Liverpool FC Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread

sweetie

~Rebel~ wrote: »

Just remembered that one of my dreams last night was us resigning Luis Garcia...

david speedie or ronnie rosenthal weren't in any of the others were they?

MementoMori

~Rebel~ wrote: »

Just remembered that one of my dreams last night was us resigning Luis Garcia...

Shussh you'll be getting Mr Alan all worked up

Mr Alan

MementoMori wrote: »

Shussh you'll be getting Mr Alan all worked up

Too late

MementoMori

On the Ngog deal - apparently the reason he only cost £1.5m was that next season was his last year under contract and he was refusing to sign a new one. Could well be a bargain. He's probably on tasty enough wages as a result.

Rumour in the Sun (:o just saying, like) that Ince is interested in Pennant at £6m. Also a story that Spurs are considering selling Berbatov to Inter Milan at £25m to ensure Utd don't get him - hope they don't consider anything similar with Keane - looks like it will be at least next week before we know if he does sign. Also a rumour that the Olympiacos coach said to a Greek paper that they are 90% sure to sign Leto on a loan-deal. Sounds plausible if he does't get his passport. At least it sounds like Rafa has made contingency plans if things don't work out with the passport.Makes the need for a new left sided player pretty urgernt if this in fact the case though.

Interview with chief scout from the offical site - gives a clear
indication of what Rafa's trying to achieve buying so many youngsters.

RAFA'S BOOTROOM: EDUARDO MACIA
Paul Hassall 24 July 2008

In the latest in our series of in-depth chats with members of Rafael Benitez's Melwood staff we spoke to chief scout Eduardo Macia about life at Liverpool.

Whether he's scouring Europe for the next big thing or casting a keen eye over the latest South American superstar, Eduardo Macia knows exactly what he wants when it comes to signing the right player for Liverpool.

In an in-depth interview with Liverpoolfc.tv he talks openly about his success with Rafael Benitez at Valencia, how he came to join the Reds and how he is playing his part in trying to secure a golden future for the club.

Eduardo, you've been at the club since 2006 as Chief Scout. How did you come to join Liverpool?

Well, Rafa was trying to procure me every day. I met him through Valencia and then he asked me to come here. Rafa said I need a chief scout to head up our global scouting network. He wanted to build up the system. That's not to say I wasn't happy where I was. I was very happy in Valencia. It was a good life that I really enjoyed. So coming here was a big decision. If I hadn't been happy in Spain then it would have been an easy choice to come to England. But it wasn't easy, although I do think I made the right choice. Along with the decision to get married this was the biggest choice I've ever had to make in my life. My dad was a fan of Liverpool and he told me all about Dalglish, Hansen and Phil Thompson. In Spain before the Premier League started we'd get one English game on TV every month and it was nearly always Liverpool. So for me the club had a mythical quality about it. Now to be working for this club and with these people makes me feel like I'm very lucky. People tell me that all the time.

What about your time at Valencia. You were very successful there...

We won the league with a fantastic team. There were a lot of young players involved like Marchena, Baraja, Vicente, Angulo, Albelda... From that Rafa knew I could help him build a strong squad. We won two league titles in Spain and the UEFA Cup in the space of three years. That was despite the fact that Barcelona, Real Madrid, Deportivo and Atletico all had more money than us. But we were working with the idea of combining all the older players such as Carboni, Anglomar, Luque with the up and coming players. With those guys we knew we had a foundation to build a great team.

What about your future with Liverpool?

Now we are building for the future here. We've brought in a lot of young players in the last few years. Guys who are 16, 17, 18 years old and they all have the mentality we want. That's why they won the reserve league last season. We know they can still improve as players, but they have the right mentality. Guys like Nemeth, San Jose, Bruna, Spearing, Darby, Insua, Gulacsi... Now we are hoping to add more players to that quality. It's a young side, in Spain it would be described as a B team. The idea is to provide first team players for the future so that when they are 20, 21, 22 they are ready for the Premier League. Another type of player we are bringing in is someone like Lucas Leiva who was one of the best young players in Brazil and then there's Ryan Babel. Both of them are in their early 20s and are players for the future. On the next level it's Javier Mascherano, Fernando Torres, Martin Skrtel, Daniel Agger. They are still young, but have lots of experience and can go straight into the first team and should be here for many years. The idea is that in the future we will be bringing through enough players for the first team that the manager might only need to buy one or two players every summer. He won't need to go out and sign four or five. Steven Gerrard, Carra, Sami Hyypia and Finnan are all fantastic veterans. And we've tried to add to that with guys like Kuyt, Alonso, Reina and tried to unite the team. It's not possible to spend £200m to win the Premier League. We can't do that so we have another way. Now Rafa is happy with the young players we have and wants to continue improving the senior squad.

http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/news/features/this_season/FN13191080724-1204.htm

ibh

Heard Muntari from Portsmouth could go to Inter for 12m??!! Makes me think we undervalued Alonso at 16m(ish).

rosboy

Thanks MementoMori. Interesting article.

PHB

ibh wrote: »

Heard Muntari from Portsmouth could go to Inter for 12m??!! Makes me think we undervalued Alonso at 16m(ish).

Muntari has been as good as Alonso in the last year. He still has bags and bags of potential and people forget that it was quite a coup for Portsmouth to sign him.

~Rebel~

PHB wrote: »

Muntari has been as good as Alonso in the last year. He still has bags and bags of potential and people forget that it was quite a coup for Portsmouth to sign him.

Aye, Muntari's a great player alright, think he has plenty more in him too. Seen a bit of him years ago, but he really confirmed my opinion of him in the world cup 2 years ago. To be honest, if Rafa were adament about selling Alonso and the Barry deal fell through, Muntari would be right up there on my list, and would be my highest for that kind of sub 15mill money.

mike65

Gerrard will be disheartened to be labeled a veteran.

So the production line is being front loaded, heres hoping that works cos Liverpool in thier league pomp only brought in a few players a year.

Mike.

rosboy

mike65 wrote: »

So the production line is being front loaded, heres hoping that works cos Liverpool in thier league pomp only brought in a few players a year.

Mike.

Here's hoping Rafa is still there in a few years to make it happen. If Rafa were to be shown the door, you'd have to worry about all the hard work falling apart.

zing

Leto set for loan move to Olympiakos.

http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11661_3860987,00.html

Now what puzzles me a bit is why he can't play for us because of the passport mess but could potentially play in Greece ?

rosboy

zing wrote: »

Leto set for loan move to Olympiakos.

http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11661_3860987,00.html

Now what puzzles me a bit is why he can't play for us because of the passport mess but could potentially play in Greece ?

Is he definitely going?

He added: "I am still waiting for the community passport. Liverpool will wait for it until 31st of July.

This sounds like if Liverpool can't get the passport thing sorted by the 31st he'll be going on loan. If its sorted by then he'll be staying.

Edit: A year long loan, with regular football and possible champions league experience could do Leto a wealth of good.

Daemonic

England / UK is very strict on work permits for non-EU players. A lot of other EU nations are very open in allowing footballers to work in their countries.

taidghbaby

zing wrote: »

Leto set for loan move to Olympiakos.

http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11661_3860987,00.html

Now what puzzles me a bit is why he can't play for us because of the passport mess but could potentially play in Greece ?

dont argue.....just get rid

shayser

Keane not in Spurs squad for tonight's game. Imminent then!

Karmafaerie

shayser wrote: »

Keane not in Spurs squad for tonight's game. Imminent then!

He could be on the way to Melwood over the weekend then.:)

Thanx 4 The Fish

Believe it or not, it is not that far from London to liverpool. Three hours is enough, the two days is a bit of overkill if you ask me !

mike65

Not if you go by rail.

Mike

Karmafaerie

Thanx 4 The Fish wrote: »

Believe it or not, it is not that far from London to liverpool. Three hours is enough, the two days is a bit of overkill if you ask me !

Thought that Spurs were in Spain.
Although I was probably just imagining that.

Sorry.

shayser

Arbeloa to return to Spain? :eek:

Benítez may also be about to lose Álvaro Arbeloa, who was expected to start the new season as first-choice right back. Arbeloa has performed consistently since a £2.6million move from Deportivo La Coruña in January 2007, but it emerged yesterday that the 25-year-old plans to return to Spain for personal reasons

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/article4393583.ece

Thanx 4 The Fish

No need to apologise, it is probably quicker to get to Liverpool from Spain that it is from London.

~Rebel~

shayser wrote: »

Arbeloa to return to Spain? :eek:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/article4393583.ece

that would be a bit of a nightmare. Though his value has certainly risen dramatically over the past year and a half with his performances (and a European Championships winners medal cant hurt!), so we should be able to get a decent replacement for his cost, if he did have to leave.

Chardee MacDennis

~Rebel~ wrote: »

that would be a bit of a nightmare. Though his value has certainly risen dramatically over the past year and a half with his performances (and a European Championships winners medal cant hurt!), so we should be able to get a decent replacement for his cost, if he did have to leave.

i rate arbeloa quite highly and think he could be better then finnan given enough time to improve his attacking skills, dont think we should let him go unless absolutely necessary....

leninbenjamin

BastardPrince wrote: »

i rate arbeloa quite highly and think he could be better then finnan given enough time to improve his attacking skills, dont think we should let him go unless absolutely necessary....

agreed. to lose arbeloa would be a very bad move.

mayordenis

I'd be gutted - really the rate the guy.

Karmafaerie

I think that we all rate Arbeloa, as does Rafa.
I'd also say that Al loves Liverpool too.
It'd have to be something serious to make him leave us I think.
Not just the weather I mean.

Hope he and his are okay.

MementoMori

Some quotes below from Elisha Scott - that combined with his absence from the Spurs friendly make me think that the Keane is 95% certain. Hurrrah:D:D:D:D!!!!

On the Arbeloa thing - it sounds fairly vague - would be a big loss.
Was there not a rumour of an offer of £7.5m? Maybe sometime around the Euros? Think it was a Spanish club? Massive boos in general :(:(:(:(

At least a week until the Leto thing is resolved apparently - hopefully Rafa has his eye on a decent left-sided player as replacement

Also Barry thing seems less likely - Also got some stuff to post in the transfer tread. Seems like O'Neill is gettring anxious.

Elisha_Scott @ Jul 24 2008, 22:03)
OK, please don't shout at me, but......

The medical has been scheduled for Monday for definite, I don't know what happened to yesterday.

The deal is sorted, so everyone stop panicking.

QUOTE(kopsawyer @ Jul 24 2008, 23:07)
Do you still think barry will sign Elisha?


Not as much as I did 3 weeks ago.

I think the hold up is down to Spurs trying to slow things down so they can sort a replacement out. In fairness, I can see their point.

zing

I'd dismiss it off hand only it's from Ollie Kay and he tends to be a lot more clued in than most regarding LFC.

Karmafaerie

First off.

I think that all former Liverpool players should just be banned from speaking to the press now!
I mean there's just something that seems to happen as soon as they hang up the boots.
Lawrenson, Redknapp, Whelan, and Hanson as bellow.

Alan Hanson wrote:

“They are getting closer, but they still need three or four players,” Hansen said yesterday. “Barry would be a great acquisition, but really they need wide players, a couple of full backs and wingers. Liverpool rely too heavily on the goals of Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard. If they go with the squad they have, their 11 best players can compete. But, whereas United and Chelsea can replace quality with quality, Liverpool can't.”

Did we just not buy a "couple of full backs"?!!!
FFS like.
And yes, we do rely too heavily on Torres and Gerrard for goals, that's why he's buying one of the most prolific scorers in English football you twat!!!:rolleyes:

Secondly.

Is Martin O'Neill taking the f**king piss or what?!

MON wrote:

“It's a long-running saga and I wouldn't mind it ending one way or other,” O'Neill said. “We have our own plans to make. We should not be at the behest of Liverpool Football Club.”

Hold the f**king boat there.
How bloody long have we been held at the behest of a cocky little t**t with a chip on his shoulder the size of Ayers Rock?!!
Rafa wanted this sorted out weeks ago.
You personally have been holding it up, while composing a smear campaign against our club, manager, and your own captain!

And all the AV fans saying that MON stated a price and Liverpool haven't met it.
Well how is that us holding ye at our behest?!
If that was the case MON shouldn't care less about the cooling of interest.

Even more evidence of how two faced and reprehensible he's become.
I think that his head would physically implode if Rafa went to the media saying that AV were holding us at their behest and that they should hurry up and sort things out!

Plank!!!:mad:

Jesus Wept

MementoMori wrote: »

t.

Also a story that Spurs are considering selling Berbatov to Inter Milan at £25m to ensure Utd don't get him -

I imagine they are just trying to get the best price, I can't understand why they would sell him cheaper to Milan just to stop him going to United.
They aren't going to challenge for the title.

Karmafaerie

Karmafaerie wrote: »

First off.

I think that all former Liverpool players should just be banned from speaking to the press now!
I mean there's just something that seems to happen as soon as they hang up the boots.
Lawrenson, Redknapp, Whelan, and Hanson as bellow.



Did we just not buy a "couple of full backs"?!!!
FFS like.
And yes, we do rely too heavily on Torres and Gerrard for goals, that's why he's buying one of the most prolific scorers in English football you twat!!!:rolleyes:

Secondly.

Is Martin O'Neill taking the f**king piss or what?!



Hold the f**king boat there.
How bloody long have we been held at the behest of a cocky little t**t with a chip on his shoulder the size of Ayers Rock?!!
Rafa wanted this sorted out weeks ago.
You personally have been holding it up, while composing a smear campaign against our club, manager, and your own captain!

And all the AV fans saying that MON stated a price and Liverpool haven't met it.
Well how is that us holding ye at our behest?!
If that was the case MON shouldn't care less about the cooling of interest.

Even more evidence of how two faced and reprehensible he's become.
I think that his head would physically implode if Rafa went to the media saying that AV were holding us at their behest and that they should hurry up and sort things out!

Plank!!!:mad:

As pissed off as I am about how it's being delayed I can see why MON is delaying it. He's pissed off about how it has been handled by both sides, Liverpool & Barry. Hense him fining him 2 weeks wages. We were too public about it & it wasn't fair on AV in general when it's their captain we're talking about snatching. We were fairly pissed off with Chelsea when all that talk about Gerrard going there was made very public. I think people have to see it from both sides a little more. I have total respect for MON & he is a great manager, he is doing exactly what a proper manager should do in the situation he is in. The guy learned from the master, Cloughy. I honestly think now he'd sell him to Arsenal for a cheaper price because of what has happened & we only have ourselves to blame. Put yourself in a Villa fans boot's fellas, I'd be pretty ****ing pissed off at Liverpool with all the stuff that has not been kept private.

missingtime

I would be delighted if we did nothing until the last week of the transfer window when Martin O Neill offers him to us for 15m depending on performance.

zAbbo

Would be gutted if Areboloa leaves, he's got the Finnan-esque quality of being ultra consistent, plus he's young and versatile, we need players like him!

But if it's personal reasons, well somethings are always bigger than football, so best of luck to him if he goes.

It will more than likely mean Finnan isn't going anywhere, which is OK with me, but Degen is a bit unknown.

Keane in, Alonso stays, +1 more winger sounds good to me.

missingtime

missingtime wrote: »

I would be delighted if we did nothing until the last week of the transfer window when Martin O Neill offers him to us for 15m depending on performance.

Can't see that happening myself. Although it would be nice

monkey9

Jimmy Rice 25 July 2008

Andrea Dossena has told fans not to expect catenaccio football at Anfield next season despite the new Italian influence in Rafa Benitez's defence.
The left-back, who arrived from Serie A side Udinese last month, dislikes the defensive tactic deployed by some Italian teams who set out for a 1-0 win.

"I am not a fan of catenaccio, it's not for me," Dossena told LFC Magazine. "I don't like it when teams just try to pass the ball around to waste time.

"If you concede a goal in the last minute of a game, it could be that all your efforts have been wasted. I don't really like the talk about Italian football being all about the defence and attacking on the break.

"Of course, I see myself as a defender but I like to be flexible too. If there is a chance to attack I am very happy to go forward. I am not the type of player who is happy to settle for a 1-0 win.

"I believe in always playing to win and trying to score more goals

gixerfixer

Karmafaerie wrote: »

First off.

I think that all former Liverpool players should just be banned from speaking to the press now!
I mean there's just something that seems to happen as soon as they hang up the boots.
Lawrenson, Redknapp, Whelan, and Hanson as bellow.



Did we just not buy a "couple of full backs"?!!!
FFS like.
And yes, we do rely too heavily on Torres and Gerrard for goals, that's why he's buying one of the most prolific scorers in English football you twat!!!:rolleyes:

Secondly.

Is Martin O'Neill taking the f**king piss or what?!



Hold the f**king boat there.
How bloody long have we been held at the behest of a cocky little t**t with a chip on his shoulder the size of Ayers Rock?!!
Rafa wanted this sorted out weeks ago.
You personally have been holding it up, while composing a smear campaign against our club, manager, and your own captain!

And all the AV fans saying that MON stated a price and Liverpool haven't met it.
Well how is that us holding ye at our behest?!
If that was the case MON shouldn't care less about the cooling of interest.

Even more evidence of how two faced and reprehensible he's become.
I think that his head would physically implode if Rafa went to the media saying that AV were holding us at their behest and that they should hurry up and sort things out!

Plank!!!:mad:

I feel your pain :pac:.All the ex pro's in the media are in a word twits.They all say the same things over and over again because they are all afraid of losing the job they have for the channel they are working for if they say something different than the status quo.The hanson quotes are a perfect example as he hasnt properly done his homework missing the fact that we have already signed two attacking wingbacks and will capture the Keane deal this week.Actually the only ex-pro in the media from time to time i pay any attention to is Gordan strachan who doesnt seem to fall for any of the BS that comes with punditery and tells it like it is.As for MON im delighted that he will be stuck with Barry for the season.Serves him right:)

Malice

I wouldn't agree that all former Liverpool players should be banned from talking to the press, just the majority.

Kenny Dalglish has proven himself time and time again to be a very intelligent and articulate analyst (once you get past the thick Glaswegian accent ). That's probably why he rarely features on Sky!

John Aldridge is another I would have a lot of time for but that's probably just down to his enthusiastic support of the team. If you haven't heard it, his commentary in the Champions League quarter-final against Arsenal last season was brilliant.

mike65

RTE sport heads at 11 just reckoned Keane will be signed in next 48 hours.

Mike

zing

Reports coming out of Spain suggesting Alvaro Arbeloa is looking to leave Liverpool are news to the club, who have not had any indication from either the player or his agent that he wants to move.

http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liverpool-fc/liverpool-fc-news/2008/07/25/liverpool-s-spain-euro-2008-champions-can-inspire-team-rafa-benitez-100252-21405165/

zAbbo

I might actually like Robbie Keane now

mike65

Remember when Liverpool were breifly linked with Lee Bowyer (for 8 million!)? That would have been a tester.

Mike.

sweetie

mike65 wrote: »

Remember when Liverpool were breifly linked with Lee Bowyer (for 8 million!)? That would have been a tester.

Mike.

Didn't it fall through due to his wage demands?

mike65

Can't remember (I'd have to laugh if it was wages, I guess Leeds must have still been rich back then )

Mike

Chardee MacDennis

mike65 wrote: »

Can't remember (I'd have to laugh if it was wages, I guess Leeds must have still been rich back then )

Mike

i remember thinking how it may be a good move for both, thank god it never went through!!

Karmafaerie

Deleted User wrote: »

As pissed off as I am about how it's being delayed I can see why MON is delaying it. He's pissed off about how it has been handled by both sides, Liverpool & Barry. Hense him fining him 2 weeks wages. We were too public about it & it wasn't fair on AV in general when it's their captain we're talking about snatching. We were fairly pissed off with Chelsea when all that talk about Gerrard going there was made very public. I think people have to see it from both sides a little more. I have total respect for MON & he is a great manager, he is doing exactly what a proper manager should do in the situation he is in. The guy learned from the master, Cloughy. I honestly think now he'd sell him to Arsenal for a cheaper price because of what has happened & we only have ourselves to blame. Put yourself in a Villa fans boot's fellas, I'd be pretty ****ing pissed off at Liverpool with all the stuff that has not been kept private.

I can understand any manager getting upset if Liverpool did half of the things that MON said we did.

Unfortunately for him though, we didn't.

Look back over the press releases throughout this whole charade.
At least 3/4's of the talking to the press came from parties outside of Liverpool.

Rafa said that he had made an offer and had talked to MON about it, nothing more.
Gerrard said once that he would love for Barry to play for Liverpool.
That's it.
Nothing else.
MON however has being stopping people in the street to talk about it.
An interview hasn't passed where he doesn't bring it up.
Rafa on the other hand, refuses to talk, even when asked point blank.

I too used to have a lot of respect for MON.
Unfortunately, I've lost a lot of it.

Karmafaerie

malice_ wrote: »

I wouldn't agree that all former Liverpool players should be banned from talking to the press, just the majority.

Kenny Dalglish has proven himself time and time again to be a very intelligent and articulate analyst (once you get past the thick Glaswegian accent ). That's probably why he rarely features on Sky!

John Aldridge is another I would have a lot of time for but that's probably just down to his enthusiastic support of the team. If you haven't heard it, his commentary in the Champions League quarter-final against Arsenal last season was brilliant.

Aldrige I suppose is the exception that prooves the rule (legend!).
But Kenny has started to echo a few of the tired old lines in the last few years.
I've heard him complaining about the "rotation" policy, and saying that Liverpool will never win the premiership under Rafa.

spockety

From the Echo..

"Reports coming out of Spain suggesting Alvaro Arbeloa is looking to leave Liverpool are news to the club, who have not had any indication from either the player or his agent that he wants to move."

spockety

Karmafaerie wrote: »

Aldrige I suppose is the exception that prooves the rule (legend!).
But Kenny has started to echo a few of the tired old lines in the last few years.
I've heard him complaining about the "rotation" policy, and saying that Liverpool will never win the premiership under Rafa.

Where has he said this? Every article I've read by him (he writes a lot for the official club magazine) have always backed Rafa 100%.

Karmafaerie

spockety wrote: »

Where has he said this? Every article I've read by him (he writes a lot for the official club magazine) have always backed Rafa 100%.

Can't seem to find it, and am begining to think that I imagined it!

shane86

shayser wrote: »

Keane not in Spurs squad for tonight's game. Imminent then!

So I heard. Heard word the unveling could even be today, no site seems to have this though. Anyone have details?