Liverpool Rumours And General Discussion 2007/2008

Kimbot

dc69 wrote: »

i would have thought robbie keane would cost big bucks though.whoever he plays with he seems to make better,if bent cost 18 million,i would rate keane at at least 14 ?

He is 27 now. I would imagine that 10 Million would be about right.

dc69

mike65 wrote: »

News of the World said we have "signed" the Brailizan right back Rafinha.

Mike.

link?

Kimbot

dc69 wrote: »

link?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/gossip_and_transfers/7332996.stm

Rafa Benitez has told Jamie Carragher his stay at right-back is only temporary, with Schalke's Rafinha targeted as a long-term solution. (NoW)

dc69

whats wrong with arbeloa?people were saying before christmas that he had been one of our best players.our lb position is weaker than rb.

Tusky

dc69 wrote: »

whats wrong with arbeloa?people were saying before christmas that he had been one of our best players.our lb position is weaker than rb.

Nothing wrong with him. Hes a good little player and can play in a number of positions. Im guessing Rafa has noticed Finnans off form and also the fact that he is 30(or 31?).

Sagna, Clichy, Evra, Cole etc etc. We dont really have any top class full backs. Its definitely an are we should look to improve.

Kimbot

Arbeloa has been going through a bad spell but he had an injury lay off so there needs to be more cover with Little Rafa.

dc69

rafinha isnt that good:eek:

against barca his defending was very suspect tbh

jesus_thats_gre

I am more inclined to believe that Finnan will be backup to Rafinha and and Arbeloa and Aurelio will cover the left.

Kimbot

jesus_thats_gre wrote: »

I am more inclined to believe that Finnan will be backup to Rafinha and and Arbeloa and Aurelio will cover the left.

I would imagine that is exactly it.

So our team with backups will be:

GK: Reina/Itandje
RB: Rafinha/Finnan
CB: Carra/Skrtle
CB: Agger/Hyypia
LB: Arbeloa/Aurelio
DCM: Masch/Lucas
DCM: Alonso/???
AMF: Gerrard/??? (Yossi/Babel can fill in there aswell)
LMF: Babel/Yossi
RMF: ???/Kuyt
CF: Torres/Crouch

jesus_thats_gre

This summer, along with last summer, will prove to everyone exactly what Rafa is about in the transfer market. Now that he obviously has a squad that is 90% happy with, you will see the gradual, or even dramatic in some cases, improvement in the quality of players throughout what would and will be the best 11.

In previous seasons, we have seen wholesale changes of personel each summer with anything up to 8 or 9 players leaving and joining as he built a squad that was his and of sufficient quality in his eyes.

I also expect the average spend to be anything to be alot higher, guessing in the region of £10 to £15 million per player, compared to something in the region of £5 or £6 in previous years.


The only fear I have is with what United may do. They have an extremely strong squad at the moment with only a few 'weak' links - O'Shea and Fletcher - and a few oldies in their squad - Scholes, Giggs, Neville. Even just replacing O'Shea and Flecther will bring that squad as close as possible to being a perfect squad of players. The replacement for Giggs is technically already there. I am not convinced that Anderson can supersede Scholes but they defo have the money to buy in the talent if they need. Maybe what will end up be the determining factor is how much they have to spend to keep Tevez.

I am hoping that Ferguson did in fact spent 2 or 3 seasons worth of transfer fees last summer.

StickyMcGinty

jesus_thats_gre wrote: »

I also expect the average spend to be anything to be alot higher, guessing in the region of £10 to £15 million per player, compared to something in the region of £5 or £6 in previous years.

with the current boardroom situation i hope he gets the funds...

aidan24326

Next season will be a defining one for Liverpool so I'd say Benitez will have no choice but to splash the cash this Summer, assuming the right players are available. If Liverpool don't put in a sustained challenge for the title next season Benitez will have to be seen as a failure. They're not too far away in fairness, they could have been alot closer but for a few carelessly dropped points earlier in the season, especially losing leads at home. (five times that happened)

Dont be at yourself

On the potential signing of Ronaldinho: No. He's a huge ego, would demand huge wages, is unproven in the premiership, was off-form at Barca, and the asking price would be a too high.

On the Arsenal PL game: Considering the team selections, I was very happy with the point. Plessis played very well for a player making his debut. Crouch did well too. Pennant and Benayoun were disappointing. Despite his glaring miss, I thought Voronin did well. His positioning is excellent, and he's not a bad squad player. With full fitness and match sharpness, he could do a job. Finnan did very well too, I hope he can get back to full match fitness ASAP.

The draw no doubt damaged Arsenal moral, as it puts a dent in their title hopes. The fact that the likes of Fabregas played 90 minutes bodes well for the Anfield game. Cesc seems to be feeling fatigued, and it's no wonder, considering the ground he covers in a game.

On summer signings:

I've not seen Rafinha, but he's got a big reputation. Our current fullbacks aren't very attacking, so he would add a new dimension to the team. If Kewell, Crouch and Pennant are gone, that'll free up a decent chunk of wages and will add towards our transfer kitty too. The key position is still a replacement for Kuyt's role (despite recent form). With most other positions sorted, I'm hoping Rafa will spend big on this one.

jesus_thats_gre

I have mixed feelings on Ronaldinho. The fact that up until a year or two ago, I considered him to be an amazing talent and would have loved for him to join us , I am somewhat surprised that we are now being linked with him. Saying that, he has obviously lost his hunger and whether or not he could cope with the pace of the PL is certainly up for discussion.

Saying that, I would defo be willing to take a risk on him if the price was right. Players of this calibur are exactly what we want a the club. At the very least, it would massively buoy spirits at the club and also provide alot of exposure for the club around the world. On the pitch, he would also provide much needed talent in a position that needs strengthening - badly!

A front line of Torres with Ronaldinho, Gerard and Babel playing behind him would be quite a prospect. I wouldn't even dare say that he would be a massive success. I do know though that his addition wouldn't be a negative thing as he has strength, skill, pace and good decision making.

Mr Magnolia

Stekelly wrote: »

Match fitness has nothing to do with him being clear in on goal and using his right foot to hit a ball that was perfectly tee'd up for a simple enough left foot finish. It's appaling that so many professional footballers cant do a simple thing like that with their so called bad foot.

QFT. I came in to bring that up. It's not the first time this season he wouldn't take a great chance on with his left.

machiavellianme

NekkidBibleMan wrote: »

On the potential signing of Ronaldinho: No. He's a huge ego, would demand huge wages, is unproven in the premiership, was off-form at Barca, and the asking price would be a too high.

I'd take him, but only in a straight swap with Kewell and Voronin going the other way (which would probably balance the wage books too)

Mr Alan

machiavellianme wrote: »

I'd take him, but only in a straight swap with Kewell and Voronin going the other way (which would probably balance the wage books too)

i presume you are taking the mick?

ibh

jesus_thats_gre wrote: »

I have mixed feelings on Ronaldinho. The fact that up until a year or two ago, I considered him to be an amazing talent and would have loved for him to join us , I am somewhat surprised that we are now being linked with him. Saying that, he has obviously lost his hunger and whether or not he could cope with the pace of the PL is certainly up for discussion.

Not sure if i mentioned it last week, but Ronaldinho did the exact same thing at PSG. He was excellent initially but then he gradually drifted away and really didn't give a fcuk near the end. Exactly what he did at Barca. He is still class, just means that whoever signs him has to know that he will prob only stayed focused / interested for the first 2/3 years. This is why i would love to see him on a 3 year contract. But any agent worth his salt will get a 4 or 5 year contract for him.

Mr Alan

straight swap for Alonso.....

yay or nay?

IrishMike

Nay.
Alonso is an honest pro who had a stop start 18 months due to injury.
Ronaldinho has had a poor season due to becoming disinterested in football and more
interested in being a playboy.

Tusky

People who are saying they wouldnt take Ronaldiniho are INSANE! He may not be the force he was a couple of years ago but he is more skillful than anyone in our team and is a genuine match winner.

Hes scored 70 goals in around 149 games for Barca and this season, has 9 in 16. He would be an amazing signing.

ibh

IrishMike wrote: »

Nay.
Alonso is an honest pro who had a stop start 18 months due to injury.
Ronaldinho has had a poor season due to becoming disinterested in football and more
interested in being a playboy.

Don't agree IrishMike. I will bet that when he moves in the summer he will get a new lease of life.

I would swap XA for him now. I felt he would be able to recapture his old form this year but i now think he is still a long way off it. Would love to see him back on song but how many chances can we give him?? I thought that Lucas was excellant on saturday and i think after this season we have to let him loose on the first team on a regular basis.
I know Fabregas looked tired on saturday, but if you were told to pick which Midfielder on show on Saturday looked like a potential player of the year I would have said LL hands down..

zAbbo

Alonso has his best years ahead of him, much depends on Rafa staying. With the huge interest in Liverpool from Spain, it's not detrimental to his international chances, but if that was to change, who knows.

I'd hate to see Xabi leave, as he's my favourite player, but if a good offer came, and it meant bringing in a another first teamer, then go with it.

I just have this fear of Xabi turning into a superstar if he left Liverpool.

NotWormBoy

zAbbo wrote: »

I just have this fear of Xabi turning into a superstar if he left Liverpool.

Yeah, if you were getting rid of him you'd be tempted to try and stick a cheeky buy-back clause on him alright. I too would have that fear.

astrofool

Don't worry, whoever you sign, this time next year, you'll be saying "next year will be our season".

Dub13

Lads we are still taken names for this,PM me if you are interested.


Bob Paisley Cup

Venue Astro Park Tallaght
Date 26th April
First Match between 10.30 & 11.00am hope to have mid afternoon


Irishkop are proud to be supporting our fellow Reds on www.onthekop.com and there initiative to raise funds to build a memorial to honour Bob Paisley in his home town of Hetton-le-Hole.

As a way of raising money we are going to hold a 5 a side tournament called The Bob Paisley Cup and we are looking for your support.

Those looking to enter a team the following applies

*Team to consist of a minimum of 5 players plus subs
*There will be a round robin group stage followed by knockout semi-finals and final. Each team will play a minimum of 3 matches.
*Anyone who wants to take part but cannot put a full team together we still want you to put your name down and we can organise you into teams
*This is not restricted to members you can ask mates to take part we want to raise as much as we can.
*The cost to enter will be €20 per Player
*All monies must be paid in advance. Please PM Pam for payment details
*When applying please send details of the team consisting of names of other players and how many
*If you have no team and you want us to organise you into a team please state clearly that you have no team
*Entry & payments must be in before Friday 11th April that means it has to reach our account on this date.
*General 5 aside rules will apply
*Please give your team a name

Please don't use this thread as discussion on your football skills but if you have a question that needs answering post it up and if we can answer it we will.

We also would like volunteers to help out with whatever they can & if anyone has contacts in any of the astroparks or other astro turf pitches that can get us a good rate would mean more money going to the fund.

So dust off those astro turf runners and get in here

We might not be able to give you a knighthood Bob but we sure as hell are going to give you a memorial that you well deserve.

Lads this is your club and Paisley along with Shanks are the 2 greatest managers we ever had lets put Bob up their in his rightful place as a true legend of Liverpool FC. Any help at all will go a long way to achieving our goal as Ian said in the video its a fan initiative and its only us as fans that can make it work.


Thanks from All the Mods & organisers on Irishkop

PHB

I think people when they think about Alonso think about what he is capable of, not what he's been doing for the last 2 years.
Problem is, if you sell Alonso, you have to replace him, especially the way Liverpool seem to be lining up, in a kind of a 4-2-3-1 system.

I think Ronaldinho would be a great singing, if he was cheaper than 20 million sterling. You gotta realise his marketing potential means his actual cost is much much lower, ala Beckham. Either way, Milan said they were interested. If they get CL football, I'd be shocked if he didn't go there. Part of his reason for choosing Barca over United, aside from Kenyon being an idiot, was the lifestyle, i.e. the weather.

I really wonder about Rafa's policy this summer. For me, it's clear that you have to buy 2 wingers, no doubt about it.

Babel is a good prospect, but if you played with him as first choice, you'd wouldn't win the league.

I think you need one proven winger, i.e. instantly going to come in and provide more, and the perfect option there (after Ronaldinho) I think is Young. He'd go for 15-20 million ish, and you'd probably be able to swap Pennant to get him cheaper.

Then you want to go for another young proven talent. I'm not sure who you'd go for here. I really don't know enough, but somebody like Walcott who costs 10 million and has huge raw talent.

Then I think you need another striker. Torres can't play every game. Voronin certainly isn't good enough, and Kuyt/Crouch aren't either. United play the exact same style system that you guys are starting to employ, the 4-2-3-1 with 2 deep lying midfielders and then an attacking 4 doing whatever works, and they are deeply struggling with just two decent strikers. I think the pefect option here, and I know this is controversial is Owen. He looks to have found his old form, and also reinvented himself. He I'm sure would love to join, and would be cheap enough because his contract is running out.

Then you'd have a pretty solid defence, good central midfield, and a world class attacking quartet.
I don't think you'd win the league the next year, but in say 3 years time, after Babel and the new youngster progresses, Agger and Srektle progress to top class center halfs, Alonso and Mascherano get 2 years older, and Gerrard is at the peak of his game.

If you want to beat Chelsea, and they are the people to beat at this point with their squad, you need a Ronaldo. In terms of your attacking quartet, your Gerrard and Torres is similar in effectiveness to our Rooney and Tevez, although the former have certainly have had a better year. The issue is the wingers, and in that point, I think Liverpools best winger would be 4th choice for United. You need a ronaldo, and how do you find one, you get a young player and develop him up. You've done that with Babel, now you need to do it with somebody else, while at the same time having a top clsas winger in there aswell.

IrishMike

PHB wrote: »

I think people when they think about Alonso think about what he is capable of, not what he's been doing for the last 2 years.
Problem is, if you sell Alonso, you have to replace him, especially the way Liverpool seem to be lining up, in a kind of a 4-2-3-1 system.

I think Ronaldinho would be a great singing, if he was cheaper than 20 million sterling. You gotta realise his marketing potential means his actual cost is much much lower, ala Beckham. Either way, Milan said they were interested. If they get CL football, I'd be shocked if he didn't go there. Part of his reason for choosing Barca over United, aside from Kenyon being an idiot, was the lifestyle, i.e. the weather.

I really wonder about Rafa's policy this summer. For me, it's clear that you have to buy 2 wingers, no doubt about it.

Babel is a good prospect, but if you played with him as first choice, you'd wouldn't win the league.

I think you need one proven winger, i.e. instantly going to come in and provide more, and the perfect option there (after Ronaldinho) I think is Young. He'd go for 15-20 million ish, and you'd probably be able to swap Pennant to get him cheaper.

Then you want to go for another young proven talent. I'm not sure who you'd go for here. I really don't know enough, but somebody like Walcott who costs 10 million and has huge raw talent.

Then I think you need another striker. Torres can't play every game. Voronin certainly isn't good enough, and Kuyt/Crouch aren't either. United play the exact same style system that you guys are starting to employ, the 4-2-3-1 with 2 deep lying midfielders and then an attacking 4 doing whatever works, and they are deeply struggling with just two decent strikers. I think the pefect option here, and I know this is controversial is Owen. He looks to have found his old form, and also reinvented himself. He I'm sure would love to join, and would be cheap enough because his contract is running out.

Then you'd have a pretty solid defence, good central midfield, and a world class attacking quartet.
I don't think you'd win the league the next year, but in say 3 years time, after Babel and the new youngster progresses, Agger and Srektle progress to top class center halfs, Alonso and Mascherano get 2 years older, and Gerrard is at the peak of his game.

If you want to beat Chelsea, and they are the people to beat at this point with their squad, you need a Ronaldo. In terms of your attacking quartet, your Gerrard and Torres is similar in effectiveness to our Rooney and Tevez, although the former have certainly have had a better year. The issue is the wingers, and in that point, I think Liverpools best winger would be 4th choice for United. You need a ronaldo, and how do you find one, you get a young player and develop him up. You've done that with Babel, now you need to do it with somebody else, while at the same time having a top clsas winger in there aswell.

I dont think buying owen would be a good option at all.
Where would he play?
Liverpool are not going to revert to 442 at this stage and Torres is always
going to be #1 choice.
He is not going to join to be 2 or 3 choice and he is the type of player that
has to be playing regularly to keep his form and avoid injury.
Nemeth is a fantastic prospect and should be given some sort of a
chance next season instead of voronin.
Crouch is a top player no matter what people say and he proved it again
Saturday, he should definitely be kept. Let torres play 60% of the big
games and let crouch play the rest. Both are quality target men but have
slightly different attributes (mad when you think torres is actually better in
the air ).
For me every penny Rafa gets in the summer should be spent on wingers.
Buy 3, hope that 2 adjust quickly and that 1 has a great season.
That alone will push liverpool into the top 2 or 3 and who knows after that.
Our full backs are solid (if risse is not playing )
Other parts of the team are not perfect, but the wings are by far our weakest
areas and need the most attention.
As a result 10m+ for Owen would not really be the best value for money
especially when you consider what his wages will be.

zing

astrofool wrote: »

Don't worry, whoever you sign, this time next year, you'll be saying "next year will be our season".

Yeah - we're the ultimate optimists. Always looking to the future

redspider

aidan24326 wrote: »

Next season will be a defining one for Liverpool

Everyseason is a defining one for us. You build on what you have, in terms of players, squad, potentials, formations, staff, etc.

But what drives all the clubs now is money, and Liverpool is 4th in terms of revenues, and behind Arsenal, Chelsea and Man Utd. That means, all other things being equal, if Liverpool finish anywhere above 4th in the league and above the others in the CL or Cups, we are punching above our weight.

I realise the club has a lot of expectations, as do the fans, and even myself, but we have to be realistic. Yes, we would like to win the league and the CL on a regular basis, but with long-term limited funds which is only going to get exacerbated by the stadium build project, I forsee many years of Liverpool not winning the league.

Our situation is different to that of Man Utd's with their 26 years or whatever it was of not having league success. They had the financial clout, the money resources available, yet werent doing it. They always pulled in big crowds, etc. If we had the most money etc and still werent doing it I'd be pulling my hair out. But its not like that. We are now in the very tricky position of having less money at our disposal than who we are competing against and that gap is getting bigger.

Of course, money isnt everything in the game, we can and indeed do punch above our weight. But we need to be realistic and keep the money factor in mind. There is only so much that can be done with cunning, guile, skills, experience, etc. Benitez knows that with Liverpool.

Redspider

stick-dan

I'd love to see owen come back, rafinha to add to the defence and him and aurilio and attack minded defenders and then bring in van huntlear, All depends on transfer kitty though, 25million for van huntlear is expensive, although the prospect of him and torres would be brilliant. Agger (touch wood) will be back fighting fit to his best next season so at the back we are solid. We would still need to invest in a proven winger though,whomever that would be but i'd love to see owen,rafinha, and van huntlear brought in.

IrishMike

Thing is how many dutch strikers who score for fun in the Dutch league actually do anything outside of that league.
Kuyt was a revelation in holland look at him now.
Dutch league is pretty poor and 25m for a striker from there would be a bit of a gamble imho.

Chardee MacDennis

stick-dan wrote: »

I'd love to see owen come back, rafinha to add to the defence and him and aurilio and attack minded defenders and then bring in van huntlear, All depends on transfer kitty though, 25million for van huntlear is expensive, although the prospect of him and torres would be brilliant. Agger (touch wood) will be back fighting fit to his best next season so at the back we are solid. We would still need to invest in a proven winger though,whomever that would be but i'd love to see owen,rafinha, and van huntlear brought in.

i honestly believe a striker is a waste of money, and wtf is van Huntlear? do you mean Klass-Jan Huntelaar? and if you do where are we getting the 40 million to buy both him and Owen and where are they going to play with Crouch being offered a new contract and Rafa saying we will mainly be playing with 1 striker.

zAbbo

Uh Oh, it's Footie Manager time, let's buy Ronaldinho and Huntlear, maybe enough left over to prise Pata, Bojan and Messi away.

We'll offset this by selling Crouch for 25m and swopping Alonso for half Barces XI

prendy

I dont think buying owen would be a good option at all.
Where would he play?
Liverpool are not going to revert to 442 at this stage and Torres is always
going to be #1 choice

have to agree 100% with Irish Mike here.
owen was a class act at liverpool and would jump at the chance to come back but i think he's not half as good as he was and anything more than 7 million would be too much.
i think our weakest positions are left and right midfield. i think we have good cover at the back and in CM. with Kewell going that frees up significan wages for wingers. i would like to see one for 15 and 1 for 7-8m brought in. i think benny and pennant are NOT up to LFC standard and cant see either making many first team apps.
i would keep crouch and kuyt but get rid of voronin. i think crouch offers us something different and proved on sat that he can score. Kuyt is the best workrate in the squad and is a decent squad player.

i think rafa knows the best way to deploy the players he has and 1 or 2 additions could really improve the clubs results.

PHB

What happens if Torres get injuried for 2-3 months? Honestly, is your title bid over instantly then?

Crouch, I like him, he's a good player, but he's nowhere near that sort of class. He should be the 3rd choce striker in a team, never ever the 2nd choice. Rafa rotates constantly, just like Wenger and Fergie do, this isn't going to change.
You need somebody who can be near the quality of Torres. Some games you'll want to chase and you'll go 4-4-2.
Also, Torres in some games can drop back to the role Gerrard is playing currently quite easily, in fact, I'd argue he's more suited to it than up front.

I could see a formation like

---

Alonso----Mascherano

---

--Gerrard

---

Torres

---

Young----

---

Owen

---

Also, Owen is reinventing himself, he could play behind the striker.
You need real options. If Crouch played constantly, while he does well in some games, like against Arsenal, the guy misses chance after chance after chance after chance. Not good enough.

Young - 15 million + Pennant
Owen - 12 million
Walcott-esqkue winger - 12 million
Rafinha - 10 million

That'd be 49 million. Unlikely to happen unless selling happens, which is why
Voronin - 2-3 million
Crouch - 10 million [whether or not he deserves to go, I think we all expect him too. His contract is coming up, and unless he commits, he will be sold this summer. Can't see him committing.]
Kewell - Free transfer

It's gona require big investment from the owners, and I guess you could cut out the 2nd young winger, but it's needed.

p.s. That's why I think signing Rafinha is just silly, unless Rafa sees him more as a winger.

aidan24326

Tusky wrote: »

People who are saying they wouldnt take Ronaldiniho are INSANE! He may not be the force he was a couple of years ago but he is more skillful than anyone in our team and is a genuine match winner.

Hes scored 70 goals in around 149 games for Barca and this season, has 9 in 16. He would be an amazing signing.

No-one is denying that Ronaldinho is a major talent, just that he'd be a risk considering other factors. If Barca are prepared to let him go for a fair price he'd be worth it, but if they're asking for silly money I wouldn't be so sure. You'd be blowing the transfer budget on a guy who has not shown his best form in ages. For a realistic price I'd say go for it.

DeadSkin

Wouldn't take Owen back, he's too injury prone. I was glad we missed out on him when he left Real.

It's wingers we need. If Torres were to be out for a spell, I think Crouch can do a job in his place, he's underated by a lot of people.
Also Babel will probably be used as a striker if we got good wingers in.

RE*AC*TOR

Wouldn't touch Owen for two reasons, 1. injury-prone, 2. disloyal. Torres is a superb number 9, madness to start playing him elsewhere.
As it stands Liverpool have several defensively solid full backs, but no attacking minded full backs who can overlap well (Evra does this well from time to time). That could be where Rafinha comes in.
Liverpool haven't had a decent winger since McMananman - and he wasn't really a winger even. That's the position that needs most improvement. Babel could grow into a great winger/wing forward, maybe.

mike65

Disloyal? He went to Real Madrid for petes sake! Why would'nt see if he could do it there? I like the way Owen has been deployed at Newcastle its teaching him some new aspects to the art of forward play and its hard to argue against the idea that he's back to form (or nearly), that said his fitness is a constant worry, I imagine the St James Park faithful squirms whenever he goes down.

As for Torrres it should be recalled Liverpool did actucally score and win games before he arrived. Crouch will probably leave for the sake of his career though so that leaves Kuyt and er Voronin, clearly a pretty damned good forward will have to bought in.

Mike.

PHB

Loyalty is a silly issue. Gerrard wanted to leave Liverpool, and Torres left his childhood club. How are they working out for ya

IrishMike

PHB wrote: »

What happens if Torres get injuried for 2-3 months? Honestly, is your title bid over instantly then?

What if ronaldo got injured or Fabregas?
Who would replace them?
What if Benitez gets a heart attach like houllier and we have no #2 now that Pako is gone.
What if the Yanks say they need money and so we have to sell Gerrard and Torres?
What if what if what if.......
:rolleyes:
Kind of a pointless argument really dont you think

dobsdave

mike65 wrote: »

Disloyal? He went to Real Madrid for petes sake! Why would'nt see if he could do it there? I like the way Owen has been deployed at Newcastle its teaching him some new aspects to the art of forward play and its hard to argue against the idea that he's back to form (or nearly), that said his fitness is a constant worry, I imagine the St James Park faithful squirms whenever he goes down.

As for Torrres it should be recalled Liverpool did actucally score and win games before he arrived. Crouch will probably leave for the sake of his career though so that leaves Kuyt and er Voronin, clearly a pretty damned good forward will have to bought in.

Mike.

Dishonest Imo, in the fact that he said he was on the verge of signing of new contract when really he had no/very little intention of doing so.
I dont think many supporters would have a major problem with him if he had just said nothing.

PHB

Ronaldo isn't the real weakness in the squad of United, Rooney is.
If Ronaldo gets injuried, we're fine, because our system works just as well without him (see United 4-0 vs. Arsenal)
Without Rooney we're ****ed, which is why on countless times this year when he's been out, we've been ****. He is the greatest weakness in the United squad, and nearly every United fan wants cover brought it. We've been lucky that he's been able to stay fit since Christmas, and he just happens to have incredible stamina and desire to play every game.

As for Fabregas, he is extremely important, and most Arsenal fans realise that they need another creative midfielder to come in and offer more. Fabregas is utterly wrecked now, because he couldn't be rotated, and Arsenals title challenge is going down the drain. Case in point.

Liverpool need another striking option. Gerrard you can cope without. Mascherano-Alonso and Lucas aren't a bad midfield. You can still win most games with that, but if Torres is out, you really become a much worse team.

Every squad has weaknesses, you still have to address them. United will certainly be doing that this summer, as will Arsenal, Liverpool have too aswell.

You are forgetting amazingly that the reason you are out of the title challenge was because your back up strikers weren't good enough!!! When Torres didn't play, you drew with Brum etc. etc. etc.
Even when he does play, you're wingers are so **** that its gona result in games lost, and yes wingers are an issue, but Torres can't play every game in the year. It's just not possible. Rafa has made it possible for him to play probbaly the last 3 months straight, but he's still getting rested, like last weekend!

Crouch can do a job sometimes, but other times he's utterly shocking. We all remember how many chances he missed last season.

If you want to rotate, you need players who can come in and be good within such a system. Owen is perfect for that, and he'd be cheap, and he'd want to come, and he's proven premiership quality!

RE*AC*TOR

Owen's only loyalty is to England.

zing

Whatever about Owen's loyalty or lack thereof I just can't see Rafa giving him a 3rd chance. First was the chance to sign a new contract and stay with the club. Second chance was when he was leaving Real - was a 2 horse race, barcodes had offered more money but Rafa & Rick had told him to stick to his guns and hold out for the move he wanted rather than the one Real wanted (bearing in mind that his father had been in frequent contact with the club over that year about him wanting to move back). In the end he choose another club over Liverpool for a 2nd time.

I just can't see Rafa putting in the time & effort a 3rd time to try get him back to the club.

mike65

He wont not sure why Owens name came up to be honest any new striker will be an import.

Mike.

yom 1

Owen has been playing well recently and has had a run of maybe 10 games now uninjured, fairplay!

The real question as far as im concerned is whether Arsenal, United or Chelsea would be interested in signing him. I think it would be fair to say NO. None of them would be in the slight bit interested in signing Owen. So why would we be? We are supposed to be trying to catch up with United - we should be challenging for the 20m type players not 6-8m ones. This is what we have all moaned about for the last few years.

Seriously I cant believe people are talking about Owen

PHB

Eh, Fergies been after Owen for years. He just wanted to sign him on the cheap.

yom 1

PHB wrote: »

Eh, Fergies been after Owen for years. He just wanted to sign him on the cheap.

Seriously would you be happy if United signed Owen this summer?