Liverpool are back?

PHB · 13-08-2004 11:38am #1

Dudek

Finnan - Josemi - Hyypia - Riise

Smicer - Gerrrard - Xabi - Kewelll

Baros - Cisse

Anyone else think that they are looking very very good for the upcoming season?

cournioni · 13-08-2004 11:41am

Yup, very good side on paper. But they have to perform to their full ability to get anywhere. And is Smicer not out for a good while?

PHB · 13-08-2004 11:42am

Great, then you can put in Patridge and let him show how good he is

Seriously though, I'm very very impressed with Benitez, seems to be the best manager brought in so far this year.

midget lord · 13-08-2004 11:44am

Firstly id remove smicer from right and stick in one of our two possible newbies. Also id replace Carragher with Finnan and play JC at center with Josemi at RB.

Another possibility is

Dudek

Josemi - Carragher - Hyypia - Riise

Garcia - Hamann - Xabi - Kewell--

Gerrard

Baros/Cisse

Rafa likes 4-4-1-1 and i think we will see this in the tighter games.

PHB · 13-08-2004 11:48am

Is garcia a defo?
I've seen lots of reports saying Xabi is coming,m but is Garcia?

midget lord · 13-08-2004 11:50am

Hopefully. If not Garcia then i would stick in Nunez, assuming he comes in as part of the owen deal.

PHB · 13-08-2004 12:00pm

Uh oh, vieira bid is dropped, a fight for xabi i think?

Villain · 13-08-2004 12:10pm

Will do well to get a top 5 finish, very little options after the first 11, if they get hit with injurys they will really suffer.

Bacchus · 13-08-2004 12:12pm

Nunez is coming in as part of the Owen deal.

Xabi is expected to arrive in a few days for 10.7m and Benitez is goin to use the money from the Owen deal to try and get Garcia. That's a pretty good midfield IMHO.

Dudek

Finnan - Josemi - Hyypia - Riise

Nunez - Gerrard - Xabi/Garcia - Kewell

Baros - Cisse

Provided Benitez doesn't sell Finnan or any more players and we get in Xabi and Garcia (which looks very possible, but then in football who knows) I think Liverpool will have some pretty good cover in midfield (Smicer, Hamann, Biscan, Garcia). The're a bit thin on defenders though methinks. Could do with one more forward - maybe, we have the option of playing an attacking midfielder behind a single forward.

midget lord · 13-08-2004 12:19pm

we already have FSP as striking back-up, he will be good for double figures this season.

yop · 13-08-2004 12:27pm

"Will do well to get a top 5 finish, very little options after the first 11, if they get hit with injurys they will really suffer."

That is exactly is, pool have bought players but have sold as many so really have not strenghted they squad, with the likes of Finnan, Dudek, Hamman prone to injuries then there is not very many options on the bench. I expect pool to be in a fight with the like of Newcastle, Boro, Birmingham for the 4th champ league place

Villain · 13-08-2004 1:58pm

Bacchus wrote:

Nunez is coming in as part of the Owen deal.

Xabi is expected to arrive in a few days for 10.7m and Benitez is goin to use the money from the Owen deal to try and get Garcia. That's a pretty good midfield IMHO.
Dudek
Finnan - Josemi - Hyypia - Riise
Nunez - Gerrard - Xabi/Garcia - Kewell
Baros - Cisse

Provided Benitez doesn't sell Finnan or any more players and we get in Xabi and Garcia (which looks very possible, but then in football who knows) I think Liverpool will have some pretty good cover in midfield (Smicer, Hamann, Biscan, Garcia). The're a bit thin on defenders though methinks. Could do with one more forward - maybe, we have the option of playing an attacking midfielder behind a single forward.

Well Firstly Alonso deal is far from done and Garcia has said he wants to stay at Barcelona. On and in regards to Josemi this is what Benitez said:

Josemi is a right defender who also can play regularly at centre half, but his best position is right back.

So I don't think he will be playing in the center, I would say Carragher will be and while he's good he's not great. Pongolle is still learning his trade and if Baros or Cisse were out for a long spell they would really struggle.

Liverpools squad is no better than Newcastles, Spurs or Villa's.

Liverpool fans here are living in a dream world, they are not a great side, GH wasted a lot of their money and now there feeling it.

jesus_thats_gre · 13-08-2004 2:06pm

I can see him playing like this until he gets a right sided midfielder and a combination of Hamann and Biscan until he gets a central midfielder, hopefully Alonso.

Dudek

- Josemi -- Henchoz/Carra -- Hyypia -- Riise -

Finnan -- Gerrard -- Biscan/Hamann -- Kewell

Baros - Cisse

midget lord · 13-08-2004 2:18pm

We have nunez.

jesus_thats_gre · 13-08-2004 2:31pm

midget lord wrote:

We have nunez.

Dudek

- Josemi -- Henchoz/Carra -- Hyypia -- Riise -

Nunez-- Gerrard -- Biscan/Hamann -- Kewell

Baros - Cisse

midget lord · 13-08-2004 2:33pm

I look forward to saying we have Alonso.

Bannor · 13-08-2004 2:33pm

It'll be at least a year before Liverpool are in a position to challenge for trophies there is little/no squad depth at the moment. Having said that the side Benitez is building looks to be defensively strong and should be dificult to beat.

midget lord · 13-08-2004 2:37pm

Any players that we got rid of we replaced, with the exlusion of Owen at the moment. The rest were fringe players and wont be missed. I still expect us to be in the top 4 and we certainly will not be 30 points behind arsenal at the end of the season. I also expect a good FA cup run.

jesus_thats_gre · 13-08-2004 2:40pm

midget lord wrote:

Any players that we got rid of we replaced, with the exlusion of Owen at the moment. The rest were fringe players and wont be missed. I still expect us to be in the top 4 and we certainly will not be 30 points behind arsenal at the end of the season. I also expect a good FA cup run.

I agree. There is little doubt that we will not be competing for the championship but we can certainly be confident of getting 4th and possibly 3rd if it goes our way.

eirebhoy · 13-08-2004 2:41pm

So Nunez is put straight into the team? Partridge is far more proven than him and is nearing full fitness.

midget lord · 13-08-2004 2:43pm

I hope RP gets a chance, however if Garcia comes in it may be difficult for him.

jesus_thats_gre · 13-08-2004 2:44pm

eirebhoy wrote:

So Nunez is put straight into the team? Partridge is far more proven than him and is nearing full fitness.

Benitez may be more familiar with Nunez's abilities. I am sure if Partridge does recover fully he will be given his oppurtunity, that is assuming he was not offered a contract purely to appease Owen... He has not been mentioned in any of the transfer rumours so maybe Benitez does rate him?

p.pete · 13-08-2004 2:48pm

eirebhoy wrote:

So Nunez is put straight into the team? Partridge is far more proven than him and is nearing full fitness.

It's unfortunate but it ain't going to happen. As for being proven I think you're wrong - Partridge was never given the chance to prove himself so we can't say he's proven (unfortunately...)

yom 1 · 13-08-2004 2:48pm

Bannor wrote:

It'll be at least a year before Liverpool are in a position to challenge for trophies there is little/no squad depth at the moment. Having said that the side Benitez is building looks to be defensively strong and should be dificult to beat.

I agree. It is far to early to judge liverpool under benitez, this year is all about tryin to catch up to the top three after falling behind in recent years (remember liverpool did become the first team to not win the league after scoring over 80 points in 2002 when they were second behind arsenal).

i personally hope that a few of the younger players like welsh and potter get their chance to shine under rafa and become the new homegrown boys at liverpool cos i think that liverpool along with all teams need players in the team that bleed the colours of their club

StickyMcGinty · 13-08-2004 2:52pm

partridge is still out is he not?

surely part of the OWEN deal would be for madrid not to get involved in the alonso deal...

anyone else think 8 million and nunez is a really bad deal for someone who is valued at £30million ?? we could have got more on ebay.

i cant find much on google about him anyway

yom 1 · 13-08-2004 2:57pm

yeah it is fairly bad but prob best cut price they could get

better than him going for free ala mcmanaman

midget lord · 13-08-2004 2:59pm

He could have walked on a bosman in 4 weeks time lads, its decent business.

yop · 13-08-2004 3:19pm

"He could have walked on a bosman in 4 weeks time lads, its decent business."

4 weeks, is it not 6 months before his contract ended?? Would that not be January that they could open negotiations with him or am I playin too much CM!

midget lord · 13-08-2004 3:23pm

Once the transfer ended in 4 weeks time he wasnt going to be going anywhere til at least the transfer window in january when he could open talks with anyone interested on the bosman ruling. So once the current window closed he was worthless to liverpool.

In this regard Parry et al done alright.

Bannor · 13-08-2004 3:27pm

eirebhoy wrote:

Partridge is far more proven than him and is nearing full fitness.

It's been said before that Partridge was only given a contract extension to keep Owen sweet. Now that the Owen clique has been smashed, Partridge could find himself plying his trade elsewhere.

mr_angry · 13-08-2004 3:39pm

To be honest, I think Liverpool will go a long way towards making it a 4-way race for the title this year. I still think they'll be the ones to finish 4th, but I expect them to be a hell of a lot closer to the top in terms of points than last year. I think they'll be contenders up until Febraury / March.

p.pete · 13-08-2004 3:45pm

If they're nearer to the team that wins then the relegated teams then it'll be an improvement...

yop · 13-08-2004 3:47pm

"To be honest, I think Liverpool will go a long way towards making it a 4-way race for the title this year. I still think they'll be the ones to finish 4th, but I expect them to be a hell of a lot closer to the top in terms of points than last year. I think they'll be contenders up until Febraury / March."

And as pool fans this is acceptable?? What is it now 13 years since pool won the league, you almost accept it at this stage that you will finish 4th and not challenge. Bit like the thinking of Newcastle, Boro and Charlton fans.

p.pete · 13-08-2004 3:56pm

yop wrote:

And as pool fans this is acceptable?? What is it now 13 years since pool won the league, you almost accept it at this stage that you will finish 4th and not challenge. Bit like the thinking of Newcastle, Boro and Charlton fans.

Perhaps but we do have to admit that a lot of ground has been lost and keep a certain amount of realism. If we say we'll challenge then we get called fools, if we say we'll finish 4th then it's a case of "is that good enough".

No it's not good enough but it's not going to be righted in one summer...

jesus_thats_gre · 13-08-2004 4:01pm

yop wrote:

"To be honest, I think Liverpool will go a long way towards making it a 4-way race for the title this year. I still think they'll be the ones to finish 4th, but I expect them to be a hell of a lot closer to the top in terms of points than last year. I think they'll be contenders up until Febraury / March."

And as pool fans this is acceptable?? What is it now 13 years since pool won the league, you almost accept it at this stage that you will finish 4th and not challenge. Bit like the thinking of Newcastle, Boro and Charlton fans.

You are correct. I think Benitez should be sacked if we do not come first next season. Anything else is unacceptable and unrealistic.

Bannor · 13-08-2004 4:10pm

yop wrote:

And as pool fans this is acceptable?? What is it now 13 years since pool won the league, you almost accept it at this stage that you will finish 4th and not challenge. Bit like the thinking of Newcastle, Boro and Charlton fans.

Why should Liverpool be expected to challenge for the league title every season?

Space Coyote · 13-08-2004 4:18pm

I too think Liverpool won't break into the top 3 positions this season. Unless Man Utd's injury crisis continues into the new year. As one of Houllier's (remember him) biggest enemies in the last two seasons, this would normally have been unacceptable to me. But there is a massive difference in finishing 4th, thirty points behind the winners, and finishing 4th only 10 points or so behind. When Liverpool finished 2nd to Arsenal in 2002 they did finish ten points back.That would be a big improvment on the last two disastrous seasons in my book. Anyway there's no way a team is going to go unbeaten this season, so the winners, ie. Chelsea will more than likely not accumulate as many points as the @rse last season.

Also, how good is this Nunez lad supposed to be ? I remember him scoring once for Real but that's about it. I would have much preferred to see young Juanfran signing for us.

yop · 13-08-2004 4:26pm

"You are correct. I think Benitez should be sacked if we do not come first next season. Anything else is unacceptable and unrealistic."

Hardy har!

Hardly now but even though I do not think United to win the league this season I would be expect them to challenge for it. if that makes sense.

"No it's not good enough but it's not going to be righted in one summer..."

That is a fair point, but he has gone and spent 20 odd million (not 100% on the figure) on Cisse and Josemi so when a team spend that money you would expect more than 4th position. That amount is also excluding the amount they may spend on Alonso and Garcia

Bannor · 13-08-2004 4:29pm

yop wrote:

That is a fair point, but he has gone and spent 20 odd million (not 100% on the figure) on Cisse and Josemi so when a team spend that money you would expect more than 4th position. That amount is also excluding the amount they may spend on Alonso and Garcia

He didn't spend a penny on Cisse. To date he has spent £2M on Josemi.

yop · 13-08-2004 4:39pm

Apologises, I forgot that GH make the transfer, sorry I should have said the club

p.pete · 13-08-2004 4:45pm

yop wrote:

Apologises, I forgot that GH make the transfer, sorry I should have said the club

I think we all accept Liverpool have signed some not so good players over the last 10 years.

Anyway, hopefully Cisse will produce the goods. I'm inclined to think that most attack minded signings would perform better without being managed by GH (Sorry Mr Houllier)

Thanx 4 The Fish · 13-08-2004 4:49pm

I believe that the pool will be challenging for the title this season, I would like to think that we would be in the top three behind arsenal and chelsea. How much have they spent ? And ahead of United (who have spent quite a few scheckels in recent months too)

Has there been any more talk of Shawn WP to liverpool ?

jesus_thats_gre · 13-08-2004 4:55pm

yop wrote:

Apologises, I forgot that GH make the transfer, sorry I should have said the club

Cisse might as well have been his signing though. Valencia were trying to sign him for a while before he agreed to join Liverpool. Josemi is his only true signing and hopefully Alonso will be his next.

These additions should in theory improve Liverpool sufficiently to ensure a 4th place finish that is not 30 points behind the leader. If we are only a small amount behind the top 2 then I will consider it a decent season and would be very positive about our chances for the following season.

The reasons why I do not see Benitez working wonders is the same reason I cannot see Chelsea winning the league. It just takes a while for the dust to settle and for everyone to gel.

Bannor · 13-08-2004 5:22pm

Thanx 4 The Fish wrote:

Has there been any more talk of Shawn WP to liverpool ?

SWP's agent approached Liverpool saying that the player would like to join the club and he believed a bid of £7M would be enough to get him. Benitez doesn't want to spend that kind of money on a player he hadn't previously seen or heard of, but said he would check him out.

Bannor · 13-08-2004 5:26pm

jesus_thats_gre wrote:

Cisse might as well have been his signing though. Valencia were trying to sign him for a while before he agreed to join Liverpool.

I think you're confusing him with Diouf - Valencia were trying to sign him before the World Cup. The Spanish clubs that were in for Cisse were Real Madrid and Barcelona.

p.pete · 13-08-2004 5:33pm

Bannor wrote:

I think you're confusing him with Diouf - Valencia were trying to sign him before the World Cup. The Spanish clubs that were in for Cisse were Real Madrid and Barcelona.

Is there any story behind why Diouf is out on his ear now so? I'm still a bit confused by that scenario - I know he's been a great underperformer but prior to that he was African footballer of the year twice and why wasn't he given a chance in the setup?

Kone · 13-08-2004 5:37pm

eirebhoy wrote:

So Nunez is put straight into the team? Partridge is far more proven than him and is nearing full fitness.

I'd love to see him get a chance

Johnny_the_fox · 13-08-2004 5:43pm

i find it hard to see how liverpool are going to have a great season..

We have feck all cover... just look at the bench on Tuesday Night. if any of the starting 11 get injured... we are FECKED.

p.pete · 13-08-2004 5:45pm

Johnny_the_fox wrote:

We have feck all cover... just look at the bench on Tuesday Night. if any of the starting 11 get injured... we are FECKED.

That bench is now weaker without Owen, at least we have Biscan to come back

Thanx 4 The Fish · 13-08-2004 5:53pm

p.pete wrote:

That bench is now weaker without Owen, at least we have Biscan to come back

You obviously did not see too many of the pre season games. Biscan has featured in the last four of them in midfield and has had good games in most of them. I think that he will have a good season now and that when Hamann starts slowing down a bit Biscan can have a chance.

mayordenis · 13-08-2004 5:56pm

jesus_thats_gre wrote:

I agree. There is little doubt that we will not be competing for the championship but we can certainly be confident of getting 4th and possibly 3rd if it goes our way.

well we have more than enough young players who in my opinion will easily step up, many who would probably makea show out of the likes of darren fletcher.

Liverpool are back?

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