Liverpool F.c.

[StevieH]

i tend not to mind so long as you can hear the crowd noise. almost every co-commentator is not worth hearing anyway.

[Jimjim]

Don't they have the dual commentary like before where you can choose English or Thai if you are watching on UBC/True? I watched the Champions League Final (can't believe it's been so long ago) on Channel 3 or 7 but with English commentary. But it was also on the same channel in Thai. Anyway....

Bellamy to start? Will Carroll start? I think we know the back 5 (with Reina), at least I would think. Don't think he'll pick Carra for sentiment.

Then I'm going with Downing, Gerrard, Adam and Kuyt with Suarez and Bellamy up front.

Downing has been disappointing but I think he's been improving of late. We'll see what happens. I think the only players who could either start on the pitch or on the bench are Carroll, Kuyt, Henderson, Downing and Bellamy. But I would think he's just got to start Bellamy but you never know. But I think it will be 3 of those 5 to fill in on the wings and up front.

That's what I reckon. C'mon Liverpool! Excited for this, very excited...

[StevieH]

i think we'll start with carroll, suarez and downing up top with gerrard, adam + one from henderson and spearing in the middle. bellamy to come on as an impact sub, kuyt similar.

really looking forward to it and gutted not to be back home to take my first ever trip to the new anfield south. load of mates are going and i'm jealous.

[Jimjim]

Yeah wish I could be there as well. One of these days...

[MrRed]

i think we'll start with carroll, suarez and downing up top with gerrard, adam + one from henderson and spearing in the middle. bellamy to come on as an impact sub, kuyt similar.

really looking forward to it and gutted not to be back home to take my first ever trip to the new anfield south. load of mates are going and i'm jealous.

I can tell you Stevie it is not a patch on the good old days,no character about the place anymore FAnically cleansed

[StevieH]

i think we'll start with carroll, suarez and downing up top with gerrard, adam + one from henderson and spearing in the middle. bellamy to come on as an impact sub, kuyt similar.

really looking forward to it and gutted not to be back home to take my first ever trip to the new anfield south. load of mates are going and i'm jealous.

I can tell you Stevie it is not a patch on the good old days,no character about the place anymore FAnically cleansed

oh am sure that's true mate, but the buzz is the day out regardless. according to a mate the lack of restricted views is a bonus. the lack of ale on sale and over the top security are not.

[R123]

Good luck Liverpool today for the cup final as its' in effect England vs Wales and many of us will be supporting the English team, By the way :if Liverpool do not win decisively I hope all their supporters with be suitably embarassed and ashamed as its' its a top premiership team against what is in effect a second tier outfit.

Edited February 26, 2012 by R123

[Jimjim]

It's a cup final. Anything can happen! but we are favorites, obviously, let's win it lads!

[StevieH]

disrespecting your opponents in a cup final is folly. cardiff are there on merit, they'll be totally up for it and mackay seems to have them pretty organised. i'll take any win thanks. though ideally not extra time as it'll finish bloody late enough as it is here.

[wellred]

Hope Stevie G gets his hands on the Carling Cup. Come on your Reds!!!! YNWA

[MrRed]

To be honest i would just like to see Suaraz play a game without diving and complaining.And may the best team win.

Something tells me the connection with Bellamy and Cardiff will have something to do with it1

[StevieH]

To be honest i would just like to see Suaraz play a game without diving and complaining

bless.

apparently: reina, johnson, skrtel, agger, enrique, henderson, adam, gerrard, downing, suarez, carroll.

[SantiSuk]

I don't do penalties so I've switched off and gone to bed! [Actually I don't normally do the Carling Cup but that was an interesting match for the neutral]. Good luck to both teams

[nellyp]

Unbelievable. Cardiff totally blew that. What rubbish penalties. Stewart Downing I apologise to you, you had a wicked game. Thank you, good evening and goodnight....May your God go with you, whoever, or what ever that may be

[spongeman]

Thank god Cardiff lost after the way their fans treated Suarez, they deserved to go out in the worst way possible.

Hopefully they wont get promotion either.

[nellyp]

Thank god Cardiff lost after the way their fans treated Suarez, they deserved to go out in the worst way possible.

Hopefully they wont get promotion either.

Let's face facts here, Suarez will get "the treatment" wherever and whoever he plays. He can look forward to it for as long as fans think about it, believe me Suarez baiting will be the new default for opposing fans for quite a while. I think Cardiff played a good game but doubt they will get promoted. By the way do you think all Cardiff fans were baiting him or just the "idiot few", as we always claim when our fans do something that is picked up on?

[Jimjim]

Anyway else been in hospital after that match?

Wow, talk about doing it the hard way. We created a lot of chances but again, story of our season, failed to finish enough of them.

Delighted of course with a cup win though! I really thought after Adam's penalty it was all over. Unbelievable.

I think the penalties were poor overall but all players were just dead after a frenetic 120 minutes.

What a match, what a match.

Can't believe how it's played out. Thought Kuyt had won it for sure and then Cardiff show fight to take it to penalties. Wow!

After all that, and the celebrations that will go on, I worry about our match next week. Not going to be easy, surely, and probably really gonna be a tough one coming back from the euphoria of this one. Everyone will be exhausted. Anyway, just thinking ahead...

[Jimjim]

Also I really feel for the other Gerrard, from Cardiff. What a heartbreaking way to lose a match, and to your cousin!

[StevieH]

thought cardiff were fantastic, they were really unlucky. we can play a lot better than that and need to between now and may though. delighted with a cup though and delighted for kenny.

[StevieH]

and here's charlie adam's penalty:

[MrRed]

Roll up Roll up.....Can't wait to see who you will be signing....Comolli the Clown.Carroll must be worried now then.

Give us a clue Stevie do you know what he is going on about?

Liverpool's Carling Cup triumph will encourage the interest of top players around Europe looking to join the club in the summer, according to director of football Damien Comolli.

The Reds beat Cardiff in a penalty shoot-out on Sunday to lift their first piece of silverware in six years and guarantee a place in the UEFA Europa League next season.

Comolli believes that success was a crucial step in the "project" at Anfield as the club continues its turnaround following John Henry's takeover in 2010.

And the Reds chief claims Liverpool's ongoing revival under Kenny Dalglish has already caught the eye of several high-profile players from around Europe.

Positive

"We already know that there are big players who want to join us next summer because they believe in the project," Comolli told Sky Sports.

"Everybody in Europe knows what Liverpool football club are trying to do.

"Obviously the fact that we're back playing in Europe and we've won the trophy, it's all positive things.

"There's a very positive vibe around the club around Europe. A lot players I know are very interested about joining the project because it's a very interesting project."

Edited February 27, 2012 by MrRed

[StevieH]

i honestly don't really care about what commoli says. he's pretty irrelevant and those are all just bog standard soundbites.

[carmine]

Interesting question as posed on a football website yesterday;

You just won the carling cup. Congratulations on that btw. Do you now consider the season a success? A brief look at the table shows a top four is still very possible so do you feel that it would only constitute a successful season if you also finished top four?

[StevieH]

Interesting question as posed on a football website yesterday;

You just won the carling cup. Congratulations on that btw. Do you now consider the season a success? A brief look at the table shows a top four is still very possible so do you feel that it would only constitute a successful season if you also finished top four?

i think it's a bit of a closed question that since by definition two of the bigger clubs at the top of the table have to miss out on champions league football.

think any season which involves a cup final and a trophy should be considered a success really. what's more enjoyable, a big day out at wembley and a dramatic cup win or finishing fourth and then going out in the first round group stages of the champions league? to me one is about memories and the other about money.

[carmine]

Interesting question as posed on a football website yesterday;

You just won the carling cup. Congratulations on that btw. Do you now consider the season a success? A brief look at the table shows a top four is still very possible so do you feel that it would only constitute a successful season if you also finished top four?

i think it's a bit of a closed question that since by definition two of the bigger clubs at the top of the table have to miss out on champions league football.

think any season which involves a cup final and a trophy should be considered a success really. what's more enjoyable, a big day out at wembley and a dramatic cup win or finishing fourth and then going out in the first round group stages of the champions league? to me one is about memories and the other about money.

I'd say winning silverware constitutes success and adds to the enjoyment of the fans too. But then theres the owners view that might argue that success constitutes the 25m gained by CL group qualification.

The sad fact is that the modern game is so dominated by money.

[StevieH]

Interesting question as posed on a football website yesterday;

You just won the carling cup. Congratulations on that btw. Do you now consider the season a success? A brief look at the table shows a top four is still very possible so do you feel that it would only constitute a successful season if you also finished top four?

i think it's a bit of a closed question that since by definition two of the bigger clubs at the top of the table have to miss out on champions league football.

think any season which involves a cup final and a trophy should be considered a success really. what's more enjoyable, a big day out at wembley and a dramatic cup win or finishing fourth and then going out in the first round group stages of the champions league? to me one is about memories and the other about money.

I'd say winning silverware constitutes success and adds to the enjoyment of the fans too. But then theres the owners view that might argue that success constitutes the 25m gained by CL group qualification.

The sad fact is that the modern game is so dominated by money.

yeah, it is sad. though the football fan in me says that the owners can fuc_k off if that's their attitude. we've already had one bunch of owners who saw liverpool as nothing but a financial plaything to be milked to their demands. football's about winning stuff, always has been, always will be. not coming fourth.

[carmine]

These franchise owners use the clubs as a cash cow. But the football fan still loves the wembley day out, the whole occasion. We were massively up for our carling final with chelsea in 2008.

My wish for a top four finish stems purely from a fans perspective. I simply wanted the experience of seeing my team play the likes of Madrid, Milan and Inter. Whilst he is a fan, i doubt Mr Levy looks at it in the same vein.

[Jimjim]

They've found Charlie Adam's ball!

[Devil]

Interesting question as posed on a football website yesterday;

You just won the carling cup. Congratulations on that btw. Do you now consider the season a success? A brief look at the table shows a top four is still very possible so do you feel that it would only constitute a successful season if you also finished top four?

Even though it's still mathematically possible to clinch 4th I don't think we will, sadly. Seems to me Arsenal and Chelsea might have just found their form for the run in and Arsenal have goals in them and more to come.

I know most fans wanted and was expecting a top four finish at the start of the season and so I think many will think it was a failure if we don't. Personally I think this team needs another season with a few added additions to compete consistently over a season for 4th.

The Carling Cup win was great and if you watched the post match interviews of the players it shows this meant a great deal to the likes of Kuyt, Reina, Agger who have been at the club 6yrs or so and yet they don't have much to show for it. Then you have Skrytel and the new boys who have never been involved in a final before.

I think it's the perfect warm up for the FA Cup - We have as good as chance as anyone now to make it all the way and seem to be up for the cup games. For me two domestic cups and Europa place is a massive success from where we were at only a short spell ago - CL can wait a year.

"Bastion of Invincibility" Liverpool Football Club.

[StevieH]

I know most fans wanted and was expecting a top four finish at the start of the season and so I think many will think it was a failure if we don't. Personally I think this team needs another season with a few added additions to compete consistently over a season for 4th.

goalposts have moved now, it's much more difficult to get a top four spot and therefore pretty silly to 'expect' one imo. four or five years ago the top four was united, liverpool, arsenal and chelsea. no debates, no arguments. then city got money, liverpool, chelsea and arsenal had their problems, and spurs emerged too. now it's a defined six so someone's got to miss out. definitely changes the expectation levels.