ElNino_9_TheKid

I agree that Poulsen could be coming in because of Aquaman's fitness worries. Get Poulsen in on loan (maybe with a clause which means we can buy him for a certain price at the end of his loan). If he does well at the begining of the year then we sign him permenantly, if not then we give Lucas a chance, if Poulsen has the better season we buy him and sell Lucas, if Lucas has a better season we keep him and let Poulsen leave. They will both only be back-up when everyone is fit though.

I just said that we could be in talks to sign Poulsen right now:whistle:

Reporter on SSN just broke the news that Aqualani had passed his medical, then said that Liverpool could well be currently trying to sign Poulsen right now. He sounded like he knew what he was talking about when it comes to Liverpool, if this is true, this is surely a big sign Lucas could be leaving.

Reporter on SSN just broke the news that Aqualani had passed his medical, then said that Liverpool could well be currently trying to sign Poulsen right now.

Shouldn't be any under-lying injury problems then, just his ankle which he's had surgery on. I've heard the Roma medical staff were poor and only kept their jobs because of family ties, maybe he's not quite so injury prone as we fear... Anyway, he's officialy a liverpool player, make us proud Aquaman!

You would think so, but i've heard that Tom Huddlestone could be leaving Spurs for around £6m, if so, then i would like Rafa to sell Lucas and bring the fatboy in, get him fit and he could be a quality player. Other than that, i think he should stay as he showed signs of improving towards the end of last season and if he does well this season we could sell him next summer for a good fee or use him in the future.

Well, well. Broady strikes again, 151-4, aussies lead by 49.

Dissapointed with Harmy, im a big fan of his and i'm really willing him to do well, unfortunately he's just not delivering, it seems he can't deal with these pressure situations like the ashes anymore, which is odd because he exceled in 2005 with 4 years less experience. :wallbutt: Anyway, things are looking slightly better now, it's 144-3, and ponting is gone, but they lead by 42 and Hussey and clark are in :(

I agree, because if you wanted to bring in a striker of real quality, there game time could vary from very little to a being afirst team regular depending on the fitness Fernando Torres. There is no way anyone is going to get in the first team ahead of Nando, and no-one looking for first team football is going to join us in the hope he will get injured. Whereas if we played 2 strikers, they could both be of a high standard because they know they will get game time, and if one of them does get injured we could revert to playing 1 main striker as a back up system. As for trying to find a player who can cover all the forward positions, this is possible, but most of the players who can do this are better suited to playing along side another striker. For example, Thierry Henry and Tuncay can both play anywhere along the forward line, and they would both be good signings for us IMO, but neither of them would be ideal back-up for Torres, as i couldn't see either playing as a lone striker in the role Torres currently does.

Fair enough, he wouldn't be a bad option if i actually wanted someone like that, i just don't think it's needed. Elano would have been a good buy if that was the kind of player we were looking for, he was a star in his first season at City, and just went to Galatasary for £8million

I don't think we need a left winger or someone who can play off a main striker, we have benny and gerrard for that. The trouble is we wont have anyone up to the job for them to play behind when torres isn't fit. Voronin is shit, I don't rate N'gog but i wont say he's shit yet as he's young and still learning, Nemeth and Pachecho are talented but not ready. Babel is a possibility, i think he could do well as a main striker, but he has been so inconsistent for us he cannot be relied on. I think Toni would be a good shout on loan, Treza would be available on the cheep, Henry would give us a bit of quality and wouldn't cost a bomb but still may be a bit expensive, but we certainly need another striker.

Agreed, if people had the same attitude towards our youngsters 15 years ago Fowler, McMananan, Gerrard, Carra etc might not have turned out to be the stars they have, they need a chance to prove that they are up to it or not, and not just the odd sub appearance, they need a prolonged period to prove themselves. However, it's easy to say that we want to see our youngsters given more chances, but i can see why a manager would be reluctant to play them in big match, pressure situations if there is an experienced alternative.

You mentioned Babel on the left, and that is where he plays mostly, but IMO he would be better suited on the right then he could really use his pace and go down the line against full backs instead of constantly cutting in. I still think it's a shame we didn't get Lennon as part of the Keane deal, but i guess the Yanks needed the money to pay off the debt.

Not sure about the price, but i'd love to see us sign Thierry Henry. I know he's past his world-class best, but he's still better than what we have in the forward department (apart from Torres of course). He's still got good pace, still a classy dribbler and finisher, i think he's just what we need, he would be fantastic back-up for Torres, or with a slight shift in formation he could feature on the left of a 3 man forward line (as he does for Barca), with Torres in the centre, Henry on the left, and Dirk on the right, Masch would be the achorman and Gerrard and Aquaman could support the forwards. Obviously we would have to sign him first, some may question if he would join us, but if he moved away from Barca i think it would be here. He has dropped hints before, he said that he thinks Liverpool fans are fantastic and he loves playing at Anfield, and that he would love to play in the same team as Steven Gerrard. Also, i think he would like a return to the Premier League. But the problem is the price, im not a good judge of transfer fees, he is 32 later this month, so how much do you think he'd cost?

I agree Ben Arfa could be great for us and would be worth the risk despite his disciplinary problems, however, i'd be surprised if he costed more than 20 million...

Toni would be a good shout, he's 32 and not playing regularly at Bayern, how much do we think he would cost? He'd be good backup for Torres.

Very interesting point, it's not something i had thought of until now, but your right. I think Agger is a quality footballer and a good defender, but he is extremely injury prone, and i agree about Skrtel, so if we did buy hangeland he would probably getting regular first team appearances seeming that Agger is likely to pick up injuries and he is a better defender than Skrtel. However the price tag is a problem, i think were desperately in need of another attacker who is likely to cost 10m+, so that doesn't leave enough money for a quality defender like Hangeland, so a short-term back-up like Distin is a more realistic option.

Of course it's stupid money, it's an extremely inflated market, having said that, like i said, i'm not a good judge of transfer fees. EDIT: His goalscoring record may be modest at best, but his game isn't based on just goalscoring, he's a class-act, and he would score more goals if he was playing at a top team with quality players around him providing chances.

So the general consensus is that we only have peanuts left to spend unless we sell? In that case we need to sell Dossena and Voronin for around 5 million each, that gives us 10 million spend which should be enough for Tuncay, who would be a great option as he can play anywhere along the forward line and would excel and really show his class with quality players around him IMO. He could be someone to provide a bit of magic on the wing against 11 men behind the ball, and would be good cover for Torres. And then hopefully we can find the funds with what we already have to buy Distin for around £3m, he is a good defender and probably wouldn't mind spending large periods of the season on the bench, he could also provide cover at LB. I like Kelly and i hope he gets the odd league sub appearance and regular games in the domestic cup, but we need experienced CB cover for big league games. I'd also like to see Lucas sold for £6m and get Tom Huddlestone in for a similar price, get him fit and he could be a class-act. But this wont happen as Rafa clearly rates Lucas and it is a big season for him.

I think about £8m, but i'm usually not a great judge of players prices, would probably be £10-15m if Boro were still in the premier league IMO.

I still have hope for him, i would prefer to use him as a backup striker than a left winger, whenever he plays out there he just congests the play.