Liverpool FC Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread 11/12-Jan 2012 onwards

opr

jank wrote: »

Fans that are epecting the new owners to be as generous as they were last year will be in for a shock.

It was only just pointed out on the last page. We didn't get any money from the owners last year.

As for people talking about net spend being an argument to justify bad spending, seriously ? Think how much better off we would be this season if on top of buying the players we did the squad also still included the likes Meireles, Aquilani and Torres.

Opr

K-9

jank wrote: »

You are also assuming that those clubs ahead of Liverpool will stand still. Arsenal are due a massive clear out in the summer, with some big names on the way in. Chelsea are in transition and of course the two Manchester teams will be around the for the next few years. Never mind Newcastle and Spurs. TBH with the amount of money Liverpool have spent I would be disappointed not to be in the top 4. If Wenger spent that I would be disappointed that there wasn't a title challenge.

The question for Liverpool, how much money will Kenny get in the summer. He hasn't really shown a good head to spend wisely. With no CL football this year and probably next year then that hole in the accounts will become very telling after a while. 3 years of no CL football is close to 100m down the drain. Agree though next year will be key. If Kenny gets 50m or so and doesn't make the top 4 he will be given the boot, or at least should be.
I think Kenny will be lucky to get half that amount imo. Fans that are epecting the new owners to be as generous as they were last year will be in for a shock.

Barring a total Spurs collapse one of Arsenal or Chelsea are going to face the same problem Liverpool faced, no CL football. That might make Wenger spend, if he's still there that is.

As for the CL money, its a big loss but the club has just announced a record kit deal, as well as last years big sponsorship deal.

jank

opr wrote: »

It was only just pointed out on the last page. We didn't get any money from the owners last year.

As for people talking about net spend being an argument to justify bad spending, seriously ? Think how much better off we would be this season if on top of buying the players we did the squad also still included the likes Meireles, Aquilani and Torres.

Opr

LOL

finbarrk

What happened to the lad that was killed?

jank

K-9 wrote: »

Barring a total Spurs collapse one of Arsenal or Chelsea are going to face the same problem Liverpool faced, no CL football. That might make Wenger spend, if he's still there that is.

As for the CL money, its a big loss but the club has just announced a record kit deal, as well as last years big sponsorship deal.

No doubt they are doing well in the commercial deals. Arsenal are getting screwed over at the moment in those stakes (its a long story but the deals were nessesary for the stadium). It is estimated that Arsenal are losing out on at least 30 million per year in pure turnover in this regard. Roll on 2014 when those deals expire.

I can see a Spurs collapse though. United will beat them and that will make it a 4 point gap to Arsenal/Chelsea

No point in talking about Chelsea though regarding money. Normal rules dont apply to them

Super-Rush

finbarrk wrote: »

What happened to the lad that was killed?

Link.

A 26 year-old Liverpool FC fan was stabbed to death at a bar in London on the eve of the victorious Carling Cup final at Wembley.

The victim has been identified as former Wirral Grammar student Alex Jarmay who lived in Bromborough with his family.

Police were called to Bar Uno in Camden at around midnight on Saturday and found the victim collapsed and fatally wounded outside the Inverness Street venue.

He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Detectives said the incident was not football related but football fan Mr Jarmay is believed to have travelled to the capital to watch Liverpool play Cardiff City.

A 17 year-old boy from London and three other men aged 23, 25 and 28 were arrested at the scene and taken into custody for questioning.

A Metropolitan police spokesman said: "The homicide and serious crime command is investigating.

"While officers retain an open mind as regards a motive, it is not believed to be football-related."

Tributes have been posted on Twitter from friends and Liverpool FC fans, including one tweet from The Farm vocalist Peter Hooton.

He wrote: "Thoughts go out 2 the family & friends of this Liverpool fan who lost his life in London puts everything in perspective."

Thomas Fairclough posted: "Terrible to hear about Alex Jarmay, thoughts with his family and friends. RIP."

And former work colleague Natasha Lally said: "So sad to hear about the fatal stabbing of Alex Jarmay. Such a nice guy, sadly missed."

Jesus Wept

I hope Kess has a spare of jocks.


http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/transfer-news/Liverpool-are-lining-up-summer-spending-spree-Javi-Martinez-Barcelona-Seydou-Keita-Lille-Eden-Hazard-article871880.html

jethro081

The-Rigger wrote: »

I hope Kess has a spare of jocks.


http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/transfer-news/Liverpool-are-lining-up-summer-spending-spree-Javi-Martinez-Barcelona-Seydou-Keita-Lille-Eden-Hazard-article871880.html

if we don't sign hazard, then im going to piss in that journalists morning tea for six months.

Leiva

The-Rigger wrote: »

I hope Kess has a spare of jocks.


http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/transfer-news/Liverpool-are-lining-up-summer-spending-spree-Javi-Martinez-Barcelona-Seydou-Keita-Lille-Eden-Hazard-article871880.html

Camolli makes one comment about players wanting to join "the project" so The Mirror go and pull three players names out of their hole .:rolleyes:



Just on the past Summer singings .it's over seven months now and bar Jose they have been pretty unimpressive .

So even if the stories of heavy investment in this Summer are half true then again we could have some very expensive deadwood (still in early years of contracts) floating around the club once again .

Bad transfers always always bite you back .

Beating Cardiff also means Dalglish joins Joe Mercer, Bill Nicholson, Don Revie, Sir Alex Ferguson, George Graham and Jose Mourinho as the only managers to have won the full set of English league title, FA Cup and League Cup titles

Mr Alan

The-Rigger wrote: »

I hope Kess has a spare of jocks.


http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/transfer-news/Liverpool-are-lining-up-summer-spending-spree-Javi-Martinez-Barcelona-Seydou-Keita-Lille-Eden-Hazard-article871880.html

As nice as the quotes are to read, Maddock is unbelievably full of ****.

Will I Amnt

djPSB wrote: »

I also think that the pressure will be eased on the likes of Carroll and Downing next season when the marquee signings arrive in the summer. The spotlight will have shifted to somebody else.

Out of interest what would you consider a marquee signing???
Assuming they would set ye back a hefty price,how sure are ye that there's a few on the way???

Sappy404

cambo2008 wrote: »

Out of interest what would you consider a marquee signing???
Assuming they would set ye back a hefty price,how sure are ye that there's a few on the way???

I'd be delighted with Hazard or Cavani. However I'm entirely sure neither are on the way, especially without Champions League football.

I'd be happy with Higuain or Podolski. Less marquee but more gettable, say with 2 domestic cups maybe to convince them the club is on the up.

In all likelihood we'll sign Hoilett or someone with potential rather than established talent.

Cavani or Hazard are unlikely lets face it. Not to say either won't happen but it's a long shot. We could possibly pay the wages but unless we are in the CL, we may be down the list in some players minds.

Huntalaar would be a great signing imo. He's late 20's but knows where the goal is, something we are badly struggling with.

Daemonic

If last years transfers are anything to go by, Arsenal will sign Hazard for 25m and we'll balance their books by signing Walcott for 27m

Morzadec

People are forgetting one thing when we talk about attracting players in the summer - we have won a trophy this year and images of us lifting a trophy and being successful have made there way around Europe. This doesn't count for nothing imo.

For example in Marca, usually they barely talk about English football and all their top stories are about Spain, but on Sunday and Monday Liverpool's win was about the 3rd or 4th story down. Also because Liverpool are quite popular in Spain due to the Benitez-era, and because Reina is in the team and it got a decent bit of coverage in Spain (I don't think the Spanish press or Spanish people have quite worked out who Jose Enrique is yet). I still think some players will see that and think that 'this is a team that is winning trophies and I'd like to be a part of that.'

For all the talk of a 'Mickey Mouse' trophy, it's definitely given us a lot of positive exposure and will show the world the potential we have to add further trophies

Will I Amnt

Sappy404 wrote: »

I'd be delighted with Hazard or Cavani. However I'm entirely sure neither are on the way, especially without Champions League football.

I'd be happy with Higuain or Podolski. Less marquee but more gettable, say with 2 domestic cups maybe to convince them the club is on the up.

In all likelihood we'll sign Hoilett or someone with potential rather than established talent.

I'd easily regard Higuain as marquee,he would be a fantastic addition to any squad.

I think going for Cavani would be over ambitious but I don't see Hazard being nearly as hard to get,easier than Higuain I would have thought.

Morzadec

cambo2008 wrote: »

I'd easily regard Higuain as marquee,he would be a fantastic addition to any squad.

I think going for Cavani would be over ambitious but I don't see Hazard being nearly as hard to get,easier than Higuain I would have thought.

Higuain would be amazing. Cavani even more so. Soldado would be good or Negredo could be a decent option.

I agree that the former too would perhaps be ambitious if we are assuming we'll be without CL football.

I still think that we need someone of this ilk if we are to bring ourselves to the next level and I think it could add about 10 - 15 points onto our total. While Carroll is improving and I'm sure he'll end up being a decent player, I still feel he'll never have the quality or be the type of player we need playing week in week out to be successful. And I don't think Suarez is capable of leading the line alone.

Nuri Sahin

Sappy404 wrote: »

I'd be delighted with Hazard or Cavani. However I'm entirely sure neither are on the way, especially without Champions League football.

I'd be happy with Higuain or Podolski. Less marquee but more gettable, say with 2 domestic cups maybe to convince them the club is on the up.

In all likelihood we'll sign Hoilett or someone with potential rather than established talent.

Higuain would definitely be a marquee signing. Like Hazard and Cavani, highly unlikely we'll sign him but you never know..

Sappy404

cambo2008 wrote: »

I'd easily regard Higuain as marquee,he would be a fantastic addition to any squad.

I think going for Cavani would be over ambitious but I don't see Hazard being nearly as hard to get,easier than Higuain I would have thought.

I think Higuain will be on the move this summer based on what Ive read recently.

Hazard too, but he will be sought after by every ambitious club in Europe.

Will I Amnt

Sappy404 wrote: »

I think Higuain will be on the move this summer based on what Ive read recently.

Hazard too, but he will be sought after by every ambitious club in Europe.

Higuain will be top of many a shopping list too.
Criminally underrated at Madrid,best natural finisher at the club imo.

Kess73

Chucky the tree wrote: »

The signings have been poor but even without those it would have been very difficult to over-take Arsenal, Spurs and City. I means it not like those teams have spent nothing in the last 12 months.

Arsenal:
- Gerviniho £12m
- Chamberlain £10m
- Arteta £8m
- Mertesackers £8m

Chelsea
- Torres £50m
- Lukaku £20m
- Meirles £12m
- Mata £24m
- Luiz £24m
- De Bruyne £7m


Spurs didn't spend much but they added some decent quality to a squad that was already far superior to ours. We finished 10 points behind 4th and have narrow the gap to currently 4, it's not to shabby considering others teams spent a bit aswell.

The gap is 7 points right now, not 4. Granted we have a game in hand, but until we win it we cannot be including the points.

You have left out Newcastle who would have spent far far less than us over the past 12 months. Hell we even took their star player along with an excellent defender, and they are currently 4 points ahead of us.

redzerdrog

Martinez would be a great coup for us and is more "getable" than the other marquee signing mentions.

hoilet for rw is being realistic

podolski as a striker/LW

These are what our summer signings should be like if we dont get champions league football

El Inho

citytillidie wrote: »

you mean this

im so hungover...rag week blah blah blah...

but that just made my day!

Morzadec

redzerdrog wrote: »

Martinez would be a great coup for us and is more "getable" than the other marquee signing mentions.

hoilet for rw is being realistic

podolski as a striker/LW

These are what our summer signings should be like if we dont get champions league football

Would be a great signing, but I actually wonder if it might be a bit unrealistic. He's probably rated as the best young defensive mid in Spain except for Busquets and I'd imagine Real might be in for him. He'd also probably fit in pretty well as a CB in Barca's system.

Martinez and Lucas would be a sick CM partnership though, they could be as good as Alonso/Masch

daithijjj

Derby game is on Tues 13th March.

Kess73

Morzadec wrote: »

Would be a great signing, but I actually wonder if it might be a bit unrealistic. He's probably rated as the best young defensive mid in Spain except for Busquets and I'd imagine Real might be in for him. He'd also probably fit in pretty well as a CB in Barca's system.

Martinez and Lucas would be a sick CM partnership though, they could be as good as Alonso/Masch

Martinez would cost big money. As much as some of the signings that others call unrealistic imho.

Good player though, but could never see him and Lucas coming close to Alonso/Mascherano simply because of how good Xabi was.

I think someone like Vidal would be in the same price range as Matinez and so would the likes of M'Vila. Medel would be a good bit less imho and so would Moussa Sissoko.

We really could have done with a Martinez type player this season though

Kess73

redzerdrog wrote: »

Martinez would be a great coup for us and is more "getable" than the other marquee signing mentions.

hoilet for rw is being realistic

podolski as a striker/LW

These are what our summer signings should be like if we dont get champions league football

I think Hoilett would be a very good gamble tbh. He would be available on a free this summer, and unlike the likes of Cole etc that we got on a free in the past, Hoilett is a young player with lots of potential who is actually good enough right now to go into the first team.

What I like about Hoilett is his willingness to take players on, but also the fact that he appears to be more aware of his fellow team mates than the likes of Walcott, Lennon, Wright-Philips etc were at his age and maybe even now as well. Have a feeling that there is a very good winger waiting to be made of Hoilett.

Glico Man

Kess73 wrote: »

Martinez would cost big money. As much as some of the signings that others call unrealistic imho.

Good player though, but could never see him and Lucas coming close to Alonso/Mascherano simply because of how good Xabi was.

I think someone like Vidal would be in the same price range as Matinez and so would the likes of M'Vila. Medel would be a good bit less imho and so would Moussa Sissoko.

We really could have done with a Martinez type player this season though

I'd love Vidal, but he won't be leaving Juve anytime soon. Was watching an Inter game a week or so ago and saw a name on the bench that surprised me, Freddy Guarin. He was a monster at Porto last season in CM and has always impressed me when I watched him play. He'd be an excellent addition imo, would certainly displace Adam in the first team

mike65

Matt Jarvis (if Wolves go down).

Nuri Sahin

aaronh007 wrote: »

I'd love Vidal, but he won't be leaving Juve anytime soon. Was watching an Inter game a week or so ago and saw a name on the bench that surprised me, Freddy Guarin. He was a monster at Porto last season in CM and has always impressed me when I watched him play. He'd be an excellent addition imo, would certainly displace Adam in the first team

Bought for £11M too. As I said in the Seria A thread at the time of them signing him, one of the signings of the season IMHO. He must have not had long on his contract to be going for such a measly sum though he reportedly also had a falling out with Vitor Pereira at Porto which could have played a massive part in his departure. Don't think it was wise of him to leave for Inter, easy to say now but a lot of rebuilding needs to be done there. Though the likes of Nagatomo, Alvarez in the summer and now Guarin are steps in the right direction.

YouTookMyName

Kess73

aaronh007 wrote: »

I'd love Vidal, but he won't be leaving Juve anytime soon. Was watching an Inter game a week or so ago and saw a name on the bench that surprised me, Freddy Guarin. He was a monster at Porto last season in CM and has always impressed me when I watched him play. He'd be an excellent addition imo, would certainly displace Adam in the first team

He is on loan to Inter atm. But there is a buy clause inserted in the loan deal which means if Inter want him at the end of the season the price is set at €13.5m. Thought it was quite a low price for a very decent player.

Jesus Wept

cambo2008 wrote: »

Out of interest what would you consider a marquee signing???

Bringing Joe Cole home would be like a new signing.

Leiva

The-Rigger wrote: »

Bringing Joe Cole home would be like a new signing.

Great . I would then have the Viper knocking at my door

jank

Morzadec wrote: »

People are forgetting one thing when we talk about attracting players in the summer - we have won a trophy this year and images of us lifting a trophy and being successful have made there way around Europe. This doesn't count for nothing imo.

For example in Marca, usually they barely talk about English football and all their top stories are about Spain, but on Sunday and Monday Liverpool's win was about the 3rd or 4th story down. Also because Liverpool are quite popular in Spain due to the Benitez-era, and because Reina is in the team and it got a decent bit of coverage in Spain (I don't think the Spanish press or Spanish people have quite worked out who Jose Enrique is yet). I still think some players will see that and think that 'this is a team that is winning trophies and I'd like to be a part of that.'

For all the talk of a 'Mickey Mouse' trophy, it's definitely given us a lot of positive exposure and will show the world the potential we have to add further trophies

I think you are over playing it a bit. Come the business end of the season, Champions league, domestic cups and leagues, the Euros I think most players would have completely forgotten about Liverpool's league cup success. Remember its only Feb. I think what will have far greater impact is a top 4 finish.

daithijjj

Anyone seen much of Havard Nordtveit?, German media linking him with us. I know i know, I'm just curious is all.

Dublin_Gunner

daithijjj wrote: »

Anyone seen much of Havard Nordtveit?, German media linking him with us. I know i know, I'm just curious is all.

Honestly, never heard of him

Quick google. Norweigan, plays for Monchengladbach, was sold to them by Arsenal last season after having a couple of loan spells away from the Emirates.

Young (21), but looks like he may not have cut it at Arsenal. Not sure we need to be spending money on another young midfielder who may or may not be a flop. Has Henderson MKII written all over it.

For defensive midfield, we need either Lucas back, or someone with a decent amount of experience.

The rumours of us being linked with him are definitely doing the rounds though.

**edit

Maybe I'm being a bit harsh. Has made 2 senior appearances for Norway, and played 38 games for 'Gladbach since last year (and they're currently 3rd), so must have something about him.

Glico Man

daithijjj wrote: »

Anyone seen much of Havard Nordtveit?, German media linking him with us. I know i know, I'm just curious is all.

Dublin_Gunner wrote: »

Honestly, never heard of him

Was on Arsenal's books not that long ago. Didn't think much of him then, but as he's played regularly recently he's looked pretty decent and has been impressive in more than a handful of games. Good touch, excellent tackler, eye for a pass, keeps things ticking. Would be a decent squad player or back up to Lucas. Streets ahead of wee Jay technique and ability wise.

Dublin_Gunner

aaronh007 wrote: »

Was on Arsenal's books not that long ago. Didn't think much of him then, but as he's played regularly recently he's looked pretty decent and has been impressive in more than a handful of games. Good touch, excellent tackler, eye for a pass, keeps things ticking. Would be a decent squad player or back up to Lucas. Streets ahead of wee Jay technique and ability wise.

Just updated my post above after a bit of googling

Will I Amnt

The-Rigger wrote: »

Bringing Joe Cole home would be like a new signing.

I'm guessing this is the only way you want to see him coming back

Kess73

Dublin_Gunner wrote: »

Honestly, never heard of him

Quick google. Norweigan, plays for Monchengladbach, was sold to them by Arsenal last season after having a couple of loan spells away from the Emirates.

Young (21), but looks like he may not have cut it at Arsenal. Not sure we need to be spending money on another young midfielder who may or may not be a flop. Has Henderson MKII written all over it.

For defensive midfield, we need either Lucas back, or someone with a decent amount of experience.

The rumours of us being linked with him are definitely doing the rounds though.

**edit

Maybe I'm being a bit harsh. Has made 2 senior appearances for Norway, and played 38 games for 'Gladbach since last year (and they're currently 3rd), so must have something about him.

There is a batch of potentially very good young Norweigen midfielders emerging at present. A few of them (along with some young Swedes were discussed on here earlier this season)

Nordtveit is one, along with Henrikson (whom I think could be excellent) and Singh.

Nordtveit is similar in style to Martinez. Strong, good passer, surprisingly good at positioning for a young player, and seems very hard to phase or intimidate. Has a very good habit of intercepting passes and seems to have a similar knack to Alonso in that he rarely has to go to ground to win a ball. Would not be surprised if he ended up as a defender though as he has played in both full back slots and did well in them.

ush

mike65 wrote: »

Matt Jarvis (if Wolves go down).

Fletcher?

Leiva

Now that the celebrations are over I think it's important to talk about some player performances of the Cup Final.

The joy at winning has really masked some dire performances during the game.

Carroll , Henderson, Gerrard ,Adam & Suarez are lucky boys that we won on Sunday.

Henderson was over whelmed (and understandably) but my God he was poor.

Carroll if anything got over supply so no excuses for him .For spells during the game looked not arsed which really concerns me and questions his attitude.It was a Cup Final FFS.

Gerrard had a bit of a stinker in my opinion . His final ball and attempts on target were terrible . he was trying to be the young final winning Gerrrard but I'm afraid he can't do it anymore.

Adam gave nothing really to the game , and him and Gerrard just dont work together and should never be paired again in a starting line up.

Suarez disappointed as he lacks a quality partner .

Also a mention to Enrique ; wish the fella would do the simple stuff first in the defensive 3rd of the pitch

Positives;
Skyrtel is well on the way to getting the POTY.

Agger & Johnson are so solid and with Skittles are all in the same page and wavelength .

Dirk does what I wish all the other forward players in the squad would do and that's shoot.
It might not be pretty but when Dirk gets a sniff he has a go . Some go wayward but most if the time he makes his own luck and gets more goals than not .


I'm delighted with the win .

Massive game on Saturday so hopefully some players named above give their all and we push for the CL spot.

ush

Morzadec wrote: »

People are forgetting one thing when we talk about attracting players in the summer - we have won a trophy this year and images of us lifting a trophy and being successful have made there way around Europe. This doesn't count for nothing imo.

Cups are of very limited value in terms of attracting top talent from abroad. There may be a value in terms of establishing a winning mentality within the squad. But it won't interest top foreign talent.

In fairness, the cup could have been important for the yank's belief in Kenny. It also keeps the faithful happy. I'm all moody about it because I feel the club doesn't really believe it can do fourth and is hoping that domestic cups will do. Kind like Roman Emperors and bread for the people. Chelsea and Arsenal are there for the taking.

Grayditch

cambo2008 wrote: »

I'm guessing this is the only way you want to see him coming back

ush

Everton march 13th

noodler

The-Rigger wrote: »

Well that's nice and all but it isn't an argument or an excuse. It's a fact.

Should we be doing better with the squad we have? Perhaps, that's debatable.
Was £100m invested in the squad? No, it wasn't, that is untrue.

I disagree, 100m was invested in the squad.

Just because we lost some players (some of them considered complete deadwood) doesn't mean that Kenny wasn't given the go ahead to spend 100m to buy players.

Perhaps you mean 'net investment.????.........................................

Morzadec

jank wrote: »

I think you are over playing it a bit. Come the business end of the season, Champions league, domestic cups and leagues, the Euros I think most players would have completely forgotten about Liverpool's league cup success. Remember its only Feb. I think what will have far greater impact is a top 4 finish.

Don't get me wrong, a top 4 finish is more important in terms of attracting payers obviously.

But a trophy is a trophy and it is a signal of progression, success and positive times ahead and I think it will do our chances of attracting players no harm

J. Marston

The-Rigger wrote: »

I hope Kess has a spare of jocks.


http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/transfer-news/Liverpool-are-lining-up-summer-spending-spree-Javi-Martinez-Barcelona-Seydou-Keita-Lille-Eden-Hazard-article871880.html

April 2011:

Comolli: ''"There will be movement, that's for sure. We are very attractive for a lot of players because of what we did in January and a game like that [the 3-1 defeat of Manchester United] is fantastic publicity for us around the world. Since the day after I was getting phone calls from agents telling me that their player would love to come and that we are going to compete next year if we get it right. We are attractive to a lot of top players and we want to bring top players to this club."

The ''top'' players you brought in were Henderson, Downing, Adam and Enrique (Who is probably the best left-back in the league, in fairness.)

February 2012:

“There’s a very positive vibe around the club across Europe.

“A lot players I know are very interested about joining the project because it’s a very interesting project.

“We already know that there are big players who want to join us next summer because they believe in the project.

“Everybody in Europe knows what Liverpool football club are trying to do.”

If you guys get fourth, you'll be in the running for big players. If not, you'll be in the same situation as this year, competing for 2nd, 3rd and 4th tier players.

Comolli sounds like a spoofer to me.