Weekend Football Thread. *spoilers* 3-5

Paul Hart just sounds so depressing :(

Good win for them today though, they've played fairly well whenever I've seen them but haven't been getting results.

I didn't agree with the line up from Fergie, but he's not going to come out and say he got it wrong, or that the players weren't good enough :o

To be honest, Wiley does look chubby and unfit :p
 
I hate when people say that "he's a good shot stopper" about any keeper.

Look, goal keepers have to be good shot stoppers, it's the basics of playing in goal.

Same with the comment "he has a good engine" ... seriously? what? he's a professional sodding athlete, all he does is play football! of course he should be able to run and look lively for the majority of the game.

/rant.
 
I thought Foster has looked okay in a couple of games this season, but I agree he's going to have to really pull something out of the hat to warrant a place in the United squad next season, let alone been considered for England.

He's not good enough for Manchester United at current, I'd rather see the Pole in goal to be honest.
 
He also, seems unable to talk and direct his back four, and often looks very nervous when he's playing. That might be something to do with the back four he's playing with and the weight of expectation.
 
I don't think he's the Bramble of the goal keeping world, would be a bit insulting to Bramble.

I like Foster, but he's not looking like been the long term replacement for Sar De Vander, and United already have a good back up (PIG). Maybe, Fergie might keep this guy as back up and bring in a top quality Keeper.
 
Liverpool V Chelsea game was alright.

Drogba was fairly awful, and I didn't think either side played well, Chelsea probably been the better side. Nice to see Mash come back and Liverpool still lose, after all that was made about missing him last game. :p Andy Gray really is a complete ****.

Quite enjoyed parts of the Arsenal game, played some really good stuff going forwards.
 
skippi90 said:
Which begs the question, what have Liverpool been?
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Poor, they miss Alonso, can't believe Rafa forced him out.

I think they've actually gone backwards this season, they've failed to strengthen the team / squad.
Manchester United, are weaker with the loss of Ronaldo, but have got good players in.
Chelsea more or less the same.
Spurs have gotten better.
Arsenal have improved.
Manchester City have improved.
 
Expectations were raised without winning the league.

Liverpool, found some real form and in my opinion punched well above their weight towards the end of last season.

The problem lies this season, Liverpool haven't improved the squad, they've done the opposite. Rafa is still buying these "£3 million" players who amount to nothing.

Liverpool's best buy was Johnson, who was what they needed, he might of been over priced and frail defensively but he's a massive boost and offers something they've lacked from that position.

They then, went backwards, losing Alonso (all down to Rafa's flirting with a inferior player last season) and they've still not improved the area's that needed improving.

Just my two cents, Liverpool are still a good side, but they're really up against it this season. Manchester City, Arsenal, Aston Villa, Spurs are all in the running for the champions league, plus Manchester United / Chelsea, who I can't see dropping out of the top four.
 
Burned_Alive said:
Who are these ""£3 million" players" you speak of?
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Diego Cavalieri
Alvaro Arbeloa
Sebastian Leto
Jose Miguel Gonzalez Rey (Josemi)
Gabriel Paletta
Sotirios Kyrgiakos
Mark Gonzalez

Non of them have really been good enough, why not stop signing these quality of player and buy one really good player?

He's spent £210 million, he's had more then enough money to bring together a good squad but this year he's gone backwards.
 
You'd expect a bit more for 210 million.

I like Rafa, and I think he's made a couple of good buys, Torres is his most expensive player at 20 million.
Alberto Aquilani at 20 million again, who I'm not sure about, he's injury prone and the Premier League is fast and hard tackling so he might turn out to be a bit of a "if only".
Keane and Johnson at 15 million and 16 million, I thought Keane was an odd buy, but I felt he never was really given a fair shot at the team. Johnson is a good player, tad expensive but gives them something the team has lacked.

Babel cost 10 million :eek:
Kuyt at 9, Riera was 8. I like Kuyt, not so sure on Riera he's not really impressed me much, he does give them width though.

Dossena was 8 million (what happened to this guy?)
Lucas, Squirtle, Reina, Agger, Yossi were all between 7 and 5 million, and are good players, Reina is a good keeper.

Crouch, Leto, Pennant, Bellamy, Alonso, Sissoko, Morientes, are some other guys that have moved on.

Total Buys 210,425,000

Total Sales 139,730,000
 
Pigeon_Killer said:
Johnson's an improvement over Arbeloa but Alonso was a big loss and one that Rafa will find very hard to replace. Aquilani's meant to be a special player but whether he'll adapt to the Premiership, stay fit and have a big enough impact is anyone's guess until he starts playing regularly.
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Johnson is good going forward, just poor in defense, I hope (for England's sake) he will improve under Rafa.

Alonso is a massive miss for you, Rafa's fault though.
Aqua man, well if he stays fit he could be effective part of the team, maybe allowing Saint Stevie G to play back in the middle of midfield alongside Mash.
I thought you needed another (good) striker which you haven't done.
That, dude with the pony tail is getting some games, but he's not good enough, and Kuyt is always played wide right.

Pigeon_Killer said:
Dunno. Might change it one day :)
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doooo eeet (Y)
 
Pigeon_Killer said:
He had two amazing seasons followed by two poor seasons. Rafa looking elsewhere was the motivation Alonso needed to up his game again but unfortunately he ended up playing for a move away from the club.
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I don't know about two poor seasons, poor in the sense he wasn't playing at his best, but still quite well. Rafa "forced" him out, flirting with a inferior player in Barry.

Pigeon_Killer said:
Hope not. His most effective position is behind Torres so hopefully Aquilani playing alongside Mascherano will release him from his defensive duties and allow him to attack freely again.
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Maybe, Aqua man could be very good, could imagine him playing a more central attacking role. Gerrard has looked very quiet the last few games.

Pigeon_Killer said:
We did and Rafa knew we did. The board chose to put most of the money we received from the sale of Alonso towards the debt.
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Bahh. I never like these situations, whatever the Manager makes from selling players he should be able to spend + whatever the board have given him.
 
BaZ87 said:
I agree about him not being poor but seeing as he wasn't playing his best, he was beginning to lose his place in our starting 11 for around 18 months which was why Rafa was willing to let him go had we received a big enough offer. And as has been explained countless times, Rafa wasn't looking to sign Barry as an improvement on Alonso but because he believed he could make a huge profit on the deal and spend that improving else where.
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Alonso was going to be sold to fund the Barry deal? I just didn't understand why you'd want to sell Alonso for Barry. Alonso is a far better player.

How would he of made profit? Barry would have been expensive? or am I having another dim moment? :p

BaZ87 said:
Even if you believe that Rafa did force Alonso out (which had it been the case then he'd be playing for Juve now), I seriously doubt it would have made any difference to him joining Real. We've seen time and time again, no matter how illogical the move is, the lure of Real is far too big for players to turn down, let alone for a Spanish player. Add to that Alonso had been making comments in the press about how the exchange rate and increased tax has massively hit his wages and that how he wants to bring his family up in Spain, there was only going to be 1 outcome.
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I think Rafa had a big part to play, the whole "I want to sell you and buy a player who isn't as good as you" would have put any player out. It had the right effect on Alonso, who had a very good season. I'm sure that thought was still kicking around in the back of his head (coach doesn't want me), and when Real came knocking there was only ever going to be one out come.

Real, are a massive club, any player would jump at the chance to play there, as Alonso did, especially being Spanish.


BaZ87 said:
:o

Another reason why I try to avoid RAWK.
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RAWK is the Liverpool fan forum isn't it?
 
BaZ87 said:
You are being dim. Reportedly we were told by Barry's agent that O'Neil had told Barry he would be allowed to leave the previous summer after turning down Pompey (?) to give Villa 1 more season and a figure of £10m was mentioned. We wanted considerably more for Alonso and even after it turned out that Barry was going to cost more, it still wasn't more than what we wanted for Alonso.

Another thing that people fail to realise is that any possible Alonso sale was ruled out well before the Barry deal fell through. Benitez wanted Barry regardless of Alonso leaving (because he was English for our CL squad and because of his versatility) and he wanted to sign him before Keane or anybody else. Had Alonso gone it would have been to fund another position not Barry.
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Yeah, me being dim.
Barry *was* going to come regardless, and Alosno's money would have gone on strengthening elsewhere (Y).

Thanks for that Baz.

BaZ87 said:
So you do understand why no matter what his situation was like at Liverpool, it's incredibly likely that he'd have wanted to go anyway?

And yes RAWK is a Liverpool forum. It's full of Mancs and kids that come up with rubbish like Aqua Man.
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Yeah, I said that.
Real are a massive club, esp for a Spaniard, so whatever the offer was he would have wanted to go.

Never been on RAWK, it's mentioned on RedCafe quite a lot.

I thought of Aqua man on my own! :p

BaZ87 said:
edit: and some news on Aquilani. Benitez has said that he's recovering well and that he could be back in the next 2-3 weeks.
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Will be nice to see him play, and hopefully stay fit.

He's not replacement for Alonso though, but should give you another option in the middle.
 
How is the "lack" of a transfer budget Rafa's fault?

He can raise some funds by selling players, but he should be given money to spend, which is Hicks and Gillett's problem?
 
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