andym

ref got all the big decisions wrong, missed several pens for chelsea, but then sent off abidal when anelka tripped over his own 2 feet terry and ballack now look like they want to fight him!!

i think chindie has got it spot on barry is a great player, but i dont think he can play as effectively in a 442- he is not quick enough and dosnt tackle well enough to play DM. but then he is not quick enough to play the AM in 442 either- he just cant get up and down the pitch, so he doesnt get many assists or goals from open play even though he definatly has the ability to do so. and if he does get forward then as we have seen recently we can get ripped open through the middle as he cant get back. hes the perfect 433 player as his best attributes are to keep it tidy, the natural ability to create space for himself and others, bring others into play etc. with stan defending and sidwell getting forward or covering barry when he does, then barry can roam around and dictate play. so if we are going to play 442 next season, which i would as you want both your top strikers playing as much as possible, then barry leaving could actually be an ultimatly good thing. of course thats providing MON brings in a more dynamic midfielder who can get up and down the pitch and contribute with goals and assists! im also with sonic_bouma in that Milner could potentially do that job. i think hes a younger, faster, more energitc barry- his style is similar- not flashy skill but the ability to create space and bring others into play. he also has a good shot with both feet. i think whenever he has come inside this season he has looked good- barrys goal against blackburn, sidwells at wigan and everton, stans against stoke etc all down to milner coming in off the wing and setting up with some nice vision and touches.

it was so funny watching the end of their game, when prestons winner went in then they booed of the team, well the few hundred who hadnt left early the only way it could have been better is if sky had shown brady and golds reactions to the goal and final whistle

eto'o has an insane goalscoring record this season. 23 goals in 26 games (24 starts) !!!!!!

its all very well talking about players like jones and bent, but their clubs dont want to sell (at least spurs wont sell unless they get a replacement- arrys not that stupid). so what do you want MON to do, he cant force teams to sell players. MON has done what is needed- and move on to the next best choice, which it seems is heskey. oh and arent you contradicting yourself slightly? your saying the competition for englands striker places is rubbish and thats the only reason heskey gets in- yet arent jones and bent english? why does capello continue to pick heskey over them if they are "6 times the player"

right, now for a few sendings off please!

cahill is awesome on crosses and setpeices

keane gets subbed after doing nothing again. no joke, ive been watching the game since about the 25th minute and didnt realise he was playing. i thought he was on the bench... and as i type bloody gerrard scores

right scrappy game at the moment, lots of hoofing!!

piennar is giving away a lot of fouls and has already been booked i think, so theres the first candidate for a sending off. everton playing decent, liverpool players seem to be spending most of the time on the floor

lol, shocking miss by torres

not a hero not a flop. very good player, as proved in his first couple of seasons. but i think after that knee injury he was never the same again. he was never a fast player but losing that pace he did have meant he couldnt cut it in the prem anymore. i dont ge the "he was lazy" comments. from watching him in my opinion he always worked hard and tried his best.

im sure i read the other day that ollic is out of contract at the end of this season. how old is he?

i agree with bicks, i didnt think he was particulaly skillful or anything, its just everton used his height quite well. stick him infront of freidal on set pieces, or just the lump the ball into him and because he was the tallest player on the pitch he won most things. dunno how he missed a free header from 3 yards out though!! he seems quite a dirty player as well, already on 7 yellow cards!

on current form you wouldnt really drop any of the Cms, though i dont think you can keep playing NRC out on the right, despite how well he did today. i think it would depend on the team we are playing. If we are playing away maybe play Barry and NRC in the middle as NRC offers more protection. At home Petrov and Barry as they are more creative and we are expected to attack. i suppose you could also go 433, Young and Milner either side of Big John, or even Gabby. youve also got Sidwell and Gardner and maybe Salifou to come in! well, its a nice problem to have isnt it?

General, Despite the clubs comments in the week maybe not being the best thing to do, im not going to call the club weak and disgrace. Theres not much you can do when your ex captain, a player who claimed to love the club goes back on an agreement made with both the manager and owner. I have every faith in the club to get the right amount from Liverpool for that poor excuse of a man. However, like others i am going to express my concern about players coming in. I like MON, i think he is a great manager and i know what he has done for the club. The fact is though that this summer we had a great opportunity to really push on and we needed to spend big on quality players. All we are hearing though is "things are in motion", "i want to add to the squad"- we heard this in January and nothing happened. I dont buy the excuse that other clubs are finding it difficult- Tottenham are the obvious example. However what is really annoying is that poorer clubs, both in terms of quality and finance dont seem to be having a problem. Bolton, Newcastle, Pompey even Fulham have or will break the 10 mil barrier for one player. They dont seem to have a problem. Now i believe that the money is there, so MON spending it is the problem. Yet again it seems he is scared to pay over the odds for players and at the moment this is holding us back. I know you say Randy will not micromanage MON, but at the end of the day Randy is the owner and the person ultimately responsible for the clubs fortunes. If MON is not pulling his weight, which he isnt at the moment, then Randy should be having a word with him. You are a fan General and you can see that we need players now, and quality ones at that. At the moment we are standing still, and not building on our great last season. I know you are close to Randy, so can you please pass on mine and other concerns over the squad situation. I would also like to pass on my thanks for the great work done over the last two years- I hope we do not let it go to waste.

MON has said several times that the money is definatly there, and i dont think hes the type of person who would say that unless it is true. The General has also said several times that there is money to spend, and this made it into several newspapers over the weekend. After the Fitzgerald comments i highly doubt the General would have said this unless its true. Finally there has been several newpaper articles about Randy and his investment, particular around the time when Liverpools owner were getting stick in the press. All of these articles commented on how much Randy has invested not just on the pitch but also off it, particulaly his investments in Villas history (Holte Pub etc) and how he is an example of a foregin owner doing the right thing. Surely if Randy did not actually have the money that was expected and had been talked about by MON and others, or had put the club at financial risk when buying it (like Liverpool) they would have found this out and published it instead- after all they did the same with Man U and Liverpool owners, who recieved some very harsh criticism. The english press would love another excuse to run a anti foreign owner story- that they publsihed the exact opposite about Randy shows to me that there is nothing to worry about For me the money is there, maybe not at the level of Chelsea, but definatly enough to finance some top quality players this summer. The only stumbling block is MONs refusal to spend it!