Liverpool Rumours And General Discussion 2007/2008

mike65

I'm willing to bet rafa has 'moved on' already and will unveil a new CB in the next 7 days. He strikes me as a man with Plan B in his pocket.

Mike.

jesus_thats_gre

whatawaster wrote:

I'm not so sure, I think 433 is more likely:

---

Reina

---

Finnan

---

Carragher

---

Agger

---

Arbeloa

---

Alonso

---

Mascherano

---

---

Gerrard

---

---

Kuyt

---

Torres

---

Babel

---

Just as likely. Possibly this too:

---

Reina

---

---

Carra--Agger---Heinze

---

---

Mash--Alonso

---

Pennant

---

Gerrard

---

Babel

---

Torres----Kuyt

---

One thing is for sure, plenty of options. Without Heinze of course.

Kanney

Luis you legend, i really liked that letter. Very good. He will be cheered now when he returns to Anfield, perhaps if Athletico get back into the Champions League. Thank you Luis for everything.

Back on subject, my starting eleven would be
GK:Reina
CB:Agger
CB:Carragher
SB:Finnan
SB:Riise
RW:Pennant
AMF:Gerrard
DMF:Alonso
LMF:Babel
CF:Kuyt
CF:Torres

---

Reina

---

Finnan

---

Carragher

---

Agger

---

Arbeloa

---

Alonso

---

Mascherano

---

---

Gerrard

---

---

Kuyt

---

Torres

---

Babel

---

I really think this formation posted by whatsamatter?(sp?) is really interesting, and i feel would be very useful to use to a team that could be completely shocked to see, one of the big four perhaps. Altho against Chelsea and Man U, winning the midfield is half the battle and wether that formation could do it or not i dont know. Interesting tho.

Peyton Manning

Garcia has seriously gone up a rank in my books, thats classy. Fair play to ya lad, if only there were more like you.

redzerdrog

thank you very much luis garcia YNWA

Dub13

We will not forget him,as rafa would say...'for sure'

Jesus Wept

as Roy Evans would of said 'fantastttic'

Dub13

The-Rigger wrote:

as Roy Evans would of said 'fantastttic'

Good old Roy,is he still on Eastenders...?:)

Jesus Wept

I was trying to find a compliation on youtube of Roy saying 'fantasic'.

I remember Sky Sports did one once, it was hilarious.

Mr Alan

yoinked from RAOTL

Luis Garcia,
no longer here,
He's in Espana
But hes still sound.
Wrote us a letter,
Torres is better
But we'd still have our Luis around

sums it up perfect for me

~Rebel~

I like it

Great stuff from Luis though, was always one of my favourite players, even managed to look past his occasional divey muppetry. He really pulled of some sublime moments of magic over the 3 years which will be missed. One of our few game changers.

Atletico was a good choice at least with the very exciting team their building there.

Zapp Brannigan

millersangel wrote:

yoinked from RAOTL

Luis Garcia,
no longer here,
He's in Espana
But hes still sound.
Wrote us a letter,
Torres is better
But we'd still have our Luis around

sums it up perfect for me

I like it. As infuriating as Luis could be at times, he was still a class act. Let's hope Benayoun can be an able replacement for him.

Stky10

mike65 wrote:

I'm willing to bet rafa has 'moved on' already and will unveil a new CB in the next 7 days. He strikes me as a man with Plan B in his pocket.

Very much so. With Paletta off to Boca on loan, whoever is signed will become third choice, with Sami dropping to fourth. At his age, he might not be willing to do that, so might move to Fulham if they really are willing to pay 1.5m as some of the press reports state. With his contract down to its last year, its a decent offer. So its possible there could be more than one signing unless maybe Hobbs gets promoted.

~Rebel~

id be happy with 1 decent one regardless of if hypia stays or goes.

For a fourth choice one of the many many youth CB's we've bought over the past 3 years should be able to do a job, and even if not, Arbeloa could fill in. Id say a number of other players could even do a job, like Finnan or Mascherano if really necessary.

Kanney

Lets just get Rafa to sign Micah Richards, wouldn't that be a great signing, really would push Agger to work for his spot. Lets just hope no players get injured tonight on International Duty.

Malice

Kanney wrote:

Lets just get Rafa to sign Micah Richards, wouldn't that be a great signing, really would push Agger to work for his spot. Lets just hope no players get injured tonight on International Duty.

Richards would be a fantastic signing but it's not going to happen. Why would he leave his position of first choice at the Premier League leaders to be third choice at Liverpool?

whatawaster

Yeah Man City would never sell but Richards or Dunne would be ideal. Barring that i'd go with someone who is great on FM, like Kompany, Collocini or Heitinga.

sweetie

http://football.guardian.co.uk/News_Story/0,,2153523,00.html

Seems a bit early to be complaining.

sweetie

sweetie wrote:

http://football.guardian.co.uk/News_Story/0,,2153523,00.html

Seems a bit early to be complaining.

He cant possibly have expected to walk into the first team straight away?

Mr Alan

can someone post up that article? cant access that in work.

be so disappointed if he is genuinely complaining

PHB

Has he played yet in the premiership? I'd be disappointed considering his pre-season form.

RE*AC*TOR

I thought his preseason form was average.

gucci

his agent looking for another pay day by the looks of things. west ham seem to be buying loadsa players these days.....oh no wait

Mr Alan

RE*AC*TOR wrote:

I thought his preseason form was average.

thought he was excellent

DeadSkin

gucci wrote:

his agent looking for another pay day by the looks of things.

Looks like it, but if Benayoun is moaning already, I think get rid

millersangel wrote:

can someone post up that article? cant access that in work.

http://football.guardian.co.uk/News_...153523,00.html
Yossi Benayoun is already concerned about his lack of opportunities at Liverpool and "will think about moving to a medium-sized team" if the situation does not improve, according to his agent.
Liverpool have played only three competitive games this season but the Israel international is the second Liverpool player - after Peter Crouch - to complain about not being involved enough in Rafael Benítez's plans. Benayoun was left out of the squad for the Premier League games against Aston Villa and Chelsea but started and played 59 minutes in the Champions League qualifier against Toulouse last week
"If Yossi won't be involved enough we will think of moving to a medium-sized team," Benayoun's agent, Ronen Katzav, said in a radio interview in Israel. "When we first met with Rafa Benítez, he asked for a lot of patience since there is a huge squad at Liverpool.
"We don't analyse each match. Yossi has patience and motivation and he will get his chance. When you are taking a decision to move to Liverpool, you are prepared for all possibilities and Yossi decided to follow his heart. The target was to try and integrate in the team and I'm sure he will play a lot. Naturally, Yossi wants to be in the squad and knows he has a lot of work to do but if he won't play for a long period we will think again."

The Israeli media has been stunned by Benayoun's omission from the Liverpool squads but Benítez has asked his players to be patient. "It's the same with Jermaine Pennant, Javier Mascherano, Yossi Benayoun, Sebastián Leto and Lucas Leiva," he said last week. "I can only use 11 [players] - and I cannot have more than 18 players in a squad for a European match unfortunately.
"Every player knows they have team-mates to consider. They're professionals and they need to be ready for each game. I'll always have the same answer."

Mr Alan

Cheers for that Deadskin
doesnt sound too bad, says he is willing to be patient etc, its only two games in so i aint worried.

whatawaster

I don't believe a word of this. Probably just paper talk. If any player complained of not playing after 3 games, I think Rafa would show them the door. Yossi has to be patient, though if Pennant continues the form he showed on Sunday, his chances in the Prem could be limited

spockety

There's nothing concerning in that Benayoun article.. just his agent spouting off in a foreign country.

yom 1

spockety wrote:

There's nothing concerning in that Benayoun article.. just his agent spouting off in a foreign country.

Thats exactly what I thought when I read it. Benayoun should give his agent a slap for that though. Its making him look bad.

~Rebel~

ill not worry about anything till i see some quotes from Yossi himself.

Could see him and babel or pennant starting against Sunderland anyway

Ardent

http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liver...0252-19671289/

Rafa Benitez blasts Premier League

Aug 22 2007 EXCLUSIVE by Chris Bascombe, Liverpool Echo

RAFA BENITEZ today accused the Premier League of unfair treatment which threatens to wreck any chance of a Liverpool title challenge.

A furious Reds boss says it’s clear decisions are being taken which favour the Reds’ rivals, with yesterday’s dismissal of Gabriel Heinze’s bid to join Liverpool the latest setback.

In a blistering attack, Benitez said today: “I would like to ask the Premier League a number of questions. How can a player with a signed agreement be treated like this?

“He has a document which is clear, but the Premier League prefers to believe the word of someone else who made a mistake. I know there were accusations made against Liverpool in the hearing which were unbelievable. How can this be allowed?

“Then I would like to ask the Premier League why is it that Liverpool always plays the most fixtures, away from home in an early kick-off, following an international break? We had more than the top clubs last season and we have four already to prepare for this season.

“Then I want to ask the Premier League why it was so so difficult for Liverpool to sign Javier Mascherano, when we had to wait a long time for the paperwork, but it was so easy for Carlos Tevez to join Manchester United?

“It’s going to be very difficult for us to win the Premier League because the other teams are so strong, but I want our supporters to know that despite the disadvantages we have, we will fight all the way.

“We will fight to cope with our more difficult kick-off times and all the other decisions which are going against us.”

Benitez is pondering his contingency plan on Heinze, while recognising the courage the player has shown in a bid to join Liverpool. Heinze is ready to risk being stuck in limbo for a year to fight on for his move to Liverpool.

His appeal against the decision denying his switch to Anfield won’t be heard until September - after the transfer deadline.

But if the Argentine is successful in a fresh hearing, there is a provision for a deal to proceed outside the transfer window.

Should his appeal fail, however, he’ll be stuck in United’s reserves for the season, until he can buy himself out of the club next summer.

The 29-year-old was distraught following yesterday’s verdict, but his appeal will be heard by a new committee. Yesterday, a two man panel consisting of Premier League Chairman Sir David Richards (ex-Sheffield Wednesday) and legal advisor Peter McCormick (ex-Leeds) rejected the Manchester United defender’s claim he had permission to join any club for £6.8m.

They agreed with the submissions of United chief executive David Gill and manager Sir Alex Ferguson, who argued it was made clear from the outset the agreement referred only to a foreign transfer.

It is being suggested Gill also made the extraordinary claim that Liverpool asked Crystal Palace to sign Heinze on their behalf, before selling him on to the Reds. The fact the exit fee was valued in euros rather than pounds was used as a key argument.

An appeal panel will consist of three, including a PFA representative and a high ranking member of the legal profession.

Heinze remains optimistic an appeal will be accepted and is in no mood to give up on his hopes of moving to Liverpool.

His solicitor, Richard Green, said today: “We are extremely disappointed with the result and we will be appealing.”

There is no means of appeal to the Premier League after the next hearing.

United are now hoping to offload Heinze to another club, and are prepared to accept much less than £6.8m.

They also know Heinze will be in a position to force his move to Liverpool within 12 months.

The difficulty for Liverpool boss Benitez is he’s keen for a defensive reinforcement before the end of this month, and now knows he can’t rely on the Heinze verdict going the player’s way.

Kicking up a fuss always seems to get results for our rivals so I'm glad to see Rafa saying his piece.

Lex Luthor

I have noticed that a lot last year after Wednesday European nights that we end up playing away to the butt end of england somewhere where Chelsea & UTD always seem to get home games and they play on a Tuesday.

At least this time out European game is at home on Wed night...thats why we have a big squad.

I'm surprised by some of the quotes above that they were actually Rafa's. I know he has a few things to complain about but I think the comment stating “It’s going to be very difficult for us to win the Premier League because the other teams are so strong, but I want our supporters to know that despite the disadvantages we have, we will fight all the way" is something that makes him sound like sour grapes

PHB

I never really understand fixture complaints. I remember Mourinho's last one about post European games, Sky did a bit on it and it was shown to be utter crap. Furthermore, most of stuff people come up with is nuts. Ok, maybe you play on a saterday morning, which pushes you, but in turn, that gives you more rest for the CL game, and it also gives you more rest then for the next game. There really is no grand conspiracy in the fixtures imo, just the league doing the best they can. It's not like Barwick is anti-Liverpool like.

mike65

All top teams have to deal with fixture congestion unless they loose every cup game in the first round! No-one should moan about success and its why big teams have big squads.

Mike.

evil_seed

http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/news/drilldown/N156768070822-1534.htm

Liverpool have confirmed the double captures of defender Mikel San Jose and goalkeeper Peter Gulacsi.

leninbenjamin

actually fixture congestion is our fault. as the football lovers we are we want to watch as many games as possible, which means Sky try and spread out the fixtures over the weekend as much as possible which means a few teams get the short straw. if we refuse to watch televised football, then this problem would quickly resolve itself and we get on with listening to them moan about proper footballing matters like which team dives more etc. etc...

whatawaster

Two more players who'll never play for us

leninbenjamin

evil_seed wrote:

http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/news/drilldown/N156768070822-1534.htm

Liverpool have confirmed the double captures of defender Mikel San Jose and goalkeeper Peter Gulacsi.

uhh... who?

Stky10

leninbenjamin wrote:

uhh... who?

Gulacsi is a goalkeeper, joined from MTK on loan for a year, with an option for another two years. We also signed Simon and Nemeth from MTK but they're permanent moves. Can't see much coming from it with all the other keepers we've got.

The San Jose deal has been done for a couple of months. Spanish central defender comes from Bilbao and has played for Spain at underage level. In some pre-season reserve games we've been playing him in midfield as we did with Hobbs to improve passing, etc. Cost about 250k I think.

Dub13

If any of you lot are interested in traveling with IrishKop to the Derby County game check out the thread going in the Soccer Tickets & Travel forum.We have come into a few more tickets so can supply them as well.

Dub13

Gabriel Heinze’s representatives tried to bypass Manchester United’s block on the player moving to Liverpool by engineering a move to Crystal Palace first, it can be revealed.

Under the proposal made to Palace, the Argentinean defender would have first been bought by the south London club and then sold on to Liverpool.

The bid was revealed in evidence given to a Premier League panel earlier this week by Palace chief executive Phil Alexander.

It is understood Alexander confirmed to the panel that a proposed scheme had been put forward by Heinze’s representatives to secure the eventual transfer of the defender to Liverpool by initially transferring him to Palace.

The panel went on to reject Heinze’s bid to force United to sell him to Liverpool.

The 29-year-old claimed United had written a letter allowing him to leave if another club offered a fee of £6.8m.

The panel dismissed Heinze’s case and backed United, who maintained they made it clear to the 29-year-old both orally and in writing that he would not be permitted to join one of their title rivals.

Heinze is appealing against the panel’s decision but it now seems if he is intent on leaving United before the transfer window closes he will have to move abroad – although West Ham could match his wage demands and are watching with interest to see the outcome of his appeal.

Real Madrid have been linked with Heinze, while French club Lyon are also keen on signing the player – who has become unsettled after losing his United first-team place to Patrice Evra.

Link

Dub13

I would have loved the above to happen,it would have been worth the 6.8m just to piss of Sir Moan.

sweetie

Would that really have tricked sir Alex? Can't see him being that gullible to be honest.

Dub13

sweetie wrote:

Would that really have tricked sir Alex? Can't see him being that gullible to be honest.

Don't no but it sure would have been interesting if it happened.I am sure someone would have brought a legal action if it did happen,its not exactly ethically right.

SteM

Dub13 wrote:

Gabriel Heinze’s representatives tried to bypass Manchester United’s block on the player moving to Liverpool by engineering a move to Crystal Palace first, it can be revealed.

Under the proposal made to Palace, the Argentinean defender would have first been bought by the south London club and then sold on to Liverpool.

The bid was revealed in evidence given to a Premier League panel earlier this week by Palace chief executive Phil Alexander.

It is understood Alexander confirmed to the panel that a proposed scheme had been put forward by Heinze’s representatives to secure the eventual transfer of the defender to Liverpool by initially transferring him to Palace.
Link

I though there was a rule where a player couldn't be registered at 3 clubs in the same season or something?

Mr Alan

pretty sure its only counted if he played for the club

NotWormBoy

Dub13 wrote:

Don't no but it sure would have been interesting if it happened.I am sure someone would have brought a legal action if it did happen,its not exactly ethically right.

Dunno about legal action, but any club that allowed itself to be used like that could never really be trusted by another club again. United certainly wouldn't sell any players to them again (or at least I wouldn't, if I was in charge at United).

Kanney

Well Heinze is gone to Madrid. But Cheslki have lost Robben and a chance at Alves (they signed Belletti, who imo isnt that good)

Mr Alan

is robben definately gone?

~Rebel~

millersangel wrote:

is robben definately gone?

seems to be alright
http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11668_2680204,00.html

Chelsea chairman Bruce Buck says the sale of Arjen Robben to Real Madrid is good business by the club.

The Blues agreed a deal with Real Madrid for the Dutch international on Wednesday after months of haggling between both clubs.

Robben's future at Stamford Bridge has been the subject of conjecture all summer with the player seemingly keen to secure a move to Madrid.

Chelsea have now decided to let the player go and Buck believes the deal represents good business, even though he is sad to see the former PSV Eindhoven ace move on.