Liverpool FC Forum

[bunglemark2]

saying in todays paper that skrtel wants to stay now.

well hopefully Rodgers doesn't try to play him as a "false" striker....

[RED BEERGOGGLES]

Kolo Toure says he is hungry for trophies at Liverpool FC


New Reds' defender admits it will be difficult to follow in Jamie Carragher's footsteps

KOLO TOURE set his sights on adding to his impressive trophy haul after penning a two-year contract with Liverpool.

The 32-year-old centre-back, who completed the formalities of his free transfer from Manchester City yesterday, is determined to repay boss Brendan Rodgers’ faith in him.

Toure boasts more than a decade of Premier League experience having won the league title and the FA Cup with both Arsenal and Manchester City.

And after the frustration of life on the fringes at Eastlands, the Ivorian international is on a mission to prove he can fill the boots of retired Kop legend Jamie Carragher.


“Liverpool have given me the chance to show that at 32 I’m still one of the best defenders, and I will fight for that,” Toure said.

“These past two years of being ‘part-time’ have helped me refresh and be more hungry. I want to try and help Liverpool win trophies this season.

“I like to lead when I’m on the pitch, I like to speak to the players and organise things.

“I know Jamie Carragher left the club and that’s the reason why I’m here. He was massive for this club, he was a great professional and a great example for me. I will try to do what he did but I think that’s going to be really difficult.

“It adds pressure because it’s always hard to replace a big player like Jamie. I’m looking forward to that because I like challenges.”

Liverpool still hope to secure the services of at least one more centre-back this summer as talks continue with Sporting Lisbon for Tiago Ilori.

However, Toure isn’t concerned about the prospect of having to battle for a starting spot as he looks to establish himself as a key member of Rodgers’ side.

“I am used to competition,” he said. “When I came into Arsenal the competition was Sol Campbell, Martin Keown, Tony Adams – it was hard competition.

“The only way to improve a team is to make players fight for their place.”

Toure penned his contract at Melwood yesterday before taking part in the first day of pre-season training with his new team-mates.

“It’s like coming to a new school,” he said. “But as soon as I came, Steven Gerrard came up to me and told me that if I needed anything, I could come to see him. That shows the spirit and mentality of this club.

“The manager welcomed me when I came, and all the players as well. It’s really important to be part of a team that has spirit and togetherness and that’s what I see here. For a first day, I’m really happy.

“This means a lot to me. Firstly, I’m joining one of the best clubs in England. When I left City it was important for me to stay in England because it’s the best league and to join Liverpool is massive for me.

“I chose Liverpool because of the history and because of the spirit of the team and the people here.”

Rodgers is excited about the prospect of working with Toure and believes the defender will prove to be a success at Anfield.

“I saw him play a lot of games last year,” Rodgers said. “I saw him play at Aston Villa and in a lot of other games and I thought he was Manchester City’s best player.

“Losing someone like Jamie Carragher was going to leave a massive hole for us in terms of his experience.

“Kolo’s experience is going to be really important for us but not just that. He’s someone with a winning mentality.

“There weren’t too many available who were better than Kolo Toure.

“He’s played with big clubs, he understands what a winning mentality is about.

“He’s a good man as well – he knows what the culture is like at a big club.”



I think recruiting Toure has been a clever move by Rodgers  ,and as Kolo  states above he is determined to prove he is still one of the best.



http://www.dailypost.co.uk/sport/lfc-new-signing-kolo-toure-4862983

[Kenny Kan]

Is he going to be first choice ya reckon?

I was kind of hoping Martin Kelly coming to prominence this season at CB.

[Benny The Noon]

I was hoping we would get someone better for first choice. If he is first choice then it's a worry

[RED BEERGOGGLES]

Is he going to be first choice ya reckon?

I was kind of hoping Martin Kelly coming to prominence this season at CB.

It depends on how he performs pre season ,I have a feeling Martin might be battling more than just Toure for that spot.
Young Lloyd Jones earned rave reviews last season ,and some have even touted him to break into the first team this season
such is the lads exceptional talent .

Then if the tabloids are to be believed Rodgers really wants Tiago Ilori at CB ,but in my opinion Lloyd Jones is an outstanding
prospect from what I've seen thus far .

[Kenny Kan]

Is he going to be first choice ya reckon?

I was kind of hoping Martin Kelly coming to prominence this season at CB.

It depends on how he performs pre season ,I have a feeling Martin might be battling more than just Toure for that spot.
Young Lloyd Jones earned rave reviews last season ,and some have even touted him to break into the first team this season
such is the lads exceptional talent .

Then if the tabloids are to be believed Rodgers really wants Tiago Ilori at CB ,but in my opinion Lloyd Jones is an outstanding
prospect from what I've seen thus far .

It's a real breath of fresh air to converse on here with you RBG, I thought everything on here was spoken either negatively or as fhact. 

In all honesty RBG, I haven't even seen Lloyd Jones play does he have good aerial ability and physical presence (like Hyypia) determination and leadership (like Carra) and ball skills (like Agger)?

[Benny The Noon]

Lloyd Jones is 17 but plays with a mature head - not afraid to get stuck in and is good in the air. Earned himself a sub spot last season but needs to physically mature quite a lot - players like Sama and Sokolik are a bit more advanced at the moment plus players like Wisdom.

[RED BEERGOGGLES]

It's a real breath of fresh air to converse on here with you RBG, I thought everything on here was spoken either negatively or as fhact. 

In all honesty RBG, I haven't even seen Lloyd Jones play does he have good aerial ability and physical presence (like Hyypia) determination and leadership (like Carra) and ball skills (like Agger)?

Cheers lad ,I try my best to stay upbeat  Yeah from what I've seen of him he looks the real deal .....reeks of quality ,wouldn't surprise
me if we get a few sniffers ,reminds me of Terry when he was first making the grade at Chelsea, totally dominant in the air.

[ycsatbjywtbiastkamb]

rodgers is saying in todays echo that because of toure`s form in pre season and schalke wanting £18m for papadopolous we are re-thinking our defensive strategy for next season. he is saying he is more than happy to go into next season with agger, toure, skrtel and wisdom as his 4 frontline CB`s.
he says toure was initially brought in as cover but he has shown in training and pre season that he is good enough to be a first team starter.
dont know if this is a bluff to force schalke`s hand or what (like when we said we werent interested in him anymore) but the center of our defence was probably our biggest achilles heel last season, is toure good enough to sort out that problem? i`m not so sure.
i suppose if skrtel can recapture his form of 18 months ago we`ll be okay.
i suppose thats the difference between us and the likes of city and chelsea, they`d just go out and pay the £18m if they really wanted papadopolous where as we have to make do and mend.

[kazza]

I did read somewhere that Napoli are interested in Skrtel and we have resumed our interest in the big Greek

[damjan193]

Because of his form in preseason? Because of his form against Preston and ***** Indonesia?! Then maybe we won't need a replacement for Suarez, because Pacheco and Assaidi showed great form in preseason as well. How convenient, we don't even have to spend money now.

[Benny The Noon]

Toure is now a first choice CB

Where is the money and the ambition instead of relying on discarded has beens !

[tubby]

Oh dear. I was optimistic we were going to spend some money on some proper defensive cover. How much longer before the fans start to question the owners ambition?

[Benny The Noon]

Oh dear. I was optimistic we were going to spend some money on some proper defensive cover. How much longer before the fans start to question the owners ambition?

Already am - doubts about them started last summer. Being confirmed this summer.

[tubby]

It's annoying that the Henry will stay quiet for so long only to come out with some snarky comment to Wenger. Ironically I would like to know what Henry is smoking that makes him think we are on the right path.