Liverpool FC Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread

Karmafaerie

And may I just add this which I picked up on from IK.

It's been a massive summer of weddings for our Red Men.

Nando.

(Not the wedding obviously, but it was private)

Al


Lucas


Diego


And of course Xabi.



Congrats to all the happy couples, and on a side note, damn Al and Diego have done well for themselves!!!:p

The Rooster

Good job Diego has a safe pair of hands to hold those yokes.

mada999

Karmafaerie wrote: »

And may I just add this which I picked up on from IK.

It's been a massive summer of weddings for our Red Men.

Nando.

(Not the wedding obviously, but it was private)

Al


Lucas


Diego


And of course Xabi.



Congrats to all the happy couples, and on a side note, damn Al and Diego have done well for themselves!!!:p

Lucas' bird is smokin....

mormank

mada999 wrote: »

Lucas' bird is smokin....

kinda looks like it could be his sister..similar jawlines...

PiE

mada999 wrote: »

Lucas' bird is smokin....

I was about to say they could all do better. The multi-millionaire footballers, that is.

therecklessone

Karmafaerie wrote: »

Al

Noice!

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2009/jul/28/perez-real-madrid-liverpool-xabi-alonso

Florentino Pérez, the Real Madrid president, has claimed that Liverpool are out of touch with reality in asking £30m for Xabi Alonso.

Madrid are keen to buy Alonso and the midfielder has indicated he would welcome the move but, in the latest episode in the long-running battle between the clubs over the Spain international, Pérez has criticised Liverpool's stance.

"Some people obviously thought that, because we said we wanted more Spanish players, they could ask for fees which don't correspond to reality," he said. "A year ago certain players we've asked about would have cost less than half the price we're being quoted now. If necessary, we'll find the Spanish players we would like for the squad in our youth side."

He must be a ventriloquist to keep a straight face when he's saying sh1t like that...

Mikey23

The Times had the same story with a £32m price tag. Either's cheap for a midfielder with the range of Alonso, and well Perez knows it. Really hope Liverpool don't blink first here - it's not as if the potential replacements come cheap, and when the likes of Valencia (who really need to sell) stick to their guns, Pool should too.

Princess Consuela Bananahammock

Wtf? Have I taken a wrong turned and arrived at the Hello! forum?

Malice

Florentino P&#233 wrote: »

If necessary, we'll find the Spanish players we would like for the squad in our youth side."

I like the dismissive way he suggests he can just promote a youth player to their first team rather than paying for Alonso and yet Liverpool are the ones that are out of touch with reality.

Boggles

The Alonso nonsense has all the hallmarks of the Barry fiasco last season, wouldn't surprise me if City swooped, they just offered Toure 120 grand a week.

whatawaster

Boggles wrote: »

The Alonso nonsense has all the hallmarks of the Barry fiasco last season, wouldn't surprise me if City swooped, they just offered Toure 120 grand a week.

Alonso will not be sold to City. We don't need to sell him, he just apparently wants to play for Madrid, as it seems everyone does. He's a level above the calibre of player City are signing at the moment, and for good reason (no cl, unproven manager)

emc2

Boggles wrote: »

The Alonso nonsense has all the hallmarks of the Barry fiasco last season, wouldn't surprise me if City swooped, they just offered Toure 120 grand a week.

Alonso Doesn't want the money he want the move back to spain to play for Real so I'd be very very suprised if he went to City. Sure he wouldn't get a game with Barry there;)

Boggles

whatawaster wrote: »

Alonso will not be sold to City. We don't need to sell him, he just apparently wants to play for Madrid, as it seems everyone does. He's a level above the calibre of player City are signing at the moment, and for good reason (no cl, unproven manager)

Tevez - Adebayor - Barry

Ireland and Robiniho already there?

emc2 wrote: »

Alonso Doesn't want the money he want the move back to spain to play for Real so I'd be very very suprised if he went to City. Sure he wouldn't get a game with Barry there;)

Point was more if he falls out with the fans like Barry he may not want to stick around.

mayordenis

Yep Alonso is close to definite to sign for City - what with it being a world cup year, he wants to have as few competitive games as possible to avoid injury.

PiE

Alonso to City? Really Boggles, your standards are dropping.

Boggles

Boggles wrote: »

The Alonso nonsense has all the hallmarks of the Barry fiasco last season, wouldn't surprise me if City swooped, they just offered Toure 120 grand a week.

Do you write for the tabloids?

Boggles

PiE wrote: »

Alonso to City? Really Boggles, your standards are dropping.

Is is that hard to believe they might bid for him?

therecklessone

Boggles wrote: »

Is is that hard to believe they might bid for him?

Yes it is.

Boggles

therecklessone wrote: »

Yes it is.

Hang on a second, you think it is hard to believe Man City might bid for him.

Man City??

therecklessone

Boggles wrote: »

Hang on a second, you think it is hard to believe Man City might bid for him.

Man City??

Theoretically they could bid for anyone.

Boggles

Boggles wrote: »

Hang on a second, you think it is hard to believe Man City might bid for him.

Man City??

Selling one of your top players to a potential rival doesn't make sense.

Mitch Connor

rarnes1 wrote: »

Selling one of your top players to a potential rival doesn't make sense.

That really doesn't stop clubs bidding though, does it?

Liverpool in for Barry last summer. City in for Terry this summer. rumours that City, Chelsea and United made enquiries for Torres this summer. Arsenal sold Adebayor to City. List could go on....

Dublin_Gunner

rarnes1 wrote: »

Selling one of your top players to a potential rival doesn't make sense.

IMO Madrid are more potential rivals (CL) than City (PL)..........

Boggles

City aren't really making sense at the moment to be honest.

stevoslice

bbc gossip page has it that arby is close to completing his move to real...

Boggles

thebhoy wrote: »

bbc gossip page has it that arby is close to completing his move to real...

BBC gossip page gets it's headlines from the collection of rags, I wouldn't read too much into it.

It's when the story is printed by them it usually holds some water.

whatawaster

Boggles wrote: »

Tevez - Adebayor - Barry

Ireland and Robiniho already there?

Alonso - one of the best in his position in the world
Tevez - isn't
Adebayor - isn't
Barry - isn't
Ireland -isn't
Robinho - imo he isn't either but you could argue his case

Boggles

whatawaster wrote: »

Alonso - one of the best in his position in the world
Tevez - isn't
Adebayor - isn't
Barry - isn't
Ireland -isn't
Robinho - imo he isn't either but you could argue his case

I'm not going to argue with you who is better Tevez or Alonso, because that doesn't really compute.

Your point was City arn't signing the calibre of player of Alonso, that list IMO disproves it, even more so when you consider Rafa tried to sign 2 from that list.

You did see Ireland play last season didn't you?

whatawaster

Boggles wrote: »

I'm not going to argue with you who is better Tevez or Alonso, because that doesn't really compute.

Your point was City arn't signing the calibre of player of Alonso, that list IMO disproves it, even more so when you consider Rafa tried to sign 2 from that list.

You did see Ireland play last season didn't you?

you can't compare Alonso to Tevez obviously - they play in different positions.
I don't think the list does disprove it - i believe Alonso is better/more important than any of those players.
And since when did you use "mad Rafa" to backup your own points?

Ireland had a terrific season last year, but that doesn't make him world class. He needs to back up those performances this season.

Karmafaerie

The Rooster wrote: »

Good job Diego has a safe pair of hands to hold those yokes.

I'm just gonna point out that she's a Brazilian glamour model.
You can do what you want with that!:p

Dublin_Gunner

Karmafaerie wrote: »

I'm just gonna point out that she's a Brazilian glamour model.
You can do what you want with that!:p

**FAP**

mike65

If Arby reckons he'll be gone then I think we can presume he'll be gone. Warnock! What price did he go to Blackeye Rovers for?

5starpool

Is the Liverpool thread doing a Boggles on Boggles?

livinginkorea

Dossena on the way out for sure now?

http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11661_5457569,00.html

Andrea Dossena's prospective Anfield exit is a step closer after Liverpool accepted an offer from Napoli, according to the player's agent.

Dossena is believed to be keen on a return to Seria A after struggling to make an impact in England following his move from Udinese last summer.

Reports suggest Napoli's offer is in the region of 5million euros (�4.3m), a significant loss on a player boss Rafael Benitez paid 10million euros for just twelve months ago.

Representatives of the Italy international have suggested the offer has been accepted and Dossena is expected to complete the move later this week.

"Liverpool have accepted (Napoli chairman) Aurelio De Laurentiis' offer," his agent told Radio Kiss Kiss.

"It's now just a matter of days. The two clubs are in agreement, Liverpool accepted Napoli's offer but I can't say any more.

"With regards to Andrea there are no problems, it's only a matter of days. As soon as Napoli call us, we will finalise it."

Dossena is likely to find himself even more surplus to requirements following the arrival of Glen Johnson on Merseyside, but with Alvaro Arbeloa closing in on a move to Real Madrid, Benitez may find his full-back options limited next season

jesus_thats_gre

Warnock should never have been allowed to leave.

Saying that, it was only when he had a prolonged run in Blackburn's first team did he actually make the step up.

Only went for 1.5m in the end Mike.

whatawaster

jesus_thats_gre wrote: »

Warnock should never have been allowed to leave.

Saying that, it was only when he had a prolonged run in Blackburn's first team did he actually make the step up.

Only went for 1.5m in the end Mike.

he was decent, but he was never good enough defensively for us.

MementoMori

Looks like Arbeloa is on the way out, especially if the quotes from Marca are genuine accurately translated.

£3.5m isnt a great price for a 26 year old international defender imo but a lot of this is down to there only being one year left on his contract. Also the cover situation at RB isn't great with neither Degen or Darby looking up to being an adequate deputy for Johnson currently.

Liverpool FC defender Alvaro Arbeloa close to Real Madrid move
Jul 28 2009

Liverpool defender Alvaro Arbeloa claims he could complete his return to Real Madrid in the next few days.

Arbeloa, along with Liverpool team-mate and compatriot Xabi Alonso, has long been linked with a move to Madrid.

Reports in Spain suggest the 26-year-old has already agreed personal terms with his former club and that Liverpool have accepted a bid of around 4million euros (£3.5million).

And Arbeloa believes the last few details will be finalised this week.

“At the moment I am focused on Liverpool but it is true that the deal is close to being completed,” he told Spanish sports daily Marca.

“We’ll see what happens in the next few days, if we can all make an effort so the the negotiations come to a good end, and we all come out having benefited, which is what everyone wants.

“I insist that everything is going forwards and everyone is in agreement - I am the one who has the most desire to sign for Madrid.

“I don’t know what the likelihood is in percentages, it’s a question more for the clubs. But, as I understand, it seems everything is going well and there is little left to resolve.

“It could all be sealed this week.”

Arbeloa progressed through the ranks at Madrid but only played for the first team twice before moving to Deportivo la Coruna in 2006.

He left Spain for Liverpool a year later and has done well in the Barclays Premier League, earning a call up to the Spain team with whom he won Euro 2008.

http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/src/webroot/ldp2/liverpool-fc/liverpool-fc-news/2009/07/28/liverpool-fc-defender-alvaro-arbeloa-close-to-real-madrid-move-100252-24259158/2/

whatawaster

Not good news at all. It leaves us very weak at the back.

Johnson/Degen

---

Carragher/XXXXX----Skrtel/Agger

---

Insua/Aurelio

From what I’ve seen of him, I wouldn’t want to have to rely on Degen too much this season. He doesn’t look terribly good defensively. Darby is probably more likely to go on loan.
It might not be a bad idea to buy a utility defender if we could. Off the top of my head Distin can play CB and FB. Micah Richards could possibly be gotten cheaply (though whether or not he’s a better defender than Degen remains to be seen)
We 100% need at least 1 more defender.

Boggles

whatawaster wrote: »

Off the top of my head Distin can play CB and FB.

Distin started almost 50 games last season, he played nearly every minute of the 38 league games for Pompey.

Don't think he would be happy going from that to 3/4th choice centre back.

Richards is not good enough IMO.

Karmafaerie

Right back: Johnson/Carra/Degen/Darby/Spearing

Centerback: Carra/Agger/Skrtel (here's where we're week, as I don't see the young lads as being ready to step up yet).

Left back: Aurelio/Insua/Johnson


I can see Distin in ared jersey next year.

Dublin_Gunner

TBH, barring any major injuries, I think we'll be fine at the back.

A couple of the young lads can do a job for the odd game, to give the regulars a break, and Spearing appears to be able to play either side if push came to shove - from what I've seen in pre season so far anyway.

Centre back - sure, I'd rather and extra player for a 4th choice cover - but pretty sure Johnson could slot in there should we need him to.

Its funny though, considering CB is a position we've been quite string in over the past couple of years.

whatawaster

Karmafaerie wrote: »

Right back: Johnson/Carra/Degen/Darby/Spearing

Centerback: Carra/Agger/Skrtel (here's where we're week, as I don't see the young lads as being ready to step up yet).

Left back: Aurelio/Insua/Johnson


I can see Distin in ared jersey next year.

Spearing is not good enough to play central midfield for us, and he's definitely not good enough to play RB. Carragher has no pace and was badly exposed at full-back in recent times. Also if you put him at RB we are left with 2 recognised CBs. Darby should go on loan, because a season as 3rd choice will do him no good at all. Degen has looked extremely poor any time i've seen him play.
So while, conceivably, we've lots of options at RB, i trust none of them bar Johnson to be honest.
We are not prepared for an injury crisis at all.

whatawaster

Dublin_Gunner wrote: »

TBH, barring any major injuries, I think we'll be fine at the back.

A couple of the young lads can do a job for the odd game, to give the regulars a break, and SPearing appears to be able to play either side if push came to shove - from what I've seen in pre season so far anyway.

Centre back - sure, I'd rather and extra player for a 4th choice cover - but pretty sure Johnson could slot in there should we need him to.

Its gunny though, considering CB is a position we've been quite string in over the past couple of years.

that's an awful big if. We've been quite lucky in recent years. Our squad hasn't got too stretched.
But the player we're about to lose (Arbeloa) was comfortable in all positions across the back. We can't not replace that. Especially given Aurelio's injury record, Agger's injury record, and Carragher's advancing years. We need cover.

Dublin_Gunner

whatawaster wrote: »

that's an awful big if. We've been quite lucky in recent years. Our squad hasn't got too stretched.
But the player we're about to lose (Arbeloa) was comfortable in all positions across the back. We can't not replace that. Especially given Aurelio's injury record, Agger's injury record, and Carragher's advancing years. We need cover.

I agree its a big 'if', however, I wouldn't be too put out if we didn't get another defender.

We'd want to look at someone cheap & cheerful, that can do a job.

I believe Finnan has been released from his contract.... lol (talking about injuries..)

spockety

Carragher obviously felt he was already mentally out of the club.. Arbeloa probably never recovered right after this!

kinaldo

Who do Pool fans reckon will replace Alonso, assuming he leaves?

whatawaster

kinaldo wrote: »

Who do Pool fans reckon will replace Alonso, assuming he leaves?

Lucas

kinaldo

whatawaster wrote: »

Lucas

Surely Liverpool could do better with 30 million euros or whatever it is they get for Alonso.

Malice

If Arbeloa does leave I'm a bit curious as to why. Does he feel that it'll be easier to dislodge Sergio Ramos from the Real Madrid first team rather than Glen Johnson from Liverpool's or is he another one who's family haven't settled?

I did feel at times last season that he would have benefitted from having competiton for his place (well, more competition than a broken Degen) as he seemed to coast through a few games (especially the West Brom game where Carragher had a go at him). Now that the competition has arrived he wants out?

whatawaster

kinaldo wrote: »

Surely Liverpool could do better with 30 million euros or whatever it is they get for Alonso.

i was messing.
I don't know - Aquilani, Martinez, Noble have all been mentioned. It's looking slightly more likely he's going to stay now though. Which means he's definitely gone.