Nibs

They do seem to have good striker options at the moment though and will be even better off when Van Persie returns

You seem to be a bit obsessed with Gobber Rijkaard Brian. I think (and hope) you're completely wrong on this one.

I wouldn't. For one I could never like the bloke after the "Gobbing incident" and wouldn't want him at Chelsea. But more importantly, he has a squad of players who should really be walking away with the Spanish League and yet they are now 8 points behing Madrid.

Don't want to stick up for Grant as I'm still not convinced he's the guy for us long term. But having said that, I won't accept those slagging Grant off for this one. The 4-1 drubbing aside, our games against Liverpool have always been very tight and pretty dull affairs and Benitez got the better of Jose more often than any of us would have liked. So lets not have any of this"Jose would have won that", because the record books will tell you he probably wouldn't have. There is a better than evens chance that Jose would also have played Lampard yesterday as Lamps was clearly one of the"untouchables" and frankly if he could walk he would be selected!! We just have to accept that Liverpool set out to not give our players time on the ball and they did it very well. Mascherano was MOTM and was absolutely everywhere. No one really had any time on the ball and the passing was dreadful for most of the 90 minutes. I wouldn't have selected Lamps yesterday. With him, Maka and Ballack in midfield it just doesn't flow well. And Ballack should always start as captain when JT is out because when he wears the skipper's armband, it seems to bring out the best in him. It never has done much for Lamp's game. I do think Grant got the substitutions right, it is just a shame that Malouda rarely makes any significant contribution. On a day when most of our players were poor, he was poorer still. SWP showed 1 or 2 great touches bringing the ball under control and then straight away ran into 2 or 3 defenders. The more I watch SWP, the more I feel his games relies on the element of luck. "If I run at the defender I might just go past him - there again I might not". Very hit & miss. At least Joe does have an idea of what he's doing, but yesterday it just wasn't happening and I was very disappointed with the fall in the box looking for a penalty. There will be plenty of twists & turns yet, but it goes without saying, we cannot perform as badly as that again and hope to come away with any silverware. Got a couple of Spurs fans at work today getting quite cocky about their chances now on the 24th having watch us yesterday.

Dull game where very few chances were created. Pretty similar to most of our games with them during the Jose era to be honest. We could have scraped a 1-0 if that Ballack chance had gone in. All our creative players were pretty well nullified to be honest. Did Malouda come on? Have to say Mascherano was immense for them today.

A day where defenders won hands down. Alex for me.

That really pissed me off too. Total morons And the complete w**kers that failed to observe the minutes silence - the ref cut it short because of them. Unbelievable. As for Ashley getting stick though - after his recent off the field activity, he is gonna get that wherever he goes for a fair while now. Frankly, he deserves it.

Joe, Bentley and Rooney were the pick of the bunch for me. Joe looked dangerous all the time he was getting the ball, but I'm glad he came off early so he can be fresh for the weekend and the mousers.

So true Gem. Read this earlier today and this too made me feel really sad......... After Duncan’s death, Gladstone (his father) left his job at the ironworks to be a gardener in the cemetery. “His job was just to sweep up the leaves,” Sarah Anne once said, “but really I think he wanted to be close to Duncan.”

That's an easy one..... Mike, you seem to have Lionel Messi mixed up with some old has been.

Perhaps it is a bit early to make judgements on Malouda, but so far he has been very disappointing to say the least. I guess the goal he scored in the Charity Shield, when he got away from Man Utd defenders, set our expectations? Since then he has done little of note - the pass for Joe's recent goal being the obvious exception. Can't see him retaing his place when the others are back and available - he just hasn't done enough to warrant a starting 11 place.

Don't think you will get too many arguements there Brian, other than perhaps from the occassional poster known as Valim, who seems to rate Malouda more than the rest of us put together!!

Why not accept that he is the best player in the world and ignore his other follies. Deep down inside you know that you would have been glad if he was a Chelsea player. Ther isnot any shame in accepting what that kid has got. He's a damn good player, yes, but I would not want him at Chelsea. I hate him.

Which is a shame, because at times, on the left they looked quite threatening. Not at all convinced though by Malouda. Shows little flashes here and there but he seems like the sort of player who does one good thing per game and thinks that enough. He need to start producing a lot more and was rightly subbed for another below standard performance. As for Ashley, I don't think he was terrible. Thought he was actually gonna get on the score sheet at one point. But there is little difference between him and Bridgey defensively - the difference being that Bridge is much better getting forward and a much better crosser of the ball. Good to see the stick Cole got from the Pompey fans and rightly so. "Where's your Cheryl gone"? Blimey, even Bridge wouldn't have got as much stick as that and they hate him!!

Moos, you really do talk some bollox at times Sure, Joe wasn't great today, but he still created a fair number of chances and of course laid on the goal. You seem to want him to get the ball and then get rid of it straight away. Creative players aren't supposed to play that way. Sometimes he will keep play the simple pass and do a little give and go. But other times he will take a defender on and that often means not getting rid of the ball within a second of receiving it. A number of times today you could see that he was trying to work the ball into a better position to get a decent ball into the box rather than put in early when there was no-one there. Have a go at Cole by all means when he has a bad game, but today he did create a fair bit and the criticism just isn't justified. SWP wound me up at times today. Often ran into a lot of players and hit a few dreadful balls. But he also did a fair bit of good stuff - especially the challenge on Defoe that probably prevented a goal and that's why I won't slag him off - course I know he tried his best.

I'd agree with that Loz. We should have off-loaded Sheva and Pizza and got Defoe. Defoe and Anelka up front would be a real handful. He could have had 3 or 4 today and was really lively in the second half. And someone again explain why we let Diarra go again? He was class today. But then we all knew that

This is a great game of football. Defoe should have had a hat-trick and SWP was so close. Diarra also showing us why we should never have let him go. COME ON CHELSEA!!!

Bollocks. Are centre backs got mugged there.

As I was saying!!!

I thought we've looked okay(ish). Could have easily scored a couple and have kept Pompey fairly quiet. What I do like is the way we break at speed nowadays. With SWP, Joe, Anelka and Malouda + both full backs bombing forward, we look a lot quicker than we have done in the past. Fingers crossed and a 1-0 will do me again - especially if Spurs can keep up the good work.

What makes you say that G4? Even if fit, surely others offer a lot, lot more. Beckham can knock in a good ball - that will never be in question. But that is pretty much where his contribution ends. He cannot go past a defender these days and is not a great tackler either. Surely now SWP, Lennon - even play Joe on the right rather than the left are much better bets than the once good Beckam.

Despite the fact he plays for Man Utd, you really do have to admire the player. Okay, he may go down too easily. I also saw someone post recently that he has gone missing in the really big games - CL semi final v's Milan and cup final against us last year. Fair point, although many top players struggle in such big games as they are often such cagey affairs. But you have to say he is exceptional and just seems to be getting better and better and the scarey thing is that he is still only 22. Take him away from the current Man Utd side and you would seriously weaken them. I cannot think of another player - certainly not of that age, who performs to that sort of level more or less every game. Who is good with both feet, great in the air, has unbelievable pace and hits unstoppable free kicks. Just bloody glad he doesn't play for the other northern club who play in red. We can but hope he gets injured, but in the meantime the only silver cloud is all the points he is earning as captain of my fantasy football team (but there again, every other bugger has got him )

We're playing some excellant stuff tonight. Great move and good goal by Ballack. And Joe is having a stormer. As the song goes "He's here, he's there..................

NOT all good news though. They have landed Hutton from Rangers

Your prayers were answered Superdan