Sport Liverpool Football Club

[FATEone]

I am very close to Liverpool and I am very excited about the trnsfer prospects thast are shaping out for next season. this is rubbish about limited transfer money as much money is availale. money will also be made from selling players. I am sorry to tell you Alonso may well be on his way in part exchange for Aguero who is a top priority for Rafa. this is rubbish about Aguero having a buy out Clause 35 million. he has a buy out Clause of £25 million.

ins:

Aguero= £17 million+ Alonso

Huntellar= £20 million

Barry= £6 million+ Carson

Nasri or

Jesus Navas= £18 million for either

Abidal= £6 million

outs:

Crouch= £15 million (Newcastle)

Pennant= £3 million (West Bromwich)

Vorinin= £2 million (wants to return to home country)

Alonso= (part of the Aguero deal)

Riise= £4 million (Newcastle)

Benayoun= £6 million (villareal)

Defo true this Liverpool enquired about Mauro zarate the Birmingham kid, also zapater of Zaragoza. the big player they are speaking about is if he is a big player is Silva Valencia

from football transfer rumours site; This looks more than possible to me as apposed to that shite i saw yesterday!

[FATEone]

Jesus Navas looks a lot more likely than Alves, and i think just as good a prospect in that right wingback position, slot him into your team Dogsout, which by the way i think would make Liverpool a scary force. Torres deffinatley looks isolated at times in the current system, i could see him and Babel forming something really special playing like that! This would deffinately see the Pool challenging for the title.

Barry and Jesus Navas, that can't be too hard to make happen can it? ( I'd be surprised to see Rafa pay 18 mill for Navas though.)

[dogsout]

Jesus Navas looks a lot more likely than Alves, and i think just as good a prospect in that right wingback position, slot him into your team Dogsout, which by the way i think would make Liverpool a scary force. Torres deffinatley looks isolated at times in the current system, i could see him and Babel forming something really special playing like that! This would deffinately see the Pool challenging for the title.

Barry and Jesus Navas, that can't be too hard to make happen can it? ( I'd be surprised to see Rafa pay 18 mill for Navas though.)

It won't happen. Navas is too offensive and suffers from homesickness when his team plays away in La Liga. He's not worth anything close to £18m either.

We'll stick with the 4-2-3-1. Torres will be less isolated if we can get the fullback positions sorted out. Then Babel and whoever plays on the right (hopefully this position will be addressed, too) can hit the box with more regularity and not leave Torres so isolated. We really need attacking fullbacks to get the best out of this system.

[Commander Jameson]

If people are going to post rumours, please can they put them in quotes? Especially Football Manager style transfers like that.

[V3zna]

Jesus Navas, the Sevilla player that has major homesickness problems in his OWN country?!?!?!? I don't think so.

"Navas suffers from chronic homesickness, to the extent that he has walked out of training camps within Spain because they were too far away from Seville. He also suffers from anxiety attacks and seizures. Navas initially refused to travel with Sevilla during pre-season to the United States due to his acute homesickness, later deciding that he would travel in a bid to rid himself of this condition."

[Commander Jameson]

Sammy Lee back at Anfield as Assistant Manager. Hopefully, he can fill the void left by Pako.

[Das]

Jesus Navas, the Sevilla player that has major homesickness problems in his OWN country?!?!?!? I don't think so.

Was my first thought as well. Whenever he's playing on Sky they always go on about his home sickness.

[Guest]

Was my first thought as well. Whenever he's playing on Sky they always go on about his home sickness.

What about that mental cricketer? He can't even think about leaving the country before his homesick mental problems get the best of him...google says Harmison but I thought it was someone else?

[Das]

What about that mental cricketer? He can't even think about leaving the country before his homesick mental problems get the best of him...google says Harmison but I thought it was someone else?

Dunno. I remember Bergkamp being a proper pussy when it came to flying and stuff though.

[Guest]

Dunno. I remember Bergkamp being a proper pussy when it came to flying and stuff though.

Nah he's actually like, really really worried about going out of the country. It must be a real psychological problem. I think he's stopped playing for England at least once because of it.

Easy to call him a mental but it's obviously a serious problem.

[DeNeo]

from football transfer rumours site; This looks more than possible to me as apposed to that shite i saw yesterday!

I really wouldn't use that site to look for transfer rumours - anyone can send in anything to it. It's good for a laugh now and again, but take everything with a massive pinch of salt

[DeNeo]

Sammy Lee back at Anfield as Assistant Manager. Hopefully, he can fill the void left by Pako.

Which is great news

I'm really quite worried that the ownership situation won't be sorted out quick enough. Something has to happen soon, otherwise Rafa won't be getting much money for transfers, and this summer we need at least 2 more signings on par with Torres/Mascherano if we're going to compete for the Premiership next season.

[dogsout]

I don't think we do. Obviously the squad could and hopefully will be improved but I think the biggest thing we lack that the others have is a winner's mentality. If we go into games against the likes of Man U and Chelsea with the same level of belief as them we'll take more points. That was the only thing that separated us and Man U at Anfield this season, and the one before that. It's been our biggest problem when facing them and Chelsea over the years.

We certainly look steelier now than we did at the start of the season and I've picked up on Rafa saying much the same so hopefully this mentality will follow.

As far as signings go I'd be happy with quality additions to right back and a player that can play wide either side in the '3' behind Torres. Alves seems to be quite unrealistic but if I had to make a list I'd be happy with:

Alves

Vargas (not really necessary, as I think Insua and Aurelio will do if money's as tight as it seems)

Mancini (contract is coming to an end, will be available for very, very cheap, I've heard £4m)

Barry (seems nailed on now)

For that lot we'd be looking at paying out roughly £38m. We could realistically pull back about £28m through the sales of Pennant, Riise, Crouch and Carson. A net spend of £10m can't be out of the question even in these times of financial uncertainty. Rafa seems way too relaxed, he'd surely be climbing up the walls if things were as bad as has been reported in the press. I actually think we're in a very strong position now, everyone thinks we have nothing to spend, so selling clubs won't be expecting an extra mil or two out of us.

I'm quietly optimistic for the summer. I don't think we need wholesale change, far from it in fact. We just need to build on what we have which is a very, very strong spine. Add some quality in the wide positions and play with confidence and belief. If we do that and find some stability at board level consistency will follow.

[Guest]

Oh man. Mancini is AWESOME in Pro Evo!

[phresh]

I don't think we do. Obviously the squad could and hopefully will be improved but I think the biggest thing we lack that the others have is a winner's mentality. If we go into games against the likes of Man U and Chelsea with the same level of belief as them we'll take more points. That was the only thing that separated us and Man U at Anfield this season, and the one before that. It's been our biggest problem when facing them and Chelsea over the years.

Very true, if you'd have beat us (United) and Chelsea at home you would have won the league. I don't think it's the players mentality in these games that are your problem, rather the managers. His record against the big teams in the league is dismal, and he knows it.

As far as signings go I'd be happy with quality additions to right back and a player that can play wide either side in the '3' behind Torres. Alves seems to be quite unrealistic but if I had to make a list I'd be happy with:

Alves

Vargas (not really necessary, as I think Insua and Aurelio will do if money's as tight as it seems)

Mancini (contract is coming to an end, will be available for very, very cheap, I've heard £4m)

Barry (seems nailed on now)

Do you not reckon you need another striker? Apart from Torres you haven't got any tried and tested goalscorer to take his place should he be missing for whatever reason. Barry will be an excellent signing and I expect he will replace Alonso who hasn't looked overly comfortable alongside Mascherano. I actually think your full backs have been pretty good and shown a decent amount of promise this season, although I haven;t seen as any games as you guys. I'd have said you need at the very least 1, and maybe 2 wide players who can actually deliver the ball into the box.

I'm quietly optimistic for the summer. I don't think we need wholesale change, far from it in fact. We just need to build on what we have which is a very, very strong spine. Add some quality in the wide positions and play with confidence and belief. If we do that and find some stability at board level consistency will follow.

I've been wondering whether any Liverpool fans think Gerrard may become (or has become) a 'Thierry Henry' figure at Anfield where his influence isn't always entirely positive?

[dogsout]

I don't think it's the players mentality in these games that are your problem, rather the managers. His record against the big teams in the league is dismal, and he knows it.

I don't agree with that at all. There's only so much a manager can do before sending his team out on to the pitch. In our games against you at Anfield in the last two seasons we had more of the ball and the better of the game but weren't nearly as ruthless as you in front of goal. That's not to say that Rafa can't improve the situation by instilling this mentality into the squad, I just think the players have to be a bit nastier and have that level of self belief in those games.

Do you not reckon you need another striker? Apart from Torres you haven't got any tried and tested goalscorer to take his place should he be missing for whatever reason. Barry will be an excellent signing and I expect he will replace Alonso who hasn't looked overly comfortable alongside Mascherano. I actually think your full backs have been pretty good and shown a decent amount of promise this season, although I haven;t seen as any games as you guys. I'd have said you need at the very least 1, and maybe 2 wide players who can actually deliver the ball into the box.

Not really, no. We play with one up front. We have Torres, Kuyt, Babel, Voronin and Crouch. Crouch and possibly Voronin will be moved on this summer. Nemeth will likely feature on our bench quite heavily next season, too.

As for fullbacks, Arbeloa is very good and can play either side. Perhaps he's not quite good enough and Finnan's on the decline (which is why we should be looking at bringing in a right back of top quality). Aurelio is good enough but has a horrible injury record. Insua could well come good and I think between him, Arbeloa and Aurelio we're OK at left back.

I wouldn't be surprised to see Alonso stay. Rafa has said he wants Barry to complement what we already have rather than replace anybody. Also, Xabi is a fantastic player. He had some bad injury problems this year and struggled for form after his reason. But towards the end of the season he wa showing why Rafa persists with him. He works very hard and is a great creative outlet for the side.

I've been wondering whether any Liverpool fans think Gerrard may become (or has become) a 'Thierry Henry' figure at Anfield where his influence isn't always entirely positive?

I know some have said they do over the course of this season but I have to say I don't agree. He's had a very good season and has consistently popped up with big performances when we need them over the years. I personally think he's matured a lot over the last couple of years and Torres is on record as saying Gerrard showed him what it means to be a Captain. He helped him settle into life on Merseyside both professionally and in his private life. I wasn't too happy with his initial reaction to the board room troubles but he responded well after that and the squad pulled together behind the manager.

[Guest]

When it comes down to it in almost every area Utd will have us outclassed. It is as simple as that.

You could say that Gerrard, Torres and Masch would get into their team, but the rest wouldn't.

I feel even Giggs and Scholes would stroll into our team and they aren't always first choice anymore.

[dogsout]

I don't agree. I think our spine is as good as any team's.

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

-----------Carra--Agger

-----------Masch--Xabi

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

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

Babel and Skrtel will surely cement a place in there in the next year or two. We're not that far away. The collective mentality is a far bigger hurdle than any perceived lack of ability within the squad IMO.

[Guest]

I don't agree. I think our spine is as good as any team's.

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

-----------Carra--Agger

-----------Masch--Xabi

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

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

Babel and Skrtel will surely cement a place in there in the next year or two. We're not that far away. The mentality is far a bigger hurdle than any perceived lack of ability within the squad IMO.

I see where you're coming from but I feel Carragher has been going mental. I would not pick him above Vidic or Ferdinand. Agger - I think he's got awesome, awesome potential. But he's only coming back from injury so at the moment we can't tell.

Alonso - I wonder if he's too slow at times? But this season he's been coming back too.

Skrtel is very promising, but again he's promising. Same for Babel, who I'm a big, big fan of.

Are you honestly telling me you'd wouldn't have preffered:

---------------VDS

-----------Vidic--Ferdinand

-----------Masch--Anderson/Hargreaves/Scholes/Carrick(he's not for me though)

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

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

[Guest]

Van Der Sar has been massively dodgy the last while, I would take the stability of Reina any day at the moment.

[larrydavidsanger]

I'd have Reina instead of VDS and Xabi instead of those others

[dogsout]

There isn't much between our defence and their's. We don't concede many and on form a pairing of two from Carra, Skrtel, Agger and Hyypia can compete with their central defence. Reina has won the golden glove for the third consecutive season. He's a brilliant goalkeeper and does compare with the likes of VDs and Cech. Xabi is quality and does a lot of unnoticed work int he midfield. We really miss him when he's not playing. They've got us stumped in the wide positions which is where we should be focusing this summer.

Like I said, we are definitely behind but our spine is very, very strong. We need to add to it and improve our mentality. Any talk of title challenges should be postponed until we have shown we have the self belief as well as the ability instead of just hinting at it. Similarly I don't think we should write this squad off completely. Just take it game by game without piling loads of pressure on the team.

[Guest]

VDS is on the way out now certainly. I'd take Reina now, and for the future. It's hard to argue against title winners though. How many games did VDS play last season?

I like Alonso a lot, he seems to be very good for Spain. I want him to get back to his best - and score some more goals please.

[FATEone]

I really wouldn't use that site to look for transfer rumours - anyone can send in anything to it. It's good for a laugh now and again, but take everything with a massive pinch of salt

duely noted.

[Guest]

I heard Liverpool were in for Ronaldinho.

[FATEone]

Are you honestly telling me you'd wouldn't have preffered:

---------------VDS

-----------Vidic--Ferdinand

-----------Masch--Anderson/Hargreaves/Scholes/Carrick(he's not for me though)

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

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

i agree with what ur saying about Carra he does do strange things at times, no way would i have VDS over Reina though, he's won the Golden glove for the past 3 seasons, in other words since he came over here. my mix would be

---------------(Reina)

Arbeloa---Agger--Vidic---Evra/Insua

Gerrard---Xabi--Masch---Ronaldo

------------Torres---Rooney

i see a lot more to come from Arbeloa and who have utd got to offer thats any better at right back? with gerrard rooney and ronaldo given free reign to swap round with eachother this team would be untouchable. Ferdinand has to be for me one of the most over-rated players of all time! he is good, but somehow the countless mistakes he makes in games never seem to get picked up by the media!? trust me insua is going to be quality, i can see him cementing that 1st team place by mid season

[Guest]

Any Man U fans here? Would you pick Alonso over your other midfielders?

I dought Gerrard is going to play RM again. I think he'll leave for Chelsea if that happens (and probably if they win the UCL).

[Gabzy]

Any Man U fans here? Would you pick Alonso over your other midfielders?

No. I can't see what more he has to offer than Scholes, Carrick or Anderson.

[DeNeo]

I'm quietly optimistic for the summer. I don't think we need wholesale change, far from it in fact. We just need to build on what we have which is a very, very strong spine. Add some quality in the wide positions and play with confidence and belief. If we do that and find some stability at board level consistency will follow.

Thing is though, it seems like a few players will be going, and it's obvious we'll need to replace them with better players. The problem this season is that the 1st team is pretty good, but the rest of the squad haven't been able to play to a high enough standard.

And we really do need quality in the wide positions - that's what I meant by more Torres-like signings - we can't keep going for a Pennant or a Benayoun anymore - we need players who can cross the ball, and get their share of goals.

I still want to see Garcia back too bizarrely I think he'd play so well in our current system.

I agree, we don't need wholesale changes, our spine is great. It's just those wide areas that urgently need addressing.

[Guest]

No. I can't see what more he has to offer than Scholes, Carrick or Anderson.

Except Carrick who's just a big sack of useless.