As soon as I heard that Agger went off and was replaced by Nick the Greek, I had a feeling something would happen 2nd half. Still, not using that as an excuse. You guys upped the tempo 2nd half and it paid off with 2 quick goals. We couldn't match it and only got back into the game after the penalty, but you lot were still in the ascendency.







After your 2nd goal went in, I thought that was it then, back to being e and expected you to go on to put another couple of goals on the board.







After it was 2-2, the game just seemed to labour on till full time. I would have thought that would have been the kick up the ar$e that we needed to get back into it, but we just couldn't replicate what we did in the 1st half.

Agreed....Torres is crying out for assistance up front, and I don't mean just sticking Gerrard up there with him when available.....Torres looked great in the 1st half, but in the second he began to look like the frustrated figure he has for most of the season, his petulant kick at Neville summed this up.

Liverpool aren't one or two players away from competing for the title like they think they are. They are more like 12 or 13 players away. I reckon personally it would benefit them more to sell Torres now while he's still marketable and use that to rebuild the squad. Obviously they won't be allowed to do that because of pressure from the fans but I don't see much quality in that squad bar Reina, Gerrard and Torres certainly not a squad that can be fixed with the one or two players their transfer funds will enable them to get.

12 to 13 players my backside.

To compete with United, Chelsea, Arsenal and City.



You go first, name the players in your squad who are good enough to be first team starters in a team capable of winning the Premier League.

I cannot stress how poor I thought Dirk Kuyt was today. Everton changed because Baines finally cottoned on that Dirk Kuyt provided absolutely no threat for us whatsoever. His touch was an absolute disgrace, the amount of times balls were played down the left, only for Dirk to get outran, defied belief. He works his nuts off, but he offers so little on the field, if we had any player with relative pace, we'd've had Baines pinned right back as the space was there for most of the second half, but we didn't, we left Babel on the bench when he really could have made a difference. Another couple of points: our midfield was non-existent, Lucas and Spearing just hidden in possession, they offered absolutely nothing, whilst I felt Fellaini and Arteta looked too comfortable in possession when they got it.



Ultimately, we attacked better in ways, Rodriguez, Torres and Meireles looked good, Martin Kelly was outstanding (can't believe Newton produced such a player) and Johnson kept Everton's right flank quiet, but, ultimately, we lacked composure, we lacked crisp quality and we lacked pace.

You need to stop being obsessed with Liverpool and start worrying about your own team.



You had the ascendency to go on and win the derby today against a Liverpool team that was poor in the 2nd half......you didn't.

You don't need a squad of 25 worthy starters, but we ultimately need more players.



Players good enough: Reina, Torres, Agger, Gerrard.



Borderline/players on form that are good enough: Johnson, Skrtel, Rodriguez, Meireles.



Whilst we have a few young players like Shelvey, Pacheco and Kelly that should be deemed good enough as squad players.



Still, a vast array of players are needed here.

Starters?...



Renia

Agger

Carragher

Gerrard

Torres



I make that six fresh faces.

Sorry mate but I don't think Carragher would get into any of the top 4s teams these days. Lion hearted defender who made up for his failings with his positioning and commitment however these days even that isn't enough. Agger has personally never convinced me but Liverpool fans seem to rate him. I hear Fernando looked a lot better today? Has he given up on finding a move this month?



Liverpool need a huge overhaul, one that can't be started until Kenny either gets the job full time or they make a proper appointment. Liverpool need another 9-10 or decent players to be in a position to push for the title. Probably 7 or 8 for the top 4.

That's the thing, mate, we don't need a permanent manager to be here to make it happen. Comolli's appointment was made so the club can have a consistent vision that won't change with the managers that come in; to bring consistency and a persistent vision from manager to manager. Every manager that takes over will know the set of players he has, if he doesn't want them, he effs off or he creates a stronger understanding with Comolli.

You obviously see more of him than me but I just don't get it with Skrtel. Although I was shouted down when you signed him I stick by my opinion that Rodriguez is too inconsistent and not a 'Liverpool player'.

Rodriguez isn't great, but, at the moment, he's our best wide player. He can pass quite well, he moves well and he plays either flank.



Skrtel is a bit of an enigma, there have been times where he's been unbelievably good, so good I named him along Vidic & Carvalho as the league's best a while back, but since then he's had a few injuries and never returned to that level. His biggest weakness has been an inability to defend set pieces, that has been exploited more than anything over the past 18 months and he's never really recovered.



Still, during 07/08 when he first came in, and 08/09, he was top drawer. He had everything, decent speed, height, a good head, passing and consistency, but since then he's never returned to those heights, but I still think he can be good enough.

Would be unusual to see a team let a manager who is only with them for supposedly 6 months rip the whole thing up and start again? It needs doing but surely it needs a gaffer who is going to be around for at least a year.

Can they afford to wait though? It's a difficult situation to be in. At this rate, they could be relegated, and if not, they might not be able to attract any decent players next season if they narrowly miss out. I suppose being a big club will count for them, no matter what some people say, they are still that.

It won't be Dalglish making the choices in their entirety. Take a look at our squad and it's quite average, but we have a top 5/6 wage bill, so the decision to get rid of some big earners will obviously be the first choice. But, it isn't the manager that will be ripping things apart, it will be Comolli as he's the one who will be dictating the direction of the club, the manager will be the one that makes sure that direction is being fulfilled by coaching the players and getting results with the players he has.

Madrid can only draw, Barcelona 3-0 and it's not even half time.

Yeah but a manager has a vision for his side. Theres no use Kenny/Comolli starting the overhaul now only for prospective candidates to disagree with the moves they have made. I can see this stop gap appointment being very costly for Liverpool. They badly need a run of form to get out of the dogfight they are slipping into. Best thing they could do is go get their guy now and begin the process. Otherwise the current pairing could start things only for the new guy to disagree and effectively spend a transfer window tidying up.

As far as I can see it, the new manager will not be a manager in the traditional sense....Basically, Comolli will structure the playing staff as he sees fit, probably have the final say on signings and then the manager, whoever that turns out to be, will do with the situation what he can.



Any prospective manager will surely be made aware of this during their application, which would make any disagreements they were to have in the future, pretty naive and futile?

Possibly. I'd guess that would take most top managers out of the running for the job then? Be interesting to see how it all plays out.

my thought exactly

That's bollox Rob. They're all . Wouldn't get near any of the top teams. Well..maybe Skrtel.

I actually thought that Johnson was ok today.....Maybe taking him out of his comfort zone at right back has forced him to concentrate 100% on his game??.....

Rovers seem to be trying to get as far away from BFS style of football as they can,they're still after Rochina from Barca and now they're linked with Victor Vasquez from them aswell.