RedNik

What could be great for Heskey is that almost all of the pressure of the new signing would fall on Rafa and not himself. i think he may be able to come good in this situation, because psychologically, people would get on Rafa's back if he fails again, not his. Expectation in general wouldnt be that high and perhaps we could see him play to his potential.

Surely Rafa can't keep em dicking around for too long? - no matter how desparate to play for us they are ..?

Think he meant the game in Turin.

Half of michael owen's wages is not laughable. Its very significant. If we had 20 k taken off Cisse's wages while injured a move would be more likely/ easier. Furthermore, even if he stayed, we would spend some half a million less over the time of the injury. Its definitely not a joke.

May have to evolve his game a bit more, because he can't get to the byline as effectively. Perhaps more in the mould of a shadow striker, even right mid.

isnt that vveeeirrrrrd?

Happens with tons of players. Step up to a bigger club and they're assumed to be better players, and get picked for the national squad - not that that isnt the case with Crouch. Another example is Saha.

Keep Fighting Djibs YNWA CARNAGE!

Last season was one of the most underwhelming transfer periods for Liverpool. And this was following a champions league final victory. There seems to be a lot of enthusiasm about signings every year, especially on forums- but deals dont often go through completely, and we may not end up with all the proposed players we need/want.

Its not just that he did so well, WE as a team performed so well.

I understand what you're saying, but Momo is never restricted positionally and as aplayer isnt very disciplined in that respect. He loves to charge around, especially in the opposition half, trying to win the ball back. Its Xabi who really plays the holding role/defensive midfield position for us, and he'd have to cover for any of Alves' runs.

Aimar is worth more than 8 million Euros i think. Dont Valencia need to sell too ? Duff - more left sided players? . .somehow i think not, even though he can play on the right..

I for one am completely fine with him staying. Is it possible that its just our interest in Alves that is causing people to think that he is off? Could it be that Rafa sees Alves as a right mid really and not more of a utility player who can be used as a wingback too?

The problem with getting just one more striker is that all the alternatives to him and Crouch would be small players who need a larger player alongside them. For eg - we couldn't field a strike force of Fowler and Garcia. Fowler and FSP is a stretch too. This is why I think we'd need to maybe buy another striker, unless of course FSP proves he is ready to make the next big step and be more of a regular option.

huh? do people here think that pennant is going to then be happy with a role as backup? is this the end of the road for Garcia - imo he is still useful around the squad, he is a good professional and is a big game/big goal player. will he be happy with a marginalized role though?

Why are so many posters here advocating the signing of 2 right mids, namely being Alves AND Pennant. Others being mentioned are Joaquin and the perennial Steed Malbranque. I dont believe we could accomodate 2 mids, of this suggested stature, to play in 1 position. Here is my thinking: Momo should start. Xabi and Stevie G must and will start. Thats 3 central midfielders, the solution to which Rafa found being placing our captain on the right. He was as usual excellent in this position, perhaps not as good as in the centre as I believe we missed out on his passing range from deep which complements Xabi wonderfully. Rafa has also been praising the work of Mark Gonzalez in Sociedad and has suggested that he will be a huge hit at Anfield. Prior to this, he was singing praises of Harry Kewell too. I would assume that one of the two will get the start, and Kewell remains at the club (which I believe he will), he will battle for that spot with Gonzalez. Others for the position will be Riise and Bolo Zenden. Aurelio can even be played there. Consequently, the 3 other midfielders used would have to be Momo, Xabi and Gerrard - presumably with Gerrard on the right, in that semi free role. Other back ups right now in the squad for the right mid position would be Luis Garcia of course, and possibly Harry Kewell, in his 'preferred position'. We could also play Finnan or Krompkamp (if he's still here...) there, depending on who plays at right back. How then can we possibly accomodate both pennant and Alves, or any combination of 2 extra right midfielders? Why would we even need to blow near 15 million pounds to buy 2 midfielders for a position where we might already have a starter? I can completely understand why we would want to buy 1 of them, because we need width on the right, and a naturally right sided player at that too. We have been searching for a right mid for years now, and haven't been able to find a decent solution for it yet. There are only 2 situations in which i can see us either getting 1 right mid who would command a starting place, or getting 2 right mids. 1) Gerrard is not happy with playing on the right, and wants to and will be used in the centre. I have no idea as to whether this is true, perhaps Elisha has or can provide some light on this issue. 2) Rafa plans on playing a 4-5-1 system similar to that which he employed so effectively in Valencia. This would explain why he wants 2 wingers, like he did at Valencia, in Vicente and Rufete. In this case of course Gerrard would be on a free role in the centre and we would have a natural winger, probably Alves playing on the right. Rafa would consider getting a back up for Alves too, in Pennant, if the fee isnt too steep. We could actually still cope without this backup, because of luis and Kewell providing effective play from the position. A question that comes up with me is, what will happen with Luis next year? He's clearly not going to get in on the left or the centre, and if we are buying 2 right mids, surely his play will be very minimal? Additionally, if Rafa plans on playing a 4-5-1, we can be sure that he is going all out for a striker like Kujt or Torres. Crouch imo isn't good enough to be our first choice and isn't a good enough footballer to play up front alone. I don't think he will make enough use of his chances and he probably isnt strong enough to be that isolated from the rest of the team. It also means that we probably wouldnt pay a huge amount for someone like Defoe because he could only be used in a different system, which according to the above assumptions would not be Rafa's first choice. Thoughts?

Would much prefer Pennant to Malbranque. Steed is quality, no doubt. But, I think his game is very similar to luis', cutting in from the right, chipping in with goals, threading balls through. We have been struggling for a right winger since oh i dont know ages, and finding a player who can play there but cuts in hasn't been the solution. Besides, Gerrard does that better than most. We need someone who gets to the by-line. That was why Cisse was used there, and Pennantdoes the same but is a better provider.

He got clipped by a 2 foot challenge. He didnt dive. Crouch had some brilliant flicks and touches too that Joe Cole tried to emulate but kept mucking em up.

Very influential so far. Given a few free kicks away in the typical english/carra hard tackling fashion. He's also won the ball back many times, and is always in position to cover for the 'marauding' runs of Rio. Distribution has been a little poor, and he's been caught standing with the ball at his feet, just looking for an option, only to pass it to one of the back 4. Thats the only criticism ive got for him right now. I think the reason England haven't played well is the other midfielders aren't dropping and getting the ball. They aren't playing at a high pace and they aren't moving. Ffs Fat Frank has been anonymous bar his penalty miss. Cole has been good, but lampard and becks need to drop deeper and start more of englands attacks.

Don't know, about that Maldini mate. Thought he was very average. Did also get sent off.

I just wish he hadn't come out and made these comments. We could've maybe held off on a deal until after the world cup - any possibly got a better price for him (i dont think his price could possibly deflate anymore.)

I think the "rafas style" argument applies to say a player like Djibril. Flamboyant - can produce the magnificent, and scores goals, but is woeful at times. Not the hardest worker, and selfish even. This tends to be the case with a lot of big signings, especially strikers. Now, to be fair, most good strikers ARE selfish, so thats another issue. Basically Rafa wants team players - thats where the argument stems from.

Well then MO for 12 million would be a good deal - what were we offering for him earlier?

Robbie maybe ? Cisse didnt score in 2002, not sure if Didi did. Gerrard, Alonso, Garcia, Kewell (?), Crouch, JAR all have yet to go ..

What exactly are we trying to settle here?