alias75

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Should be able to get at least another season out of him maybe next year too if hes rested more as he has been this season. He was as good as ever last season and has probably been our most consistent player this season even though he has been exposed one or two times, when many where going through a bad run of form Sami was his usual solid self. Cant think of many better CBs for Agger to learn off.

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Arsenals provisional squad... Almunia, Poom, Hoyte, Lauren, Senderos, Djourou, Flamini, Walcott, Song, Denilson, Randall, Traore, Aliadiere, Connolly, Garry, Perez. think we should rest a few if Arsenals team is from this lot no need to risk Gerrard or Alonso for this one.

Dont see the signing of Insua as a reason why we wouldnt go for Bale too, dont forget Rafas signed about 5 centre backs since hes been here, from all acounts Insua is on an 18month loan deal so i think theres still a case of seeing how he handles it here and its not as if we're overly blessed in that position. Agree about Richards too, hes another Rooney in that even though hes only very young you know now that hes going to be a top player (injuries not withstanding) what may seem like a lot of money for a young player really is no risk because he is good enough, what price do you put on a player that can play a number of positions and could be in the first team for the next 10 years?

Ive seen him a couple of times in the flesh for Wales and hes very composed quite similar to Agger in that he seems very natural in the way he plays and nothing flusters him. Against Brazil he was up against Ronaldinho, Robinho, Kaka and he coped very well in only his 2nd international. Like Richards its already clear at this very young age that hes going to be a very good player, its not a situation where your guessing how hes going to progress even though hes only 17 hes already shown at international level he can cope. Sometimes you just know a young player has what it takes, Owen and Gerrard for us it was obvious after watching them for only a brief time, the same with Rooney and now i think richards and Bale fall into that category.

yes hes our Director of Recruitment im sure i heard rumours that he could be in charge of the Academy soon.. http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/news/drilldown/N...060629-1318.htm

Im sure Malcom Elias has told Rafa about Bale, hopefully having him here will give us an edge. Also left back is genuinly a position where realistically someone like Bale could breakthrough sooner rather than later, at Utd they have Evre and Heinze and Chelsea have spent big on Cole and just given Bridges a new contract so if we want him we coud hold a few aces.

Agree, (Bale is Welsh by the way ) sometimes in football there are youngsters that are as sure a sure thing as there can be and i think both Bale and Richards fall into that category, Rooney was similar when Man Utd bought him, its a lot of money for a young player but as you say the longer you wait the more they cost.

Is it a realistic possibility that he could end up here? I know the guy that spotted him at Southampton is now here, so thats obviously in our favour. No disprespect to riise who i still think is an excellent part of the squad but i think Bale will turn out to be a real top player and left back is a position i think we could improve upon. ive seen him in the flesh a few times for Wales and he reminds me a lot of Agger in that he never looks fazed, against Brazil in only his second game for Wales he was excellent and hes still only 17. Really hope we go for this guy think hes going to turn out to be a very special player. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=it-IIZU9dkw&NR

Kaka plays much further forward than Alonso, hes almost a 2nd striker or in the hole player depending on the formation you go with. He does a very similar job to Ronaldinho in that he starts wide right with license to go pretty much wherever he wants, similar to the role Gerrard had last season. Think hes exactly the type of player we need, someone with the ability to create out of nothing of course getting him is unrealistic no matter how much extra money Rafa has. Agree with the comments about all these dream formation threads, we know Rafa doesnt work like that and id hate it to happen to us. We dont want 4 or 5 mercaneries signing every season, we need to mould a team, i hope the money allows Rafa to get his #1 targets something hes hasnt always been able to do, but im sure we wont go down the Madrid / Chelsea route even if we had the means to do it. Rafa doesnt work that way.

Whats the longest ever thread on here, because Januarys rumour thread could beat it. Rafa is a huge fan of Torres though

Said this a while back, its always tough for new signings especially someone like Gonzalez coming to a new country, but what made it 10 times harder was the fact that so many of our key players were underperforming too. I hope this is the last season under Benitez where we need to blood 5 or 6 new players at the start of the season, from now on id like 1 or 2 top notch players, that way they should settle in quicker as the rest of the team will be settled. But i agree with your point entirely the new signings have come into a team in which our 4 or 5 key players have all underperformed and thats made things much harder for them.

Correct i think that was the last time, and that was under GH

Looks like we've never lost after scoring first under Rafa certainly must give the players confidence when we do take the lead in games. I guess the more quality you have in attacking positions the more likely you are to score first, we know most teams will set themselves up not to concede against us so if we do get that first goal thats their gameplan gone, many of the games we've lost or even drawn this year we've been the better side until we've conceded. I guess its stating the obvious to some degree and any top side shouldnt really be losing after scoring first but i think its quite telling that most of the games we've lost this season have been to nil.

does anyone know the last time we lost in the league after scoring first? I checked back to 2004/2005 season and it goes back further than that! ok 23rd Septmber 2003 we lost 3-2 away to Charlton after scoring first, notsure if thats the last time. and the week after we lost 2-1 to Arsenal after scoring first...

Agree with that, most teams now in the PL are well organised though and so it isnt easy to get that breakthrough especially since most teams that play us start out happy with the point, its those special attacking players that are able to unlock tight defences or get a goal out of nothing i think thats what we're lacking. I guess its tougher to break down teams at the start of games when their fitness levels are high and its likely as the game goes on and players become physically and mentally tired that gaps start to appear, but obviously you make things easier for yourself by scoring first and the earlier the better, as players (and fans) can get frustrated if the breakthrough isnt happening. Im really optimistic that any new inestment will finally allow us to sign that real top quality number 10, a Ronaldinho, Kaka type of player that can produce something out of nothing and in the tight games that can make the difference. Once the gaps appear we have the players like Gerrard and Alonso and even someone like Bellamy with his pace to exploit that.

I know its an obvious point, but when was the last time we lost in the league after scoring first? (i know it happened against Gala last week but team wise we rested players for that one) this is where i think the hopefully extra money will help us. We already have a very strong squad of players however, all attacking players no matter how good they are play better when the opposition is forced to come out and play a bit more ,thats why scoring that first goal of the game is so important, it gives your attacking players more room and space to play and also someone like Alonso gets more time on the ball to do his stuff, this is especially true of the top sides as most weeks they face packed defences and crowded midfield. Hopefully the extra trasnfer funds will allow Rafa to sign the type of attacking players that can make the difference in these types of games, players that can beat a man or pick a pass in tight situations this is what we badly need, once we get the first goal in games very often we go on to get more. Garcia is in the team to do that but we all know how inconsistent he is, no disrespect to Luis but i think we need a simialr type of player but one that does it on a much more consistent basis, of course having 2 or 3 game breakers is even better as its much easier to stop 1 player than it is 2 or 3.

Ive seen enough of him in La Liga last season to know for sure hes going to be a top player. The question is whether he'll be able to adapt to English football but so far the signs i think are good. Its obvious hes being slowly eased into things but i think he has the right attitude to make it here.

Hes the type of player that will struggle in a poor side but surrounded by quality players will keep things ticking over, hes very similar to Alonso though personally id take him if we could but im not sure how many games hed play if Xabi is fit.

The team may have to learn how to play with this type of player again, as you said Owen was the last of this type that we had. Cisse had the pace but not the movement or awareness, but in Stevie and Alonso we have 2 of the best midfielders to take advantage of Bellamys pace off the shoulder of the last defender. His finishing was so full of confidence on the weekend and hes proved in the past once hes playing with confidence hes a very dangerous player and he wont have played with better players than he is now.

Thats just what the takeover would cost, that doesnt mean thats all the money they have, of course Rafa would be given money to improve the team. How about Torres?

I think its important if Rafa is given money to spend we get players with the right atttude and not just big name players. In this respect i think Rafa is the ideal man to be in charge since with all his signings this seems to be the most important attribute he looks for. Could be the end for someone like Pennant though, no disrespect but hes not the type of player a team with money to spend needs, and also one of our forwards. I think we need real top quality in that position, Kuyt, Bellamy, Crouch and 1 superstar forward isnt a bad 4. Alves would be my #1 choice though as well as Gareth Bale who i think is going to become a great player and left back is a position we need to look at.

One of them will probably be right...

I think most fans would love the club to remain in Moores hands and retain that tradition which is a huge part of Liverpool FC, but the sad fact of life is without real money being invested into the team and new stadium we're fighting an uphill battle in terms of competing for the league and CL. Comparing any possible investment with the Chelsea situation isnt really comparable though because Abramovich is so wealthy, even compared to the the other money men that have entered the game, Chelsea can still outspend everyone and they can still spend 30 million on a striker and then considering loaning him back to the club he was signed from, or buy a player on the fringes of the England team for 24 million and hardly play them, whatever happens at Liverpool we wont financially be in the position where they can make those types of mistakes. My opinion is there is certainly an arrogance about the way Chelsea go about their business because they have limitless funds, theres Arnesson, Obi Mikel, the Leeds Utd players these are all the actions of a club that think they are bigger than the game and can do what they like because they have more money than anyone else. For true fans that have been through the hard times im sure its great to win back to back titles and see great players at the bridge but i know many supporters that have become disillusioned with how things are done at Chelsea, they feel like its not the team they first supported anymore.