a thread!)

Who's wouldn't he get into then? He's a better option than Kalou and Malouda for Chelsea, he's better than Nasri and Walcott for us and is better than Berbatov, Tevez and Giggs for United.

Well when everyone's fit he doesn't seem to play for Liverpool/ he gets rotated with Lucas, Babel and Riera. And I don't believe he's better than any of the above players except for Giggs and Kalou and both of those have lost their places this season.

He has played more than all of those in the run in

there are games when Riera will play over him, but there are games when Benayoun is massive for us

and I maintain, if he had been in this form in October / November we would be champions as we would have beaten those sides we drew with at home...he adds an extra dimension

is he better than a Nasri or whoever, dont know and tbh it doesnt matter...its what he does for us

Benayoun played 32 games for us in the league...Riera played 25, Lucas 23 (most as sub)

he also scored 8 league goals to Riera's 4

 

[alonso14]

Re: Liverpool........(well Aston Villa have a thread!)

Who's wouldn't he get into then? He's a better option than Kalou and Malouda for Chelsea, he's better than Nasri and Walcott for us and is better than Berbatov, Tevez and Giggs for United.

Well when everyone's fit he doesn't seem to play for Liverpool. And I don't believe he's better than any of the above players except for Giggs and Kalou and both of those have lost their places this season.

He's definitely better than Nasri, Walcott, Tevez and Berbatov. Malouda is debatable because of the way they play.

He doesn't get into Liverpool's because they have a guy called Rafa in charge.

32 league games

 

[Pepe LeFrits]

Re: Liverpool........(well Aston Villa have a thread!)

fair point, but we are not going to blow a large part of our money on cover for Benayoun

I don't think he's done enough to deserve to be gauranteed a first team spot. At any rate, if Babel is leaving then another attacking player will be needed unless a youth player is ready to step up. If Liverpool are to win the league next season they'll likely need to convert more of those draws into wins and if you're not making additions it's going to be asking a lot for your current key attacking players to stay fit and on form for a longer period than they did last season.

 

[GaelForce22]

Re: Liverpool........(well Aston Villa have a thread!)

Alonso - If you're start looking for all the ifs and buts of how you could have won the title you'll go crazy. It's over mate.

is he better than a Nasri or whoever, dont know and tbh it doesnt matter...its what he does for us

This. There are similar (and in my opinion better) players to Benayoun at Arsenal, United and Chelsea but Liverpool don't really have anyone like him which makes what he does so vital to them.

 

[ibby]

Re: Liverpool........(well Aston Villa have a thread!)

Alonso - If you're start looking for all the ifs and buts of how you could have won the title you'll go crazy. It's over mate.

Tbf, how many times do you hear Arsenal fans say that if the ref didn't give a pen to Birmingham last season we would have won the league? Or if we won at Old Trafford? Or if we recieved a pen against Liverpool in the Champions League?

 

[alonso14]

Re: Liverpool........(well Aston Villa have a thread!)

Alonso - If you're start looking for all the ifs and buts of how you could have won the title you'll go crazy. It's over mate.

is he better than a Nasri or whoever, dont know and tbh it doesnt matter...its what he does for us

This. There are similar (and in my opinion better) players to Benayoun at Arsenal, United and Chelsea but Liverpool don't really have anyone like him which makes what he does so vital to them.

yes, but we need to look at what cost us and for me it was down to three things

1. The home draws v WHU, Fulham, Stoke, Hull, Everton......we win 2 of those and we win the league.

2. Gerrard / Torres not starting together for 2/3rds of the season

3. United winning 70 points out of 72 v bottom half teams

we cant do anything about No.3 but if we have the goals that Torres / Gerrard brings us...and we beat those sides at home

small margins and ones that need addressing if we are to win it

 

[GaelForce22]

Re: Liverpool........(well Aston Villa have a thread!)

Alonso - If you're start looking for all the ifs and buts of how you could have won the title you'll go crazy. It's over mate.

Tbf, how many times do you hear Arsenal fans say that if the ref didn't give a pen to Birmingham last season we would have won the league? Or if we won at Old Trafford? Or if we recieved a pen against Liverpool in the Champions League?

All the time. And I'm one of them.

 

[ricky1985]

Re: Liverpool........(well Aston Villa have a thread!)

Gerrard's form was indifferent for the early part of the season, and Torres was outright poor when he was trying regain his form and fitness earlier in the season.

That's just the way it is, they were both excellent for the last 3 months of the season. Form comes and goes. The difference is United, being the big bad money machine that they are, have a squad to compensate for lack of form and injuries. It's a good enough squad so they can beat 10-15 of the teams in the Premier league no matter the team they put out, and they did. We all just have to accept it and improve our squads. Problem is we don't have their kind of money.

 

[alonso14]

Re: Liverpool........(well Aston Villa have a thread!)

Gerrard's form was indifferent for the early part of the season, and Torres was outright poor when he was trying regain his form and fitness earlier in the season.

That's just the way it is, they were both excellent for the last 3 months of the season. Form comes and goes. The difference is United, being the big bad money machine that they are, have a squad to compensate for lack of form and injuries. It's a good enough squad so they can beat 10-15 of the teams in the Premier league no matter the team they put out, and they did. We all just have to accept it and improve our squads. Problem is we don't have their kind of money.

its **** all to do with form....its to do with fitness

they started 17 league games through injury to one or the other

you are not telling me that if they had started 30 out of 38 we wouldnt have more points?

 

[Wenger14]

Re: Liverpool........(well Aston Villa have a thread!)

Who's wouldn't he get into then? He's a better option than Kalou and Malouda for Chelsea, he's better than Nasri and Walcott for us and is better than Berbatov, Tevez and Giggs for United.

Except he isn't better than Ronaldo and Rooney, Anelka and Joe Cole, Arshavin and Rosicky/Nasri: United, Chelsea and Arsenal's starting wide players when fit. Would be a fantastic squad player in all the top 4 sides though.]

Liverpool need a left sided forward. Kuyt, Gerrard, Torres have been top quality, one more of their standard and they'll be set. Riera, Benyaoun are brilliant squad options to have, add one more (striker? Dzeko?) and along with N'Gog and El Zhar there should be enough depth.

 

[alonso14]

Re: Liverpool........(well Aston Villa have a thread!)

Sorry just researched it properly

Torres / Gerrard started 15 games together in the league

thats 23 where they didnt

 

[ibby]

Re: Liverpool........(well Aston Villa have a thread!)

Except he isn't better than Ronaldo and Rooney, Anelka and Joe Cole, Arshavin and Rosicky/Nasri: United, Chelsea and Arsenal's starting wide players when fit. Would be a fantastic squad player in all the top 4 sides though.

Liverpool need a left sided forward. Kuyt, Gerrard, Torres have been top quality, one more of their standard and they'll be set. Riera, Benyaoun are brilliant squad options to have, add one more (striker? Dzeko?) and along with N'Gog and El Zhar there should be enough depth.

I agree he isn't better than Ronaldo and Rooney however there is one or even two attacking slots available and if they had Yossi he would most likely use one of them up.

Chelsea you have a point.

At Arsenal I think he's better than Nasri, maybe not Rosicky but he hasn't started a league game for over a year.

 

[ricky1985]

Re: Liverpool........(well Aston Villa have a thread!)

Gerrard's form was indifferent for the early part of the season, and Torres was outright poor when he was trying regain his form and fitness earlier in the season.

That's just the way it is, they were both excellent for the last 3 months of the season. Form comes and goes. The difference is United, being the big bad money machine that they are, have a squad to compensate for lack of form and injuries. It's a good enough squad so they can beat 10-15 of the teams in the Premier league no matter the team they put out, and they did. We all just have to accept it and improve our squads. Problem is we don't have their kind of money.

its f**k all to do with form....its to do with fitness

they started 17 league games through injury to one or the other

you are not telling me that if they had started 30 out of 38 we wouldnt have more points?

To be honest I am referring more to the huge disparity between the squads. Man United's is so big, and cost so much, that they can absorb lack of form and lack of fitness. Liverpool's can't, Arsenal's can't. It's just the way it is. They have more money than we do and they spend a lot more of it, and have done for a bloody long time.

Of course you would have won more games had they played more together, but players do experience dips in form. They wouldn't have played like they did for the last 3 months, all season long. Gerrard has always been an inconsistent player. Maybe if they had played all of the games together in the first half of the season, they would have been tired and dipped in the second half, who knows? It's just how form works, no one is brilliant for the whole season. That's not my point anyway, they are both brilliant players and you're always more likely to win with them than without them.

 

[A_Gooner_Matata]

Re: Liverpool........(well Aston Villa have a thread!)

Sorry just researched it properly

Torres / Gerrard started 15 games together in the league

thats 23 where they didnt

If I hear this one more time...Every team that has ever come second in a league competition can point to a few key injuries at key times during the season. It's just the way it goes...

 

[lagos]

Re: Liverpool........(well Aston Villa have a thread!)

I had been telling a fried of mine who supports Liverpool for years that Benayoun is a very underrated player.