LOLiverpooLOL

[Harry Carry]

"You'll never win the league again, sign on......"

Another trophyless season for Liverpool. With all that money they've spent in the last couple of years it's a joke they haven't won anything.

[FORSTERS_RIGHT_FOOT]

Theres always next year...

and the year after, year after that etc etc

[AthleticoSpizz]

Liverpool being the new Chelsea

[Victor Meldrew]

"You'll never win the league again, sign on......"

Another trophyless season for Liverpool. With all that money they've spent in the last couple of years it's a joke they haven't won anything.

And they will finish above the ultimate big-spenders,Chelsea.
Never understood the "sign on" nonsense as if there is nobody on the dole in the south.
BTW I wonder if a team at the top level has ever gone through a season losing just two games and outscoring everybody else and not won the championship.

[Big Foot]

"You'll never win the league again, sign on......"

Another trophyless season for Liverpool. With all that money they've spent in the last couple of years it's a joke they haven't won anything.

And they will finish above the ultimate big-spenders,Chelsea.
Never understood the "sign on" nonsense as if there is nobody on the dole in the south.
BTW I wonder if a team at the top level has ever gone through a season losing just two games and outscoring everybody else and not won the championship.

What if Liverpool aren't so fortunate with other teams injuries next season?

Gallas, Eduardo, Rosicky, Fabregas.

Rooney, Ronaldo, Ferdinand, Hargreaves.

Essien, Joe Cole, Drogba.

This has been Liverpool's only real shot at the title in years and they've bottled it in the smaller games against the small teams and that's a FACT

[AthleticoSpizz]

Chelsea v Hull City

[Victor Meldrew]

"You'll never win the league again, sign on......"

Another trophyless season for Liverpool. With all that money they've spent in the last couple of years it's a joke they haven't won anything.

And they will finish above the ultimate big-spenders,Chelsea.
Never understood the "sign on" nonsense as if there is nobody on the dole in the south.
BTW I wonder if a team at the top level has ever gone through a season losing just two games and outscoring everybody else and not won the championship.

What if Liverpool aren't so fortunate with other teams injuries next season?

Gallas, Eduardo, Rosicky, Fabregas.

Rooney, Ronaldo, Ferdinand, Hargreaves.

Essien, Joe Cole, Drogba.

This has been Liverpool's only real shot at the title in years and they've bottled it in the smaller games against the small teams and that's a FACT

You conveniently seem to have forgotten the number of games that Torres and Gerrard have missed through injury and would Hargreaves have got a game.
I'm very pleased with Liverpool's improvement and their best performance since The Premiership came into being-unfortunately it has taken them 17 years to join in but now they have got the hang of it who knows?

[Victor Meldrew]

"You'll never win the league again, sign on......"

Another trophyless season for Liverpool. With all that money they've spent in the last couple of years it's a joke they haven't won anything.

And they will finish above the ultimate big-spenders,Chelsea.
Never understood the "sign on" nonsense as if there is nobody on the dole in the south.
BTW I wonder if a team at the top level has ever gone through a season losing just two games and outscoring everybody else and not won the championship.

What if Liverpool aren't so fortunate with other teams injuries next season?

Gallas, Eduardo, Rosicky, Fabregas.

Rooney, Ronaldo, Ferdinand, Hargreaves.

Essien, Joe Cole, Drogba.

This has been Liverpool's only real shot at the title in years and they've bottled it in the smaller games against the small teams and that's a FACT

You are dead right about the smaller teams-Man Utd mirror their manager in that they bully and show no mercy to the smaller clubs but like all bullies don't always show up against their equals as witnessed by losing away and being embarrassed at home by Liverpool.

[cmonurz]

Liverpool's highest points total for 21 years. The team's failings are there for all to see - home wins against the likes of Fulham, West Ham and Stoke (who Liverpool didn't score against this season) would have made the final day an interesting one.

That said, I think it's hilarious that some (like Ideal) post such generalised crap about 'and that's why they can't beat United to the league title'. Titles are won and lost on small margins - it's funny that partisan Liverpool/United crap gets posted on a Reading messageboard.

Where Liverpool failed to beat some sides at home, they only lost twice all season. Likewise United did beat those smaller sides, but were done twice by a Liverpool side that Ferguson admits has improved hugely on last season.

The comments above about injuries are pointless, seen as Liverpool themselves were missing their two key players for big bunches of games (I think Gerrard and Torres only started 15 matches or so together).

United are deserving champions, not least for their ridiculous defensive performance over those 14 games.

It's just a little bit silly that United 'supporters' can't equally admit (and hope) that a Liverpool/United rivalry for the next few seasons looks well and truly on the cards. Exciting for me to see the two biggest clubs in the country fighting it out - it's not something I have seen at all, as United were shit in the 80s, and Liverpool in the 90s and most of the 00s, but that now looks a genuine prospect.

[Big Foot]

I'm sure Sir Alex is crying into his 3 (and counting) trophies to show for this year's graft.

Britain's best ever club manager

[Big Foot]

Chelsea v Hull City

Don't care one jot for Chelsea or any other team bar Reading my old mukka.

Just have a deep rooted hatred for LFC

This is an example of why

"18 League Titles, 5 European Cups, 3 UEFA Cups, 3 Super Cups, 7 FA Cups, 7 League Cups. STILL the best team in England. YNWA JFT96"

Self pity city

[cmonurz]

I think it's hilarious that some (like Ideal) post such generalised crap

Oh yeah, so you're telling me it's not true then? It's not true that Manchester United buy less players of higher quality, while Liverpool sign more players - but those are players of lower quality?
You are taking ignorance to a whole new level.

Top scorers in the country, and a general agreement that Liverpool played attacking football that was brilliant to watch for the second half of the season. And iirc, Riera plays on the right, and he is considered to have been a very good buy indeed. On that basis, yes, I'd say 'shitty tactics and no right winger' was untrue.

As for the purchases, whilst Benitez has bought a lot of mediocre players, he has also bought much of the current team, which includes Reina, Skrtel, Mascherano, Alonso (I think), Riera, Kuyt and Torres, all of whom could be considered to be very good buys (personally I also rate Agger and Benayoun).

So again, I think your exact statement was untrue. Benitez has made some good buys. That's not ignorance.

Also worth pointing out that Benitez, who starts from a lower base than Ferguson, may have £30m to spend in a summer, and when he looks at his squad, decides than spaffing that on one striker (he got Torres for £20m which proved a better buy than Berbatov imho) isn't all that sensible.

Just my opinions.

[Terminal Boardom]

I think it's hilarious that some (like Ideal) post such generalised crap

Oh yeah, so you're telling me it's not true then? It's not true that Manchester United buy less players of higher quality, while Liverpool sign more players - but those are players of lower quality?
You are taking ignorance to a whole new level.

Errr... Robbie Keane?

OK, just one example. Also, the commentator in the WBA -v- Liverpool game actually came out with some sense. He stated that the key difference was the strength in depth betwenn Liverpool and Man Utd.

[Victor Meldrew]

I think you obviously don't know your history here.

I will happily list Liverpool's transfer history with regards to mediocrities for you again if you want me to, and if you insist on ignoring previous history we can start in 2004 when Benitez took over.

Djibril Cisse Auxerre £ 14000000 01-07-2004
Josemi Malaga £ 2000000 27-07-2004
Luis Garcia Barcelona £ 6000000 01-08-2004
Antonio Nunez Real Madrid Swap 17-08-2004 (valued £3.5M)
Fernando Morientes Real Madrid £ 6300000 13-01-2005
Scott Carson Leeds £ 750000 21-01-2005
Mark Gonzalez Albacete £ 4500000 04-07-2005
Antonio Barragan Seville Signed 04-07-2005
Mohamed Sissoko Valencia £ 5600000 13-07-2005
Jan Kromkamp Villarreal Swap 04-01-2006 (Valued £3.5M)
Daniel Agger Brondby £ 5800000 12-01-2006
Craig Bellamy Blackburn £ 6000000 22-06-2006
Gabriel Paletta Banfield £ 2000000 01-07-200
Jermaine Pennant Birmingham £ 6700000 26-07-2006
Alvaro Arbeloa Deportivo £ 2600000 31-01-2007
Andrea Dossena Udinese £ 7000000 04-07-2008
Diego Cavalieri Palmeiras £ 3500000 11-07-2008
David Ngog Paris St-G. £ 1500000 24-07-2008

Honestly, would you not rather sign two £35~40 million rated players rather than that load of crap there..? Cause that looks like 70~80 million pounds if you add it up quickly.

And, then you can think about how Houllier spent:
Vegard Heggem Rosenborg £ 3500000 21-07-1998
Jean-Michel Ferri Istanbulspor £ 1700000 06-01-1999
Frode Kippe Lillestrom £ 700000 06-01-1999
Rigobert Song Salernitana £ 2600000 22-01-1999
Djimi Traore Laval £ 550000 17-02-1999
Titi Camara Marseille £ 2600000 02-06-1999
Sander Westerveld Vitesse Arn. £ 4000000 15-06-1999
Vladimir Smicer Lens £ 4200000 01-07-1999
Emile Heskey Leicester £ 11000000 10-03-2000
Markus Babbel B Munich Signed 01-06-2000
Bernard Diomede Auxerre £ 3000000 08-06-2000
Nick Barmby Everton £ 6000000 18-07-2000
Christian Ziege Middlesbro £ 5500000 25-08-2000
Gregory Vignal Montpellier £ 500000 23-09-2000
Daniel Sjolund West Ham £ 1000000 30-11-2000
Igor Biscan Dyn. Zagreb £ 5500000 07-12-2000
Chris Kirkland Coventry £ 6000000 31-08-2001
Milan Baros Banik Ostrava £ 3600000 23-12-2001
Abel Xavier Everton £ 800000 30-01-2002
El Hadji Diouf Lens £ 10000000 25-06-20
Bruno Cheyrou Lille £ 3700000 01-07-2002
Anthony Le Tallec Le Havre Signed 01-07-2002 (£7 million?)
Florent Sinama Pongolle Le Havre Signed 01-07-2002 (£6.2 million?)
Salif Diao Sedan £ 5000000 06-08-2002
Steve Finnan Fulham £ 3500000 01-07-2003
Harry Kewell Leeds £ 5000000 09-07-2003

Then you can think about how Benitez went to the media and moaned last week, that Liverpool had not spent enough money and that was why they could not compete with United.

I think the fact of the matter is they have spent TONS of money, but they have spent it on SHIT players, which is all down to the managers they've had, and Benitez is in fact part responsible for wasting millions upon millions of pounds.

Just out of interest do you have a listing of Man Utd signings since Juan Sebastian Veron and details of the fees brought in as well over the same period?

[FORSTERS_RIGHT_FOOT]

Veron wasnt exactly shit TBH.

Veron -------------------------------> N'Gog

[Deathy]

"You'll never win the league again, sign on......"

Another trophyless season for Liverpool. With all that money they've spent in the last couple of years it's a joke they haven't won anything.

@ you'll never win the European Cup or be half the club Liverpool are and were.

[Victor Meldrew]

I think you'll find it an uphill struggle to convince anyone that Liverpool have not made a lot more and a lot less successful signings the last 10 years than what Manchester United have. You'll find that Liverpool have in fact signed about 4x-5x as many players during this time.

I don't think many people would argue with you but I had hoped that you might out of interest have the Man Utd details as quickly available as you did those for Liverpool.

[cmonurz]

Ferguson does have a remarkable record in the transfer market. From soccerbase, signings in the last 5 years:

Van Der Sar
N'Galula
Rooney
Park
Foster
Evra
Vidic
Carrick
Hargreaves
Anderson
Nani
Kuszczak
Tevez
Manucho
Berbatov
Tosic
De Laet

[Scylla]

Given that Ferguson is arguably the most successful manager of all time in English football it isn't a great surprise that his transfer record is really quite good

[Big Foot]

http://www.transferleague.co.uk/

The table below represents the clubs net spend per season from the beginning of season 04/05 to date. This was the season that Rapha Benitez became Liverpool manager. Purchases is the total spent on buying players, sold is the total received from the sale of players and Nett equals the Purchased minus Sold giving a total of the money spend on players.

The per season column gives an average of the money spend in each season in the corresponding period season 04/05 to date

# Net Spend 04 - 09 Purchased Sold Nett Per Season

1 Chelsea £248,450,000 £117,300,000 £131,150,000 £26,230,000
2 Manchester City £171,020,000 £49,900,000 £121,120,000 £24,224,000
3 Liverpool £212,490,000 £102,030,000 £110,460,000 £22,092,000
4 Tottenham £235,500,000 £137,250,000 £98,250,000 £19,650,000
5 Manchester United £169,450,000 £76,050,000 £93,400,000 £18,680,000


...and that's a FACT!