Liverpool FC Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread

Dont be at yourself

I don't think El Zhar's going to make the step up. Too many ahead of him in the queue, and too many promising youngsters behind him.

rosboy

NekkidBibleMan wrote: »

I don't think El Zhar's going to make the step up. Too many ahead of him in the queue, and too many promising youngsters behind him.

My thoughts too......just trying to figure out where he is at the moment. He could be worth a little money to us, although he may need a loan first to increase his profile.

P.S. it was Stoke City he was linked to earlier in the summer, not Fulham.

jesus_thats_gre

Only 1 or 2 at most a year will ever be able to step up. It is inevitable that a handful a season will be sold off or loaned out when you consider the amount of youths that we have taken in recently.

The trick is in making sure that these gems are picked up while selling the others off for 3/4/5 million a pop.

zAbbo

He always looked a little light, and could do with some gametime considering he's almost 22.

leninbenjamin

jesus_thats_gre wrote: »

The trick is in making sure that these gems are picked up while selling the others off for 3/4/5 million a pop.

nah, the trick is to add as big a sell on clause as possible, even if the initial fee is slightly compromised because of it.

Dont be at yourself

Yeah, absolutely. Rafa has by all accounts completely revamped the youth system and brought in a lot of players at relatively high price points, so I would expect some lads to make it in the first team after a couple of years. I just hope Rafa is still around to see that happen!

Are there any local lads impressing in the youth system? Gerrard and Carragher are getting on, so it would be nice to know if there's another couple of scousers lined up to replace them! Before them, we had the likes of Fowler and McManaman flying the flag, and I do think it's important that the club doesn't go completely the way of Arsenal in going down the foreign import route.

rosboy

NekkidBibleMan wrote: »

Yeah, absolutely. Rafa has by all accounts completely revamped the youth system and brought in a lot of players at relatively high price points, so I would expect some lads to make it in the first team after a couple of years. I just hope Rafa is still around to see that happen!

Are there any local lads impressing in the youth system? Gerrard and Carragher are getting on, so it would be nice to know if there's another couple of scousers lined up to replace them! Before them, we had the likes of Fowler and McManaman flying the flag, and I do think it's important that the club doesn't go completely the way of Arsenal in going down the foreign import route.

Think Darby looks the most likely to make the step up in the next year or two. He's played consistently well at under age level and the reserves. He's also impressed during the preseason. Carra speaks very highly of him. He's a right back.

Jay Spearing is another local lad, but not sure if he'll make the step up. He's an attacking midfielder, a position we have Gerrard & Lucas in at the moment. I haven't seen enough of him to know if he'll make it.

They're the closest local lads to making the step up. There's a few other English lads that may make the cut: Linfield, Anderson, Hammill (or is he Scottish? Edit: he's from Liverpool). They've all been loaned out for experience for the coming year, so we won't see them this year.

I'm not sure about the academy lads. I don't follow it at all.

eZe^

Mr Alan wrote: »

new campaign for Adidas, featuring Gerrard among others.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xGHw1CCPyDs

Brilliant, there's one with Kaka, Messi, Alonso and Mourinho if I can remember correctly iswell.

zAbbo

Liverpool are expected to raise £18m to buy Aston Villa midfielder Gareth Barry by the end of the week. (The Mirror)

PHB

That's a ****ing fantastic ad! I think most of its true, because the kids aren't like 'woohoooo', they are almost speachless with shock. That's just quality.

RE*AC*TOR

Here's Andriy to help with accuracy....



....



Yeeeeesssss.

Mr Alan

PHB wrote: »

That's a ****ing fantastic ad! I think most of its true, because the kids aren't like 'woohoooo', they are almost speachless with shock. That's just quality.

I like the, "Hi, I'm Michael from Germany" part

The next part is good, cant access it in work, but Beckham comes to them and asks who their favourite player has been so far.

They all say Gerrard, and Beckham says "yea, hes a lovely fella, but could you understand anything he said?!"

Now, coming from daaaaavid, thats a tad ****ing rich!

but to add insult to injury, the kids respond "some of it!"

Cheeky swines.

Then at the end of the ad, Beckham asks one of the lads who there favourite player is....he says Gerrard....this makes Beckam sad, and Beckham asks "really?":(

Funny stuff

Karmafaerie

Liverpool will be without Martin Skrtel for this evening's friendly against Valerenga in Oslo.

The Slovakian central defender picked up a slight groin strain during Saturday's victory over Rangers and hasn't travelled with the squad to Norway for their penultimate pre-season clash.

Skrtel is also likely to miss Friday's game against Lazio at Anfield but should be available for the first leg of the Champions League qualifier against Standard Liege next week.

The game is live on LFCTV at 18:00 too BTW.

mike65

Just saw that, I was going to bet on Liverpool winning but now I'm not so sure!

In other news Yossi Benny has been given his prefered 15 shirt for the new season, so hopefully that indicates he is staying (?)

Mike.

Karmafaerie

I'd be happy with Yossi staying.
Great player to have on the bench, and he seems happy to be there.
Good attitude.

DeadSkin

Yossi wants to stay

Yossi Benayoun has pledged his future to Liverpool despite being the subject of interest from Roma.

The gifted Israeli midfielder’s agent set tongues wagging over the weekend when confirming Roma were an attractive proposition for the 28-year-old.

Rafa Benitez is looking to offload players in a bid to free up funds for a raid on the transfer market, but Benayoun has insisted he is not seeking a move away from Anfield.

”It is not true that I am about to leave Anfield,” said Benayoun. “I see my future at Anfield.

”I want to stay and that is what will happen.”

dardoz

Karmafaerie wrote: »

The game is live on LFCTV at 18:00 too BTW.

you mean the tv channel and not the website?

spockety

The website simulcasts the TV channel if you have an e-season ticket.

Pepe LeFrits

NekkidBibleMan wrote: »

Are there any local lads impressing in the youth system? Gerrard and Carragher are getting on, so it would be nice to know if there's another couple of scousers lined up to replace them! Before them, we had the likes of Fowler and McManaman flying the flag, and I do think it's important that the club doesn't go completely the way of Arsenal in going down the foreign import route.

Fixed.

Karmafaerie

dardoz wrote: »

you mean the tv channel and not the website?

It's on both (if you have the season ticket for the webiste as Spockety said).

Obviously better quality on the Setanta channel though.

Tusky

I never thought Yossi would leave. To be honest I think we got an absolute bargain with Yossi. Hes a great little player to be able to bring off the bench. Scored 10 goals last year even though he mainly came on from the bench. He doesnt always do it against better teams but he is lethal against lesser opponents.

rosboy

Tusky wrote: »

I never thought Yossi would leave. To be honest I think we got an absolute bargain with Yossi. Hes a great little player to be able to bring off the bench. Scored 10 goals last year even though he mainly came on from the bench. He doesnt always do it against better teams but he is lethal against lesser opponents.

He gives us possibilities, no?:p

tonc76

www.bbc.co.uk/sport

"Liverpool midfielder Sebastian Leto has agreed a two-year loan deal with Olympiakos after being denied a work permit to play in England next season.

The 21-year-old Argentine, who joined the Reds from Lanus for around £2m in 2007, was granted an Italian passport last summer but it was later revoked.

That left Leto needing a work permit but Liverpool's application was refused by the Department of Work and Pensions.

And he arrived in Greece on Monday to complete his medical with Olympiakos.

"Olympiakos is a challenge for me. I know I will be here for two years," Leto told the club's official website.

"I've had two weeks of pre-season training with Liverpool and I believe I will be ready to do whatever I have to.

"Olympiakos are a great team who challenge for every honour in Greece and in the Champions League.

"The team has some good players, a well known coach and fanatical supporters which always inspires them."

On Monday, Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez expressed his belief that the decision not to give Leto a work permit was unfair.

"I am disappointed and it was a surprise because this is a player who has played in the Champions League and been in the Argentina squad for the Olympic Games," Benitez told Liverpool's website.

"You have managers talking about how good he is, so I think the system needs to change.

"We have maybe eight or 10 teams in Spain, Italy and Greece asking about him. When you have eight or 10 teams asking about a player and he's not playing, it means that he is good."

Benitez remains confident that Leto still has a future at Anfield, however, adding: "He has a long contract, and I think he can impress and next year will be a different situation."

Leto played four times for Liverpool last season in the Champions League and Carling Cup but is yet to make his Premier League debut for the club".

We knew he had to be loaned out but does a 2 year deal say something about his prospects with us?

Dont be at yourself

2 year is a very long deal for a player of his age. Presumably it's to do with work permit/citizenship requirements? At least he'll be pretty much guaranteed Champions League football for the next two years.

I also read that Roma have named Bennayoun as a target. He is a useful player, but Rafa is not sentimental and I could see him cashing in if they came in with a sizable offer.

zAbbo

Shame about Leto, 2 years could really help him in Greece. I think Rafa was hoping he could play for us, as he gives an option on the left which is a little lighter with Kewel/Riise moving on.

On the plus side, he'll get regular football, and hopefully some CL action as well

Mr Alan

NekkidBibleMan wrote: »

Rafa is not sentimental and I could see him cashing in if they came in with a sizable offer.

It would wanna be 10m before he'd even consider it i reckon.

rosboy

Mr Alan wrote: »

It would wanna be 10m before he'd even consider it i reckon.

+1

He's a great player to have on the bench.

On the Leto loan length, there may be a clause in there where we can bring him back after a year if we get his work permit/passport sorted out. I know Olympiakos wanted the option to buy Leto at the end of the two years, but Liverpool refused.

redspider

I didnt read this thread (or other ones) to see peoples opinions on Robbie Keane's signing. Here are my thoughts for the record anyway.

So, Robbie Keane has been signed by Liverpool for a whopping 18m-20.3m. Now Robbie, who we all know a fair bit about, is in my opinion a so-so player. He is no Maradona. He is 28. He will work reasonably hard, yes, but is he silky? No. So for me, he is not worth 20m at all. So, I am not happy with the amount of money paid.

Will he do okay, we'll see, I am reserving my judgement strongly and I would doubt very much if he will be able to change his spots so I'm not expecting massive improvement in his play. A lot will depend on where he plays position-wise and what formation Liverpool will play. Liverpool played 4-2-3-1 last year and it worked well with Gerrard in the centre of the 3 so Robbie doesnt fit into that formation. Robbie likes playing as a 2nd striker, as he is no target man. So does Torres in a way but Torres is a better target man and better at playing up-fornt on his own. Neither player are good in the air.

I think there is a big risk that this could go badly wrong for Liverpool, just as I thought with Kuyt (as a striker). Torres was a gem, a diamond in the rough and Liverpool got 'lucky' with that purchase. It was money well spent though and he has worked out, at least for 1 season and there is no reason why he wont do it again next season. But with Robbie he may have actually reached his peak. 20m is a lot of loolah for a 28 year old.

I think he suited Spurs better especially in a 4-4-2 than he will at Liverpool. He will be under pressure at Liverpool to do better. If he fails to deliver, and there is a good chance of that especially at the begining, he will be under more pressure and this is likely to affect him more mentally and increase the pressure even more. The honeymoon period of joining could evaporate quickly as reality sets in. Him being a fan of Liverpool is no help as many players have found out the hard way and with a striker sometimes the more you try the harder it becomes. We have seen it with Fowler, Owen and countless other strikers at other clubs down through the years.

I am not happy with this purchase and would have preferred a Huntelaar or even spending more and getting a Berbatov. Bentley who went to Sours may have suited us better. I had to laugh at Levy the Spurs owner rep commenting that the sale was forced - forced? at 20.3m? You're having a laugh mate. That is a lot of money for Robbie Keane and way above what many would have valued him at, which was approx 12m. In 2 years at 30 he will be worth only 8m at best, so expect a lot of depreciation. Spurs are getting a lot of cash for a 28 year old, a paddy man like ourselves who was reared far from the sands of the copacabana or from total football. Time will tell, as it always does. Me 'not delighted'.

Redspider

Boggles

Mr Alan wrote: »

It would wanna be 10m before he'd even consider it i reckon.

That is double what he was bought for last year?? I like Benayoun, he is a good squad player, type of Player Rafa should be striving to keep at the club.

rosboy

Boggles wrote: »

That is double what he was bought for last year?? I like Benayoun, he is a good squad player, type of Player Rafa should be striving to keep at the club.

Yes. And as Boggles said yesterday, you should be happy just to get back what you pay for a player:rolleyes:.

Sorry guys. Couldn't let that one pass. I'll ignore him anymore. Starting................NOW.

Boggles

rosboy wrote: »

Yes. And as Boggles said yesterday, you should be happy just to get back what you pay for a player

Yeah good lad, that's exactly what I said. :rolleyes:



.

DeadSkin

rosboy wrote: »

I'll ignore him anymore. Starting................NOW.

C'mon rosboy do we really need the announcement?


On Yossi, definitely would like him to stay, can be very skillful at times and is a valuable squad player to have.

rosboy

DeadSkin wrote: »

C'mon rosboy do we really need the announcement?

Ya I know. Apologies all. I got weak. Won't happen again. (after this post:p)

Karmafaerie

redspider wrote: »

I didnt read this thread (or other ones) to see peoples opinions on Robbie Keane's signing. Here are my thoughts for the record anyway.

So, Robbie Keane has been signed by Liverpool for a whopping 18m-20.3m. Now Robbie, who we all know a fair bit about, is in my opinion a so-so player. He is no Maradona. He is 28. He will work reasonably hard, yes, but is he silky? No. So for me, he is not worth 20m at all. So, I am not happy with the amount of money paid.

And you could buy a 28 year old Maradona for £20,000,000 in todays market?!

Also, just to express some of the bias Irish fans seem to have against Keane, how about this.

Maradona as great as he was, scored 34 goals in 94 appearances for Argentiana.
Keane ha scored 33 in 81 for Ireland.
Maradonna has scored 311 goals in 590 club appearances.
Robbie has 169 in 444.

Nobody refutes that Maradonna was one of the best players of all time, and much better than Robbie.
But his scoring record is very similar, and internationally not as good, and Diego played with a higher calibur of player.

Robbie may not be spectacuar, but we have Torres/Gerrard/Babel(eventually) for that.
Robbie will score in all the away games against the smaller clubs, where the stars don't show up.

If Robbie can convert four of our wasted draws from last year into wins, then he'll be worth twice what we paid for him!

P.S: And if we had spent half of what we did on Keane and gotten Berba, I'd have been sickened.
Prepare for a season of Berba being a monumental disapointment at Spurs, or his new club, unless they happen to have somebody like Keane who will do all of the work for him!

Mr Alan

redspider wrote: »

or even spending more and getting a Berbatov

so you would have prefered to spend more of a sulky player, who's about the same age as Robbie, would have cost more, and whos record is not as good as his?

good shout that :rolleyes:

As Brian Reade said, Robbies fee is high no doubting it.

But its being funded by the sale of Crouch(who didnt fit our system), Riise (who should be shot) and Guthrie (who was never going to make it at Liverpool realistically). And his wages are being paid instead of harry Kewells.

I think its great business

Cyrus

redspider wrote: »

I didnt read this thread (or other ones) to see peoples opinions on Robbie Keane's signing. Here are my thoughts for the record anyway.

So, Robbie Keane has been signed by Liverpool for a whopping 18m-20.3m. Now Robbie, who we all know a fair bit about, is in my opinion a so-so player. He is no Maradona. He is 28. He will work reasonably hard, yes, but is he silky? No. So for me, he is not worth 20m at all. So, I am not happy with the amount of money paid.

Will he do okay, we'll see, I am reserving my judgement strongly and I would doubt very much if he will be able to change his spots so I'm not expecting massive improvement in his play. A lot will depend on where he plays position-wise and what formation Liverpool will play. Liverpool played 4-2-3-1 last year and it worked well with Gerrard in the centre of the 3 so Robbie doesnt fit into that formation. Robbie likes playing as a 2nd striker, as he is no target man. So does Torres in a way but Torres is a better target man and better at playing up-fornt on his own. Neither player are good in the air.

I think there is a big risk that this could go badly wrong for Liverpool, just as I thought with Kuyt (as a striker). Torres was a gem, a diamond in the rough and Liverpool got 'lucky' with that purchase. It was money well spent though and he has worked out, at least for 1 season and there is no reason why he wont do it again next season. But with Robbie he may have actually reached his peak. 20m is a lot of loolah for a 28 year old.

I think he suited Spurs better especially in a 4-4-2 than he will at Liverpool. He will be under pressure at Liverpool to do better. If he fails to deliver, and there is a good chance of that especially at the begining, he will be under more pressure and this is likely to affect him more mentally and increase the pressure even more. The honeymoon period of joining could evaporate quickly as reality sets in. Him being a fan of Liverpool is no help as many players have found out the hard way and with a striker sometimes the more you try the harder it becomes. We have seen it with Fowler, Owen and countless other strikers at other clubs down through the years.

I am not happy with this purchase and would have preferred a Huntelaar or even spending more and getting a Berbatov. Bentley who went to Sours may have suited us better. I had to laugh at Levy the Spurs owner rep commenting that the sale was forced - forced? at 20.3m? You're having a laugh mate. That is a lot of money for Robbie Keane and way above what many would have valued him at, which was approx 12m. In 2 years at 20 he will be worth only 8m at best, so expect a lot of depreciation. Spurs are getting a lot of cash for a 28 year old, a paddy man like ourselves who was reared far from the sands of the copacabana or from total football. Time will
tell, as it always does. Me 'not delighted'.

Redspider

redspider your posts are usually well reasoned and i like reading them, however i disagree with you here.

The price is an irrelevance, if rafa believes keane can be the difference between us challenging for the title or not then he is the player for us. In much the same way united 'over paid' for Carrick, Ferdinand and Hargreaves and chelsea over paid for Anelka, Duff etc etc.

Keane does not need to improve on what he has done over the past 5 years, if he can replicate that form for liverpool i.e 15 league goals and 8-10 assists then he will make a big impact. He has been the form striker in the EPL over the past 5 years, spurs didnt want to sell their vice captain, we wanted him, hence the price.

also having keane also mitigates the doomsday scenario we had last season of torres getting injured and having no reliable goalscorer to replace him.

trust me, he may not be maradonna but he will make a difference away to pompey on a cold winters day, in a way that huntelaar (unproven in the EPL) or berbatov (hot and cold type player) may not.

copacetic

Mr Alan wrote: »

so you would have prefered to spend more of a sulky player, who's about the same age as Robbie, would have cost more, and whos record is not as good as his?

good shout that :rolleyes:

ffs, why the sarky comment and the roll eyes? I totally disagree with redspider on this, but he made a considered argument and gave his reasons. We need more of his kind of posts.

Mr Alan

copacetic wrote: »

ffs, why the sarky comment and the roll eyes?

Because the post was nonsense and thats what the rolleyes is there for

Boggles

Cyrus wrote: »

trust me, he may not be maradonna but he will make a difference away to pompey on a cold winters day, in a way.....or berbatov (hot and cold type player) may not.

Haha, bad example he got the winner against them last December.

mike65

Mr Alan, use of rolleyes should be reserved for trolls and tossers. the concerns RS may or may not be well founded but he has thought about it.

Mike

ibh

Mr Alan wrote: »

Because the post was nonsense and thats what the rolleyes is there for

In fairness Mr Al, everyone is entitled to their own opinion (except Boggles cause he's ManU:p). I'm not a big fan of all the rolleyes that get thrown around here at times.

Can't write off his post as nonsense tbh. Maybe he feels that the extra touch of class that Berbatov brings from time to time is more beneficial to us than the solid performances that we should get from Keane. we have a lot of solid performers already.

I don't agree though, i think Keane will do the business although i am not happy with the talk of how he can play wide. I'd rather see SG out on the right and Robbie off Nando's shoulder.

Boggles

Mr Alan wrote: »

and whos record is not as good as his?

How did you come to that conclusion? Berbatov has won more and has a better scoring record? Both players have good attributes, no need to tell blatent lies because Keane now is a Liverpool player, if Liverpool had signed Berbatov I have no doubt your opinion would be reversed.

As I said both players have good and bad points, Bottom line is that Keane will suit Liverpool more the Berbatov as he is the type of player they need, and IMO is an excellent signing.

Karmafaerie

Boggles wrote: »

How did you come to that conclusion? Berbatov has won more and has a better scoring record? Both players have good attributes, no need to tell blatent lies because Keane now is a Liverpool player, if Liverpool had signed Berbatov I have no doubt your opinion would be reversed.

How exactly?
Berbatov
Season_______________Games____________Goals
2006-07________________33_______________23
2007-08________________36_______________23

Total __________________69_______________46

Keane
Season_______________Games____________Goals
2006–07________________27_______________22
2007–08________________36_______________23

Total __________________63_______________45


Please show me Berbas better scoring record?

(If you wanna go talk about the Bundisleaga then I can bring up how many Voronin scored, and how he compares in the prem according to most here!)


And please name all the Berba has won?
Cause the only trophy I can find in his cabinet is the same League Cup that Robbie has.

Cyrus

ah i have boggles on ignore but the odd quoted post still offends my eyes

dont expect him to change his tune in light of the facts tho

it isnt his style:pac:

podge018

Anybody know a place in town showing the Liverpool match this evening?

Karmafaerie

podge018 wrote: »

Anybody know a place in town showing the Liverpool match this evening?

That would depend on the town!

(Unless you ignore the three quarters of the country not living in Dublin!)

ibh

podge018 wrote: »

Anybody know a place in town showing the Liverpool match this evening?

I'll probably watch it in Corbetts or maybe the Malt House cause it's close to home. I'm sure a good few pubs in Dundalk will be showing it...:pac:

zAbbo

Wouldn't mind watching the game myself tonight, somewhere in Dublin town also suits me

jesus_thats_gre

ibh wrote: »

I'll probably watch it in Corbetts or maybe the Malt House cause it's close to home. I'm sure a good few pubs in Dundalk will be showing it...:pac:

G'wan the town!

podge018

I meant in Liverpool obviously. Where else would Liverpool fans be from?