Liverpool Rumours And General Discussion 2007/2008

Mr Alan

~Rebel~ wrote: »

worth mentioning the Spanish national team are staying in the same vally for the Euro's! Nando stalkig here i come!

Can i come?

BaZmO*

prendy wrote: »

id keep kuyt too...he does set up alot of attacks.
i dint like him but he's growing on me and id say raffa likes his commitment and workrate!

He's your Kevin Kilbane

Mr Alan

i prefer,

he's our Wayne Rooney-couldnt finish his dinner but will try all day long

Nalz

Mr Alan wrote: »

i prefer,

he's our Wayne Rooney-couldnt finish his dinner but will try all day long

Finish my dindins


sorry couldnt resist!

BaZmO*

Mr Alan wrote: »

i prefer,

he's our Wayne Rooney-couldnt finish his dinner but will try all day long

Haha, although he had no problem finishing twice last Saturday and making two against your lot the Sunday before!!

Mr Alan

touche


but Dirka Dirka made one last Sunday too ya know

event

Mr Alan wrote: »

touche


but Dirka Dirka made one last Sunday too ya know

pfft, he mis-controlled and nando took it off him

its like when you're playing indoor and your crap mate goes to shoot, you'd nearly tackle him yourself to stop him

Mr Alan

i actually though dirk did excellent for the goal on Sunday.

Stky10

NotWormBoy wrote: »

Assuming decent prices were to be gotten for them, and assuming we were going to get rid of two of Kuyt, Crouch and Voronin, who would people like to keep from the three of them?

I'd sell all three. I've some sympathy for Crouch in that if he played more he'd have a relatively decent scoring record, but he's too slow and too weak in possession, and for a guy of his size his threat in the air is complete pants. Kuyt & Voronin just don't have the required skill level for this level.

So along with Torres/Gerrard, I'd move Babel in from the wing, promote Nemeth to the first team, and try sign Luis Suarez or similar (selecting 2 from 5)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luis_Suárez_%28Uruguayan_footballer%29

Possibilities no?

Thanx 4 The Fish

Mr Alan wrote: »

i actually though dirk did excellent for the goal on Saturday.

Ah well ya see that game you watched on Saturday was not live. Or of course he could have been playing in a local combination league.

Mr Alan

Thanx 4 The Fish wrote: »

Ah well ya see that game you watched on Saturday was not live.

Too mean

Dub13

Dub13 wrote: »

2 Arsenal CL Tickets for €5 LAST CHANCE.

The winner of this Reverse Auction will be posted on www.IrishKop.com tomorrow around 14:00,this will give the winner a week to arrange travel.All the Money Raised is going to the Bob Paisley Memorial Fund.At this stage your only way of paying is by PayPal or if you can make in into a Permanent TSB bank.

For more info see here...

http://irishkop.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3201

The Winning Bid was 28c.

Here are the final figures.

Bank Bids: 355 Euro.
Bank Donations: 30 Euro.
Cash Bids: 270 Euro.
Paypal Bids: 261.11 Euro.
Paypal Donation: 23.80 Euro.
TOTAL: 939.91 Euro.

Dont be at yourself

I wouldn't be overly keen on Bentley myself. I don't know what the situation regarding his contract is, but presumably we'd have to pay through the nose for him. I wouldn't pay anymore than 8 million euro.

His attitude is a little bit offputting recently. He'd be nowhere without Blackburn, and after one strong season he feels he has to move in order to secure a place for the English team. Is he more interested in playing for England than his club?

But mostly, I don't think he'd particularly fit into the team. As someone mentioned earlier, Ashley Young would be a better fit. I'd put forward Gaby Agbonlahor too, but both those players would be crazy money. They'd work well playing off Torres though...

---

Torres
---Babel-Gerrard-Gaby

Yikes!

Eurosport reckon that Real Madrid will exercise their option to bring De La Red back to Madrid. He was linked with us last week as part of a potential swap-deal bringing Alonso to Real? I haven't seen much of him, does anybody rate him?

eZe^

NekkidBibleMan wrote: »

Eurosport reckon that Real Madrid will exercise their option to bring De La Red back to Madrid. He was linked with us last week as part of a potential swap-deal bringing Alonso to Real? I haven't seen much of him, does anybody rate him?

He not amazing to be honest. He got a couple of caps last year under Capello but never really impressed me, he seems like one of the madrid youth team players that will end up playing in a mid table team like Getafe. He's there at the moment, but isnt a permanent fixture in their starting XI. He's only made 12 appearances or something like that.


See Charlie Nicholas has said that England have a more talented team than Italy, and “Steven Gerrard, when he is on form, is a far better player than Francesco Totti." Pretty controversial comment if you ask me.

“People always go on about this great Italy side and how they always get to the end of tournaments, but they usually do so by scraping 0-0’s and winning 1-0.'' I wasnt aware that England usually steam roll teams 5-0 on their way to finals, oh wait...

meditraitor

eZe^ wrote: »

See Charlie Nicholas has said that England have a more talented team than Italy

,

Bull

eZe^ wrote: »

and “Steven Gerrard, when he is on form, is a far better player than Francesco Totti." Pretty controversial comment if you ask me.

Not controversial at all

Correct and right

mike65

The thoughts of Charles Nicholas Esq are hardly worth considering tbh.

Mike.

redspider

Liverpool are in a good mindset for tonight's match against Arsenal. Its the away leg so we will need to keep a tight ship. Masch will be back and will be important in breaking up the play and passing game of Arsenal. (I hope he has learnt his lesson and can keep his cool and not let any decisions that dont go our way get him riled). Arsenal are not a crossing team so that should reduce any chance of Reina mis-judging a cross. I am not assured though o our defence with runs giong through the centre, etc. Skrtel and Carra will be under immense pressure.

I expect a lot of Arsenal posession. Lets hope Torres and Gerrard can conjure up a goal. I hope Stevie doesnt get too ahead of himself with his passing. They certainly have the capability to score.

Here is Carra's thoughts:

Jamie Carragher believes Liverpool's hopes of progressing to the semi-finals of the Champions League will rest upon the result they get when they face Arsenal at the Emirates tonight.
The Reds defender is confident Rafael Benitez's men can book their passage into the last four of the competition at the expense of the Gunners - but only if they secure a positive result in the first-leg.

"The first leg in Europe is always the most important as that sets up the second leg," Carragher told Liverpoolfc.tv.

"We've got to make sure we've still got a chance when we play at Anfield and hopefully we can turn that into a special night, but there's no doubt the first leg is massive."

Arsenal go into the all-English tie as the Bookies' favourites to progress and while Carra concedes Arsene Wenger's side deserve that tag, he feels Liverpool are always at their best when they are the underdogs.

"There above us in the league so that's why the bookies have probably made them favourites, but with our European record you could argue a case for us," he said.

"After the season Arsenal have had they are probably a bit ahead of us at the moment and that's a gap we need to bridge in between now and the end of the season, and of course next season.

"But I always prefer it when the Bookies fancy the other team anyway. It takes a bit of pressure off and we know how important it is for Arsneal as they've never won the European Cup, so hopefully that pressure will tell."

The Gunners boast some of the most lethal attacking players in Europe and while Carragher appreciates the talents of the likes of Emmanuel Adebayor, Robin Van Persie and Cesc Fabregas, he insists it is not a challenge he will fear.

"It's something you look forward to," he said.

"Fabregas has been one of the best players around this season and Adebayor and Torres have been the best two strikers so we know it's going to be tough, but hopefully they are thinking the same about us."

Having reached the final of the Champions League in two of the last three season Liverpool know what it takes to come through ties against Europes' elite.

It is something Carragher puts down to an organised defence and he feels it could give the Reds the edge a game so long as they mantain their concetration throughtou both mtches with the Gunners.

"Defensively you have make sure your tight," said Carragher.

"If you have a bad half an hour defensively and concede a couple of goals that could be the end of you, so you need to make sure over the 180 minutes that you organised and difficult to beat.

"There's not normally many goals in these types of games so you need to be switched on at the back and hopefully thev players up front can do the damage for us."

So often a second-leg at Anfield has been the difference for Liverpool in Europe and while Arsenal are no strangers to the atmosphere in L4, Carragher believes they could still find it intimidating.

"The crowd could be important but only if we get the right result in the first-leg," he said.

"If we can do that it will set it up brilliantly.

"Chelsea have been intimidated on the occasions they have faced us in Europe despite playing us in the leage, so I think Arsenal will be aware that the atmosphere will be very different on a European night."

During the past three seasons Carragher has established himself as one of the most respected centre backs in Europe.

It is a position he admits he favours and although the arrvial of Martin Skrtel has seen him moved to right-back in recent weeks, he insists he is happy to do a job for the team and is confident he will be returned to his more natural berth sooner rather than later.

"I've probably played half of my career at Liverpool at full-back, something like 250 to 300 games, so it's not new to me," he said.

"And the way Sami and Martin are playing, I'm just happy to be in the team at the moment!"

"Everyone has a preferred position and mine is centre back and hopefully I'll be back there soon. But I'm enjoying playing at right back and when I've played there it's gone quite well.

"I've played there before and it's not alien to me, there's more running involved but it's not a problem."

redspider

raven136

bentley i think would be a great signing,quick,good crosser,shoots and works hard.Could slip into Kuyts place on the team at the moment.

If we were to sell a striker it surely would be crouch as he is the only one that anyone would pay decent money for.

What now for Carson seems as villa(according to the sunday papers)dont want to pay big bucks for him?

zAbbo

Bently would want to be a starter, and he won't be guaranteed that.

If he came up for 7-8M, then maybe, but I don't think he's the right character or type of player for Liverpool.

raven136

we need to be more realistic about the type of player we can sign.Ideally a mancini or alves would be perfect for the wide right but the money isnt there and we need to cut our cloth accordingly.Bentley would score more,create more and offer more than the alternatives we have out there.
We will not have loads of money again this summer so we need good player who fit our system and dont cost a fortune.

PHB

Except that Bentley wouldn't fit into your system that well at all.

mike65

Well done to the Reserves team for beating Everton and almost securing the Reserves League title.

Mike.

ibh

PHB wrote: »

Except that Bentley wouldn't fit into your system that well at all.

I would actually expect him to fit into that rhs position being held by Kuyt. He started out as a striker and converted to a winger so i would have said he is perfect for it. Don't particularly like him but he does a good job.

StickyMcGinty

ibh wrote: »

I would actually expect him to fit into that rhs position being held by Kuyt. He started out as a striker and converted to a winger so i would have said he is perfect for it. Don't particularly like him but he does a good job.

well said, exactly where i'd see him slotting in too.

anyone rate Rafinha from Shalke?

http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11669_3189619,00.html

eZe^

Rafinha is going to be big imo, him and Rakitic are Schalkes goldenboys.

Stky10

mike65 wrote: »

Well done to the Reserves team for beating Everton and almost securing the Reserves League title.

Thereby completing the double double over Everton (first team & reserve) this season. Not a bad record over such a big club

raven136

Surely Bentley would fit exactly into our system.Torres up top with support from Babel,Gerrard and Bentley and xabi and masch behind.

Thats our 4-5-1(cause rafa's defensive) or when Man United play it a 4-3-3:p

MementoMori

I think the signing of Bentley would be a major plus. The only problem would be cost - given he is being assigned the David Beckham role for England could see it being ultra-silly money

He pretty much has been Blackburn's best player all season long, even in games where they haven't been great he has shown a good willingness to battle/fight. Currently he has nine goals and ten assists and this is playing in a limited enough team. Could see him doing a much better job that Kuyt and like Kuyt he would work like a b.stard for the team and there is a much higher end-product.

Also I like the cut of his jib - the fact that he pulled out of the u21s saying in effect in the long term this is better for my career { completely agree - no-one gives a s.hit about u21s,} Proved right now - has been having a great season and has played for the senior team. Only 23 and seems ruthlessly ambitious which is one of the qualitites that I think is vital for top players.

The quality of the ball into the box from corners and free-kicks would improve significantly - a hell of a lot less of the hitting the first man c.rap.

The main advantage he has is that he knows the league and there wouldn't be any settling in period, which I think would be the case for players from abroad. I remember a recent article with Babel ( about ice baths, maybe on BBC site) where it said that he felt he was only really getting up to full match fitness now. Shocked me a bit. The thing I'd be wary of with regard foreign wingers is that they would not be up to the physical side of the premiership and would be used to more time on the ball.

DeadSkin

Tonight I expect Carra to be back in the centre alongside Skrtle or Sami. Finnan or Arbeloa offer more goin' forward than when Carra is out there.
Aurelio will probably be back to take his place over Riise and good to have the Masch back tonight.

dc69

eZe^ wrote: »

Rafinha is going to be big imo, him and Rakitic are Schalkes goldenboys.

Rafinha had a torid time yesterday,he showed his weakness in defence.Daniel alves is a better option and contrary to what people think,rafinha would cost big bucks.Shalke will not want their golden boy to be let go.

Also why are most fans including myself thinking we are just signing a rb,we need a new lb just as much?

This new formation rafa has made,is 3 strikers in my opinion with 2 playing wide.David bentley would work better in a 4-4-2.maybe thats the option rafa is looking at with babel and torres up front.Which would leave us with no left winger.
in which case we need 2 new winger and 2 new fullbacks.

If he keeps the 3 up front he can keep babel as a wide striker but would need to bring in another.this player has to be a striker who can play on the wing and not a winger playing as a striker.You need someone like quaresma or simao to fill that role.
This leaves us needing a new striker who can play as a wide striker and a new lb and rb,its the cheaper option.

There is no point in keeping babel if we are not going to play him in his natural position as a second striker up front,he is not a winger.

Stky10

dc69 wrote: »

Rafinha had a torid time yesterday,he showed his weakness in defence.Daniel alves is a better option and contrary to what people think,rafinha would cost big bucks.Shalke will not want their golden boy to be let go.

Also why are most fans including myself thinking we are just signing a rb,we need a new lb just as much?

My thoughts as well. I haven't seen a lot of Rafinha, but the bits I have seen he looks too small and vulnerable in defense. He may well be as good as Cafu ever was in going forward, but I don't care if he's not good enough for his primary job, which is defense. Personally, I'd make do with what we have in both positions for another year, and gradually try and introduce Insua on the left, and Darby on the right, and see what they can do.

Both winger positions should have much more priority in finally getting sorted this summer. And to me, Bentley doesn't have the ability to cut teams open that we need.

Tusky

I'd be happy with 1 top class full back and a top class right sided attacking player to play in Kuyts current position.

Whether this is in the form of a winger or wide striker, I dont mind. Those two signings would really improve the team.

PHB

Bentley is a right midfielder imo, doesn't have huge pace, has a fantastic right foot though. The way Liverpool look to be setting up, they need somebody who is pacey, can beat a man, but can also cut in. They need an attacking midfielder more than a winger, someone in the moulds of Ronaldo or Robben, rather than Beckham or Bentley. Bentley is just a better version of Pennant, but Pennant, while doing his best season for a while, still just didn't work into Liverpool system. I'd say Liverpool could change their system, but because of Rafas inability to work Gerrard properly into a 4-4-2, he seems set on this kind of 4 attackers system which suits Gerrard perfectly.

Nalz

PHB wrote: »

Bentley is a right midfielder imo, doesn't have huge pace, has a fantastic right foot though.

He's not that slow and I think he could do a job for pool in there 4-3-2-1 or whatever you want to call it

Chardee MacDennis

just got a text from my mate (dont know if there is any good source to this) that torres is on the bench tonight. anyone heard anything similar?

Tusky

PHB wrote: »

Bentley is a right midfielder imo, doesn't have huge pace, has a fantastic right foot though. The way Liverpool look to be setting up, they need somebody who is pacey, can beat a man, but can also cut in. They need an attacking midfielder more than a winger, someone in the moulds of Ronaldo or Robben, rather than Beckham or Bentley. Bentley is just a better version of Pennant, but Pennant, while doing his best season for a while, still just didn't work into Liverpool system. I'd say Liverpool could change their system, but because of Rafas inability to work Gerrard properly into a 4-4-2, he seems set on this kind of 4 attackers system which suits Gerrard perfectly.

I think the reason that Rafa is playing this system is two fold. Lack of good wingers and also the fact that Gerrard, Mascherano & Alonso being pretty much undroppable. Bentley is definitely more suited to a 4-4-2. If Rafa bought someone like Bentley, he would also need to buy a striker to accompany Torres AND one of Mascherano or Alonso would have to be benched.

So for that reason, Id prefer an attacking right sided midfielder instead of or an out an out winger, ala Bentley.

Call_me_al wrote: »

just got a text from my mate (dont know if there is any good source to this) that torres is on the bench tonight. anyone heard anything similar?

The players dont even know if they are playing or not untl a couple of hours before the game..so doubt your mate does!

Chardee MacDennis

scratch that just saw this on bbc

Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez believes striker Fernando Torres will be their key man in the Champions League clash with Arsenal at The Emirates.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/europe/7323943.stm

PHB

I think its very similar to Uniteds system actually, 2 deep lying midfielders, one roaming AMC (Gerrard), with three attackers, Babel Torres and Kuyt. The 2 deep lying midfielders maintain possession a lot, and provide the defence cover for when the attackers push up.

Rafa is playing the system because his greatest strength is in central midfield, so he's obviously going to us that. Gerrard especially didn't play anywhere near as well when in a 4-4-2, except when he was played on the right.

It's a fluid quick paced system. Bentley could adjust his game, but it's not his natural game. Young would be of similar cost, but so much better at that style of play.

Spud83

PHB wrote: »

Bentley is a right midfielder imo, doesn't have huge pace, has a fantastic right foot though. The way Liverpool look to be setting up, they need somebody who is pacey, can beat a man, but can also cut in. They need an attacking midfielder more than a winger, someone in the moulds of Ronaldo or Robben, rather than Beckham or Bentley. Bentley is just a better version of Pennant, but Pennant, while doing his best season for a while, still just didn't work into Liverpool system. I'd say Liverpool could change their system, but because of Rafas inability to work Gerrard properly into a 4-4-2, he seems set on this kind of 4 attackers system which suits Gerrard perfectly.

More like Gerrards inability to play properly in 4-4-2. I think Bentley would be an assit to any team. His right foot is good enough that he doesn't need to beat players he only needs the smallest amount of space to put a deadly ball into the box. The problem would be a lot of the time he may only have torres and a late breaking Gerrard to aim for.

He is also fairly handy when he comes in centrally, with a vicious shot on him.

Pennants problem has always been his end-product and there not being enough quality in it. Bentley at the moment is far better than him, but this has been his first really good season, I think he needs to do it for another year or two before a top club will come looking for him. Unless he is cheap.

Call_me_al wrote: »

just got a text from my mate (dont know if there is any good source to this) that torres is on the bench tonight. anyone heard anything similar?

Surely that makes no sense unless its an injury. If he was ever going to rest him it would have to be in the league game. I say your mate is a day late with the april fools.

ibh

PHB wrote: »

Bentley is a right midfielder imo, doesn't have huge pace, has a fantastic right foot though. The way Liverpool look to be setting up, they need somebody who is pacey, can beat a man, but can also cut in. They need an attacking midfielder more than a winger, someone in the moulds of Ronaldo or Robben, rather than Beckham or Bentley. Bentley is just a better version of Pennant, but Pennant, while doing his best season for a while, still just didn't work into Liverpool system. I'd say Liverpool could change their system, but because of Rafas inability to work Gerrard properly into a 4-4-2, he seems set on this kind of 4 attackers system which suits Gerrard perfectly.

He may be a right midfielder but he was a striker and the position that Kuyt and Babel are currently playing is a mixture of being a striker and being a midfielder. Bentley having played both positions could be considered an attacking midfielder, which is what you suggest they need. To be honest i don't think that Bentley is in the same mould as Beckham. He likes to take on his man and also get crosses in, but has a good bit more pace than Becks ever had.
Pennant didn't fit into the Liverpool system cause he's sh/te and he's a lazy, petulant fcuker, end of....

Why would Liverpool change their system?? Is there some reason why a 442 is better than 4231??? It's not that he's set on 4 attackers, he is using a system that is very popular on the continent and is making use of his players like Mascherano, Lucas & Alonso. Gerrard can play in a 442 easily. Mascherano has a massive appetite for defensive work and Gerrard is a pretty tasty tackler himself, there is no 'inability' to put him in a 442. FFS he would walk into any midfield, but Liverpools striker (Torres excepted) are fairly sh!t so it makes sense to use a system with your strongest forward being assisted by attacking midfielders.

Tusky

I sitll think Torres would thrive on good balls into the box though. He isnt given enough credit in regards to aerial threat. I think hes great in the air.

Surprised at the Penannt bashing in this thread. He may not be top class but I think hes done ok for the price we paid for him and would be happy to have him as backup. His problem has always been his lack of goals, not his delivery. What do people expect for 6m ?

ibh

Tusky wrote: »

I sitll think Torres would thrive on good balls into the box though. He isnt given enough credit in regards to aerial threat. I think hes great in the air.

Surprised at the Penannt bashing in this thread. He may not be top class but I think hes done ok for the price we paid for him and would be happy to have him as backup. His problem has always been his lack of goals, not his delivery. What do people expect for 6m ?

I think his attitude sucks.. I have never rated him, probably never will.

I couldn't believe the bullsh!t spouted abouat him after the CL final last year about how well he did. He drifted off his wing constantly even when Crouch was on. If there is one place that i DO want Pennant when he is on the field, it is out wide. He doesn't have any extra dimension to his game for drifting inside or roaming.

I remember him coming on against Barca last year in the second leg, and he just ran around for a couple of mins trying to have a kick at Ronaldinho when we needed cool heads..

He's certainly not a 'thinking' player and he just seems to get distracted so often and would rather a niggle at the full back than get on with playing.
He also voiced his disapproval last year at not being in the England squad!! He will get into International squads when he starts playing like an International player.

So in summary, I LIKE HIM!!!!
(Don't really mean to 'Pennant bash' but just think he's going nowhere)

mike65

Won't be playing tonight - he was in the Reserves team.

Mike.

Tusky

ibh wrote: »

I think his attitude sucks.. I have never rated him, probably never will.

I couldn't believe the bullsh!t spouted abouat him after the CL final last year about how well he did. He drifted off his wing constantly even when Crouch was on. If there is one place that i DO want Pennant when he is on the field, it is out wide. He doesn't have any extra dimension to his game for drifting inside or roaming.

I remember him coming on against Barca last year in the second leg, and he just ran around for a couple of mins trying to have a kick at Ronaldinho when we needed cool heads..

He's certainly not a 'thinking' player and he just seems to get distracted so often and would rather a niggle at the full back than get on with playing.
He also voiced his disapproval last year at not being in the England squad!! He will get into International squads when he starts playing like an International player.

So in summary, I LIKE HIM!!!!
(Don't really mean to 'Pennant bash' but just think he's going nowhere)

Fair enough. I think hes done ok considering his 6m price tag. Happy to have him as back up.

Stky10

ibh wrote: »

He's certainly not a 'thinking' player and he just seems to get distracted so often and would rather a niggle at the full back than get on with playing.

Being sent off as stupidly as he did against Porto shows his hot headedness, as does the number of bookings he picks up in general. And yeah I know Masch did similarly recently, but he's one of the best in the world in his position, so its tolerable.

I think Wenger knew what he was doing when he got rid of him. Whether he did when he got rid of Bentley I'm not so sure, but for what he'd cost relative to what he'd bring to the team, I'm sure we can do better.

dc69

for me bentley is just a gold plated pennant.No world class.

I also think pennant should have played a more regular part this season.

Malice

dc69 wrote: »

I also think pennant should have played a more regular part this season.

Pennant is brainless. There's a reason why he was taking on the mighty Everton reserves last night instead of getting ready for Arsenal today. Kuyt has shown that even being played out of position he's got far more of a footballing brain. Kuyt also tracks back and generally plays with a lot more intelligence.

Vokes

Saw Bentley initially play on the right-side of the 3 in a 4-2-3-1 for Capello's England v Switzerland. He was well able for it and was very impressive.

rosboy

malice_ wrote: »

Pennant is brainless. There's a reason why he was taking on the mighty Everton reserves last night instead of getting ready for Arsenal today. Kuyt has shown that even being played out of position he's got far more of a footballing brain. Kuyt also tracks back and generally plays with a lot more intelligence.

True Kuyt's a better option than Pennant, but he's still not ideal. I think Benayoun should have gotten a little more time on the wing. When he's played, he's generally added something creative to the game.

dc69

rosboy wrote: »

True Kuyt's a better option than Pennant, but he's still not ideal. I think Benayoun should have gotten a little more time on the wing. When he's played, he's generally added something creative to the game.

very true,beny is a good player i think and would work well as a wide striker,thus taking kuyts position.