I'm becoming annoyed with the sheer number of threads relating to just Liverpool in this section.

Stick all news and rumours about Liverpool in this thread.

Good because i had no where to put the Crouch one so i made a new one, but now when there is a new one i can stick it in here.

Good call floodster.

Ok i will start it off.

Crouch to Sign a new contract. ( Probable )
Gerrard a target for Real Madrid ( Very Unlikely )
Rafinha to sign ( Possible )

7 of the top 10 topics are Liverpool related.

Although i don't really like having just a topic for each club, as neutrals are less likely to look inside and discuss, i guess it is getting a bit too much.

Liverpool needs to buy defenders and nothing else. If they buy any more mids or strikers that would just cluster it more and would be more harm than good - players would want to leave due to lack of first team football

Huntelaar to Liverpool?

Doubt it, i reckon ManU will get him since it looks unlikly Benzema will be joining them.

If Gerrard leaves Liverpool, which i hope he doesn't, who do you think would be able to fill the boots of such a great player at Liverpool

Diego would be fantastic in place of Gerrard.

''Liverpool needs to buy defenders and nothing else. If they buy any more mids or strikers that would just cluster it more and would be more harm than good - players would want to leave due to lack of first team football''

Are you serious?

We need strikers and and wingers more than any other position.

I'd love to get Benzema and Quaresmea, or David Silva and Huntelaar.

Lucas would replace Gerrard.

I don't think so. He wouldn't score or create enough goals in my opinion. And i don't think he's yet of the level required. Diego is much more creative and scores more goals.

If you could chose any of these transfer packages addressing our 3 main problems, which would it be?

Striker, winger, fullback.

Group 1
Huntelaar, Quaresma, Bridge

Group 2
Benzema, Mancini, Rafinha

Group 3
Villa, Bentley, Kaladze

Group 4
Adriano, David Silva, Heinze


A bit pointless i know, but i just wanna know.

ok...i really dont hope he will leave...but what you guys think of johnny Heitinga playing for Liverpool?. He is a defender (very very good)
Really dont hope he will go. cause he is our hero..but 1 day he will.
-x-

Yeah, good player.

Silly lips and hair though.

I'd happily have him here at Liverpool. He's probably better than all of our fullbacks.

haha true he haves funny lips:P but Ronaldinho his lips are also not normal i think.


heitinga is a defender but for ajax he is also scoring. he can do more things. he is everywher.
World class!!!

Can't he play anywhere along the backline? A bit like Arbeloa.

How much do you think you would sell him for?

well that is gonna cost you a lot of money..haha..way more then Ryan Babel. Thats for sure

What about Huntelaar?

You should have a better idea of how much these players would cost than me.

I've always found it difficult to put an estimated price on players like Huntelaar.

well with ajax you never know.we also had ibrahimovic... they let him leave for i think 17 mil euro..(that is really cheap for a player like him)
i dont know the prices of huntelaar and heitinga but i know they are great players...and will look good between Liverpool

I'd pick the package that makes our team the more balanced, makes our team the better and also offers the most for the future.

Group 1:

------------------------- Reina -----------------------

--- Arbeloa --- Carragher --- Agger --- Bridge ---

--------------------- Mascherano --------------------

----- Quaresma ----- Gerrard ------- Babel -------

---------------- Torres ------- Huntelaar -----------


Group 2:

------------------------- Reina -----------------------

-- Rafinha --- Carragher --- Agger --- Arbeloa ---

--------------------- Mascherano --------------------

------ Mancini ------- Gerrard ------- Babel -------

---------------- Torres ------ Benzema ------------


Group 3:

------------------------- Reina -----------------------

--- Arbeloa --- Carragher --- Agger -- Kaladze --

--------------------- Mascherano --------------------

------ Bentley ------- Gerrard --------- Babel -----

---------------- Torres -------- Villa ----------------


Group 4:

------------------------ Reina ------------------------

--- Arbeloa --- Carragher --- Agger --- Heinze ---

--------------------- Mascherano --------------------

----- Pennant ------- Gerrard --------- Silva ------

---------------- Torres -------- Babel --------------



I wouldn't go for 3 or 4 personally.

In the latter i wouldn't really touch Adriano with a barge pole, and he wouldn't make our team in my opinion - not if Babel's given a chance in attack. Whilst Silva would be amazing, he's the only main attraction - Heinze would be good, but he's old and slightly injury prone, so it's nothing overwhelmingly luring.

The third package is let down by the 'main' player being Villa, as i am like you unconvinced by a Torres & Villa partnership - not worth the money. Kaladze is decent but you never know how he'll do, and like Heinze is old... Bentley's obviously good, but it's not enough to make me choose this one.

There's not much to tell between package 1 and 2, but i'd problem plumb for the second.

Bridge, whilst we need a left-back more than a right-back, is older and potentially inferior to Rafinha. Plus Arbeloa can cover easily on the left. With the right wing Quaresma is probably better than Mancini, but may not adapt - then again, neither might the Brazilian... Plus i'm not a big fan of Quaresma's 'antics'. And then i may prefer Benzema over Huntelaar, although i'm not overly sure. It's a much of a muchness really, if you know what i mean.

The first and second one's are embarrassingly good and we'd all be amazingly happy to see either happen i'm sure. Not that they will i don't think.

Personally i'd grab a package with Rafinha and Silva in it and be done with that.

He's also 2 years older and would cost a hell of a lot. Lucas will replace Gerrard, assuming he makes suitable progress, 'cause why else would he have been bought? Perhaps he'd struggle to replace him immediately though.

I think he suits Gerrard's role and is stifled when he's in the team to be honest - when he played against Chelsea in the Carling Cup he was playing in a three-man midfield alongside Alonso and Sissoko, who'd sit back. He was allowed to run forward at defenders, playing incisive balls... And he excelled. I really do think he's more creative than Gerrard too.

Goals may come too. He's already effectively scored twice for us, against Everton (where it was goal-bound but for Neville's handball intervention) and Havant. He also netted 4 times in 9 appearances for the Brazil U-20's. He's capable. Cesc Fabregas didn't score very much at all but that's come this season.

To be honest, my faith in Lucas is such that i'd move Gerrard onto the right-wing. Although part of that lies in my feeling that Gerrard is an excellent right winger.

-------------------------------------- Reina --------------------------------------

------- Rafinha ------- Carragher -------- Dan Agger ------- Arbeloa -------

---------------------------------- Mascherano ----------------------------------

------- Gerrard --------------- Lucas Leiva ------------------- Silva --------

------------------------------------------------- Babel

---------------------------- Torres


Subs: Itandje, Skrtel, Riise, Benayoun, Alonso, Kuyt, Crouch.

Martin Skrtel would over the course of the season oust Carragher and Insua, when ready, would come in at left-back - allow Lucas to mature, Rafinha and Silva to settle. And then that generally young team could build and grow together. I think you'd struggle to fault it.

I'd probably go for group 1, because i'm a lot more confident that Quaresma would have a greater impact than Mancini, and could give us that extra edge we've been lacking for so long. He's also younger.

Actually, i'm changing my mind. Mancini is a brilliant player, so him not being as good as Quaresma isn't going to sway me from group 2. I'd opt for group 2, because of Benzema. He is a balanced striker, with unbelievable talent. I think he could have the potential to become the best striker in the world, and already is more than good enough to improve our attack significantly. He has been compared to Ronaldo (THE Ronaldo), and the similarities he has with Ronaldo (the complete striker) will certainly take him far in the football world. A lot further than Huntelaar in my opinion, who is a fantastic player, but isn't going to improve significantly - unlike Benzema who is just getting started.

I'd love to have Benzema. Unfortunately most of Europe are sniffing around him.

Also, Rafinha is a lot younger than Bridge. Either of the first two would be dream packages though, but however unlikely, are not unrealistic, as they are all players that COULD sign for us.

I didn't bother putting Berbatov in any of the groups, because my dream of landing him seemss just too unlikely. Spurs don't wanna let go, Berbs seems happy now at Tottenham, and Rafa wouldn't be willing to splash the mega bucks it would take to lure him from the Lane over the other European big guns.

I forgot about Aguero though. Like Benzma, he is very young, and has the talent to possibly become the best striker in the world.

As for groups 3 and 4 - i wouldn't choose them over the first two, but i would still be happy with either of them.

I wouldn't want Villa for the reasons you mentioned. But, i would want Adriano. Unlike you (and most people for that matter), i think he could be a truly great signing for any manager willing to take the gamble.

At the moment his career is in a mess. He's out on loan from Inter, and hasn't got a chance of getting back In ter... the Inter line up any time soon. He's also a drug taking party animal. He's over weight. Lacking fitness and match fitness. Has a bad attitude, and hasn't done the business for a couple of years now.

BUT, we all know what talent he has. Just a few years ago he was one of the best strikers in the world. Had all the attributes, could shoot from miles out, run with the ball, was strong in the air, could out muscle defenders and knew where the back of the net was. He was almost unstoppable. All of that can come back, because he is not old.

I think all of that can come back. I think he needs a new challenge. He needs to sort his life out, and moving to a different country, to a new team, surrounded by different people will surely focus his mind on the challenge ahead of him, and get him working at his game again. It's a bit like Ronaldinho at Barca, who also put on weight, and needs a new challenge.

I don't think Adriano would cost that much money, and if we did ever get the Adriano we all saw at Parma back, then we would have a real world class striker on our hands. He could turn out to be a real bargain.

It could be like Anelka at Bolton. He had a bad attitude and hadn't hit the heights of earlier in his career for many years. Bolton took the gamble and it paid off.

I think even an Adriano at 60% would be more deadly than Kuyt.

Y'know, 4-5-1 is looking like it could sustain itself, so we should probably use this when thinking of how to fit potential new players in.

Do you think Silva could act the role Babel is doing but for the other wing? Like this:

------------------------------ Reina

----- Arbeloa ---- Carragher ---- Agger ----- Aurelio

------------------ Mascherano --- Alonso

---------------------------- Gerrard

------ Silva ---------------------------------------- Babel

----------------------------- Torres


The pair could obviously switch sides at will too.

But if he couldn't operate like that, or if we couldn't sign him, which left-footed winger would you sign?

Well you haven't got him on the left, so it looks as though it wouldn't be essential as they would be switching, and Babel is doing well on the left at the moment.

So on that basis, i think Quaresma would be perfect. He is exactly the type of player for that role, and he may not be left footed, but he can use the outside of his right foot better than most people can use their left.

There's also Bentley - he can use his left foot.

But if it has to be a left footed player, then other than David Silva it's pretty tricky. But i'll list a few potential ones:-

Petrov - i can't see him leaving Man City, but you never know. Fantastic left winger, and proven in this league. I think he has without doubt the best left winger in the premiership this season.

Malouda - again, it would be hard get him from his current club, but, at the Bridge for some reason he is way down in the pecking order and isn't seeing a lot of action. He's currently 4th choice on the wings, despite being one of the best in the entire league. Surely he won't be happy unless he is first choice? Could want out, especially if Drogba leaves.

NAAAAKKKKAAAMMMMUUURRRAAA!!!!! - the guy is phenomenal. With him, i think it's safe to say we wouldn't have to worry about a lack of good balls into the box. It would be tricky to persuade him to leave Celtic though.

Ben Arfa - the talk of Europe at the moment. Has a lot of potential, but i'm not sure how much of an impact he would have on our team at the moment. Maybe needs a season or two more football.

Erm, what about Aquilani and Mancini? Are they both left footed?

EDIT: I'd just like to say, that formation is working well at the moment, but i don't want an entire season with it. I'd prefer for us to sign another world class striker and play with two up front, but we could switch between the two like Chelsea. I guess the 4-5-1 could work well in the big games for us, but in a lot of games i'd want us to play with two up front.

The thinking of buying a left-footed winger lies partly in if we do want to go 4-4-2, which we probably would at some point. Then you could have the formation i mentioned above along with:

------------------------------ Reina

----- Arbeloa ---- Carragher ---- Agger ----- Aurelio

------------------ Mascherano --- Alonso

----- Gerrard ------------------------------------ Silva

------------------------------------- Babel

----------------------- Torres


Personally i like 4-5-1 though, i think it compliments our side and players we have very well indeed.

Torres doesn't need a partner, he's quite capable of having the ball's aimed in his direction and coping on his own - he's big, strong and quick, so that's to be expected. But he gets plenty of support regardless, through Gerrard but more importantly the likes of Babel and, if we had someone perhaps quicker on the other wing, the right-winger. The pair play much farther forward, further than Gerrard even, than they would in a 4-4-2 and really get into the penalty box... They stretch the play much better and add great width, even if they (mainly Babel) do come narrow eventually. I love this way of our wingers operating.

I think it also gets the most from Gerrard, who i think only does his best in a 5-man midfield... My feeling is that in a 4-4-2 he's best on the wing. He doesn't quite have the ability to control the tempo of the game, but Alonso does that for him - with 3 players in the middle we address all the possible needs in a defensive midfielder, a playmaker and an attacking midfielder. It works very well... Although i'd like to see Alonso getting forward more.

Amongst all that, i think it invites our full-backs to get forward more also. We have more protection with 5 in midfield and they can be allowed to roam more - which aids our attack immeasurably. It was brilliant to see the likes of Riise and Arbeloa getting beyond the wingers in the West Ham match.

And finally, it's the system Rafa's the most accustomed with, so surely can execute it better than anything else.

Personally if we're to challenge for the Premier League title i think it'll have to be using this system, and i fully support that. Given the right personnel, meaning a more suitable man for Babel's opposite and perhaps more attacking full-backs, we can be fearsome.

And with 12 goals in 4 matches i wouldn't call it defensive either... In fact it practically forms a 4-3-3 at times.

http://kop-tv.com/go/rumour-mill-Liverpoolfc/alonso-to-be-replaced-with-19million-milan-star/

http://goal.com/en/Articolo.aspx?ContenutoId=642288

Orly?

bump