Liverpool FC Forum

[Sir Roger]

Fu*king hell
Youre not asking much are you?


When did the game pass him by?

While weve still got Kuyt and Lucas I suggest we be careful of expecting too much of young Aquilani and put our energies into supporting him so he can have the chance to become a top player.

Rog what I'm "asking" is neither here nor there. If we want to become a top team, we need to have top players. In the central midfield area most teams who are at or near the top of the league have a sitter who shuts doors and distributes, and a creative force who both attacks and defends. That creative force both scores and makes goals as well as getting himself box to box.

I'm merely talking about what IMHO Aquilani needs to do in order to become a really top player in the Premiership. Your point about Kuyt and Lucas is absolutely fair, in that it's EVEN MORE IMPORTANT that he does these things, because we are carrying those two. What I'm asking him to do sounds like a lot, for the simple reason that I think he is a long long way off at the moment.

And I did think the game passed him by. He barely made a meaningful contribution in 75 minutes, and contributed nothing defensively. Like Jan Molby without the shooting, passing or tackling. Not saying he can't do it, just asking whether he will or not and also taking the revolutionary step of actually explaining what I mean  .

Thanks for the explanation
( )


I refer you to an earlier post:

FORWARD THINKING- Ok he is not up to speed. But who the hell thinks he should be after being injured for so long and then being thrown in at the deep end?? He looks forward and ties to put us on the offensive, which is a hell of a lot more than many in the team at the moment


OUR MOVEMENT WAS TOO STATIC- Under our current system with our current players it is sometimes like watching people run through treacle. Sluggish, no fluidity, dragging and laboured. Especially if Johnson and Insua are not overlapping and Kuyt and Lucas are breaking down our attacking play. Aquilani can address this if the team adapts to his style rather than him (god forbid) adapting to theirs.


YOU CAN ONLY PLAY AS WELL AS THOSE AROUND YOU PERMIT YOU TO- Is he worth £20 million? Who knows? He has been introduced at a time when we are struggling badly for form and has had to hit the ground sprinting, never mind running. Nobody has been outstanding and it comes to something when Lucas has been our most consistent player. He is not superman and will not change the fortunes of an ailing team overnight. I say give him a chance and encourage those around him to use his creativity to drag us up the table. He is finding his feet and the pressure is on him to be the saviour rather than a rookie who has time to make fu'ck ups like others have. I believe he is like a breath of fresh air and, if he is utilised properly could be the creative spark we have been missing all season.

What youre asking in light of this is virtually nigh on impossible for a seasoned prem player to achieve never mind a virgin whos just popped their cherry. As I said he has been flung into a relegation type situation with so much more expectation on him than would have been if we were flying. I believe its premature and possibly harmful to weigh him down with our deficiencies

[tubby]

Some of the papers are being a tad harsh with Alberto. Duff Villa performance ect.... for god sake it's only his second start in how long? And he is playing in a new league. Give him at least another month or so until he is at the very least match fit.

I bet it's the same papers which have said nothing about Valencia and the french fella the mancs bought being or Michael Ballache doing F all for Chelsea.

Berbatovs set the prem alight though hasnt he?
How much was he again....?

Spot on and yet no one says all about utds players. I guess it's becasue they are still mixing it up at the top. If our positions were reversed then fergus would be taking some stick for his players..... or maybe not.

[bigmick]

To be honest I find these "well Berbatov's sh!t as well" arguments, along with the 'but Arsenal haven't won anything either" a little bit pointless. I couldn't really give a sh!t about Berbatov to be honest. The simple fact of the matter is we paid quite a lot of money for aquilani and we could really do with him being quite good.

[tubby]

Yep we need him to be good because unlike Utd or Chelsea we cannot afford to let our big money gambles turn out as it's not often we spend that much on a player. I guess all we do is give him time. I remember some article saying we probably won't see the best of him until next season given how long he has been out.

[redbeergoggles]

The one thing that struck me about Aquilani was his confidence to step in and take the free kick ,when Gerrard so obviously was intent on taking it ,this will serve us well in the future as Gerrard has had carte blanche on corners and free kicks for too long ,Its been obvious for sometime we need other avenues ,and although a huge percentage of Aquilani's passes didn't find their respective target ,he still had the confidence to keep trying however implausible they seemed at the time ,I think this was a big test for the lad it proved he isn't going to hide behind playing safe passes and is confident enough to try and provide a ball that could prove a match winner

[Number 9]

To be honest I find these "well Berbatov's sh!t as well" arguments, along with the 'but Arsenal haven't won anything either" a little bit pointless. I couldn't really give a sh!t about Berbatov to be honest. The simple fact of the matter is we paid quite a lot of money for aquilani and we could really do with him being quite good.

We could also do with him being given a bit longer than a few 5 or 10 minute cameo rolls and two starts in a row before we judge the fella!

This thread is hideous,absolutely laughable.The amount of people who are making their mind up or hinting towards him being a flop is amazing to me.
Jesus Christ.......do people watch football or just read papers and the shi,te some post on here?
Fuc,king hell like...he is coming back from a long injury,he more than likely would not have started had Masch been able to play due to Rafa hugging his hamstring(not Aqualanis fault)
He is playing in a new team in a new country where the game is a lot quicker and you get a fraction of the time on the ball he is used to.
The first game he started v Wolves was in a very nervous team due to recent results where no one bar Gerrard had anywhere near a decent game.
His second was in a blizzard where there were more mishit passes FROM BOTH teams due to the conditions than I can remember........................and people on here are flapping and shi'tting their panties!

FFS get real you bunch of idiots and give the fella a fuc'king chance!

[Sir Roger]

To be honest I find these "well Berbatov's sh!t as well" arguments, along with the 'but Arsenal haven't won anything either" a little bit pointless. I couldn't really give a sh!t about Berbatov to be honest. The simple fact of the matter is we paid quite a lot of money for aquilani and we could really do with him being quite good.

We could also do with him being given a bit longer than a few 5 or 10 minute cameo rolls and two starts in a row before we judge the fella!

This thread is hideous,absolutely laughable.The amount of people who are making their mind up or hinting towards him being a flop is amazing to me.
Jesus Christ.......do people watch football or just read papers and the shi,te some post on here?
Fuc,king hell like...he is coming back from a long injury,he more than likely would not have started had Masch been able to play due to Rafa hugging his hamstring(not Aqualanis fault)
He is playing in a new team in a new country where the game is a lot quicker and you get a fraction of the time on the ball he is used to.
The first game he started v Wolves was in a very nervous team due to recent results where no one bar Gerrard had anywhere near a decent game.
His second was in a blizzard where there were more mishit passes FROM BOTH teams due to the conditions than I can remember........................and people on here are flapping and shi'tting their panties!

FFS get real you bunch of idiots and give the fella a fuc'king chance!

Haha
Come in Number 9 your time is up...
Excellent point expertly made

[made in UK]

The one thing that struck me about Aquilani was his confidence to step in and take the free kick ,when Gerrard so obviously was intent on taking it ,this will serve us well in the future as Gerrard has had carte blanche on corners and free kicks for too long ,Its been obvious for sometime we need other avenues ,and although a huge percentage of Aquilani's passes didn't find their respective target ,he still had the confidence to keep trying however implausible they seemed at the time ,I think this was a big test for the lad it proved he isn't going to hide behind playing safe passes and is confident enough to try and provide a ball that could prove a match winner

I have to say that is a positive we can take from his performance. To have the confidence to keep looking and playing those forward passes when they weren't coming off. The last thing we need is another midfielder who plays the 'safe' passes. So credit it to him for that, I won't mind him loosing possesion every now and again if it means its productive and creative play thats being applied.

Hopefully in time his game will come together in England. If I'm being honest when I saw him play against Wolves I did have similar reservations like Mick about him. I still can't see what kind of player he will eventually turn out to be, a ball winner doubt it. A sitter who dictates play, a box to box midfielder or a creative midfielder. I'm still unsure of his role in the side.

The tempo of the game is obviously something he'll have to become acustomed to. Being Italian its of no great surprise the game seems to pass him by. But players with ability (like Zola) and more importantly with the right mental attributes (like Zola and unlike Babel) will in all probability adapt. And going by the positive observations being made by his insistance of playing the forward moving passes and looking to take free-kicks. This might be a slight tell tale sign that his heads in the right place.

[shawnk]

Come on - he's only had two games after a lengthy lay off coupled with coming from, arguably, the slowest league in Europe to the quickest. It's going to take him a while to find his feet.

On top of that he has just joined the team and still getting to know the players around him, that's a big factor as well.

[SupitsJonF]

He hasn't played too many games yet, and match fitness is still lacking.  I hate that excuse more than anyone, but for now it is true.

And tbh, I think a lot of our foreign players are very sub-par in the rain/harsh conditions.  Might just be me though.

I still think he will be a good buy.

[shawnk]

The one thing that struck me about Aquilani was his confidence to step in and take the free kick ,when Gerrard so obviously was intent on taking it ,this will serve us well in the future as Gerrard has had carte blanche on corners and free kicks for too long ,Its been obvious for sometime we need other avenues ,and although a huge percentage of Aquilani's passes didn't find their respective target ,he still had the confidence to keep trying however implausible they seemed at the time ,I think this was a big test for the lad it proved he isn't going to hide behind playing safe passes and is confident enough to try and provide a ball that could prove a match winner

Agree, he even got a pat from Gerrard after the free kick which is a great thing from our captain.

[aCe']

He's lazy... always has been and always will be...
That was my main concern before we signed him and it could turn out to be the main reason why he doesnt cut it in this league...
The guy is quality though.. His passing and confidence on the ball are unquestionable... I think we'll see a much improved Aquilani in the next few games if Rafa sticks by him and doesnt revert back to playing Lucas-Mascherano in the middle... He's still getting acquainted with the formation we play and im not sure he fully understands his role in the side (who does ?!) ... Hes going to need to step it up in the next few games but the manager will help him out quite a bit i feel and imo dropping him couldnt possibly make things any easier or better for him...

[Waldo]

I have been impressed with Lucas in his role as defensive midfielder and think he was a key factor in our win the other night vs Villa. However I would like to see Aquilani in alongside Mascherano in a few games time when Mascha is back fit and well. I think that may well end up being our strongest MF combo.

That is unless Rafa goes out and buys someone like Scott Parker (who's signing I would support).

[7_Kewell]

That is unless Rafa goes out and buys someone like Scott Parker (who's signing I would support).

[Waldo]

That is unless Rafa goes out and buys someone like Scott Parker (who's signing I would support).

Watch this space