Liverpool Rumours And General Discussion 2007/2008

Malice

The Rooster wrote:

Riise's days at Liverpool are definitely numbered. And rightly so IMO. The odd screamer does not make up for the amount of ball he wastes

I was going to jump in and defend him when I realised that you're actually dead right. He's got a ferocious left foot shot in fairness but that doesn't make up for his lack of pace, crossing ability or wing trickery!

raven136

riise is slow,cant cross consistently and scores very few goals,although the ones he gets are screamers.hcan also be beaten to easily by his man when playing left back.
rafa obviously thinks that heinze is better(and take away last seasons injury and bad form and he definitely is)

Drag00n79

I enjoyed this guy's commentary on Stevie's goal on Saturday. Me schmokin!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mwfETriYFek

woodyg

i can see Babel taking Pennants place pretty quick after that performance on Saturday. He's a right little upstart as well real attitude problem which wont help him at all.
i cant see Risse being sold as we have no cover at left back with Aurelio out injured.

mada999

I've said it for ages that Riise is not a great left back..
he just jogs around the pitch and does not get stuck in like he should..

Pennant needs to buck up also.. Happy enough with the performance....Babel was unlucky not to get on the score sheet....

woodyg

mada999 wrote:

I've said it for ages that Riise is not a great left back..
he just jogs around the pitch and does not get stuck in like he should..

He's a good left back defo no left side midfielder though.
He shouldn't be taking so many free kicks as the sea gull population needs time to recover

Brando_ie

Having watched the match (well insofar as having intermittent Setanta reception.... yay!!) I was satisfied that we got out of jail but with the exception of Gerrard, Babel and the lads up front I felt that it was more of the same carried over from last year.

We seem to be lacking a class that players of this quality should be able to exude over so called lesser opponents. Granted ManU didn't get the correct result but were swarming all over Reading and would surely have found a way through had they not lost Rooney midway through.

I hope Rafa intends to create a somewhat stable team but fear that his tinkering may never allow us to create a truly competitive team for the premiership.

In a typically Liverpool fashion I will give Rafa the benefit of the doubt and will look to the Chelsea game as a yardstick of what to expect this season, but from Saturdays result the main positive would be that despite not playing well (in general) we still got maximum points and that seems to be the basis of any good campaign.

Mr Alan

supposedly Lyon are interested in Heinze, hope there is no truth to that.

Zapp Brannigan

They did lose Cacapa and Abidal during the summer. But then again they brought in Grosso, so they must only want to use him (Heinze) as a centre half. I'm really not bothered about the whole Heinze thing anymore.

The Rooster

woodyg wrote:

i cant see Risse being sold as we have no cover at left back with Aurelio out injured.

Personally I'd have no problem with Arbeloa and Insua being our left backs. Insua of course is totally unproven, but from the bits and pieces I've seen of him he looks a potential real deal.

I predict Arbeloa will be our best full back by Christmas, which would make him one of the best full backs in the league.

I do agree that Riise won't be sold until we sign someone else, but the fact that he's the only stalwart player not to be offered a new contract (as far as I know) suggests to me that Rafa is seriously considering cashing in on him.

Mr Alan

how much would we expect to get for him?

el rabitos

millersangel wrote:

how much would we expect to get for him?

about 8 - 10 million i'd expect given the stupid money going around for players.

having said that, i dont think theres any need to sell him, he is a good player, i just dont think he's good enough to be commanding a starting position every week. i'd still like to see him get an extention to his contract, i doubt the money is needed the from his sale.

~Rebel~

I think id put off worrying about LB till January. Give Aurelio a chance when he comes back, see if he can fulfill the promise he was showing. Its not that we're weak there, we're just not world class. Between Aurelio, Riise, Insua and Arbeloa we're covered pretty well, we'll just see if any of them can step up to the next level.

CB really, really needs to be addressed very soon. It could be grand, if noone gets injuries, but alternatively it could end our season.Real pity we didn't try to nab Ben Haim or Distin. Was thinking even Cambell might not be a bad idea. he's already said he'd be open to a mvoe and doesnt see himself finishing his career at Pompy.

Mr Alan

Pretty sure if he was to move, he'd expect to be playing first team football week in week out. With Agger developing as well as he is and already playing to the standard he is, he ain't gonna get that with us.

Jazzy

riise is always a bit crap at the start of the season. by late october / november he'll have solidified that posistion

Mr Alan

we ain't saying we should get a replacement because he wasn't great at the week end, saying we should get a replacement because he isn't good enough defensively. Him banging in a couple of dingers between now and Jan won't change that. He is never (well, very rarely) solid.

Malice

~Rebel~ wrote:

Was thinking even Cambell might not be a bad idea. he's already said he'd be open to a mvoe and doesnt see himself finishing his career at Pompy.

Why would we go for Campbell when we've still got Hyypia?

NotWormBoy

Jaysus, Riise has a bad game and suddenly people are all over him. Its not as if we've an abundance of world class talent in that position...

So, another question? Does Riise deserve the club's loyalty? Or should we sell him at the first (supposed) sign he's losing it?

The Rooster

NotWormBoy wrote:

So, another question? Does Riise deserve the club's loyalty? Or should we sell him at the first (supposed) sign he's losing it?

I doubt anyone would ever be sold by Liverpool after their first bad game.
But what's that got to do with Riise?

Elsewhere I read on a website this morning that the Sun have a big story today about Crouch having "showdown" talks about his future because he was the only senior player who didnt travel to Villa Park.

Of course its all lies, and he'll definitely play some part aganinst Toulouse. I also thought that Masherano and Benayoun didnt travel either, and there was no Kewell in the match day squad either.

Be interesting to see what changes are made for Toulouse.

Don't see him messing too much with defence, but I can see plenty of changes elsewhere. I think only Gerrard will survive in the middle. Hopefully it'll be Mascherano and not Sissoko alongside him. Then any two from Yossi, Babel or Kewell on the wings. Wouldnt be surprised to see him go with Voronin and Crouch up-front, reverting to Torres-Kuyt for Chelsea. Alternatively Babel might be played up front in France

5starpool

I think the only certain thing about our lineup against Toulouse is that there will be several changes. Back 4 might not change too much, but I expect Benayoun, Crouch, Kewell and Sissoko (maybe Masch) to start.

Jazzy

id like to see babel on the left tomorow, see how he works out there.
wouldnt mind seeing torres and crouch starting up front too. masch & gerrard in the middle with yossi on the right.
i think torres should be getting in as many games as possible, same with babel. it will mean that torres is still sharp come sunday... where hopefully he'll score

Drag00n79

With the Chelsea game at the weekend and Rafa's tinkering it would not surprise me to see Torres start on the bench tomorrow.

Zapp Brannigan

I think Torres will be itching to start tomorrow. He was always made for European football while with Atletico so I'm sure he'll want to play in every game in Europe this year. I'd like to see alot of the new boys out there tomorrow, Babel Benayoun and Voronin should all start and let them get a bit of sharpness so they can come on and hopefully end the game against chelsea.

Mr Alan

NotWormBoy wrote:

Jaysus, Riise has a bad game and suddenly people are all over him. Its not as if we've an abundance of world class talent in that position...

So, another question? Does Riise deserve the club's loyalty? Or should we sell him at the first (supposed) sign he's losing it?

Will ya stop jumping to conclusions and read back over exactly what has been said. People are not judging riise on one game. Before the season even started there was people saying that, defensively, he is just not good enough. With a lot of Liverpool fans, because he scores the odd cracker, they seem to forget that. He is a very good player and we could still win things with him in the team, but if the opportunity arose to get a better player in, we should jump at it. IMO Heinze would be more solid defensively, although not offer as much in an attacking sense. But with the arrival if Babbel/Leto et all, hopefully he won't have to.

zing

Kewell is injured - slight tear in his thigh and will be out for another 10 days or so.

Pennant didn't travel to Toulouse for reasons unknown.

http://icliverpool.icnetwork.co.uk/0500liverpoolfc/0100news/tm_headline=liverpool-8217-s-added-quality-poses-welcome-dilemma%26method=full%26objectid=19627415%26siteid=50061-name_page.html

sweetie

According to the Daily mail, Essien is out for ten days and misses the game on sunday.

mike65

No Kewell no Pennant, so Babel and Yossi must be playing at some point surely? Gerrard wide right? He'll hate it!

Mike.

zing

mike65 wrote:

No Kewell no Pennant, so Babel and Yossi must be playing at some point surely? Gerrard wide right? He'll hate it!

Mike.

I reckon Gerrard & Masch in the middle with Yossi & Babel out wide unless Lucas or Leto get a chance. Hard to call really - need to get the job done tomorrow but also can't afford to risk key players ahead of Sunday.

Zapp Brannigan

Essien might be out for sunday, good news. Terry is back in training, bad news.

Rockee

http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11662_2643118,00.html

Is Lou Macari off his rocker? I couldve sworn we were a big club where players get adored and well paid. Is it just a stubborn Man Utd attitude?

Malice

Rockee wrote:

http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11662_2643118,00.html

Is Lou Macari off his rocker? I couldve sworn we were a big club where players get adored and well paid. Is it just a stubborn Man Utd attitude?

It's probably just me but I can't see where he has slagged Liverpool off. Regarding the whole Heinze situation, I probably should post this in the other thread but I reckon that Rafa is just winding up Ferguson to be honest. Heinze hasn't been near the player he was since his knee injury and wouldn't displace Riise or Hyypia in my opinion.

The Article wrote:

Former Manchester United midfielder, Lou Macari told Sky Sports News that he believes Gabriel Heinze is making a mistake by wanting to leave Old Trafford for rivals Liverpool.

Heinze wants away from United in order to play week-in, week-out as Patrice Evra forced the Argentine out of the starting line-up last season, but Macari doesn't comprehend Heinze's lack of will to fight for his place.

"I can't understand the situation," Macari told Sky Sports News, "I just can't understand what the player's looking for."

"He's at Manchester United, one of the biggest clubs in the world, he's adored by the fans, getting well paid. I just can't see what more he wants out of the game. The same applies to Frank Lampard - why won't he sign another contract at Chelsea?

"The longer that these players are in this position it affects their game, you could see that in the Community Shield where I thought Lampard was below par. Heinze has got himself in an awful position with the fact that it has been made public that he would like to play for Liverpool."

The Argentina international returns to training with Manchester United this week and Macari believes that he will be in for a frosty reception.

"It will be interesting to see what happens today when he meets Sir Alex Ferguson at training. I certainly wouldn't want to be in that room.

"Heinze will be hoping he can wriggle himself out of the position he is in, but he has a simple decision to make this morning and if he doesn't commit himself then there will be problems ahead."

mike65

*shruggs*

On to more important matters, Toulouse. Will Rafa play this for real or is he going to take an "okay if we win/okay if we loose" approach? Its the year of the Prem for me - is it for him? One would guess that several players who did'nt start on Saturday will do so esp Masch and Babel.

Many eyes will be on Crouch as well, with Voronin having settled in well and K&T being the first choice paring in the league could Crouch go if Liverpool loose this tie*?

Mike

*scandalous thought of course and WILL NOT HAPPEN!

Stky10

mike65 wrote:

Will Rafa play this for real or is he going to take an "okay if we win/okay if we loose" approach?

Too much money available to the club for them not to take it seriously. I expect them to be pretty defensive, see what Toulouse are about, be happy with a draw, and take them in the return match.

whatawaster

My Team for today:

Reina

Finnan
Carragher
Agger
Arbeloa

Benayoun
Mascherano
Gerrard
Babel

Torres
Crouch



Strong team I think. I would keep that same back 5 for this and the chelsea game as I think its our strongest defensively and we need continuity and understanding in this area.
I would definitely play Torres again. He needs his first goal, and it will be easier here than against Chelsea. In fact I wouldn't change much for the chelsea game - maybe Kuyt for Crouch. Of course we know Rafa will.

Malice

whatawaster wrote:

My Team for today:

Reina

Finnan
Carragher
Agger
Arbeloa

Benayoun
Mascherano
Gerrard
Babel

Torres
Crouch



Strong team I think. I would keep that same back 5 for this and the chelsea game as I think its our strongest defensively and we need continuity and understanding in this area.
I would definitely play Torres again. He needs his first goal, and it will be easier here than against Chelsea. In fact I wouldn't change much for the chelsea game - maybe Kuyt for Crouch. Of course we know Rafa will.

I'd pretty much go with that team too. I don't think Kuyt did a lot wrong but I'd love to see Crouch and Torres play together. Dirk's not a bad option to have coming off the bench for the last 15 minutes either I'd like to see Leto or Kewell on the left wing but either way it's a very strong team!

RE*AC*TOR

Reina

Arbeloa - Carra - Agger - Riise

Benayoun - Sissoko - Alonso - Babel

Voronin - Crouch

(basically I'm going for as many reasonable changes as possible)

Chardee MacDennis

OK so is the match on terrestrial tv or sky sports?

Dub13

Call_me_al wrote:

OK so is the match on terrestrial tv or sky sports?

its on setanta,15:30 kick off

mike65

I think whatawaster team looks good I'll with with that for Fantasy Rafa leagues.

Mike.

Chardee MacDennis

Dub13 wrote:

its on setanta,15:30 kick off

ay but setanta sports one and not normal setanta. is that the only channel?

Dub13

Call_me_al wrote:

ay but setanta sports one and not normal setanta. is that the only channel?

Setanta Ireland I think,not sure as I have them all.

zing

Dub13 wrote:

Setanta Ireland I think,not sure as I have them all.

It's Setanta Sports 1 rather than Setanta Ireland.

liveonsat.com saying it's on Al Jaz as well if anyone's ART card from last season hasn't expired yet. satfootball.com doesn't list Al Jaz though so maybe it isn't.

Dub13

All these Setanta Sports channels are going to confuse people.

tonc76

I'll still be slaving away at k.o. (as will many more) so can people keep us posted?

thanks in advance

Zapp Brannigan

I'll be watching it! I'll post up scores and impressions at half time but I'm not gonna post during the match, no way I can be dragged away from the TV.

mada999

just looking at physioroom.com

chelski have a few injuries..tis a shame that Drogba isn't injured though

M Essien Knee no return date very doubtful
A Shevchenko Groin Strain 19th Aug 07 doubtful
C Makelele Knee 19th Aug 07 doubtful
J Terry Knee 19th Aug 07 doubtful
W Bridge Hip Surgery 29th Sep 07
M Ballack Ankle Surgery 2nd Sep 07


I think we'll beat Toulose today...and hopefully beat Chelsea on Sunday...

Zapp Brannigan

I'd say Terry will be back for Sunday. SSN were saying he's back in training.

The Rooster

Dub13 wrote:

All these Setanta Sports channels are going to confuse people.

No free games on Setanta until December. So basically if you don't subscribe you see no soccer. There will be 12 free Premiership games between December and end of season for Chorus/NTL people.

meditraitor

Did RTE get the right to any games this year?

The Rooster

RE*AC*TOR wrote:

Reina
Arbeloa - Carra - Agger - Riise
Benayoun - Sissoko - Alonso - Babel
Voronin - Crouch
(basically I'm going for as many reasonable changes as possible)

I doubt very much he'll start such an important game without Gerrard. Reina, Carra, Agger and Stevie are the only 4 who are guaranteed to start IMO.

I really hopes he plays Mascho and not Momo. He could well play 3 central midfielders and only one striker (which would be Crouch), but Babel would play off Crouch. Though I'd like to see Voronin get a start.