OTF

Obertan with a brain?

I think you have to wonder where Anita will fit in to a first team 11 if he does sign. For me at the moment the logical place would be at left back, with a switch for Santon to the right. Simpson would then revert to being cover if he can't be offloaded. There is talk of defensive midfield being Anita's preferred position but with Tiote filling that role admirably Anita would be second choice there. Whilst Tiote is away he could deputise there i suppose. This to me could spell the end of our interest in Debuchy. I know he's a right back, but with Santon being predominantly right sided I think he'd do a better job defensively if switched - really only played left back because of Enrique's sale. We do, of course, still have goal-line clearance specialist Simpson, who although limited still gives his all for the cause when on the pitch.

Conceding the goals is the worst part, given it was our current first team defense that started.

Where's the stat on the comparison for price? 2222 sideways/backwards passes. Do you think any Liverpool supporters actually watched Swansea play last season? Excluding their own games, highly doubtful.

English sides in AU I would say Manchester United are the most popular, then Liverpool, then Arsenal, Chelsea. There's a fair number of Newcastle supporters here too. Man City's numbers will grow as a result of their succe$$, naturally.

You'll not suvive in the media with that kind of rumour downplaying. Selling the shirts would be the most profitable part I would reckon. [/probably wrong]

Has been an excellent Olympics so far. Where has this Great Britain been in the past? Making me proud to be part of the Commonwealth!

Former Australian (Russian born) pole vaulter (insert innuendo). Won ilver in Sydney.

Could they make the Europa Cup trophy look any moer second rate? That said it is of midget launching proportions.

It has been a slow window for us so far - which I'm not really complaining about as we haven't lost anyone of note, have pickedup a few pounds and lessened our wage bill. The seeming stalemate regarding Debuchy is frustrating but I have a feeling that it's not all we'll hear about that one - Lille seemingly trying to squeeze some moer money out and Ashley stubbornly sticking to his guns. As the window closes I think we'll se him go somewhere - hopefully to us. Calm before the storm? There hasn't been a lot of conjecture about any of our high profile players leaving, but does anyone think that some will? The forum has become a little nit-picky with the lack of activity... bring on the season!

'twas decent. My favourite part of the clip was Shola's penalty appeal to stretch to sock pullup transitions. Cool as fuck.

Obertan scored

List of cheeses. Feta Edam Gouda Swiss Cheddar Stilton Brie Blue Halloumi Cream various others

Officially rejected apparently. Lille playing hard ball, Big Mike won't be happy.

Perch is very limited. Got some confidence out of some excellent cameos in a central mid closer role where he didn't have any marking responsibilities. He sensibly worked the percentage passes. I would never have a player like that starting unless there was a couple of injuries, but the way he played in stages last season made him a valuable member of the squad. I also still think he is poor at marking.

He has a good scoring record across his relatively short career. He was more or less talked into being out of form in the latter part of the season. He does appear to have hot and cold periods though, early on here he looked very poor. Towards the end of the year he was very good at holding the ball up. Scoring wise he came close on a lot of occassions, the difference being good keeping or a few inches. The mounting pressure on him to score is where we saw some of his very few poor performances where he took the wrong option trying to score speculators from distance instead of making the pass. IMO certainly makes sense for us to keep him at least the rest of this season.

Ba has just turned 27. In his time with us he has shown absolutely no signs of having any injury issues. In theory he cost us nothing, in practise that figure is 3-4M. In practise then selling him for 7M would have turned a profit of 3-4 million, or slightly more than we got for Best who was frequently injured for us and is now injured and out for months. So for 3-4 we would need to replace a goal scorer with a proven record across multiple leagues and teams who put us in the position to kick on and have an excellent season in the first half of the year by scoring more than a dozen goals.

Because they could have had him for free 12 months ago.

Down to what? £3mil?

Not odd if they didn't actually want him and just want to make it look like they are willing to spend to their supporters?

Worse than the 19M would be the wages that he would expect. I don't think you can force a player to go out on loan, so if he ultimately doesn't want to go to West Ham then they won't be able to send him and he'll stay at Liverpool. They could try to force him out by not playing him but that would surely just lower his price on the market. Ultimately I wouldn't want him to go to West Ham because I think that he will make them a vastly superior side compared to what they are now. Price wise it's crazy that West Ham aren't scoffing at the asking price AND the wages.

Have seen him play in 5 or 6 games. Not a lot granted, but it's the seeds that were planted in those games. Despite what I've said I've not entirely written him off, as as you've noted he has not has a consistent run of games and that could really improve his decision making. I think in our side though that type of player could be a bit of a luxury as he's not a good tackler and doesn't appear to have a great engine. Happy for him to show otherwise.

Dawson is shite, Cisse and Ba should be able to exploit that if there's space around.

They're a top side, let's have no confusion about that. This is no easy game. A win would be fantastic but I wouldn't be overly disappointed with a draw as long as we play our own game.

Talented for certain, but his demeanour, professionalism and focus look like being his biggest stumbling blocks. The price he went to Liverpool for, couplded with the fact that he was injured at the time heaped too much pressure on him. As others have said the move he makes next will be a telling one in his career. If he was serious about football he could well make West Ham work for him as they would be willing to build their attack around him which would give him ample opportunity to re-prove himself, but all said and done I don't think he'll go there and will end up still at Liverpool at the end of the window.