Liverpool Signings and General Rumours Thread

mike65

A quick mention for Daniel Agger (apart from the well taken goal) his lose of the battle with Drogba last week was worth about a million training sessions. Tonight while he gave away to odd foul he did'nt allow himself to be bullied and bossed. Thankyou Didier!

I'd prefer Milan as they will be so up for it! Also as the final is in Athens and not say, Glasgow there will be less chance of trouble.

Mike.

Chucky the tree

Milan have to dish out some payback though, but losing to United would be a killer..

darkskol

WOOHOO! Go on the Pool!

United or milan? Playing Milan would be less stressful for me as I could not even begin to think about losing the chapions league final to united :eek:
(although if liverpool beat utd )

copacetic

mike65 wrote:

A quick mention for Daniel Agger (apart from the well taken goal) his lose of the battle with Drogba last week was worth about a million training sessions. Tonight while he gave away to odd foul he did'nt allow himself to be bullied and bossed. Thankyou Didier!

I'd prefer Milan as they will be so up for it! Also as the final is in Athens and not say, Glasgow there will be less chance of trouble.

Mike.

agreed, he learnt a valuable lesson in these games. no matter how much of a 'quality' defender you are sometimes you just have to get stuck in and do the dirty work..

5starpool

darkskol wrote:

WOOHOO! Go on the Pool!

United or milan? Playing Milan would be less stressful for me as I could not even begin to think about losing the chapions league final to united :eek:
(although if liverpool beat utd )

Exactly how I feel. The losers of a pool - utd final would have to go into hiding for a while.

copacetic

5starpool wrote:

Exactly how I feel. The losers of a pool - utd final would have to go into hiding for a while.

yep, but think of the rewards! it's a big risk/reward thing but I would rather the chance to beat utd in the final and risk losing, than not have the chance at all.

it'll either be the sweetest victory or the most crushing loss. either way it's what it's all about...

~Rebel~

I've calmed down a bit. Really pissed off i couldnt go out tonight, but exams starting and im way behind on workload!

On the teams individual performances;

Reina - What a hero! I truly underrated keeper. He does make his odd mess up, but barring a slight lapse towards the start of the season generally the mistakes arent TOO serious. Immense tonight, good distribution as usual and oh my god he must be the best penalty stopper in the world at this point! Watching the replays in real time, he's so fast! Has a chance of saving anything bar top corner id say.

Back 4 - Fantastic, brilliant to have Finnan back, offered his usual help to Pennant on the right, while covering the defence beautifully. Doubt chelsea would have scored last week had he played. Carra was just immense, no more need be said. Agger was exceptional and im more confident then ever that he'll be a long term quality CB, the way he met this challenge after last weeks game was fantastic. Riise was pretty solid, did his job and helped out the attack well.

Mascherano was immense. His one major mistake was even only after some magnificent defending, when he misplaced an important pass. Ran all night, brilliant stamina and positioning.

Gerrard also tireless, showed that he ahsnt lost the nack for a tackle, especially the fantastic one he throw himself into when chelsea were on teh counter, think he blocked a joe cole pass meant for SWP or Kalou (cant remember which was on at the time).

Zenden was actually ok i thought. Threw in plenty of tackles, didnt offer the attacking impetus Gonzalez would but did a professional job. Isnt the best player but he kept to his strengths tonight, rather then his debacle last week. Crossed much earlier and from deeper tonight, or else played the earlier ball.

Pennant. This game has convinced me he has what it takes. Its all well and good performing against Boro in the league in a pretty much nothing game, but tonight he was great i thought, really raised his game.

Alonso when he came on did his usual job. Really want him to return to his top form - we need it for the final. He's the metronome of the team, if he can get back to form the team will flow so much better around him.

Crouch did his job, good target man job, was often surrounded by players when he received the ball so couldnt do a lot with it at times. Plenty of flick ons and first time passes though.

Kuyt - god i love this guy! The sheer workrate is amazing, could have had a hat trick tonight which shows his positioning doesnt have to suffer ever with all his running about. Very unlucky to have the goal ruled offside, and with the crossbar from the fantastic header.

Bellamy. Annoyed me. The game was built for him, tiring legs everywhere just asking to be harried and pressured by real pace stretching them every which way. What summed him up was when we lost possession in the offensive right position. A Cole had the ball and was looking to make a simple pass to Mikel or Maka i think, Bellamy was about 10 feet away and didnt make a move, Kuyt was in the box and made a sprint out, then when the pass was made, he followed it. He knew he had no chance of making it, but he just did it to keep chelsea on their toes so they wouldnt have the time to look up and choose the right ball. its that kind of effort and committment that i wonder if Bellers has sometimes. He has the ability, just not sure about the attitude. He was doing it earlier in the season, so i wonder has he decided Pool isnt for him and all but given up or something..

The Rooster

IMO, you're way too harsh on Bellamy, Rebel. He was doing plenty of harrying from what I saw, and the one decent pass he received he did well with.

Kuyt worked really hard, and did really well for the header off the bar and the disallowed goal. But there were two other occassions when Cech spilled the ball and he was too slow or caught on his heels for the rebound. His effort in the 120th minute was very poor. He did take his penalty really well. A good performance but far from perfect.

HashSlinging

I cant type much as I was out lastnight, but today is such a great day to be a liverpool fan.

gucci

Chucky the tree wrote:

As soon as Dunphy said he thought Liverpool would win on penos i thought it was game over for us. Brilliant stuff from reina and co.

hahaha ditto!!
although i also thought we would win after carragher almost scored the og....was kinda having flash backs to shevchenko missing from 3yards out in istanbull, knew we had the luck of the gods with us

Chardee MacDennis

and when he kept going down with cramp! reminded by of Istanbul

zing

At least that should shut Mourhino up about Chelsea never getting awarded penalties

missingtime

Absolutely freakin delighted, was watching some of it behind a tea towel but I'm so relieved at the result.
Watched on my own and was jumping around when Kyut scored the penalty. A bit worried that he missed the chance at the end, if fowler was in the same position - would he have buried it???

Waster

What a match? I've lost my voice but I don't care. Don't mind who wins tonight as we are capable of beating anyone in Europe.

Chucky the tree

Liverpool FC's heroic goalkeeper Pepe Reina was burgled on Tuesday night as he was helping send the club through to the Champions League final.

The 24-year-old Spaniard saved two out of three spot kicks in a penalty shoot-out against Chelsea at Anfield.

But he returned from celebrating the win in the early hours of Wednesday to find his home in Woolton, Liverpool, had been ransacked.

A number of high value items and the player's Porsche Cayenne were taken.

Paperwork taken

The grey-coloured car - which has Spanish number plates - was found burnt out in Fleetwood Walk at 0630 BST.

Merseyside Police said the burglary happened sometime between 1900 BST on Tuesday and 0045 BST on Wednesday.

Officers were called to the address at 0145 BST after Reina discovered the break-in.

The goalkeeper, who joined Liverpool in the summer 2005, does not want to comment on the incident.

As well as the car, officers said paperwork, jewellery, and a Bang and Olufsen entertainment system was taken.

Footballers targeted

Reina is the latest in a line of footballers who play in the city to be targeted by burglars, often while they were taking part in matches.

The home of his fellow Liverpool goalkeeper Jerzy Dudek was burgled in June 2006 while he was on holiday in Poland. His Porsche, jewellery and football memorabilia was taken by thieves.

Daniel Agger, who scored for Liverpool on Tuesday night, had his home in Wirral burgled in September 2006.

In the same month, Reds striker Peter Crouch's house in Alderley Edge was hit by thieves while he was on England duty.

Meanwhile, Dutchman Andy Van der Meyde - who plays for Everton - was burgled twice in 2006.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/merseyside/6615493.stm

griffdaddy

scumbags. why would you rob a porsche just to burn it out? they probably could have driven it about 3 miles up the road to someone looking to export it and got a few grand. that's just mindless. i'd say he didn't really care too much to be honest though, he's probably still feeling pretty good. I hope if his passport's in that paperwork the spaniards are quicker at replacing them than we are:D

~Rebel~

The Rooster wrote:

IMO, you're way too harsh on Bellamy, Rebel. He was doing plenty of harrying from what I saw, and the one decent pass he received he did well with.

Kuyt worked really hard, and did really well for the header off the bar and the disallowed goal. But there were two other occassions when Cech spilled the ball and he was too slow or caught on his heels for the rebound. His effort in the 120th minute was very poor. He did take his penalty really well. A good performance but far from perfect.

maybe i am being harsh on Bellamy, he's just annoyed me a bit in his last few games, really isnt playing anywhere near his potential or doing the work he was earlier in the season. Just feels like he isnt giving it his all.

On Kuyt, thats why im so impressed with him though, he wasnt having his best game by any stretch, but still gave an immense effort in workrate and still forged himself sme chances. Sometimes you just cant play at your best, which is understandable, once you put in a full effort, which is what he does. Massive player to have on the field, never hides.

P.S Commiserations to poor Reina! Hope everything is covered under his insurance! At least it didnt sound like medals or anything were taken, that would be the worst (a la dudeks champs league one - think he got it back after though)

Guy:Incognito

Just got a phonecall, I've a good chance of getting a ticket, not set in stone but here's hoping. I have everything crossed, and it's staying that way till I get the call that I definately have it.

Chucky the tree

Stekelly wrote:

Just got a phonecall, I've a good chance of getting a ticket, not set in stone but here's hoping. I have everything crossed, and it's staying that way till I get the call that I definately have it.

Bring a stab vest. Apperantly the greek police are planning a strike on the day of the final.

Zapp Brannigan

Chucky the tree wrote:

Bring a stab vest. Apperantly the greek police are planning a strike on the day of the final.

Or a knife and be all pre-emptive

If ya get to the final I'd say it'd be an unreal atmosphere. Just hope we can win it now. Milan will be out for vengeance and if the big guns show up we're gonna get mauled. :eek:

Chucky the tree

Sissoko definitly have to play i think. Otherwise we are ****'d.

cruiserweight

Stekelly wrote:

Just got a phonecall, I've a good chance of getting a ticket, not set in stone but here's hoping. I have everything crossed, and it's staying that way till I get the call that I definately have it.

Lucky bastard I had tickets for Istanbul, it was fantastic (as you might have guessed)

Dub13

Champions league play off

UEFA have announced there is going to be a 3rd / 4th place play-off final in this years Champions League (for the losing semi finalists).
Uefa have decided it will take place at the new Wembley.

They are going to call it the "FA Cup final"

PHB

That's pretty funny actually

Dub13

I have my phone out and its been sent to every Man You & Chelski fan I have in it.

LuckyLloyd

CL final!! Wooo Hoooo!! Let us gogogogo!!

But right now, do Liverpool fans think that we can consider it a successful season irrespective of the result in three weeks time? Or do we need to win for us to be satisfied?

Dub13

UnLuckyLloyd wrote:

But right now, do Liverpool fans think that we can consider it a successful season irrespective of the result in three weeks time? Or do we need to win for us to be satisfied?

IMO we have to win for it to be a successful season,don't get me wrong if we don't will it will not be a bad season just not good enough.We really need to get our act together in the Premiership for next season,it was our bad start that fcuked us up this year.

yom 1

Dub13 wrote:

IMO we have to win for it to be a successful season,don't get me wrong if we don't will it will not be a bad season just not good enough.We really need to get our act together in the Premiership for next season,it was our bad start that fcuked us up this year.

That pretty much sums up my feelings too

Cyrus

wonder will fowler get alace in final squad?

PHB

The final squad is pretty big, you can have a ****load of subs, so I'm sure he will.

raven136

how much should you pay for 2 tickets?an Arsenal fan i know bought 2 a while back and is looking for 2,000 or thereabouts for them.Thinking very hard about it

~Rebel~

i really hope he does. he's been used far too sparingly this season. what a guy to have come off the bench like, with tiring legs, if he gets a chance he'll take it. In his 2 mins on tuesday he set up a potential winner for Kuyt.

zing

PHB wrote:

The final squad is pretty big, you can have a ****load of subs, so I'm sure he will.

AFAIK the final is no diff from any other CL game - 11 players & 7 subs.

PHB

Yeh, 7 subs is ****ing loads. I'm sure Fowler will be in there, if only for his peno taking ability.

how much should you pay for 2 tickets?an Arsenal fan i know bought 2 a while back and is looking for 2,000 or thereabouts for them.Thinking very hard about it

If they are catagory A, 2000 isn't a bad price to be honest. If they are catagory B, it's a bit pricey, but I'd say still worth it. I think 2000 is too much for category C, but that said, most of the travelling fans will be in category C, and that's where the fun will be.

Dub13

2000 is to much full stop,touts are bad.

Cyrus

was talkin to one of the lads last night, i assume final team might be

reina, arbeloa, agger, carra, finnan,riise, mascha, alonso, gerrard, kuyt, crouch

subs - dudek, hyypia, sissoko, gonzalez, pennant, bellamy and one space left dunno if fowler will get it, more likely zenden

LuckyLloyd

Dub13 wrote:

2000 is to much full stop,touts are bad.

€2000 won't be too much for some people. It is all relative. If you really want to go and have €2000 lying around, you will pay it.

However, touting is a fcuking disgrace. Arsenal fan? A true football fan would not sell tickets for 10x the asking price in effort to profit from other fans desperation. If you sold each ticket for an extra couple of quid (I'm thinking <2x the face value) to cover yourself for the hassle that is one thing. But rampant profiteering of this nature is shameful.

kinaldo

As a technically neutral Newcastle fan I just want to say congratulations to the mighty Reds and I hope you win it again in Athens. The rematch with Milan will be fascinating to watch I'm sure, but unfortunately it will be impossible to top the 2005 game. Liverpool won't be conceding 3 goals for a start. If Kaka' can be stopped then I think Milan will need penalties to have a chance.

Dub13

I agree some will pay it,I will not deal with people profiteering as a principle including the travel agents its this kind of rampant profiteering that made us setup the IirshKop travel club.We just got pissed off with fans getting ripped off.

darkskol

Anyone watch Daniel Alves play tonight for Sevilla? From what I saw of the match he looked very impressive.

Zapp Brannigan

darkskol wrote:

Anyone watch Daniel Alves play tonight for Sevilla? From what I saw of the match he looked very impressive.

Admittedly i've seen very little of him but I always think he plays better when he's further up the pitch. I think if we do buy him (not likely anymore though) that we should use him on the wing.

darkskol

Slurms wrote:

Admittedly i've seen very little of him but I always think he plays better when he's further up the pitch. I think if we do buy him (not likely anymore though) that we should use him on the wing.

He made a few nice runs up the right side tonight.
If Benitez did decide to go for him with the extra cash this summer I would agree with you about him playing on the wing. Also he would be decent cover for finnan if he is gets injured.

Zapp Brannigan

Thing is he recently signed a new contract so Sevilla will want silly money for him. And we know Rafa wont pay more for a player than his valuation so no joy there I reckon.

darkskol

Thats right he did sign a new contract, I forgot about that . Ah well we know Rafa wont pay over the odds.

Tusky

If Rafa signs a top class right winger it will be a massive selection headache. With Sissoko, Alonso & Mascherano fighting it out for the two CM positions Gerrard is first choice right winger with Pennant second choice. If he signs someone like Alves for the right wing Gerrard would need to play in the centre which would create problems.

zing

Tusky wrote:

If Rafa signs a top class right winger it will be a massive selection headache. With Sissoko, Alonso & Mascherano fighting it out for the two CM positions Gerrard is first choice right winger with Pennant second choice. If he signs someone like Alves for the right wing Gerrard would need to play in the centre which would create problems.

Yeah - but they'd be good problems to have would they not ? Far better than not having the choice of decent players for a given position which we've not had for a very long time onn RW.

redspider

I dont know if many of you saw some good news that went with that win over Chelsea in the CL semi, and that is that now Gillet and Hicks really understand what its like to be the owners of Liverpool. They experienced the emotion and inside they became more Liverpool fans, more followers, than Owners.

See:
www.liverpoolfc.tv/news/drilldown/N155832070503-1616.htm

And that is good news for the club and its future. The owners want to invest in the stadium more and the changes in the plan to increase the capacity from 60,000 to 70,000 or more are in train and making progress. Rick Parry mentioned that as well in recent days. And that is important news for the future of the club. Its also good news for player investments.

kinaldo wrote:

As a technically neutral Newcastle fan I just want to say congratulations to the mighty Reds and I hope you win it again in Athens. The rematch with Milan will be fascinating to watch I'm sure, but unfortunately it will be impossible to top the 2005 game. Liverpool won't be conceding 3 goals for a start. If Kaka' can be stopped then I think Milan will need penalties to have a chance.

Thanks Kinaldo, your congrats are appreciated. Newcastle are a great club and have the potential as you know to break into the top-4. It may come at some stage in the next few years if they can make steady progress. Getting into Uefa Cup again is the next step. Although I dont think that Roeder perhaps is the best guy for the job, perhaps too cautious and uninspiring. Robson was good and is missed. Maybe a Strachan could ignite the sleeping geordie giant of the north. If success does come, of course I hope it doesnt come at Liverpool's expense. ;-)

Redspider

Mr Alan

zing wrote:

Yeah - but they'd be good problems to have would they not ? Far better than not having the choice of decent players for a given position which we've not had for a very long time onn RW.

that said, i think he probably will be signing a right sided player and i wouldnt be suprised if Sissoko or Alonso left in the summer.

In the case of Alonso i have to admit that i find myself in a position i never thought i would - i honestly think he might be sold.... remember that he hasn't really played well in over a year (not to his own high standards anyway).

Whereas if its Sissoko who gives way, it might simply be because in Mascherano, rafa seems to have found a player with a similar engine who is a bit more comfortable with the footballing side of things (forget the first 15minutes of the Chelsea game ). Be a shame to see him go, but these things happen.

And in relation to the right sided thing, i thought Pennant had no future with Liverpool, but in fairness to the bloke, he has played really well in the closing stages of the season, incl on wednesday and he might just have done enough for Rafa to give him another season to prove himself.

Chardee MacDennis

Definitely think Pennant has a future and has proved himself in the last month or so, but he is very confidence dependent and a few bad games and/or being dropped ruins him so we really do need another RW.

gary the great

If we can win the final, hopefully the new owners will exploit our success a bit better than in 2005 on the commercail side of things.

It should also give us even more revenue and more status to attract world class players.