5 May 2013

Confirmed LFC Lineup vs. Everton

Liverpool face Everton at Anfield this afternoon, and a win would put the Reds only two points behind their bitter rivals, and perfect position from which to mount a final charge to overtake the Toffees in the Premier League table. Can the club do it?

After the 6-0 drubbing of Newcastle last week, the team basically picks itself.

CONFIRMED TEAM

------------------ Reina

Johnson ----- Carra --- Agger ------ Enrique

----------------- Lucas

----------- Gerrard -- Henderson

----- Downing ----------- Coutinho

--------------- Sturridge

It's 14 years since Everton won at Anfield, so the odds are heavily in Liverpool's favour, but Reds legend Jan Molby has warned his old team not to expect a Newcastle-like capitulation. He told the Liverpool Echo:

"Everton certainly won’t stand off and let us play like Newcastle did. They will have noticed the problems Liverpool have had dealing with crosses into the box, and they also know that Liverpool like to play it out from the back and will press high up the pitch.

"What will be crucial is Liverpool’s ability to get the ball to their better players. If Everton fail to stop the service to the likes of Daniel Sturridge, Philippe Coutinho and Steven Gerrard then I expect Liverpool to win. It will certainly be a different type of experience for Coutinho".


Given his size, Everton will probably target Coutinho and try and physically hassle him out of the game. This happened on several occasions earlier this season to Raheem Sterling and Suso, but as he showed against Newcastle, the Brazilian is capable of mixing-it physically, and I'm sure he'll be prepared.

Predicting a 2-1 win, LFC legend Mark Lawrenson told the BBC:

"From Everton's point of view, because they have to win, I think Moyes might go for it and open the game up a little. But Liverpool will be full of confidence and I think they will edge it".

Lawro and Molby rarely get their predictions right, so let's hope that changes this week (!)

Liverpool showed last week that the team can perform without Luis Suarez, and I fully expect that to continue this week with a win against Everton. Sturridge will love being the go-to guy up front, and he'll be desperate to show that he can be the main main in Suarez's absence.



NOTE: Please stick to the Comment Policy (Click to read)


83 comments:

  1. liverpool4life56512:36 pm, May 05, 2013

    Good team!:) hopefully get the win!:)

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  2. Will Coutinho play CAM or LW?

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  3. Jones, Assaidi, Coates, Shelvey, Suso, Skrtel, Borini

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  4. liverpool4life56512:41 pm, May 05, 2013

    Hopefully LW because fellani may take him out in the CAM role lol :)

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  5. hes going to play lw looking on that formation, but we will surely see him often right behind sturridge he likes to get there.. :)

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  6. Yeah I was thinking that, can't imagine Coutinho fighting with fellani for the ball haha

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  7. thanks dude, wheres wisdom? he deserves the benchplace more than Coates...

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  8. Yeah I was thinking that can't see coutinho muscling fellani off the ball haha

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  9. Ideally he's not an option off the bench. He'd be used if there's an injury or something, so I wouldn't be surprised if he was playing some youth/reserve football like Shelvey was lately.

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  10. But coutinho was brilliant as a cm his best performance and looks his best position, amazing through balls, id play him again there even if fellaini is a beast for him

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  11. youre right

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  12. same team hopefully same formation and in our wildest same result as newcastle come on you reds

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  13. NonEventHorizon1:09 pm, May 05, 2013

    Come on you redmen! Think it's going to be a high scoring game

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  14. Two of our five midfield players in this lineup are complete deadwood for any team with top four ambitions. Depressing to think how low have we fallen since 2008-2009.

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  15. I guess that's Downing and Henderson? At least have some sort of substance in your baseless comment.

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  16. If you have guessed those two players to be Downing and Henderson, that comment does not seem to be that low on basis.

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  17. I didn't really guess, I knew - Because they are the type of players typical, living in the past, nothing is ever good enough people like you pick on. Henderson has been very good, he has been consistent. Get your whole head out. Pessimism should always be allowed, but fans like yourself who make comments like that are just unnecessary baggage.

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  18. So how is pessimism different from "comments like that"?

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  19. where the hell is the composure...

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  20. ffs sturridge, why didnt you shoot!!!!

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  21. I think we've been the better side in the first half. This one is a bit quiet for a derby, though.


    Sturridge disappointed me slightly early on, when he made a few poor decisions concerning his passes and their accuracy. Had he done better on some instance, which he obviously can, we might be a goal or two up.


    How Fellaini is still on the pitch is beyond me, though. The head is one of the most vulnerable parts of the human body, much unlike an arm for instance. How he is getting away with elbowing his opponents into the head beggars belief. He clearly tries to injure others. No-one wants to see that on a football pitch. There are children watching, too, who may now think that it is all right to elbow others in the face, despite this being very violent indeed.

    Should the Football Association show any sort of consistency, Fellaini will be in hot water and get a five match ban for the elbow on Agger alone, at least.

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  22. so far so good at least rodgers will be able to use the word fantastic without it being over praise because imo gerrard as been outstanding hes everywhere hendos putting in another very good shift as well the only way i could see us changing the line up is maybe borini for sturridge and assaidi for downing for maybe the last 20 mins,come on

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  23. whilst not wanting to defend fellaini come on it is football and believe it or not it is a contact sport or at least used to be;-)

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  24. and then add the gerrard elbow on top of that. the guy is an agro mug. it's like all that hair traps the heat in his head and he can't vent the anger out.

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  25. it may be a contact sport, but intentional elbows to the head are pathetic and grubby.

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  26. farout, our players just over-think everything when they get in goal scoring positions sometimes....

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  27. zero quality on offer, from either team.

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  28. a sloppy, lazy game from two teams with little quality and nothing to play for.

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  29. Yep, and there was another one on Skrtel, too. I can only repeat myself when asking "How does he get away with this?".

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  30. he's a f**king c**t.

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  31. I don't think that hitting one's elbow in the face of an opponent is part of FOOTball. Has nothing to do with "contact sport" or not.

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  32. press conference from BR: "I think 4 clean sheets in a row is a fantastic effort. our defence was outstanding today. very unlucky not to win. our composure in the derby atmosphere was brilliant".

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  33. That alone should not explain why he is getting away with it, though.

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  34. Especially Enrique at full back, he was constantly making the wrong choice in their half.

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  35. Mike Aitcheson4:28 pm, May 05, 2013

    One thing we do know- we need a proper predator. Sturridge isn't an out and out goalscorer yet, takes too many touches when he should hit it first time, and shoots when there's better options on.
    He will improve, bur we need a 2 chances 1 goal type of finisher

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  36. Mike Aitcheson4:29 pm, May 05, 2013

    Imagine if Suarez had done that.

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  37. I really hope we get Remy or Benteke. I agree Sturridge was off today but generally the team was flat with Stevie being more quiet than usual !

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  38. Pessimism shouldn't be allowed, realism should be encouraged.
    Pessimism for pessimism's sake is as destructive and asinine as detached optimism.

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  39. I think the general lack of quality from either side in this game served as a good distillation of both sides' disappointing and middling seasons and damning proof of our joint status as pretenders for the top 4 crown (oh and what an illustrious crown it is!).
    One of the poorest derbies I can remember for a while.
    Neither side really deserved to win, though we were the better side.
    Crap refereeing when it mattered (with Everton getting screwed by the ref again) which is getting tiresome, even as a Liverpool fan and it more often than not is an error in our favour.
    Sturridge had some good hold up play, but looks utterly bereft of ideas (or conversely blessed with an overwhelming sense of opportunity) when he has time to think about what to do.
    Coutinho showed his class at times but Gerrard was the one today. His tackling was immense and his passing, though somewhat erratic, really deserved more of an impact on the game. Agger had a more solid game than he has in recent history (decent last week too).
    Johnson has been shite second half of the season. I was hoping, judging by his form up until January, that he finally matured, but he can never keep it going until May. I don't know if that is because we usually have nothing to play for in the league by now.

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  40. Simple. Every news outlet would run it as their main story by now, asking the FA/Prime Minister/Army to intervene and get him out of Britain. Our club would be branded as 'classless' amongst other things.

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  41. never a truer word spoken.

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  42. I dont think anyone has a issue with contact Jason, but that doesn`t mean you can walk up to someone and punch them in the face for example. Tackles which are late etc are all to be expected. Pushing and shoving too, but elbows to the face should = a yellow card.

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  43. the games gone soft thats why theres is all diving now the forwards think they can chuck them selves to the ground and get a free kick ala the everton player today

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  44. lol it could be that we have nothing to play for apart from pride

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  45. cannot understand rodgers taking hendo off sometimes he really doe,s baffle me

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  46. Oh, please. Wheeling out the lame victim complex 'everyone is against Suarez' schtick again? :-) Poor, misunderstood Luis - such a model pro; everyone on his back and it's so undeserved (!)

    Fellaini deserves criticism but he is not even in the same universe as Suarez when it comes to controversy.

    If Suarez elbowed someone, he'd deservedly be censured for it, and he'd deservedly get more stick for it because of his LONG history of negative behaviour.

    Whether you're a career criminal or a footballer with a long history of infractions, you will be treated more harshly every time you do something wrong.

    That is life. That is the way the world works, and acting like it's unfair is just self-deception. It amazes me that fans still wheel out this baseless argument when it's so obvious why Suarez would be treated in a more harsh manner.

    It doesn't matter if it's fair or not; it's reality, and past history is always taken into account, which is why it's clearly ridiculous to take umbrage when players with no history of negative incident get treated less harshly than Suarez.

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  47. sorry m8 did you watch the sme game as me gerrard was different class

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  48. as long as fsg get a few bucks who cares some fans love fsg more than the club

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  49. It's different because you're living in a different world. Rafa is no longer our manager, we no longer have a squad full of Gerrard's, Alonso's etc. Pessimism could be as simple as "We will not win this game today". On the other hand you are just sniping players.

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  50. AndWithSuchSimplicity11:31 pm, May 05, 2013

    I think we missed Suarez.......... ;)

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  51. agreed that the games gone soft. You can now get sent off for intention, which means you dont even need to make contact if it looks like it would have been bad if you did, whats that about?

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  52. lol, of course not!

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  53. its amazing last week tiote manhandled johnson and stamped on sturridge, today twice fellani elbowed players but both times there was barely a mention in the aftermath. If that had been suarez we'd have sent him to guantanamo!

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  54. That's what you are indirectly referring to, don't deny it - because you took shots at two of our players. How "low" we have fallen is a mere opinion.

    Anyways I'm just defending Henderson who has been one of our better players this season, no doubt. You just refuse to see that. You're too stuck up. You make good contributions to this site, but in terms of this discussion I'm done talking to you.

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  55. You got me wrong there, Jaimie. I never said that Suaréz is a model pro, and I didn't say that a ban against him for biting an opponent was undeserved.

    I don't know why you want to measure Fellaini's controversy against Suaréz's. Hitting the opponent into the face with an elbow, repeatedly, is a sending off offence in itself. Why does Fellaini get away with it? That was my question. Do you have any answer for that?

    As Fellaini does it time and again, I would like to think that this kind of behaviour from him could be branded as a "LONG history of negative behaviour", too. Only, why doesn't it?


    Fellaini doesn't get treated for it AT ALL. It is all right then for him to elbow opponent players in the face. No, I don't get it. That way he will never learn that this is very dangerous and violent, indeed.

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  56. It actually should be a red card.

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  57. The Everton players seemed to be in a diving contest yesterday. Many of them hauled themselves to the ground after no to minimal contact. Don't know what Moyes thinks about this.

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  58. it does not matter because its not suarez

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  59. the rules are a shambols what one rf sees as intent another lets go

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  60. How can you compare Fellaini to Suarez? Suarez has done a wide variety of heinous things spanning years, which is totally different to Fellaini's occasional elbow, something that many, many players do. It's not acceptable, but it's clearly not in the same league as Suarez when it comes to negative incident.

    Fans are always trying to lessen Suarez's antics by comparing them to other other players, and that's wrong IMO, and trying to make out that Fellaini is some longstanding elbow menace to society in a bid to compare him to Suarez is clearly stretching.

    When Fellaini stamps/bites/dives/cheats/admits cheating in public/boasts about cheating in public/repeatedly brings his club into disrepute/gets banned for 19 games, then we'll talk :-)

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  61. think this is a good idea, i dont think a terrible tackle should go unpunished just because the other player hurdles it or you touch the ball. you gain an advantage from the other player avoiding you so they lose the ball = foul (gerrard pen vs sheff utd).

    Also, (taking to the extreme) what if a player attempts a punch or kick and misses? is that not a red just because he missed? or a leg breaking tackle that gets a bit of ball? the game doesnt need these premadonna's getting upset and kicking out.



    the game is indeed soft and these players are an embarassment, glad to see most of the players yday getting straight back up after big tackles.

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  62. (1) How can "how low we have fallen" be a mere opinion if we have gone from title races and Champions League semifinals with players like Alonso and Mascherano to not even being able to mount a challenge for top four and having players like Henderson and Downing? That is simply a nonsense;
    (2) I did not say Henderson did not make progress this season, or that he has not been better than some other players. I said he and Downing are complete deadwood for any team with TOP FOUR ambitions.

    You have continuously shown in this discussion a tendency to twist my words or to not pay attention to them so that you could fit in your views. Thanks for finally concluding such discussion.

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  63. Coutinho and Lucas ( yes Hendo and Downing) appears good for lower end teams, but for teams of Top10 we need Bentekes and Diakite who can run through the opponents. Poor game, and IMHO (sorry) this game seems rigged!The urgency Liverpool played last 5 min should have been played in the beginning. Clean sheets, a point and over praising seem to be the hallmark of LFC now.Shame!

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  64. It's during games like these when you see how much we miss Suarez. Coutinho has the same ability to cut open defences but the Toon's shambles of a defence is a different story to that of Everton. Moyes has them setup very well and they're difficult to beat. Suarez's genius was sorely missed yesterday so I can only hope we get a kind draw for the first six matches of next season.

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  65. 1) You highlight the 08/09 season as if it was the pinnacle of the clubs success. If you said "how low we have fallen since the 80's" then I wouldn't have disagreed with much of what you said. This downfall has not been down to two players though, there have been so many contributing factors.

    2) Henderson has proved countless people wrong this season, and he will continue to do so. Although I agree with Downing, if Henderson is deadwood, what is the rest of the squad? Henderson and Downing have been targeted by fans with similar opinions to that of yourself for being big money flops, and it was no surprise that you singled out those two players. Henderson isn't deadwood, and I never stated/implied that you didn't say he didn't improve or anything, so you're being a bit contradictory there.

    3) I read every comment as well as I can and I know you are a good contributor to this site. I have not intentionally twisted any of your views, nor am I implying that I'm right and you're wrong. However if you say something like "Henderson is deadwood" - it's hard not to feel a negative connotation with that statement.

    Finally, with reference to a relatively successful 08/09 season, in my opinion, it seems that you're just reminiscing about bygone times were LFC were the biggest and the best. If you compare any successful season in the past to this season, or this decade even, then I'm going to factor in the owners, managers, players etc of those two compared seasons. That's why I mentioned Rafa and Alonso, and you mentioned Mascherano. Is that not a fair way of analysing things?

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  66. Ok, then let us look at what Fellaini did, without taking into consideration what Suaréz or any other player did. It's not a contest about who's worst or most unfair.

    Fellaini elbowed THREE of our players yesterday ALONE. In one single match. That's THREE absolutely unsporting, violent incidents in one single match. It should be obvious that this is, as you say, occasional. I don't follow that player or his club closely at all, but my guess would be that he does it in other matches, too. Maybe not as often as yesterday, maybe even more often.

    This should not be tolerated at all. Elbowing an opponent in the face is, I am pretty sure about this, a red card offence. Doing it once is. So that's three red cards for him yesterday. Where's the public uproar?



    So, Fellaini's actions merited three red cards yesterday. Let's be generous, give him only a one match ban for the first one, three for the second one and five for the third. That would make a handsome nine match ban. No, I don't think he brings his club into disrepute at all. He brings the game into disrepute. I know that he is not the only one who does it, but he did it in a match against the team I happen to support. I am merely upset, and shocked, that it seems to be all right for many people, some of them even supporters of our own club, for him to get away with it.



    I don't see the point in letting Fellaini, or any other violent player, get away with it. That we have a player on our books who doesn't seem to know how to behave is an entirely different matter and should not be put into that equation. Should we not be upset by things like that only because we have a villain worse than Fellaini on our books? Wouldn't that be hypocritical? It appears to me that some people seem to argue along the lines "Oh, we've got Suaréz and he racially abused another player and bit another one, so our opponents are entitled to do to our players whatever they like." I don't think this is, or should be, how rules in football should be interpreted, at all.

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  67. (1) I never said that downfall has been only due to the loss of the two players. I said we have fallen from having the team of 2008-2009 to the team that is content with watching Jordan Henderson and Stewart Downing. I just noted a fact.
    (2) Again: I did not say Henderson and Downing are deadwood, I said they are deadwood for a team with top four ambitions.
    (3) I understand my direct and sometimes unpopular statements result in negative reactions from fans who like to feel optimistic, but my view has always been that fans should not only be praising, supporting and defending their team and its players, but also be analytical and critical, especially when it comes down to maintaining standards and expectations high for a club like Liverpool. Becoming in tune with the official website's continuous propaganda articles of underachieving players "progressing" and "aiming for more" bears the risk of actually becoming a club of that kind of players.

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  68. People can have pessimistic views, that's fine, likewise realist views. I agree with the original idea that we have fallen since the 08/09 season. I said it was opinion, however I stand corrected, I guess it is a fact. But IMO Tornike just took an easy shot at two players. It's easy to compare any successful season to this current season. Easy to differentiate world class Alonso to promising Henderson isn't it?

    And statements such as "How low we have fallen since 08" just encapsulates the negativity on this site. Sorry it's 2013 not the 70's/80's, or in fact 2008. It's an opportunity to take an easy and sly shot at any current managers or players - and that's how I interpreted Tornike's comments.

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  69. Well I totally agree with your third point. I'm not all optimism, far from out, but it's just the way I interpreted your original comments which sparked my reaction. Again totally agree with that third point. I now see where you are coming from with reference to 08/09 season, and the club in general.

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  70. The self portrait whispered the idea into his ear

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  71. And I totally understand your point of standing in for players who you believe have the potential to become good enough for achieving the goals of the club.

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  72. and rodgers agreed because he had never seen a better looking man

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  73. Always the victims . . . . . It's never your fault ????

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  74. Unfortunately the "brilliant" reply one "Gazzaroo" wrote has been deleted. I wish to reply to it anyway.

    Yes, Gazzaroo, it actually is not my fault at all that Fellaini elbowed three of our players. How could it be. I am neither remote controlling him, nor am I pulling the strings to move this puppet.

    And no, I personally was not a victim of his violent behaviour, and never claimed so.

    The way you suggest that it could have been my fault that Fellaini did that and that I am a victim of his violence makes me wonder whether or not you suffer from paranoia.

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  75. didn't the skrtel substitution baffle you at all ,crazy when you want to win the derby

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  76. not really but i would have took carragher off and let skrtel and agger get game time again together carras not going to be here next season so why give him all the game time as the season is over

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  77. i agree with you on that but if i want to win the derby i would have brought in another attacker assaidi or shelvey and go for three points,its not like downing is lighting up the pitch either ,if only the goal everton scored had stood maybe he might have tried to win the home game coz that's what i wanted from BR.

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