Ahead of Sunday’s match at Anfield, Jamie Kanwar from Liverpool Kop has given a few minutes of his time to answer some of my questions.
Scott the Red: What do you make of the beachball fiasco at the Stadium of Light?
Jamie Kanwar: It was a very unfortunate incident, and according to the laws of the game, the goal should not have stood. However, every team suffers bad luck and dodgy refereeing decisions, and this incident should not be used an excuse for losing the game. As Rafa Benitez rightly admitted out after the game, Liverpool were just not good enough on the day.
STR: How do you feel about your captain in light of his drunken bar brawl?
JK: Gerrard was cleared, which was great, but he brought the situation on himself. After the initial rebuffal, did Gerrard need to approach McGhee a second time to ‘question’ him? No. If Gerrard had just kept away, the whole mess could’ve been avoided. The whole situation spiraled out of control as a direct result of Gerrard’s refusal to let things go. I think Gerrard will learn from the situation, and the hope is it will make him a better captain. I am one of Gerrard’s biggest critics but we have to appreciate that he is only human, and occasionally he will make mistakes.
STR: What did you think about the lack of attention or punishment dished out to Craig Bellamy for punching a restrained fan on the pitch during the Manchester derby?
JK: I feel the same way about that as I do about Eric Cantona’s kung-fu kick and Zinedine Zidane’s headbutt: you reap what you sow. Who knows what the fan might have done if he’d been allowed to get to whoever he was going after? He was probably a terrace thug, and in my view, football thugs deserve everything that’s coming to them.
STR: Where does your 4-1 victory over us last season rank amongst your favourite Liverpool games?
JK: It was a great victory but it is not even my top 20 favourite Liverpool games. Unlike previous Liverpool-United encounters, it is not a game I can watch over and over. It was exciting to win, but the manner of the victory was not that exciting – the game was won as a result of mistakes, set-pieces and a penalty. Give me Liverpool’s 4-0 Anfield hammering of United in 1990 any day; or the 2 games from the 95-95 season, in which Robbie Fowlers scored 2 at old Trafford and 2 at Anfield.
STR: Which playing positions do you think Liverpool are superior to United?
JK: Goalkeeper: Reina over Van Der Sar/Foster any day.
Central midfield: Gerrard over Anderson/Scholes/Fletcher/O’Shea etc.
Up front: Torres over Rooney/Berbatov.
Right back: Johnson over Brown/Neville
Right midfield; Purely in terms of specific. Measurable impact on the team, Dirk Kuyt is more effective than any of United’s right midfielders in terms of goals/assists etc.
STR: How badly will Liverpool miss Alonso this season?
JK: Liverpool have undoubtedly missed Alonso this season, but only because he was not properly replaced from day 1 of the season. Rafa Benitez made the fatal mistake of signing Alberto Aquilani, who is still waiting to make his debut 2 and half months into the season. I do not doubt that Aquilani is good player, but Alonso needed to be replaced with a player of comparable quality right from the start of the season. If that had happened, the Spaniard’s absence may not have been so keenly felt.
The impact of Alonso’s absence has also been exacerbated by Benitez’s pig-headed refusal to consistently play Steven Gerrard in central midfield as a way of compensating for Aquilani’s absence. The facts are simple: Gerrard + Torres this season = 4 defeats (Spurs, Villa, Fiorentina + Chelsea). Gerrard in midfield = 5 wins. Lucas in midfield = 6 defeats. It is absolutely incomprehensible that despite this, Benitez STILL persists with the Brazilian in midfield.
Now, unlike many Liverpool fans, I don’t have a problem with Lucas; I think he has potential and will develop into an effective player. it is not his fault Benitez keeps playing him in central midfield. However, at this stage, the only question that needs to be answered here is this: who is the better central midfielder: Gerrard or Lucas? There is only one answer, and when the chips are down , it has to be aces in their places.
STR: How highly do you rate the chances of Rafa being sacked/walking out this season?
JK: Rafa will not be sacked, nor should he be. Liverpool have never sacked a manager mid-season and the club is not going to start now, especially after last season’s 2nd place finish. On top of that, the club cannot afford to sack Benitez, who recently signed a new long-term contract.
There is a slight possibility that if Liverpool’s run continues to get worse that Benitez might choose to step down, but given his stubbornness, I think it’s highly unlikely. That might change though if he senses the fans turning against him, which is definitely possible if he continues to make the same mistakes over and over again.
STR: Is this Liverpool’s year?
JK: At this stage, the answer would have to be no. Having said that, winning the title after losing 4 of the first 9 league games is not unheard of. Indeed, Bill Shankly’s Liverpool achieved such a feat in the 1963/64 season – 4 of the first 9 leagues were lost but the club still went on to win the title. Football has obviously changed since then, but the current Liverpool team and fan base should take heart from that fantastic achievement as it symbolizes everything that is great about Liverpool.
If Liverpool beat United this Sunday and the team then goes on a run similar to Shankly’s 63-64 side (23 games won/2 games drawn in the next 30 games), then everything will be wide open.
The above may seem laughable right now but this is Liverpool – write us off at your peril. The club’s magical spirit and absolute winning mentality may be in hibernation at the moment, but it is always there, and it will return. And when it does…watch out.
STR: How important do you think the return of Fernando Torres will be to you getting a result against us at the weekend?
JK: Torres is undoubtedly one of the world’s top strikers, so he will be essential to Liverpool’s chances at the weekend. He has 8 goals and 1 assist from 8 games this
season so far, which illustrates just how important he is to the team. Having said that, the media loves to perpetuate the myth that Liverpool is a 2-man team; the stats prove that this is nonsense. Last season, the club beat Man United at Anfield without both Gerrard and Torres, and despite the recent setbacks against Sunderland and Lyon, the team has the ability to do get positive results without Torres, Gerrard or both; and previous history categorically proves this.
STR: Predictions for the weekend?
JK: Liverpool will beat United. It’s almost guaranteed if you ask me. The current slump has to end somewhere and defeat AT HOME to United is unthinkable for all sorts of reasons. Liverpool’s current run is already the worst the club has endured for 22 years; another defeat and it becomes even worse than that. A defeat will also eliminate Liverpool from this season’s premiership race; that cannot be allowed to happen, and I am sure it will not be allowed to happen. United were beaten at Anfield last season without Gerrard and Torres; there is no reason the same result cannot be achieved again.
Man Utd News 24/7
How come Liverpool fans cant remember that they did not play the game without both Gerrard and Torres
his wrong about beating us without gerrard and torres..gerrard came on before the winning goal was scored, im sure?
Liverpool: Reina, Arbeloa, Skrtel, Carragher, Aurelio, Benayoun (Gerrard 68), Alonso, Mascherano (Hyypia 87), Riera (Babel 71), Kuyt, Keane.
liverpools winning goal scored on 77 mins.
jack they also started with robbie keane to replace torres not ngog
)
and alonso to replace gerrard in the starting line up apart from well lucas(
this is deluded
do I think united will win
yes 4-0 please
do i think theres a chance Liverpool will win
yes
Its football United took 100% records off 3 teams in a row this season have a 100% record in europe and lost to burnley
thats football
but him saying”Liverpool will beat United. It’s almost guaranteed if you ask me.”
Deluded
I’m not really confident about this. Liverpool’s current form could actually do us a disservice, they’ll be even more desperate to beat us. Just victory over United gets them out of jail.
How good would it be to beat them though.
they must live in pure fantasyland! using the1963/64 season as an example for hope? very sad, and yes it is laughable. i understand trying to put a positive spin on things as one of their supporters, but no matter how much you try to decorate shite, it’s still just dressed up shite!
He’s somewhat rational,Jamie Kanwar,except for the final question.
That answer is a bit crazy.
He can’t accept the fact that they ARE a 2 man team. When they beat us at anfield last season, we had many injured players out, and plus we had a very slow start at the beginning of last season.
“The club’s magical spirit and absolute winning mentality may be in hibernation at the moment, but it is always there, and it will return. And when it does…watch out.”
Watch out? The so called mentality he’s talking about has been in hibernation since they stopped winning titles, untill now. Although me must still watch out, as it’s still their year, whatever Jamie Kanwar thinks.
I always thought that final result at both matches last season against the dippers flattered them.
Even in the first match when after 5 minutes we disappeared, they scored the winner after a needles Giggsy mistake.
As for the match at Old Trafford, we were comfortable until Vidic’s gift to the ladyboy. Then, in the second half, until another Vidic mistake when he got himself sent off, we were entirely dominating them.
I do not think that we can repeat last year’s awful performance at Anfield. So despite this guy’s unfounded optimism, I expect a comfortable win tomorrow.
He must be kidding himself thinking that they have better players than us in most departments.
And just to rub salt on their wounds, I hope Owen scores the winner.
i hope rom recaps this interview at season’s end, and points out all the things that this deluded guy wrongly predicted. hopefully at that time, scott can interview him for his opinion on 19 times as well!
stevie me should have received some sort of punishment for unwarranted assault, that smug bastard! his defense of that is probably the worst part of this interview for me.
He lost all potential credibility when he said “Reina over Van der Sar any day” What a fucking moron.
Johnson over Brown/Neville is also hilarious…
The only thing that baffles me, is that he rates Reina above VDS.
Reina is one of the worst goalkeepers out there. Yes he is a great shot stopper, as is Jaskerlinen (Spelling), but overal his goalkeeping fom crosses and command of his box is poor. He only won the goldern glove as a result of his defence (And you can argue the same for VDS last year).
If United put crosses and set peices into the box, watch Reina flap.
Also with regard to his positions being superior.
He has compared one man against another, not actual positions on the pitch.
Glyn Johnson might be a better attacker than Brown/O’Shea but his defensive skills are miles away. Give me Wes Brown anyday.
Kuyt is also a forward, its like comparing Liverpools left winger with Rooney.
last year Liverpool had a better team than United (Starting X1 not squad), but this year we are on par. I still think Utd are short in a couple of positions.
Jack – Gerrard came on as a sub but had no impact on the game, so ostensibly, Liverpool were without Gerrard and Torres.
Rooninho – Yes, I agree that comparing today with 1963-4 is laughable in some respects; that is why I said it was! However, that achievement has symbolic reasonance in that proves that coming back to win the title after such a bad start is not impossible. Liverpool should take confidence from that achievement.
Fze 123: I don’t accept Liverpool are a two man team because it’s a fact, as I’ve proved here:
http://www.liverpool-kop.com/2009/10/gerrard-and-torres-injured-liverpool.html
As you can see, Liverpool are unbeaten in 94% of games without Torres and 765 of games without Gerrard.
Also, re winning mentality: last season we finished 2nd with 86 points. i would say that’s evidence of winning mentality. That should have continued into this season, but for various reasons it’s all gone to shit. That doesn’t mean we won’t rediscover our form from the last 3 months of last season; and I think we will very soon.
Xyth – I don’t think we’re better than United in most departments. You are clearly superior to us at left back and in central defence (at the moment); The same goes for left midfield with Ryan Giggs. With Torres’ goals per game record and overall strike rate, I don’t see how it can be credibly argued that any of United’s strikers are superior to him. In fact, I compared Torres and Rooney recently (in the interests of fairness, I got Rooney’s stats from a United site); and Torres was well on top:
http://www.liverpool-kop.com/2009/10/revealed-proof-that-fernando-torres-is.html
Drew Vader – I don’t think it’s too outlandish to suggest that Reina is a better keeper than Van Der Sar. Reina won the the golden gloves awared for three seasons in a row; clean sheets is the principal way to judge a goalkeeper’s effectiveness, is it not?
I ain’t saying fuck all till the final whistle blows tomorrow.
I’d take Scholes over Gerrard any day of the week.. we’ll do our talking on the pitch. Utd to win 2-1.. Vidic and Owen to score
Jamie Kanwar-You can use the same kind of stats to prove Kuyt is better than Gerrard.
Is he really?
Well then I would point to the record that VdS set last year for minutes without conceding… But I would also point to the fact that VdS has won the Champions League twice (Reina = zero), not to mention league titles, international caps etc, all of which VdS is FAR superior than Reina…
But you’re right, my “fucking moron” was uncalled for. Apologies. Its just opinions anyway.
theboogeyman – With respect, you’re wrong. You can only prove Kuyt is more effective than Gerrard if you use a pointless timeframe, i.e. this season only. I have used a 3 year timeframe for my comparison, and if you use that for Kuyt/Gerrard, there will only be one winner.
Furthermore, I didn’t use the stats to prove Torres was ‘better’ than Rooney overall; I argued he was more ‘effective’ on an individual basis over a specific period of time. There is a difference.
Jamie that’s the same article that I and others absolutely ripped the piss out of you of because you got it so horribly wrong that it was untrue.
Typical Liverpool fan though to completely ignore the fact he was comprehensively made to look like an idiot using the logic of his own argument yet sticks his fingers in his ears and further down the line regurgitates it as if it is commonly accepted as fact.
I’ve got a good way to judge a players effectiveness = trophies won.
I can sit here and say that Guy Whittingham at Pompey in 1994 was far more effective than any season performance by Torres or that Torres will never reach the heights of Marco Negri did for that half season at Rangers.
But you’re still doing it, Right midfield; Purely in terms of specific. Measurable impact on the team, Dirk Kuyt is more effective than any of United’s right midfielders in terms of goals/assists etc.
Yolkie – that’s nonsense. You can’t argue with the facts, and the stats used in the article are facts. In fact, Rooney’s stats were taken from a Man U site to ensure fairness. Trophies won = effectiveness of the TEAM, not the individual.
The principal way to judge the Individual effectiveness of attacking players is to assess goals, assists, shots on target, goals per game ration, goals per minute ratio etc. This is beyond dispute.
Your point about Whittingham and Negri is ridiculously irrelevant – they are not playing at the same time as Torres. I compared Rooney and Torres over the last 3 years. They both play in the same league at the same time, thus the comparison is valid.
And re Kuyt – if you can show me how any of United’s right midielders have been more effective than Dirk Kuyt THIS SEASON, I will gladly admit that I am wrong.
When teams of this quality meet there are no guarantees, but if United bring their best for this game then against any team that Liverpool can field they’ll dominate the match. If United do a no-show in terms of quality, or only show up for half the match, then it’ll be a chance squandered. The last thing United want to be going into this game is complacent, because there’s a hard job of work to be done and Liverpool have players who can turn games, not to mention they are due a bit of luck.
Hit the return button there. I shall continue.
“Right midfield; Purely in terms of specific. Measurable impact on the team, Dirk Kuyt is more effective than any of United’s right midfielders in terms of goals/assists etc.”
Really? Hmm.
I’d like to see your analysis for this but what a ridiculous statement. I’m not even sure the stats will really back you up on this but in terms of measurable impact on the team Valencia has scored two winners in his last two games. He has started 5 league games, 7 overall and 5 from the bench. 12 games in total but only 7 started.
Of Kuyt’s four goals, two came in home games against Stoke and Burnley when the game was more or less in the bag. One gave you the lead which was equalised against at West Ham and the other was a winner against Debrecen. I think I’m safe in saying Kuyt has started all of your games aside from the Carling Cup game, so that’s 12 starts.
I’m not pedantic enough to work out the exact minutes to goals and assists ratio though I think it’s likely Kuyt’s extra 5 starts probably work out to a substantial amount more playing time even taking into account any times he would have been subbed later in the game.
In terms of specific measurable impact (both in your ridiculous statistical nonsense and the general consensus about whether or not they make an impact at important times) therefore it’s likely Valencia has proven himself to be at least as effective if not more so than Kuyt.
In all fairness though it’s such a stupid argument because it’s just the same as saying in terms of specific measurable impact on the first day of the season Assou Ekotto proved that he was far more effective than Gerrard or Torres.
This is undeniable but if I were to say it I would look a complete prat and rightly so.
So when you make the similar comment but it can be easily disproven you look like even more of a prat.
If you think Kuyt is better than any United right sider then just come out and say it. Likewise if you think Torres is better than Rooney. You just look like an idiot when you try and pretend it’s scientific fact (which constantly contradicts itself) when it’s just your opinion.
Decent responses – I agree that Torres is one of, if not the best striker out there. Comparisons with Rooney are difficult – Rooney offer something a bit different – a mixture between Gerrard and Torres, but Torres is a better striker.
I would rather have Valencia than Kuyt, but Kuyt fits Liverpool’s system well – nothing offensive about saying he is more ‘effective’ – but agree to disagree on his actual quality.
Reina/VDS -i’m not VDS’s biggest fan – he is very calm and great for the defense, but he made quite a few mistakes last season that went unpunished.
Gerrard over Scholes in terms of effectiveness, and ability at the moment, maybe not in the past. Stevie Me is still a cunt though!
I enjoy a rational debate with a Liverpool fan.
Jamie, any thoughts on Rafa’s money comments again – given the stats ROM has put forward (and can be found elsewhere)?
Yolkie – I would respond to your points, but someone who resorts to childish name-calling as often as you do is not worth debating with
“He was probably a terrace thug, and in my view, football thugs deserve everything that’s coming to them.” – That’s one presumptuous statement.
Plenty of clowns spontaneously run onto the pitch. Did the so called thug provoke Bellamy’s reaction? No. His only crime was entering the field of play. Any punishment should be for his harmless transgression, not decided based on an assumption.
Jamie kanwar
please be honest who are your regular goalscorers? i’d say gerrard and torres. tbh you’re team relies on them too much. i don’t understand when you say that tomorrow’s game is done and dusted without kicking a ball and knowing that the mood in your camp is down. if the two saviours don’t play do you think the likes of lucas and ngog/voronin are going to win the game? if so then you baffle me honestly. i think you should remember that you’re facing United not Hull or Burnley. i can assure you we’ll come out blazing and hope to put you lot out of your misery. AGAIN i disagree when you say that reina is better than vds. vds has won almost everything in football and is one of the greatest keepers of all time. you guys bought an 18million right back who can’t defend stop kidding yourself.
hope wazza makes it for tomorrow.
Winning the goldern glove does not prove you are a decent keeper.
A lot of Liverpols goldern glove wins, came down to boring, defencive, negative football, with the likes of Carragher hoofing the ball away into the stands or back up the pitch.
As a goalkeeper, reina is poor. Hes a good shot stopper, but you need to be more than that to be a good goalkeeper.
Jack – Gerrard came on as a sub but had no impact on the game, so ostensibly, Liverpool were without Gerrard and Torres.
how was you without gerrard if he came on ? confused
I would hardly call what bellamy done a punch.
Jamie kanwar
why do you need to use the 63-64 season to back up your statement in saying that your team can have the resolve to come back and challenge for the title. i think you need to stop living in the past and accept the fact that liverpool should’ve and would’ve competed for the title during the dominating years of United.
Hargreaves – it seems that you are incapable of making a distinction between symbolic significance and actual comparison. I am NOT using 63-64 as a way of saying ‘Look – we did it 64, we can do it again!!’
Football is completely different now so that would be ridiculous.
I use that example in a purley symbolic manner – it is a symbol of Liverpool’s spirit and resolve; of the unflinching desire to win and unyielding self-belief that used to define the club. 63.64 was also right in the midst of Shankly’s revolution at the club, which adds extra significance.
Every club – Man U included – has things they look back to in the past for inspiration. Liverpool is not different.
Perhaps you can see the distinction now.
Nonsense?
The stats used in your article were the ones selected by you to support your own agenda.
You purpoted your article to be definitive yet you didn’t even include “chances created”. You did however claim that the number of times a player is fouled is somehow more relevant to their creativity than chances created.
Just think about this for a second. It will surely boggle the mind of any reasonable individual.
And now having thought about it ask yourself if this makes your point one that is “without dispute” or whether in fact it is solely your opinion backed up with what YOU consider relevant.
That in my book makes you an idiot, it is not childish to accurately describe something or someone. Just think about it. I wasn’t the only one to say it, you were completely ripped to bits.
The point about Whittingham and Negri is completely relevant. You’re using selective stats from selective parts of certain seasons in your arguments re: Kuyt and Torres. I can say Torres will never hit the lofty heights that Negri did, and Negri’s peak was greater than Torres as Torres has never hit such a level of consistency. Of course we’re speaking outlandish given the different levels that the players are and were at but can’t you see that this in a nutshell is how ridiculous your argument is?
It’s fair enough that you are unable to respond to the very clear message that Valencia has been just as if not more effective (using your own logic), but at least be clear about the reasons, don’t hide behind “you’re being childish”, that just shows you up as someone who can’t engage in the banter that comes when you make a ghastly error in your opinion. If you’re going to state something, don’t then shy away from the comparison when you are challenged on the idiocy of your point.
I do not wish to be offensive at all but if you cannot see the inherent flaw in your own argument then really you should expect more and more people to treat you as if you have the low level of intelligence that your opinion seems to imply.
I did give you the chance in your article to just hold your hands up and admit it was just your opinion and a pretty flimsy argument to back it up, yet like a stubborn infant (again, not an insult, more an accurate analogy) you refused to even acknowledge your flaws. Until you can, you can’t expect to be treated with any credibility.
There right wing isn’t as strong as ours. Dirky the headless turkey is an even shitter version of Tevez, whilst Valencia is growing, scoring, crossing and beating his man every time.
Gerrard is the best single midfielder yes, but JK has only mentioned a single position not the entire central area. Mascherano or Fletch, FLETCH. Lucas or Giggsy hhhmmmm. Gerrard or Ando, Gerrard but Ando has shat on him before and will shit ok him again, Ando can develop. Gerrard is approaching the wrong side of 30 and is slowly losing the ability to change games instantly.
Torres isn’t worth mentioning alongside Berb and Wazza. Berba can actually create which LadyBoy can’t do for shit, and Rooney is far superior to any other human.
3-1. They’ll score early first goal then they’ll sit on it. We bombard them for the remainder and destroy their fading hopes.
And it falls to Owen………
“Gerrard came on as a sub but had no impact on the game, so ostensibly, Liverpool were without Gerrard and Torres.”
so when a player came on as a sub it means the team are without him…
okay…i got it…brilliant!
Also if I may be so bold as to assume what Hargreaves’ Curly Hair was implying.
Referring to what happened in 64 as some sort of barometer of “Liverpool’s spirit” is sort of scraping the barrel.
Just because something happened once in the clubs history does not mean that the club has a history of overcoming adversity.
Whereas at United we have a complete generation of incidents to support such a claim.
Having said that I fully agree with every club looking into its history for inspiration as that is part of the character, the point is that referencing an isolated incident from nearly half a century ago was probably not the best indication of a clubs inherent tradition.
Perhaps you can see the distinction
Jaimie, the problem Liverpool have is that they live in the past far to much.
The fans spend far to much time living in the past and singing about their history, that they forget that progression has to be made.
You dont see Madrid fans bangingon about 9 Euro cups, they go out to win. The same for Milan they dont bang on about 7 times etc.
That living in the past makes them blind about Rafa, they fail to see his major failings as a manager, rather reflecting on him winning a Euro Cup in 2005 and an FA Cup against West Ham in 2006, which werent exactly won in style, whilst in 2005 the Euro Cup win came at the expense of 5th place in the league and an FA Cup defeat to Burnley. Utd fans wouldnt accept that. Contrast to Utds win in 1999 and 2008 when they won the League as well and put in a decent run in the FA Cup.
Its easier to win the champions league than win the Prem league. You can win the champions league without winning a game (Winning on pens in the final), you cant do that in the Prem league and Rafa hasnt got what it takes to win a league, as his mindset is to not get beat, rather than to win.
One problem that Liverpool fans have hated is that United have always been the bigger club, always had the bigger fanbase, the bigger signings, greater press coverage, even when Liverpool were winning things.
Thats why they bang on about Trophy counts, yet fail to mention FA Cup wins or World Club Trophies!
@ Tufty
nicely put
I think it right time to sack Rafa now because his time has gone already.
I’m still lovin’ (Keegan, 1995) the banner.
Just thinking of the perpetrators at the time who must have thought they were the pinnacle of wit.
Even if we lose to them, which I don’t think we will, it will continue to act as a reminder for us in years to come. Silly bugger(s).
have never looked forward to a match since the last one funny thing getting old
yolkie
lol owned him, well said mate.
yolkie, these are the stats i have for dirk kuyt and valencia from espn’s soccernet website
kuyt – 9 games, 3 goals, 2 assists
valencia – 5 games, 1 goal, 1 assist
personally, i don’t give too much importance to stats, but using jaimie’s logic, he is right.
Stats are for suckers. Simply wait for tomorrow. The laws of probability in sport are endless.
ps. Reina couldn’t touch VDS. no matter what you little stat book say. & oh yes I have seen him fuck up, more than VDS!
Uh oh, a liverpool fan armed with fachts. this won’t end well.
oh come on…dont sack FSW!!!
he’s our entertainment!! he’ll never win another trophy!!
let him stay so they are fucked all e time!!
glory glory lets eat em up today!!!!
Why is everyone saying jamie is deluded for predicting a dippers win.if tomorrow we lose 3 in a row and play chelsea next will scott or anyone else say that we will lose. obviously not.as diehard fans we will always be confident and say our team will win.thats all jamie is saying.why slate him for that? personally i am not too confident either that we will win.people are making too much out of this so called CRISIS at Liverpool. and people saying we will thrash them seriously need a reality check.its big game and thats not gonna happen.it will be very tight and tactical.i repeat it again.I will be happy with a draw.he is not wrong in saying some of the other facts too.Gerrard is undoubtedly better than any of our mids as is torres and johnson than o shea or brown. I disagree with reina over VDS.That is a joke. VDS is better any day.
AIG-I guess they’re saying it because Jamie is saying it’s guaranteed that they will win.I agree with you in that no diehard fan will say their team is going to lose,but the way he said it seems odd,that’s all.
boogeyman
agree there.i think he is definitely being a bit overconfident.while i dont rule out a liverpool win which is very much possible its not guranteed either coz we are more than capable of beating them though i feel it will be a tight game.
This Liverpool Blogger seems to be fairly reasonable, so fair play to that. I am not going to visit his site, as I won’t become another number viewing his pages.
I think he is a biased as myslef in that way that he thinks his players are better than ours. I have to say, Torres is the one player in the league, apart from maybe Essien that I’d love to see at United. Not now, but before he came from Spain.
Last seasons result was a disaster, we played our big three forwards at Liverpool and then what happened at OT was unexplainable. We cannot let that happen again this year and I don’t think it will.
I think a sensible result prediction would be a 1-1 draw, Liverpool are playing so badly at the moment and they are due a break and United haven’t been top class, falling over the line on occaisions it could go either way.
Though, I am not sensible, so I will say 2-1 to us, with Owen scoring the winner, adding to Gary Neville’s 80th minute equaliser
Hey, anything can happen in football. Yes. Anything can happen. Lets not guarantee a Manchester United win or Liverpool win. This is the way of the game.
I remember Arsenal being beaten by Fulham and Hull City few weeks before Stoke did beat them a week before the Manchester United game. They had Robin van Persie suspended, Emmanuel Adebayor injured, Kolo Toure recovering from injury and being out of game fitness, Gallas being out of form like Carragher now. In midfield like Lucas now, they had rookie Denilson (who was in the Arsenal reserves the season before).
In that match, every body expected a Manchester United win, but, all though Manchester was superior in the game Arsenal unexpectedly won.
Thats normal in football.
Haha the old Owen and Neville sucker punches. Owen’s goal to deflect off his arse and a Cantona mask?
Brwah – Valencia has two goals in his last two games.
I take it those are the league stats, all they show is that in the same playing time their stats are similar. For instance in the next four league games Valencia could score two and create another two which would mean that he is “statistically more effective” and then in the next game Kuyt could get an assist to make them the same and then in the next game after that Kuyt could get fouled more and this would apparently swing the title of “most effective” back in his favour.
It’s just using whatever set of stats suit his argument at whatever exact moment in time to make an inane worthless point that can be ripped apart due to its inconsistencies and unfairness. For it to be a fair analysis, and to be fair to JK he did say any of United’s right sided players so he didn’t single Valencia out, you would have to combine all of the stats for each person who has started on the right for United. Seeing as Valencia is pretty equal on his own then I’m sure that would at least balance it out.
I’d just like to add for the record that unless you can prove some substantial difference with stats and crucially you can place them in the context they are in then they are pretty meaningless.
On paper N’Gog’s injury time goal in the 4-0 win over Stoke means the same as Macheda’s injury time goal against Villa last season. I’ll leave you to draw your own conclusions from that!
Either way, Giggsy has been by far the most creative midfielder on either side. Hell he could have only played the City game and the 4000 chances he created probably will edge it.
“clean sheets is the principal way to judge a goalkeeper’s effectiveness, is it not?”
FFS get a grip! my intelligence is too insulted to even explain how daft that statement was.
Guys. My prediction for this match is 1-1 or 1-2 to United. If i’m correct is there a price? First of all, united must play their game.
Hey guys – Some of you were annoyed by my prediction of an ‘almost guaranteed win’, but I was right: we won, and I knew we would win.
The victory doesn’t really mean anything at this stage (in terms of the league) but it’s a good platform on which to build.
It doesn’t mean anything? Don’t you mean it means you’re statistically more effective than us? =D