Top Ten Rafa's signings

[Unrighteous]

1. Torres

2. Reina

3. Xabi Alonso

4. Javier Mascherano

5. Yossi Benayuon

6. Daniel Agger

7. Glen Johnson

8. Luis Garcia

9. Momo Sissoko

10. Dirk Kuyt

[aws]

1. Torres

2. Reina

3. Xabi Alonso

4. Javier Mascherano

5. Yossi Benayuon

6. Daniel Agger

7. Glen Johnson

8. Luis Garcia

9. Momo Sissoko

10. Dirk Kuyt

 

11. Crouch

12. Bellamy

13. N'Gog

14. Aurelio

15. Insua

 

have all been good signings for what they cost.

 

Jury still out on Skrtel, Riera and Lucas.

[Kevin D]

Reached a verdict, by way of overwhelming majority, on Lucas and Riera; not good news for your boys.

[Whelan]

I like Riera, I think he will prove to be an important player in the next few months. Not even touching Lucas!

[Dirty Parry]

well 10 out of what 80 odd signings. so an average 1 in 10 or thereabouts.

[PaulMcC]

VDS and Schmeichel?

 

VDS is shit. Has been since he left Ajax.

[zigackly]

well 10 out of what 80 odd signings. so an average 1 in 10 or thereabouts.

 

How many of those eighty were bought in the expectation that they would go straight into the first team squad as opposed to being cheap youngsters which he is gambling on developing? It's a bit hysterical to judge him on all eighty unless you're going to do that with other clubs as well.

[Guest TK-421]

1. Torres

2. Reina

3. Alonso

4. Mascherano

5. Benayoun

6. Kuyt

7. Luis Garcia

8. Agger

9. Johnson

10. Crouch

[House of Dirk]

well 10 out of what 80 odd signings. so an average 1 in 10 or thereabouts.

 

 

1 in 8, but dont let that stop you calling me a Rafapologist or whatever the buzzword is these days.

[Guest TK-421]

1 in 8, but dont let that stop you calling me a Rafapologist or whatever the buzzword is these days.

 

Math isn't his strength.

[Paul]

Riera?

Crouch?

Skittles?

Benayoun?

 

Holy fuck. Barrel-scraping or what?

 

If any other manager had these four in their "Top 10 Signings" I'd be laughing my tits off.

 

As it is, I'm not laughing.

 

Benitez's top signings are:

 

Alonso

Reina

Agger

Johnson

Torres

Masher

Garcia

Kuyt....er....that's it.

 

I think Yossi and Crouch were great signings. However, taking your list as read, you've got eight players and I'd say there are significant question marks over three of them: Agger because of his fitness (he's only great if we can actually get him to play for any significant period of time), Lil' Luis because of his consistency (although I loved him as a player for us) and Dirk because, well, everyone knows what the question marks are with him. That's five players out of 50+ over a five year period. Fucking hell! We desperately need a new Chief Scout.

[Code]

VDS is shit. Has been since he left Ajax.

 

Not really, the only thing ferguson got wrong when he signed VDS was that he should have bought him when Juventus sold him.

[Dracco]

11. Crouch

12. Bellamy

13. N'Gog

14. Aurelio

15. Insua

 

have all been good signings for what they cost.

 

Jury still out on Skrtel, Riera and Lucas.

 

It´s funny that I am sure at the end of last season Skrtel would probably be in everyone´s top ten.

[Little Sammy]

Riera?

Crouch?

Skittles?

Benayoun?

 

Holy fuck. Barrel-scraping or what?

 

If any other manager had these four in their "Top 10 Signings" I'd be laughing my tits off.

 

As it is, I'm not laughing.

 

Benitez's top signings are:

 

Alonso

Reina

Agger

Johnson

Torres

Masher

Garcia

Kuyt....er....that's it.

 

 

 

Apart from Benayoun, I'd have to agree with you there.

 

I'd also include Benayoun at 10 and shove Kuyt off that list once and for all. He doesn't contribute goals, he doesn't contribute assists, oh but "he's a hard worker".

[hamstrung]

I'd also include Benayoun at 10 and shove Kuyt off that list once and for all. He doesn't contribute goals, he doesn't contribute assists, oh but "he's a hard worker".

 

Are you sure about that?

[The 5th Benitel]

Benayoun was a great signing, i'd also say Aurelio was good business for a free. Apart from them i agree that he has made a handful of very good buys but surely that's the bare minimum we should expect. Given he's had in the area of 20m plus whatever he generated from sales in the 4 seasons prior to this one i'd say 5-6 quality players should be a given for any decent manager.

[Benitaur]

Reinventing Gerrard as a 20 goal a season striker and Carra as an established CB (when Houllier, McLaren and Sven wouldn't) should count for something too IMO

[acks]

Reinventing Gerrard as a 20 goal a season striker and Carra as an established CB (when Houllier, McLaren and Sven wouldn't) should count for something too IMO

 

and Kuyt into an effective Right winger

[zigackly]

and Kuyt into an effective Right winger

 

Except when he's ineffective.

[Benitaur]

and Kuyt into an effective Right winger

I actually think so

 

I admit Kuyt has been crap this season, as have quite a number of other players. But besides Messi, Ronaldo and arguably Robben, how many 10+ goals a season "winger" can you name in world football in a top league?

[zigackly]

How many of those goals were actually scored from the wing though? We need a statto who can be arsed working it out, but until then I'm going to assume it's like the myth that Gerrard scored over twenty goals from the wing, and that at least some of them were actually scored when he was playing up front when Torres was out.

[Guest Dog Chaser]

Apart from Benayoun, I'd have to agree with you there.

 

I'd also include Benayoun at 10 and shove Kuyt off that list once and for all. He doesn't contribute goals, he doesn't contribute assists, oh but "he's a hard worker".

 

Kuyt 08/09 12 league goals, 9 league

 

Can't ever see him beating that season.

 

Interesting to see that Riera has 4 league assists this year.

 

Official Site of the Premier League - Barclays Premier League News, Fixtures and Results | Statistics

[Benitaur]

How many of those goals were actually scored from the wing though? We need a statto who can be arsed working it out, but until then I'm going to assume it's like the myth that Gerrard scored over twenty goals from the wing, and that at least some of them were actually scored when he was playing up front when Torres was out.

 

Don't really know. Rafa does change up the formations and positions whenever he makes a substitution.

 

Besides, does it matter? To me what matters is that Kuyt has consistently scored 10+ goals a season since he joined us. Thats pretty decent especially when he is not considered our top striker by any means.

 

Besides, following that earlier comparison, can you honestly say that Ronaldo and Messi are "wingers" too?

 

Similarly, since Rafa joined us, Gerrard's strike rate has been: 13, 23, 11, 21, 24 from 2005-2009 (not including this one). Thats 18.4 per season average. Does anyone doubt if the whole squad was fit, he wouldn't hit roughly 20 goals this season too? Thats damn good by anyone's standards, no matter if he played as a striker, central midfielder or right winger, or combination of all three in all games.

[zigackly]

My point is that you stated that Kuyt is a ten goal per season winger and compared him with Ronaldo, Messi and Robben.

 

I'm not entirely convinced.

[piscinin]

Kuyt 08/09 12 league goals, 9 league

 

Can't ever see him beating that season.

 

Interesting to see that Riera has 4 league assists this year.

 

Official Site of the Premier League - Barclays Premier League News, Fixtures and Results | Statistics

 

Almost as surprising as the fact that there isn't a full back @ the other top 4 clubs with more assists than Insua!