Liverpool FC Forum

[bigmick]

So if we wre going to challenge for the title next season, how do we do it? I don't mean "put your starting eleven for next season up", cue loads of line-ups which include Trezuguet, Henri, Nesta, etc etc. No, I mean how do we approach it? How do we put together a policy visa vis signing new players, how do we go about our pre-season work, and crucially, how do we start the season? Here's my thoughts.

Clearly we need to ship out some dead wood. I'm not going to make a list because it's been done to death, but those that need to go need to be gone, out. We don't want the spectre of last season repeated whereby Traore was playing in the pre-seasons despite the fact he was obviously going. If Zenden, Kewell etc are to be let go, let them go. Now. If Gonzales is going to Betis or wherever, tell him he has no future at the club whatsoever and will not be playing anymore. Get himself sorted sharpish. Similarly Cisse, no way never. Find yourself a club son because you ain't coming back. Part of being a huge club (which from a financial point of view is a new experience for us) is that you don't need to shop window players to eke out an extra £500K.

Signings. Lets go public and big, buy who we need and get it done. No more fecking haggling over who buys the next pair of footbal boots or pays the gas bill, if Alves and the like are the answer, lets ask the question and get it sorted. Lets have two tiers of signigs, proven top quality who you expect to walk into the first team (there's a concept and I'll return to that in a second) and young kids (Lucas for example) who will disappear into the squad for a while, Agger style. Lets NOT sign loads of players, four or five tops with maybe three first teamers and a couple of younger ones. Lets while we're at it, get rid of that reserve keeper who is a fecking accident waiting to happen if Reina gets injured and find ourselves a Steve Ogrizavic type reliable stopper who won't let you down if needed.

Pre season games. Hobbs, Palletta and the rest can play in the Carling Cup early rounds. We don't need to be getting beat 5-0 in Germany, lets play a decent team and get something going. Lets find our first team (doesn't mean a first eleven, but at the most a first 15 or 16).

Start of season. Guess what, lets win our first match. I don't give a feck who we are playing or where we are playing them, lets playour strongest team and win the match. If it's against somebody sh!te, lets win it by a few clear goals. If we are good enough to outplay AC Milan in the Champions League final, we are good enough to beat some of the sh!te in the Premeirship agaisnt whom we settle for a draw or even a loss at the moment.

I'm not saying if we don't win it sack rafa. I am saying, lets at least try and win the fecking thing. Lets go for it this time.

[112-1077774096]

I'm not saying if we don't win it sack rafa. I am saying, lets at least try and win the fecking thing. Lets go for it this time.

[112-1077774096]

seems like rafa wants to make early signing also judging by this report, about time too, the last few seasons we have waited too long in the transfer market



Less than 24 hours after Liverpool's Champions League final failure, boss Rafael Benitez is already planning his clear-out.

The Liverpool boss has told midfielder Bolo Zenden he is free to talk to other clubs with his contract due to expire, while Chile winger Mark Gonzalez is on the brink of a £5m move to Real Betis.

And with offers likely to be on the table for striker Craig Bellamy, who could not even get off the bench in Wednesday night's 2-1 defeat here by AC Milan, the Welsh forward could also have played his last game for the club.

With Robbie Fowler and Jerzy Dudek already released, this is just the start of a major overhaul of Benitez's squad.

More will soon follow with the Spanish manager having told the club's new owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett that it will need £100million-plus to revamp a squad that finished third in the Premiership, but were 21 points behind champions Manchester United.

Benitez has already outlined his plans to the new regime, and he was brutally frank in outlining Liverpool's future this morning at the team hotel ahead of the flight back to Merseyside.

He said: "We must not waste this moment. We must move quickly to sign our number-one targets.

"If we wait we will be chasing the players who are second and third on our list. We need to change the structure of the club on and off the pitch.

"We must make progress, and make it now to take us up two or three levels straight away."

Benitez has his scouting department working overtime, despite the fact that the club's chief scout Frank McParland is joining Bolton and former Liverpool coach Sammy Lee.

But Benitez will not want to mark time in the wake of the Athens defeat, and he said: "There will be several players leaving. We will wait for offers.

"I have been told by the new owners that they will back my plans. But when you look at the champions Manchester United spending £20million on a midfield player, and we have been paying just £8-to-£9million for our strikers, you know what must be done.

"We must spend big and spend now. Our fans know what we need to do and so do I. We need to pay the price needed for each position.

"We have a deal nearly completed for Gonzalez and I have told Bolo (Zenden) that he can talk to other clubs. We know the situation we have now.

"We have finished 21 points behind United and 15 behind Chelsea.

"They will both spend big money again and we will just be marking time. If we continue the way we are we will be fighting for fourth spot again at the end of the season, and we cannot have that all the time."

He added: "Everybody can see what we must do to compete at the top level and we must move as quickly as possible not to lose this opportunity.

"Two seasons ago we got 82 points, a club record, and we could not get into the top two. If we do not improve now we will always be fighting for fourth spot.

"It is obvious we do not have enough players for nine months competing in four competitions."

[bigmick]

"It is obvious we do not have enough players for nine months competing in four competitions."

I like the whole interview except for this bit. Let us hope that the injection of money isn't a "kid in a candy shop" situation whereby we are simply able to rotate even more but just with better players.
It is my hunch that you could go and spend as much as you want on a squad, but if you don't give them chance to become a team, you will not win the Premiership. Nobody so far has won our league while mass-rotating, and I don't think anybody will either.

[GRAHAM01]

i don`t think rafa will go mental and buy buy buy (like a kid in a sweet shop as you put it)
but we need to make improvments rafa knows where and will only get what he thinks he needs

that`s what i think but then what do i know?

[112-1077774096]

"It is obvious we do not have enough players for nine months competing in four competitions."

I like the whole interview except for this bit. Let us hope that the injection of money isn't a "kid in a candy shop" situation whereby we are simply able to rotate even more but just with better players.
It is my hunch that you could go and spend as much as you want on a squad, but if you don't give them chance to become a team, you will not win the Premiership. Nobody so far has won our league while mass-rotating, and I don't think anybody will either.

yes that part is worrying mick, but surely by now he has realised that he cant keep doing that, i hope he was just referring to covering injuries

[redtrader74]

Good post Mick. First of all every player surplus must go. If there is no potential then they need to go. We need to cut the losses of Houllier now, lets lose the money we are going to on Cisse, Letallac, et al this year, this must happen. All the players that we don't need Zenden, Gonzales etc. to be told now, by the end of the week latest,that they need to find a club. That is the last they should be see at the club, cut all ties, be ruthless.

Rafa needs to pick the 2-3 max first team TOP Class players and go for them now, not in July, NOW. For me without doubt a ball carrying striker and maybe a cb. When i say Top class, i mean players wanted by the Mancs, chavs, Real etc. We need to go for them now and establish if they will come, if not them we move on, no begging, no offering more money, they have got to be players that want to come.

We also need to add quality sqaud players, young enough to develop, good enough to come in to the first team when needed, maybe the 2 Brazilian lads are that. Again only 3-4 players, but we need to go for them now, and they must be Rafas first choice.

The preseason has to be about playing Rafas best team, so we start the season running, we must play each of the first 10 games like a cup final and set the pace in the prem. Then we can rest players if needed.

This season we must compete in the league. Our aspirations are dependant on the owners now, we don't need to hear them anymore, we need them to open the wallet. If they do i have every faith in Rafa to deliver.

[Rafa D]

Nobody so far has won our league while mass-rotating, and I don't think anybody will either.

I disagree there Mick. I think Rafa will win the Premiership and he will do it his way. Rotation is a part of football now. Rafa proved it worked in La Liga and a lot of managers now do rotate where they can afford to. I think the quality of the players and not the rotation is the main problem.

As for the piece on Rafa, that sounds very much like fighting talk from the boss. Its right in what he is saying about getting in there now for our first choice players and its a sound point he made about our strikers only costing 8 - 9m pounds.

I feel a big overhaul is coming.

[Rafa D]

I can't really disagree with any of your points Mick in your thread.


We need to start a hell of a lot better this season and I along with the rest of us would like to see our strongest eleven on the park come the first game of the season. Even if its a -poor team at home. Someone like Birmingham at home. These are the games were Rafa is more inclined to rotate the star players but I'd rather us go out and smash them 4 or 5 nil. At least then Liverpool will be buzzing with excitement, it will give the players confidence and get us off on the right foot. Man Utd did it this year, where they came out and were 3 - 0 up within 20 mins. We need to start well and continue that momentum.


On the signings front, I just hope and I'm sure with the Americans backing him, that Rafa gets his first choices. Alves, Simao, Eto'o all seem to be on Rafa's wishlist for a while so I hope he goes out and gets them finally. My concern is that now we have money, Chelsea might go for some of our targets, namely Eto'o and Alves and will force the wages etc through the roof. I don't want us to become a new Chelsea, I want us to continue doing "responsible" dealings.


I want to see a lot more money pushed through to the academy now that Stevie Heighway has parted ways with the club. Rafa's got what he wanted with full control of the academy so now he MUST put it to good use. A lot more investment in the younger stars of the game and a host of talent coming through over the next 10 years.

On a final note, and probably one that won't happen but I would like to see a few more English players in our team. Micah Richards is a perfect example of a player we need for me. He's English, can cover at right back, centre back and in midfield and has a bright future in the game. He's exactly the type of player I would love to see Rafa sign, and although some will see it as a gamble, I think its a gamble well worth taking.

[Rafa D]

Sorry one more slight point but its very important.

DO NOT SELL ANY OF OUR CENTRE MIDFIELDERS - ALONSO, SISSOKO AND GERRARD.

Also sign up Maschereno as soon as possible as he is definitely a player going somewhere. I think it is of vital importance that we do not sell any of our midfielders as those 4 centre midfielders make up one of the strongest squad selections in the world, in the centre of the field.

People have been suggesting Alonso might leave, Sissoko might go and its vital they don't. You don't get anywhere selling your best assets and these players are real assets to the club.

[redtrader74]

Rafa dodd, i don't want English players for the sake of it, they must be very good. Personally i think that Micah Richards is well overrated, and thats because he is English. We need to develop from within the club, some local talent, i wish.

PS, our first priority is to tie down Mascherano to a real contract, not the loan deal he is currently on. As far as i am concerned he has proven himself fit for our club.

[Bad Bob]

Rafa's singing from the same hymn sheet, Big Mick, from what I've just read on football365****.  Apparently, he's told Zenden to find another club and has said the Gonzales to Betis deal is virtually done.  He's also said he needs big money to sign the first choice targets and he wants to do that straight away.  He's implied that he's tired of settling for 2nd or 3rd choices.  Sorry, I don't have the linky thing going for this but it's all in the news items on football365.com.

Good man, Rafa!

--Edit--

****See Peewee's post above for the full story

[redtrader74]

Rafa has said exactly what i wanted to hear, i just hope he is allowed to see it to fruition. About the rotation, the team will develop on the practice and training they do everyday, at
some point rotation will have to come into it.
Everyone goes on about last seasons run from Oct to May and he rotated every game.
Without fail we must start the season with our best side, and go for the jugular, our biggest problem imho is that teams don't fear us any more, like they do the Mancs and Chelski, some clubs just give them 6 point each year.

[Rafa D]

Rafa dodd, i don't want English players for the sake of it, they must be very good. Personally i think that Micah Richards is well overrated, and thats because he is English. We need to develop from within the club, some local talent, i wish.

PS, our first priority is to tie down Mascherano to a real contract, not the loan deal he is currently on. As far as i am concerned he has proven himself fit for our club.

I don't want English players for "the sake of it" but I would like to see us make moves for the best English talent. I am not saying lets go out and buy Joey Barton because he's English, or Jason Roberts because he's English.

But I want us to go after the young English talent thats out there like Richards and co.

Richards, Bale, Nugent, Davies, Noble and a host of other young good English players are out there and I'd like to see us make moves to increase the English base in our team. Especially with the new UEFA rulings coming out.

[tubby]

i would have thought Gareth Bale would be a good signing seeing as he could fit on the left but it looks like Spurs have snapped him up.