Liverpool Rumours And General Discussion 2008/2009

missingtime

Just to torture myself a little further...

Guillem: Immediately after the match, it looked like you had difficulty getting the ball off the referee for a souvenir of your hat-trick

Villa: Thank God for Pepe Reina and Xabi Alonso. I don’t speak English, so they had to go to the ref and explain that I wanted the ball, about the traditions involving a hat-trick. He didn’t want to give it to me, he said he couldn’t, but in the end he did. By the time the ball was taken in to the dressing room, people had left, so it was signed by everybody in the morning. It is the 5th or 6th hat trick ball that I have got to keep.

Guillem: The talk amongst the journalists the next day was that those goals have added zeros to your transfer fee.

Villa: I always say the same thing: nobody from Valencia has told me that I am for sale. In any case, I am not at all worried about that at the moment. My priority, for now, is to play well against Sweden. Look, money means nothing. Of course, everybody works to earn money, but if you are not happy, material things mean nothing. My only target in life is to get better at my job

Guillem: You cannot be used as a secret weapon anymore: defenders know what you can do…

Villa: I am lucky that I play next to Fernando Torres. Contrary to what happens when I play for Valencia, playing alongside Torres for Spain means that defenders have got two people to worry about. I have taken advantage of Fernando’s movement and of his runs. The first goal against Russia was practically his: he made the move and, very generously, passed it to me. For the second, his movement created a hole that Iniesta spotted and was able to feed me the ball. That is why I went across to the bench to celebrate the hat trick with Fernando. Every time he moved he created lots of space for me to use. If, from now on, defences decide to mark me, Fernando will take advantage of that.

Guillem: In fact, your show of emotion towards Fernando ended up injuring you.

Villa: It’s so funny. I hugged him after the first goal and my finger got stuck in his shirt. I picked up a micro fracture in my hand! The Doctors have had a look at it and it is nothing.

Mr Alan

know this might be controversial, but i really hope we dont get Quaresma, the lad wrecks my head, maybe it'd be different if he signed for us, but i'm not sure

*after reading the above, i reckon that Villa loves Torres more than i do!

missingtime

Mr Alan wrote: »

know this might be controversial, but i really hope we dont get Quaresma, the lad wrecks my head, maybe it'd be different if he signed for us, but i'm not sure

There is a piece in Guillem Balague's site about our links to him. Balague seems to think that he's not the player that Rafa looks for and Quaresma tends to bring a bit of an entourage with him.

I'll try and find the link....

Here it is: http://www.guillembalague.com/rumores_desp.php?id=10

Everyone is asking me about Quaresma and, since I said it the other day, a lot of people have been asking who Liverpool's magical and unpredictable signing (desequilibrante) is going to be.


Well, as I said at the time, this is the kind of player that I would love to see Liverpool sign and I feel they could really do with. However, this is not the kind of signing that Rafa usually makes and I don’t think he will change his mind this summer. I don’t think he doubts Quaresma’s abilities on the pitch, even though the player can be inconsistent.

However, there are issues off the pitch and that is why it is not a signing that Liverpool are contemplating.

MementoMori

Quaresma def doesnt look like a Rafa player to me if that's true about the entourage and all.

Wouldn't be mad keen on him

Bit surprised that Simao is starting ahead of him for the Portugese.

Maybe Big Phil thinks he's too similar a player to Ronaldo.

Also from what i've seen of him, Quaresma does seem to be inconsistent - magic one game, anonymous the next. The step up from the Portugese league to the PL is a big one in terms of quality of defender.

Don't think we're in for him and not too disappointed.

mike65

Remember how Liverpool were linked with the Man City CEO a few weeks ago?

Alistair Mackintosh became the latest casualty of Thaksin Shinawatra's restructuring at Manchester City yesterday when the chief executive left the club after weeks of intense speculation about his future.

Although instrumental in helping to bring Thaksin to the club, Mackintosh's days were numbered the moment he questioned the City owner's desire to remove Sven-Göran Eriksson as manager. The subsequent appointment of Garry Cook as executive chairman, to whom the chief executive surrendered most of his previous responsibilities, ultimately proved the final straw.

Mackintosh, 37, was the only member of the City board to remonstrate with Thaksin about his treatment of Eriksson, although the irony is that it was the chief executive who originally championed Mark Hughes, the Swede's successor as manager, as the best candidate to succeed Stuart Pearce last summer before the former England head coach's appointment.

The decision was taken after Mackintosh, who earned £300,000 a year in the role after joining City as financial controller in 1996, met Cook to discuss future strategy, with the executive chairman informing staff of the news yesterday morning. A severance package had still to be agreed last night.

Mike.

Tusky

Mr Alan wrote: »

I like Balague, i hope to god he is right.

*please be silva*please be silva*please be silva*

wasnt he saying we were in discussions with valencia not long ago about Silva?

Ditto.

If we signed Silva I will be a happy camper.

Dossena
Degen
Barry
Silva
Crouch replacement
Itandje replacement

Tusky

p.s anyone interested in Leonard Cohen tickets ? Selling two for tonights show half price.

MementoMori

My dream signing for this summer is Villa

And I don't think it is impossible.

With the rumours of the Alonso deal being agreed, I think that we will end up with Barry - my guess is at a cost of £18m

While Barry wouldn't have been my first choice for a summer signing at the
start of May, I can understand the logic behind it.

Would have preferred if we had come out ahead out of the whole Barry Alonso deal but can understand why we probably won't. Also given Barry's consistency and experience it's not a massive gamble for £5m. I think Barry adds an option (which we all know Rafa loves) as you can play him CM or out on the left. Could imagine a situation where he pushes out as a wide player on the left with Babel playing up front alongside Torres & a hole-playing Gerrard.

On the Milner deal - not massively keen on him. If he comes he'd have to develop a fair bit to get near being a first-teamer, imo. Seems we've offered Newcastle Pennant and cash which is the only way it makes sense in my book. Doesn't seem to be much interest in Pennant for anywhere else and we wouldn't be taking a massive hit in cash terms - I presume we'd be paying
around £2m mark, which wouldn't be the worst deal when looked at in squad player for younger squad player with potential deal.

Penannt's done reasonably ok for us but truth is Kuyt is ahead of him in the pecking-order which means we're as well moving him on, especially after two years. The upsides is there is a potential for development with Milner and given Rafa and MON are in for him I'll give them the benefit of the doubt for the moment. I remain unconvinced as yet.

Thanx 4 The Fish

Milner No.

Pennant Keep.

Barry No ta.

Villa - what is that damp patch on my trousers....

~Rebel~

mike65 wrote: »

Remember how Liverpool were linked with the Man City CEO a few weeks ago?



Mike.

couldn't be any worse then Rick.

MementoMori

~Rebel~ Quote:
Originally Posted by mike65
Remember how Liverpool were linked with the Man City CEO a few weeks ago?



Mike.

couldn't be any worse then Rick.

Is he still off on his holiday's?

Apparently his signature is neede to seal the deal:(

Guy:Incognito

MementoMori wrote: »

Is he still off on his holiday's?

Apparently his signature is neede to seal the deal:(

Hopefully he stays on holiday till after Villa decide to break off negotiations for Barry.

machiavellianme

Dirk on fire again. Hopefully this continues

zAbbo

machiavellianme wrote: »

Dirk on fire again. Hopefully this continues

Yup, despite Makelle trying to go through him.

Thanx 4 The Fish

Well fair play, this type of experience should do wonders for him next season.

mike65

Great stuff, you know he'll be at his greatest worth the day after they get knocked out or win the thing? 20 million would be fair I think

Mike.

Blackhorse Slim

I've been thinking, the signings Rafa has made so far (Dossena and Degen) are both very attack-minded full-backs. I could be wrong, but this suggests we will primarily be playing very narrow next season, with both full-backs bombing forward to provide width while Masherano and (presumably) Barry drop back to fill in as needed. Barry could comfortably slip into a left-back position, which is another reason for signing him.

This is not too different to last season, neither Kuyt nor Babel (or Benayoun) offer much width, and they played ahead of Pennant who does. Our link to Rieira (a winger) is according to Ballague a smokescreen. Our other links to wingers are Downing and Milner, neither of whom have caused waves of anticipation amongst the faithful. If Rafa has indeed lined up a 'nice surprise' (and I pray to Robbie he has), I don't think it will be a wide player, but an attacker who can play more centrally and drift wide if necessary, or even someone who can play alongside Gerrard behind Torres. Either a Villa or a Sneijder type of player, rather than Quaresma or Silva.

Then again, Rafa likes to have 'possibilities'. And watching the Dutch game tonight made me wonder whether Robben or Ribery would be possible.

~Rebel~

mike65 wrote: »

Great stuff, you know he'll be at his greatest worth the day after they get knocked out or win the thing? 20 million would be fair I think

Mike.

heh, or maybe a straight swap for Villa.

Dub13

I fear for us this summer,this should be the year to spend big and continue the good work done by rafa but I fear we may be left for dust in the transfer market.

gixerfixer

Dub13 wrote: »

I fear for us this summer,this should be the year to spend big and continue the good work done by rafa but I fear we may be left for dust in the transfer market.

We will be left for dust by Portsmouth FFS:mad:

Thanx 4 The Fish

Now that is highly unlikely.

monkey9

Blackhorse Slim wrote: »

I've been thinking, the signings Rafa has made so far (Dossena and Degen) are both very attack-minded full-backs. I could be wrong, but this suggests we will primarily be playing very narrow next season, with both full-backs bombing forward to provide width while Masherano and (presumably) Barry drop back to fill in as needed. Barry could comfortably slip into a left-back position, which is another reason for signing him.

This is not too different to last season, neither Kuyt nor Babel (or Benayoun) offer much width, and they played ahead of Pennant who does. Our link to Rieira (a winger) is according to Ballague a smokescreen. Our other links to wingers are Downing and Milner, neither of whom have caused waves of anticipation amongst the faithful. If Rafa has indeed lined up a 'nice surprise' (and I pray to Robbie he has), I don't think it will be a wide player, but an attacker who can play more centrally and drift wide if necessary, or even someone who can play alongside Gerrard behind Torres. Either a Villa or a Sneijder type of player, rather than Quaresma or Silva.

Then again, Rafa likes to have 'possibilities'. And watching the Dutch game tonight made me wonder whether Robben or Ribery would be possible.

There'll be many wonderful qoutes on this thread on the season ahead, but if there is one that makes me laugh like..'i pray to Robbie he has', well then, bring on the season i say!!

dardoz

Blackhorse Slim wrote: »

If Rafa has indeed lined up a 'nice surprise' (and I pray to Robbie he has),

lol, wheres the + button on this damn thing

kida

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/l/liverpool/7453674.stm

Liverpool have dismissed claims that Fernando Torres could be tempted away from Anfield by a massive bid from new Chelsea boss Luiz Felipe Scolari.

The 24-year-old Spain striker was at the centre of speculation that he was a top target for Scolari, along with AC Milan's Brazil superstar Kaka.

But Liverpool chief executive Rick Parry told BBC Sport: "Fernando Torres is just not for sale to anyone.

"It is as simple as that, really - he is not going anywhere."

Torres took the Premier League by storm last season, scoring 33 goals after his move to Liverpool from his boyhood club Atletico Madrid.

And he has already delivered an impressive performance for Spain in their 4-1 win against Russia in their opening game of Euro 2008.

606: DEBATE
What do you think Torres would be worth now he has established himself?

I_am_legend67
Scolari has been handed a huge transfer budget by Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich, and Torres was among a number of names listed as players he will attempt to sign once he arrives at Stamford Bridge on 1 July.

But Parry has made it clear even Abramovich's millions will not prise Torres away from Liverpool after only one season on Merseyside

No smoke without fire

If Chelsea make a ridculous bid would the yanks turn it down?

Daemonic

Depends on the ridiculous bid I suppose. If it was £50m range then who knows.

Blackhorse Slim

Daemonic wrote: »

Depends on the ridiculous bid I suppose. If it was £50m range then who knows.

€50M is not a ridiculous bid. €500M would be ridiculous.

zing

kida wrote: »

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/l/liverpool/7453674.stm



No smoke without fire

We're talking about a transfer rumour here aren't we ? More often than not there's loads of smoke but no fire.

If Chelsea make a ridculous bid would the yanks turn it down?

One (Hicks) has already came out and said no way but then his word isn't exactly worth much.

However I do believe every player (regardless of the team) is forsale if a truely ridiculous bid came along but it would need to be exactly that - truely ridiculous. To sell now might give them a quick cash win but would devalue their overall investment and lets face it - they are just in it for the money. This is why I could see them doing the opposite and agreeing to purchase a player like Villa (or someone of that quality) as it would increase the potential return on their investment.

Guy:Incognito

We could sell for 50, buy Villa for 25-30 and still have 20 left for silva.

mike65

Except they'd offer 50 million for both of them as well!

Mike.

IrishMike

Torres for 50m would be fair value.
100m would be a crazy offer

gixerfixer

Every player has there price.It would take i'd say in the region of 80 million + for Chelsea to take him off us.There would be an uproar but that's football.Teams like Chelsea,Real,Manchester Utd all are ruining football with some of the obscene amounts of money flying around.Think the difference here between ourself's and Manchester Utd could be Fernando wants to stay at Anfield which counts for a hell of a lot, whilst C.Ronaldo wants to leave Old Trafford which also will prob be the reason he will be sold.

Blackhorse Slim

IrishMike wrote: »

Torres for 50m would be fair value.
100m would be a crazy offer

€50M would be a fair price if he wanted to leave and if we wanted to sell. But we don't and he doesn't. I'm still hopeful we can get Silva or Villa, but I wouldn't swap Torres for both of them.

Daemonic

Stekelly wrote: »

We could sell for 50, buy Villa for 25-30 and still have 20 left for silva.

The huge IF here is whether Rafa would get the £50m to spend. If they accepted a bid for Torres I'd assume they'd do it with the plan of giving Rafa 30m and expecting him to come up with another Torres and 20m would be used to service the debt. This is a business to them.

Tusky

Torres is going nowhere regardless of the bid. It would do a lot of harm to the club if he was sold. He was pretty much the only positive thing about this awful season.

taidghbaby

kida wrote: »

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/l/liverpool/7453674.stm



No smoke without fire

If Chelsea make a ridculous bid would the yanks turn it down?

shoe on the other foot..........i dont like it at all :mad::mad::mad:

Jesus Wept

They're can be smoke without fire.

mayordenis

yea i've blown up a power supply there was smoke but no fire.

MementoMori

While I think every player has their price I don't think there is any chance that Torres will leave this summer. The main reason the bit below

I don't think we need to wast any more time discussing this

"I want to say very clearly that I'm not on the market and it is my desire to continue at Liverpool.

"I am very happy at Liverpool and want to carry on."

Liverpool issue warning on Torres
By Phil McNulty
Chief football writer

Liverpool insist Fernando Torres will not be leaving Anfield
Liverpool have dismissed claims that Fernando Torres could be tempted away from Anfield by a massive bid from new Chelsea boss Luiz Felipe Scolari.

The 24-year-old Spain striker was at the centre of speculation that he was a top target for Scolari, along with AC Milan's Brazil superstar Kaka.

But Liverpool chief executive Rick Parry told BBC Sport: "Fernando Torres is just not for sale to anyone.

"It is as simple as that, really - he is not going anywhere."

Torres took the Premier League by storm last season, scoring 33 goals after his move to Liverpool from his boyhood club Atletico Madrid.

And he has already delivered an impressive performance for Spain in their 4-1 win against Russia in their opening game of Euro 2008.

606: DEBATE
What do you think Torres would be worth now he has established himself?

I_am_legend67
Scolari has been handed a huge transfer budget by Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich, and Torres was among a number of names listed as players he will attempt to sign once he arrives at Stamford Bridge on 1 July.

But Parry has made it clear even Abramovich's millions will not prise Torres away from Liverpool after only one season on Merseyside.

And Torres himself said during Euro 2008: "I have no intention of leaving. We have to focus our energies to give the little step we need to get to the top teams. If we only improve the team a little, we are going to manage to do so.

"I want to say very clearly that I'm not on the market and it is my desire to continue at Liverpool.

"I am very happy at Liverpool and want to carry on."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/l/liverpool/7453674.stm

Smegball

Torres will be at Pool for a good few years yet I'd say.

zAbbo

Torres will be there as long as Rafa is.

Daemonic

If every goal for Villa in the Euros adds millions to his price, stick another few million on the crazy money needed to make Liverpool part with Torres

mormank

If torres does leave for chelsea i htink it will have horrible effects on the team..it would set us back ten years!!! If it happens we would have to accept we are not a big club anymore...

CHD

As a Chels fan i would love to have him but theres no way he will leave, hes not like that.Torres is staying put

~Marky~

Anyone else see the Torres Nike add at half time? brilliant

GBX

Saw it last week.... I posted a link a few pages back good ad

zAbbo

Crap ad imo, very cringeworthy.

missingtime

Torres aint going anywhere lads.

We need to keep up a Possitive Mental Attitude here. Our summer transfers are gonna be grim enough and there are a lot of depressed fans due to this. If we are gonna start panicing about losing the players we have then we might as well pack it all in.

Melion

Lets just not even talk about Torres leaving because everyone that matters has come out and said he's not leaving. Thats good enough for me.

Thanx 4 The Fish

No chance FT will be leaving this season. Looks more like we could get villa every time he scores, himself and FT are getting very close. Does Mr Alan have a rival perchance?

Dub13

It would be super to get villa but I think that boat has sailed.