Liverpool FC Forum

[GYBS]

ah yes him - dirty fecker he was as well - think he was manager of serbia or somewhera at one point

[NANNY RED]

Oh yes Serbia i fecking new it , its like taking money from a baby ha ha 20 quid in me pocket

Oh an mods an people sorry for disruptiing the thread , but 20 pound was at stake here , an i knew i was right ,

[dawson99]

Is he part of the Johnson deal or something?

[Reg]

Loony Tune time of the evening.........

[dawson99]

you're not wrong

[ho11ywood1]

Anyway back to the topic  

Whatever opinions we have and regardless of the price we need to give Johnson are full backing and get behind the lad.....

[GYBS]

spot on Kev

[GOAT]

is right kev

[Effes]

I hear you Kev

[ken_job]

I have to say im all for this signing - hes over-priced but its not my money. Its not even eating much into our pockets (7M for crouchies deal and if we sell 'the doss' for 5-6M) and theres f*ck all else out there (perhaps Maicon).

So im happy! But please dont get rid of arbeloa! Im not his biggest fan but the competition for places and cover is what we need, what we dont need is to sell him COS then we're back to square 1 if johnson gets injured....

Good lad rafa - now lets get one or two other positions sorted out before the lads come back for pre-season!

[Dundalk]

Fair enough Kev.....

Anyway here is a list of how Rafa has tried to sort out this poistion

1. Jan Kromkamp
Plucked from Villarreal where he was struggling to come to terms with the Spanish language, the Dutchman came to Liverpool where he struggled to come to terms with English football. Spent around six months watching Steve Finnan play before returning to Holland.

2. Josemi
His brief stint at Anfield came to an abrupt halt when he was exchanged with Kromkamp and returned to sunny Spain due to being completely language difficulties. He is still fondly remembered on Merseyside as Benitez’s worst signing to date and happily quoted by rival fans taking a pop at Benitez’s transfer dealings.

3. Philipp Degen
The Swiss international signed last summer but you could be forgiven for forgetting that. He has endured an injury-ravaged first season in the Premier League (or out of the Premier League, to be more precise), including a broken metatarsal for which he blamed both Gareth Bale and sins committed in a previous life.

4. Steve Finnan
Not a Benitez signing, but a regular throughout his tenure. As competitors came and went, Finnan remained most Liverpool fans preferred right-back. Rafa always seemed to have a bit of a problem with him though and he was allowed to join Espanyol last summer.

5. Álvaro Arbeloa
Has fared better than some of Rafa’s other right-backs, but the fact that he seems to be in the market again confirms what most Liverpool fans are saying: Arbeloa is good, but not good enough to be first-choice right-back.

6. Antonio Barragan
One of the earliest exhibits in Rafa’s Young Footballer Collection. Barragan became the youngest foreigner to play for Liverpool in 2005. He was shipped back to Spain shortly afterwards with a buy-back clause that is unlikely to ever be activated.

LINK

[bigmick]

It's odd to me that many of the people who don't think we should have signed Johnston, really have a love in with Kuyt. It's kind of like wanting it both ways from where I'm sitting.

For me it's a fairly obvious question of balance. If you are going to play a bloke in the irght midfield slot who is paceless and doesn't get beyond the play, then you need a full on attacking fullback. As I've said many times, Arbie would be fine playing behind Ronaldo because he's solid, dependable and the like (that's probably why Madrid want to buy him). Glen Johnson wouldn't fit in behind Ronaldo because firstly as Ronaldo doesn't defend, you need a proper defender. Secondly, Ronaldo doesn't really need assistance going forward, he does it on his own.

In our situation though, with Kuyt on the right side of midfield THAT'S WHY we need to spend huge money on an attacking fullback. Not even a Gary Neville style overlapping fullback is enough, you need a full on bomber to make the balance work, and Rafa sees Johnson as potentially being the man. If we are going to continue to play Kuyt down the right, then I agree with him.

It's a question of balance, pure and simple.

[GYBS]

what about the people who want johnson and like kuyt

[ken_job]

Good post Mick. Think thats spot on about the balance

Are you expecting us to sell Arbeloa? I seriously hope not, great squad player or left or right, with johnson/arbeloa/insua and aurelio i think we'd be well covered for full backs. Meaning we could get rid of Dossena and Degen as soon as...and Rafa has a good habit of not wasting time when players arent up to task (like the two mentioned).

[Toffeehater]

FFS this place is a fecking madhouse and johnson hasn't even signed yet , godness knows whats gonna happen if and when he eventually does