mickeydocs

Why be so negative... imagine for a net spend of 15 million we add two ingredients that was lacking from our attack last season, quality and pace. Since December we have added Mascherano and Torres (close to being world class). We have also added Arbeloa, who is a pretty decent player. We have also added some experience up front (Voronin). And to top this off we are now adding two gifted up and coming players in Lucas and Babbel, the kind of players that you'd be crying out for if they signed for Arsenal.

who cares :)

why doesn't he play on Sunday?

Any idea as to whether it is for the centre back or left back position? Doesn't he favour playing in the centre?

The new deal for Mo has nothing to do with Masch. Rafa clearly wants both players. Momo is a good player in his own right, and he will get better.

So we get a top new signing, an excellent new stadium, and the spine of the team is signed up for the next 4-5 years. All we need now is a replacement for lil luis and a decent defender and we will have had our best close season in years. And of course we need to make Mascherano a permanent signing!!! Does anyone else get the impression that maybe Crouch is available... wasn't he originally bought 'cause we couldn't get Kuyt that year? Well now we have Kuyt, and Voronin (who can also play as a target man), so maybe, just maybe we are in for Tevez as well :drool: One last question, last season there was some mention of our interest in Nasri... has anyone heard anything recently?

Aurelio showed some glimpses of the quality he possesses. Great in possession, he adds width and poise to our attack. And he is one of the best crossers of the ball I have witnessed. HIs defensive play improved greatly as the season wore on. IF he overcomes his fitness problems we have our left back slot sorted.

We are all assuming we wanted to sell... maybe Mo wanted to go after being told we couldn't guarantee first 11 football week in week out.

Am I the only one that is convinced the club is trying to play a rather clever game here? The takeover has happened. Gillet brought Hicks in because of the level of investment involved. They are not DIC, ie they are not new to investing in Sports Teams. They will know that to fill a 70K seater stadium they will need a good team competing in THE top events. Right now we are actively discussing deals with a number of teams. They will all have heard of our 'investment'. Add to this our extremely lucrative run to the champions league final, and the extra money available from the new tv deals. Why not introduce a little turmoil and confusion so as to take some of the heat out of 'Lucky Liverpool Loaded' headlines?

Quaresma caused alot of damage against Chelsea coming in from the left. His termperament came in for serious questioning while at Barca though. Lennon is class, but as already mentioned, he is right-sided. Downing is improving rapidly, but is he good enough? Vicente would probably be another Kewell. Ribery for me is the one we need... can play on the left, in the centre and upfront. Has pace, ability and outrageous technique. Quite tough as well and at a good age for a step-up. Arsenal seem to have stolen a step on us, but I can really see this guy as a Liverpool player... he could be our new Beardsley and not just because of his ability to sell posters :)

Would give us pace as well as skill. Bit similar to Bellamy but that isn't a bad thing. Scores some great goals and still improving. Agreed though that Arsenal won't want to sell to us.

Striker

Anyone think that Van Persie would be worth buying if we have the readies?

I don't understand for the life of me why Gerrard has to be played completely out of position on the left to accommodate Pennant! Especially when we have Gonzo and Aurelio as options on the left. Finnan is a better player with Stevie G in front of him as there is an understanding between the two of them that is very absent when Pennant plays. Has anyone noticed the connection that our best form this season was when Gerrard was played on the right?

The whole point of Alves was that he can play well in two positions, for example as an attacking full back for when Stevie cuts in while playing in rm, and as a rm if we wanted to rest Stevie or play him in the centre.

I spent a year working in Izmir and found the Turks to be a very hospitable bunch... my time there was amazing, great country with good weather, food, alcohol, etc.

good to hear Clarke is a red... what a player when he wants to play

What if we accept 2 million and he goes on to score 15-20 goals in France?

Kronkamp has been hot and cold so far. It's quite clear to see that he's unsettled. My only worry is that we don't have alot of time to get in a replacement. I still have this hope though that if we qualify for the champions league that Rafa will go out and buy Alves.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edwin_Congo

Congo is a great name, but as we all know, there are at least 25 different possible naming scenarios, RDC, CDR, Belgian Congo, Zaire, etc, etc, etc. Whereas Tan, now that's a name.

Good replacement for Owen as imho they are similar players.

Just met someone called Edwin Tan... that beats Edwin Congo for me. Would of thought our next signing would be a defender... is Ayala still available?

Can we have a debate as to whether or not we should ban anyone entering into semi-political banter in the Liverpool forum? Let's provide them with an Israel versus the rest of the world forum where they can get really heated while allowing the rest of us to focus on LFC!

Can we please stick to a discussion of football and avoid potentially hurtful pseudo political rants? Tonight represents a very tricky tie. Haifa played good counter attacking football and have alot of pace and technique up front. They also limited us to very few opportunities. Alonso and Zenden were well off the pace, and Riise had a terrible night as their rm caused us alot of problems. We will need to be patient tonight as Rafa will set the team up to control the game so as to frustrate Haifa. Personally I would play Warnock at left back, with Aurelio in front of him, keeping speedy as an attacking option if needed. Play Gerrard on the right alongside with Xabi and Momo in the middle. Momo needs to protect the back four tonight as this is where they got alot of joy last time out. Crouch to start as he is great at helping us to keep possession, alongside Bellamy. Hopefully Finnan will be at rb, as Kronkamp was very dodgy at the weekend.