Liverpool Signings and General Rumours Thread

Thanx 4 The Fish

jonny24ie wrote:

Have to agree with Red Spider.

Well I wouldn#t TBH, Rio was seen as a great deal at 22 when he moved to Leeds for £18m. Kronkamp is a year younger is a ninternational already with a goal under his belt and can play at both left back (a problem area in the past for us) and defence. 6 Million is a snip for the player who was best find in Danish sport last year (some kind of All sports award) and wh has been in the scopes of a few top teams for some time. I would imagine that he is not on exorbitant wages either which is always an advantage.

Vokes

+ he's Danish, which means he's bound to speak English

....hopefully.

And in other news:

Liverpool are set to receive belated recognition for their Champions League victory in the queen of England’s birthday honours after missing out in the New Year list.

Among the players, skipper Steven Gerrard should receive at least an MBE in June while manager Rafael Benitez can expect an honorary OBE – the same award his predecessor Gerard Houllier and Arsenal’s Arsene Wenger have received in the past.

It is also possible Jamie Carragher, the other Englishman in the team that beat AC Milan last May, may be honoured.

Liverpool chief executive Rick Parry said this week he was “staggered” the Reds had been ignored.

However, a source close to the honours process said Liverpool’s omission in the New Year list was more a mistake rather than a deliberate decision.

http://breakingnews.iol.ie/sport/story.asp?j=168921090&p=y689zy796&t=soccer

p.pete

SofaKing wrote:

+ he's Danish, which means he's bound to speak English

....hopefully

No good, he'll need scouse lessons from Jan Molby

mike65

However, a source close to the honours process said Liverpool’s omission in the New Year list was more a mistake rather than a deliberate decision.

Oversight me arse, Blair and Madge are Chelsea fans!

I see another young keeper has been signed (from MK Dons!) is this so Dudek can be sold?

Mike.

cerbeus

Dudek could be used as a makeweight in a deal to bring Kuyt to Anfield.

el rabitos

Dudek could be used as a makeweight in a deal to bring Kuyt to Anfield.

dudek could be used as makeweight on a chartered flight back to poland for all i care, i think he's useless, frightens me to death seeing him playing in a match of any importance.

segadreamcast

Ah now el rabitos... fair enough, I sweat when he played in any match of importance (he tended to buckle easily!). Still though, he should get our respect at least - he played a vital part in winning us that European Cup. Bit of a legend, in my mind at least.

el rabitos

Ah now el rabitos... fair enough, I sweat when he played in any match of importance (he tended to buckle easily!). Still though, he should get our respect at least - he played a vital part in winning us that European Cup. Bit of a legend, in my mind at least.

ah come on, use of the word "legend" is limited to man u threads.

we all respect what he did in the champions league final, but lets face it, even he had no idea how he saved shevchenkos shot in the 2nd half of extra time, and his mistakes in the final itself are enough to justify his ass being sold.

rafa clearly has no confidence in him, and rightly so tbh

cerbeus

Have to agree. Benitez bought Reina because of the cofidence he shows during matches. Never quite got that from Dudek and now with Martin and Carson as backup to Reina, Dudek's days are numbered and even he has come to realise this.

Shred

In fairness to Dudek he was damn solid & full of confidence in his first seaon with Liverpool (when they finished 2nd), but he had a dodgey start to the 02/03 season and never really recovered after he let in the two soft (Forlan) goals against United. As good as he was on 25/05/05 he also made some silly mistakes during the match and the game was somewhat a microcosm of his Liverpool career in general (bar that first season). With regards to Feyenoord, even though they reportedly would like to bring Dudek back they are apparently unable to afford his wages. Plus they've been linked with bringing in Westerveld at the end of the season also.

Also with regards to Reina, I'm still not convinced. I personally put that recent run of clean sheets down to the back four more so than him. It's good to see that he's willing to come out and commmand his area but he still looks dodgey at times imo. The jury's still out for me.

Jivin Turkey

While I would not be incredibly disappointed if Dudek were to leave (I would actually be glad for him), I will at least respect the man for all that he has done for the club. In his first couple of seasons the man was brilliant. And to be honest, I wouldn't swap his performance in the CL final for any other keeper in the world.

What mistakes did he make exactly? I seem to recall at least two of Milan's goals were one on one break aways, and the other was the close range volley or header from Maldini???

mike65

He made no errors in the final just a few fab saves! Anyway he needs to get first team action soon if he's going to stand a chance being Polands stopper
this summer. I thought Benfica was a possibility no? The Ronald Koeman connection/Simao etc

Mike.

segadreamcast

Jivin Turkey wrote:

While I would not be incredibly disappointed if Dudek were to leave (I would actually be glad for him), I will at least respect the man for all that he has done for the club.

Now that's more like it! Personally I feel bad for him at the moment... would like to see him get some first team action somewhere, as it's clear that he's definitely not wanted at Liverpool.

(RE Your Sig... Homer: A turkey is a bad person! )

Shred

It's a while since I've watched the final but one particular error that I remember was a few minutes into the second half and Cafu sent a ball into the box with no real pace on it, the ball bounced just in front of Dudek and instead of easily scooping it up he let it bounce of his chest and out towards Crespo who passed to Cafu again and his shot was blocked by Hyypia for a corner. I know it might sound pedantic, but I remember watching the game on the night and cursing Dudek for doing that so soon into the 2nd half when Liverpool were already 3 goals down.

el rabitos

What mistakes did he make exactly? I seem to recall at least two of Milan's goals were one on one break aways, and the other was the close range volley or header from Maldini???

u seriously need to watch the final again. as does anyone else who thinks dudek didnt make any mistakes.

he has howler written all over him. my heart jumps whenever anyone hits a long range shot towards him, the ball just bounces off him.

at least with carson and reina they do the basics well. catching the ball is bread and butter stuff for a keeper and dudek isnt up to it.

i dont know why people have so little confidence in reina. he's consistant in every aspect. he obviosly inspires the other players with confidence and his record so far speaks for itself

mike65

Riena still can't kick a backpass ball out very well.

Mike.

el rabitos

Riena still can't kick a backpass ball out very well

" :eek: "

thats the best u can come up with?

segadreamcast

Don't think the argument was "Who's better?" El Rabitos, in fairness... in my mind, at least, the argument was that Dudek should be respected for being a decent performer and, more importantly, a good, spirited team player for Liverpool (unlike various other players who have left us in the lurch...). That's my take on it at least.

mike65

thats the best u can come up with?

R U 12?

Its an important skill, in 1997 Wolves were playing Arsenal in the FA Cup semi-final, a back pass was kicked forth straight to a Gunner and the following happened

Segers miskicked his attempt at a clearance from a back pass, and the ball was picked up by Vieira a few yards inside the Wolves half. With his marker Sedgely caught napping, Vieira surged forwards, sidestepped a challenge on the edge of the area, and then touched a perfect pass to Wreh as he made a run on his outside into the area on the left. The young Liberian clinically dispatched a side-foot shot from 12 yards across the keeper and inside the far post. 1-0 to the Arsenal and a 9.5 for the gymnastic floor display.

Wolves were beaten by that goal. Bloody sick I was.

el rabitos

Riena still can't kick a backpass ball out very well

it just sounded like criticizing him for the sake of it like.

Don't think the argument was "Who's better?" El Rabitos, in fairness... in my mind, at least, the argument was that Dudek should be respected for being a decent performer and, more importantly, a good, spirited team player for Liverpool (unlike various other players who have left us in the lurch...). That's my take on it at least.

i appreciate his loyalty and the part he played in last years final, but pool wont win throphys by being nice and sentimental, and holding onto him. the best thing for him would be to go to benfica or feeyonord.

Dont be at yourself

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/l/liverpool/4608346.stm

Dudek launches a fairly critical attack of Benitez. Some valid points too, if he's not in Benitez' plans, why the £3m price tag?

You gotta feel sorry for the way he's being treated, but I guess that's football nowadays. He'll always have my respect, he done as much as any to help us lift the cup in May, and was the best keeper in the league at one stage, I thought.

[edit]

Seems the source of this is the Sun, so a fistful of salt is needed...

zAbbo

SSN have it as well - http://home.skysports.com/list.asp?hlid=352989&CPID=8&clid=&lid=2&title=Furious+Dudek+slams+Rafa

Dudek on Rafa
"Why doesn't he behave like a decent person for once in his life and start treating me in a proper way, like I always have him?"

redspider

mike65 wrote:

Oversight me arse, Blair and Madge are Chelsea fans!

I dont care for the Queen's honour's lists.

However, rumour has it that her sports advisor for compiling the list is a Man U fan, who forgot that Liverpool won the CL! Seemingly, it was a genuine oversight on his part and it will be corrected.

woops ...

redspider

I'm sure I've posted something similar to this before.

Reina is not much better than Dudek. True, he hasnt made that many mistakes so far, but he has made a few and a goal-costing one. Goalkeeping is an unusual discipline as a keeper gets punished for mistakes. Confidence can go and lead to more mistakes, so there is no guarantee that Reina will end up being any worse or better than Dudek over the next few years.

Rafa does have a "favourite son" approach to many of his players. He will give them many more chances than would a more clinical manager. For example, Kewell, where most other managers would have got rid of him.

For Dudek, its painful when he sees this type of "favoured son" treatment. He has done quite well in his years at Liverpool, far from perfect, but is not a favoured son so is sidelined. He should be given a chance to move to another club, even if on loan if he is to fulfill his world cup ambitions. Just like with Kirkland, La Tellec and Mellor, having a player on loan is a perfect shop window if the aim is to move them on.

I think that Dudek is a nice guy but is now getting the rough edge treatment from Rafa, which is little thanks for his heroic role in CL last year. And we all have to recognise that he played a piviotal role in that match.

I agree that we shouldnt put players on pedestals forever just for that night, but they should get reasonable treatment, especialy the year after.

Redspider

p.pete

NekkidBibleMan wrote:

Dudek launches a fairly critical attack of Benitez. Some valid points too, if he's not in Benitez' plans, why the £3m price tag?

Because unfortunately the club has to be run like a business and not a charity. It might have happened in the past but Rafa seems intent not to pay too much for a player so similarly he's not going to want to let a player go for too little. £3m is possibly a bit pricey for him but he has a high profile reputation and keepers can have long careers...

p.pete

mike65 wrote:

He made no errors in the final just a few fab saves! Anyway he needs to get first team action soon if he's going to stand a chance being Polands stopper
this summer. I thought Benfica was a possibility no? The Ronald Koeman connection/Simao etc

Mike.

I think the last world cup was where Dudek lost his confidence (possibly Liverpool having a keeping coach incapable of jumping off the ground too?) in the first place. As was said before I think he was grand the season before.

Benifica have bought a keeper recently enough afaik, so the Dudek swap is unlikely. If we had the foresight to do that in the Summer then perhaps we would have got Simao 6 months ago and Dudek would be playing regular, but alas...

Dudek's first choice is Feyenord, is that where Dirk Kuyt plays?

PHB

I'd say 3 million is apretty unrealistic target for Dudek, he is a high profile keeper, much like Barthez was was too, and has a rep for dropping clangers.
I'd say they'll get 1.5 million for him, but its fairly scatching.

Dont be at yourself

I absolutely agree that the club should be run as a business. However, I'd be hard pressed to find a club to pay £3 for a 33 year old whose high profile reputation is as much for his errors and his brilliance. Besides, it's also in most businesses' interests to reward loyalty.

I'm not saying he should be automatic number 1 because of his considerable service to the club, but to treat him so harshly (if Dudek's allegations are accurate) isn't very nice to see. The player has given a lot to the club, not only in terms of performances, but also in his determination to win back his place whenever he's lost it. It's a shame that these qualities aren't recognised and, should he not be in Rafa's plans, be allowed to move on, at least on loan, so he may fight for a World Cup spot. A good World Cup could see his value increase, and put him in the shop window. What's the downside? Is he even 2nd choice at Liverpool at the moment?

The Rooster

I find it very hard to believe Dudek would give an interview to the Sun. Unless he wants to make it clear to the supporters that he's no longer interested in the club. But if he wanted to make his thoughts known in public about Benitez, surely he would have gone to any other paper to help him get sympathy from the fans.

I just dont believe it. More made up lies from the Sun. Sky Sports quoting the made-up lies would be no surprise given their ownership.

£3m is too high, but i wouldnt believe that either - maybe Eur3m.

Vokes

Daniel Agger – a rough guide

Daniel Agger turned 21 on December 12, and has already played for Denmark on four occasions, scoring once.

Agger plays mainly as a central defender but his left foot is strong and he has played at left full-back on a number of occassions.

He is over 6ft tall and his height gives him a strong presence from set pieces.

He left childhood club Rosenhøj BK in 2004, to play for the youth team of Brondby IF.

In July 2004, Agger was moved from the youth squad to the first team, following the departure of Swedish international Andreas Jakobsson.

Agger quickly established himself not only as a first team regular, but as one of the most important figures of the team that won the Danish Superliga 2004-05.

Despite his young age, he played with great authority under the guidance of Brøndby team captain Per Nielsen, and after the first half of the season Agger was named 2004 Talent of the Year by Spillerforeningen (the Danish equivalent of the English PFA).

After the successful Superliga 2004-05 season, Agger was called up to the senior Danish national football team for the 1-0 friendly win against Finland in June. He played the full match.

He started the next international for Denmark as a substitute before coming to the light of many in this country in the Danes’ next game.

Agger played the full match as Denmark humbled England 4-1 in an international friendly.

He played left-back in that game and controlled Wayne Rooney for large chunks of the match.

Agger would play in the next two national team matches, before an injury sustained in a Danish League game in September forced him out for the remainder of the year 2005.

While still only 20 years of age, Daniel Agger was once again awarded the Talent of the Year prize in December.

http://www.squarefootball.net/article/article.asp?aid=2657


So, he's left footed, which gives our defence a nice balanced look to it. Also probably means he's immediately in competition against Hyypia (rather than Carra) on the left side of centre defence.

Vokes

The 21-year Dane trained with his new team-mates for the first time at Melwood this morning before speaking exclusively to Liverpoolfc.tv about his move.

"It's perfect," he says. "Moving to one of the world's biggest clubs is just amazing. Despite reported interested from other clubs Liverpool was always my number choice. It's a great club and I did not need much persuading to sign for them.

"I know and have heard a lot of great things about Liverpool but the fact they won the Champions League last season is all I needed to know. I know about the players, the coach and the fans.

"I'm settling in well so far. The training ground is great - I've never seen anything like it. I've not yet been on the Anfield pitch but I know all about the famous Anfield atmosphere and the Kop."

"It's all really exciting. I am looking forward to my career here and I can't wait to play."

Despite being described as the best defender to come from Denmark in 20 years, Agger acknowledges that he faces a tough task dislodging either Jamie Carragher or Sami Hyypia from the heart of the Liverpool defence but insists it's a challenge he will relish and one that he can benefit from.

"I met them this morning and they seem like very nice guys. I have a lot of respect for Jamie and Sami, they are great players but I am ready to fight for my place," he adds.

"Of course there are a lot of areas of my game that I can improve on and I hope by being here at Liverpool I can learn from the many talented players I now have around me.

"I have not played for three months so I need to build up my physical strength and it's up to the coach when I will play."

http://www.noticias.info/asp/aspComunicados.asp?nid=135852&src=0

p.pete

Yeah, I was a bit worried when I saw the last sentence to that interview - that was the first I'd heard of him not playing for 3 months. Is that down to injury or through not getting his game? Is he another Kirkland - Benitez mentioned before that they were tracking him and then he was injured so they stopped tracking but when they saw him play again afterwards they knew he was at a high level.

Hopefully he's not another sicknote!

Vokes

Could be wrong, but maybe the Danish Superliga runs from Feb - Nov, which might be the reason why he hasn't played.

But then there is another competition that starts in Nov called the Royal League which is played amongst the best 4 teams from each of the Scandinavian countries, so he shouldve been playing in that. So, yeah, he could be injured and from his above comments, he's definitely unconditioned.

EDIT: Actually, yes, from that first article i quoted above, he's injured since Sept - his knee ligaments. Do I hear the words 'Martin Laursen' anyone!!!

MrJoeSoap

Daniel Agger Press Conference:

http://www.uploading.com/?get=Y686MU8A

and interview:

http://www.uploading.com/?get=G9CJCC2B

yom 1

but do we expect anything else

From Dudek on Lfc.tv

""I was very unhappy to read the stories about me in today's newspapers," said Dudek. "I did not say those things and have sat down with the manager and told him that.

"I have a great deal of respect for Rafa Benitez and have learnt more from him in the past 18 months than from any other manager in my career. You do not insult somebody you respect.

"It's crazy when people claim I don't want to play for Liverpool anymore. This is a great club with fantastic supporters, so why would I not want to be involved?

"Like any other footballer I want to play regularly. I have become frustrated at my current situation, but I am a professional and will continue to work as hard as I can in training and do my best for Liverpool Football club."

Bacchus

Looks like rafa's going to launch a bid for Defeo in the Summer. Not sure how wise it is to wait till then. A good World Cup could see his price tag sky rocket. Still though, Rafa says Tottenham current price tag is too high.

http://www.teamtalk.com/teamtalk/News/Story_Page/0,7760,2483_944017,00.html


hmmmm, bring in Defoe, offload Cisse. Maybe.

el rabitos

jaysus, another clinical striker....just what we need. hands up who remembers defoes last premiership start, nevermind goal, and how many champions league goals has he scored

good thing teamtalk is a load of rubbish at the best of times or i'd be slightly miffed

Big Nelly

el rabitos wrote:

jaysus, another clinical striker....just what we need. hands up who remembers defoes last premiership start, nevermind goal, and how many champions league goals has he scored

good thing teamtalk is a load of rubbish at the best of times or i'd be slightly miffed

Defoe also has a terrible attitude from what I have heard, see what he done at West Ham and then blamed his advisor. Then after Robbie has sat on bench without giving out at all once he gets some form and him and Mido are playing class together and Defoe spends a few games on the bench he start complaining and talk of a transfer starts.

Maybe its incorrect info but Sky seem fairly certain he has been complaining about not playing. Maybe he just isnt a team player and has been listening to the hype from the English press too much. He isn't all that good. There is plenty of better strikers around for less money than Liverpool would have to pay Spurs.

MrJoeSoap

el rabitos wrote:

jaysus, another clinical striker....just what we need. hands up who remembers defoes last premiership start, nevermind goal, and how many champions league goals has he scored

good thing teamtalk is a load of rubbish at the best of times or i'd be slightly miffed

Ummm... Defoe is actually a clinical striker. He scored only about two weeks ago, and has actually started more games than Keane this season. Hasn't been first-choice recently but has scored twice coming off the bench.

He would be Liverpools best striker were he to join, imo. Once he can keep himself focussed, of course.

el rabitos

1. spurs wouldnt let him go for less than 10 mill at least.

2. pool would be lucky to offload cisse for 10 imo

3. if liverpool wanted a striker, mateja kezman was doing **** all at chelsea, has bags of goals under his belt, has champions league experience, and as proven record. if your going to buy a player thats not scoring many goals and try to improve him then get someone thats at least shown he knows where the goal is. even Kuyt would be a better option imo

4. he has got and attitude problem, replacing cisse with a clone makes little sence to me, at least cisse is more proven than defoe and more likely to come up with a goal.

5. if your not getting ur game for spurs, then that says it all

MrJoeSoap

el rabitos wrote:

5. if your not getting ur game for spurs, then that says it all

Less of the condescending bs please. Spurs are fourth in the league, a spot Liverpool missed out on last year.

Defoe scored 22 goals for Spurs last season, and ended last season with an average for Spurs of a goal every other game. Cisse's average is better, but scoring in the French league isn't as tough as scoring in the Premiership.

el rabitos

Less of the condescending bs please. Spurs are fourth in the league, a spot Liverpool missed out on last year.

Defoe scored 22 goals for Spurs last season, and ended last season with an average for Spurs of a goal every other game. Cisse's average is better, but scoring in the French league isn't as tough as scoring in the Premiership.

condescending nothing, i'm serious as a heart attack. i dont think spurs have a player that would walk straight into the liverpool team right now.

cisse has scored in the champions league, he's missed more chances in the champions league than minutes that defoe has played in it. not a good thing but there u go.

put it this way, theres no significant player in any premiership team that will be joining liverpool while benitez is in charge. english players are FAR too over-valued and benitez just would not pay what a player is not worth

benitez has set up a broad net with his scouting system and his knowledge of the spanish market, both of those will be liverpools primary source for bringing in players, not the premiership

p.pete

el rabitos wrote:

benitez has set up a broad net with his scouting system and his knowledge of the spanish market, both of those will be liverpools primary source for bringing in players, not the premiership

While he is trying to improve scouting at the club (and is hopefully succeeding) he still is trying to buy in English based players. It's not as easy but if he can get English players he will, Crouch for an example and also some of the youth players brought in.

I'd personally be surprised if Defoe came our way - his name has cropped up before and who knows where the stories are starting. Certainly Benitez has never mentioned him, if he was interested in him he probably wouldn't. It's more plausible that rumours like that would be started by the Defoe camp but even that seems unlikely - Mido is about to go on holidays so he's about to get his place back.

el rabitos

While he is trying to improve scouting at the club (and is hopefully succeeding) he still is trying to buy in English based players. It's not as easy but if he can get English players he will, Crouch for an example and also some of the youth players brought in.

crouch was part of a division 1 team when we got him, therefore his value went down, not by much clearly at 7mill. he wasnt a premiership player

rondeco

yom 1 wrote:

but do we expect anything else

From Dudek on Lfc.tv

""I was very unhappy to read the stories about me in today's newspapers," said Dudek. "I did not say those things and have sat down with the manager and told him that.

"I have a great deal of respect for Rafa Benitez and have learnt more from him in the past 18 months than from any other manager in my career. You do not insult somebody you respect.

"It's crazy when people claim I don't want to play for Liverpool anymore. This is a great club with fantastic supporters, so why would I not want to be involved?

"Like any other footballer I want to play regularly. I have become frustrated at my current situation, but I am a professional and will continue to work as hard as I can in training and do my best for Liverpool Football club."

I'm so glad that he made that statement. It's unbelievable how sh&t that rag is. If he didn't reply to it, his hero status would plummet. I always thought he had the right attitude and he hsa shown it here.

p.pete

el rabitos wrote:

crouch was part of a division 1 team when we got him, therefore his value went down, not by much clearly at 7mill. he wasnt a premiership player

I presume you mean Championship
When was the last time Crouch played a Championship (or even Div 1) game tell me?
I said English based anyways, so I'm clean

<edit>
answer my own question, 2003/04 season with Norwich. He'd still be at villa if they didn't bring in O'Leary who took a disliking to him. Villa fans were one about the only ones to applaud him at a pool away match in that first 20 match patch.

Tusky

MrJoeSoap wrote:

Less of the condescending bs please. Spurs are fourth in the league, a spot Liverpool missed out on last year.

Defoe scored 22 goals for Spurs last season, and ended last season with an average for Spurs of a goal every other game. Cisse's average is better, but scoring in the French league isn't as tough as scoring in the Premiership.

sorry but its not BS. A 3rd choice Spurs striker would not be a 1st choice Liverpool striker.

Chucky the tree

Big Nelly wrote:

. Then after Robbie has sat on bench without giving out at all .

Did he not storm off down the tunnel like a little girl earlier in the season when he wasnt brought on as a sub?



It all depends o nthe cost. FRom the selling of cisse and the pruchase of defoe if we were only down 1mil or 2 i wouldnt be to disappointed. I would much prefer to have defoe in my team then cisse.

Chardee MacDennis

well cisse seems to be red through and through while defoe seems to like whatever team likes him and as soon as his not happy his off. i would prefer to keep cisse in the team, but as said before rafa knows best.

cerbeus

There could be the possibilty of Rafa doing a swap deal with Spurs with Defoe and Cisse going in opposite drections.

Despite what Rafa might say in public I don't think thet Cisse will ever fit in with his style of football. Also his first touch and close control skills are very poor.