ASSAIN CROUCH ON HIS WAY OUT

[Sir X]

Its a rumour some say has merit, have you heard of a VILLA owned by David who lives in spain?

[Assasin]

RE: ASSAIN CROUCH ON HIS WAY OUT

Well it might be better for Crouch to go where a striker is needed.

How many forward Rafa a go buy inna two years?

From Crouch, Bellamy, Fowler, Kuryt just to name a few.

Villa would do well with Crouch, so too Newcastle.

Rafa rotating his forwards too much and it is affecting their form and confidence.

[Sir X]

RE: ASSAIN CROUCH ON HIS WAY OUT

Rafa is bringing in strikers that are used to a rotating system , Crouch isnt he takes too long to get adjusted , Rafas patience is thin , he saw how Crouch cost us last year.

Notice how Cisse came off a broken leg , switched from wing to wing then forward still in a prolific mode , Rafa respected his quality to loan him out after another broken leg , not sell but LOAN !

Look atKuytand Bellamy he fits in welcome to the new liverpool , the philosophy of playing people to find form has been debunked in the prem ! Funny how we still playing Fuller to find form on the national team...((juss had to put that in))

Look at Schev , Mourinho should have stuck to his plan and blood Kalou instead of having shev forced on him.Chel$ki would be sitting on Top this season.



BTW ISNT DROGBA VERSATILE REMINDS YOU OF A CERTAIN BIG MAN THAT IS JUST DISPENSABLE TO A BIG FOOTBALLING NATION LIKE JAMAICA.

[Assasin]

RE: ASSAIN CROUCH ON HIS WAY OUT

how many goals have Kuryt and Bellamy scored? look at your bias.

He killed Gerrard for half of the season so far by playing him wide.

He used Cisse as a winger instead of a striker.

He killed Fowler game by not using him

He ia good defensive coach but he is certainly killing the game of his forwards

[Sir X]

RE: ASSAIN CROUCH ON HIS WAY OUT

KILLED ? This is the same man that gave us C.L and FA Cup Glory ? and you say killed ?

Rafa is looking for a 20 goal each season striker! Crouch isnt it , players have to be ready to play .Liverpool has a deep striker pool, Fowler and Crouch are expendable in my opinion .I have seen what Kuyt and Bellamy brings to team with Crouch and Fowler they seem a bit slow besides i dont see Crouch and Fowler given 20 goals a season do you?

On Chel$ki vs Fulham , its not Terry that is missing its Ballack , he gives too much room to the opposition. Chel$ki doesnt have the excuse of injuries , Abramavoich paid to fill that gap , the problem is its not showing at the moment.

[Tilla]

RE: ASSAIN CROUCH ON HIS WAY OUT

BTW ISNT DROGBA VERSATILE REMINDS YOU OF A CERTAIN BIG MAN THAT IS JUST DISPENSABLE TO A BIG FOOTBALLING NATION LIKE JAMAICA.

This is like comparing cheese to chalk. Football takes more than just skill and physique. You also need discipline and willingness to do for the team,two thingswhich Drogba has, but things that the certain big man lacked. The comparison of Drogba and Lowe is ridiculous and shows a fan grasping at straws. . .

[Sir X]

RE: ASSAIN CROUCH ON HIS WAY OUT

Discipline he might have lacked but never, ever questions Lowes willingness.This is the part that has him hurt and confused the man needs support.

[Tilla]

RE: ASSAIN CROUCH ON HIS WAY OUT

<SPAN id=_ctl1_ctlTopic_ctlPanelBar_ctlTopicsRepeater__c tl3_lblFullMessage>Discipline he might have lacked but never, ever questions Lowes willingness.</SPAN>

You obviously have a short memory. Have you forgotten the interview with Lowe on the site when he was asked why he walked off the pitch in Mexico? The man basically said they (the team) created a mess and was down 3or 4 love, then Simoes wanted him to go play defense to clean up the mess. He was not prepared to do for the team, so he came off the field.

Here is the excerpt from Lowe's interview on the Mexico fiasco.

OB. Tell us your side of the story on what happened in Mexico in 1998?

OL. Sounds like you want me to raise the dead.

OB. These are questions that people want to have answered as they have only heard one side of the story.

OL. We went to Mexico without a plan and we went there too early. Durrant Brown was training and collapsed because of the altitude. On the day of the match the coach told me I was going to do play defense, I said OK. At match time that was scrapped and Durrant was placed at defense and I was placed at forward. When we were under 3 (3-0), Durrant made a tackle and got injured, so the Technical Director told me to go and play sweeper. I said to him I'm not going to clean up anybody's mess, I'm not going to defend any 3-0. He said either you play sweeper or come off. So I said he's giving me an option, so I chose to come off. They put on Dean Sewell and I came off. If I had walked off like they said, I'd have gotten a card, that's the rule of the game, and I did not get one. When things got out of hand he (Simoes) said that he went and begged the ref. not to give me a red card, in a World Cup Qualifier! He then came to Jamaica and say that he has three words to say 'I am sorry', and everyone forgave him. At the end of the day now they say that I walked off and I'm getting a four year ban. When they had the hearing and I went there they said they had the tape and I walked off the field. I said show me the tape, they didn't. The witnesses that were supposed to come to say that I walked off never turned up. They just said four year ban. I said where is the evidence, show me the tape. They didn't.


Now, tell me if that is a team player or one willing wo do or die for the team? (waitin)

[Karl]

RE: ASSAIN CROUCH ON HIS WAY OUT

Assasin (12/30/2006)Well it might be better for Crouch to go where a striker is needed.

How many forward Rafa a go buy inna two years?

From Crouch, Bellamy, Fowler, Kuryt just to name a few.

Villa would do well with Crouch, so too Newcastle.

Rafa rotating his forwards too much and it is affecting their form and confidence.

I may not be sold on Crouch...but, he needs games. Players of Crouch's sort have to be playing all the time or they quickly fall off form. Rafa has not been fair to him this season.

[Paul Marin]

RE: ASSAIN CROUCH ON HIS WAY OUT

X, I agree that we cannot shout down Rafa for he has delivered the CL and the FA Cup. There is much excitement at Anfield about the D-I-C investment,however, believe me when I tell you that Rafa will be on his way if he is given any portion of money and doesn't deliver the Prem next year. Afterall, that is why we let Houllier go. He was by any measure a very successful coach, but failed to deliver the prem. That will be Rafa's fate as well.

Anyway, note that Assassin made basically 3 points, I agree with him on two of them. I disagree that Rafa has killed Gerrard's game by playing him wide. The fact is that Gerrard has scored more from the wide position than he has from the center of the park, which is where he is playing this year since Sissoko's injury.

However, on the two other points, Assassin contends that Rafa has killed off the game of his strikers and that he is a defensive coach; I agree with him on both counts. For some reason under Rafa, strikers have not performed as well as expected before they get to Anfield, and when they leave Anfield, they seem to do better than when they were with us. The evidence: Morientes and Sinama Pongolle are both in the top 10 in La Liga, Crouch scored 12 goals in 27 games for a weak relegated Southampton side before joining us, Bellamy scored an average of about 14 goals a season in the two seasons before he joined us, Cisse drilled home 62 goals in 100 games for Auxerre, and of course, Fowler's record speaks for itself (yet he has only been given glimpses of play under Rafa). All of these players post/pre Anfield records have been better than their records under Rafa. So I can see whyAssassin says Rafa killed the game of his strikers.

At the same time, Pepe Reina and the backfour have more clean sheets than any other team in the Prem. This speaks to Assassin's point about Rafa being defensive. Our back four are not considered among the best names in the league either, you could argue that Chelsea, Arsenal and Manurenited have a better defensive5 than we do. But on a statistical basis, theLiverpool record is unmatched in the clean sheetregard.

Now, understand that I am a MASSIVE Liverpool fan for over 35 years, longer than many on this board have walked the earth. So believe me when I tell you that it pains me to say this, but Rafa is not the right coach for Liverpool. He is not in the vein of our great past managers, Shankly, Paisley, ****an, Dalglish (in fact, we haven't had a good coach since Dalglish).If the DIC investment comes through, it will be interesting to see who he signs, but he better deliver, otherwise, he'll be gone by the end of the 2007/08 season.Who do we replace him with? My vote for new manager - Big Phil Scolari.

[Sir X]

RE: ASSAIN CROUCH ON HIS WAY OUT

I have to give Rafa the benefit ofmy doubt , simply because he has delivered and the team has been improving.Since his arrival wehave been the only other team in the prem to win titles besides chelsea.To me its a work in progress with the pinnacle being the crowing of the prem title.

I believe that we have strikers to win the title right now, its just that adjustments are needed as per the rotation system .Withvarious league titles to strive for with the PREM C.L and FA CUP on the top of the hit list , strikers must be rotated .Lets face it Bellamny and Kuyt are bonafide starters.Crouch is a streak striker( he needs to be playing regulary) to find his form and (((hopefully)) maintain it.The strikers we have now Kuyt , Bellamy, Cisse on loan and Fowler are pure strikers, it doesnt take them more than 3 games to find the back of the net, they dont need to play regularly to find form .The 20 odd or plus striker will be acquired soon i hope and the title will be ours .Crouch is the obvious expendable assest , at the moment some willbid (P,mousth)for his services promising games to find his elusive forms , those that have inferiorobjectives like a UEAFA title.

Rafa isnt a defensive coach , he is a complete coach that seeks balance.Rafa played Gerrad on the right which I agree with becauseSISSOKO owned that central midfield position.Liverpool plays a balanced game that just needs a clinical finisher.We cannot deny that multiple chances have been created and missed by our strikers.

Our time is nigh.

[Paul Marin]

RE: ASSAIN CROUCH ON HIS WAY OUT

X - how much time are you willing to give Rafa to deliver the Prem title? He will be in his 4th year in 2007/08, are you willing to give him more time than that?

[Assasin]

RE: ASSAIN CROUCH ON HIS WAY OUT

The problem I have is. In preseason Sossiko played well in the central mid and I could see him holding that position for the season but when he got injured instead of putting the only other central mid in the middle he continue to play him out wide and but players like Zenden etc to play central mid when none of them can't tackle like Gerrard, none can hit the 25 yard shot like Gerrard. What I think happen is Gerrard was pretty much ineffective as he was seeing the ball and couldn't help out his defense as he was put wide.

[Sir X]

RE: ASSAIN CROUCH ON HIS WAY OUT

He just came and won the crem de la creme C.L league , then the F.A cup and Community shield , he has won something every year.You want the man on a time plan as to win the prem , what if he wins the C.L league again or isrunner up , or win the F.ACUP again ? aaahsah you good.

As long as he has the confidenceof the dressing roomthen he will be a liverpool mananger unless he wishes otherwise, when you look at the historical top 2 clubs in the league (arse and Man who)or in the past clubs, that win trophies have managers for a long time.

[Paul Marin]

RE: ASSAIN CROUCH ON HIS WAY OUT

There is no dispute that he has won the club prestigious trophies. But we let Houllier go even though he had done the same. Under Rafa, the team improved in 05/06 over 04/05, but still, we didn't win the Prem. Are you saying that if you were chairman you would keep Rafa as long as he has the confidence of the players? I think Curbishly had that at Charlton...and look what he's up to now. Personally, I think the Prem MUST BE the priority, then the Champions League, then the FA Cup, then the League Cup. It is great to win these trophies, but we need to get a program in place that will bring the Championship home to its rightful place. I am not sure if Rafa will be given the time to do it if it is not in our bursting at the seams trophy case by end of next season. Happy New Year to the fellow Red by the way (Cheers)