Liverpool Signings and General Rumours Thread

Vokes

event wrote:

eh, £10 million?

was his asking fee in the summer gone by not £12 million?

how do you reckon it has gone down, considering he may well win a league medal, and will more than likely get into the champ league

Well its a year closer to the end of his contract, no?

Or did he sign a new one since last summer? - which would mean his value should be greater than last years 12mil.

event

SofaKing wrote:

Well its a year closer to the end of his contract, no?

Or did he sign a new one since last summer? - which would mean his value should be greater than last years 12mil.

signed a one year extension in december, so same as last year

zing

Bellamy has a slight rib injury apparently which could rule him out of tonights game.

griffdaddy

zing wrote:

A 3-5-2 formation for us might be even be worth the risk with Alonso, Mascherano along with Risse/Aurelio & Finnan/Arbeloa supporting the back 3 leaving Stevie to support the front 2.

thats basically what i was getting at Rebel, i was just waiting for someone else to type it so i wouldnt have to!

~Rebel~

I really wouldn't trust either penant or gonzalez as wing backs. (maybe gonzalez in the league but not CL knockouts - and pennant never).

For the second half against Arse i actually focused on Pennant and watched him closely every time he came into play - he was absolutely ****! He did well for crouchies 3rd, but for the other 44mins he couldnt do anything right. kept jumping into reckless challenges, kept falling over inexplicably, couldn't keep a hold of the ball. Was really honestly terrible. I started watching him in particular cause i just realised at half time that this was a big game for him, at home v old club that bombed him out, so thought he might show some important touchs, but i was very very wrong...


if 3-5-2

---

Reina
---Carra---Hypia---Agger

---

Alonso--Masch
Finnan----Gerrard----Riise

---

Crouch---Kuyt

if 442

---

Reina
Finnan--Carra--Agger--Riise

---

Alonso--Masch

---

Gerrard

---

Gonzalez

---

Kuyt--Crouch

Would also like 4-2-3-1/4-3-3

---

Reina
Finnan--Carra--Agger--Riise

---

Alonso--Masch

---

Gerrard
-Bellamy/Kuyt

---

Gonzalez

---

Crouch

IrishMike

If i had a preference i would have to take your 4-2-3-1 formation there Rebel
Gives us a very strong midfield lots of cover in defence and gonzalez and gerrard
running from deep to support crouch
Cant see anything only a liverpool win in this game
Will probably be the only away win of the round too from the looks of things

Jazzy

Eto'o in the number 9 shirt and alves in kewells number 7 would suit me very nicely come summer time

IrishMike

Jazzy wrote:

Eto'o in the number 9 shirt and alves in kewells number 7 would suit me very nicely come summer time

Or we could put them both in crouchs jersey and play 12 v 11

mike65

Crouchy and Kuyt start tonight.

Mike.

KdjaCL

Pool: how much for Etoo
Barca: ehh 59,148,632.98 EUR ???


No team mentions how much they have. Alves is a right back, if pool buy him how many will Rafa bought to replace Finnan ?



kdjac

Chardee MacDennis

3-0 first team through to the semis????

great goals from the three boys, but helped a lot by a shocking psv team in the 2nd half.

so a quick thought - as long as mascherano and alonso sign long term contracts i wouldnt be too annoyed if gerrard was sold. obviously for very good money, if a very good right winger was brought in and he didnt go to any english clubs.

he never looks amazing on the right and the alonso and javier/momo combo looks really good together and i can see why rafa doent want to break it up. also i think the key to any good team is width - look at chelsea when they played wingers and united this season when their wingers came into some serious form.

just a suggestion, what do you guys think?

swalsh

Does anybosy else think that its a possibility that Kuyt intentionally got that yellow card at the end of the game to cancel out his other one, miss the return leg and be safe for the semis?

copacetic

swalsh wrote:

Does anybosy else think that its a possibility that Kuyt intentionally got that yellow card at the end of the game to cancel out his other one, miss the return leg and be safe for the semis?

well phil thompson does on sky and the fact that he tried hard to get it and himself and stevie g were laughing about it seems to indicate he was doing exactly that.

Great result, 2 sweet crosses from Finnan and 3 quality goals. Another sweet header from crouch. His goals/starts ratio is actually pretty good now for the season..

Zapp Brannigan

Can I just say Mascherano is an incredible player. Hands down it should be him to start ahead of Momo every game. He did not put a foot wrong in that game and his passing was excellent.

EDIT: Whooooo 3,000 posts!!

Guy:Incognito

Call_me_al wrote:

so a quick thought - as long as mascherano and alonso sign long term contracts i wouldnt be too annoyed if gerrard was sold. obviously for very good money, if a very good right winger was brought in and he didnt go to any english clubs.

TBH I was never overly concered about whether or not he was sold, as long as it was for the right money, but I would prefer him to stay and be played properly, in the hole behind the front 2.

Maybe go 3 at th eback sometimes (Carra, Finnan, Agger) with Masch & Alonso in the middle, 2 good wingers and 2 strikers. Could also use the formation with 1 up front and 4 at the back.

KdjaCL

Would you take a straight swap for Owen?


kdjac

Ardent

swalsh wrote:

Does anybosy else think that its a possibility that Kuyt intentionally got that yellow card at the end of the game to cancel out his other one, miss the return leg and be safe for the semis?

Big time. You could see him having a laugh with Stevie G about it shortly after the booking.

Guy:Incognito

KdjaCL wrote:

Would you take a straight swap for Owen?


kdjac

No.

For a start we'd need another top striker just to have for the 3/4 of the season that Owen spends injured.

el rabitos

psv looked like they forgot how to play football alltogether, they were dire.

liked how liverpool didnt give them an inch, they were never allowed express themselves or create anything, pool kept it nice and tight.

still some silly mistakes from gerrard, sloppy stuff that a better team would punish.

thought macherano was class, nothing spectacular, just nice and simple, throws his shoulders one way and makes alot of space, simple but really effective, just a really good footballer, bargain.

kuyt looks jaded or something, he's worked hard all season, but he looks like he's going through the motions right now.

all in all, it was good stuff, job done. bring on valencia *fingers crossed*

mike65

Kuyt was clever alright and its good news for Crouch as well, he and Bellamy should start next week, Aurelio is gone for the rest of the season which is a real pity he's starting to show his quality.

As for the midfield conundrum, if Rafa plays the Valencia formation in his day then Gerrard still has a vital role but Momo is redundant. While Pennant and Gonzo/Kewell etc will have to step up to the mark consistantly. Or spend money on wingers this summer.

---

Reina
Finnan--Carra--Agger--Aurelio

---

Masch-Alonso
Winger A

---

Winger B

---

Gerrard

---

Striker

Mike.

redspider

Liverpool 4-1 Arsenal

=> Nice one !

PSV 0-3 Liverpool

=> another Nice one !!!!!

Two very good days 'at the office' for Liverpool. I'm impressed by Mascherano and his application and attitude. He is definitely a class above Sissoko and can do the tackling as well as safe passes. Some very good performances tonight. Carra, his usual self, Finnan, did the bizz in the back and up front from the right (take note Stan!), Gerrard and Riise too and of course Crocuh who jumped again(!). Who's been giving him jumping lessons ??? Looks like he had them when he was out for his broken nose! Alonso a bit subdued, Kuyt played his game well.

Liverpool have this leg sown up barring a miracle. PSV badly missed Alex and Kone. Now it means I will keep a closer eye on the Chelsea v Valencia match tomorrow night. I think all of Uefa will be behind both Liverpool and Valencia to knock-out Chelsea.

Redspider

gary the great

So whats the craic with Mascherano, did we buy him or loan him?

One of the commentators said Rafa said we bought him for 1.5million?

Was a bargain. Im surprised United never tried to get him.

mike65

Either Liverpool have hired him for 18 mothns for 1.5 million or bought him for 10 million outright with the loan a technical thing.

Mike.

zing

KdjaCL wrote:

Would you take a straight swap for Owen?


kdjac

Depends who/what you want to swap him for ? StevieG - not a chance.

The relience on Stevie is becoming less & less important but he's still got something none of the other midfielders have - he's a local boy who supports & loves the club and as a result can dig deep to find the extra reserve when others might not be arsed. Same applies to Carra. You can't buy that..

Stky10

mike65 wrote:

Either Liverpool have hired him for 18 mothns for 1.5 million or bought him for 10 million outright with the loan a technical thing.

I don't think it has ever been confirmed by the club which it is. Originally it was supposed to be the 18 month loan, but speculation is that difficulties with this and that he might still be partly owned by Joorbachian's company meant that they paid out to buy him completely.

Wonder what chance there is of getting Tevez as well if the hammers go down. I thought Kuyt was very ordinary as usual again. How he scored 20 a season for three years running is beyond me.

Vokes

Yeh. A loan with a agreed future transfer of 10mil sounds about right. Lets home he can settle, Plenty of Spanish speakers about in the team to help him out.


Great team performance tonight. And a 2nd proper headed goal in as many games from Crouch! :eek:

Fiinnan was excellent as usual at RB. Stan wastes him at LB

zing

mike65 wrote:

Either Liverpool have hired him for 18 mothns for 1.5 million or bought him for 10 million outright with the loan a technical thing.

Mike.

http://www.mediasportsinvestments.com/ still lists him as one of their 'investments' so this is all far from clear. But if MSI still have an 'investment' in him then we wouldn't have gotten clearance from the prem league to sign him - or we'd find ourselves in the same hot water as the hammers. So right now it seems clear as mud as to whether it's a loan move or he's officially our player.
Guess the only way to find out is to wait and see..

redspider

gary the great wrote:

So whats the craic with Mascherano, did we buy him or loan him?
One of the commentators said Rafa said we bought him for 1.5million?
Was a bargain.

We bought him, he is now 'ours'.

There has been a lot of dodgy dealings with Tevez and Mascherano. My gut feeling is that FIFA and UEFA and CONMEBOL are sweeping a lot of the difficulties under the carpet as it was all a bit messy.

The two players weren't registered officially at a football club yet were put out on loan to West Ham. The registered company was Media Sports Investment, who are the owners of Corinthians in Brazil. MSI had owned the players registrations (or had they?) but as the players left to West Ham suddenly (and these players were valued at 40million USD) and as part of a potential club deal, it was all a bit dodgy to say the least.

It sounds like FIFA have done a deal with MSI and set a fair price of around 10m each per player, with some funds as compensation tyo West Ham, and may have as a result agreed not to investigate the wheelings and dealings. West Ham bought Tevez for the same amount.

At least, that's what it looks like.

I think FIFA should clean up their act and make it mandatory for all tansfer sums exchanged to be made public. They can even put the sums through their bank accounts in Geneva, there are plenty of banks there for that!

Redspider

Vokes

redspider wrote:

The two players weren't registered officially at a football club yet were put out on loan to West Ham.

But what does that mean not registered officially?

If they weren't registered with West Ham then they wouldn't have got the go-ahead to play in the Premier League surely.

KdjaCL

SofaKing wrote:

But what does that mean not registered officially?

If they weren't registered with West Ham then they wouldn't have got the go-ahead to play in the Premier League surely.

They are registered as players of West Ham but not its not wholly owned by west ham or liverpool.

Pool afaik now "own" mascheranos registration whether its via contract with another agency is debatable but they own it so are clear in any PL investigations.

If MSI still own both at the end of the season they have got what they wanted 2 players who have proven they can play at the top level in europe and command massive fees. but its football noone really knows.



kdjac

Reganio 2

TBH I dont care about the shady dealings as long as he produces for Liverpool and signs fully for us and gets rid of MSI then I will be happy.

Vokes

G'wan mike! Standing up for our boy Stevie F here in squarefootball feedback

jesus_thats_gre

mike65 wrote:

Kuyt was clever alright and its good news for Crouch as well, he and Bellamy should start next week, Aurelio is gone for the rest of the season which is a real pity he's starting to show his quality.

As for the midfield conundrum, if Rafa plays the Valencia formation in his day then Gerrard still has a vital role but Momo is redundant. While Pennant and Gonzo/Kewell etc will have to step up to the mark consistantly. Or spend money on wingers this summer.

---

Reina
Finnan--Carra--Agger--Aurelio

---

Masch-Alonso
Winger A

---

Winger B

---

Gerrard

---

Striker

Mike.

It does not make Momo redundant.. You just rotate between Alonso, Mascherano and Sissoko. Not exactly brain science Mike

raven136

think liverpool have first rights an mascherano...approx 10 mill and someone said alves is a right back but he is more of a wing back/midfielder..regularly he playes wide right and looks pacy but his crossing is a bit suspect

cant see us signing eto at all,he would cost easily upwards of 30 mill.
Villa if chelsea dont get there first would be a better buy but rafa would still need another striker.
Daren bent would offer goals and would be around the ten -12 mill mark

Daemonic

Anyone think it's worth a cheeky bid of 5-6 million for Kevin Doyle. Proving himself to be a good premiership striker, not a massive amount of goals but always in there trying. Given the number of crosses that seem to sail wide for lack of someone scrapping for them during a lot of Liverpool games he could be a bargain.

zing

raven136 wrote:

cant see us signing eto at all,he would cost easily upwards of 30 mill.
Villa if chelsea dont get there first would be a better buy but rafa would still need another striker

Villa is said to have a release clause of in the region of UKP 85m so he certainly won't be cheap. Valencia supposedly knocked back a UKP 45m bid from Chelsea a couple of months ago.
http://tinyurl.com/234xay

RE*AC*TOR

Daemonic wrote:

Anyone think it's worth a cheeky bid of 5-6 million for Kevin Doyle. Proving himself to be a good premiership striker, not a massive amount of goals but always in there trying. Given the number of crosses that seem to sail wide for lack of someone scrapping for them during a lot of Liverpool games he could be a bargain.

I think he would be an excellent acquisition.

Also despite an average season for Newcastle I still think Duff has a lot to offer, and would make a great addition to our left side. Unfortunately I'd say that ship has sailed.

raven136

Think we should steer well clear of duff,we need someone who is young,quick and bursting with energy.When duff was at blackburn he looked excellent but its been all downhill since then ,mores the pity.

Doyle is only a decent premiership striker and we already have two of them in bellamy and crouch.With Kuyt and the new ukrainain striker who both play behind front men we need 2 out and out goalscorers.

RE*AC*TOR

I forgot about Voronin. If we are expecting to buy someone like Villa / Eto / Torres etc then there must be a bit of clearout of strikers. Fowler and Bellamy the two most likely to go.

Lex Luthor

swalsh wrote:

Does anybosy else think that its a possibility that Kuyt intentionally got that yellow card at the end of the game to cancel out his other one, miss the return leg and be safe for the semis?

stating the bleedin obvious

Daemonic

raven136 wrote:

Doyle is only a decent premiership striker

So far, but he's young and not that long at Reading. He reminds me of Ian Rush, never had any outstanding attributes other than work rate and a great eye for goal.

woodyg

So Crouch has gone on to 17 for the season over all with 9 in the league and 6 in the Champions league he will probably get 20 overall this season which would imho be a very good return especially as 1) he aint starting every game and 2) he was out injured for over a month with his nose and foot injuries.

If he keeps improving at this rate i'd defo keep him for next season and let Fowler go.

Chardee MacDennis

jesus bent? c'mon guys - he is like AJ and all those other strikers that rightfully play for mediocre clubs...

raven136

bellamy and Fowler both gone i reckon and if rafa gets who he wants then possibly crouch.
would like us to hang on to bellamy but i guess six into 4 dont go.

For me it would be bent,villa and alves,along with a new wide left man.
Selling,bellamy,fowler,garcia and zenden

Chardee MacDennis

liverpool made favourites for the cl by paddy power:

3/1: Liverpool
10/3: Chelsea
10/3: Man Utd
13/2: Bayern Munich
9/1: Valencia
10/1: AC Milan
11/1: Roma
150/1: PSV

Zapp Brannigan

Favourites? Uh-oh! I dont wanna even think about winning the CL, just get through to the semis for the moment!

raven136

Listening to Graham Hunter on off the ball last night and he reckons the winner will come from liverpools side of the draw....mind you he also reckons roma will do united.We can but hope.

Bent has consisitently scored goals from open play while playing for a ****e team whereas aj is a decent striker who scores 40 percent of his goals from the spot.Bent has the same premiership record as michael owen,averaging 15 -20 goals.

PHB

Liverpool are obviously favorites right now, because they are the only team who are through to the semis. You'll get much better odds on them after the quarters, what the bookies are doing is trying to get fans to place bets now on liverpool, rather than after they get through

PiE

Only made favourites before tonights games are accounted for. Thankfully. Since we'd prolly concede 4 at home to PSV if we stayed CL favourites.

We played OK, nothing outstanding. Apart from the goals we did very little else and it was purely down to PSV's weakness that made us look decent.

And yea it's a pity about Aurelio, it seemed like he was just starting to find his feet and show what he can do. UL.

DaBreno

I dont think Bent would offer more than Crouch does at the mo. He may blow hot and cold in front of goal, but Crouchy is a great option to have when you need someone to lead the line. He is infuriating in the air for such a tall man but he's a mighty footballer on the deck , good at holding up the ball and bringing others into play. (Tis something he doesnt get a lot of credit for) Charlton would demand a Kings ransom for Bent so Id imagine Rafa might be thinking one or the other.

A better alternative might be Berbatov at Spurs. Crouchyesque statue with good footballing ability and an eye for goal.

People mention Villa a lot. While I would only cream my pants if we got him, his worth to Valencia is more in creating than scoring(which he can do quite well). Do we want another Kuyt type worker forward or someone more akin to Michael Owen whose sole job was to put the ball in the net?

Or do we just want it all?