Heads to roll at Merseyside

http://www.theworldgame.com.au/english-premier-league/whelan-blasts-rafa-priorities-252351 - Seems Rafa can't get any peace, now the former players are taking a shot at him. Maybe Whelan wants another shot at managements? It's a bit rich using Torres though to lambast Rafa, I'm pretty sure he wasn't 100% and apparently he needs surgery now so it doesn't really add up for mine.

Inspired was probably the wrong word there. Reina was hardly "inspired", a very good keeper yes but he won't be in the pantheon of greats when he retires. I rate Anderson very highly and Nani is just extremely unlucky, I think he annoys his teammates too much (Berbatov and Rooney constantly scream at him) and Ferguson never gives him an extended run but he is certainly capable. I think he'll "do a Forlan" and leave Old Trafford and become a star. Hargraeves would be the pick of the bunch for mine, yes he is injured and United probably should never have signed him but he is something else, first choice for United and England if he comes back the same player. That Benitez made money on some players doesn't particularly help his current predicament although without Ronaldo, I'm sure United would have lost a lot on their sales (Saha, Van Nistelrooy immediately spring to mind). He needed to invest a little more wisely and go for the 20 Million players rather than the 5-10's. Benayoun is really the only one that has paid off while others have become pretty embarrassing. Vermaelen was scouted by a lot of English clubs but by all reports they deemed him too short for a centre half, probably didn't bother Wenger too much as he can really play football. I must say, I rate him pretty highly. I think the worst bit of scouting would have to be Keegan only seeing Xisco on Youtube, that was a mess: http://www.football.co.uk/newcastle_united/keegan_awarded_2m_after_quitting_newcastle_united_over_you_tube_scouting_row_rss227714.shtml

Indeed. One thing Liverpool will always have is their supporters and when they sing this song it is truly amazing.

No, I don't expect City to do a great deal this year but I wouldn't be surprised if they finish above Liverpool either. City will probably need another 2 years to iron out some kinks and get everyone playing in a setup that suits them but I hate to think how they might turn out, everyone was worried when Abramovich's cash flowed in at Chelsea but even he can't match City. On one point you are definately correct, one must consider how much Ferguson spent before Rafa's arrival but that was not my point. Mine was simply that Rafa has had the same amount of money available as Ferguson and which of Rafa's purchases could we say were truly inspired? Reina, Torres, Benayoun, Mascherano, who else? Too many Voronin type players that haven't lived up to his own expectations although I wish I knew some more of the back room workings at Anfield, by all accounts he never wanted Keane so just how much control he has is debatable. Anyway, this is the Liverpool squad from 03-04 that Benitez more-or-less inherited: GK: Dudek, Kirkland, Luzi Def: Medjani, Otsemobor, Henchoz, Finnan, Welsh, Traore, Hyypia, Diao, Carragher Mid: Hamann, Riise, Murphy, Cheyrou, Gerrard, Biscan, Smicer Att: Owen, Diouf, Le Tallec, Baros, Sinama Pongolle, Kewell, Heskey, Partridge. On paper and 5 years down the track that doesn't look like a world-beating squad but certainly better than what Rafa has now. At that time Diouf had torn it up in the 2002 WC, Owen was still excellent, Baros won the golden boot at Euro 2004 just before Rafa took over, Gerrard was already established (although his best years were yet to come) as was Carragher, Kirkland was a far better goalkeeper than the number one Dudek and some of the young talent - even though it didn't develop as it might have - in Le Tallec and Sinama Pongolle were, at the time, names people were predicting big things from in the future. Anyway, I think with the amount that Rafa has had at his disposal he should have done better in the transfer market, he wasn't left with a hopeless squad - they managed to win the CL in his first season - and look at how depleted it is right now, he shouldn't be forced into having 5 U21's on the bench and 7 appearances amongst 4 of them. Yes he can't do a great deal about the youth teams which haven't been as productive as Man United, Arsenal or Man City's and this would have helped him but he hasn't manage to buy enough players that he could stick with and he has too many "maybe" acquisitions, Voronin is obviously my favourite but there are quite a few others.

Sorry Eddie but I don't see what I'm meant to learn there. I used the piece at goal.com which showed Rafa has spent as much money as United since taking over and United have won 3 titles and a CL in that time while Rafa, for all he has spent, has done nothing more than get Liverpool up to second last year and fluke a CL a couple of years back. All the pundits were questioning his removal of Torres from the action at 1-1 against Fulham, I'd suggest he wasn't fully fit and in general, I think he is a good manager on the sidelines, I like the fact that he makes his subs around the 60-67 minute mark to give them a chance to get into the game but at the end of the day he is hopeless in the transfer market. Liverpool have such an enormous reputation that they should never have someone like Kyrgiakos playing for them, he wouldn't even make the bench for Bolton so for Rafa to have him is ridiculous. That he was strapped for cash and needed cheap defensive cover is a problem of his own making, in the current climate you cannot spend 17 Million on a right back when you have the squad Liverpool has and are missing some other key players.