Raul Meireles

[Guest Numero Veinticinco]

No need to check, he has got his name right I can assure you of that

 

Well, I don't normally take people's word for it in cases as uncertain as this, but alright Paddy: I'm with you.

[Seemann]

According to wiki:

 

Portuguese pronunciation: [ʁɐˈuɫ mɐjˈɾɛl(ɨ)ʃ] ra-UL may-RELsh;

 

Didn't make it any easier.

[Guest Numero Veinticinco]

...

[bigbak]

YouTube - Raul Meireles

 

 

 

Sorry can't get the youtube thing working

 

I was going to reserve my judgement until seeing a youtube clip. Some nice random bicep slapping there.

 

The defending does look like Division 3 stuff.

[scous3r]

Absolutely made up with this signing

[StevieH]

"Roy Hodgson was key to me coming here because he worked so hard to sign me," Meireles was quoted as saying in the Daily Express.

 

"I am Meireles and not Mascherano and that will be clear to the fans. I hope one day the Liverpool fans will remember me for being successful."

 

Sky Sports | Football News | Premier League | Liverpool | Meireles makes Reds move

[shaunstrudwick]

Telegraph piece

 

Roy Hodgson shows forward thinking by signing Raul Meireles for £10.7m

 

By the hyper-inflated standards of football's age of excess, the £10.7 million Liverpool will pay FC Porto for Raúl Meireles is barely enough to cause a ripple in the transfer market. Its impact, though, could be seismic.

 

Three months after Rafael Benítez was deposed from his Anfield throne, Roy Hodgson's template for Liverpool's renaissance is becoming apparent.

 

To assert that Meireles, a Portuguese international of considerable repute and, at 27, in the prime of his career, will be a success in the Premier League is to indulge in astrology, but his arrival does at least indicate that Hodgson has identified the weakness which ultimately cost Liverpool their status among Europe's elite and his predecessor his job.

 

What Liverpool have lacked in recent years – even when the midfield axis of Javier Mascherano and Xabi Alonso was at its destructive, creative best – is dynamism.

Moving Steven Gerrard into an advanced trequartista role behind Fernando Torres elicited the best from the England international, but came at the cost of robbing Liverpool of impetus from deep, of the thrust particularly vital in the frenetic world of the Premier League.

 

That is exactly what Meireles provides. First for Boavista, then for Porto and Portugal, his role has been to prompt attacks, not with the range of passing that makes Alonso such a rare gem, but with his relentless energy, his movement, his thrust. Whereas the Basque controlled space, Meireles fills it. If he can replicate the form which earned him the move, the Portuguese will bring an end to the sight of Liverpool lost in stasis.

 

It is too soon, of course, to suggest that a pairing of Meireles and Christian Poulsen, another new arrival, are suitable heirs for the players so long – and, judging by their new employers, rightly – proclaimed by the Kop as the best midfield in the world. As a duo, though, they possess the characteristics to thrive.

 

Whereas Mascherano is an attack dog of a midfield player, hunting down and ruthlessly eliminating his targets, Poulsen exists to guard, patrolling in front of the back four, positioning himself and picking off danger. The Dane will control Liverpool's shape, switch the angles of attack. He will play in the horizontal. Meireles adds a vertical element.

Despite the failed flirtation with 4-4-2 at Eastlands, Hodgson seems likely to employ his two most recent signings in the 4-2-3-1 with which the bulk of his squad are familiar. Gerrard will return to his role behind Torres, with the bustle of Dirk Kuyt or the finesse of Maxi Rodríguez on the right.

 

Joe Cole will, nominally, be stationed on the left, but it is an article of faith with Hodgson to allow his wide players a degree of fluidity. There will be no restrictions on the England player's freedom of movement, as there were in those days at Chelsea where he struggled to impose his authority on games. Liverpool's most naturally gifted technician ought not to be sacrificed.

 

Yet while the capture of Meireles – and Paul Konchesky, who arrived on Merseyside for a medical on Saturday ahead of a £3 million move – provide an answer to where Liverpool are heading on the pitch, they serve as a reminder that only questions remain off it.

Most poignant, as the transfer window draws to a close, is the inquiry as to why Hodgson's revolution did not begin to take shape until the final weekend of August. He was, after all, supposed to have £12 million to spend upon taking the job, plus whatever money is raised through sales, currently £16 million.

 

When Mascherano, who arrived in Barcelona on Saturday for his medical, signs for the Spanish champions, the total sum supposedly available to Hodgson should stand at £50 million. Yet the captures of Meireles and Konchesky take the club's outlay this summer to £24.2 million. As always at Liverpool, something does not add up.

Since Benítez decided to sell Robbie Keane back to Tottenham for £16 million in January 2009, Liverpool have recouped some £80 million in sales.

Mascherano's departure will take that figure to £102 million. The Spaniard and Hodgson between them have spent just £59.8 million, when Meireles and Konchesky are factored in, in the last 18 months.

At a club where both Tom Hicks, the co-owner, and Christian Purslow, the managing director, have asserted that the "player fund" is sacrosanct, in theory Hodgson should have £40 million burning a hole in his pocket. It is safe to assume he does not.

For all that Meireles represents a coup for Liverpool, a putsch is required before Hodgson's renaissance can truly take hold.

 

good to see someone pointing out what all the fans have been saying for a while now!

[WrongIslander]

That's an excellent article.

[Lunatic]

Good read that article. Meireles is an excellent player, this has put a little high on the day, and I havent even started drinking yet!

[danperkins]

Really Hope Merieles is suited to the Premier League

[Irishlad]

Has he been given a number yet??

[Vivaldo]

That is a great article, who wrote it?

 

Edit: Seen it on other thread.

Edited August 29, 2010 by Vivaldo

[fowler9]

really happy with the signing, is he our first ever Portugese plaer?

[Randy Marsh]

Abel Xavier

[fowler9]

ah yeh forgot about him!

 

 

nice to see an out of the blue signing, was a nice suprise given his quality, can't remember many in the last couple of years who we didnt hear about till it was all but done, Fowler and Kromkamp spring to mind but thats about it

[red4life69]

guy is class - fingers crossed all we need is a quality striker to start the season on a good footing.

 

Come you fuckers we are watching you and we can add up you still have money for a striker to back up torres

 

RED4LIFE

YNWA

 

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[anyoldfield]

shame still no striker signing on the horizon...whats that, not one signed since keane (and i dont count jovanovic or ngog) ?

[gkmacca]

Just showed him on LFCTV being photographed on the pitch. It's bizarre to see all of this being done so quickly!

[Frankenhooker]

shame still no striker signing on the horizon...whats that, not one signed since keane (and i dont count jovanovic or ngog) ?

 

And how do you know that ? We've been linked with countless strikers. It wasn't as if this Mereiles signing was reported it just happened, what's to say a striker isn't on his way ?

 

A lot of people speculating when the truth of the matter is they know fuck all.

[NIred1]

That is a stunning comb over he has.

[dave]

Bit Newcastle parading him on the pitch before a game, isnt it?

[mlwilliams]

I loved this guy in the World Cup, buy him all the time on FM10 so I'm absolutely delighted!

[acks]

No more Aquilani I guess,

 

[KopOut]

It says he's a defensive midfielder and all round player with good passing ability and the odd goal.

 

 

OOOOOOOOO sounds like we have our Alonso replacement . . .

[dave u]

No more Aquilani I guess,

 

 

Where's his fucking beard? Send him back.