Liverpool FC Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread

~Rebel~

The way thats written down can be taken in several ways.

It looks to me that he was talking about barry, saying he's english and that you need to have some english players, he then goes on to say BUT he's not thinking bout buying barry at the moment. That to me comes across as yeah it would be nice to have barry as he's english etc, but we're looking at someone else, which makes it back in the open as to who it is, with again the likely suspects being Downing, Silva, Suarez and Riera.

on the 4local and 4 english, its tough to know what he means, is it 4english locals, or 8 english, 4 of them locals. The first we have had in preseason in Gerrard, Carra, Spearing and Darby. The second we're miles away from. Pennant is the only non local english and he's likely to be on his bike, following after crouch.
Another way he might mean it is 4 locals (as in that came through the ranks) and 4 english, which we also have had this preseason in; Nemeth, Pacheco, El Zhar, Insua, with the previously mentioned 4 being the english. This makes more sense to me, as its what he's actually been playing, and would show the emphesis he has put on bringing in youth as well as trying to have an English core.

DeadSkin

Downing had a great season, last season, scoring 9 goals in 38 league appearances. Think he'd be a good addition and he's 24.

herbieflowers

Yep, I think he has shown a lot of potential. Weren't the murmurs of him going to ManYoo or the Arse recently?

PHB

raven136 wrote: »

Off the top of my head i cant think of another left winger that rafa could sign from the premiership

How about the best left winger in the premiership last season, Ashley Young

Is Rafa talking there about the new UEFA CL quotas things that are like 4 homegrown (i.e. local) players and 4 national grown (i.e. English) players?

Karmafaerie

oobydooby wrote: »

What's Rafa's idea of a local player anyway? Would Gerrard and Carra be local or English?:D

To play in the Champions League you have a 25 man squad.
8 have to hold passports for the country the club is from.
4 have to have come through the clubs youth system.

Hence the "4 English and 4 local" as Rafa put it.

Karmafaerie

Rafa obviously knew about the statement.

RAFA BENITEZ today attempted to put the Gareth Barry affair behind him as he looks to prepare his team for the forthcoming Champions League qualifier against Standard Liege.

The Reds boss remains bitterly disappointed that the club has ruled that Aston Villa’s £18m asking price for Barry is too high but he does not want any fallout to interfere with his planning for Wednesday night’s game.

The Anfield hierarchy remain adamant that at £18m Barry does not represent good value, even though Benitez has identified the England man as a key acquisition this summer.

But with Liege on the horizon, Benitez does not want to be drawn into a public debate over the collapse of the proposed deal.

After a weekend of fevered speculation and an official club statement in which Rick Parry detailed why the Reds are not willing to meet Villa’s asking price, Benitez told the ECHO he would prefer to concentrate on preparing his team for the third round qualifying clash.

He said: “My priority this week is to prepare for the Champions League qualifier against Standard Liege.”

The statement released by the club in Parry’s name late on Saturday night reflected the fact – as revealed in Friday’s ECHO – that owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett have major misgivings about the money they were being asked to shell out for Barry.

It read: “There has been a lot of comment today regarding our position with regards to Gareth Barry.

“This is not about questioning the manager’s judgement or the ability of a particular player.
“The owners have clearly demonstrated throughout the year they are willing to back Rafa in the transfer market and will continue to do so.

“It is obviously the selling club’s prerogative to put whatever price they want on the player, but on this occasion Liverpool think the price quoted is too high.”

To all intents and purposes this sounded the death knell for the Barry deal as Villa remain keen to hold on to their captain and star player and have shown no willingness to lower their asking price.

But with the transfer window open until the end of the month and Benitez set for more wheeling and dealing there remains the merest glimmer of hope that a deal for Barry could still be resurrected – although such an eventuality remains highly unlikely at this stage.

Meanwhile, Robbie Keane today revealed he achieved a childhood dream when he made his first appearance at Anfield in a red shirt in Friday night’s 1-0 friendly win over Lazio.

He said: “It was nice to get my Anfield debut – it was a childhood dream.

“It was great to step out and look at the Kop because that is something I’ve always dreamed of. It is something I will never forget.

“It’s nice to get it out of the way, but obviously the most important thing is the win.

“That gives us confidence going into next week and all the players are looking forward to the challenge of the Champions League and Premier League.”

zing

Gerrard to travel to Belgium so could feature on Wed night

http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/news/drilldown/N160870080811-1447.htm

Mostly be on the bench unless he's 100%. Either way he should be fine for the weekend.

Tusky

In regards to Downing - I think he would be another mediocre winger signing. Hes good, but not great. Again, list the best players in the team including Downing, where would he come ? After all of the central players. We need someone in the wide area that is as good as our players down the center.

raven136

Tusky wrote: »

In regards to Downing - I think he would be another mediocre winger signing. Hes good, but not great. Again, list the best players in the team including Downing, where would he come ? After all of the central players. We need someone in the wide area that is as good as our players down the center.

not as good as:torres,Keane,Gerrard.

Better than:babel,kuyt,benayoun,voronin

not as ood as our top three attack minded players,better than anyother attacking player we have.
Silva doesnt seem that shi# hot and riera was poor when last in england.
Who would you choose in a similar price bracket?

Chardee MacDennis

raven136 wrote: »

not as good as:torres,Keane,Gerrard.

Better than:babel,kuyt,benayoun,voronin

not as ood as our top three attack minded players,better than anyother attacking player we have.
Silva doesnt seem that shi# hot and riera was poor when last in england.
Who would you choose in a similar price bracket?

from RedSpider's and Tusky's negative nancy comments over the summer it seems they would only be happy if we went out and signed the very best in the world. which we obvioulsy cant afford to do. what i find hilarious is if a player of Keane's record had come from Italy or Spain people wouldnt be as dissmissive about him, same could be said for Barry or Downing....

raven136

BastardPrince wrote: »

from RedSpider's and Tusky's negative nancy comments over the summer it seems they would only be happy if we went out and signed the very best in the world. which we obvioulsy cant afford to do. what i find hilarious is if a player of Keane's record had come from Italy or Spain people wouldnt be as dissmissive about him, same could be said for Barry or Downing....

silva is a name,but other than a few highlights of la liga what do we know of him?he was very poor in the euro's and ws garcia esque in losing the ball and bad passes.Also he seems very slight.
Downing could be the answer to our problem,unlike pennant it wasnt one decent season,but a gradually progression as a player.Lasr season he performed well and scored a good amount of goals for a winger.
All summer we have heard that rafa needs a winger,when we are linked with one,we are told he isnt good enough.
Not every good player is spanish or italian.Downing is more than good enough for us

Tusky

raven136 wrote: »

not as good as:torres,Keane,Gerrard.

Better than:babel,kuyt,benayoun,voronin

not as ood as our top three attack minded players,better than anyother attacking player we have.
Silva doesnt seem that shi# hot and riera was poor when last in england.
Who would you choose in a similar price bracket?

Are you just basing your comments on Silva on euro 08 ? Thats pretty silly considering lots of top players didnt perform. Hes a quality player and is only 22. If Silva can be bought for 18m, it would be a real shame to spend 12-14m on Downing.

BastardPrince wrote: »

from RedSpider's and Tusky's negative nancy comments over the summer it seems they would only be happy if we went out and signed the very best in the world. which we obvioulsy cant afford to do. what i find hilarious is if a player of Keane's record had come from Italy or Spain people wouldnt be as dissmissive about him, same could be said for Barry or Downing....

Negative nancy comments ? I'm chuffed with the signing of Keane. I also think Dossena & Cavalieri are good signings.

I was a bit worried about spending 36m on Keane AND Barry considering their ages and resale values.

Ive been strongly opposed to signings Milner and dont like the idea of Downing. I can just see him being sold on in two seasons. Seems like more of a stop gap than a real quality long term option. If I'm wrong, I'll hold up my hands and admit it.

Can you honestly see Downing playing for Utd, Chelsea, Arsenal, Real Madrid, Barcelona or any other top club competing for the league and European cup ?

Karmafaerie

Tusky wrote: »

In regards to Downing - I think he would be another mediocre winger signing. Hes good, but not great. Again, list the best players in the team including Downing, where would he come ? After all of the central players. We need someone in the wide area that is as good as our players down the center.

Please show a list of proven premiership wingers, in great form, in the same price bracket, at the same young age, that would realistically be available for transfer?!

Short list.

It goes like this.



1: Downing.

mike65

So then we can finally put Barry behind us? Good.

As for Liege, ther is no great need to play Gerrard in my view, certainly not worth the risk even off the bench for a cameo.

Mike.

Villain

What about Joe Cole?

Tusky

Karmafaerie wrote: »

Please show a list of proven premiership wingers, in great form, in the same price bracket, at the same young age, that would realistically be available for transfer?!

Short list.

It goes like this.

1: Downing.

Just because hes the only one doesnt mean we should buy him. If hes not good enough hes not good enough. Ive said this from the start - Rafa is trying to fix lots of different problems in the squad on a small budget. I think he should fix half the problems now and half next season. Buying quality players rather than good players. Its quite likely Rafa will sign 7+ players this season (Cavalieri, Degen, Dossena, Keane, N'gog, Barry/Downing). I just think it will result in some of those players been sold in a couple of seasons.

Id much rather he buy a few less players but get better players for the problem positions. Look at the wide players for the top teams that we are competing against. Is Downing as good as them ? No. We are taking baby steps and its frustrating.

Chardee MacDennis

Tusky wrote: »

Negative nancy comments ? I'm chuffed with the signing of Keane. I also think Dossena & Cavalieri are good signings.

I was a bit worried about spending 36m on Keane AND Barry considering their ages and resale values.

Ive been strongly opposed to signings Milner and dont like the idea of Downing. I can just see him being sold on in two seasons. Seems like more of a stop gap than a real quality long term option. If I'm wrong, I'll hold up my hands and admit it.

Can you honestly see Downing playing for Utd, Chelsea, Arsenal, Real Madrid, Barcelona or any other top club competing for the league and European cup ?

more aimed at redspider re the Keane part...

tbh i can see Downing at a top club in a couple of years - he is FAR FAR better than Pennant, Benayoun and Leto, he is better than babel at the moment but i think Babel has a ot more potential. he is also the type of player we dont have in our squad, happy to run to the byline and get balls in.

i would be disgusted if we signed milner...

Karmafaerie

Villain wrote: »

What about Joe Cole?

Not in as good a form as Downing, is older, would cost more, is extremely disliked for his attitude by a lot of Liverpool fans, not a realistic target as Chelseas are unlikely to sell to us!

Tusky

BastardPrince wrote: »

more aimed at redspider re the Keane part...

tbh i can see Downing at a top club in a couple of years - he is FAR FAR better than Pennant, Benayoun and Leto, he is better than babel at the moment but i think Babel has a ot more potential. he is also the type of player we dont have in our squad, happy to run to the byline and get balls in.

i would be disgusted if we signed milner...

Hes not competing with Pennant or Benayoun though and Leto has gone out on loan. I would pick Babel above him every time.

raven136

David Silva
app:36
Goals:4
5 foot 7

Stewart Downing
App:38
Goals(9)6 assists
5 foot 11

Downing is 24,silva 22 and he is bigger and more used to the pace of english football.What makes silva a better signing?

Karmafaerie

Tusky wrote: »

Just because hes the only one doesnt mean we should buy him. If hes not good enough hes not good enough. Ive said this from the start - Rafa is trying to fix lots of different problems in the squad on a small budget. I think he should fix half the problems now and half next season. Buying quality players rather than good players. Its quite likely Rafa will sign 7+ players this season (Cavalieri, Degen, Dossena, Keane, N'gog, Barry/Downing). I just think it will result in some of those players been sold in a couple of seasons.

Id much rather he buy a few less players but get better players for the problem positions. Look at the wide players for the top teams that we are competing against. Is Downing as good as them ? No. We are taking baby steps and its frustrating.

Degen = Free
Dossena = Replaced Riise for £2-3,000,000
Cavalieri = Replacing Itange for £1,500,000
N'gog = £1,500,000 looks a steal, especially when he replaced Le Tallec for maybe £500,000!!!
Keane = Replaced Crouch for an initial £7,000,000 Great buy IMO
Barry = Another story!:P
Downing = A quality prospect who's been vocally tracked by Man Utd for years now.


Rafa strengtened the back which was needed, and then worked on getting proven premiership players.
He may not have two years.
Rafa neds to impress in the prem this season, or Ben & Jerry might be talking to Klinsman again!!!

PHB

I don't think Downing is far far better than Benayoun. Downing is unlikely to improve massively beyond his current level. As I remember, the reports linking him with United and Liverpool were 2-3 years ago. He hasn't really developed that much since then, he's levelled off.
I don't see the point in Downing. You're better of taking the hit and letting Babel develop. Babel is only a year at most away from Downings level, and likely to surpass it soon enough.

The point of the transfer would be to bring another attacker into your first 4 that is as good as the other 3 (Gerrard, Keane, Torres). Downing is not that. If you are looking for a talented left winger you'll have to look far and wide, they don't come easy. Restricting yourself to the premiership isn't going to work. Good scouting teams should have lots of targets out there, most of whom we haven't heard of. Alexis Sanchez, a left winger, was wanted by United this summer, who here had heard of him before hand?

I don't know much about Silva, personally. Goals and assists are not the way to measure a winger. Kuyt did welllish in goals and assists. The problem he had was in his overall play, the amount of attacks that broke down when they went near him was astonishing.
Giovinco has been impressive on his loan spell if you can get him. Maxi Rodriguez? VDV may have been gettable? Those 3 players would have been better than Downing

Tusky

raven136 wrote: »

David Silva
app:36
Goals:4
5 foot 7

Stewart Downing
App:38
Goals(9)6 assists
5 foot 11

Downing is 24,silva 22 and he is bigger and more used to the pace of english football.What makes silva a better signing?

Well Raven youve already admitted that you havent seen much of Silva so how can you make a comparison. I can say that Silva is a better player in every single way apart from maybe body strength. Valencia were terrible last year and had lots of problems. Nobody in the team had a good season really.

Karmafaerie wrote: »

Degen = Free
Dossena = Replaced Riise for £2-3,000,000
Cavalieri = Replacing Itange for £1,500,000
N'gog = £1,500,000 looks a steal, especially when he replaced Le Tallec for maybe £500,000!!!
Keane = Replaced Crouch for an initial £7,000,000 Great buy IMO
Barry = Another story!:P
Downing = A quality prospect who's been vocally tracked by Man Utd for years now.


Rafa strengtened the back which was needed, and then worked on getting proven premiership players.
He may not have two years.
Rafa neds to impress in the prem this season, or Ben & Jerry might be talking to Klinsman again!!!

To be honest - if I searched back a couple of years you were probably making the same type of post about Mark Gonzalez, Craig Bellamy, Zenden.. etc. I appreciate that Rafa has had to totally revamp the team on a limited budget and has needed to buy stop gap players.

I just thought that had ended. If he cant afford top quality players in all the positions he wants to improve, he shouldnt try improve them all at once.

Thats all Im saying.

Hes spent 20m on Keane, 20m on Torres, 10m on Kuyt. 18m on Mascherano, 10m on Alonso, wanted to spend 15m+ on Barry. Who has he bought to play in the wide areas in the 4 years hes been here ? The biggest spend was on Babel at about 11m.

I just feel he has neglected the wings time and time again and I expected a top quality wide player to come in this summer which Downing is not.

missingtime

I would be concerned that Downing could turn into another Pennant.

Personally I wish we had gone for Podolski

rosboy

New Paul Tomkins article:

It's become something of a Kop cliché to say 'this is our year'. Equally, the final pieces of too many Liverpool jigsaws have turned out to instead belong to Sunset At Sea or Midnight In Manhattan.

For starters, a missing jigsaw piece suggests a vacant hole – but no football team plays a season with ten men. As soon as you add a new piece to the jigsaw it has to replace one that was already in situ. We saw with Paul Ince's arrival in 1997 that the extra grit he brought to the side came at the expense of John Barnes' calm, composed passing.

All you can hope for from the manager is that, year on year, he strengthens the team and the squad, making it more competitive. There are no final pieces to football jigsaws, but there are players who can improve the team. And in Keane and Dossena, I feel there are two players who immediately do that.

As pre-season has gone on, the Italian left-back has impressed me more and more. He looks outstanding going forward: quick, skilful, strong, and with good delivery into the box.

I do find it funny when people accuse attacking full-backs of getting caught out of position; if he overlaps, as instructed, and the move breaks down, of course he'll be caught out. The key is that one of the holding midfielders is alive to it.

You can't expect proactive runs into space but the same player to also be at the other end of the pitch at the same time. Phil Neal was always told by Bob Paisley that once he went forward, to stay with the attack; it was then someone else's job to fill in.

There will inevitably be some negatives along the way this season, such as the irritating loss of three players to the Olympics, while of course, no-one can foretell problems and injuries that might arise. Even so, should there be no serious adverse luck – and all successful teams need good luck – I feel there are a number of reasons to believe that this can be the year when a serious challenge is made.

Firstly, Sammy Lee is back. Losing Alex Miller this summer was a blow, but Mauricio Pellegrino, like Lee, can add some fresh ideas and a new perspective.

Second, there's the return of Daniel Agger. At Anfield he often becomes an extra midfielder, and he will help break down all those teams that set up to defend. Above all, he's a quality ball-player. It is one cliché that is true: he is like a new signing, and a £20m one at that. Also, the presence of Martin Skrtel means Liverpool now have four excellent centre-backs, when for the first half of last season there were just two fit and available.

Third, there's the confidence the quartet of Spanish lads will have gained from their summer exploits. Of course, Torres in particular will be a marked man, and possibly liable to fatigue after a monumental 12 months, but I feel he will actually get better this season, providing he stays fit and can be kept fresh (which may mean more debate on rotation, but he cannot play every single match). The potential for improvement also applies to other young 2007 first-team signings, like Babel and Lucas, and even older ones, like Benayoun.

Fourth, the improvements hit upon in the second half of last season. We now know Gerrard, who developed an excellent understanding with Torres, can do the second-striker role to a high level if required, and that Kuyt can be very effective on the right of midfield. It all gives the manager more options.

Fifth, there's the quality of the young reserves, and how, one year on, they should be closer to pushing for a place in the first team; at the very least, at this point in their careers, they add serious depth to the squad, rather than merely making up the numbers.

And of course, finally, there's the new players signed this summer. As a result, the squad looks a lot stronger. Some good players have left, but on the whole even better ones –– and ones better-suited to the way Benítez wants to play –– have arrived. How quickly they settle will be important, but the blend now appears sweeter. Crouch's height will be missed at times, but Robbie Keane's contrasting style is more suited to partnering Torres.

I've come to really appreciate Robbie Keane over recent seasons. While no player is ever a clone of another, he does have aspects of Peter Beardsley in the way he plays these days; cleverness in deeper areas, sharp thinking, excellent movement, quick feet and an ability to weigh in with a very handy amount of goals; it all makes him the perfect second striker.

Once I stopped seeing Keane as an Owen-type 'out-and-out goalscorer' and more like Beardsley, his qualities made a lot more sense to me. He can create chances for himself and others, and regularly gets into the mid-teens for goals; he got 22 in total last season, but that included three penalties, and he may not take them at Liverpool. Even so, 19 from open play is a great tally for a second-striker.

Excluding the Gerrard/Torres axis that shone for the last few months of the season, it's been a long time since Liverpool have had a brilliant established pairing up front, but Keane has shown himself to be a 'partnership player'. He gives those quick, clever passes that a sharp fellow striker can thrive on.

It's not a cheap transfer for a 28-year-old, but sometimes you have to pay for a player who is especially suited to your style of play and meets your specific, hard-to-resolve needs. As with last summer and this winter just gone, Rafa, whilst given money to spend, has also raised funds by selling some of his earlier signings for good profits to keep improving the side.

Crucially, I see Keane as someone who can help the team exceed the sum of its parts. There's also his leadership skills and infectious personality, which are always worth far more to a side than a more talented but disruptive type.

Keane is yet another winner, another team player with great desire and dedication. It is no accident that the squad is filling up with such players, and the spine players –– Reina, Carragher, Agger, Skrtel, Hyypia, Mascherano, Lucas, Alonso, Gerrard, Torres, Kuyt and now Keane –– all possess such traits.

Then there's the need to solve a problem immediately. The long-term future may involve the talents of Ngog, Nemeth and Pacheco, who are three very special teenagers, but that trio, who incidentally cost peanuts, will need time to become regulars. While everyone at the club will be patient with them, the manager cannot just wait around until they are ready. If they prove themselves sooner rather than later, that's great, but Rafa has to strengthen the first team now.

From the clips I've seen and the pre-season games I've watched, Ngog, like Torres and Henry (both of whom started out slowly as goalscorers), has height, pace and skill, and it will hopefully be just be a matter of time before the scoring instincts that have helped him shine at youth level come to the fore. His pre-season goals could help him settle more quickly, and while raw, he looks a prospect.

With pace and skill added to the wide areas in the form of both new full-backs, Babel maturing nicely on the wing as last season progressed, and two lively forwards added, there's every reason to be confident ahead of the new campaign. The main weaknesses in the squad appear to have been addressed, there's more pace in all areas, while Keane can add a new dimension to the Reds' attacking play.

Quite where Gerrard will play once the lads are back from the Olympics I'm not sure. But his versatility will be crucial. If it's away from the centre, then the stronger the team is, the less isolated he will find himself. He did very well on the right in 2005/06, when he scored a lot of goals and the team bagged 82 points; with a better side this season, he could really thrive out there.

After all, no-one moans about Cristiano Ronaldo being 'wasted' stuck out wide; he roams, just as Gerrard does. This is a fluid Liverpool system.

Most importantly, the interchangeability and movement of the supporting front players –– Keane, Gerrard, Babel and Kuyt in particular –– will pose opposition defences innumerable problems.

Add Torres, who won't stray too far from a central position but will still offer world-class movement to drag defenders around, as well as picking the ball up in the inside-right and left channels to run at defenders, and the attacking play could easily improve again on last season, when 117 goals were scored in all competitions. The aim has to be to get a higher percentage of goals in the league, and Keane's arrival will help.

I'll admit that I'm still not a fan of Keane's various celebrations; call me old-fashioned, but I like to see a simple statement of pleasure and a beaming smile, as seen with Dalglish and Torres.

Having said that, I'm more than willing to get used to them. Should his goals, or just his all-round play, help to land that 19th league title, I'll happily consign myself to a hospital ward for the summer by (very foolishly) attempting to replicate his famed tumbling somersaults...

Karmafaerie

Tusky wrote: »

Well Raven youve already admitted that you havent seen much of Silva so how can you make a comparison. I can say that Silva is a better player in every single way apart from maybe body strength. Valencia were terrible last year and had lots of problems. Nobody in the team had a good season really.



To be honest - if I searched back a couple of years you were probably making the same type of post about Mark Gonzalez, Craig Bellamy, Zenden.. etc. I appreciate that Rafa has had to totally revamp the team on a limited budget and has needed to buy stop gap players.

I just thought that had ended. If he cant afford top quality players in all the positions he wants to improve, he shouldnt try improve them all at once.

Thats all Im saying.

Hes spent 20m on Keane, 20m on Torres, 10m on Kuyt. 18m on Mascherano, 10m on Alonso, wanted to spend 15m+ on Barry. Who has he bought to play in the wide areas in the 4 years hes been here ? The biggest spend was on Babel at about 11m.

I just feel he has neglected the wings time and time again and I expected a top quality wide player to come in this summer which Downing is not.

Well I didn't post here then, and I sure as hell didn't rate Zenden!:P

Rafa doesn't play with traditional wide players, so of course he's not going to spend a fortune on them.
If you want a car, why would you spend £20,000 on a speedboat!

I just think that it's a non-question.

Also, I think it's a bit off of you to call players stop gaps, before they've even been signed, let alone played a competitive game for us!

Dossena and to a lesser extent Ngog sure as hell don't look like stop-gaps!

Tusky

Karmafaerie wrote: »

Well I didn't post here then, and I sure as hell didn't rate Zenden!:P

Rafa doesn't play with traditional wide players, so of course he's not going to spend a fortune on them.
If you want a car, why would you spend £20,000 on a speedboat!

I just think that it's a non-question.

Also, I think it's a bit off of you to call players stop gaps, before they've even been signed, let alone played a competitive game for us!

Dossena and to a lesser extent Ngog sure as hell don't look like stop-gaps!

Well I wasnt referring to Dossena or N'gog. Its far too early to judge N'gog anyway. Look how good Voronin looked last preseason and this preseason ? We wont know how good N'gog is until possibly the end of the 09/10 year.

I was talking about Downing. I get the feeling he will be sold on in a couple of years to make way for someone better just like Gonzalez, Bellamy & possibly Pennant have/will be.

jesus_thats_gre

PHB wrote: »

How about the best left winger in the premiership last season, Ashley Young

Is Rafa talking there about the new UEFA CL quotas things that are like 4 homegrown (i.e. local) players and 4 national grown (i.e. English) players?

Would love Young and curse that fact that we didn't go for him before he went to Villa but imagine the effort it would take to get him, especially after the whole Barry affair.

rosboy

Guillem Balague has weighed in on the Gareth Barry transfer saga. According to him, Rafa has about £22m left to spend this summers, without having to sell Alonso.

The Gareth Barry saga is not yet finished. I think Liverpool will have one final attempt at poaching the Aston Villa midfielder, and it is not necessarily linked to Xabi Alonso leaving Anfield.
According to some calculations within the club, Rafa Benitez has sold for a value close to £50 million; and he has spent around £28 million. That leaves something like £22 million available for further signings: without him being forced to sell Xabi. Furthermore, it looks like the club - either Rafa or, most likely, individuals on the board - seem determined not to sell the Spanish midfielder. That could be for a number of reasons: either the bids from Juve and Arsenal, who offered £12 million pounds, were considered not to be enough; or someone at Liverpool believes the player is needed in the team. Has that footballing decision been taken by the board or the manager? That is a very interesting question.

The fact of the matter is, Liverpool need to fill a big hole on the left hand side: a hole that Barry could fill.

In attack, the full backs will take charge of the wing and the players used on the left of midfield will have to use space in the centre - and Barry would excel in that role. Liverpool also need English players as, year after year, clubs will be forced to reduce the number on non-nationals.
Nobody knows if Gareth Barry will end up at Anfield, but you can be sure the manager will do his best to get him

http://guillembalague.com/rumores_desp.php?id=55

Keep in mind that Ballague is the one who reported a few months ago about Rafa's "nice surprise" for supporters, and the signing that "spoke English, but wasn't English".

~Rebel~

rosboy wrote: »

Keep in mind that Ballague is the one who reported a few months ago about Rafa's "nice surprise" for supporters, and the signing that "spoke English, but wasn't English".

Aye he is usually somewhat informed about liverpool alright, though im not sure as much as he makes out. His 2 bits of info so far have come through alright in Degen (english but not english) and Keane (nice surprise), but then again we could have signed any of tens of players and those would still have most likely been true, so its tough to tell how right he really is.

Where's he getting his 50mill from though, is that including wages or something?

rosboy

~Rebel~ wrote: »

Aye he is usually somewhat informed about liverpool alright, though im not sure as much as he makes out. His 2 bits of info so far have come through alright in Degen (english but not english) and Keane (nice surprise), but then again we could have signed any of tens of players and those would still have most likely been true, so its tough to tell how right he really is.

Ya, obviously we can't take it as the definitive truth. I meant, as you said, that he has some insite into the club and is somewhat informed i.e. better than a report in The Sun:p

~Rebel~ wrote: »

Where's he getting his 50mill from though, is that including wages or something?

I'm sure someone will come along shortly and do a quick calculation on the numbers. Karma and Tusky are usually good at those things iirc:D. I can't remember the numbers off the top of my head, so unfortunately i can't help (and am too lazy to look them up:pac:)

Edit: By the way, I think Keane was both the "nice surprise" and the "speaks English, but isn't English" person.

mike65

Anyone else quite tired of Guillem Balague and his speculations?

Mike.

PHB

Only if you believe him to know anything more than other journos. The only reason he sounds relatively informed is because non of us know really whats going on in Spain. As such, what we'd call common knowledge (like that United made a bid for Berbatov) he passes off as insider info.
Then most of his predictions are so vague that they could turn out to be a true.
Somebody who speaks English but isn't english will sign for Liverpool. So his prediction was, a foreign footballer who speaks English will sign for Liverpool. Considering most of Europe is bilingual, it's no surprise that this turned out to be true.

Now that he has this rep, he's playing on it with random ****e. Then people believe what they want to believe.

~Rebel~

Yeah, he reminds me a bit of nostrodamus, say enough vague things and some of them will pan out.

Mr.Alan just reminded me that it wasn't even Ballague who said the "speaks english but isn't english" thing, it was Rafa himself

Rafa wrote:

"We have some signings for the next season done. They are senior players for the first team and young players for the first team and reserve team.

"Two of them are really close, young players, and one senior player is done. He talks good English, but is not English."

zing

Juve loose a couple of midfielders to injury so could venture back into the xfer market. Maybe they'll revive their bid for Xabi or more likely they'll buy some cheap cover.
http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11854_3967208,00.html

Tusky

An English left sided midfielder that can play in a couple of positions eh...?

Joe Cole ?

http://www.mailonsunday.co.uk/sport/football/article-1043689/Coles-Chelsea-future-doubt-Benitez-lies-wait.html?ITO=1490

Dont think it would happen but think he is exactly what we need.

GBX

Joe Cole is a good player alright and well capable of filling the gap on the left side/wing. Cant see him playing a central role so he could well be who Rafa was talking about here:
http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11669_3954589,00.html

Coming from Chelsea though and after all the rivalry over the past few season, I could hear more than a few grumbles coming from the fans.

mike65

True, until he scores a deflected goal against his old club.

Mike.

~Rebel~

Joe Cole. Great player and would improve the team. Can also play in a number of positions which Rafa loves. I absolutely despise the chap though. To all those who talk about the 'foreigners' who bring diving, pretend card waving, whinging and generally being a dick, i point to Joe Cole. As bad as any of them. One of few players i intensely dislike.

Thanx 4 The Fish

Deflected off lampard - icing, may I introduce you to cake.

Jazzy

would absolutely love to get cole.


not gonna happen tho

Karmafaerie

Tusky wrote: »

Well I wasnt referring to Dossena or N'gog. Its far too early to judge N'gog anyway. Look how good Voronin looked last preseason and this preseason ? We wont know how good N'gog is until possibly the end of the 09/10 year.

I was talking about Downing. I get the feeling he will be sold on in a couple of years to make way for someone better just like Gonzalez, Bellamy & possibly Pennant have/will be.

Well if you don't mean Ngog, and Dossena, you probably shouldn't have put them in your list!;)

And don't get me started on Voronin.:p
I've been more than vocal on how wrong most fans attitudes towards him have been.

13 Prem Starts - 5 Prem goals.

Anyone who wants to complain about that from our 4th choice striker needs their head examined.

As do those here who are annoyed that he's had a good pre-season!
FFS like!!!:rolleyes:

Boggles

I think Joe needs a change badly, he looked very unhappy last season.

Karmafaerie

I'd be properly disgusted with Cole.
Exactly the opposit kind of player to what we need.

As talented as he is, he's a whinging, diving, disruptive player.
The kind who'd go to the media if he wasn't happy.

Complete opposit of the kind of player that Rafa has always bought.
Would be bad for the team.

DeadSkin

Karmafaerie wrote: »

I'd be properly disgusted with Cole.
Exactly the opposit kind of player to what we need.

As talented as he is, he's a whinging, diving, disruptive player.
The kind who'd go to the media if he wasn't happy.

Complete opposit of the kind of player that Rafa has always bought.
Would be bad for the team.

Rafa signed Bellamy, can't get more disruptive than him imo.

PHB

No chance Cole would drop down imo, also no chance of Chelsea selling him to Liverpool.
Spurs/Villa would be his only English outs.
Talented like player though he is. He'd add to any of the top 4, imo would easily be first choice left winger for United and Liverpool as when he plays creatively he's something else. He'd actually be exactly what Liverpool need.

PiE

Chelsea wouldn't sell to us. Cole wouldn't agree to join us. And he isn't a Rafa-type signing.

Where exactly the story in this?

I can't bloody wait for the transfer window to close.

Karmafaerie

DeadSkin wrote: »

Rafa signed Bellamy, can't get more disruptive than him imo.

Bellamy promised to change as he was getting the chance to go to his boyhood idols.
Plus we got Bellamy at a steal, because of a clause in his contract.
You think we'd get Cole for £6,000,000?!

Cole doesn't like Liverpool, Liverpool don't like Cole.

I see this as a non-story TBH, which is a pity, cause talent wise, he's amazing!

DeadSkin

Karmafaerie wrote: »

Bellamy promised to change as he was getting the chance to go to his boyhood idols.
Plus we got Bellamy at a steal, because of a clause in his contract.
You think we'd get Cole for £6,000,000?!

Cole doesn't like Liverpool, Liverpool don't like Cole.

I see this as a non-story TBH, which is a pity, cause talent wise, he's amazing!

I never implied we'd get Cole for £6m.
Promises, shmromises, Rafa still signed Bellamy & his baggage.
Maybe Cole will promise he'll be a good boy if Rafa signs him.

missingtime

I said it before and I'll say it again, there is a serious air of wanker off Joe Cole.