Liverpool Signings and General Rumours Thread

Daemonic

I'd prefer to see Liverpool have a go at Barca rather than try to hold onto the lead from the first leg. Starting ultra-defensive sends a bad signal to the opposition and it's very tough to change the mentality during the game should Barca score.

event

no mention of stevie going down easy, eh

Vokes

Voronin deal confirmed.

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=411038&cc=5739

Liverpool confirm summer signing of Voronin

Liverpool have confirmed the summer arrival of Ukraine striker Andriy Voronin just hours after boss Rafael Benitez was describing veteran Robbie Fowler as the club's best finisher.

Voronin, 27, will join on a Bosman free transfer at the end of the season from Bayer Leverkusen, a signing that will almost certainly signal the end of Fowler's second spell at Anfield.

The Kop favourite took his goals tally to seven in seven starts this term with the two penalties that helped beat Sheffield United 4-0 on Saturday.

And, although Benitez was cagey over his long-term future, the conclusion of a deal for Voronin will suggest that 31-year-old Fowler will not have his one-year contract extended in the summer.

Voronin has previously played for Cologne, Mainz and Borussia Moenchengladbach and also represented his country on 40 occasions, scoring five goals in the process.

On the assumption that Benitez does not sell Craig Bellamy in the summer following his alleged antics on a Portuguese training camp, Voronin will become the Merseysiders' fourth striker.

Benitez may also try to sign a proven 20-goal-a-season forward, which would only hasten the departure of Fowler, who returned to the club in January last year for what was an unexpected swansong for one of the club's modern legends.

Benitez initially gave Fowler a six-month contract, extending that by a year last summer.

But it is unlikely sentiment will come into the Spaniard's plans for the future now he has been promised a sizeable transfer kitty by the club's new American owners.

But that has not stopped Benitez hailing Fowler as the best finisher at the club.

He told Liverpool's official website: 'He's a really good finisher, still the best we have, and I sometimes think that if we could have Bellamy running at defenders and carrying the ball 20 yards, then turning into Fowler with the goal in sight, it would be perfect.

'If you create chances for him, you know you can rely on his finishing and that is a very important quality to have.

'We have four very good strikers, all with different skills. You can make the most of Peter Crouch's aerial ability, Dirk Kuyt works hard between the lines and Bellamy runs behind defences.

'Robbie operates in and around the box and, of course, he snaps up chances. We can talk about Robbie's future at a later date but, if he scores every time he plays over the next few months, you never know.

'You need a regular supply of goals from someone and, if Robbie is not with us next season, we will have to look for another like him.

'It will not be easy, but it is clear we would need someone with the same qualities.'

9 goals and 5 assists so far this season.

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/players/stats?id=26035&cc=5739

Nothing special really

jesus_thats_gre

event wrote:

no mention of stevie going down easy, eh

Lol.. Going down easily or blatant diving in your opinion eh?

RE*AC*TOR

just because he dived doesn't mean he wasn't fouled.

but he did dive.

event

jesus_thats_gre wrote:

Lol.. Going down easily or blatant diving in your opinion eh?

he played for the first one, definately, but it doesnt get highlighted as he playes for england, so that makes it ok;)

~Rebel~

What the hell was the defender playing at though?! Was actually laughing at the replays. Gerrard has his hands in the air, looking at the ref, about 5 feet away, nodding at this Gombeen with his arms around his waist. He nods at the defender, and then Ref nods back. The defender see's all this, but what does he do? Nothing. The ball comes in, gerrard makes a move and the defenders arms tense up to block him (could clearly see it didnt just flop out of the way, and of course it would be natural reaction to tense at the sudden movement). gerrard, quite cynically admittedly falls over, peno given. Id say even if gerrard didnt fall down it was still have been a pen, since the ref was staring right at it, to the point he didnt even seem to notice the high leg on Crouchy.

Warnock must have crucified the defender though. Why wouldnt he have even just stopped blocking him for a sec while the ref was looking or something rather then making it totally obvious he wasnt moving?? Id say Gerrard thought it was christmas!

~Rebel~

Was just thinking, if Pool don't adopt an open checkbook policy in bringing in a top class striker, who would be the other option. Now theres a few prerequisites here really, if he's not gonna be top class, i'd prefer someone who is more likely to succeed then not. i.e, played in the prem before. One thought would be Yakubu, but he does seem a bit tempermental, and at times runs a bit hot and cold - though an undoubted talent. Then of course theres the ridiculously overpriced Bent - if we were gonna splash out that much we may as well go the whole hog for Villa or someone.

Then it occurred to me the most obvious choice - Dean Ashton. With the Hammers all but down, coupled with him only just about recovered from a season long injury, and his own desire to play in the premiership, he could probably be got for about 7 million. A bit of a gamble, but at the same time, he does have power, pace and exceptional finishing ability with all kinds of goals. What would yee think?

Chardee MacDennis

i'd take Ashton, but I think all our strikers are dispensible if we are given as much money as needed. feel the same about our wingers.

i'd love to see Villa brought in along with Ashton and Voronin along with Fowler, Flo Po and Bellamy or Crouch going. that would leave Voronin, Ashton, Kuyt, Crouch/Bellamy and Villa. Wouldnt be half bad!

jesus_thats_gre

Ashton would be a good replacement for Crouch imo.. As for Carew or someone of that nature. Not seen much of Vorinen but he seems to be a Kuyt like player who covers alot of ground for the team while also offering some pace, a few goals and something in the air.

redzerdrog

ashton is far better value than bent and is a better player imo

mike65

If another striker comes in who goes - Crouch or Bellamy?

Mike.

kaimera

Who wants Bellamy tho?

Newcastle might still be interested in Crouch..

Dub13

kaimera wrote:

Who wants Bellamy tho?

The US Ryder cup team....

mike65

Blackburn would buy him back in a shot - him and McCarthy would be quite powerful.

Anyway just to complicate matters a little more

Liverpool striker Robbie Fowler is determined to earn a new contract even though the Reds have confirmed that Ukraine international Andriy Voronin will be joining the club in the summer.

The 31-year-old marked his first Premiership start since early September by scoring two penalties against Sheffield United and hopes he can do enough to impress boss Rafa Benitez and win a new deal.

He told the Liverpool Echo: "I still feel I have a few years left in me yet, and I'll be carrying on for a bit longer.

"I still think I've a lot to contribute as a player and I'm just focusing on playing as much as I can between now and the end of the season. There's a lot to play for.

"Some people have mentioned me moving into coaching and I even saw a move to the USA mentioned, but I honestly haven't even thought about anything like that yet."

plus equalls....?


Mike.

Guy:Incognito

If Voronin comes in as Fowlers replacement, iss he going to be left on the bench for months like Fowler is? I'm a big Fowler fan and feel he should have been given a lot more playing time, but why did Rafa give him a contract if he had no intention of playing him? Penalties or not he still has 5 goals this season from very little playing time (only just 2nd to crouch in goals:games ratio )

Vokes

Just been looking at some of Voronin's goals as ive rarely seen him play.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQTn-JpV68s

Majority of his goals seem to be in the 6yrd area which is no bad thing at all. Also looks like he can actually head the ball, which Kuyt isn't great it and Crouch is just terrible at. So, he looks sort of promising.

...Or he could easily be another Serhiy Rebrov

Guy:Incognito

Have to laugh at commentators, re:crouch. Again the other day when he went off, Riise was atking a long throw and the commentators remarked about how Liverpool would miss his ariel threat. do they watch teh same football as the rest of us? Ever time we get a corner it gets mentioned aswell.

Stky10

~Rebel~ wrote:

Was just thinking, if Pool don't adopt an open checkbook policy in bringing in a top class striker, who would be the other option. Now theres a few prerequisites here really, if he's not gonna be top class, i'd prefer someone who is more likely to succeed then not. i.e, played in the prem before.

I was actually thinking about the very same thing myself at the weekend. I came up with three. Ashton, Bent, & Tevez. Ashton did brilliantly last year, but thats only half a season's form. Bent has done pretty well this year in a very poor team, and while I saw an article that Actim ranked Tevez as the worst player in the premiership and I know he has yet to score, in the (admittedly) small amount I've seen of West Ham this year I've been impressed by his attitude, and skill. He just needs to score. God only knows whats going on at West Ham this year though internally. If they go down, there are going to be some recriminations in the press over the summer.

All three are with teams likely to be relegated though. Thats not a good sign. So I gave up...

~Rebel~

Stky10 wrote:

Ashton, Bent, & Tevez.

All three are with teams likely to be relegated though. Thats not a good sign. So I gave up...

On the plus side though, it means they should be available at bargain bin prices so we could snap up all 3 and hope one comes good!

On Tevez, yeah i wouldn't base too much on his West Ham form, they're all managing to look ridiculously crap there this season. In fact he always looks one of the better players when he's given a go. Any time i've seen him for Argentina he looks fantastic so id definately take a Mascherano styled risk on him! Not a hope in hell he'll be languishing in the championship next season anyway. With Masch at Pool, and Rafa's influence together with the amount of spanish speakers i think he'd come to us at a lower cost then elsewhere.

Would actually love to see us snap up both Ashton and Tevez, for say 18million and let Bellamy go. Bellamy's attributes would be covered by those guys, while we lose an edge by letting Crouch or Kuyt go in their unique skillsets (crouch freak-power, kuyt work ethic, ability to set up the rest of the team, hold the ball up and make very clever passes)

el rabitos

i dont see wholesale changes being made at all tbh. theres no names that jump out that i can think of that *needs* to go. in the past there have been obvious ones like traore and cisse.

currently i see no need to sell any of the first team regulars.

zenden
dudek
fowler

those would be the only players id expect to see leave if anyone is leaving.

theres no reason to sell crouch or bellamy based on their performances. selling them would only serve to strengthen our rivals, and pool dont need the money from selling them.

no names really jump out as to who will come in either. obviously theres a need for quality at right back and dani alves would be ideal. theres no wingers out there that really stand out and look a realistic buy at the moment. our current wingers havent been great but they havent been bad to the point where i see rafa spending big money to remedy it. who's out there better than the current crop thats transferrable?

again, theres no real strikers that stand out either, names from italy have been mentioned as well as spain, any player from these leagues would need a fair bit of time to adapt, whereas liverpool need continuity and to hit the ground running next season if we want to win the championship.

as i said, i'd be suprised to see many changes

Stky10

Looks like Kewell has more problems than just his injury

http://www.tribalfootball.com/article.php?id=30205

Tonio

I would prefer to see any money that's available being used to sign a top quality striker - Villa would be my first choice. Let's say there is £25m to £30m available, wouldn't it be better to put it towards one world class 20 goal a season striker? We could then sell Crouch or Bellamy to provide funds for defensive cover or a winger. I would keep Kuyt. I think he is an excellent team player and his attitude is first class. I do not think the squad needs major surgey, just the addition of a top class striker and some defensive cover imho...

zing

Tonio wrote:

Villa would be my first choice.

If this is to be believed then Chelsea are already sniffing after him
http://home.skysports.com/list.aspx?hlid=450646&CPID=23&clid=191&lid=10&title=Blues+firm+up+Villa+interest&channel=&
And if the figures for his release clause are to be believed then there's no way we'd be able to meet it.

missingtime

Thats stupid money really. We'll probably raid the teams that are going down this season.
There's talk again of United going after Torres again and now with Chelsea after Villa we need to pick up a fairly decent goal scorer.
Fowler, Crouch, Kyut, Voronin , Belamy, FSP -- All hard workers but not "exciting" as such. I suspect Bentiez knows what he's up to though.

mike65

Stuff excitment. Look at Barcalona, everyones favourite team of "fancy-dans" put to the sword by hard work and application. Liverpool can show florishes when the mood takes them but I'd sooner they won games.

Mike.

woodyg

Mike hard work can only get ya so far. We need some one with a real goal poachers ability a new fowler/owen who get's ya 20+ league goals a season.

Would love to see this happen but ahh not a chance to be honest http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/gossip_and_transfers/6403175.stm

The main problem with a top class striker is once he's on the market all the big clubs suddenly wake up and want a piece of the action. Yes we have the cash to spend but once Chelsea\Man Utd get wind of a top player becoming available then were still going to get out bid.

I think Darren Bent will be signed in the summer especially if Charlton go down.
Villa would be a great signing but again there would be a host of clubs in for him if he was to move, same with Torres. There is no top class Italian striker out there at the moment and in Germany there is only 2 Podolski and Klose. Podolski is only just moved so won't be going any where and Klose is too old for the money Bremmen would want.
In Holland there is only Huntalear and Babel.
No body comes to mind in France or Portugal.
There really isnt that much out there which makes the market high priced.

Chardee MacDennis

Eto'o and Iaquinta seem to be the rumour today. I would defoe take Iaquinta for 6m - he is a tough, physical player, a bit of speed and a nice eye for goal. well from what i have seen of him. Would prefer Ashton if we could get him for the same price though.

Also would take Eto'o for 20m but how he would settle in Liverpool and in the dressing room would be a big question mark...

jesus_thats_gre

Whether Rafa would allow him to have the same effect on the Liverpool dressing room as he has obviously had on the Barca dressing room is another story though.

event

fowler to the USA

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/l/liverpool/6404031.stm

mike65

Just saw that! Its a tenous link right now (though it confirms what was already suspected) its only good sense from Fowler.

Mike.

zing

event wrote:

fowler to the USA

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/l/liverpool/6404031.stm

Reckon he's just seeing what options he has in the event of him not getting another year long contract. Wouldn't be bothered about these rumours until the day Rafa tells him he won't be getting a new contract - be that this year or next.

PiE

Call_me_al wrote:

I would defoe take Iaquinta for 6m

Odd slip of the finger there.

I'm with rabitos on this one. I'd hate to see a buttload of changes again this summer. The team has shown that it can compete and beat the best when they're on form, so obviously it's just a matter of making sure they're on form come the start of the season, rather than around Chrimbo.

sweetie

On this 20 goal a season striker thing I have to say I'm not convinced. Didn't Cisse score 20 goals in his last season for us? And we didn't win anything of consequence (bar a uefa cup) when we had owen or fowler regularly banging 20 in. Chelsea have won the league two seasons in a row without a 20 goal striker (altho lampard scored a lot from midfield) and this year they have the top scorer and proabably won't win it. Surely we need to improve the service to ur strikers and the goals will follow (like against barca.)
Cheers

event

sweetie wrote:

On this 20 goal a season striker thing I have to say I'm not convinced. Didn't Cisse score 20 goals in his last season for us? And we didn't win anything of consequence (bar a uefa cup) when we had owen or fowler regularly banging 20 in. Chelsea have won the league two seasons in a row without a 20 goal striker (altho lampard scored a lot from midfield) and this year they have the top scorer and proabably won't win it. Surely we need to improve the service to ur strikers and the goals will follow (like against barca.)
Cheers

he didnt get 20 in the league, did he?

generally, you will need a striker getting 20 in the league, if not, you will need a two strikers getting around 15 each or you will need a midfielder getting the same

woodyg

event wrote:

he didnt get 20 in the league, did he?

generally, you will need a striker getting 20 in the league, if not, you will need a two strikers getting around 15 each or you will need a midfielder getting the same

No he didnt get 20 in the league memory serves me right he didnt get close to 20. We havent had a striker at Liverpool get 20 goals in the league since Owen.
You need a 20 goal + scorer in the league to win you titles. Look at Chelsea Lampard and Drogba will bought get 20 in the league. Man Utd have Ronaldo and Saha who will bought go close to 20 in the league. Arsenal have Henry who will get 20 in the league. Darren Bent got Charlton to mid table with his 18 goals.

It's simple lads goals win games! If you have a player getting 20+ goals in the league you win more league games.

Stky10

Another Spanish youngster signed up

http://www.tribalfootball.com/article.php?id=30584

The reserve team is certainly ethnically diverse. Dutch, Spanish, Italian, Ghanian, Argentinian, and a Moroccan

http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/news/drilldown/N155136070228-1515.htm

Waster

woodyg wrote:

No he didnt get 20 in the league memory serves me right he didnt get close to 20. We havent had a striker at Liverpool get 20 goals in the league since Owen.
You need a 20 goal + scorer in the league to win you titles. Look at Chelsea Lampard and Drogba will bought get 20 in the league. Man Utd have Ronaldo and Saha who will bought go close to 20 in the league. Arsenal have Henry who will get 20 in the league. Darren Bent got Charlton to mid table with his 18 goals.

It's simple lads goals win games! If you have a player getting 20+ goals in the league you win more league games.

Don't mean to be pedantic but Owen never got 20 league goals as far as I know. Think 19 was his best total.
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/players/stats?id=7930&cc=5739

sweetie

Seeing these Diouf to spain rumours, I was wondering do liverpool have any claim to a percentage or did they sell him outright to Bolton?

Stky10

sweetie wrote:

Seeing these Diouf to spain rumours, I was wondering do liverpool have any claim to a percentage or did they sell him outright to Bolton?

The fee was never revealed at the time, but speculation was it was only about 2 million. So you'd hope that if they couldn't squeeze Bolton for more money at the time, they'd at least have gotten a percentage clause added.

jesus_thats_gre

Waster wrote:

Don't mean to be pedantic but Owen never got 20 league goals as far as I know. Think 19 was his best total.
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/players/stats?id=7930&cc=5739

Was gonna say the same myself. Owen went through long long droughts and would score a few in quick succession and then go on a drought again.

leninbenjamin

i think for those who are arguing that Liverpool don't need a huge scoring striker, you only have too look at the top scorer charts too see this isn't the case

Chelsea have 2 in there, Drogba and Lampard, United have Ronny and Rooney, Arsenal have van Persie and Henry, where as Liverpool only have Kuyt.

I think that's as strong a case as anything that Liverpool really do need a high scoring striker.

event

Waster wrote:

Don't mean to be pedantic but Owen never got 20 league goals as far as I know. Think 19 was his best total.
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/players/stats?id=7930&cc=5739

thats true

but he never played a full season for liverpool either, most he's ever played is 36 games in the league in a year

and he did score 19 in 29 games, id say he'd have got 1 more if he'd played th other 9 games;)

leninbenjamin

event wrote:

thats true

but he never played a full season for liverpool either, most he's ever played is 36 games in the league in a year

and he did score 19 in 29 games, id say he'd have got 1 more if he'd played th other 9 games;)

the fact he never managed to play all 38 games is saying something else about him though...

jesus_thats_gre

leninbenjamin wrote:

i think for those who are arguing that Liverpool don't need a huge scoring striker, you only have too look at the top scorer charts too see this isn't the case

Chelsea have 2 in there, Drogba and Lampard, United have Ronny and Rooney, Arsenal have van Persie and Henry, where as Liverpool only have Kuyt.

I think that's as strong a case as anything that Liverpool really do need a high scoring striker.

There is no disputing this either. I would place less emphasis on a 20+ a year stiker though. The fact of the matter is that it is better to spread as many goals throughout the squad as possible. I would by far prefer 5 players who score 5 each than just one player who scores 20. That said, it is importatant that those 5 players are not wasteful. This applies to any position on the pitch.

mike65

That list tells me that Henry better get his shooting boots on!

I've said it before so I'll be consistant Liverpool don't need to spend a tonne of cash on the legendary 20 goal a season man. I don't belive Rafa subscribes to the theory either, not cos I can ses inside his head but due to the selections he makes. If he was that 'bovvered' he'd have Bellamy and Kuyt start every game - only one does. The Gafa does'nt care who scores only that someone does.

Mike.

el rabitos

mike65 wrote:

That list tells me that Henry better get his shooting boots on!

I've said it before so I'll be consistant Liverpool don't need to spend a tonne of cash on the legendary 20 goal a season man. I don't belive Rafa subscribes to the theory either, not cos I can ses inside his head but due to the selections he makes. If he was that 'bovvered' he'd have Bellamy and Kuyt start every game - only one does. The Gafa does'nt care who scores only that someone does.

Mike.

kuyt and bellamy have often started together...i'd even go as far as to say they are the prefered 2 strikers in the group.

liverpool's movement as a team doesnt really require them to *need* a "20 goal a season striker". they need a strong player who knows where the net is and works well as part of the team. kuyt has 2 of those qualitys in abundance, he's just slightly lacking in the eye for goal department. iaquinta would be ideal, but i dont see him leaving italy tbh

if no striker can be found that can be that bit better than kuyt or a better finisher than fowler, then theres no point in buying for the sake of it. just hold onto fowler another year and maintain the status quo

Tusky

mike65 wrote:

That list tells me that Henry better get his shooting boots on!

I've said it before so I'll be consistant Liverpool don't need to spend a tonne of cash on the legendary 20 goal a season man. I don't belive Rafa subscribes to the theory either, not cos I can ses inside his head but due to the selections he makes. If he was that 'bovvered' he'd have Bellamy and Kuyt start every game - only one does. The Gafa does'nt care who scores only that someone does.

Mike.

Hmm. Have you watched Liverpool much this season ? Kuyt and Bellamy start together more than any other combination. They would be the prefered two. I also dont really understand your second point, if you are implying that IF Rafa was bothered about having a 20 goal a season striker he would start his top scorers then surely that would be Crouch ? He has scored more than Bellamy and Kuyt...

I think its very important to sign a clinical, goal poaching 20+ goal a season player. Lets look at this season as an example.

Man Utd - 65 19
Chelsea - 48 19
Liverpool - 44 19
Arsenal - 46 22

Out of the top four, Liverpools denfensive record can't be beaten, but they have scored the least amount of goals. I heard some statistic a couple of a weeks ago that Liverpool have had more shots and chances per game than any other team in the premiership this season, but they simply arent converting them.

mike65 wrote:

Stuff excitment. Look at Barcalona, everyones favourite team of "fancy-dans" put to the sword by hard work and application. Liverpool can show florishes when the mood takes them but I'd sooner they won games.

Mike.

The same Barcelona that won the Champions league last year and most likely La Liga for the third year in a row this year ?

mike65

They may start together more than any other but thats not the same as every game (within reason). Can't find stats for games started and games as sub.

Rafa does'nt hold much store in signing high-scoring strikers for the sake of it. Which is why he won't spend gazzilions to sign (insert famous name here). The goals scored number is pretty damned good considering the first 2 months of the season. I think he is more concerned with clean sheets than Ged was. I can belive the shots/chances thing as Crouch must have missed about 8 headed sitters this season. So the answer would seem to be - work on his head.

Mike.

Waster

Stky10 wrote:

The fee was never revealed at the time, but speculation was it was only about 2 million. So you'd hope that if they couldn't squeeze Bolton for more money at the time, they'd at least have gotten a percentage clause added.

Don't think that's right. Bolton Evening news said he was the clubs record signing but the previous record was around £3.75m.