Alberto Aquilani

[Anubis]

He has been shite so far,yet another 'top' signing from our clueless gaffer.

 

Slow night on Redcafe eh?

[Wor Horse]

Some of his tricks and skills are proper good.

 

That ball out to Carra in the first half, we've been crying out for that all year.

[Iantn]

Getting better every week. The lad is class, you can see it in his touches. He is slowly but surely growing in to it. He'll be a superstar next season if he stays fit.

 

Spot on that.

 

It was another good for an hour display from him until his legs couldn't run anymore. To be fair though, the 60 he ran tonight is probably more than his normal Serie A running.

[Randy Marsh]

He has been shite so far,yet another 'top' signing from our clueless gaffer.

 

Go and take your face for a shite glue sniffer.

[Liverpool lad]

We have to be patient with him, he seems to have something about him and he wasn't exactly blessed with options tonight at times. I hope he goes on to shine for us

[rage]

best game so far but then he did play in a position most suited to his attributes.

 

gerrard's going to have to drop back or we're going to need a new formation.

[The Midnight Rambler]

I know you've gotta do your talking on the pitch but his interview on sky was impressive, he's definitely got something about him..

[Randy Marsh]

We have to be patient with him, he seems to have something about him and he wasn't exactly blessed with options tonight at times. I hope he goes on to shine for us

 

Reading his program interview tonight and he said something about how he thinks he will improve when the team are playing better and the better players around him are fully fit. I agree, I can see the best of him coming out when he has a firing on all cylinders Fernando Torres or Stevie Gerrard making runs infront of him.

[Liverpool lad]

Reading his program interview tonight and he said something about how he thinks he will improve when the team are playing better and the better players around him are fully fit. I agree, I can see the best of him coming out when he has a firing on all cylinders Fernando Torres or Stevie Gerrard making runs infront of him.

 

Cheers for that, I think that you are only as good as the people around you. Certain players are exceptional and are exempt from this rule, but I am genuinely excited by the prospect of Aquilani bringing his A game

[Unrighteous]

We have to be patient with him, he seems to have something about him and he wasn't exactly blessed with options tonight at times. I hope he goes on to shine for us

 

I thought he was pretty damn cool with that bouncing ball that led to Kuyt's goal.

[milky]

Thought he played really well tonight. Obviously wilted a bit in the 2nd half, as is to be expected, but I think he's really starting to get his head around what this league's about.

 

His first touch is faultless, and I love the way he hits those first time passes out wide on instinct, even though they don't always come off.

 

He got nailed a few times and seems to realise that's going to happen him a lot in this league, and just got on with it.

 

It may take a while, but the lad has all the makings of a top player.

[G Richards]

I think Stevie needs to drop back into midfield and Aquilani play further forward in the spot behind Nando. Stevie can do both roles with aplomb. Aquilani is more suited to an advanced role, so the team is stronger overall this way. (I'd like to see more of Aquilani to solidify this opinion, mind).

[Wor Horse]

He seems to be a bit unlucky as well. I remember in the second half Dawson clattered into him accidently and it looked quite painful.

 

He's going to be a big player for us though.

[Sangria]

I think Stevie needs to drop back into midfield and Aquilani play further forward in the spot behind Nando. Stevie can do both roles with aplomb. Aquilani is more suited to an advanced role, so the team is stronger overall this way. (I'd like to see more of Aquilani to solidify this opinion, mind).

 

That indeed seems the obvious thing to happen. Some nice little touches and he does look to have something about him, so you should at the price we paid.

[CWD82]

Played well for the first half but when he stopped getting on the ball after 50 mins we struggled (to be honest I thought we looked better when Ngog was brought on with his energy)

 

Very confident on the ball, could see him looking for the first time pass always but as mentioned he didn't have the options to hit them

 

Encouraging

[Barrington Womble]

it shows the depths we are plummeting to this season when people delight in what was a pretty anonymous performance. I've not seen anything from aquilani yet to suggest he's anywhere near capable enough to make it at this club or this league. in fact right now i'd say he looks more cheyrou than alonso.

[hamstrung]

Have to agree with Barry Wom.

 

I think people are so desperate for him to succeed that they are seeing what isn't there.

 

The odd flash of skill aside, he's not done much. That said, its still very early days for him.

[ngogswilly]

Have to agree with Barry Wom.

 

I think people are so desperate for him to succeed that they are seeing what isn't there.

 

The odd flash of skill aside, he's not done much. That said, its still very early days for him.

 

Been thinking that too. It's the same thing with Kuyt, Dirk has his first good game in about 6 months and suddenly hes Lionel Messi!

 

In all fairness though, Aquilani definently played well and I can see some of the things people are talking about. He's always looking for the first time pass and right now they're not always coming off,but he's still finding his feet.

 

I think by the end of the season we'll see the best of him. Think Rafa will need to play him behind Torres and push Gerrard back into the middle. Which means dropping Lucas:whistle:

[Red-Ed]

I think he'll be much better when we have a settled side, decent shape and Torres and Gerrard back.

Looks more suited to a quick passing one touch style of play. Did really well to see Kuyt up for the goal and showed some other good pieces of skill. He also looks like he has got a fiery temper as had a couple of moments where he lashed out or stuck up for himself.

[Barrington Womble]

Been thinking that too. It's the same thing with Kuyt, Dirk has his first good game in about 6 months and suddenly hes Lionel Messi!

 

In all fairness though, Aquilani definently played well and I can see some of the things people are talking about. He's always looking for the first time pass and right now they're not always coming off,but he's still finding his feet.

 

I think by the end of the season we'll see the best of him. Think Rafa will need to play him behind Torres and push Gerrard back into the middle. Which means dropping Lucas:whistle:

 

we were talking about this in the pub before the game. what worries me is he's looking for the 1st time pass because he's scared to get kicked. the number of times when someone is closing on him and he just jabs it to some random place to save being hacked worries me. it could just be settling in (or even something in his mind about his injuries) and he has to be given time to improve, but as alonso and didi showed over their time with us - if you're going to be in centre mid there, if there's no pass on, you have to be prepared to hold onto the ball and get something out of it - a side ways pass, draw a foul, anything really. You can't just jab it somewhere in the hope you don't get smashed. That's why I used cheyrou as an example in my previous post (i know he wasn't centre mid, but the point holds valid), as i believe that was his biggest issue (aside from being completely shite of course), he was the biggest shithouse on 2 legs and as soon as he had the ball, couldn't wait to get rid of it.

[Markmywords]

He's all a bit Luis Garcia without the important goals at the moment for me.

 

Lots of great looking flicks and first time passes but he's operating on a wavelength that the others can't keep up with.

 

I too am desperate for him to be our saviour but at the moment I'm not convinced.

[ngogswilly]

the number of times when someone is closing on him and he just jabs it to some random place to save being hacked worries me.

 

Yeah if thats what hes thinking he needs to snap out of that.

 

I think he probably will though as his confidence grows.

 

Hes probably scared shitless of being injured for another half a year. Which is not great but understandable. No matter what, he cant keep doing it.

[Catch22]

we were talking about this in the pub before the game. what worries me is he's looking for the 1st time pass because he's scared to get kicked. the number of times when someone is closing on him and he just jabs it to some random place to save being hacked worries me. it could just be settling in (or even something in his mind about his injuries) and he has to be given time to improve, but as alonso and didi showed over their time with us - if you're going to be in centre mid there, if there's no pass on, you have to be prepared to hold onto the ball and get something out of it - a side ways pass, draw a foul, anything really. You can't just jab it somewhere in the hope you don't get smashed. That's why I used cheyrou as an example in my previous post (i know he wasn't centre mid, but the point holds valid), as i believe that was his biggest issue (aside from being completely shite of course), he was the biggest shithouse on 2 legs and as soon as he had the ball, couldn't wait to get rid of it.

 

Unfortunately i think this will turn out to be an excellent assessment.

[Spy Bee]

we were talking about this in the pub before the game. what worries me is he's looking for the 1st time pass because he's scared to get kicked. the number of times when someone is closing on him and he just jabs it to some random place to save being hacked worries me. it could just be settling in (or even something in his mind about his injuries) and he has to be given time to improve, but as alonso and didi showed over their time with us - if you're going to be in centre mid there, if there's no pass on, you have to be prepared to hold onto the ball and get something out of it - a side ways pass, draw a foul, anything really. You can't just jab it somewhere in the hope you don't get smashed. That's why I used cheyrou as an example in my previous post (i know he wasn't centre mid, but the point holds valid), as i believe that was his biggest issue (aside from being completely shite of course), he was the biggest shithouse on 2 legs and as soon as he had the ball, couldn't wait to get rid of it.

 

Think he showed more signs of holding on to it last night.

[ZonkoVille77]

Showed some great stuff last night but has faded too quickly in every game I've watched him in.