Liverpool FC Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread

Tusky

MementoMori wrote: »

His stats for this year with Hertha are as follows

33 appearances 2669mins (29.65 full games) 11 goals 3 assists

A goal every 3 games in the German league, hardly that impressive is it ?

PiE

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/l/liverpool/8066528.stm

How much clearer do you want Rafa to be?

mayordenis

On a personal level last summer was a bit on an insult to Xabi,
and it was definately part of the reason we saw him play to level he did this year,
but after 5 years I thinks it's a little bit of a "I've proved my point" from Xabi, he was questioned heavily a year ago, he was the best player for liverpool since then, and now he's possibly decided it's time to go to madrid and try get them back to the top (and with that win his place in the Spain side for 2010)

Tusky

Rafa yesterday.

"I repeat. We do not want to sell, he is not for sale. He has said he is happy here in Liverpool, in every single press conference, in every single interview.

"We have some ideas for the future, without losing any of our key players."

el rabitos

look, at the end of the day, if real throw in a bid of 30 million + for ANY of our players, the manager, the board and everyone involved owe it to the club to study the offer.

but the truth is, thats what it will take for real madrid or anyone to take this xabi alonso off us, he's been too damn good this season to be allowed move on for anything less than it would cost us to start work on the new stadium.

losing him would be a blow to our momentum, our style of play and our intentions to being the best again.

real will be linked with every tom, dick and xabi in world football that has a name for themselves, they arent the attractive proposition they once were. i think we're safe here

MementoMori

Tusky wrote: »

A goal every 3 games in the German league, hardly that impressive is it ?

Not really - Also 8 of the 11 goals came in a 7 match run in Feb/March, so it was just one purple patch in the season that accounted for most of them.
Also 3 assists is pretty poor in almost 30 full matches.There's also the fact that he turns 30 this summer. Unless he gets a lot more realistic in terms of his wages demands, I cant see us getting much of a price for him.

According to the earlier reports the €13m deal was made up of €4m for Liverpool and €9m for Voronin - €3m a year deal (c.€57k p.w) for 3 years.
I really doubt that there would be that many clubs interested in agreeing a deal with those kind of numbers for Voronin.

spockety

Tusky wrote: »

Rafa yesterday.

Rafa can say all he wants, but until I see a quote from Alonso where he insists that he also wants to stay and that he has no intention of putting himself up for sale on the QT, then this is worrying. If this was a truly nothing story it would probably have died by now.

I mean, it might actually be the case that Rafa does not want to sell him, that Liverpool FC do not want to sell him, that Xabi has said before he is "happy in Liverpool" .. but we have seen in the past that unless something is said in complete black and white who knows what the hell is actually happening. "Happy in Liverpool".. maybe he meant on that particular day because it was sunny. etc.

A contract extension would say a lot right now.

Tusky

spockety wrote: »

Rafa can say all he wants, but until I see a quote from Alonso where he insists that he also wants to stay and that he has no intention of putting himself up for sale on the QT, then this is worrying. If this was a truly nothing story it would probably have died by now.

I mean, it might actually be the case that Rafa does not want to sell him, that Liverpool FC do not want to sell him, that Xabi has said before he is "happy in Liverpool" .. but we have seen in the past that unless something is said in complete black and white who knows what the hell is actually happening. "Happy in Liverpool".. maybe he meant on that particular day because it was sunny. etc.

A contract extension would say a lot right now.

Alonso in early May

Time flies. I have already been here for five years, and it has gone so fast.
"There have been ups and downs, but I have tried to enjoy and learn from every situation. I have developed into a much better player and person.
"A lot of things have changed for me during my time here and now I am looking forward to my sixth season as a Liverpool player."

"I have seen this kind of situation so many times in my career. It is just rumours and you can't be talking about them because there is nothing more than this so far.

"It is more important at this time to think of how we can be even better and this means keeping the good basis that we have settled on this season and by trying to go a little bit further.

"And we need to start taking three points from games when we are not at our best, this will make a big difference at the end of a season."

Alonso has been heralded as one of the Reds' best players this season by fans and pundits alike.

He added: "It has been a complete season for me.
"I have felt good and feel I have been playing well, too. I have been very happy and want to carry that through our final few games of the campaign.
"I finished last season well and was able to continue that with Spain at Euro 2008. That continued into this season and I feel I have been at a very good level for about 12 or so months now.

"Now I have to try to carry that on into next season. It's not about what you have done, but what you have to do."

spockety

Tusky wrote: »

Alonso in early May

Cheers.. slightly encouraging but still not a slam dunk for me.

Alonso wrote:

It is just rumours and you can't be talking about them because there is nothing more than this so far.

"so far". Well that was early May... this is late May..

It's a real pain in the hole that stories like this come to wreck our heads. I think the only thing that really puts them to bed are contract extensions.

Podge2k7

Sky Sports

Sky Sports wrote:

Liverpool midfielder Javier Mascherano has revealed he would relish a reunion with Carlos Tevez at Anfield.
The Argentina captain and his international team-mate were both at Corinthians in Brazil before moving to West Ham together in August 2006.
Mascherano saw little action at Upton Park before joining Liverpool in January 2007 while Tevez finished the 2006/07 season strongly to help the Hammers stave off relegation.
Tevez has since become a fans' favourite at Manchester United during a two-year loan deal with the Premier League champions, but that deal ends next month and Mascherano is aware of speculation they could be re-united.
Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez has been linked with a move for Tevez but refused to discuss transfer targets after the runners-up finished the season with a 3-1 win against Tottenham.
"It would be great to have Carlos here with me, I know how good he is," said Mascherano.
Admiration

"But I don't really know what the situation is, it is certainly a difficult one.
"I don't know exactly what is happening. The only thing I can say is that he is a great player and a great person."
Mascherano and Tevez were on opposing sides in the title race, with United seeing off Liverpool's biggest title challenge since 2002.
Sir Alex Ferguson was firmly against a proposed move to Liverpool for Gabriel Heinze in 2007, with the Argentina defender instead leaving for Real Madrid.
But the United boss would be powerless to prevent Tevez joining their arch-rivals after the Red Devils chose not to take up their option on a permanent deal.
Tevez has said he wishes to stay in England and it is believed he does not want to move from his Cheshire home.
"We wanted to win the league and we were very close, but we accept that Manchester United did very well also," said Mascherano.
"It is difficult to take, because if you look at the table and you see Liverpool with 86 points, that's enough to win the league in many previous seasons.
Squad reinforcements

"Previous champions have had less points than we had this season but we have to improve, and we will be ready for next season after what has been a good campaign and better than the last four or five seasons beforehand.
"We have the squad to compete in the league, but maybe if some new players came to improve the team it would be great for us next season," he added.
"It does not need improving too much, maybe a little bit."
Mascherano will link up with Tevez next month, however, for Argentina's World Cup qualifiers against Columbia and Ecuador.
"I will be with Carlos in the national team shortly, and we know we have to win important games," he said.
"If we can get six points from our next two matches we will be closer to the World Cup.
"It's important to win both games and see what happens, but obviously I want to be in South Africa for the finals next summer."

missingtime

If we do have to sell xabi its goin to mean a big change in how we play.
We cant really afford to do that. We NEED to win something next year.

zing

And Voronin confirms Hertha will not be signing him permanently
http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11661_5347794,00.html

Hopefully there'll be a few other interested parties though

SlickRic

nobody should be even entertaining the thought of xabi going.

given how vital he is to how we play it could potentially set us back a year or 2 in our progress, unless his replacement is sent from heaven.

it'd be bordering on catastrophic imo.

for me he is one of 5 irreplaceables right now along with Reina, Stevie, Nando and Masch.

K-9

spockety wrote: »

Rafa can say all he wants, but until I see a quote from Alonso where he insists that he also wants to stay and that he has no intention of putting himself up for sale on the QT, then this is worrying. If this was a truly nothing story it would probably have died by now.

I mean, it might actually be the case that Rafa does not want to sell him, that Liverpool FC do not want to sell him, that Xabi has said before he is "happy in Liverpool" .. but we have seen in the past that unless something is said in complete black and white who knows what the hell is actually happening. "Happy in Liverpool".. maybe he meant on that particular day because it was sunny. etc.

A contract extension would say a lot right now.

There is nothing in that article to say he is leaving either.

The offer would have to be a minimum of £25 Million to even be considered and then the question arises, who do we replace him with?

Mr Alan

If we get an offer of £25m-£30m for him, we will accept imo. We can't afford not to under our currect custodians

rosboy

28 Reasons Why Reds Should Be Proud:

The Reds amassed their highest points total ever in the Premier League (86) beating the 82 set in 2005-06. It is our highest in the league since 1987-88.

The total of 86 points is more than we needed to clinch 12 of our 18 league titles (all seasons based on three points for a win).

We won 14 points against the other members of the ‘Big Four’. It was as many points as we had won against Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United in the previous three seasons put together.

Liverpool scored 77 league goals this season – our best since 1990-91 when we also scored 77, and finished second in the title race to Arsenal.

16 players scored in the league this season – one fewer than the club record set in 1911-12.

We finished the campaign with a goal difference of +50 - our best for 21 years when we amassed +63 in 1987-88.

The Reds went through a league campaign at Anfield undefeated for the 10th time in their history and for the first time since 1987-88.

We extended our unbeaten run of league games at home to 30 – the best run for 28 years and equalled the fourth best sequence in our history.

We amassed seven more points than when we last won the title in 1989-90 (then it was 79).

We equalled the club record set in 1904-05 by winning 13 away league games.

Liverpool amassed 43 away points this season - the most in our history.

We finished the season averaging 2.26 points per game – the second best ever average in our 94 seasons in the top-flight. The best is 2.33 points in 1978-79 (98 points from 42 games based on 3 pts for a win).

We scored at least three goals in five successive league games for the first time since 1987.

And we netted at least three goals in six successive games in all competitions for the first time in the club’s history.

We only lost two league games this season - our best record since 1987-88 when we also lost twice. That season we drew 12 games but still won the title by nine points from Manchester United.

We became the first team ever to lose only two games in a season and not go on to win the league. Chelsea in 2007-08, 2006-07 and Nottingham Forest 1978-79 were all runners-up having lost three games.

Liverpool ended Chelsea's 86-match unbeaten home record with a 1-0 victory at Stamford Bridge.

We recorded the club's first league ‘double’ over Chelsea for 19 years.

A Yossi Benayoun goal ensured we became only the second English team to win in the Bernabeu.

And at Anfield we inflicted upon Real Madrid their biggest ever Champions League defeat as we went goal crazy with a 4-0 win.

Overall we sent Madrid crashing to their heaviest two-legged European defeat in the knockout stages for 20 years.

We recorded our biggest win at Old Trafford for 72 years. It was also the first time four Liverpool players had scored at United in the same game.

Rafael Benitez broke Bill Shankly’s record of 65 European matches as Liverpool manager.

The boss also broke Bob Paisley’s record of 40 European wins.

Rafa recorded his 100th league win as manager in his 181st game. It was the 3rd quickest ever by a Liverpool manager and 50 games faster than Alex Ferguson.

Liverpool have lost only six league games in total in the last two seasons. Manchester United have lost nine. Arsenal have also lost nine and Chelsea eight.

Liverpool finished the season as leading scorers in the Premier League. They scored 77 compared to Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal, who all scored 68.

The Reds boast the highest goals per game average of any team in all four divisions in England (1.93 goals per game) and will finish the season as such unless one of the following happens – Manchester United score nine in the Champions League Final or Chelsea score six in the F.A. Cup Final.

http://www.facebook.com/ext/share.php?sid=83865304774&h=qGrOt&u=a5_Eh

lint316

I certainly hope he doesn't go. If he goes to Madrid then someone like sneijder coming in the other direction might be ok

mayordenis

lint316 wrote: »

I certainly hope he doesn't go. If he goes to Madrid then someone like sneijder coming in the other direction might be ok

well if we get Sneijder, Barry and lets say for arguments sake Johnson in against Xabi leaving - which isn't unreasonable, the squad would certainly benefit.

internelligent

DeadSkin wrote: »

Erm, not Sami. My post was in relation to Mike's post, 0 red cards for Liverpool in the league this season.

Sorry, my bad.:o

slingerz

Alonso cannot be allowed to leave. The idea would be to bring in class players to compliment those already there.

MementoMori

zing wrote: »

And Voronin confirms Hertha will not be signing him permanently
http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11661_5347794,00.html

Hopefully there'll be a few other interested parties though

Mr Alan wrote: »

If we get an offer of £25m-£30m for him, we will accept imo. We can't afford not to under our currect custodians

Read these in quick succession and got a laugh.

As for Xabi leaving

I think the financial situation might have a big effect on the matter though :mad:

lint316

Rafa has made it clear that Alonso's not for sale. The only way he's gonna be sold is if there's a massive bid or else if he wants to move on himself. Which is what the papers are claiming today

zing

btw - happy 5th European Cup day y'all

lint316

zing wrote: »

btw - happy 5th European Cup day y'all

Jazzy

no to alonso leaving. barry cant make a team tick as well as he can. hes been brilliant this season and there is no reason why he should leave. it will be a step backwards if he goes

SlickRic

zing wrote: »

btw - happy 5th European Cup day y'all

thanks...any excuse to show and remember this

zing

SlickRic wrote: »

thanks...any excuse to show and remember this

The game was just on lfc.tv - in fact it's prob still on.

PHB

When's Alonso's contract run out?

zing

think he's got another 3 years to go

Dub13

PHB wrote: »

When's Alonso's contract run out?

He has 3 years left.This is agent talk.

RasTa

Do Liverpool fans celebrate the previous time they won the league? This cup day seems a bit odd.

SlickRic

RasTa wrote: »

Do Liverpool fans celebrate the previous time they won the league? This cup day seems a bit odd.

it's a bit of tongue-in-cheek fun, hence all the smilies.

jesus_thats_gre

RasTa wrote: »

Do Liverpool fans celebrate the previous time they won the league? This cup day seems a bit odd.

When one record goes, you might as well shift focus to the other outstanding one to make yourself feel better

RasTa

SlickRic wrote: »

it's a bit of tongue-in-cheek fun, hence all the smilies.

jesus_thats_gre wrote: »

When one record goes, you might as well shift focus to the other outstanding one to make yourself feel better

haha fair enough.

purple_hatstand

More good end-of-season stats

http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/25052009/58/premier-league-team-season-hail-gerrard.html

zing

jesus_thats_gre wrote: »

When one record goes, you might as well shift focus to the other outstanding one to make yourself feel better

You mean gets equaled I'm sure ?

For me that night is one I won't forget for a long long time. Watched it with a bunch of friends and just had a truely memorable evening - from the highs and lows of the match itself coupled with having a great night out with friends.

Jazzy

RasTa wrote: »

haha fair enough.

why? wasnt it obvious?
this is all black text on white backgrounds isnt it?

jesus_thats_gre

zing wrote: »

You mean gets equaled I'm sure ?

For me that night is one I won't forget for a long long time. Watched it with a bunch of friends and just had a truely memorable evening - from the highs and lows of the match itself coupled with having a great night out with friends.

Ok ok, when you can't gloat about it anymore

tok9

*11 weeks to the Premiership!!! i just want it to start again:(



*approx

RasTa

tok9 wrote: »

*11 weeks to the Premiership!!! i just want it to start again:(



*approx

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VF_uOgyBK1c

It never ends!

Dub13

The Spirit Of Shankly end of season gig was on Sunday night,it was a massive massive success with over 1400 tickets sold.Here are some You Tube Clips.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QR_TO7SWoDM

Carra and Sami

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

Dub13

Here are some pics of the SOS gig,the SOS is getting bigger and the club are sitting up and taking notice.If you are not a member please join asap.

http://www.spiritofshankly.com/gallery-8.html

PiE

Dunno if this has been posted but the thread's a bit dead so...

http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11827_5347891,00.html

Silva insists he is staying put
David Silva has committed his immediate future to Valencia as he continues to be linked with a move from the Mestella.

The 23-year-old midfielder is reported to be the top target for Real Madrid's presidential election favourite Florentino Perez.

But the Spain international, who signed a new seven-year deal with Valencia last summer that runs until 2013, insists he has no desire to leave the club.

Los Che have missed out on a Champions League spot following defeats at Atletico Madrid and Villarreal, which Silva missed with a thigh injury.
Focused

The Euro 2008 winner claims his sole concern is getting fit for the final game of the season, though, rather than seeking a summer move elsewhere.

"I have to be focused first on recovering to be able to help my team and I'm not thinking of anything else," he said.

"I don't know anything about the rumours and I insist that I have a contract with Valencia that I wish to fulfil."

Cash-strapped Valencia face Athletic Bilbao in their final game next weekend and need to avoid defeat to guarantee a Europa League place.

Bad luck

"We've had bad luck, but we have to lift ourselves and think that we need to be in the Uefa Cup (Europa League)," added Silva.

"I will try to be fit for the game, although it depends how my injury goes during the week.

"We cannot risk forcing it but I'm eager to play and help my team in this important match."

He doesn't really "insist" anything - he says what all clever players say when their future is up in the air; gotta keep yourself endeared to your current supporters in case nothing changes.

lint316

well La Liga isn't even over yet so he probably wouldn't say anything contraversial when asked questions about his future right now. I think him signing for Liverpool is a long shot to be honest. Regardless of that interview, I think him and Villa do want to stay at Valencia. I hope I'm wrong anyway I think he's very good. Valencia are a mess when he's not playing. He's always injured though.

MementoMori

The fact that Valencia didn't make the CL exacerbates their already awful financial situation.I would be shocked if himself and Villa were at Valencia next season, given how bad a state the club is in - ffs this is a club where they couldn't afford to pay wages a few month's back. There's nothing really concrete in that interview one way or another, imo.

In other news Temuri Ketsbaia is apparently the new manager of Olympiacos which is probably good news with regards to Leto. It hasnt been confirmed by the club yet, but the previous manager Valverde was sacked ("his contract wasn't renewed) a bit ago. Bit harsh on Valverde - won the league and cup double Don't know what Ketsbaia thinks of Leto, but I think this has to increase the chances of Leto staying at Olympiacos - maybe making the loan permanent ?

http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/ticker/hub/football/index.html?item=1951710

daithijjj

Im not overly excited about the thought of silva joining tbh. I think hes a bit lightweight for the prem and for the amount of cash involved i dont really like his injury woes. Personally, i think the right side of the team needs alot more attention than the left. If rafa did have the flash cash to sigh silva and sounds like he does, then i would prefer he dumped dossena and put all that cash (plus whats set aside for silva) and make an effort to get ribery. Far more talented imo and he has the goods to handle it in the prem, no doubt in my mind.

As a sidenote, how does silva sign a 7 year contract in summer 08, that expires in 2013?

MementoMori

daithijjj wrote: »

As a sidenote, how does silva sign a 7 year contract in summer 08, that expires in 2013?

Well spotted;)

Wikipedia says he signed a seven year contract on 21 June 2007, which would be up until 2014.

daithijjj

MementoMori wrote: »

Well spotted;)

Wikipedia says he signed a seven year contract on 21 June 2007, which would be up until 2014.

Ah ok, i have a sneaky feeling that the sky sports story is a mish mash of seperate articles 12 months apart to be honest. I took it upon myself to look at guillem balagues blog a few nights ago (coz i had feck all else to do) and took a wander into last summers statements from him, totally unrelated i know. I really dont know why folk take him so irreverently regarding us. He clearly stated on his own blog that riera was not a benitez target and he said that the story surrounding riera was just a smokescreen as benitez was not interested in him. Im only saying this coz we are no doubt going to see plenty of balague statements on here over the next 3 months.

MementoMori

daithijjj wrote: »

Im not overly excited about the thought of silva joining tbh. I think hes a bit lightweight for the prem and for the amount of cash involved i dont really like his injury woes. Personally, i think the right side of the team needs alot more attention than the left. If rafa did have the flash cash to sigh silva and sounds like he does, then i would prefer he dumped dossena and put all that cash (plus whats set aside for silva) and make an effort to get ribery. Far more talented imo and he has the goods to handle it in the prem, no doubt in my mind.

As a sidenote, how does silva sign a 7 year contract in summer 08, that expires in 2013?

Not to jump all over you but I can't agree with the bit about the right hand side of the team needing a lot more attention than the left.

It's not all about the goals but this is what the various wide players have scored this season.

Kuyt - 15 goals
Benayoun - 9 goals
El Zhar - 0 goals

Riera - 5 goals
Benayoun - 9 goals
Babel - 4 goals
Dossena - 2 goals

Ok so some of Kuyt’s goals game when he was playing up front but still he’s been the our best wide player this season.

The next best is Benayoun and I’m pretty sure at least half of his appearances came on the right.

Third best was Riera who started the season well but has faded as the season went on, which I would put down to the difference in physicality between La Liga and the EPL. I would be hoping that next season he will have a more consistent season.

Fourth best was probably Babel - however I don’t think there’s anyone who doesn’t think his season has been anything other than a disappointment.

Fifth was probably El Zhar - only played 479 mins in all comps so probably tough to accurately assess how well he did but I think he’s shown enough to be 3rd choice RW behind Benayoun and Kuyt. Also I think he works well as a sub for Kuyt as there is a nice contrast between what each brings to the team.

Sixth is probably Dossena and that’s mainly for his two goals. He’s clearly 3rd choice LB and I don’t think he’s good enough to play LW in 4-2-3-1 If we played 3-5-2 I think it would be a different story but we don’t.

There’s also the Pennant, Degen, Gerrard, Aurelio, Insua and Lucas who could be considered more remote options for the wide positions. Clearly Pennant is gone but I think EL Zhar has shown enough to be 3rd choice on the right for next season. Gerrard can play there but I think it would be a mistake. Degen next season might be a possible in contention for RM as he has lined out there before and from the glimpses I’ve seen seems well able to get forward. On the left Aurelio and Insua could also play there but I think it would be a case of playing a defender in an attacker’s position and I don’t want to see it. Pretty sure Lucas played LM in some game but I don’t think it’s a runner.

I really think it’s the left side that has to be the priority. It would nice to be able to buy some-one on the right who would be able to offer Kuyt more competition in terms of a starting place than El Zhar but with limited funds, I just don’t think it’s a realistic option. As such I think Babel and Dossena will both be sold and a quality player who is primarily a left-winger will come in.

redzerdrog

here an idea why dont we go for someone who can play both sides, someone like... maybe.............. silva;););)