Liverpool FC Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread

mike65

I dunno how Anderson is doing but he sure picked the wrong club to spend the season with as Swansea wanted him again.

Mike

Boggles

Mr Alan wrote: »

And kept Crouch, a player who didnt want to play for us?

In fairness it was pretty evident Rafa didn't rate him

Mr Alan wrote: »

Kuyt? he was one of the best players in the Euros,

Euro 2008????

monkey9

Boggles wrote: »

In fairness it was pretty evident Rafa didn't rate him



Euro 2008????

What evidence suggests Rafa didn't rate Peter Crouch?

Boggles

monkey9 wrote: »

What evidence suggests Rafa didn't rate Peter Crouch?

Starting and bringing on Voronin ahead of him would be one piece of evidence.

Mr Alan

Boggles wrote: »

In fairness it was pretty evident Rafa didn't rate him

Really? Rafa bought him for decent enough money and stuck with him when most people and rival fans just mocked him as some sort of freak. Rafa played him all the time until the arrival of Torres, who in fairness to Crouch, is in a different league to him. Even after that, Rafa always praised Crouch and said he didnt want him to leave.

Boggles wrote: »

Euro 2008????

Yes, Euro 2008.

Mr Alan

Boggles wrote: »

Starting and bringing on Voronin ahead of him would be one piece of evidence.

Voronin played as a wing forward in a similar role to Babel/Riera/Kuyt do now, Crouch cant play that role-he was competing with Torres for a place.

monkey9

What Mr Alan said

Boggles

Mr Alan wrote: »

Voronin played as a wing forward in a similar role to Babel/Riera/Kuyt do now, Crouch cant play that role-he was competing with Torres for a place.

Vornonin played the majority if his games through the centre either, off another striker or beside.

Mr Alan wrote: »

Kuyt? he was one of the best players in the Euros,

I'm not going to argue with you if you think Kuyt was one of the best players at the Euros.

There is a reason you are walking away with the award for most biased poster thou.

meditraitor

Mr Alan wrote: »

Yes, Euro 2008.

I totally agree with this, he might not have been the most talented footballer at the tournamant but he gave everything and was instrumental in everything good the dutch did.

Mr Alan

check it out again Boggles, he was instrumental in all the dutch goals except one-and scored a couple iirc too. he was excellent.

maybe because he doesnt have a perma-tan, pink hotpants, wasnt flapping his arms about diving, and wasnt trying to execute a move to a rival you didnt notice him that much, but he really had an excellent tournament.

Boggles

Mr Alan wrote: »

check it out again Boggles, he was instrumental in all the dutch goals except one-and scored a couple iirc too. he was excellent.

Think you need to check it again Master Alan, cause your telling fibs.

Mr Alan

i could well be, i'm trying to recall by memory, but he was instrumental in all the dutch goals and had a great tournament none the less.

I appraoched that tournament keeping an eye out for wing forwards, as that was the area I felt we needed to strenghten, he was about the standout player in that position and has continued that into the PL season.

Boggles

Mr Alan wrote: »

i'm trying to recall by memory, but he was instrumental in all the dutch goals

No he wasn't.

I'm done with it FFS. :rolleyes:

monkey9

Tuesday November 25 2008 independent.ie


Liverpool's Brazilian full-back played under his manager, Rafael Benitez, when Valencia ended a 31-year wait for La Liga glory. He tells Ian Herbert how Anfield can learn from that experience in their 19th season of agony

He's the player who doesn't get mobbed when he's strolling with his family along Otterspool Promenade on the banks of the Mersey – his son's well-established Scouse accent giving the lie to any impression that dad might be a Brazilian international and Liverpool full-back. Fabio Aurelio's presence hardly screams "superstar" either, as he arrives on a bitter autumnal day at a school in the south of the city. No Rolex the size of a brick, no Latin American personality, just jeans as modest as the shoes and, as he moves around a sports hall filled with children whose troubles put football into its proper context, a slight sense that he is pleased to have received the invitation.


Appearances can be deceptive, of course. Though the Kop end has not been known to yearn for a "team of Fabios" – the song it reserves for one James Carragher, who lines up alongside him – Aurelio is the man perhaps best placed to answer the Premier League's most burning question: does Rafael Benitez truly have what it takes to deliver the title to Liverpool in May, 19 years after they last won one?


Aurelio is not among the knot of Spanish speakers like Pepe Reina, Xabi Alonso and Javier Mascherano, whom you will find in fast, animated conversation with Benitez at airports during Liverpool's Champions League journeys, but he has watched him at close quarters for longer than any player. It is seven years since Benitez made Aurelio one of his first signings at Valencia and so convinced was the Liverpool manager by what he had to offer that within two years of arriving at Anfield he had shipped him over here, too. It means that Aurelio has seen the changes in Benitez since he arrived at the Mestalla, fresh from having taken modest Tenerife into Liga 1. It also furnishes him with first-hand experience of the Liverpool manager's two titles at Valencia. Can he do it again?


Aurelio's answer is yes, of course. But in the 29-year-old's recollections of how Benitez secured Valencia's legendary 2000-01 La Liga title, a pinnacle the club had waited 31 years for, he has grounds for observing that Liverpool would be served well by other teams setting the pace. "We were running from the back in 2001 and that was good for us," Aurelio recalls. "Nobody is expecting you to fight for the title so you don't have the pressure that the teams at the top of the table have – to win every game. If you're top, you have to win, or otherwise you come down one position, or two positions. That was good for us at Valencia and maybe there are lessons for us now, at Liverpool."


Benitez was a different individual – less calm, more authoritative – back then. "He needed to show authority and was more authoritative as he was coming from a lowly team to a top team that hadn't won the league for so long. I clearly see him here as calmer."


Benitez was more determined to intrude in aspects of the Valencia players' lives where he was not always wanted – his insistence that they eat their rice plain, rather than seasoned with vegetables was a source of controversy in the rice-producing environs of Valencia. But for all that intensity, unwelcome at times, Aurelio presents the events of a freezing night in the shadow of Barcelona's Montjuic mountain, in December 2001, as evidence that Benitez will also show grace under pressure if and when the pips start to squeak for Liverpool, this spring.


"We were playing the local side, Espanyol," he recalls, "and there were question marks because the team wasn't very good and we found ourselves losing 2-0." He is actually understating it. Benitez faced the sack if the side he had just taken over lost, having battled through a snowstorm to reach the stadium late. Aurelio insists Benitez said nothing particularly memorable at half-time – "there was no shouting, nothing special I remember apart from, 'You can go out and do it" – but the events of the 45 minutes which followed changed everything. "We won 3-2 and everybody remembers that, because after that we went up and away and won the league," Aurelio says. "The pressure on him [Benitez] was amazing and if you've overcome that maybe you can overcome anything."


Just as Benitez – the man who bluntly told Aurelio when he arrived from Sao Paulo's Morumbi stadium that he must put aside his Brazilian wing-back instincts and learn to defend better – has faced undoubted tribulations on Merseyside, Aurelio has struggled too, his development stunted by two hateful injuries. Such was the force of the Achilles tendon snap he suffered in a Champions League game against PSV Eindhoven in April last year that video replays show him looking behind him to discover the source of what he believed had hit him. It was the end of his season and, having re-established himself as Liverpool's first-choice left-back, he also found the last campaign ended prematurely by a torn abductor muscle in that fateful Champions League semi-final first leg with Chelsea at Anfield. "They've been some of my hardest times in the game," says Aurelio, whose 2003-4 campaign with Valencia was also cut short – by a broken leg.


He has borne these troubles with the kind of forbearance and good nature which make him one of Liverpool's most receptive players when it comes to events like the recent launch of the club's "Respect 4 All" disability coaching centre in south Liverpool. The centre, for children aged 12 to 16 of all nationalities and ethnicities with learning and physical disabilities and visual impairments, has recently received €140,000 of funding from the Premier League and Professional Footballers' Association Community Fund, and was being supported through the Premier League's "Creating Chances" programme.


Aurelio weaves around the hall, joining in with wheelchair football, football for the visually impaired, who use a ball which emits a noise, and takes up a place in a goal as a queue of children with learning difficulties prepare to test him out. "It can be difficult just when your children have a small cold," says Aurelio, reflecting on it all. "To see the problems these children have come through is a tribute to those who have worked with them."


The importance of Aurelio's family, who are settled in Woolton, to the south of the city, is all the greater because of the personal tragedy he encountered as he was preparing to leave Brazil to make his way in Europe. His father, Mario, died in a car crash in March 2000, which meant he never lived to see his son – then aged 20 – play in the Olympics for Emerson Leao's Brazil side that year, nor enjoy his success at the Mestalla.


"It had always been a dream for my father to see me playing for a European club. There have been many times things I have wished he could have seen," he reflects.


At least Aurelio's development, making his debut for Sao Paulo in 1997, aged 17, helped him buy Mario, a plastics worker, a better home before he died. The absence of cash certainly made for long bus trips home from the Morumbi. "I had a godfather, Jose du Prado, who was the one who helped me and my family a lot and my parents did all that they could," he says.


Visits to Brazil are limited to the close season, though Aurelio's mother, Neide, is in Europe more often, either to see him, or his sister, who is married to Real Betis' Brazilian midfielder Edu. Aurelio and his wife, Elaine, married three months before his father died and, though adapting to a European life took them time, he finds his Spanish-born children – Fabio, seven next month, and two-year-old Victoria – take everything in their stride. "They amaze me," he says.


With one year left on his contract, Aurelio hopes he can continue a career on Merseyside which has not always demonstrated the attacking wing play and eye for the spectacular goal – a spectacular volley brought his only goal for Liverpool at Bolton last March –which Benitez has always seen in him.


For now, the key is to remember the lessons of 2001, he believes. "The fans here are amazing but it is a long way if you are fighting for the title. We know the pressure we have because of the time Liverpool has waited, but we have to keep our feet on the floor as we are doing now – and wait."

Mr Alan

Boggles wrote: »

No he wasn't.

I'm done with it FFS. :rolleyes:

good man boggles, you crawl out of the woodwork 6 months after a tournament! if you feel so strongly about it why were you quiet when his perforamances were being praised at the time. strange one that :rolleyes:

Boggles

Mr Alan wrote: »

good man boggles, you crawl out of the woodwork 6 months after a tournament! if you feel so strongly about it why were you quiet when his perforamances were being praised at the time. strange one that :rolleyes:

You brought it up, saying he was one of the best players at the tournament and was instrumental in everyone of Hollands goals, are we not allowed talk about recent history, or does it not suit you because you were caught talking bollix?

monkey9

Boggles wrote: »

You brought it up, saying he was one of the best players at the tournament, are we not allowed talk about recent history, or does it not suit you because your talking bollix?

Boggles, Kuyt was superb in that tournament and widely recognised as being so. Why does it p!ss you off so much. He had a quality tournament, he's allowed to.

spockety

Boggles wrote: »

You brought it up, saying he was one of the best players at the tournament, are we not allowed talk about recent history, or does it not suit you because your talking bollix?

Hardly bollix.

He had a better tournament than Ronaldo.

In fact I'd say if you offered Van Basten a swap Ronaldo for Kuyt he would tell you to go shove it. He is a far more complete player out on the right.

whatawaster

Boggles wrote: »

No he wasn't.

I'm done with it FFS. :rolleyes:

Well that ends that then.

monkey9

Fernando Torres admits he has fallen in love with Liverpool and English football.

The Spain striker took the Barclays Premier League by storm last season following his big-money move from Atletico Madrid in the summer of 2007, scoring 24 goals in his debut campaign for the Reds.

Although his second season at Anfield has been affected by some nagging injuries, Torres insists he is completely at home in England.

“It isn’t easy to adapt but once you have, you would have trouble wanting to play anywhere else,” said the 24-year-old, who scored Spain’s winner in last summer’s Euro 2008 final against Germany.

“The Premier League is way ahead of the Spanish league.

“You go to play away at a team in the relegation zone and you find yourself playing on a perfect pitch, with the stands full to bursting and opponents who are there to play football.

“And even if they lose, the crowd are going to cheer them on until the death. You only see this in British football.”

Torres added: “The club is a symbol of a city which fought to stay alive.

“Everyone is proud of the team. Players want to come here because they know that Liverpool is a truly great club.

“Anfield is the most English of all the grounds – people live and breath football there.

“With just 45,000 fans there, that roar they give makes you think you have wings on your feet.”

Torres completed his move to Liverpool in July last year, a month and a half after they had been defeated by AC Milan in the final of the Champions League.

The striker revealed he was approached by Liverpool coach and fellow Spaniard Rafael Benitez just after that match, but he had trouble believing it was not a hoax call.

“Rafa Benitez phoned me on my mobile,” Torres recalled.

“At the start, I was asking myself if this was some person imitating him. So I called (Liverpool goalkeeper Pepe) Reina to make sure it really was Rafa’s number.




“Then after that, I didn’t have to think for long. I knew that was the call I had been waiting for.”

Torres also revealed he made a secret two-day visit to Liverpool prior to signing, during which time he took his medical, and was immediately charmed by the club, its history and the supporters.

“I spent two days in an apartment that I only left to take some tests,” he said.

“There were just books, DVDS, everything you could think of about the club. Some people from the club came to speak to me and answer my questions; it was incredible.

“I will never forget a man crossing the street I met a short time after I got there – he said to me that he worked all week just to think of the pleasure that would be waiting for him at the stadium.”

Torres has struck up a great on-field relationship with Steven Gerrard, Liverpool’s captain and talismanic midfielder.

The pair have combined to score a raft of goals over the past 16 months and Torres is full of admiration for the England star.

“I wanted to play for a club like Liverpool, where I could learn from players like Steven Gerrard, who I have always respected as a player and a leader,” he said.

“A captain in England must lead by example. Steve Gerrard is someone everyone wants to be like – always the first at training, it is he who grafts the hardest in each exercise, who sacrifices himself during each match.

“You follow him blindly. Moreover, he is a star who decided to stay at Liverpool despite all the offers.

“It is a pleasure to receive the throughballs you get from Steven. He puts the ball where he wants, like Xavi (Hernandez) for the national team.”

Torres has set his sights on helping Liverpool win their first title since 1990.

“It is fair to say the Premier League is in front of everything else for us,” he added in France Football.

“It is 18 years since Liverpool were last champions of England and the wait is enormous.”

Boggles

spockety wrote: »

Hardly bollix.

He had a better tournament than Ronaldo.

In fact I'd say if you offered Van Basten a swap Ronaldo for Kuyt he would tell you to go shove it. He is a far more complete player out on the right.

What has Ronaldo got do with Kuyt? :rolleyes:

_blank_

What does van Basten have to do with either player, or Holland? :rolleyes:

Dub13

When posting articles could you give credit to the newspaper and auther plus a link to the story.Thanks

Mr Alan

Boggles wrote: »

You brought it up, saying he was one of the best players at the tournament and was instrumental in everyone of Hollands goals, are we not allowed talk about recent history, or does it not suit you because you were caught talking bollix?

1)He was one of the best players at the tournament
2)He was virtually instrumental in all the dutch goals-the only one off my head he wasnt, was Robbens.

spockety

Boggles wrote: »

What has Ronaldo got do with Kuyt? :rolleyes:

Everything and nothing, stop getting your knickers in a knot.

Hobart

Des wrote: »

What does van Basten have to do with either player, or Holland? :rolleyes:

Post of the year tbh. Did he not manage The Dutch at some stage? In particular around the time these guys are talking about?

Boggles

Mr Alan wrote: »

1)He was one of the best players at the tournament

I don't see him mentioned anywhere in squad of the tournament.

Mr Alan wrote: »

2)He was virtually instrumental in all the dutch goals-the only one off my head he wasnt, was Robbens.

The Dutch actually scored more goals with him off the pitch, so I suppose he must have been VIRTUALLY instrumental, because he sure as fúck wasn't PHYSICALLY instrumental.

spockety

Boggles wrote: »

I don't see him mentioned anywhere in squad of the tournament.



The Dutch actually scored more goals with him off the pitch, so I suppose he must have been VIRTUALLY instrumental, because he sure as fúck wasn't PHYSICALLY intrsumental.

That's a bit harsh. He was clearly seen shouting words of encouragement from the bench to his team mates just before they scored each goal. If that's not physical I don't know what is.

Tusky

Kuyt did have a very good tournament but I think youre a bit wide of the mark when you say that he was instrumental in all the goals bar one MrAlan.

~Rebel~

to be fair to Kuyt, he did play exceptionally well.

Here's 2 assists from the first game when they beat the Italians 3-0 - a lot of credit for that win goes to Kuyt.
http://mysoccermedia.com/?module=video&video_id=1102&lang_id=1

Got a goal against France too. The all important first.
http://mysoccermedia.com/?module=video&video_id=1147&lang_id=1

Did more, but these are the ones i could specifically remember so were easy to find.

Mr Alan

obviously Boggles, i meant while he was on the pitch :rolleyes:

as for the squad of the tournament, too many people like you who would just have ignored his performances for him to get into it i'd imagine. although it is interesting to know that you value that kind of thing as a definate truth in regards to people being deserved of things, i must remember that for future reference.

Boggles

Mr Alan wrote: »

obviously Boggles, i meant while he was on the pitch :rolleyes:

That wasn't obvious at all Alan.

Mr Alan wrote: »

1)
2)He was virtually instrumental in all the dutch goals-the only one off my head he wasnt, was Robbens.

Especially when the only goal you don't remember him being involved in was Robbens. Kuyt wasn't actually on the pitch at the time, why specifically point to that one and not point to the rest of the goals Holland scored when Kuyt was on the bench?

Mr Alan wrote: »

as for the squad of the tournament, too many people like you who would just have ignored his performances for him to get into it i'd imagine. although it is interesting to know that you value that kind of thing as a definate truth in regards to people being deserved of things, i must remember that for future reference.

:D:D

monkey9

Boggles, you're dissing of Dirk is bordering on the blasphamous to be honest. Now, leave him alone.

Waster

Euro 2008

Kuyt was selected for the Dutch squad for Euro 2008. On 9 June, he played in their opening Group C match, a 3-0 victory over World Champions Italy, assisting in two goals, his most notable act being the header that provided the link between Giovanni van Bronckhorst's crossfield pass and Wesley Sneijder's goal to make it 2-0 on 31 minutes. On 13 June, Kuyt contributed in his team's second next game of Group C, a 4-1 victory over World Cup finalists France by opening the scoring with an 9th minute header from a corner, [11] [12] taking his tally of international goals to 8.

During the Euro 2008, Kuyt was employed as a winger, partnering with Sneijder and van der Vaart in the midfield due to the team's change of formation from 4-3-3/4-4-2 to 4-2-3-1.

Boggles

Waster wrote: »

Euro 2008

Kuyt was selected for the Dutch squad for Euro 2008. On 9 June, he played in their opening Group C match, a 3-0 victory over World Champions Italy, assisting in two goals, his most notable act being the header that provided the link between Giovanni van Bronckhorst's crossfield pass and Wesley Sneijder's goal to make it 2-0 on 31 minutes. On 13 June, Kuyt contributed in his team's second next game of Group C, a 4-1 victory over World Cup finalists France by opening the scoring with an 9th minute header from a corner, [11] [12] taking his tally of international goals to 8.

During the Euro 2008, Kuyt was employed as a winger, partnering with Sneijder and van der Vaart in the midfield due to the team's change of formation from 4-3-3/4-4-2 to 4-2-3-1.

So we argree he wasn't instrumental in everyone of Hollands goals in Euro 2008?

Mr Alan

yes i agree with that Boggles, and i apologise for any confusion caused.

however i firmly stand by the point that he had an outstanding Euro 2008 and has been one of the outstanding players in the league thus far.

Karmafaerie

.

spockety

Feel the love!

jesus_thats_gre

You gotsta love the Liverpool thread....

Karmafaerie

jesus_thats_gre wrote: »

You gotsta love the Liverpool thread....

I wouldn't know what to do at work without it!

mormank

i was one of kuyt's biggest critics last year, perhaps not so much on this thread. i swore he needed to be replaced asap. and tbh he has been. he has been replaced with kuyt of this year. he is like a new player. he is scoring goals, getting assists and is the most selfless player currently plying his trade with one of the big 3...i leave out arsenal cos when they play 100% they play for eachother more than any other team...

the difference for kuyt this season i believe is confidence. long may it continue.

oh and van basten im afraid wouldve swapped kuyt for ronaldo. he wouldve used him differently than the portuguese used him tho..ronnie played alot of the tournie as the lead sole striker or as a second striker, not really his positions

spockety

I think the difference with Kuyt this year is that his Dad hasn't just died. People cope in different ways with the death of someone very close, and the snippets of info that were coming out last year were that he was finding it very difficult. I saw him mention once that he would look up into the stands at Anfield where his Dad used to sit etc. Would not be at all surprised if it had a big effect on him on the pitch.

mayordenis

I think you're right spockety he really struggled with that, his dad was his hero and meant a huge amount to him.

noodler

I am in England at the moment, will RTE's site defo not let me watch the Liverpool game?

I haven't got SS2 here at the mo.

Malice

noodler wrote: »

I am in England at the moment, will RTE's site defo not let me watch the Liverpool game?

I haven't got SS2 here at the mo.

I hope this isn't too off-topic but have a read here and here. They might be of some help to you.

flanzer

Torres goal scoring confidence takes an even bigger knock, I'm beginning to worry now...... :pac::pac::pac:

see here

Boom_Bap

flanzer wrote: »

Torres goal scoring confidence takes an even bigger knock, I'm beginning to worry now...... :pac::pac::pac:

see here

Brilliant

PiE

Warning, warning - Sun link in Liverpool thread - prepare for outrage.

mike65

I'm more worried about Masch in particular and the whole lack of fizz in the side in general. Has the air been let out of the tyres or is this a case of "pacing", doing as little as possible to get a result.

Mike

citytillidie

They just seem to be doing enough to win games, which i dont mind you still get 3 point for winning 1-0 as you do for winning 3-0.

As for Torres i will only be worried if he changes his hairstyle in an interview he said he changes it when he is low in confidence.