Liverpool FC Forum

[Sabre]

Me mate was telling me that his ald man knows someone connected with Fowler (we all do   ) but he was saying Fowler said that MG is a terrible player...and even worse in training, and that he (Fowler) is shocked that he (MG) is at Liverpool.

You and I can have a different opinion, of course. But it's not that Gonzo impressed just me. Atletico de Madrid was seriously interested on him last May. Only time will tell who's right, like always.

[redmikey]

I agree St Michael.

I add a couple of points. Mark has entered the team regularly as of late, in the first games of the season he didn't play much. I think it's too early to say he's not good enough for LFC.

Mark made great games against great teams in La Liga, which is not a joke league. A free kick goal from long distance is the same in England and in Spain, and Mark scored this kind of goals, because he has the ability to do that. Mark also has pace, I only remember Alves controlling him by pace.

¿Kewell? excuse me but for me Kewell has better dribling than Gonzalez and stop counting. He hasn't showed it yet, but Gonzalez has better shot, more pace, better touch of the ball when the ball is dead, just give him time!

P.S. Why don't we open the "not good enough" thread? we LFC fans always find someone to have a go. Alonso was shaky and not the same Alonso, very poor at the start of the season, or so said some people. Then our strikers were the problem. Then Pennant. Then Gonzalez. It's bloody difficult to tryumph here! and we're winning, I can't imagine the criticism if we were 7th in the table.

st mike and sabre the voice of reason

give the lad a season, he has pace to burn and when he can start to get to the line abd cross he will be getting all the hoop kissing on here he can take,

no he hasn't reached harry,s level of last year but to be fair harry hadn't till last year either.

i do agree on the dibbling but that comes with confidents, and every body wants to see ronaldo type running with the ball and john barnes crosses, that will take time in our league

i would be happier if he did shoot with his left as i would if i were LEFT FOOTED

[Ace Ventura]

Me mate was telling me that his ald man knows someone connected with Fowler (we all do   ) but he was saying Fowler said that MG is a terrible player...and even worse in training, and that he (Fowler) is shocked that he (MG) is at Liverpool.

You and I can have a different opinion, of course. But it's not that Gonzo impressed just me. Atletico de Madrid was seriously interested on him last May. Only time will tell who's right, like always.

Sabre i hope your right, and you have obviously seen alot more of him as he was at Socieadad (however its spelt ) last season.

But for me, so far his touch and general play is well below expectation.
Pennant hasnt set the world alight but his general passing and first touch seem on a different level to Gonzalez.
Hopefully i am wrong, but from what i have seen he is not the type of player that can pass and move the ball quick enough, too many attacks break down when the reach him.

[7_Kewell]

My point is he has ability, the video's are there to watch and IMO he should be allowed time

to be honest, Cisse and Nando had 'great' videos but it counts for nothing if they can't cut it and a the moment Gonzalez is so poor he makes Kewell return to be a much welcomed one.

Rafa will give him time...but the bottom line is, he's awful.

Yes he's scored goals..but his crossing is woeful and he struggles to beat his man.  In my opinion, Pennant and Gonzalez were to blame for our poor form...we just didn't have any form of wingers to widen our play.  Whilst Pennant has SLOWLY improved, Gonzalez has really struggled and thats a worry after 1/2 of a season.

I'd give him another 12 months and if he's still the same, then Rafa will put him down as another player who couldn't adapt.

[Lee2k6]

Okay so he has't shown anything amazing so far but i aint even gunna think of passing any kind of judgement at least not until the seasons over.

Everyone would need some time to settle in to a new league and a different atmosphere an i think he deserves at least a full season before people start demanding his head.

[Sabre]

Yes he's scored goals..but his crossing is woeful and he struggles to beat his man.  In my opinion, Pennant and Gonzalez were to blame for our poor form...we just didn't have any form of wingers to widen our play.  Whilst Pennant has SLOWLY improved, Gonzalez has really struggled and thats a worry after 1/2 of a season.

I think that's unfair. We're winning because we're defending much better, and we don't find ourselves in min 23 having to come back from a 1-0. Not to mention in the early season Gonzalez didn't play in the left wing, but LG, Aurelio and Gerrard did.

Wingers are very team dependant. Usually a winger is great when the team is great. When a team is not that well, the wingers tend to suffer that, because they need to get enough of the ball.

[7_Kewell]

Yes he's scored goals..but his crossing is woeful and he struggles to beat his man.  In my opinion, Pennant and Gonzalez were to blame for our poor form...we just didn't have any form of wingers to widen our play.  Whilst Pennant has SLOWLY improved, Gonzalez has really struggled and thats a worry after 1/2 of a season.

I think that's unfair. We're winning because we're defending much better, and we don't find ourselves in min 23 having to come back from a 1-0. Not to mention in the early season Gonzalez didn't play in the left wing, but LG, Aurelio and Gerrard did.

Wingers are very team dependant. Usually a winger is great when the team is great. When a team is not that well, the wingers tend to suffer that, because they need to get enough of the ball.

there have been plenty occasions where we have played 'great' this season...and everytime that's happened Gonzalez has been average or simply hasn't played.  I'm not doubting the fact the lad has ability, i'm just voicing my concern over the fact an established international is struggling to fit in after 1/2 a season.

I cannot honestly think of 1 good cross he's performed since he's been here and the fact Pennant looks really good in comparison highlights how poor he's been.

[The Magician]

You have got to give Mark Gonzalez a season to settle in before we see the best of him. Then watch him prove his critics wrong

[Smeg]

ARGH ...You either have the ability to perform in a top league, or you dont. Ability is not affected by the country!

***Waits for the usual cliched Pires/Henry were no good dross***

[JC_81]

Undoubtedly Gonzalez looked the part in Spain and if anyone else saw him tear Ireland apart single handedly for Chile at the tail end of last season, I'm sure you'll agree that if this lad manages to settle we'll have a hell of a player.  That said he's been blowing hot and cold, mostly cold in fact.  He's not as quick as we were lead to believe but it's his decision making that lets him down.  He can beat a man and there's potential with his crossing and shooting, but he lacks confidence.

Lets not forget a few weeks back it was Bellamy and Pennant who were getting ripped to shreds on the forum.  Bellamy's turned his season around I reckon, he was our best player for about a month up until he got injured recently.  Hopefully Pennant's display against Bolton was him starting to do the same.  And these were both lads who were used to the premiership who have taken half a season to start turning in good performances.

[parchpea]

Agree on this one Smeg 

Gonzalez is not up too it and has shown nothing to inspire hopes of improvement.

Seems he is destined to be loaned out to a La Liga club again in the not too distant future.

Was worth a gamble at the price but he is not what we are looking for.

[PabloAimar]

you can always tell if a player is class or not regardless of whether they are playing well or not. when alonso was 'off form' he still had enough quality to show us glimpses in his game that he is amazing passer with amazing ball control. when kewell was getting all that stick, he still showed on occasions bits of skill which made our jaws drop. you can say what you want about morientes' career at liverpool, but no1 can deny he is a quality player - just not suited to lfc's style of play. when he got hold of the ball, u could tell where he'd come from and what he was about

tbh, i have seen nothing to indicate we have anything to be optimistic about in mark gonzalez. he has a poor touch, and he is NOT 'fast' - he's just NOT 'slow - there's a difference.

and btw, i must be the only one who's not seen these 'videos' which have convinced u all he's a world beater

[PabloAimar]

...bellamy is fast and mark gonzalez would never catch him in a million years, or cisse - they're what we class as 'fast'

on a side note, glad to see pennant settling down!

[83-1165214211]

I agree St Michael.

I add a couple of points. Mark has entered the team regularly as of late, in the first games of the season he didn't play much. I think it's too early to say he's not good enough for LFC.

Mark made great games against great teams in La Liga, which is not a joke league. A free kick goal from long distance is the same in England and in Spain, and Mark scored this kind of goals, because he has the ability to do that. Mark also has pace, I only remember Alves controlling him by pace.

¿Kewell? excuse me but for me Kewell has better dribling than Gonzalez and stop counting. He hasn't showed it yet, but Gonzalez has better shot, more pace, better touch of the ball when the ball is dead, just give him time!

P.S. Why don't we open the "not good enough" thread? we LFC fans always find someone to have a go. Alonso was shaky and not the same Alonso, very poor at the start of the season, or so said some people. Then our strikers were the problem. Then Pennant. Then Gonzalez. It's bloody difficult to tryumph here! and we're winning, I can't imagine the criticism if we were 7th in the table.

st mike and sabre the voice of reason

give the lad a season, he has pace to burn and when he can start to get to the line abd cross he will be getting all the hoop kissing on here he can take,

no he hasn't reached harry,s level of last year but to be fair harry hadn't till last year either.

i do agree on the dibbling but that comes with confidents, and every body wants to see ronaldo type running with the ball and john barnes crosses, that will take time in our league

i would be happier if he did shoot with his left as i would if i were LEFT FOOTED

Why do we have to give the lad a season? I find statements like this laughable if i'm honest. Give him a season for what exactly? Players adapt to culture and tactical systems, they don't adapt into learning how to control a ball, pass a ball and dribble.

After Alonso's second game you could see the lads class. In his first season he was a tad inconsistent due to not being settled. But his best two games for Liverpool came in his first season. After Kuyts 30 minute cameo in his first game against west ham you could see the lad was a decent player.

It doesn't take a season to see that a player can or can't play.

Its to be quite honest. If they have the ability they will succeed. Gonzalez doesn't and never will have.

Not good enough.

[Sabre]

Why do we have to give the lad a season? I find statements like this laughable if i'm honest.

Because there have been houndreds of great players that have given his best from the second season, not the very first.



Not every player is Alonso or Gerrard. I think that Kewell for instance, didn't impress in his first season as he did in his former club, but he's been growing as a player after that -unlucky with injuries- though. We have a dribbling winger with Kewell, Gonzo has other features, and that's good for the team. 10 games might be enough to say that he has been dissapointing, but not enough to say he's won't ever be sucessful at this club.

Because the Liverpool staff know him well since his stage in Albacete, and they could hear all the praises that the pundits said in his spell in Real Sociedad. Because that amount of games have more weight than his first 10 matches in a new country and league. Because in 10 games any player can have a bad form. Best ones too.

Because one season is just not enough to say wether a player will be successful to the club, unless he's awful (Josemi). I can remember dozens of players who did shine in their first year and then fell into mediocrity.

I don't know if that's laughable, but I do know that most serious clubs -not chavski- do not make one year contracts unless the player is old, and I find difficult to find serious clubs that offload a player after the very first season in the club. Especially if he's young, international and  is followed by several teams in Europe.