brentie

Trust me mate we're all going crazy over on our forums!! If only we could get ahold of the boss we could spare all of you and us this struggle! Interesting, another set of fans who don't trust the manager's judgement!! Sound familiar to some of the posters on VT. Why, you guys have issues with Oneil?Really?

Trust me mate we're all going crazy over on our forums!! If only we could get ahold of the boss we could spare all of you and us this struggle!

Me either. He's better than Alonso and Mascherano by a distance. U can't compare him to Mascherano as they play in two different positions. Masch is a defensive midfielder (one of the best in the world IMO and an untouchable in the best international side in the world) and Barry is a central midfielder with creative responsabiltites. Masch can't do what Barry does and Barry can't do what Masch does. As for Xabi. I guess we won't agree on this but in my opinion he's got a hundred times more pure talent than Barry.

What's happened to SWP? Crouch? Sidwell? Pennant (never a top player to start with, him)....they've ended up well paid bit part players, bench warmers and seen international hopes fade. Sure some do well - Carrick, perhaps and Van Der Saar (at 37 odd), but truth is far from advancing their careers, many players who move to Liverpool in particular end up going backwards. To me Rafa seems like a poilt kid in a sweetshop, or that wheelchair bloke off the Fast Show "Want that one" "Are you sure you want Pennant?" "Yep."..."Don't want him" . Mate my point wasn't how the moves panned out for the players. My point was that the any player outside the top 4 would join one of those clubs if he had an offer. I can't think of anyone who turned down a move apart from Lucas Neil and from what we've all heard it was about money. I hope to God Barry stays at Villa Park I really do. Like I mentionned before he is not needed at Anfield nor would he bring anything to the table we don't have now. As for Rafa and player progression...Garcia, Carragher,Reina,Alonso,Mascherano,Torres,Agger,Skrtel,Arbeloa and Babel are all players that have progressed at the club since he joined. Crouch became a mainstay in the England set up only when he moved to Anfield. As for Pennant, he wasnt Rafa's first choice, but as we had budget restraints he was the only affordable option. I also feel this would be the wrong move for Barry. He'll be joining a club where there is a real pressure to succeed, where reaching the Uefa Cup is failure. He'll be joining a club with a lot of competition for places. He'll be playing against teams who put 10 men behind the ball. He'll be joining a club who play in the top level competition of European football. Can he make the step up? I don't think so. I've seen nothing from him to suggest he can.

Guys, I’m a Liverpool fan and I come in peace. There are a lot of points which PB makes that I don’t agree with. First of all, the point that we are ‘clinging on to 4th’. In 05/06 we finished 3rd with 82 points, 17 points ahead of 5th. Last year we ended the year in 3rd as well, 8 points clear of 5th even though we stopped competing with 5 games left to concentrate on the champions league. And this season we ended the year with 76 points, a record tally for a team that finishes 4th, 11 points clear of 5th and 16 points clear of Aston Villa. Hardly clinging on to 4th is it? We were closer to 3rd and 2nd then 5th and as close to Man Utd as Everton. Would you say United are cling to 1st with us breathing down their necks?? Also you discount too easily the effect a good champions league run has on players. We’ve been able to attract world class players to our our side especially because of our performances in Europe (torres, Mascherano...). To a player who has never played in that competition, it is very important to see as side doing well in Europe (Babel, Torres now Barry). Guys. We’re not after Barry because we see you as a threat. We are after him as Rafa thinks (wrongly INMHO) that he would improve the side. If anyone is going to break into the top 4 this year, it won’t be you, it will be a side who spends a shitload of money (Spurs most likely). You don’t seem able to keep your best players, let alone attract top class European talent. Gareth Barry will leave this summer, get used to it. All players outside the top 4 would if they get an offer Case in point recently we’ve seen SWP, Carrick, Crouch, Pennant, VDS, Rooney, Sidwell, Anelka all leave lower table or uefa cup level teams to move forward in their careers. The lure of playing in the Champions League and for some of the biggest and most famous clubs in the world is just too big. Anyways. I hope for both Liverpool and Villa you get to keep hi. A lot of us feel he is not needed at Anfield and would be a waste of money. He is an average left back and left midfielder but a good centre mid. However, centre mid is our strongest position and we don’t feel he is anywhere near a good a player as Xabi Alonso. Our problems are on the wings not in centre mid (Ashley Young would be the only Villa player who would make a real difference to this Liverpool side), so it would be a waste of money and time to go after an overpriced player who isn’t better than the player he would replace. And finally, we have two owners. Tom Hicks and George Gillet. No Tom Gillett. Though they can **** off , whatever they’re called