Had to rush off and actually play the game last night - 6-3 and through to the final Get In!
"Also, not trying to sound harsh but if you don't know Del Piero still plays football"
That was a joke.
"@IdleRich: What Gattuso lacks in shooting (not like he needs that anyway, where he plays) he makes up for ten-fold in other areas of the pitch. Like I say, he's a refined Gerrard."
I think that Gerrard does everything Gattuso does and more.
"Is it my memory, or was he meant to be the key player in a side that was massacred 7-1 in the Champions League Q-Fs last season?"
I always thought that was a bit unfair, at the end of that game they were saying "Totti went missing" but he's the striker for fuck's sake, what was he supposed to do, get back and prevent them scoring all the goals or just score eight himself? But I do think that highlights the difference, he basically could have no bearing on that match, he simply wasn't in it by dint of position, that can't happen for a central midfielder
"And the point about Alonso and Mascherano isn't that they're necessarily better players, but if Liverpool are to become a tight, consistant, title-winning team then they're best off with those two in the middle and Gerrard on the right where he can play his game without as many repurcussions."
Have Liverpool got better since Mascherano joined though? I would say no. They're already out of the running for the league and struggling in the championship.
"If you hit the post, you have missed. In what way is hitting the post unlucky? It doesn't change which team is best, it reveals which team is best."
I think that there is an element of good or bad luck in the hitting of the post but if you're too obtuse to grasp that let's take a different example. Suppose that the referee makes a scandalous decision and gives a penalty incorrectly, the team who are gifted the penalty score it and the other team has a goal wrongly disallowed for offside, is the team that won the best because they had the skill to get the penalty? In your world it is, not in mine.
"Gerrard was playing the same balls into the box, making the same runs for one-twos, attempting the same shots, running down the same balls. However, the opposition dictate the outcome of these endeavors as much as he does. The defence was tighter, the blocking was better, the movement of Beckham, Lampard, Cole was non-existent. It is all about context."
Is that supposed to be an argument for Gerrard (et al) playing the same for country as for club? To me it just says that they played shit on Wednesday (no arguments from me), the point is that they don't do for their clubs. The defence was tighter than what? All the teams that Gerrard and the rest have done well against? You're seriously saying that Croatia's defence is better than Milan, Chelsea etc? Weird.