Liverpool Signings and General Rumours Thread

emc2

Mellor is gone to PNE on a 3 year deal.

Stky10

redspider wrote:

okay, Kromkamp hasnt gone badly wrong, but he has proved not be successful and whilst ok as a bench player, since he can play RB and RM, that is about all, just a bench player. The signing of Jose Miguel whateverhissurname didnt help Finnan at all and upset his performances and unsettled him. You may remember there was talk of Steve moving. The same when Kromkamp was signed, it was a signal to Steve that he was not no.1.

As a strategy, I think it is good to have competition for places, and we need coverage, but if Rafa signs a player and then off-loads him within 1 or 2 seasons, for me anyway that is a failure of a signing. Rafa has had as many misses if not more than successes, and if Kromkamp goes I would rate that as a failure. Not a major one as it didnt cost us anything as did the faux pas with Pellegrino, but still a failure nonetheless.

I wouldn't agree. Finnans initial doubts would have been that a spanish manager comes in and immediately buys a spanish full back. Going by Houlliers history it would have been as good as curtains for him. However Josemi was shown up to be pretty poor, so was replaced for the same cost by Kromkamp who made more of an impression in the six months he's been here than Josemi did in the year and a half before that. I'm no fan of Neill, but judging by Kromkamp's displays this year, if we can upgrade from him to Neill for no cost, then I think we're laughing.

Kromkamp was never bought to be first choice. Neill won't be either. So to class them as a failure is very harsh.

As for Pellegrino, it was obvious he wasn't at the required standard when he got here, but it helped rest Sami and we ended up winning the champions league out of it. So for the comparitively small wages he cost, I couldn't care less about the time he spent with us.

Lex Luthor

Just on Zenden, I have it from a friend who has seen them in pre-season last 2 yrs that Zenden is the only one who puts in 100% effort in pre-season training and obviously carries it on to training during the season. Rafa obviously is impressed with his work ethic and is happy to keep him as a midfield utility player.

cregser

~Rebel~ wrote:

Apparently he hasn't settled too well with language and social life....

Apparently he moved here because he couldn't settle in Spain and we had the same problem with Josemi. I read that Kronkamp spoke good english but couldn't get to grips with Spanish. If he can't settle now, he won't settle anywhere.

~Rebel~ wrote:

... but i've never had a case of the "djimi's" (being terrified anytime the ball went near him for fear of what he might do)

Lol . I was at 'Pool V Benifica last season and the sense of apprehension around the ground was very obvious whenever Djimi got the ball. There was a collective gasp - even before he did anything - then tuts and moans or sighs of relief after the ball escaped him. The poor guy must have been a nervous wreck, well it showed.

I'm liking this trimmed down thread. I was always scared off by the big number beside the last one. Is everyone on boards a Liverpool supporter??

mike65

Careful now!

Mike.

Lemlin

The Rooster wrote:

Lemlin, if you're around, whats your opinion on Lucas Neill?

He's a hugely under rated player, mainly because of his temper which sees him get alot of cards. He played very well in the WC for Australia and was man of the match for Blackburn against Chelsea last year when he played central defence.

He's definitely one of the better right backs in the PL IMHO. I think he'd be a great buy for Liverpool but I'm hoping Blackburn hold onto him.

Chucky the tree

DaBreno wrote:

The Salif Diao talk has gone quiet too. Is there any football team out there that will take him?

I dont even think boardaux would take him.

el rabitos

Chucky the tree wrote:

I dont even think boardaux would take him.

didnt he head off to recreativo today with flo

rondeco

redspider wrote:

As a strategy, I think it is good to have competition for places, and we need coverage, but if Rafa signs a player and then off-loads him within 1 or 2 seasons, for me anyway that is a failure of a signing. Rafa has had as many misses if not more than successes, and if Kromkamp goes I would rate that as a failure. Not a major one as it didnt cost us anything as did the faux pas with Pellegrino, but still a failure nonetheless.



I think lots of people would be more than willing to argue that point with you. Josemi didnt do it on the pitch, plain and simple. His failure on the pitch was why he didnt settle, imo.
Redspider

ps: Kromkamp is spelt with an emmm, kro-m...

kromkamp is a remarkably succesful signing. He managed to swap a sh1t plaer like josemi for him and when he sells him tomorrow expect a price of at least 3m. He would never have gotten that for josemi. It was why rafa swapped for kromkamp. He couldn't settle in spain after signing for 7m i think. Josemi failed to settle cos he was unable to learn the language.

GuanYin

It was on page two. :rolleyes: Threads merged.

The Rooster

Look I found our baby on Page 4!

It obviously escaped after its harrowing ordeal of being kidnapped for 8 days.

So do we abandon our foster effort or somehow get them siamesed?

LizardKing

Alonso was terrible for spain last nite , hope he gets back to form soon ...

Kimbot

Yay!!! Thread is back!!! Well I didn't get to watch highlights or anything but if he was as bad as people are saying then lets hope Alonso doesn't create that form for us!!

Dub13

Alonso has been playing bad for a while now,not sure whats wrong with the lad.

futuredeath

i'm gonna have to say its just bad form and as we all know form is temporary . .

mike65

Its a bit worrying alright, still best to keep him playing and hopefully he'll get through it.

Mike.

p.pete

Personally I think it stems from a poor world cup where too much was expected of him (i.e. he's not quite the legend we like to think he is). Against France the strategy seemed to be give the ball to Alonso and he'll make a pass and everything will be great - except he got no protection, lost the ball a lot and looked a bit crap. Hopefully he gets his confidence back...

I still blame the 2002 WC on Dudek not being as good as he should be

~Rebel~

Right Lads. The derby's coming up, and we have 4 fit, quality strikers who are all gonna be up for it. The question is; Who Starts?

All 4 of them have reasons pushing them;
Bellemy has always shown he loves the big games whereever he's played and has done well for pool so far;

Kuyt also has a fantastic record in derby's and big games for feyenord and was fantastic in his debut and even in liverpool interviews has been saying he absolutely loves the big away games where the fans are booing his every touch;

Crouch is in the form of his life for both liverpool and england so its very hard to leave him out;

Fowler absolutely lives to score against Everton!

I think i'd put my weight behind Bellemy and Kuyt as they looked very good together and Everton will be pushing seeing as their at home leaving the 2 lads to exploit the space just as they did together to great effect against West Ham. But then im being kind of biased as i really want to see Kuyt in action.

Regardless of whether its Bellemy and crouch, bellemy and kuyt or kuyt and crouch, i think Robbie deserves at least a good 30mins at the end against the old enemy.

p.pete

I wouldn't like to be making the decision - I reckon he'll pick the team to come out attacking as opposed to fighting though.

Probably not the best balance but I'd love to see fowler start and maybe Kuyt...

mike65

Liverpool get go-ahead for new stadium.

from bbc

Liverpool have received the go-ahead from the city council to build a new 60,000 all-seater stadium.

Council leaders approved a 999-year lease on Friday for a piece of land in the city's Stanley Park, just 300 yards away from their Anfield home.

"It's all systems go. All we need now is the club to confirm the funding," said council leader Warren Bradley.

Liverpool have until the end of September to convince the council it can come up with £180m for the project.

If financing is approved, building work could begin early next year with the first match pencilled in for August 2009.

Bradley added: "If Liverpool have the funding in place, they can start on the site from January."

The overall cost of the first phase of the project will be £215m.

It includes the new stadium which incorporates a centre with facilities for education, sport and community activities, along with a fully restored Stanley Park.

Mike.

mike65

Derby squads

Everton (from): Howard, Neville, Lescott, Yobo, Stubbs, Weir, Naysmith, Hibbert, Osman, Cahill, Davies, Arteta, Carsley, Johnson, Beattie, Wright, Valente, Anichebe.

Liverpool (from): Reina, Finnan, Hyypia, Agger, Aurelio, Gerrard, Sissoko, Alonso, Luis Garcia, Pennant, Gonzalez, Zenden, Dudek, Bellamy, Crouch, Fowler, Kuyt, Warnock.

---

Reina
Finnan---Agger--Hyypia---Aurelio (I wonder if Rafa will play Warnock esp after "bigging him up"?)

Pennant--Gerrard--Sissoko--Gonzo

---

Crouch-Bellamy

Though would be happpy with any of the front 4.

Mike.

p.pete

For this one I'd rather start Bellamy on the bench - if we're changing things and he's been stewing on the bench then he could make a huge impact, whereas if things need to be changed and we take him off then I'd fear a tantrum...

The Rooster

I must have missed Rafa's comments on Warnock, but I wouldnt be surprised to see Aurelio start on the left wing and leave Gonzo till later - just for the extra bit of beef. Therefore play Warnock at LB if he feels Riise isnt fit. (Apparently Riise and Carra have both declared themselves 100% fit, but Rafa is reluctant to rush them back).

el rabitos

playing warnock in a high tempo match is asking for trouble, he has no composure at all and just panics and gives the ball away. riise and carra are fit anyway, so riise will/should start imo

gonzalez is too lightweight for this match too i reckon, i'd start aurelio ahead of him. i'd rather see kuyt and fowler start up front. rafa will probably drop crouch just to bring him back down to earth

Zapp Brannigan

As long as Alonso doesn't start I think I'd be happy. I know the man is a good footballer but recently he's been awful and I wouldn't trust him to come good for this game. Gerrard and Sissoko in the centre and 2 proper wingers, will be good for us. Then put Kuyt up front because he seems eager to score and do well for us. And I'd say Robbie will have to get a look in somewhere, maybe not a starter but an impact from the bench.

el rabitos

Slurms wrote:

As long as Alonso doesn't start I think I'd be happy. I know the man is a good footballer but recently he's been awful and I wouldn't trust him to come good for this game. Gerrard and Sissoko in the centre and 2 proper wingers, will be good for us. Then put Kuyt up front because he seems eager to score and do well for us. And I'd say Robbie will have to get a look in somewhere, maybe not a starter but an impact from the bench.

yeah i was thinking it might be time to make the alonso sacrifice pretty soon to accomodate pennant and gerrard in the midfield.

i think as far as alonso goes he just really needs to learn how to make the easy pass. EVERY pass he makes tends to be a 30 yarder, and in his first season that was ok because 90% of the time he was making the pass, but for as long as i can remember now, maybe as far back as last xmas he's just been terrible. i'd rate his pass completion percentage to be between 20 - 30% , he's really been that bad.

i dunno, i like him, alot of people like alonso, but the only matches he does well in are the matches where gerrard doesnt play, and those are few and far between.

mike65

Remember when Gerrard got flack for Hollywood passes? Someone should show Alonso the press cuttings.

Mike.

el rabitos

mike65 wrote:

Remember when Gerrard got flack for Hollywood passes? Someone should show Alonso the press cuttings.

Mike.

alonso will be shown the door alot quicker than gerrard ever would be though

hopefully he gets it together sooner rather than later, good midfielders are at a premium these days, just ask man yoo

Vokes

I disagree. Alonso is Benitez's man, so to speak.

I think Rafa was all set to build his team around him had Gerrard moved on in 2004.

el rabitos

SofaKing wrote:

I disagree. Alonso is Benitez's man, so to speak.

I think Rafa was all set to build his team around him had Gerrard moved on in 2004.

i totally agree that alonso is rafa's "boy" so to speak, but he was also pretty friendly and fond of morientes and he was shipped out.

gerrard even said it in an interview recently that rafa isnt close to any of the players, he has a good professional relationship with them, but thats it. if alonso isnt up to par, and for a fair amount of time now, he hasnt, i dont think rafa will be too hesitant to ship him out, assuming he has a replacement. as i said, top quality midfielders are at a premium these days.

PiE

Bellamy doesn't even make the bench... uh oh.

Garcia on the left, Gonzo on bench. Good move methinks, Garcia's always good for a goal in big games and Gonzo's pace will be good later on.

Oh and Alonso starts... =0

Zapp Brannigan

Hooray a 3-0 thrashing. Nice start to the season!

Can we please sort out our poor defence?

TheMonster

Was Bellamy injured? Strange decision to not play him or at least have him on bench. Could be fireworks if he wasn't injured.

cerbeus

Bellamy has to accept that he now plays for a larger team and for a manager who is not afraid to rotate the team and tactics when he thinks it is required.

Having said that I think Benitez got it wrong today when he tried to play it down the middle. Neither Gerrard or Alsono was able to stamp their authority on the game. Which is what was needed. Momo ran his heart out but to little avail.

Fowler was left stranded without any supply which must have frustrated him no end.

And Aurellio was an absolute Donkey and his confidence must be very low after this game.

Still look very far from the finished article.

ButcherOfNog

I couldn't pick out particular players for playing poorly today, they all did. A real off day, suppose having not lost for 6 months we were due one of these. No need to worry (yet) tho.

zAbbo

Fair play to Evertone, there game plan worked, Although there were two possible penalty incidents, a few good chance, Evertone hit us on the break, and finished well.

Roll on PSV now, only 6 more games this month

(I'll be watching them all )

Sizzler

Is the title challenge over already :eek:

el rabitos

Sizzler wrote:

Is the title challenge over already :eek:

chelsea, arsenal and liverpool have all lost 1 match, hows it over?

Sizzler

el rabitos wrote:

chelsea, arsenal and liverpool have all lost 1 match, hows it over?

You need a good start no? Its been an achilles of liverpool that they usually cock up their title challenge by xmas in years gone by.

They arent playing well, on yesterdays performance they didnt even know what 50-50 ball meant

The Rooster

Liverpool were quite unlucky on Saturday. They dominated the match but made bad defensive errors which were punished - probably Carra's worst game in 4 or 5 years. They were very unlucky not to get it back to 2-1 in the second half. A whisker away a couple of time, hit the woodwork, great save and a blatant peno not given. Then had to play the last 10 mins+ with only 10 men because of injury.

Liverpool had 14 attempts at goal to Everton's 5. Two of Everton's five coming in injury time. So 3-0 was far from a fair refelction of the game, but Liverpool did play poorly.

Felt sorry for Fowler, who got zero service.
Kuyt again looked promising and will surely start alongside Bellamy v PSV. Hopefully Pennant will play too.

Sizzler

Unlucky 3-0 defeats wont win the league!

Kuyt (on that performance) reminds me of Davies from Bolton. A lad who will "put himself about" up front and unruffle defenders, hold the ball up, create chances for others. But hes never going to get 20 goals a season. I thought Crouch did the above anyway, why buy Kuyt
Also where was Bellamy? Rumour has it hes already pissed off Rafa!

Aquos76

Unlucky is dominating a game and losing by the odd goal, but losing by 3 come on. Credit has to be given to Everton.

LizardKing

Everton took most of the chances they had , so fair play to them, Liverpool missed a lot of chances - The next 2 league games against chelsea and newcastle are very important for the Pool and a win in Europe could be the boost they need for them.. hope Kuyt gets off the mark soon , been impressed with him so far even though he's not got any goals ....

The Rooster

Aquos76 wrote:

Unlucky is dominating a game and losing by the odd goal, but losing by 3 come on. Credit has to be given to Everton.

Sizzler and Aquos, if you would read my whole post and not just a snippet of it you will see I was talking about Liverpool being unlucky not to bring it back to 2-1. They deserved to be 2-0 down because the made defensive mistakes that Everton punished.

Also where was Bellamy? Rumour has it hes already pissed off Rafa!

Yeah, spot on again sizzler. He wont be involved against PSV or Chelsea either and will have his contract cancelled by Christmas.

LizardKing

The Rooster wrote:

Yeah, spot on again sizzler. He wont be involved against PSV or Chelsea either and will have his contract cancelled by Christmas.

any links to this ? If true , How many chances does the guy want , would any other club take him on ?

p.pete

Overall I thought Everton fought harder, set themselves up better for the match and took their chances.

I was unhappy with Rafa's team selection, unhappy Yobo wasn't sent off for raping Sami (and the penalty that would have followed). For Everton's second play should have been held up before the ball got as far as Carragher (and his poor attempt at defending) - and another red-card merrited there. Also there was several Liverpool players playing below par, Gerrard and Alonso to name but a few.

Well done Everton, fully deserved win based on the what I said first, the rest is sour grapes.

Chardee MacDennis

i think the rotation system might need to be looked at - rafa is in a tough position as he has been given the money to spend and now he needs to show what he can do with the players he wanted.

he needs to find his best 11 and play them - at the moment i think it is:

Reina
Finnan-Carragher-Agger-Riise
Pennant-Gerrard-Sissoko-Gonzalez
Bellamy-Crouch

Well thats who i'd be playing week in week out (barring injuries of course) atm...

A midfielder needs to make way for some natural width, and Sissoko cant be dropped so therefore Alonso must go until he finds his form of two years ago, also Kuyt needs time to settle and without decent service Fowler cant do much therefore bellamy who can drop deep and pick up the ball seems like the only option.

hopefully the xi against PSV will be our strongest and we will see what we can actually do.

PiE

Not to mention Finnan being wrestled to the ground for one of the goals.

Overall Everton just wanted it more; fair enough. But I had hoped the days of Liverpool strolling around the pitch looking disinterested would have been phased out by now.

p.pete

I think Kuyt and Bellamy should be the main strikers - Kuyt's only been on the pitch briefly and looks fantastic. I've spent a lot of time defending Crouch, and now he's a goal-scoring machine and now that he's a goal-scoring machine I'd love to see us cash-in and get 10mil+ for him...

Aquos76

The Rooster wrote:

Sizzler and Aquos, if you would read my whole post and not just a snippet of it you will see I was talking about Liverpool being unlucky not to bring it back to 2-1. They deserved to be 2-0 down because the made defensive mistakes that Everton punished..

Fair enough, but what other way were we suppose to take it up when you opened your post like

Liverpool were quite unlucky on Saturday. They dominated the match but made bad defensive errors which were punished - probably Carra's worst game in 4 or 5 years.

You then went on to say how unlucky they were not to get back to 2-1

They were very unlucky not to get it back to 2-1 in the second half. A whisker away a couple of time, hit the woodwork, great save and a blatant peno not given. Then had to play the last 10 mins+ with only 10 men because of injury.

If you had not of opened your post with Liverpool were very unlucky on Saturday, we may have understood what you meant.