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harper0481

Listed below are comments made by harper0481 between Sunday, 10th May 2009 and Wednesday, 25th November 2009.

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Benitez under spotlight after Champions League exit 10:08pm on 25 Nov 2009 So, this is what Liverpool have come to. Three years without a trophy, and half way through a fourth year with only two realistic chances of silverware left, 'consolation cups' at that. A club that is now quite happy to regard top 4 as achievement. A club that is quite happy to tolerate a manager who has won just 2 of the last 11 games.

Benitez is very clever at deflecting attention away from himself, blaming Fergie/injuries/bad luck/American owners for the mess, but how long before the blinkered Liverpool die-hards and his friends in the media wake up and see the truth? People should stop talking about his net spend and reflect on the fact that he has spent in excess of £200m putting together a squad that is now totally his own work, and is packed largely with players that are not good enough for Premier League football let alone Champions League. The very fact that players like Lucas and Voronin actually play for Liverpool Football Club is a scandal, and it is all down to him.

Let's hope this CL exit drops the price of the club, leads to a Middle Eastern takeover and the sacking of an extremely over-rated, uninspiring manager so Liverpool can start afresh.
Benitez faces biggest test 12:34pm on 21 Oct 2009 Benitez has had more than a fair crack at it. Please can someone justify to me how Liverpool's squad right now is any better than that which Houllier left behind in 2004? Back then it was Hyppia, Gerrard and Owen holding it all together with the rest of the squad simply not good enough. The only difference now is that you can substitute Hyppia and Owen for Carra and Torres. For Traore read Dossena, for Cheyrou read Lucas. Could list more but haven't got the energy.

10 years, 2 average managers, £339m spent and are we really any further forward? NO. At least Roy Evans demanded decent football, if little else. Liverpool fans demand, and deserve, better!
My Old Familiar FriendBrendan Benson 00:30am on 24 Sep 2009 Another rubbish review that can't seem to get away from the fact that Jack White was once done the honour of working with Brendan Benson - and not vice versa. Lazy, lazy journalism. Poor.

Another slice of brilliance from the most criminally ignored songwriter of the past 15 years.
Owen worth Man Utd gamble 9:13pm on 03 Jul 2009 Impossible to say with any degree of absolute certainty how this one is going to turn out for United and Fergie.

They need to flog Owen senseless in pre season and take it from there. If he gets back in to tip top condition then that's the first battle won.

Then you have the second part of the conundrum - how much does Owen actually give two hoots? It's hard to tell from last season at Newcastle whether his listless performances were down to not really being interested anymore, or because physically he was still not at his best. If the latter then that can be worked on but if the former then I think they have got problems.

Only time will tell, but Owen's obsession with being an England player again and breaking Bobby Charlton's scoring record may just swing this Fergie's way.......
Brazil - youth, power, and a distaste for the passing game 11:32am on 26 Jun 2009 Nice article Tim, but can't agree with the sentiment. I think this Brazil side is a shadow of the team that went to the last World Cup and even less compared to the wonderful side that won in 2002.

Kaka and Robinho remain the only truly world class attacking talents. Fabiano would have been nowhere near the previous squads I have mentioned, neither would Elano. It's also too early for Pato right now.

There is also a gaping chasm at left back - no player in the Maicon or Alves class there. Centre halves are ok but nothing more. If Lucio gets injured they are struggling next year.

But the clincher for me is centre midfield. Every modern World Cup winning Brazil side has had a top class 'holding' midfielder - Dunga 94, Emerson 2002. This position is integral to their success with the system they play - full backs charging on etc. I see not one player who can play this role for them next year to the level required, and for that reason and all the others mentioned I see quarter finals at best.

The winners will come from Europe this time as Argentina are also struggling under Maradona. Spain are obvious favourites, but Germany, Holland and England will all fare well.
Fixture and frettings 6:26pm on 18 Jun 2009 United can't and won't be able to replace a guaranteed 30 goals and 15-20 assists a season now Ronaldo has gone. They also have a large rebuilding job to do on their centre midfield. Carrick is the best of an either injury prone, too old or average bunch (Hargreaves, Scholes and Anderson respectively). Yet despite all this they will still be top two because of the fear factor of 3 consecutive titles.

Can't understand those backing Chelsea - they have put another lame duck in charge in terms of winning the league. 1 title in 8 years at Milan, even without Juventus in Serie A for two of those years, says it all. Ancelotti's remit is to win the CL and that he will probably do. What he won't do is reduce the average age of an aging squad and Chelsea will finish 3rd again.

Arsenal will continue to be much of a muchness, they'll go on an 18 match unbeaten run against cannon fodder as usual then choke the big games.

Liverpool are going the right way by signing Glen Johnson. One more signing in the forward positions and they are pretty much there. Even if it is by default for United being a little bit weaker.

My money's on it going back to Anfield............
Liverpool on road to glory 11:52am on 10 May 2009 Forgive me for not sharing the optimism displayed by some fellow Liverpool fans here. The one common trend in the Benitez era has always been that we tend to finish the season very strongly - so what's new this season? Yes ok, we've done it with a bit more style than usual but the fact remains that once again we are looking back to results between November and January (mostly at home) that have cost us dearly.

The reason for this is the manager's baffling perseverence with non-footballers (I'm sorry, I can't think of more apt words to describe them) such as Lucas, Dossena, Ngog, El Zhar. I think someone mentioned the 'what if' regarding Gerrard and Torres being fit for more of the season and that's just it - you know you can't rely on them being fit for 35+ games, so you should focus on improving the squad players that I have just mentioned so that when they aren't there, you cope. We could go spend big money on Villa, Etoo, Barry in the summer but while these players are still at the club, we still won't quite be good enough.

On the plus side it has been a pleasure to watch the likes of Benayoun, Mascherano, Skrtel and Alonso really push on this season and I hope they can sustain that into next year.

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