The Five Signings That Could Save Liverpool: £45m Worth of Players Analysed

Donavan Ried - November 6th, 2009 at 3:57 pm

“anonymous” STOP TALKING TO YOURSELF, your beginning to get funny looks ….. Please register and log in, would it not be better to see who is saying what to you?

Donavan Ried - November 6th, 2009 at 4:12 pm

I can understand why you saying Rudd and Silva, and maybe to some extent Tamir Cohen but why do we need another (basically) denfensive midfield player, Patrick Vieira or another defender Ryan Shawcros???? We need more attacking options a Quality Striker,Left winger and maybe even a Right winger……
Podolski, can play as a striker, or on the left…..
Bastian Schweinsteiger….. Can play right left, or in the middle,takes great freekicks, Beckham sytle crosser of the ball, scores goal and Podolski and Schweinsteiger knows how one another plays and link well together ….. Plus the added bonus is they are great friends so would help one another settle ….
Two quality players five options ….

znydz - November 6th, 2009 at 4:12 pm

LIverpool need reliable striker to pair up with torres…
Also need a good backup striker..

Ian-Rushs-Tash - November 6th, 2009 at 4:27 pm

or spend all the money on villa, and build a team around him
reina , gerrard, aqua, beni, torres !!!!
how does that sound?

Retryboy - November 6th, 2009 at 4:54 pm

Ha ha ha van kistaboy (ex manc who can’t play as the lone striker or in the hole and is ancient) viera (we have mascherano, lucas, spearing, plessis all defensive midfielders the absolute last signing we need is another one) shawcross (good player but we are well covered at centre back) cohen (think we have enough busy hard working players myself and forcing yourself into the bolton team is not difficult) silva (only player there i would have quality but better more achievable options) 5 signings that can save liverpool 1-nemeth 2-ayala 3-pacheco 4-kelly 5-darby these lads would make sure we never see the likes of degen, kyrgiakos, voronin, in times of injury, have quality cover for gerrard/torres and let carragher play at centre back where he is best in times of injury. Total cost-£0m just a bit less caution from mr cautious

Aquaman - November 6th, 2009 at 5:28 pm

1. Rudy: Probably won’t come, and also he’s a poacher. We don’t need a poacher. We need someone to play as “second” striker. Someone who plays a similar way to Rooney (if Keane had been willing to stay long enough to learn his role then he would have been great). Also NOT BLOODY VILLA!

2. Viera: Eh? Agree with Donavan. We need creativity in our midfield, not more defenders.

3: Shawcross: Would be brilliant for LFC (even though he was raised by the mancs) but tragic for Stoke. Obviously no one here cares about the latter, but I have a special place in my heart for Stoke so I don’t want this to happen. Europe for Stoke next season!

4. Silva: Brilliant, but not going to happen unless Rafa’s already got the deal done (which would explain his trip in the summer and the bizarre disappearance of Xabi’s transfer cash). Don’t think so though. Heh. If he has it’ll be great to see his crucifiers eat humble pie.

5: Cohen: His current form could just be a faze (much like Zaki at Wigan), but if he keeps it up I’ll have him.

Jed - November 6th, 2009 at 5:50 pm

nothing can save liverpool…and i’ve been saying this since the summer…can you all finally see that i was right and wasnt just trying to wind you all up?

Aquaman - November 6th, 2009 at 5:51 pm

Hmm. This is just in case anyone doesn’t already now my feelings on this topic and has subsequently misunderstood my post above.

When I said “Also NOT BLOODY VILLA” I not saying that Rudy isn’t Villa. I was saying that The someone that we need in “NOT BLOODY VILLA”.

Thank you for your time.

jimmyk - November 6th, 2009 at 5:57 pm

i actually think van horse face would be a great signing and bloody cheap. i would like to see him come to anfield, he would be another ’stop gap’ player but we all know what he is capable of, and with our budget he could give us an option of getting another midfielder or defender in.

p.s anonymous people are all bumders

znydz - November 6th, 2009 at 5:58 pm

Worth signing so far :-

Striker – torres . If torres injured, who’s gonna replace him? Need another good striker here.

Midfield – gerrard, aqua, benny, masch, riera, kuyt . They are all good. But if Most of them are injured at the same time, that will be a big problem. Need a good backup young player.. someone that can play creative.

Defend – agger, carra, sktrel, aurelio, johnson, insua . We got a pretty good line of defender. Unfortunately most of them injured/unfit.

Look at last season, we play nicely..Isn’t it?

We will strong again when all major player are able to play.
can’t wait to see :-

pepe reina
johnson-cara-agger-insua/aurelio
masch-aqua
kuyt-gerrard-riera/benny
torres

Aquaman - November 6th, 2009 at 5:58 pm

No, Jed the Troll, because we are Liverpool. We have the faith and belief instilled in us from our illustrious history to know that things will come right. Note also that we don’t find it necessary to rub salt in the wounds of our opponents because we only have to worry about them twice a season (or four times for chelsea, inevitably). You haven’t been watching all our games (or at least I expect that you haven’t after all I don’t watch chelsea, but I’ll take this back if I’m wrong) so you really don’t know what’s going on.

Your opinions are appreciated if they are informed, but otherwise we really don’t need to hear it.

Aquaman - November 6th, 2009 at 6:00 pm

Great post znydz. Agree fully

Donavan Ried - November 6th, 2009 at 6:07 pm

All hail THE CHOSEN ONE ….. I mate been a long time, how’s thing?….
Calvo…. Long time no hear …. Hope you are well

Ohhh Noooo! Jed’s back LOL

Donavan Ried - November 6th, 2009 at 6:21 pm

Aquaman – November 6th, 2009 at 5:51 pm ……..

“When I said “Also NOT BLOODY VILLA” I not saying that Rudy isn’t Villa. I was saying that The someone that we need in “NOT BLOODY VILLA”.” ……… STOP IT NOW …… I do the rants here not you lol ……

Aquaman – November 6th, 2009 at 6:00 pm ……..”Great post znydz. Agree fully” ….
Just who are you trying to fool? ….. you’ve just taken a fancy to young Znydz …..ME, my Avatar makes me look young, with out my false teeth, glass eye and wooden leg, i’m as old as dirt lol ….

No but reallt just because Villa plays great with Torres for Spain it do not mean that he is Torres’s ideal strike partner …….

Ryan Babel - November 6th, 2009 at 6:31 pm

ive read a few stories abouth the owners FINALLY realising that that need to take a risk and inject lots of money in jan, and they are also trying to find investment to inject 100M.
could do with shawcross instead of kyrgiakos,
Di maria
Elija Elia
Luis Suarez
all fast and skillfull.

Aquaman - November 6th, 2009 at 6:34 pm

He he. Sowwy Donavan. I’ll twy to be good now.

As far as Villa is concerned, I don’t think him and Torres work nearly as well as people say. Granted Villa’s international record is incredible, but Torres’ is pretty poor but gets a lot better when Villa isn’t there. I like Fernando scoring goals for fun and I’d rather not do anything that threatens to upset that record. By all means, buy another quality striker, but there’s something about Villa and Torres that just doesn’t sit right.

And as for znydz, you can calm down old man. I’m not trying to muscle in , just trying to encourage what I thought was a new poster (though in retrospect I think I remember seeing her back in my lurking days…)

Retryboy - November 6th, 2009 at 6:39 pm

Aquaman… keane would have been the ideal second striker but when we had injuries when he was at the club rafa refused to move stevie g back and play him there. He even played him left and right wing with a couple of token offerings in the role he best suited. Rafa never wanted him and did everything to prove that he didn’t fit into his system when clearly he could have done.

Calvo - November 6th, 2009 at 6:42 pm

Dont get me wrong Im not a Reds fan and neither am i a fan of Rafa but if you were to look at things clearly and through the eyes of the media you will see that the basics of you team are one the strongest…easily!

meant to say not through the eyes of the media…sorry!

Aquaman - November 6th, 2009 at 6:43 pm

Yeah, I know, Retryboy. I like to think that Rafa doesn’t do these things just to spite the players. Whether this is true or not we will never know for sure. Both scenarios are equally as likely to my mind, so I’m going with the one that I prefer (stone me).

Retryboy - November 6th, 2009 at 7:45 pm

The answers all lie within our own squad generate funds by selling itandje, degen, dossena, kyrgiakos, voronin recall nemeth, play babel on the right. 1st team Gk-reina RB-johnson LB-aurelio CB-carragher CB-agger DCM-mascherano CM-aquilani ACM-gerrard LM-benayoun RM-babel CF-torres back up team Gk-cavalieri RB-darby/kelly LB-insua CB-skrtel CB-ayala/kelly DCM-lucas/spearing/plessis CM-need to buy someone ACM/CF2-nemeth/kuyt/pacheco LM-riera RM-kuyt/el zhar CF-nemeth/ngog/ecclestone
Obviously we have a lot of players who can play different positions and in a normal injury situation would always be able to re-shuffle so experienced back up comes in insua, skrtel, lucas, kuyt, riera
Selling those players would generate about £15m would spend that on a young midfielder with attacking and linking qualities and a top class left back. All these things can be done and if the owners front up cash then great if not shouldn’t matter.

saif - November 6th, 2009 at 8:26 pm

ADO Den Haag
Before excelling in the ADO Den Haag youth team, he played for many amateur clubs. Elia made his professional debut in 2004 when he was just 17 years old. In that season he played 4 matches and scored one goal for ADO. But things went wrong when ADO Den Haag picked their new coach, Lex Schoenmaker. After some conflicts with Elia, FC Twente were fast to sign the player.

Elia with Twente[edit] FC Twente
Not only Twente were interested, but also Ajax were keen to sign him. But if he chose Ajax, he would first be loaned out to ADO Den Haag, and Elia didn’t have a chance of playing there. ADO were also relegated, and he did not want to play in the Jupiler League. Recently PSV Eindhoven has also made a bid for the player[1]. When he played for Twente, he was being recognised as one of the Eredivisie’s best players, being named Dutch Football Talent of the Year in 2009.

[edit] Hamburger SV
On 5 July 2009, Elia joined Hamburger SV on a five-year contract[2] and cost 8.5 million euro[3]. On 8 August 2009, Elia had his debut as a substitute in the first match of the season.

[edit] International career
Elia already began on the Netherlands U19 team in 2005, a year after his debute as a professional. He developed rapidly, and already in the beginning of 2006, he was selected for Netherlands U21. Elia was also selected by Bert van Marwijk for the senior national Dutch team’s friendly encounter with England. [4]

On September 5, 2009, Elia had his debut for Netherlands national team against Japan in a friendly match[5]. He came on at half-time replacing Arjen Robben. His first match for Oranje went very well, with Elia producing two assists in the 3-0 victory[6]. In just his second match, Elia scored the only goal against Scotland on September 9, 2009.

[7]

Retryboy - November 6th, 2009 at 9:39 pm

Could have just said its spelt eljero elia check wikipedia

Warren Bloggs - November 6th, 2009 at 10:07 pm

Evening Donovan, Aquaman, Retryboy and all.

Wow, a transfer article!! I always love these pointless suggestion’s, one of the best parts of this beutifull game: anticipating who your club will sign. Unfortunately, as optomistic as we always get our transfer window’s are gennerally less then exciting. However, i feel that due to our current ofrm and situation, coupled with Purslow’s fantastic worth of introducing so much more buisness to the club e.g. Standard Charter, 188, BMW; i really do feel that the owners will give Rafa some movement to bring in some fresh faces. Now, if this is the case the important thing is to make the RIGHT decisions, now more then ever. So what you do? Well seeing as everyone else has dabbed their hand i will make my own suggestions. Unfortunately it is anyone guess just how much the club would be willing to spend so i will have to estimate:

Now the suggestions: Van Nistelrooy, Viera, Shawcross, Silva and Cohen.

Well Van Nistelrooy is definetly not the answer, yes he is better than the likes of Voronin and has more experience then the likes of Ngog, but i would prefer us to go all out and sign Cassano of Sampdoria. Yes i agree that this is a far fetched suggestion but how good would we be with him behind Torres or even coming off the bench?! He would cost a fair bit though possibly around £20m?

Other poss. Pandev of Lazio, Keane of Spurs (joke),

Viera? So we have Masch, Lucas, Plessis, Spearing and even Gerrard is capable of playing defensive midfield, We are baren of renewed creativity and all of a sudden we need yet another anchorman?! Ludicrous.

Shawcross? Well this is interesting, along with Kjaer he is a defender i have wanted to see in a red shirt now for some time. Yes, he is an old manc but then again Owen was an ex-red! Yet i feel we are over-stocked in the defensive department and the winter window should see us focus on more attacking options. Poss in the summer?

Silva? Would be a good signing as he can play on the wing and as he does for Valencia, second-striker. Well, although he seems to be desired by just about every other Liverpool fan i would rather us explore other options. For me, Di Maria is the one player i truely crave at the club he will become one of the greatest players in the world and would give us a bucket load of creativity! Eljero Ellia is also a decent option and there are rumours doing the round of a possible swap deal between himself and Babel?

Options to consider: Silva (viable but expensive), Di Maria (make it happen), Ellia (wouldn’t complain if it happened, could be an improved Babel)

Cohen?? Well he has improved greatly but it is about time Liverpool fc look beyond the average over-acheivers of this world and start looking at real quality. Yes he would be a good squad player but with our extremely limited funds would it be sensible to spend it on the Bolton man?

poss options: Koman (rumours abound, good young player)

So what would i do????

Sell Voronin (i will have a cardiac arrest if he still a Liverpool player come the end of January), Dossena (thanks for the memories), Babel (i agree he should be played more regulary but if he doesn’t improve come January then he should be offloaded) etc.

Sign:

I want to see one or two big(ish) signings in January and my preffered signings would be Cassano and Di Maria although they would be incredibly expensive. If not then Ellia in exchange for someone like Voronin or Babel would be a good bit of buisness, i don’t think the likes of Van Nistelrooy, Cohen or Viera reallt are the answer (since when did Liverpool football club think so small!!). Koman would be a good young signing as would the likes of Shawcross and Kjaer yet they seem uneccesary at the moment, next summer yes.

Warren Bloggs - November 6th, 2009 at 10:21 pm

GERRARD: LFC HAS ‘EXCITING’ KIDS AT ACADEMY
Jimmy Rice 06 November 2009
Steven Gerrard believes there are several exciting prospects at the Academy who could one day take the Premier League by storm.
Not since Gerrard broke on to the scene in 1998 has Liverpool produced a world-class star.

The skipper, though, thinks all that could soon change as the new-look Academy led by Frank McParland and Kenny Dalglish looks to get players into Rafa Benitez’s first team.

He told FourFourTwo magazine: “Don’t forget Stephen Warnock, who’s been a great player for Blackburn and Villa. But yeah, it’s true (players haven’t come through).

“That’s why there have been a lot of changes at the club recently, because we want to see another Robbie Fowler, another Michael Owen, another Jamie Carragher coming through.

“But I’ve had a couple of chats to Kenny since he’s been back and he’s very excited about certain players.

“I won’t name them because that’s pressure the kids don’t need. Their only pressure should come from making sacrifices and pushing themselves hard to get into the first team.”

Donavan Ried - November 6th, 2009 at 10:43 pm

Warren Bloggs – November 6th, 2009 at 10:07 pm …….
Evening Warren Bloggs …… “I want to see one or two big(ish) signings in January and my preffered signings would be Cassano and Di Maria although they would be incredibly expensive. If not then Ellia in exchange for someone like Voronin or Babel would be a good bit of buisness, i don’t think the likes of Van Nistelrooy, Cohen or Viera reallt are the answer (since when did Liverpool football club think so small!!). Koman would be a good young signing as would the likes of Shawcross and Kjaer yet they seem uneccesary at the moment, next summer yes.” …….

Totally 100% behind what you have said here great call mate …….

Warren Bloggs - November 6th, 2009 at 10:52 pm

Thanks Donovan, i always respect your view..

Reds Lewis - November 6th, 2009 at 11:02 pm

As Liverpool fans we should all now know that benitez likes to take things…..slowly…

Lets be realistic.

We’d all like to see a huge influx of 4/5 players in January….but it just isnt going to happen.

So what do you guys think we really need?

A creative midfielder? a new striker?

I Think Aquilani will be terrific when he comes in and he will add creativity. Although Rafa is being very cautious with him….

As for a striker Id like to see somebody come in who is proven but not star-studded.

Somebody like Pavyluchenko, or Pandev.

Still with a good 3-4 years left in em, but a bit of experience too…and not too expensive.

Reds Lewis - November 6th, 2009 at 11:06 pm

Id also like to see Dossena and Moronin offloaded.

A combined sum of around 8-10 million for those two..beleive it or not….
Which could be invested in a decent striker or put towards a bigger named signing e.g Silva…

Note I am only using Silva as an example and I for one am certainly not on the David Silva bandwagon…
for a start….Riera cost us 11 milion (cit) and he starts over silva in the spain squad.

saif - November 6th, 2009 at 11:06 pm

if we get newowners them buy aguero silva adler iniesta and henry if not then buy koman honda di maria cassano and bring nemeth back from loan !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

saif - November 6th, 2009 at 11:09 pm

if we want a cheap stricker then buy huntelar he’s having a shocking time at milan and could come on the cheap

Reds Lewis - November 6th, 2009 at 11:35 pm

saif….u do talk some crap

Warren Bloggs - November 6th, 2009 at 11:36 pm

Saif and Lewis, Huntelaar and Pavluchenko respectively are great shouts (sorry for the fragment to tired to write properly). Although, i would prefer Pavluchenko to his dutch counterpart, simply because he is a more rounded player who can not only score himself but bring other in to play with his hold-up, as appose to Klass who i have always seen as being more of a poacher. Both are brilliant strikers but have faced a torrid time at their current clubs wither due to form or team selection. Roman has never been a favourite under ‘Arry and looks set to leave White Hart Lane especially if the Spurs boss looks to offload players in exchange for new faces. With Torres as our main striker and the likes of Pavluchenko and our young guns Ngog and Nemeth on the bench we would have better strength in depth. One more plus note to such a purchase is that would leave Rafa with relatively more money for that big signing, someone like Di Maria who i have spouted on about for some time…guys he really is the next big thing and i don’t know about you lot but i am sick and tired of the what if’ signings of the likes of CR9, Vidic, Anelka etc. Yes some were poached, some were even deemed uneccesary but enough is enough make it happen!

Warren Bloggs - November 6th, 2009 at 11:51 pm

Possible line-up, then:
Team 1 (if we were to sign Cassano)

…………………………………………….REINA………………………………………………
JOHNSON…………………..CARRA………AGGER………………………INSUA
………………………………………………….MASCHERANO…………………………..
BENNAYOUN………………………GERRARD………………………….DI MARIA
…………………………….CASSANO………………………………………………………..
…………………………………………………..TORRES……………………………………..

subs: Cavalieri, Skrtel, Aurelio, Lucas, Aquilani, Riera, Kuyt.

Team 2 (if we were to sign Pavluchenko)

…………………………………………….REINA………………………………………………
JOHNSON…………………..CARRA………AGGER………………………INSUA
………………………………………………….MASCHERANO…………………………..
BENNAYOUN………………………AQUILANI………………………….DI MARIA
…………………………….GERRARD………………………………………………………..
…………………………………………………..TORRES……………………………………..

subs: Cavalieri, Skrtel, Aurelio, Lucas, Riera, Kuyt, Pavluchenko

I know many of you will come out and slate me for my ‘imaginary’ line-up’s, but after all this is a ‘transfer rumour article’ therefore the whole purpose of this article is to extract everyone suggestions of poss future transfers or line-up’s etc. Yes this may never happen but its fun all the same, and you will have to agree just the two signings of Di Maria and Pavluchenko/ Cassano, along with all of our player fit we amediately look like we have more quality, and pace in depth.

Reds Lewis - November 6th, 2009 at 11:52 pm

Cheers Warren. Ive been banging on about Pavyluchenko for a while now.
I dont think he’d cost too much really….8-10m maybe? afterall hes 27.
Hes got 3 good years left in him probably at least…
As a member of the russian national team I belive he’l be wanting to upsticks come January…he isnt getting nearly enough appearances as he actually deserves.

Totenham paid i think 14 million for him so to bid 10 million wouldnt be ridiculous…..besides Totenham have keane,crouch and defo and …taraabt on loan to QPR who has been scoring for fun there.

Pav might want to stay in the Uk as opposed to Russia to avoid all the complications of moving back.

Warren Bloggs - November 6th, 2009 at 11:52 pm

*Benayoun

Reds Lewis - November 6th, 2009 at 11:55 pm

8-10 million could be easily raised via the sale of voronin and dossena and degen/plessis.

Reds Lewis - November 6th, 2009 at 11:58 pm

Also think we should be looking at seriously offloading voronin, dossena, degen, plessis….these guys are a dint in the wage book and dont really make an impact…for a combined sale of lets say 15 million we could spend 10 on pavyluchenko and put 5 million towards a decent defender as cover for RB…or 5 million into keeping the contracts of players like torres,gerrard,masch,agger,benayoun etc

dave - November 7th, 2009 at 12:03 am

reds lewis,you aswell seem mistaken that riera starts over silva for spain,riera was starting for spain due to david silva being injured.

Warren Bloggs - November 7th, 2009 at 12:04 am

I agree Lewis the sales of Dossena and Voronin would pay for Pavluchenko, and then depending on how much we will have, swap Babel for Ellia, or (please!!!) get Di Maria.

dave - November 7th, 2009 at 12:05 am

check out the blog at gamebetting .co.uk it has an article on who liverpool should buy and sell

Warren Bloggs - November 7th, 2009 at 12:07 am

Please do not be mistaken im not trying to be silly and sugest we sign ten new players but 2 effective signings who will make the difference they do not have to cost the earth but will make such an improvement and in the long term will make financial sense ie. Champions League qualification. Once these signings are confirmed then Rafa can look to bring in a young star like Koman etc.

Retryboy - November 7th, 2009 at 12:08 am

Evening all… Think Koman for £4m is an absolute steal and a must as cover for aquilani and gerrard in the middle of the midfield trio and with nemeth, gulacsi and simon already here makes perfect sense to add to our young hungarian talent. He can also play left midfield or in the hole so good versatility. Whats everyones opinions on aurelio know there was much debate on whether to extend his contract and he is due for talks in january. When fit he is a real quality player but averaging less than 20 games a season since he arrived in 2006 and now aged 30 does he really warrant an extension. His injuries haven’t gone away and whilst he is our best left back he is not significantly better than insua and probably the weakest in our first choice 11 so would personally let him go and spend big there. Cissokho from lyon would be worth spending a lot on, whether we could get him or not is a different story.

Warren Bloggs - November 7th, 2009 at 12:20 am

Retryboy you are right in what you say, Cisshokho would be a brilliant addition to our line-up, and if you beleive ‘tribal football.com’ then he is a Liverpool fan. However, i do not think a left-back is a must just yet and i would prefer us to keep faith with Insua, Aurelio, and spend whatever money we have on attacking options.

kermit - November 7th, 2009 at 12:25 am

we dont need anyone, we are the fucjking business, brilliant

hers why
gerrard a fucking living legend , torres one in the making , babelk stick him the right wing for three months and we have the right footed john barnes aquilani classy cvlassy footballer riera , hmmmm too slow to be an outright winger but creates space well for hiself , could easily fill in in the hole as could aquilani or benayounkuyt is a striker if torres is knackered play kuyt and babel up front togetjher, notice they actually link up well togther mascheranoand lucas both solid defebnsive minded masch through design , lucas through benitez

our real weak spot at the moment is the left side
we lack a top qualkity attacking left sided player , i take donovans point about schweinsteiger and podolski, maybe a few years ago , not sure about now, plus together they would be expensive
i think dossena needs a good run in the team withou being made scapegoat ala lucas for most of last year
and yes agree with retroboy that keane could have been and in fact was a succes when he left us we were top of the league
angel di maria for the left side yeah but for how much
we dont need much we just need faith

listen to you ll never walk alone a few times breathe it drink it live it be it and thats the message the lads need to hear day in day from every supporter they see anywhere , sing it to them , remind them
and you ll never walk alone
YOU LL NEVER WALK ALONE

baggins09 - November 7th, 2009 at 12:29 am

where has my anonymous post gone from about 12:14 or 12:15 mods?

dave - November 7th, 2009 at 12:31 am

insua will be really good by the end of the season,we also havin mavinga and buchtmann ready to break through

kermit - November 7th, 2009 at 12:48 am

cassano is an interesing choiceor saviola on last nights efforts against everton , plus anyone think dossena might setle better now theres a couple of italians at a predominantly spanish andlatin american club, worth a thought and if cassano joined also yeah good call he has unfinsihed business in footballi like the idea , hes an ugly little fucker but uglyiness works for the mancs rooney tevezmanian devil and dracula
and fuck it i m going out on a limb here i really like dossena, i thtink he has that lunatic head on him i d rather have with me than against me, they need to get more pasta into the canteen at melwood and he ll be an animal later in the year, or better still tell him the opposition right winger stole liverpools pasta supplies
hahaha

god i love diossena i think i might be gay in a footballing way , gay for tores too , but most of us, wooho we gonna win the europa and fa cup and the premier league this year
chelsea will hit the wall when drigba and co fuck off to africa
arsenal will proove noto have the metal for it as always the manc scum are weak as pisswater this year

so who is left sppurs hahhahah , city ,, hhahaha not yet
its all good we re gonna win the league, aquilani world player of the year next year, gerrard second torres third benayoun fourth
the arabs are gonna take over and givce rafa a 1000 million to spend, hes gonna buy the whole barcelona midfieldand force the mancs to sell us rooney against his will just for funit s gonna be fucking deadly

kermit - November 7th, 2009 at 1:01 am

ph and i wrote to rafa benitez o facebook asking hm if he was on drugs lately , considering his barmy substitutions and idiocy at not playing aquilani against lyon

Retryboy - November 7th, 2009 at 1:56 am

Personally don’t think aurelio is worth a new contract with his injury record. Dossena is on his way insua, mavinga and Buchtmann all developing still. So would sell itandje, dossena, degen, kyrgiakos, voronin and sign Cissokho and Koman bring nemeth back and play babel on the right. Pacheco, ayala, kelly, darby, spearing all ready to be back ups in the squad.

Mark G. - November 7th, 2009 at 2:41 am

Retryboy: Trouble with Aurelio, other than injuries, is that he does blow hot and cold (Drogba, Arshavin gave him troubles last year). His defending is not sufficient when we play better teams. However, without Gerrard, he is one player that can take free kicks, better than others. Remember he started the season injured and only now should round into the form. Lets wait a bit longer, and see what his value to the team is. Talking about contracts, has Carra got an extension? What do you think of Cissoko for LB?

kermit - November 7th, 2009 at 3:20 am

to anonymous , aquilani didnt look so unhealthy warming up on the sidelines before half time in lyon , so no i dont think rafa would have used him if he could

Retryboy - November 7th, 2009 at 3:45 am

Mark g- definitely Cissokho listed him in my signings previously exactly who i would pay big bucks for. Agree on the set piece aspect of aurelio but no good if he is never fit. Think aquilani will be good in that department always seems to be the players with the range of passing that are quality with the free kicks alonso, barnes, molby etc… He just seems like one that will be. Cissokho would give us an extra attacking dimension too and with johnson on the other side would add so much to our attacks whilst improving defence too.

saif - November 7th, 2009 at 10:17 am

last onw was me

kermit - November 7th, 2009 at 3:10 pm

fuck sake lucas cant win with you guys can he, he starts playing well defensively now you wan him improving in the final third, well dont give out to lucas give out to benitez, lucas has little or no freedom to attack when playing def midfielder , support the kid ffs

Reds Lewis - November 7th, 2009 at 3:12 pm

Agree about the comment re: Keane
Things might be different now if hed of stayed.
The fans liked him and really he didnt do too badly at all….
However it wasnt benitez’ idea to sign him so thats why he was sold on.
I think we would benefit from somebody like him again…just a 5-6m signing that would provide decent cover for aquilani…

first on my list is still Pavyluchenko tho

kermit - November 7th, 2009 at 3:14 pm

you have bashed him for two years , he has little or no support from most of you , everyone telling him he is shit and not good enough every week, i f i were him i d spit on the liverbirds at this stage, then i d leave and i d do an interview on the disgusting nature of a huge majority of liverpool supporters
does no , thankfully he is not me
no he gets out there every week , amidst a feeling that if he makes one tiny error the whole of anfield will be on his back again and still manages to put in reasonable performances , to be honest its a wonder the lad isnt psychologically damaged from some of you, i guarantee if everyone was behind lucas and had his back , he d be a world beater and i for one and gonna take a bet that lucas is one of our most established midfielders in the next few years

kermit - November 7th, 2009 at 3:16 pm

and to whoever mentioned we ought to have kept keane, spot on
rafa the dickhead yet again moaning about how he didnt buy this player when we were top of the league, i dare say if we had kept keane we would have won it last year

kermit - November 7th, 2009 at 3:25 pm

and to red lweis , i really like pavlyuchenko also , just not sure how accomodating him and torres in the sae team works , torres needs to be the mani man like at atletico and now with us , i think this was part of the proble with keane initially , i think torres s nose was a little out of joint that we had signed another striker, but slowly it would have worked , once again fans too quick to judge rather than actually see whats going on with players and their characters and watch how relationships form
take mascherano ,m at first gerrard wouldnt trust him with his life , wouldn t give him the ball , but now he feels secure with him behind him, why because they didnt know each other ,oon the other hand gerrard always gave the ball to babel even when they first started playing together and this speaks volues to me about babels abilty , if gerrard rates him highly enough to constantly seek him out , then i d take gerrards assesment of a footballer as writte in stone . i think he has earned that right
#now to dossena an italian strange country strange system, loads of fucking spaniards in a group him the outsider , you think he might take a while to setttlle down no??
now aquilani is here there s two italians , and great they ll help each other settle more
which is why i also think we ought to sign royston drenthe for left back , he and babel might gel together as they did for the dutch u 21 team, plus drenthe is a better option at left back than insua
wake up and think supporters abou the players and their lives before you immediately criticise them
i would even stretch to sayinghis about voronin, he banged in goals last season in germany, why maybe he was getting regular playingtime and had his confidence high, now i dont think he is good enough for the first 11 at liverpooleven at his best, so he ought to be sold on and give some of the younger lads coming through his position in the squad

Reds Lewis - November 7th, 2009 at 3:30 pm

I really wish the people who are quoting “sign agureo,di maria and young” all in January would just leave this website…seriously that is actually over 100m of players lol….Di maria has a 45m euro buyout clause so its 45million or nothing. Aguero would be around 35 million…thas 80 million there…and do you think Villa would let Young go for less than 20 million? really?

No chance! If Glen johnson is worth 17 million then young is worth that too….

we have to be realistic….and by that I mean accept that were not going to make more than 2 small-medium sized signings in January…if any at all..and we’; probs have to sell to make those too…

Id clear out the following (in priority order)

1. Voronin – 6m ( if we ask for 6 we will probs get offered 4..so 4m)
2. Itjande (1m)
3. Plessis (2m)
4. Dossena (4m)
5. Degen (2m)
6. Babel (8-10m)

That gives us a total of up to 25 million..altho probably 23 million.
The reason I list babel here is because I dont think he’l ever come to fruit at Liverpool and I dont think his heart is set on it anymore.
He scores good goals every now and then but he has had opportunities to impress and not take them… some argue that he tries too hard cos he only has 15 min appearances but hes started a few times and I think his first touch is gash and dont think he’l ever live up to his potential at liverpool.

so..what could we do with 25 million? Well those players there are probably using about 200 grand a week in wages at least…

first of all Id sign Pavyluchenko from Spurs. He seems surplus to requirements there..and probably available for 8-10 million considering they paid 14 million for him.

Thats leaves us with 15 million max..

Id spend 10-15 milion on a decent option as back up to Aquilani or a right sided winger and promote Ayala to the first team. He impressed in his first team debut at the start of the season and he looks up to the job. Another player Id promote is Nathan Eccleston, he has pace to burn and provides a different attacking option.

By getting rid of those players I listed above and just bringing in 2 and promoting some of the academy players then we would be adding real class to the team and REAL STRENGTH IN DEPTH.

Strength in depth means quality not quantity

Retryboy - November 7th, 2009 at 3:38 pm

Anon at 10.31 new epl squad laws don’t actually change a lot you have to have 8 homegrown players in a squad of 25 homegrown just being that regardless of their age they spent 3 years registered to an english club before turning 21 so gerrard, carragher, johnson, insua, el zhar, kelly, darby, spearing all qualify so you can have 17 any nationality any age we have reina, cavalieri, degen, aurelio, dossena, agger, skrtel, lucas, mascherano, aquilani, babel, riera, benayoun, kuyt, torres, voronin thats only 16 at the moment and a few of them will be going you are allowed as many under 21’s as you want on top of the 25 man squad so players like insua, nemeth fall into that category so the epl rules don’t really restrict us at all

Reds Lewis - November 7th, 2009 at 3:52 pm

“SO YOU guys REALLY FEEL THAT we dont NEED A BIG STIRKER LIKE AGUERO.
if YES THINK AGAIN ……..
MAYBE TORRES PLAYS FOR NEXT 5 YEARS WITH US .
BUT . SORRY who takes charge when he gets injured or

loses form..
LETS GUESS babel. WELL NO …..
KUYT MAYBE SOMETIME BUT STILL NOT A PURE STRIKER AND GETTING OLD TOO.

NO ONE ELSE AS FAR AS I CAN SEE .
AND WHATS THE USE IF YOU GET SOMEONE LIKE JOVETIC ,
WOULDN’T BE CONSISTIENT , BELIEVE ME
NEMETH IS AS GOOD IF NOT BETTER .

WHAT we need is a proven goal scorer who can run down the defences .
WE WANT SOMEONE WHO WOULD FIT HERE
AND I FEEL AGUERO IS THE BEST ONE , YOUNG ,GOOD CONTROL
AND WORLD CLASS.”

and where are we going to get 35 million from?
and his wages?

Aquaman - November 7th, 2009 at 5:46 pm

Sigh. Too many anonymi to read.

Every year that the yanks have been at the helm we have spent just under 40 mil in the summer (07′ – 37m, 08′ – 39.5m, 09′ – 40m, seems too consistent to be coincidence), and have only spent 6 mil in total over the two Januaries (for skrtel in 08′). Additionally during the Januaries we have sold a total of 20.2 mil (08′ – 8.2m, 09′ – 12m).

The major difference this year is that we have sold more in the summer than the trend (07′ – 21.7m, 08′ – 21.25m, 09′ – 36.75m). This smells bad to me. I have a terrible feeling that we aren’t going to be buying anyone over the summer (at least that’s what the trend tells me) unless the yanks are willing to change their policy. And even if they do that, we certainly aren’t going to be buying anyone worth over 20 mil. I think that would be too much change for the yanks to fathom.

The best we are likely to get is a kitty of 20 mil (dependent on sales). If we sell no one then we’re unlikely to get more than 10 mil. Personally I’d spend this on a winger like Lennon if this were football manager (and it isn’t, so it’s not going to happen).

Aquaman - November 7th, 2009 at 5:49 pm

oh references for the above figures:
http://www.lfc-1.com/general/transfers.asp (brilliant website but lacks the 09’s summer)
http://www.footbo.com/Teams/Liverpool/Transfers (used solely for the missing 09′ summer)

Aquaman - November 7th, 2009 at 5:59 pm

Incidentally: Great post Reds Lewis. Agree fully. Not so sure about Pavlyuchenko though. If he’s unhappy being surplus at Tottenham then why would he want to move to a bigger club? Surely that just means even more time on the bench for him? Add that to the fact that I think he’s warming the bench for a reason. In my mind he’s even more wasteful of chances than Babel is.

Obviously this is my opinion and I’m not attacking you. Keep posting!

Warren Bloggs - November 7th, 2009 at 6:48 pm

Aquaman you forget that Tottenham have Defoe, Keane, Crouch as well and so Pav is surplus to requirements especially when ‘Arry wishes to sign the likes of Van Nistelrooy as well. The situation is different at Liverpool fc, we have Torres, Ngog and Voronin. Yes, Nemeth as well but he is on loan and with Voronin likely to leave in January that leaves us with only Torres and Ngog. Add the fact that Torres may need an operation then we will have only Ngog for poss. as much as 10 games?! We need another option up-front, and although my perfect signing would be Cassano of Sampdoria or even the lethal Gilardinho of Fiorentina, i would agree that Pavluchenko would be a decent option.

Torres69 - November 7th, 2009 at 7:00 pm

First

saif - November 7th, 2009 at 7:13 pm

INJURY LATEST FROM LIVERPOOL TV

Rafael Benitez is hoping to have seven of his injured stars available for selection against Birmingham City on Monday night.
The boss will make a late decision on whether to start inspirational skipper Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres and he could also be boosted by the availability of Glen Johnson, Martin Skrtel, Fabio Aurelio, Albert Riera and Nabil El Zhar.

Speaking exclusively to Liverpoolfc.tv, after Saturday morning’s training session, Benitez said: “We have a lot of good news with players coming back from injury and they all took part in a light training session this morning.

“Steven trained on Friday with the physios and did a light training session today with the team and did well. He is improving and has more confidence.

“We will decide on Monday before the game if he can play. He hasn’t been training for a long time so we have to be careful.

“With Fernando we know he has to keep working with the physios and we will see how he progresses. We will see how is he is because he still has some pain so we will decide if he can play on Monday.

“Johnson did a light session today and will train again on Sunday. If he is okay then hopefully he will be available to play against Birmingham.

“Martin Skrtel, Fabio Aurelio and Nabil El Zhar are doing well and were also involved in the training session so we will decide if they can play on Monday.

“Albert Riera also trained after his hamstring injury and that is good news for us.

“You can see we have had a lot of young players on the bench in recent weeks but we have more players back in training now. It’s good for me and an option we didn’t have available before.”

Jamie Carragher will sit out this game as he serves a one-match ban for his sending-off against Fulham but Alberto Aquilani is in line for a first taste of the Anfield experience after he was an unused substitute in Lyon.

The Reds No.4 is unlikely to start against Alex McLeish’s side but he is in the squad and the boss added: “His match fitness is still a problem.

“We are hopeful of having some players fit and available so maybe he can wait and change the game if it’s necessary.

“We were controlling the game in Lyon and Lucas and Javier Mascherano were doing a very good job. When we scored we didn’t want to change the shape. Aquilani was better after his virus and could have played some part but hopefully now he will be better for Monday.”

saif - November 7th, 2009 at 7:18 pm

He is still confident that they can reach the knockout stages of the Champions League, and also that they can finish in the top four of the Premiership by the end of the season, but they have to start by beating Birmingham on Monday.

Liverpool have never missed out on the Group Stages while Benitez has been at the club, and they stand to lose out on an extra £10m if they fail this time around, but Benitez is not unduly worried.

“I spoke to Christian Purslow (Liverpool’s managing director) the other day about the finances.” said Benitez

“The first thing, though, is that we have confidence we can still reach the last 16 of the Champions League this season.

“But whatever happens, the budget was done for this season based on us only qualifying for the group stages. And we did that, that is complete.

“Whether we can still bring in more money, we will wait and see. The commercial department is working very hard, for the next season in Europe it is a question of time.

“The Premier League is a long race, we must keep going. I am confident the team will finish in the top four and we are able to continue to do well in Europe, so let’s start against Birmingham with the right result.

“We have to do our job against Birmingham, and then I can guarantee that things will start to get easier.”

There’s nothing wrong with a bit of confidence, but the team really needs to start performing on the field before pushing one’s luck. Maybe he would have better saying all that AFTER beating Birmingham, and after Lyon have beaten Fiorentina?

One bit of good news for Liverpool is that Fiorentina’s star striker Adriam Mutu has picked up an injury and will miss the game against Lyon.

Aquaman - November 7th, 2009 at 7:22 pm

Fair point. Pav may be surplus simply because Tot have so many “better” options, but when two of those “better” have already been sold by us, then what chance do you reckon Pav will think he’ll have?

I do also agree that another cheap, creative striker is needed (and not a 40 mil superstar) but I think that N’Gog will be good for this position in a couple of months. Next season for sure. Nemeth would be good as well but, yeah…

I like the 4-2-3-1 that we play but it all hinges on the middle man of the 3 and the 1. Aquilani and Yossi are be good cover for Gerrard in the mid-3, but Nando lacks the same in his sometimes lonely 1.

I still think we need a left winger as well (if Riera doesn’t come good) to set Yossi free. This way there will be

LW: Riera, new guy. Babel needs to come good or be sold soon.
RW: Kuyt, Yossi
Mid-3: Gerrard, Aquilani, Yossi (perhaps another midfielder is needed to cover for Aqulani if Gerrard is injured)

1: Torres, New guy, N’Gog, Nemeth

My desire for a Lennon will need to be rethought. If Lennon were left footed then I’d say he’s the one for LW. I’d still like a similar player though.

Warren Bloggs - November 7th, 2009 at 7:55 pm

Well Aquaman i have suggested Di Maria as the ‘perfect’ solution, as theory’s of his £45m buy-out-clause have been re-buffed. Man Utd and Chelsea have been reported of preparing bids of around £12-15m. A fee that i feel we could manage if the likes of Dossena and Voronin were offloaded. Yes, you are correct in saying that Crouch and Keane never quite made it at the ‘pool, but we all know how players can get a new vigor of life of given the opportunity e.g. Bent at Sunderland. It can have an opposite effect as well, e.g. Berbatov at Man utd, and Shevchenko at Chelsea etc.

The old saying goes ‘Form is temporary, class is permanent’ and i feel this applies to Pavluchenko. He was bought under the impression Spurs would partner him with Arshavin remember. After Keane and Berbatov had moved clubs (what a mistake they both made..) and then ‘Arry arrived and changed the team in his image. Roman was outstanding for Spartak Moscow and is always a great performer for Russia, he may well be the perfect foil for Torres if given the chance. Remember, unlike Spurs we do not have as much quality in depth in the striking department and so Pav would get more opportunites……could be a steal.

PS. I still stand by my position on Cassano, as i would love to see him in a red shirt but Pav is a very wise alternative.

Donavan Ried - November 7th, 2009 at 8:03 pm

anonymous – November 7th, 2009 at 7:21 pm …….

THE CHOSEN ONE …..

Mate here something to cheer you up …….. Sergio Aguero being linked with Chelsea …

The way that i see it is if you were Kun Aguero would you want to go to Chelsea and play third fiddle to Nicolas Anelka and Didier Drogba I don’t think so ……

Expect to see a few fringe players go this summer to fund a move for Aguero

Aquaman - November 7th, 2009 at 8:33 pm

I’m really really nervous about letting Masch go. I support Lucas fully and I agree that he will be brilliant for us. My concern is our lack of depth in the midfield.

We’re going to have to accept it, Gerrard is injury prone. This means that we’re going to have to assume Aquilani will be covering for him a lot. This in turn means that either our midfield pairing are going to have to just not get injured (and let’s not forget all the hype about Aquilani being injury prone himself), or we need depth.

Selling Masch will hurt us more than anything else because if Lucas has a dip in form (entirely possible) then he needs cover too. Also any replacement we bring in will not be a definite hit. It’s quite possible that Podolski will be poor in our team as an example.

So in our 3 midfield positions we have 3 players at the moment (Lucas, Masch, and Yossi. Voronin does not count). At full strength we’d have 5, two of whom either are or could be injury prone. In this situation we should be trying to increase our options, not decrease them.

Masch and Lucas would cover for each other for many years in a perfect world. But if he wants to leave then what can we do?

Warren Bloggs - November 7th, 2009 at 9:14 pm

Anonymous’s are really ticking me off. Guys no one who is worth any credi on this site honestly reads your post’s. Sorry to those out there who really wish to contribute but if this is the case and you want your opinions to be heard and shared then log in. It really is not hard!

Warren Bloggs - November 7th, 2009 at 9:16 pm

May i ask those at Caught Offside why all of my comments have been put on moderation?

Warren Bloggs - November 7th, 2009 at 9:21 pm

Evening Donovan,

I would argue that Mascherano has begun to prove himself to the fans and the club. I mean what kind of player would show the same kind of passion which would lead to being sent off against the mancs if he did not want to be at the club? No, Javier is detremental to our stability, look what happened to our tempo and morale when Xabi deserted us? How bad woul dit be if our spine in midfield was completely changed?!

Warren Bloggs - November 7th, 2009 at 9:27 pm

Well seeing as COS decided to moderate i earlier i felt i’d post it again, it was in answer to Aquaman:

Well Aquaman i have suggested Di Maria as the ‘perfect’ solution, as theory’s of his £45m buy-out-clause have been re-buffed. Man Utd and Chelsea have been reported of preparing bids of around £12-15m. A fee that i feel we could manage if the likes of Dossena and Voronin were offloaded. Yes, you are correct in saying that Crouch and Keane never quite made it at the ‘pool, but we all know how players can get a new vigor of life of given the opportunity e.g. Bent at Sunderland. It can have an opposite effect as well, e.g. Berbatov at Man utd, and Shevchenko at Chelsea etc.

The old saying goes ‘Form is temporary, class is permanent’ and i feel this applies to Pavluchenko. He was bought under the impression Spurs would partner him with Arshavin remember. After Keane and Berbatov had moved clubs (what a mistake they both made..) and then ‘Arry arrived and changed the team in his image. Roman was outstanding for Spartak Moscow and is always a great performer for Russia, he may well be the perfect foil for Torres if given the chance. Remember, unlike Spurs we do not have as much quality in depth in the striking department and so Pav would get more opportunites……could be a steal.

PS. I still stand by my position on Cassano, as i would love to see him in a red shirt but Pav is a very wise alternative.

Aquaman - November 7th, 2009 at 9:31 pm

I agree John. I have a lot more faith in Rafa’s transfer policy than a lot of people here. If Masch were to go, then I’d back Rafa to find the perfect replacement (ala Aquilani for Xabi).

My point really is that this always carries a risk, and first prize would be him just not leaving. So I prefer for people not to write him out as if it’s only a good thing.

My other unstated concern was mentioned in my earlier post (Aquaman – November 7th, 2009 at 5:46 pm). When Xabi left, we didn’t spend any more in that transfer than we did in the two before. Where his fee went I do not know, but it smells. If the same happens to Masch then you can guarantee that Rafa will have to make a cut-price gamble in order to keep the overall quality of the side the same. This could be catastrophic (note could be).

Basically I don;t think we’ll be doing any business in January, unless the owners are struck by a sudden case of morality.

Aquaman - November 7th, 2009 at 9:42 pm

Something to note from your own observation, Warren. Bent got his new vigor when he was sold by an upper club to a lower one. Kean, and Berbatov both stuttered when they moved up. Obviously this isn’t always true and it depends which examples you choose. Just a side note.

Also my comment was not so much on how much pitch time he’ll get regarding the squad, but more about how much he’ll THINK he’ll get. He’s got Crouch (who left for more pitch time) and Keane (who Rafa screwed over) training with him everyday and, no doubt, telling him plenty about LFC.

I’m not against the man, but I think we could probably do better.

Di Maria? I’d take him. Especially at that price.

Aquaman - November 7th, 2009 at 9:57 pm

Sometimes I wish I had an option in my profile which would hide all anonymous posts. It would be hard on those who have something worth saying, but at the same time would make posting here so much less infuriating.

Warren Bloggs - November 7th, 2009 at 10:09 pm

If everyone on here could have a choice of which striker they would sign under or on par with £10m who would it be?

My suggestions would be: Pavluchenko (Spurs), Cole (West Ham), Carew (Villa) all who have Prem experience, also Adriano?

Aquaman - November 7th, 2009 at 10:48 pm

I doubt Cole or Carew would be under 10 mil. If they are, I’d take either of them.
Carew played under Rafa at Valencia so they know one another well. Cole would give us the brute strength up front that we lack occasionally.

Adriano and Pav, not so keen.

I’d also take that Hines kid from West Ham, if only as an impact player. Imagine his speed coming on when the defense is already tired. Plus then Torres would be allowed to have an early shower when he’s been kicked all day and we’re winning by a goal without the press and “fans” blasting Rafa into orbit. Downside for him is that I doubt he’d be able to do the solo striker thing if Torres is injured.

Kenwyne Jones is falling out of favor at Sunderland and we could use his height and strength. Not very technical though, so last resort only.

Were it not for his attitude and remarkable inconsistency I’d even put Zaki up as an option. But since he has both traits in abundance, I regret mentioning him.

I can’t really comment on foreign players as the only ones I know well would definitely not be under 10mil.

JOHN LFC - November 7th, 2009 at 10:50 pm

Yea i dont know how to add picture for my profile. Anyway, as i was saying Sergio Busquets could be included into the Machcarano deal, which would provide cover, even though he is young, he can do a job well or else he wouldn’t have played for Barcelona in the Champion League final. I would like to see Bojan more but he wouldn’t leave Barcelona for any club.

JOHN LFC - November 7th, 2009 at 10:53 pm

RE;Aquaman – November 7th, 2009 at 10:48 pm

True unless they are young and unproven.

Aquaman - November 7th, 2009 at 10:54 pm

John LFC. I added mine using www(dot)gravatr(dot)com (excluded the dots to prevent moderation). Worked for me.

Yeah. Bojan’s going nowhere soon. Busquets has potential but I really don’t see him going anywhere soon either.

Aquilani4goals - November 7th, 2009 at 11:40 pm

Aquaman I understand your point regarding pav,well in the case of limited fund what do we do?it is about time we start bringing in the talented reserve into the main squad.this is were rafa fail to perform.we can never be a better squad if we dont develop our own player.no gerard ,torres and the rest are battling with one injuries or the other. this is the time to use the likes of pacheco,Nathan Eccleston, ayala.kelly,give babel more games to play,rafa needs to motivate babel,given the same play time with lucas,I strongly believe that he will improve.At times, i blame rafa for lack of creativity.As a professional manager he should have made provision for a sitaution like this,knowing have we managed with injuries last season.this is the reason why we have a reserve squad.For ever game rafa should creative opportunity for a least one player in the reserve squad to play with the first ,this how to boost the confidence of the young lad in the reserve,there will never be good enough is there not given a fair opportunity to play with the first team, as a result of injecting this system,the reserve players will step up their game in order to play for the first team this is an incentive to help motivate the young lads in the reserve team.when we are winning any game by large goal margain than he can substitude some players from the reserve.we will never have the money to buy all the player we need.we have to be winning matchs so now is the time to throw more life in the reserve squad.perhap if torres and gerard go for surgury?are will going to be playing vorronin and the time?we can then bring in nemeth from loan spell so we have options in our squad this is my contribution..please I will appreciate your comment.sorry just realised that i did not log in………

Aquilani4goals - November 8th, 2009 at 12:06 am

no money for transfer pls go to this link: http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/news/Liverpool-will-have-no-money-to-spend-in-transfer-window-but-Rafa-Benitez-still-confident-of-rescuing-season-article214391.html

JOHN LFC - November 8th, 2009 at 12:25 am

I would love to see Aguero at Liverpool rather than Chelsea(obviously) but the money needed could be too much. The fact he supports liverpool is good as it could bring his price down by £5-10m. I’ve been watching Luis Suarez on the internet; he looks good he is £15m and would be exellent cover for Torres and he can play on the wing. He has a record of 22 goals from 31 games last season. Goal scoring recorgs in the Dutch league is not a very convicing argument as both Kuyt and Huntelaar are both proven goal-scorers in that league but have failed to perform as goal scorers in England and Spain. However, he seems to be a good talented player who is just 22 years old. He is also Ajax’s captain. But, I would prefer Di Maria.

My concern is he will choose Chelsea who are top of the EPL or Man Utd because of their recent successes. Our only hope is he wants to work with his National captian, Macharano and he may not be around for long. I doubt that Benfica will reject offers of £18-20m so he MAY be withen budget in we sell Dossena, Voronin and Degan, plus invested money.

JOHN LFC - November 8th, 2009 at 12:35 am

The extracted article is not ver good. The most of the players are unrealistic. RVN is too old as is Viera. Cohen is not good enough for Liverpool. Silva will be priced-out. Shwcross is good but i would prefer Richards.
Do we want the spend £45m on player who may not be there after two years, par, Silva and Shawcross.
We could just spend it on 2 player who have futures like Richards and Di Maria/Suarez.

JOHN LFC - November 8th, 2009 at 12:42 am

Eden Hazard. Pandev, Elia, Mata and Matias de Federico offer cheaper and younger options.

Aquaman - November 8th, 2009 at 12:45 am

Anon: great post. Lots of interesting points and also some of the concerns of the general fan base. I’ll deal with as many of your points as I can but this post may become a bit long in which case I’ll have to cut it short. Here goes nothing:

On the subject of the youngsters. When last did LFC have such a large group of so many promising youngsters? Certainly not during Houlier’s reign. The last decent player to come through was Warnock about 6 or 7 years ago (Correct me if I’m wrong). So what’s been happening? Well the typically mediocre fruits of our Academy have been filtering into our reserves and then festering.

Rafa and his scouts are to thank for the current group. Almost all of them were found and purchased while Rafa was in charge (the exceptions being the local boys Spearing, Darby etc). The fruits of this labor are only ripening now, so Rafa hasn’t had anyone worth trying until now. Insua was the first and he’s in the first team now. So what’s the problem?

This season we’ve seen Ayala, Kelly (who started ahead of Degen and Carra in his position), Spearing (pushing Masch out), Ecclestone etc playing tin important first team games, this season alone. Also don’t forget that Rafa named Spearing on the bench against Real Madrid in a CL knockout match. When he came on the game was already won, true, but the fact he was there at all was a show of faith.

As I was researching now, I came across a live commentary slating Rafa for picking 19 year old Kelly against Lyon. Here’s a quote: “Picking Kelly rather than sticking Skrtel in the centre and Carragher at right-back, where he’s not especially comfortable, is a show of faith in the youngster – or a premptive excuse: as if he is anticapting a defeat and preparing to say ‘look what I was reduced to fielding. give me more money to strengthen the squad’. ” Rafa’s doing his bit. Give him some credit.

Ooookay, that went on too long for one point. What’s next…

Babel. Oh the enigma that is Ryan Babel. Yous say that Rafa should give Babel as much of a chance as he did for Lucas. I agree to a point. There’s one big difference between the two of them: Lucas worked his socks off even when he was playing badly. People knock him for giving away too many fouls (which is true) but I praise him for committing himself to so many tackles that even if he gets a small fraction of them wrong, it still seems like a lot of fouls.

Babel is a Berbatov. Blessed with so much natural talent that he’s never really had to work for a place in a team. Now that he does, he’s struggling. I think Babel is on the bench for a reason: He’s not playing well and he never looks like he’s getting any better. Rafa praised him for working so hard over the summer and rewarded him with a start in the first two games of the season, neither of which he really contributed anything.

Next point:

“As a professional manager he should have made provision for a sitaution like this, knowing have we managed with injuries last season.” Ha! Into my favorite realm we dive. The finances.

I’ll quote from my post above: “Every year that the yanks have been at the helm we have spent just under 40 mil in the summer (07? – 37m, 08? – 39.5m, 09? – 40m, seems too consistent to be coincidence), and have only spent 6 mil in total over the two Januaries (for skrtel in 08?). Additionally during the Januaries we have sold a total of 20.2 mil (08? – 8.2m, 09? – 12m). The major difference this year is that we have sold more in the summer than the trend (07? – 21.7m, 08? – 21.25m, 09? – 36.75m). ”

Looking at these numbers it seems to me that Rafa has a budget of 40 mil for the summer of which 20 mil comes from the club and the rest he has to make himself. The fact that he had to scrounge around for a 2 mil centerback confirms this for me as it rounded the spending to a neat 40 mil.

At the beginning of the window he forked out 18 mil for Johnson, which I’m pretty sure he’s regretting even though Johnson has been so good for us. I think we were all over the moon when he signed for us, but what this did was then limit our remaining budget to 22 mil. And then Xabi left. Had Xabi not left, I think we would have had another striker in. But he did, and he had to be replaced. Wave bye bye to 20 mil, leaving 2 mil for emergencies. Which we had. Skrtel and Agger injured at the start of the season.

What could Rafa do? What if Ayala had an absolute shocker in the first game? As good as youth are, they will make mistakes (Insua makes his fair share and I rate him quite highly). People often tell me that Owen and Gerrard were playing at 18, but these were cameo performances in a team without the expectations that last year’s success brought upon us.

The next point

Our squad is not deep enough. This is well publicised as is the reason for it. Rafa has been recycling players since day 1. Why? Because he hasn;t had Chelsea or Manc City’s infinite resources to rebuild his squad. If you have to replace 9 starting players (Gerrard and Carra excluded of course) and a similar sized squad on a small budget, what can you do but make many small purchases?

Cisse came in to give us a bit of fire while the rest were shuffled in and out, until eventually Rafa had replaced the entire team. This happened two years ago. Now that the squad is truly his own, he could start tuning it by brining in the quality. Enter Torres, Masch, and Keane (whether Rafa’s purchase or not, the fact that he cost so much shows the intention).

However to afford these players we had to lose Momo Sissoko, Bellamy, Crouch and Cisse. All of these players would have moved to the bench if we had enough money to be able to afford their replacements without selling. Because of this, Rafa had to make seriously cheap deals for the squad. Enter Voronin, Degen, and N’Gog (all of these cost 1.5 mil in total).

Final Point

Nemeth won’t be back until next season. Whether a good idea or a bad one. The only reason we got the barbarian for 2 mil was because we agreed to loan them Nemeth. This may seem like a high price, but can you imagine what would have happened if we had to settle for someone worse than the barbarian? (Even though he’s beginning to grow on me).

All these things considered, I think Rafa has taken a lot of unfair stick.

Please note that I’m not attacking you. These are all my opinions and I’ll happily take any rebuttal from you onboard. I enjoy the whole debating thing so much so that I always go overboard.

Aquaman - November 8th, 2009 at 12:49 am

bleh. Stupid moderation. I have an essay in waiting

kermit - November 8th, 2009 at 1:18 am

the league isnt over by a long way
chelsea lose four players to the african nations, arsenal look superb at the minute, but i still feel the lack the midfield steel needed to win the title, they are better than last year though, the mancs sorely miss ronaldo, everything goes through rooney now and thats predictable, we are just noine point behind a draw tomorrow and a win for us monday would make it seven, its not over yet

kermit - November 8th, 2009 at 1:36 am

benitez stated on lfc website that aquilani was fit and well on the bench against lyon and that he didnt want to change things as lucas and masch were doing well at the time , this is a primary gripe i have with benitez . yes lucas and masch were doing well , but voronin was doing terrible, we had control of the ball in midfield so no change was neccesary there but the link from midfield to attack somewhere i expect aquilani to play was woeful. i do hope that mr benitez is not going to attempt to alter the natural game of yet another prodigious player by converting his role to suit the team by employing aquilani asa holding midfielder , this would be an abominable decision but one that i think benitez is capable of making.

and to aquaman s commenst regarding ryan babel being like berbatov , ii totally disagree , babel is not naturally a midfielder , he is an attacker , converted into a midfielder ( another benitez mistake) and every time i see him play he does do his fair share of covering , but i can just sense he is eager to attack, so while torres is out why dont we give him some games up front along side kuyt, esp if torres needs surgery and will be out for three months potentially , give babel the nod, and give him the three months of game time to show what he can really do and if he fails then out the door with him. His game is naturally offensive but i dare say if he was given time in his prefered role he d be more than happy to do some defensive work and before people call him a sulk for not getting to play in his preffered position , note gerarrds lack lustre performances this season in his less than prefered role behind torres, or his whining a few years ago about not wanting to play right midfield, sure babel gets a chance now and again , one game, but thats not enough for his confidence, i really feel that benitez just doesnt like babel yet allows lucas to lick his asshole all day long. That being said i m a big fan of lucas and think he will be a big player for us over the coming year and years should we keep benitez as our manager, which i actually hope we do. in general he is a good manager, but i feel i have the right to question his methodology when he makes statements like he has done on lfc tv regarding he game against lyon. it isnt the first time i have questioned his reading of the game either , but i am willing to give him the benefit of the doubt on the general progress he has made to the squad and the team.

Aquaman - November 8th, 2009 at 1:49 am

he he. Good man. Look forward to hearing more from you

kermit - November 8th, 2009 at 1:49 am

yet i do think benitez is a smart man which is why it baffles me sometimes why he cant see he glaringly obvious, i actually think aquilani wasnt a direct replacement for alonso but for gerrard
benitez knows gerrard is getting older, he will lose a yards pace but he will always have the passing abilty and strength of character to play xabi alonso s role equally as well as him. and gerrard is by far the most difficult of the two to replace , i firmly believe lucas was bought to replace gerrard eventually, but benitez has found he has strong defensive qualites also and aquilani was bought as gerrards succesor, and actually i can think of no one more suitable in world football at the moment with the exception of fabregas at arsenal who is revelling in a more attacking role at arsenal at the moment.

kermit - November 8th, 2009 at 1:52 am

and i ve only seen jovetic play once for fiorentna , but on the back of that performance he is certainly good enough , it would come down to a question of how much???

Aquaman - November 8th, 2009 at 1:58 am

If Jovetic is available for less than 20 mil then I’ll have him faster than a rabbit has babies. The kid is class of the highest order. However in order to even get 20 mil someone is going to have to be sold. The men with the chequebook are unlikely to give Rafa more than 10 mil for Jan (if even that much) so getting to 20 will require some of our better players being sent on their way.

This is the main reason why I think Babel will be off. He wants to play in the world cup and at the moment he isn’t performing (except for the Lyon goal. How could we ever forget?). I also think Dossena will be off which is a pity, but if it means getting another top class player in, then I’m all for it!

I agree fully that as long as these players wear the Liverbird upon their chests they should be supported. I will even cheer for Voronin when he’s got the ball. In Rafa we trust? Not always, but as far as transfers go, I do.

Aquaman - November 8th, 2009 at 2:04 am

Kermit. A great point. So do you think Rafa was lining Aquilani up before Xabi decided to leave? If so, then the man is smarter than even I gave him credit for.

Lucas. Yeah. Who can say? He was the best attacking player in Brazil when we bought him, but then he suddenly wasn’t. I think he may yet develop the passing precision to fill at least one of Xabi’s shoes.

So Kermit. What do you think we need over January?

kermit - November 8th, 2009 at 2:12 am

i would agree that jovetic has the class , he looks an intelligent player, and this would be my mai argument against podolski signing for us , i think he is all power no brain
and to raise the weny million i d flog masch for 40 million to barca and sign defour and jovetic for 15 and 20 million respectively

kermit - November 8th, 2009 at 2:23 am

what do i think we need, i really think we need someone who can really hurt teams down the left hand side, i d advocate babel for the right, i like jovetic but i dont think benitez will go this route
and yeah i would think rafa is always thinking about the future of the team, he has a five year contract and intends to stay, and i for one hope he does.
totally agree with lucas s passing , it is top notch if the kid is given a chance , i think he can more than fill xabi s boots though i think long term lucas is a better four four two midfielder that the current system we play

really di maria a few years ago would have been the perfect signing, the problem i have with babel swapping wings at he moment is johnson , who i never would hav signed in he first place
but if babel and johnson both play right side then we will have problems defensively and babel and johnson making similar attacking threat down this wing
it suits to have kuyt ahead of johnson , but without johnsons attacking pace kuyt looks inept
i would sign kalou from chelsea for 6 million, cole for 12 million, joe cole that is
and then for left back i would sign royston drenthe, even though i truly believe there is loads more to come from dossena if given the chance
i d even have a look at a bargain bid for saviola for half nothing he proved he can still play against everton

i think realistically our january budget will be no more than twenty million
and i i think kalou pays well with kuty up front, feyenoord
though babel could play this role also
schweinsteiger for the right would be an option also for 12 million
there are so many options, so many

kermit - November 8th, 2009 at 2:27 am

id love tro see lucas bag a few goals, it would send his confidence soaring and endear him to the fans , well the so called anfield faithful, think when he does you will really start to see the real lucas emerge, he has started winning these fans over already now i think that all those fans that were booing him ought to get right behind him and i think you ll find we have a winner on our hands

oh and for left sided attacker juan mata looks a better option that silva, i dont like him , he looks weak and reminds me of a kid i hated when i was young , something not quite right about him

kermit - November 8th, 2009 at 2:32 am

and finally onto what i believe to be the real problem of the sutuation with ryan babel
when benitezx bought babel, he did so to snatch him from the hands of wenger, whomi have no doubt could see the next henry, i firmly believe this , and the primary problem is now that ryan babel was a purchase made in fear , a hasty rash impulsive move to stop arsenal becoming stronger rather than to strengthen liverpool
and i think this is the primary problem bewteen benitez and babel, and benitez ough to man up and admit his error, and maybe then, maybe then he might start seeing ryan`s potential for liverpool , until then babel will not get any better and will not be given game time, itts up to mr benitez to be the bigger man i think

Aquaman - November 8th, 2009 at 2:42 am

Yeah, the last thing we need is more shortness. If we’re in the market for a striker (and I think we are) then I’d want a big bloke. Carlton Cole would be good for my money and he’s a brit which always helps. Don’t see him leaving anytime soon though.

For the wings, I agree Kuyt and Johnson work brilliantly together and pretty awful apart. They really compliment one another well, so a good buy in my books (though expensive!).

On the Left. Riera on his day is great (tall too), though I haven’t seen enough of him with Insua to judge their understanding. Seems to do well with Aurelio though. Dossena needs time that I don’t think he wants to waste. He’s also not the youngest so maybe its better that he leaves and Insua get’s the play time. Pity he didn’t click from the start, but that’s football.

Babel. Sigh. Nothing else to say.

If we do lose masch (which I really hope we don’t) then we’ll need a bigger defensive midfielder in his place. Doubt that Barca would throw Yaya into a deal, but it would be great if they did (even though he’s not the youngest).

As I said before, the place I trust Rafa the most is in transfers (even though he gets so much stick for it which I really don’t understand), so I’m confident that he’s already got things well in hand.

kermit - November 8th, 2009 at 2:48 am

in he height department i think our biggest lose are sami hyppias regular goals from set pieces, think we are really missing this , he could always be relied upon to nod one in from time to time, and we are missing a centre back with this ability. I rate agger very highly, and he does often try to fulfill this role but never had the conviction of hyppia when attacking he ball , he always head barely wide , maybe this is something he could work on. i am wondering lately just how a big a loss hypppia is on our back four , carra looks less assured without his presence, on or off the field, i think carra reaLLY MISSED SAMI S INFLUENCE, they were a great partnership, i d bring him back as a coach and get him to work on aggers aerial abilty and lucas actually who is also quite good in the air

kermit - November 8th, 2009 at 2:49 am

or splash out the 12 million it would take to prise hangeland from fulham, this would be a good move in my opinion

kermit - November 8th, 2009 at 2:51 am

carra reads the game well and yet isnt the tallest maybe he needs someone with aerial abilty alongside him for that added reassurance from set pieces and corners

kermit - November 8th, 2009 at 2:54 am

and i n t so sure we need a tall defensive midfielder , i d love steven defour to replace masch
remember karl heinze riedle , not so tall but could he head the ball well

Aquaman - November 8th, 2009 at 3:05 am

True. I hadn’t actually thought about the loss of Sami. Clearly something has happened to shake up our defense and it does seem a little suspect that Sami left at the same time. Good call.

One thing that Agger can do that Sami couldn’t is belt them in from 30 yards. Granted this doesn’t happen as often as Sami’s headers but goals are goals wherever they come from. If Agger does sort out his heading then he’ll be an incredible asset.

I think Skrtel needs to score soon. He’s scored several for his country and regularly got 5 a season for Zenit with his head. He could use the confidence boost as well. I’ve always liked him, but he’s been really terrible so far this season. Hope he sorts himself out.

Either Hangeland or Shawcross would do me fine (though Stoke losing Shawcross would be tragic and I like Stoke a lot). This is only likely to happen once the barbarian’s gone though. And I reckon we only got him to bridge the gap before the youngsters claim the spot.

kermit - November 8th, 2009 at 3:26 am

yeah i liked skretl since he didnt take no shit from drogba, he made some crunching tackles in his time but he is having a poor start to the season, he looks to carra for inspiration , and i thinkits a knock on effect that carra used to look to sami for assurance
havent seen much of shawcross really
and totally agree that kyrgiakos is a stop gap
agger is the new hansen
i have often thought that benitez looks back to our glory days when putting his team together,
the first time i ever saw torres play was in the world cup for spain , my immediate thought he the new ian rush, this was long before we signed him.
he looked for a kenny dalglish player, ie keane but has found gerrard is much better at it
he looked for a barnes ie babel
we already had a hansen and a lawrenson in carra and agger
now he has a beardsley in yossi
and a steve mcmahon /graeme souness in mascherano
just an idle observation really

team for monday

reina

johnson carragher agger insua

mscherano lucas

kuyt aquilani benayoun

babel(my choice)/ngog
subs ngog, gerrard( if three quarters fit), skrtel, riera if nearly fit , cavalieri

now this team starts to look strong with players back in there

i totally dont believe the league is over for us
man u and chelsea to draw tomorrow
chelsea losing playing after xmas to the african nations , man utd are a myth waiting to crumble
arsenal i would be worried about also, they will go close this year i think

kermit - November 8th, 2009 at 3:32 am

i have forty five million who do i buy
1 hangeland 12 million fulham
2 juan mata 16 million valencia
3 kalou 6 million chelsea
4 steven defour 12 million standard liege
5 sami hyppia 1 million whochever german team he plays for

kermit - November 8th, 2009 at 3:35 am

and with everyone fully sit my starting eleven is as follows

reina

johnson carra agger dossena

mascherano

gerrard aquilani

babel yossi /riera

torres

subs riera/yossi,kuyt,skrtel,lucas, cavalieri

Aquaman - November 8th, 2009 at 1:09 pm

he he. Jovetic isn’t Italian. He’s Montenegrin. But I do see your point.

Looks a good team when we’re fully fit, doesn’t it Kermit. I’m getting to the point that I almost forget that we’ve got Gerrard since he’s been out so much. Really looking forward to G,T&A tearing up defenses with Yossi on his favoured left and the Kuyt/Johnson tag-team on the right.

Wow.

JOHN LFC - November 8th, 2009 at 1:50 pm

Agree with Aquaman team fully fit would be, “WOW”.

i dont rate Kalou or J. Cole he is injury prone and often spends way too long on the ball.

I’d like to see this:
Reina (obviously)
Carra Agger Skrtel
Johnson Insua
Mascharano
lucas Aqualani
Benayoun
Babel

It’s a risk but looks good as it plays to everyone’s strenghts. Insua wont get caught out as much. We could have 6 players attacing when we need it and when we need it & players defending. It would be nice to see Lucas attack more as he makes lot of good runs but is almost never found. This is taking into account Gerrard and Torres can’t play. With the creative force on the Wing backs aqualani and Yossi

JOHN LFC - November 8th, 2009 at 1:56 pm

Sorry i shall continue:
With the creative force on the Wing backs aqualani and Yossi we could do well. We would have to scrifice Kuyt and VORONIN(aawwww) but in would be good against Birmingham.

Reds Lewis - November 8th, 2009 at 1:58 pm

aquaman- thanks for your response.
The way I saw it was this….

Pavyluchenko is better than voronin
dossena is surplus to requirements.

so replace those 2 with a beter player.
Pav has scored for fun in the domestic cups and a few times in the league for spurs when he is given a chance.
He has good hold up play and a good first touch too.

His domestic cup record would hint that he rifles them in against slightly weaker opposition…so if you state that Wolves,Birmingham,Portsmouth,Hull city for example are all weaker opposition, then Pav could start against them, giving Torres a break.

He could perhaps play with Ngog up front…Ngog could be a good player but he needs a bit of guidance…. Pavyluchenko could offer this whilst torres isnt on the pitch…plus it gives us a bit of an edge.

For example imagine on Monday if torres and gerrard dont play (could well happen)
and then Carragher is suspended too.. and also johnson injuired

our line up would probs be something like this

Reina

Darby/ kelly Sktrel Agger Insua

Kuyt Masch Lucas Benayoun
Aquilani
Ngog

where we could be lining up like this….

Reina

Darby/kelly Skrtel Agger Insua

Kuyt Mascherano Benayoun

Aquilani

Ngog Pavyluchenko…

It just gives us a bit more about our attack.
And the reason hes on the bench at totenham is cos theyve got Defoe crouch and Keane…

all 3 of those are currently better than voronin and ngog

Aquaman - November 8th, 2009 at 2:34 pm

A very good argument. If you aren’t a salesman then you should be.

Obviously all of this hinges on one single question: Will he be as good for us as he is for his country. This is where the gamble comes in. Rafa gets a lot of stick already for gambling on several mid-priced could be’s rather than spend a lot on one will be.

Riera and Dossena are examples of 2 for the price of one Glen Johnson. Where Riera succeeded (in my opinion) Dossena didn’t, when I’m pretty sure most people were betting on the opposite. Maybe it’s just me, but I’d rather not buy a player who’s sitting on the bench of a team that should be lower than us. It seems like he isn’t cutting it in the premier league.

Looking at it from the other side, we have Robbie Keane who was bought from Tottenham’s first team and seemed to fester at LFC. Then we have Mascherano who was bought from West Ham’s bench and is now one of the best defensive midfielders in the world (in my pinion).

Any purchase is a gamble and all I can really comment on is what I see as his ability, and I don’t think it’s good enough. But then I wasn’t so sure on Riera and was confident that Keane would flourish. So maybe I shouldn’t talk…

kermit - November 8th, 2009 at 2:34 pm

with a fully fit squad our starting 11 looks really good

and to john , i dont kalou is a world beater , but he would be comfortable warming the bench like at chelsea , and when torres is inuured him and kuyt are a proven partnership at feyenoord, yeah the dutch league isnt the english league, but for six million he d be a bargain
and joe cole , i really like he d add ten goals a season , and at least ten more assists

Aquaman - November 8th, 2009 at 2:35 pm

Sigh

Stupid moderation. Red Lewis your reply is in the queue

kermit - November 8th, 2009 at 2:39 pm

not too sure about the wqingback system that john is suggesting , but dossena is def a better wing back than insua

Aquaman - November 8th, 2009 at 3:14 pm

Sigh. Kop King. Go back to my post and read it again.

You will note that I said “pushed out”. Past Tense. My point (which you apparently missed completely) was that the youngsters have been getting a lot of time on the pitch this year. Nowhere did I say anything about their potential to push out our current players in the future or even now.

Please keep my statements in context and comment on my points rather than nitpicking my sentences. I’m only replying because I know that you aren’t one of the anonymi.

Aquaman - November 8th, 2009 at 3:16 pm

Erm. Maybe I should follow my own advice before condemning others. I actually said “pushing Masch out” which is not, in fact, past tense. The comment itself was though. So my point remains true.

...samlfc.... - November 8th, 2009 at 3:53 pm

Afternoon Aquaman and everyone i’m back after a few days of being absent!
I disagree on all of the players YNWA laims would save Liverpool as they’re are old and Viera,shawcross etc we don’t need.
Many people have said this already but Carlton Cole would be great for us as he’s cheap,he’s english but also when he is playing well you can almos guarentee a goal or a assist by him and plus he is young and h would reslish the chance of playing for Liverpool!
Someone said Adriano and although he is no doubt agreat player but his attitude sucks! so i wouldn’t want him.
Pavlychenko would be a great buy also butiw ould probs prefer him alongside
Torres becuase i find him better at assisting than scoring.

In Jan i only want a £8-£15 million Striker or Right winger and then a 4-7 million which ever one which we didn’t get the first time like for instant if we get a 10 million striker then i would want a 5.5 million right winger or something along them lines
I don’t expect a massive signing in Jan as thats more of a summer transfer thing. N’gog is improving which is a good sign and Lucas has been playing very well as of late so no nee to sell them all we need to sell is degen and Vorinin as they are both aren’t good enough for Liverpool.

Aquaman - November 8th, 2009 at 4:19 pm

Welcome back …samlfc….

It’s been a quiet couple of days which explains why the number of comments on this article is approaching 200. Hopefully we’ll have a lot of good stuff to talk about on Tuesday though (since we’re going to whip Birmingham).

...samlfc.... - November 8th, 2009 at 4:28 pm

Thanks Aquaman and i’m guessing i haven’t missed much then ha! and yeah i hope we have a good result against B’ham and i have been reading some of your posts and all of them a class You,Donavan Ried, Retryboy, Warren bloggs are the people i usually look for in these articles as you all have good and interesting points…..although i do read everyones comments though!

Time for me to read the Stadium article

Reds Lewis - November 8th, 2009 at 4:38 pm

Aquaman, Thanks for the repy.. im actually a building surveying student not a salesman haha

I agree with the comment re: Riera..I think he is a quality player.

Also remember loads of people saying how we should have signed Tuncay in the summer hahah…I said that he wsnt good enough then and look….hes on the bench for stoke…behind kitson who didnt score in 20 games last season lol….

Anyway….

Not sure who else we could bring in during January…Personally I dont want us to even contemplate spending 35 million on Aguero because a. we dont have 35 million to spend on him and b. I dont think we need a player like him…

I saw the Hull city game earlier and on the subject of transfer gambles..they signed Venegoor of hesselink or however u spell it, and he was without a club…hes rescued them in 2 games this season…

so yeh..every signing is a gamble but obviously some bets are better than others.

I for one definately want another striker in January however Apart from Pavyluchenko I’m not too sure who we could get that is proven and good enough for around the 10 million mark