Liverpool Rumours And General Discussion 2008/2009

Malice

BastardPrince wrote: »

we have dossena and Arbeloa and Degen can play there if required.

Good point, I had forgotten about the new guys . Either way, Arbeloa and Degen are right footed so that still only leaves Insua, Dossena and Aurelio as lefties.

Cyrus

and dossena

rosboy

And now for something completely different......

The Hungarian invasion of Liverpool continues:

Reds chance for Poloskei

Hungarian teenager joins Liverpool on season-long loan

Liverpool have taken Hungarian youngster Zsolt Poloskei on a season-long loan.

The 17-year-old was one of three MTK Hungaria teenagers to spend a pre-season trial period with the club in recent weeks.

Having impressed the Reds' coaching staff during his time in England the midfielder will now spend the 2008/09 campaign battling for place in Gary Ablett's reserve side.

He should have little problem settling into life at Anfield with a number of his compatriots already on the club's books.

Peter Gulacsi, Krisztian Nemeth and Andras Simon all arrived in a similar deal from MTK last season and have established themselves within Liverpool's youth ranks.

http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11669_3794143,00.html


And possible interest in El Zhar:

Stoke are also thought to be in talks with Liverpool over the possible transfer of some of their fringe players.

Scott Carson has been muted as a potential signing should Marton Fulop not complete his move from Sunderland, while young Moroccan forward Nabil El Zhar has also attracted the attention of boss Tony Pulis.

Liverpool are looking to ship out players in order to fund their own summer spending - with Jermaine Pennant topping the list of likely big-name departures.

It is unclear whether the winger would be interested in a switch to Stoke but it is understood he has been offered to Blackburn as part of a deal to take David Bentley to Anfield.

http://www.football365.com/story/0,17033,8698_3794352,00.html

IrishMike

event wrote: »

id be willing to say that if all players are fit and if gareth barry is playing football (ie wiht liverpool) he will start fabio capellos first competitive game

to me, that would prove he is an england regular under capello

1 competitive game makes you a regular english international?
:rolleyes:

Helix

malice_ wrote: »

Don't forget Gareth Barry is left footed. Given that Kewell and Riise are gone, Aurelio is injury-prone, Leto is having passport problems and Insua is pretty much unproven, we don't have many options at all for that side of the pitch. I'm pretty sure Barry used to play left back and probably has played left midfield so I wouldn't be surprised to see him feature in those positions rather than central midfield especially if Alonso stays.

if barry is being bought for either left back or left midfield, your manager is an idiot

IrishMike

Helix wrote: »

if barry is being bought for either left back or left midfield, your manager is an idiot

Liverpool

* UEFA Champions League
o Winners 2004-05: 1
o Runners Up 2006-07: 1


* European Super Cup
o Winners 2005 1

* FA Cup
o Winners 2006 1

* FA Community Shield
o Winners 2006 1

* Carling Cup
o Runners Up 2005 1

* FIFA Club World Championship
o Runners Up 2005 1

Valencia CF

* Spanish Champions: 2
o 2001-02, 2003-04

* UEFA Cup: 1
o UEFA Cup 2003-2004:

CD Tenerife

* Segunda División
o Third and promotion 2000-01

CF Extremadura

* Segunda División
o Runners-Up 1997-98

Real Madrid U-19s

* Spain U-19 League: 2
o 1993

* Spain U-19 Cup: 2
o 1991, 1993

Obviously the record of someone who is an idiot!

rosboy

IrishMike wrote: »

Obviously the record of someone who is an idiot!

:eek:

The cheek of you! Facts have no place in discussions here. How dare you lower the tone of the thread.:p

Bounty Hunter

IrishMike wrote: »

Obviously the record of someone who is an idiot!

having won lots doesent mean mean putting Barry at LB or LM wouldn't be idiotic. Barry is a quality CM with a v.good left foot (which seems quite rare) but should only really go LB/LM as backup IMO and ive watched him play evertime ive had the chance for a decade now.

That isnt to suggest he is poor in said positions (he isnt he's good at LB/LM) but they are nowhere near his best position.

Helix

IrishMike wrote: »

Obviously the record of someone who is an idiot!

why would someone sign a player for nearly £18m whos at his best in the middle, and play him in his 2 weaker positions?

hardly the sign of a genius

sure why not sign cassillas and play him as a holding midfielder

Malice

Helix, it may have escaped your notice but teams don't actually play in a rigid formation with the same eleven players every week. If having useful options rather than square pegs for round holes in your squad makes you an idiot then I guess Rafa is an idiot.

Helix

theres not particularly much useful about gareth barry at left back or on the left wing is my point

IrishMike

Helix wrote: »

theres not particularly much useful about gareth barry at left back or on the left wing is my point

Steven Gerrard is not a right winger but played there for a season and played out of his skin.
He scored a bag of goals and got lots of assists.
Im sure you would have told rafa he was an idiot the summer beforehand too.
The man has forgotten more about football than we will learn in a lifetime.
If he decides that barrys greatest contribution to the team would be at left wing im sure he will be proven right.
In the same way he was proven right to buy a west ham reserve player for 18m

Helix

im pretty sure after 10 years at villa park, fans of former european cup winners aston villa have a better idea of whether gareth barry is any use at left back than rafa benitez

IrishMike

Helix wrote: »

im pretty sure after 10 years at villa park, fans of former european cup winners aston villa have a better idea of whether gareth barry is any use at left back than rafa benitez

Lol im sure a manager who has won 15+ titles/trophies in his time knows where best to put a player.
And congrats on being former European cup winners :rolleyes:

Bounty Hunter

heh think that was my idea the former european champions bit (check the former european cup winners that are Aston Villa's rumors and discussion thread) works better though if your posting in say the Arsenal or Newcastle thread.

tbh think Helix is getting too much stick as Id say its fairly obvious that if Alonso goes Barry will play CM beside Masch almost all the time (its his best position and where he will be most needed in that case) but if Alonso stays and Barry is still signed then yes maybe post Olympics Barry might be played occasionally at LB or LM (not as much as he would not suit LWF which Pool play) even though those arent his best or prefered positions.

obviously (IMO) during the olympics Barry would be a CM with Mascherano and Lucas Levia not around

oobydooby

That's all business. I'm sure it'll be a good deal for both sides. One thing that really pi$$e$ me off though is that being left-footed is some sort of desirable quality in a professional footballer. I cannot understand how any professional footballer cannot use both feet equally well.

I like Rafa's style going for leaders and team captains and think that will pay dividends but if I was an autistic genius football manager I'd only sign players who can play with both feet. And who can use their heads.

IrishMike

Bounty Hunter wrote: »

heh think that was my idea the former european champions bit (check the former european cup winners that are Aston Villa's rumors and discussion thread) works better though if your posting in say the Arsenal or Newcastle thread.

tbh think Helix is getting too much stick as Id say its fairly obvious that if Alonso goes Barry will play CM beside Masch almost all the time (its his best position and where he will be most needed in that case) but if Alonso stays and Barry is still signed then yes maybe post Olympics Barry might be played occasionally at LB or LM (not as much as he would not suit LWF which Pool play) even though those arent his best or prefered positions.

obviously (IMO) during the olympics Barry would be a CM with Mascherano and Lucas Levia not around

Think people are overestimating how much money Liverpool have.
Sunderland, Pompey, Spurs etc will all outspend Liverpool this season.
Money is tight and i cant see how they can afford 2 50k-60k players who
basically play in the exact same position.
Thats why for me Barry is a replacement for Alonso if Alonso goes.
If Alonso doesnt go Liverpool just will not have the finances to buy Barry.
Thats my take on the situation.
Oh and BH i know the Villa thread, ive been there a few times ;);)

Helix

IrishMike wrote: »

If Alonso doesnt go Liverpool just will not have the finances to buy Barry.

bit risky putting in a bid today then lol

Malice

oobydooby wrote: »

One thing that really pi$$e$ me off though is that being left-footed is some sort of desirable quality in a professional footballer.

Why? It provides balance to the team if you have left-footers playing on the left. Lefties are rarer than righties and so left-footed players are naturally going to be more highly valued than right-footed ones. Look at Riise for example. If he was right footed would Roma have looked twice at him? :P

oobydooby wrote:

I cannot understand how any professional footballer cannot use both feet equally well.

People are always going to have a preference for their dominant side but certainly players should be able to use their weaker side to an acceptable level. Mind you, to go back to Riise again, his most important (only) goal of the last couple of years was a corker with his weak foot

For those of you that don't remember:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1EtjJ7bdss

Melion

As i said a few weeks ago i think all this talk of us having no money is just so clubs wont up their prices when we show an interest. If we were broke Rafa wouldnt have just spent £1m on a 17yr old

DeadSkin

Shame Riise didn't use his right peg against Chelsea in the CL this year

rosboy

Melion wrote: »

As i said a few weeks ago i think all this talk of us having no money is just so clubs wont up their prices when we show an interest. If we were broke Rafa wouldnt have just spent £1m on a 17yr old

+1

Rafa's playing his cards close to his chest.

spockety

Helix wrote: »

bit risky putting in a bid today then lol

Why? Up until the moment signatures are on paper, Liverpool can tell Aston Villa to go and do one, no matter how far along the negotiations/bids are.

whatawaster

Apparently, Rafa was just on LFC TV tonight and mentioned Villa as one of his targets, but said it'll be difficult to get him.

How's that for some excitement.

Tusky

whatawaster wrote: »

Apparently, Rafa was just on LFC TV tonight and mentioned Villa as one of his targets, but said it'll be difficult to get him.

How's that for some excitement.

Came here to post that! How strange is it for Rafa to name a target like that. Specially one as big as Villa. One thing it tells us is that we will be spending around 20m on a striker or wide attacker which is good news!

He wouldnt be a target if we didnt have roughly that amount to spend.

mike65

Tis a smoke screen for Kenwyn Jones

Mike.

whatawaster

Tusky wrote: »

Came here to post that! How strange is it for Rafa to name a target like that. Specially one as big as Villa. One thing it tells us is that we will be spending around 20m on a striker or wide attacker which is good news!

He wouldnt be a target if we didnt have roughly that amount to spend.

I wonder by difficult does he mean financially or convincing Villa to join us.

Tusky

whatawaster wrote: »

I wonder by difficult does he mean financially or convincing Villa to join us.

Id say financial. Didnt Ballague say that Villa would join in a heartbeat if Liverpool had a bid accepted ? More Liverpool players in the Spanish squad than any other club...his best mate is Reina...Arbeloa, Torres & Rafa. He'd be mad not to.

Id say Valencia want silly money though.

GBX

Id take both of them. Villa and Jones.

whatawaster

GBX wrote: »

Id take both of them. Villa and Jones.

Torres wouldn't get a look in with them two up top.

Tusky

---

Torres--Villa

Silva---Gerrard--Keane---Babel

----Barry--Alonso--Mascherano

Dossena--Carra-Skrtel-Agger-Arbeloa

---

Voronin--Reina

What a team.

mike65

Tis illegal to field 16 players.

Mike.

Mr Alan

if we sign Villa, i'll perform the Mr Alan shuffle at the boards soccer beers on Aug 1st.

wat rafa said when he was asked about Villa was basically-him and his staff having been watching him for a long time (which we already knew,he's tried to buy him before iirc) and it would be difficult to try and sign him.

dont hold you breath lads.

although **** me, wat a signing it would be

Tusky

Rafa quote -

"We have Torres, Voronin, Kuyt, Babel and Steven Gerrard, who can play as a second striker," Benitez said. "But we will try to bring in another option.

"Villa we know all about. He is on our list. But maybe it will be difficult."

Mr Alan

Tusky wrote: »

Benitez said."Villa we know all about. He is on our list. But maybe it will be difficult."

Whos list wouldnt he be on!?:eek:

Rafas exact words, robbed from Rawk.

Rafa wrote:

"He's one of the names that was in the press, we know that he's a fantastic player, we know him really well, because he is in Spain and also because we know alot about Valencia, so we know which is the situation, OK we'll see, we can progress with different issues with different players, and Villa is one of the names, and we will see but I think that will be difficult."

scruff321

Tusky wrote: »

Rafa quote -

"We have Torres, Voronin, Kuyt, Babel and Steven Gerrard, who can play as a second striker," Benitez said. "But we will try to bring in another option.

"Villa we know all about. He is on our list. But maybe it will be difficult."

voronin=gick
kuyt=??? seems to score goals when it matters but not a good striker
babel=winger
gerard=midfeild
torres=without doubt class

c'mon if liverpool want any success this season there gonna have to push the boat out and get keane o villa or someone with striking ability lol @ voronin

Dont be at yourself

Voronin has 5 goals and 3 assists in 13 starts (19 apps) in the league, which isn't bad. He gets a lot of unwarranted stick, which I can only assume is mostly due to his pony-tail.

Obviously not top-quality, but he's not a liability either. A useful squad player.

Of course, witch Crouch shipping out, we'll be looking to get a quality replacement. Rafa's mentioning of Villa is hugely encouraging, and we'll hopefully see a strong attacking player added to the squad before the season starts.

monkey9

From irishtimes.com 07:53Wednesday, 9th July, 2008

Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez has admitted David Villa is an option to replace Peter Crouch when the England striker completes his move to Portsmouth.

Crouch has completed a medical at Fratton Park and the finer points of his £11million move back to the south coast are almost complete with Pompey set to formally confirm the move soon.

Benitez says Liverpool will now try to sign a replacement striker, and though he believes it will be difficult to get Villa, he has not ruled it out.

He said: "We have Torres, Andriy Voronin, Dirk Kuyt, Ryan Babel and Steven Gerrard, who can play as a second striker.

"But we will try to bring in another option. Villa is a player we know all about and he is on our list. But maybe it will be difficult."

Benitez has pre-empted Crouch's final departure from Merseyside by saying: "He is a good professional and a nice person, and we would have wanted him to stay. We offered him a new contract.

"But sometimes you have to understand the player. He wanted to play a lot more, and with Fernando Torres now first choice, that was always going to be difficult.

"I can understand Peter's situation. But he did very well for this club and we always supported him when people doubted the decision to bring him to Anfield."

Benitez now hopes to complete the drawn-out saga of Gareth Barry's move from Aston Villa, which the club still hope to have sealed by the weekend.

Whether that will be in time for Liverpool's first pre-season friendly at Tranmere on Saturday is debatable.

But Benitez would wish to have the midfielder on board for the training camp in Switzerland which starts on Sunday and includes three matches before a return to the UK ahead of the trip to play Rangers in Glasgow on July 26th.

IrishMike

monkey9 wrote: »

From irishtimes.com 07:53Wednesday, 9th July, 2008

Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez has admitted David Villa is an option to replace Peter Crouch when the England striker completes his move to Portsmouth.

Crouch has completed a medical at Fratton Park and the finer points of his £11million move back to the south coast are almost complete with Pompey set to formally confirm the move soon.

Benitez says Liverpool will now try to sign a replacement striker, and though he believes it will be difficult to get Villa, he has not ruled it out.

He said: "We have Torres, Andriy Voronin, Dirk Kuyt, Ryan Babel and Steven Gerrard, who can play as a second striker.

"But we will try to bring in another option. Villa is a player we know all about and he is on our list. But maybe it will be difficult."

Benitez has pre-empted Crouch's final departure from Merseyside by saying: "He is a good professional and a nice person, and we would have wanted him to stay. We offered him a new contract.

"But sometimes you have to understand the player. He wanted to play a lot more, and with Fernando Torres now first choice, that was always going to be difficult.

"I can understand Peter's situation. But he did very well for this club and we always supported him when people doubted the decision to bring him to Anfield."

Benitez now hopes to complete the drawn-out saga of Gareth Barry's move from Aston Villa, which the club still hope to have sealed by the weekend.

Whether that will be in time for Liverpool's first pre-season friendly at Tranmere on Saturday is debatable.

But Benitez would wish to have the midfielder on board for the training camp in Switzerland which starts on Sunday and includes three matches before a return to the UK ahead of the trip to play Rangers in Glasgow on July 26th.

Was the first half of that interview not from weeks ago?

monkey9

IrishMike wrote: »

Was the first half of that interview not from weeks ago?

I'm not sure, but a lot of papers are carrying the same report and someone said on the previous page or two that he said this on Liverpool TV yesterday. Maybe, if it sounds familiar he could just be repeating somewhat what he has said earlier

dardoz

I wouldn't read too much into the Villa comment tbh. He was asked directly by the interviewer if Villa was a target. His reply to me suggests its an almost impossible signing.

Ohh...and the Barry transfer drags on. MON has sent a letter back to the pool saying he wants £17 + Finnan

monkey9

dardoz wrote: »

I wouldn't read too much into the Villa comment tbh. He was asked directly by the interviewer if Villa was a target. His reply to me suggests its an almost impossible signing.

Ohh...and the Barry transfer drags on. MON has sent a letter back to the pool saying he wants £17 + Finnan

Yeah, read that today. 17m plus Finnan?? MON is really taking the p!ss if that one is true. He says he wants 18 million, so is he valuing Finnan at one million??

Also, Gary Ablett has completed his Pro License and is now fully qualified UEFA coach

Mr Alan

dardoz wrote: »

Ohh...and the Barry transfer drags on. MON has sent a letter back to the pool saying he wants £17 + Finnan

source?

Handsome Bob

Mr Alan wrote: »

source?

It's from todays Mirror.

And various papers are reporting that Pako Ayesteran is a shock candidate to become new Assistant Manager at Man U. Turncoat...:(

Mr Alan

LZ5by5 wrote: »

And various papers are reporting that Pako Ayesteran is a shock candidate to become new Assistant Manager at Man U. Turncoat...:(

In fairness, Rafa did sack him, hardly turncoat.

and it wont happen anyway, he has a coaching job at Benefica now iirc

IrishMike

Various people are not reporting, the sun are reporting.
Saw it earlier this morning and generally just ignore most bad news that the sun publishes

Handsome Bob

Mr Alan wrote: »

In fairness, Rafa did sack him, hardly turncoat.

and it wont happen anyway, he has a coaching job at Benefica now iirc

Did he really sack him? I thought he left on his own accord. I know it's not exactly a legit source but this is what wikipedia say:

He tendered his resignation to Benítez after being confronted over reports linking him with a return to his native Spain. Ayestrian was kept under contract until the summer; this being due to the valuable tactical knowledge accrued during his time at Liverpool

Mr Alan

LZ5by5 wrote: »

Did he really sack him? I thought he left on his own accord. I know it's not exactly a legit source but this is what wikipedia say

No iirc, him and Benitez had a falling out after the Chelsea game last season and Rafa forced his hand.

The Rooster

No chance of Alonso staying if/when we buy Barry - though it'd be nice if we managed to delay the transfer so he could start the season with us, while the two lads are at the Olympics.

IMO there are only two reasons why Benitez mentioned David Villa in public:

1. We can't afford him, but Benitez is letting him know we want him in an effort to unsettle him and get him to try and force Valencia's hand a bit

2. Its just for the media and fans, Bentiez doesnt really want him (especially as it would blow his entire budget, and more) as he wouldnt fit into Rafa's preferred formation.

dardoz

The Rooster wrote: »

No chance of Alonso staying if/when we buy Barry - though it'd be nice if we managed to delay the transfer so he could start the season with us, while the two lads are at the Olympics.

IMO there are only two reasons why Benitez mentioned David Villa in public:

1. We can't afford him, but Benitez is letting him know we want him in an effort to unsettle him and get him to try and force Valencia's hand a bit

2. Its just for the media and fans, Bentiez doesnt really want him (especially as it would blow his entire budget, and more) as he wouldnt fit into Rafa's preferred formation.

I'll go with number 2, exactly what I was thinking.