Liverpool Signings and General Rumours Thread

Chardee MacDennis

well you know who wont win it - man utd - liverpool are better suited to europe especially with players like Garica and i reckon Zenden wont be too bad, we got screwd with chelsea in our group but again we can take the top teams of europe with the football we play, but unfortuntley we havent got a great side for the PL. its a more physical game and Rafa has seen this hence the extended contract for Didi, Sissoko signing and a solid striker - crouchie!!!

The Insider

ntlbell wrote:

he wasn't suited in england that doesn't make a player dodgy, strikers who bang in 20+ goals in spain must be dodgy.

Fair point I would make the same about Morientes

but yeah every manager makes mistakes and always will.

Agree with you 100% mate and it was the point I was making to Monster

the difference is the mistakes Benitezs is making are going to cause liverpool not to be in the champions league, there's a bit of a difference.

Again I think this is your anti-Liverpool vibe coming through...last year we were struck down with a injury list that was just horrible at one point the only recognised strikers we had were Mellor and Flo. Reina is a huge improvement on Dudek and is worth 6-10 points alone. Sissako is a talented player a good man to have on our team in away matches to the likes of Birmingham etc when we need to put up a fight to them.

Up front we went the whole year without Cisse and only got Morientes at xmas add Crouch to that mix and we have much better options this year. Alonso was out from xmas last year and Gerards mind was all over the place, if we can keep these two fit and well then there are not too many teams with better options in the middle of the park.


So how do you come to the conclusion that Liverpool will struggle for the champions league??

ntlbell

Call_me_al wrote:

well you know who wont win it - man utd - liverpool are better suited to europe especially with players like Garica and i reckon Zenden wont be too bad, we got screwd with chelsea in our group but again we can take the top teams of europe with the football we play, but unfortuntley we havent got a great side for the PL. its a more physical game and Rafa has seen this hence the extended contract for Didi, Sissoko signing and a solid striker - crouchie!!!

The funny thing was this year alot of united fans i know actually took their hats of to liverpool and even shouted them on in some games.

first i thought how odd, then i thought it's the biggest insult to a liverpool fan when united don't even rate them enough anymore to even bother putting them down.

look, maybe the blinkers are on, yes you did well last year, congratulations, but liverpool are a poor side pl or cl and you'll be very lucky if you even get out of the group never mind go on to win it.

every dog has it's day, liverpool had it in may, but i'm sorry it's over.

ntlbell

The Insider wrote:

Fair point I would make the same about Morientes



Agree with you 100% mate and it was the point I was making to Monster



Again I think this is your anti-Liverpool vibe coming throug

Up front we went the whole year without Cisse and only got Morientes at xmas add Crouch to that mix and we have much better options this year. Alonso was out from xmas last year and Gerards mind was all over the place, if we can keep these two fit and well then there are not too many teams with better options in the middle of the park.


So how do you come to the conclusion that Liverpool will struggle for the champions league??

To be honest, I haven't been anti-liverpool since the days of john barnes et all


it's fairly simple really, the fight for the 4th spot this year is going to change and there's going to be alot more teams closer to it.

all these teams have bought in quality players and making all the right noises.

liverpool let go the only half decent striker they had (baros)

everytime i've seen cisse i just see flashes of heskey, doesn't look promising.

i think you'll struggle for goals, watching the sunderland game was fairly embarassing i thought and if that's what's to come i can't see a uefa spot for the pool nevermind cl.

trust me i'm not anti-liverpool it's alot more intresting for me for them to be up close to us it's no fun beating you when everyone else is and i got more enjoyment from hating the pool than i did arsenal.

StickyMcGinty

ntlbell wrote:

every dog has it's day, liverpool had it in may, but i'm sorry it's over.

the champions league wasnt one game, liverpool deserved to win the CL because they were the best team throughout the competition, poor sides dont win the champions league.

rafa already made mistakes (pelligrino, nunez) who he got rid of - houllier mae mistakes and kept them. a good manager knows when he's made mistakes and corrects them

Chardee MacDennis

"It was no coincidence that Rafa said he wanted a team with several players who score a good amount of goals, not one individual who scores loads (the problem Liverpool had latterly under Gerard Houllier's tenure: it was often Owen or bust). It's better to have six 15-goal players, than one who scores 25 while the rest get five."

from http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/news/drilldown/N149851050831-1219.htm

a very good read - crouch is the new mista and look what benetiz did with him.

ntlbell

VinnyL wrote:

the champions league wasnt one game, liverpool deserved to win the CL because they were the best team throughout the competition, poor sides dont win the champions league.

rafa already made mistakes (pelligrino, nunez) who he got rid of - houllier mae mistakes and kept them. a good manager knows when he's made mistakes and corrects them

poor sides haven't won it, but very average teams have fluked their way through with a few dodgy descisions etc, porto in 03/04 bayern on 00/01 dortmund's side in 96/97 when they knocked us out in the semi's was very average.

look things went liverpools way no liverpool fan could say it was a great team that won it and keep a straight face.

i'm not going to talk about the goal that wasn't etc i'm just saying it's time to come down to earth now.

tel922001

ntlbell wrote:

poor sides haven't won it, but very average teams have fluked their way through with a few dodgy descisions etc, porto in 03/04 bayern on 00/01 dortmund's side in 96/97 when they knocked us out in the semi's was very average.

look things went liverpools way no liverpool fan could say it was a great team that won it and keep a straight face.

i'm not going to talk about the goal that wasn't etc i'm just saying it's time to come down to earth now.

when liverpool are knocked out of europe we will come down to earth until then we are champions of europe , sorry 5 time champions of europe , every team gets a little luck its about time liverpool get their turn , too many times the likes of united etc have got dodgy decissions put their way,

Chardee MacDennis

we beat Juve and Leverkusen, we played brilliantly against Chelsea and drew with AC Milan after being 3-0 down and then beat them on penalties how does that mean "going liverpool's way" so i suppose when ManUre beat Munich after being 1-0 down for nearly the whole match it went their way and they fluked it.

we beat great teams, put in the best performances these players will ever play, and never gave up. dont talk about the players being poor since when is football about individuals - its not - its about teams and playing as a team therefore that team was great team because it did what it was supposed to do.

TheMonster

The Insider wrote:

As for your Liverpool dodgy signings Carson made one mistake in the game against Juventus that’s it he has not played in many more matches to make any mistakes. He has looked very solid.

can't remeber the exact games but remember 2/3 errors

The Insider wrote:

You are already slagging off Crouch and the season has not started. Zenden is a good squad player, he was Middelsbourgh player of the season last year. Garcia does give the ball away to much but he scored 16 goals last year more then Rooney or Smith last year if I am not mistaken.

I just don' think Crouch is a Liverpool player and a lot of pool fans both friends
and on here agree with me. Zenden and Garcia are average players - look at the thread on the super cup final and you will see a lot of pool fans agree.

The Insider wrote:

Morientes has struggled a bit so far but to call him a flop after 6 months??

A player of his supposed quality should have settled by now - he went to Monaco on loan and settled immediately. Barring that spell on loan at Moncao he has done very little in the last 3/4 years.

The Insider wrote:

Nunez we got with the Owen deal bundled in for Free.

Still took him on and played him and we will never know if he was actually free.

The Insider wrote:

The two mistakes I give you are Pellegrino and Joesmi but it looks like he is trying to convert Joesmi into a CB and I would give him a chance there.

Maybe - but he didn't perform in his bought position

The Insider wrote:

As usual you are having a pop at Liverpool and as usual you are talking nonsense.

Most Liverpool fans agree on the majority of the points I made - bottom line is IMO there are more bad than good signings. I am not even going to raise to your bait about United transfer dealings its off topic - start a new thread if you like.

Davei141

ntlbell wrote:

poor sides haven't won it, but very average teams have fluked their way through with a few dodgy descisions etc, porto in 03/04 bayern on 00/01 dortmund's side in 96/97 when they knocked us out in the semi's was very average.

look things went liverpools way no liverpool fan could say it was a great team that won it and keep a straight face.

i'm not going to talk about the goal that wasn't etc i'm just saying it's time to come down to earth now.

We had a manager that brought the best out of the squad in europe, turned us into a great team in europe. Forget about the players, look at arsenal, great bunch of players...one playing style and no alternative tactics = Average european side. The "average" teams that your referring too, are the best tactically. The "great" teams your referring too, have all the players and a manager banging his head against a brick wall. With the exception of AC. United couldnt even score 1 goal against them in 180 minutes! who's fault was that? it was the manager deploying a cagey formation when his best option was offense. He wanted a draw against AC at home. Arsenal against bayern, totally destroyed away from home. It was a pathetic show, they didnt know whether to attack of defend, they were away from home. They looked like headless chickens playing against a team that laps up that kind of attack, wouldnt it of been better waiting for a counter attack? In the end the managers lack of alternative tactics left his team bemused and 3-1 down. Against a team not better than them, just different. Real madrid against juventus, juventus are an extremely strong team against anyone. Real madrid have the attacking players and no other way to play but attack. When juventus went to the bernabau they could of easily won the amount of chances created, they lost one nil. When it went back to juventus, reals one dimension of attack attack attack, was exposed from a juve team that was balanced. Had a great manager in charge. Real didnt really know what to do, a one goal lead, now away in one of the toughest places to play. They attacked and lost the match, they left their defense exposed so many times it wasnt funny. A manager with a plan would of either balanced the team or counter attacked. They lost 2-0 in extra time. Chelsea vs Barcelona, chelsea defended really well in the first leg, they played counter attacking football and really tight in defence. They went 1-0 up away to barcelona, dealt with their pressure with ease and still created a few chances. Untill the sending off it was going to be 0-1 not 2-1. Back at stamford bridge chelsea attacked barcelona from the off, barcelona being barcelona left their defense on their own while 6 of them stayed in chelseas half "attacking". 3-0 down in 18 minutes. Chelsea decided to lay off so barcelona turned on what they do best. Barcelona couldnt defend that game, it took some magic from ronaldinho to even make it a contest. Now if Rijkaard had the ability to think and tell his team, soak up some pressure they are going to come at us hard, then try play your stuff, it wouldnt of been a total disaster for them.

StickyMcGinty

monster, we're only 2 prem games in to the season, we've got 4 points out of a possible 6, and already your writing us off.

your basing your whole opinion on 2 games, cause its only a competitive game you can truley judge a player by. i didnt like it when we signed crouch, but i'm more than willing to give him a chance like most pool fans. at least have a basis for your critisism of crouch in a liverpool jersey..

ntlbell

Call_me_al wrote:

look things went liverpools way no liverpool fan could say it was a great TEAM that won it and keep a straight face.

A great team? I'm not talking about indivdual's, everyone gets a bit of luck, you don't win THE TREBLE without some.

my point is that AVERAGE side's don't win things year after year. they don't win premierships, they don't win them back to back they don't go on to to do well year after year and after your cl win you've added no one to the side to make anyone think that you anything else than an AVERAGE side.

Liverpool had theirs last year, it's over it's going to be a horrible year in the pl and even worse in europe because you're an AVERAGE team, enjoy.

p.pete

VinnyL wrote:

monster, we're only 2 prem games in to the season, we've got 4 points out of a possible 6, and already your writing us off.

your basing your whole opinion on 2 games, cause its only a competitive game you can truley judge a player by. i didnt like it when we signed crouch, but i'm more than willing to give him a chance like most pool fans. at least have a basis for your critisism of crouch in a liverpool jersey..

I'd back those 2 points up. Regarding fixtures we've already played a lot more matches then most teams and yet we've only gotten 2 games into the league:

6 games CL qualification -> objective achieved
1 game Super Cup -> objective achieved
2 games PL -> 4 points, 6 would have been nice

Regarding transfers we've brought in a lot of young players who I know nothing about. Also players like Crouch (yet to play in PL for us) and Sisoko we'll have to let time tell whether they turn out to be good signings, I'm hopeful.

I do however think we needed at least 2 more quality players before yesterdays deadline - given the burden of extra games we have we'll likely need them unless we're blessed with a lack of injuries (I can't remember a season where that happened).

StickyMcGinty

ntlbell wrote:

A great team? I'm not talking about indivdual's, everyone gets a bit of luck, you don't win THE TREBLE without some.

my point is that AVERAGE side's don't win things year after year. they don't win premierships, they don't win them back to back they don't go on to to do well year after year and after your cl win you've added no one to the side to make anyone think that you anything else than an AVERAGE side.

Liverpool had theirs last year, it's over it's going to be a horrible year in the pl and even worse in europe because you're an AVERAGE team, enjoy

sorry, whens the last time united won a piece of significant silverware? and i'm sure you consider them a great team

average would be a mid table team by the way, liverpool finished 5th, how does that make us average??

p.pete

VinnyL wrote:

average would be a mid table team by the way, liverpool finished 5th, how does that make us average??

Because the points total that earned us 5th place should have been good enough for only 9th or 10th in most normal seasons - hopefully the league is a bit more competitive this year and Liverpool more so.

Chardee MacDennis

exuse me you have me quoted as saying
Originally Posted by Call_me_al
look things went liverpools way no liverpool fan could say it was a great TEAM that won it and keep a straight face.

didnt say that. also i knwo its hard to support a team on the decline when all around are are moving up in the world, but you're gonna have to get over it.

Liverpool will not win the league this year, but they will challenge and we will be challenging man utd for 3rd place, but we have already won the supercup, we have as good a chance as any to win the WCC and we will do well in Europe, so how about we come back at the end of the season when Crouch has scored more than donkey and shrek and we'll talk then.

PHB

How about we don't have the Liverpool fluked it argument again, since we've really all had it out already

I think the one thing we can say about last years CL is that I don't think its that Liverpools style is more suited to Europe, I think its more suited to teams coming at them.
I think that on any given day Gerrard, sorry I mean Liverpool :P, can beat any top team on the planet, a team that is willing to go at them, and then allow for the possibility of a counter attack.
However where I think Liverpool lack, and I mean seriously lack, is the ability to take on teams that don't attack them, that literally sit back and soak up pressure. A decent crosser of the ball was needed to couner this, and he wasn't brought in. Crouch was brought in for this exact reason. The Niall Quinn strategy, or the Big Dunc one. 15 mins left, Crouch comes on and you hoof it in the box for 15 mins to try get something. You need these options if you want to win the PL, and Benetiz has gotten somewhere.
What I'd like to know is, was it a **** up that they weren't signed, or was nobody availible?


Also the arguemnt about Fergie's bad buys. Of course he has made bad buys, 19 years of managment, I notice you can only name bad buys from 3 years ago. Sheringham was considered a bad buy for a while , and to include kids on that list is a bit harsh.
The difference is that while you can list his bad buys, Fergie has about 50 great buys
Benetiz so far, only has imo about 6 good buys, and I really expected more from him, as I really do rate him as a manager.

Alonso -
Reina -
Sissoko
Garcia - Liverpooll would not have won the CL without him, so show some respect
Crouch - For reasons outlined below
Zenden - Free players with good quality

Chardee MacDennis

p.pete wrote:

Because the points total that earned us 5th place should have been good enough for only 9th or 10th in most normal seasons - hopefully the league is a bit more competitive this year and Liverpool more so.

since 99 we would have one 4th,one 5th, one 6th, two 7ths and an 8th with 58 points, so not really 9/10th

Chardee MacDennis

PHB wrote:

Crouch was brought in for this exact reason. The Niall Quinn strategy, or the Big Dunc one. 15 mins left, Crouch comes on and you hoof it in the box for 15 mins to try get something.

that is not why crouch was bought. Crouch was bought to start like Mista at valencia, why do you think he is starting Morientes the whole time? so none of the players have to learn a new system when crouch is fit, so they already know how to play with a target man who wants balls in the air. so there is no adjustment time. when crouch is fully match fit he will slot straight in the the team and wont leave for PL matches, whether he plays in europe is a different matter.

BolBill

How can you mention the words "zenden" and "quality" in the same sentence? unless you use "lack of" or "no" as well. Zenden is muck, yeah yeah yeah, Boro player of the season so f-ing what, it wasn't for playing on the wing which is where he'll be for us. He was sh*t as Barca, I witnessed him booed offf the pitch at the Camp Nou. He hardly set the World alight at Chelsea either. Yeah he cost us no money but he'll cost us wasted wages as he's totally over-rated.
Sissokos second touch is a tackle so I don't know why people are raving about him either.
So much for Simao, that leaves us without the RM and CB we were looking for whilst turning down Owen.
Come on Peter Crouch you're are only hope....... (and Lord help us)

Suppose the Champions League will just have to do us again

p.pete

Call_me_al wrote:

since 99 we would have one 4th,one 5th, one 6th, two 7ths and an 8th with 58 points, so not really 9/10th

Lol - I didn't bother checking that, thought it might have been a bit of an exageragion. That still works out at 6.1666th position - and rounding up that'd be 7th most seasons. Not great

The Insider

TheMonster wrote:

can't remeber the exact games but remember 2/3 errors

What errors? He made one against Juventus thats it. He only played 6 games in total.

I just don' think Crouch is a Liverpool player

More garbage he is a player who can do a job for us and offers us something up front that is different. 2 games into the season, he has not played in the premiership yet for us but you are saying he is a flop signing??

I am not even going to raise to your bait about United transfer dealings its off topic - start a new thread if you like.

It was not bait, my point was that all managers make bad signings and make mistakes.

The Insider

PHB wrote:

Also the arguemnt about Fergie's bad buys. Of course he has made bad buys, 19 years of managment, I notice you can only name bad buys from 3 years ago.

Yeah I know I did not have the time to go through 19 years of bad buys

The difference is that while you can list his bad buys, Fergie has about 50 great buys

Over 19 years of managment
Give benetiz 19 years then we will compare

Jivin Turkey

Its disappointing to not get the players we were looking for, but Id rather that than be ripped off like what a number of clubs have tried to do to us. e20M was a ridiculous price for Simao. We could have got Vieira for that!

I have my full faith in Benetiz. A CB would have been nice, but we will survive with Hyypia/Carragher/Josemi/Whitbread.

Most people here are looking too short term I think. Benetiz is looking for the right players, not just any players. He wont sign people just for the sake of it.

The team is in great shape, and we have started the season well, it may not be the best to look at but its getting us places.

TheMonster wrote:

can't remeber the exact games but remember 2/3 errors

He could possibly also be blamed for a goal against Newcastle. But it was hardly a clanger. In the Juve game that he made the mistake he also made some unbelievable saves, overall he had a good game.

He was a good signing, any keeper who cost £2M and can hold his own in the CL and PL at 19 is a good buy.

TheMonster wrote:

Zenden and Garcia are average players - look at the thread on the super cup final and you will see a lot of pool fans agree.

Zenden is much better than average. He has proved that the last two years. And all the years before that when he was playing with some of the biggest clubs in Europe.

Garcia is also much better than average, he may be frustrating to watch at times, but he gets goal, and lots of them. I remember you put C.Ronaldo in your best team in the world before. Garcia is a similar style player, as in he is also frustrating to watch at times, the difference is, Garcia delivers an end product. How can you say one is the best in the world and the other is average? Oh now I remember, you are a troll.

TheMonster wrote:

A player of his supposed quality should have settled by now - he went to Monaco on loan and settled immediately. Barring that spell on loan at Moncao he has done very little in the last 3/4 years.

He scored 29 goals in all competitions four years ago for Real and Spain. So now we have in four years, an amazing season with Real, an amazing season with Monaco, a season on the bench with Real (under a new manager), and a protracted season on the bench at Real and on the bench for Liverpool for all their important games.

Morientes hasnt had time to settle. Hes had five months of football on and off.

TheMonster wrote:

Most Liverpool fans agree on the majority of the points I made - bottom line is IMO there are more bad than good signings. I am not even going to raise to your bait about United transfer dealings its off topic - start a new thread if you like.

No they dont. Out of the 8 players you have listed as "bad signings" four of them have started less than ten games. The other four (bar Garcia) have all started less than 20.

I dont know why Im even rising to you, you are a complete troll, the majority of the crap you post is anti-Liverpool (check your own posts and you will see!). At least you can have company in ntlbell, another master of garbage-tongue.

The Insider

Jivin Turkey wrote:

I dont know why Im even rising to you, you are a complete troll, the majority of the crap you post is anti-Liverpool (check your own posts and you will see!). At least you can have company in ntlbell, another master of garbage-tongue.

Could not have put it better myself, I really enjoy a bit of debate especially with different fans but The Monster and ntlbell take the biscuit with there constant Liverpool bashing. Both of them talking out there ar** the majority of the time.

Thanx 4 The Fish

ntlbell wrote:

A great team? I'm not talking about indivdual's, everyone gets a bit of luck, you don't win THE TREBLE without some.

my point is that AVERAGE side's don't win things year after year. they don't win premierships, they don't win them back to back they don't go on to to do well year after year and after your cl win you've added no one to the side to make anyone think that you anything else than an AVERAGE side.

Liverpool had theirs last year, it's over it's going to be a horrible year in the pl and even worse in europe because you're an AVERAGE team, enjoy.

And good teams don't go two years without winning a damn thing. Liverpool had some bad luck in the transfer window but at least we did not go buying players because they will boost the sale of shirts in China. Rafa has a plan and look what it did for him last season, granted he did not get Owen in this window but it made good sense not to take him when he was being offered to us for double what we sold him for. Two games in to the season and unbeaten in the league and already being written off is laughable really, especially from somebody who thinks that Man U have the slightest chance of winning the league. Realism is what you are lacking son, Liverpool fans in the main will agree that the pool are not challenging for the Prem title but second or third is achievable. And if we did that, had a good run in Europe and maybe took a League/Fa cup trophy then I for one would be happy that progress was being made.

tel922001

ye are like a pack of women , realistically we are NOT goin to win the PL this season , and im sure we can break the top 4 , to me its a bonus if we get 3rd
we might go far in the CL but we need more resources for it , i personally think benitez is concerned about the league, if we get into 4th and have a reasonable run in the CL it will be ok , im not expecting us to do massive things this year , an FA Cup might be a more realistic option , he has alot of work to do and i have full confidence in the guy , if liverpool got 3rd this season it would be a massive success , for the simple reason it means we are on the up and next yr we aim even higher

redspider

The Muppet wrote:

Can I use that as My sig?
I though the whold idea was to try improve every season by building on what you have.

Yes, you may use it as a sig, as long as you include a
"(C) Copyright 2005, Redspider" line ! ;-)

Maybe you dont understand the phrase exactly:

When I say:
"You cant improve every season", it means that a team cant get better results and achieve more *every* season. If they did, then at this stage you would have 20 teams in england, all getting the same amount of goals, points, etc. They would be all be perfect and equal or otherwise you would have one team which just wins all the trophies eveyr year. Now, look at the evidence, that is clearly not the case.

Of course the *aim* is to improve, and in some cases a team can improve yet finish lower than the season before in all comps, such are the variabilities of football. It is not en exact science. You've heard my mantra before, over 38 games, incidents do not balance up, and teams will be +/- 3 pts or something of their true worth, or will have done better or wosre in a cup competition.

Also, its a moving battelfield, all teams are trying to improve at the same time, players age each year, some get better, some get worse, some get slower by a few kmph. Some teams get a new manager, some get more money available, etc, etc etc. Everyone knows the aim is to improve, the aim is to win all trophies every season, but when was the last time Liverpool achieved the sextuple (Community Shield, Super Cup, League Cup, League championship, FA Cup, European Cup - CL) ... well never! And the same for all other teams, also never. So, even you can see, ALL teams need to improve, teams aim to improve every season, in fact, they try to do so every week, even at half-time within matches, even during the match, but the fact remains: You cant improve every season!

I hope you understand now.

redspider

tel922001

Gonzalez to wait for loan move 02/09/05
Chile international Mark Gonzalez will move to Liverpool on loan from Albacete as soon as he can get a work permit, according to the Spanish club.

Gonzalez's proposed switch to Anfield collapsed when he was refused a work permit because Chile are ranked outside the top 70 nations by FIFA.

"The Chilean player will wear the number 12 shirt after reaching an agreement with Liverpool. Mark will play for Albacete until he receives his work permit," read a statement on the Albacete website, www.albacete-bp.es. "That could happen on one of two dates - in January or on June 30."

~Rebel~

Rafa and parry's general reactions to the last day..Source; Skysports.com

Liverpool chairman Rick Parry insists Rafa Benitez is not panicking despite being left empty-handed on transfer deadline day.

The Reds attempted to pull off a number of deals but were frustrated on all fronts.

Benitez had made it clear a right-sided midfielder and a central defender were his priorities and he tried to add more depth to his squad.

However, bids for Simao Sabrosa, David Navarro, Nolberto Solano, Diego Lugano and even Michael Owen all failed to bear fruit, meaning the Spaniard will have to make do with the players already at his disposal.

However, Parry is adamant the club were far happier keeping their powder dry than paying over the odds for players they were not sure about.

"The big danger, particularly when you are approaching the deadline, is you get desperate and do the wrong deal," Parry stated.

"You have to hold your nerve. We have faith in the players we have.

"Rafa is philosophical about it. He insisted we didn't pay for players who weren't worth the money.

"We could have signed centre halves but there was no point wasting money.

"We have brought in most of the players we wanted. Let's not forget we've spent £20 million to bring in Pepe Reina, Momo Sissoko, Peter Crouch and Bolo Zenden.

"The deals we wanted were completed early in the summer. At that stage we were content we'd achieved four out of four on our list of targets."

On the breakdown of the Sabrosa transfer, which appeared close to completion at one point, he continued: "The deal for Simao broke down after a hostile reaction to the news in Lisbon.

"Simao was on a plane waiting to come for his medical but Benfica called it off."

"Rafa is philosophical about it. He insisted we didn't pay for players who weren't worth the money.

"We could have signed centre halves but there was no point wasting money.
I suppose thats the best way to look at it. Still retarded that it was left that close to the last day though! Everything should have been well sown up by deadline day

Thanx 4 The Fish

~Rebel~ wrote:

Still retarded that it was left that close to the last day though! Everything should have been well sown up by deadline day

Did you even read the snippet you posted ? They said that they were not going to pay over the odds for a player and that they would not buy the wrong player. Why is that retarded ?

StickyMcGinty

owens fault we didnt sign anyone near deadline day, made rafa take his eye off the ball! stupid jordie b*satard

p.pete

I'm not sure I understand why we couldn't get Nobby Solano - he expressed an interest in us earlier in the Summer and I don't think Newcastle paid that large a price for him.

Certainly I understand that on the last day of the window it's not an option to court 2 players for the one position and Simao was the preferred option. Just dissapointing I guess.

Regards the Simao deal collapsing I wonder how much the Portuguese FA had to do with it. It seems that things were going smoothly until there was a huge negative reaction in Lisbon which prompted a price increase / change of plans. I reckon the deal would have gone through before anyone noticed if their FA hadn't splashed all over their website "WE'VE LET HIM GO TO A MEDICAL AT LIVERPOOL!!!". All the articles that I read on the issue sited the PFA website as their source

Dub13

Nobby Solano is not up to the job...I would rather Potter got a good run of games on the right then signing a player just for the sake of it.As parry said no point in wasting money.

p.pete

Dub13 wrote:

Nobby Solano is not up to the job...I would rather Potter got a good run of games on the right then signing a player just for the sake of it.As parry said no point in wasting money.

He was Villas top scorer last year and the Newcastle fans were certainly angry when he left them. I reckon he'd be good on a two year contract til we wait for someone better to become available.

I'd definitely like to see Potter given a run, even though right wing isn't his favoured position. He's seemed good anytime I've seen him, especially when getting good support from right back.

Dub13

Dont get me wrong Solano is a good player but we should be setting our sights higher alot higher.As for potter I have seen him play a few times and he looks the part,lets face it he is not going to get a run in the center any time soon.

~Rebel~

Thanx 4 The Fish wrote:

Did you even read the snippet you posted ? They said that they were not going to pay over the odds for a player and that they would not buy the wrong player. Why is that retarded ?

Thats totally fair enough for the last day, not to be held to ransom cause people know you need someone, but to not have it all done and dusted early just made life far too complicated. i know there were a lot of complications around the right sided position with figo's move and everything but there is no reason why they couldn't find the right player for the CB position and get him, or at least Someone who could improve the squad. For instance letting Bouma go to Villa for a low fee. It just seemed like the people at liverpool were all working independantly of each other instead of focusing on the same goals. Pity bout simao, i guess its fair enough if the fans reaction stopped it though.

Chardee MacDennis

well aparently Mark Gonzalez will be joining us either in January or June, his squad number will be 12. obviously we are still on the look out for a number 11.

PHB

ok, maybe he didnt want to overpay for a player, but its his fault they were in that position in the first place.
I can respect a certain amoutn of stuborness, and saying, we aren't going to pay more because we won the CL, so **** off.
But at the same time, all clubs are going to do this to you, and if you can't suck it up a little bit, and pay an extra 2 million just because you are liverpool, you arne't going to get a hell of a lot of players.

BolBill

Hers my two cents worth. A review of the squad.

Liverpool FC Squad - 2005-2006
1. Jerzy Dudek - Well we all hated him until the final last year, if he
wasn't Polish and JP II hadn't died he'd have never saved from Shevy. Time
to offload.
3. Steve Finnan - Very consistant and reliable.
4. Sami Hyypia - So slow these days its scary but still able to beat any
striker in Europe in the air, witness him against Chelsea in the semis last
year, Drogba was made look the sh*t player he is.
6. John Arne Riise - How Rafa ever leaves this fella on the bench is beyond
me, he works hard and offers a lot going forward too and has a good ging on
him, pardon the pun.
7. Harry Kewell - Still to perform but Rafa rates him so maybe there IS
something there, hate his wife mind you.
8. Steven Gerrard - Ah Hollywood balls, still the only goalscorer we have
this season and apart from when we play big teams (especially Chelsea
and excluding AC) hes pretty good but could be even better.
9. Djibril Cisse - Houiller bought him and it shows, new Henry my ar*e,
blems everything and has no composure. Hot shot Hamish Mark II (without the
hair and the finish)
10. Luis Garcia - say what you like about him and its usually derogatory
but he tackled more than any other of our players last season (See OPTA
stats) and he scored a fair few on the march to Istanbul.
14. Xabi Alonso - The only player we've bought in years that immediately
settled into our team and the league. The boy is class, always has been and
learning English in Ireland will always make him special.
15. Peter Crouch - Scaffold man. Could be the daftest buy in our history.
Heres hoping Im wrong but I seldom am
16. Dietmar Hamann - The legend is still the Legend. In the Super Cup his
long ball to Cisse for the second was class. The man was so good in the
second half of the Champions League, Gerrard got all the plaudits but Didi
was immense. Scoring a pen with a broken foot - My first born middles name
will be Didi. That'll be "Luis Enrique Didi Maldini" as middle names....
17. Josemi - Prone to clangers but is a bit mad so maybe we should sell
him/keep him? His hair is dodgy too
19. Fernando Morientes - "the lad is class" wish he'd start showing some of
it, seems waaaaaay off the pace
20. Scott Carson - Apart from 1 mistake against Juve, I think he looks
pretty safe.
21. Djimi Traore - Off load ASAP, hes a fu*kin joke, was to blame for 2 of
the goals in Istanbul. Kissing his jacket thinking there was a crest on it
summed him up really, a gobsh*te.
22. Momo Sissoko - Second touch is a tackle, will give him time as he's
only here a wet day.
23. Jamie Carragher - Can't say enough really.
24. Florent Sinama Pongolle - Eddie Grant needs games at the moment, not
PS2 games.
25. Pepe Reina - Seems solid and doesn't mess about with crosses.
28. Stephen Warnock - Doing well at left full and gets stuck in.
30. Boudewijn Zenden - Stupid name, stupid player, cost nothing and thats
what he offers. Will be gone next summer.
31. David Raven - Could start ravening about him but wont, eh who now?
33. Neil Mellor - Could be on his way on loan, should maybe be given more
of a chance.
34. Darren Potter - Not happy on the wing at all, apparently he's a centre
midfielder, we'll see.
36. Antonio Barragan - Talk about unknown quantity, nice hair mind.
37. Zak Whitbread - Possibly our most over rated defender, rather have
Fatima in there.
42. Robbie Foy - eh who now?
- Bruno Cheyrou - Ah Bruno, the new Zidane, another Houiller f**k up.
- Miki Roque - ?????
- David Mannix - Anything to Danny?
- Lee Peltier - With a name like that I'd say he has a good shot on him
- Ryan Wilkie - Anything to David the swimmer?
- Danny O'Donnell - Hate his music and his marriage is a sham, hes as gay
as a window.
- Paul Willis - anything to Bob or Wincey?
- James Smith - No whats your real name?
- Danny Guthrie - Was he in Hearsay?
- Carl Medjani - Hes gone back to France, homesick wuss.
- Jack Hobbs - Sounds like a character from Oliver Twist.
- Godwin Antwi - ?????
- Anthony Le Tallec - Billy off on loan again.
- John Welsh - Stocky little git
- Chris Kirkland - Think I'll stand behind the wall at free kicks and dive
on the ground as the ball whizzes by me into the net, no thanks Chris youre
a big useless stocking.
- Salif Diao - Words cant describe what a bad buy this guy is. We're still
paying him !!!!!

redspider

So, how do people think the new signings are doing so far?

Reina
Sissoko
Crouch
Zenden
Barragan

There were no others, were there?


My thoughts are:
Reina - not much better than Dudek if at all, has had a few close calls
Sissoko - so-so, has shown some flashes but not a class player at the mo
Crouch - too early to rate but is likely to play similarly to what he did at Southampton .... as a target man, still think we paid far too much money for what he will give us
Zenden - always knew he was going to turn out like he will
Barragan - I havent seen him yet

So, overall, no master stroke this season, ie: no Alonso-like player. A well-motivated Garcia is probably better than this bunch too, if we could get that.

Not a good transfer window for Liverpool imo, judging from the few performances so far.


Btw, I mentioned (perhaps on this thread) that I had a feeling that Morientes would get injured this season. Thats already turned out to be the case and I expect more of it from him as the season progresses - I dont know why, but he has that type of season written all over him.

redspider

LFCFan

Reina - Far better then Dudek. He's commanding in his box and has quick and accurate distribution to get the attack going again. He's only just come into the side and it's his first few games in the Premiership so he's bound to look a bit uncomfortable at times as he gets used to the different play. He'll be a class signing.
Sissoko - Best signing since Alonso. Has had at least 3 MOTM performances already and he's only starting. He get's stuck in and his passing is pretty good. If he's this good after only a few games, imagine what he could be like after a few months.
Crouch - Not worth 7 Million at the moment but if he scores 15+ goals this will change. He'll be a taget man alright but hopefully not too often as that will just lead to a long ball game. Jury is still out!
Zenden - Very disappointing so far and no way should he be in ahead of Riise.
Barragan - Seen a bit of him is Reserve highlights and he certainly has potential. Whether that is realised is another story and depends a lot on Rafa and how he deals with him.

Bacchus

Reina - Haven't been impressed by him since day 1. Did you see that blunder in the Spurs game when he completly missed a crossed ball and left an open goal behind him. I'd rather Dudek in goal over him.
Sissoko - I'v been well impressed so far. He's still young and needs to take it easy with some of those tackles but he's committed and is a very strong, smart central midfielder. He's a very similar player to Gerrard. Definetly a player to keep an eye on.
Crouch - Haven't seen him play much for us so I can't decide if he was worth the money or not yet.
Zenden - Dissapointing. We never needed him anyway. Risse does a far better job up the left wing than he ever will.
Barragan - Only saw him play about 15minutes as a sub in a friendly.

p.pete

Peru are up to 70th in latest FIFA rankings, good news I think

<edit>

dammit, is it Peru or Chile where Gonzales is from?

~Rebel~

p.pete wrote:

Peru are up to 70th in latest FIFA rankings, good news I think

<edit>

dammit, is it Peru or Chile where Gonzales is from?

Hehe, yeah he's from Chile. Damn peruvians taking chile's spot!

LFCFan

p.pete wrote:

Peru are up to 70th in latest FIFA rankings, good news I think

<edit>

dammit, is it Peru or Chile where Gonzales is from?

Chile, so Peru's standings are worthless unfortunatly. Also, Chile were recently beaten again by Brazil so that's won't have helped.

cruiserweight

Chile have dropped to 76th

woodyg

And The search to fill the problem right wing spot continues!

http://home.skysports.com/list.asp?hlid=309122&CPID=10&CLID=&lid=2&title=Liverpool+trial+Hull+winger&channel=football_home

Guy:Incognito

I think the best thing to come out of this season will be Steven Warnock. I really rate him highly, in the Carra mould. I thought he was great in the first half V Utd (didnt see the second). His tackles are full blooded (probably why hes had 3 broken legs) and he is solid as fook, nothing got by him. Djimi who?