Liverpool FC Forum

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1 July 2007
MASCH MAY KOP OUT
EXCLUSIVE
By Alan Nixon
JAVIER MASCHERANO has not signed for Liverpol in a full-time transfer yet and could move on this summer.

The Argentina midfield star was only on loan at the Kop for the second half of last season and Liverpool have not yet agreed to pay the fee of around £16 million.

He has yet to buy a house on Merseyside because of all of the uncertainty - Kop boss Rafa Benitez has already tied up midfielders Momo Sissoko and Xabi Alonso on long deals - and he may leave. Liverpool want to keep Mascherano on loan for another year, but there is the chance of a surprise departure.

The news will alert incoming Manchester City boss Sven Goran Eriksson.


Maybe Sissoko will play more than you think!

[Penguins]

Well, if there is any truth in it it would be a terrible mistake and a huge step backwards.

Masch is the best defensive mid we've got by a mile.
Absolute top class and can do well vs any opposition.
Losing him would a big blow to our club.

Momo can't replace masch. Not even close

[Kukilon]

This is just the clubs way of bringing his price down.

[LFC2007]

And like I said, if we can do all of our signings without selling Sissoko than that is great, but if selling  him means we get our first choice winger instead of having to settle for our 3rd choice (i.e. Pennant last season) then I would rather take the cash.  From what I read about a week and a half ago it seemed that we looked into getting mancini but the money they were asking was too high, and if funds werent an issue at all, we would have gone in and activated the buy out clause right away for Torres.  So I think there is some evidence that we might not be able to reach ALL of our transfer goals.  Especially consering that our cover at both Left and Right back is not sufficient, Kewell can never  stay fit, and although Pennant came on strong at the end, many think he just isn't good enough to start on the right wing of a premiership winning team.

It is true that I rate Sissoko less than you do, but I think my opinion about how much Lucas can serve as back up, how much the 4th best CM will play anyway, and how much additional money we will need to buy players at other positions differs from yours also, and the combination of all of those things is why you wouldn;t sell him and I would for the right price.

That's not evidence of not being able to achieve all our transfer goals, that's just sensible negotiation.

If you don't attempt to reduce the price through negotiation then you may not have enough money to acquire all your transfer targets, if you do it sensibly without being profligate like Abramovich then you may save a few quid - it's only sensible business.

Like I said, Lucas is coming here with a lot to learn about the style of English football, as well as having to adapt to England. Sissoko has already begun pre-season training, he has more than adapted and chances are he will begin the season with a greater chance of playing than Lucas because of this. The difference in opinion is only because you don't rate Sissoko as highly as others, if you concurred with Rafa about his ability then you would agree that re-signing him was probably a sensible decision, you may also agree that Rafa will know whether any potential funds from his sale could have helped our transfer dealings - I happen to think Rafa is well aware of who we need, how much we can spend, which positions need strengthening and which players we need to retain. I sincerely hope we see Sissoko perform to the level we know he is capable of.

[JoeTerp]

Rafa said he wanted money to go after who he wanted to get deals done quickly right after the CL final.  Then we were linked with Malouda and got priced out and same with Mancini.  Same thing happened with Alves last season.  If this Mascherano story is true, than I would have to question Rafa's decision if in fact he knew that Mascherano could and might want to leave this summer and decided to sign momo to a long term contract instead of buying Mascherano outright.  Rafa certainly knows more about football and the squad and transfer than I do, but he isn't an all knowing being, he has made mistakes before and will continue to make them, as will I, so I don't see the point in throwing in the old Rafa knows more than you argument every time because that is a given.  But it is also almost a given that not all of his moves will be the right ones, because if that was true we would ahve gone undefeated last  year.   I agree with you on all the points you mentioned about Lucas, BUT Lucas' game seems to be much more balanced and therefore over the long run seems to have a much better chance to offer more for the team.  Who cares if Momo is a better option than Lucas for teh first 1/4 or first 1/2 of the season? Gerrard is undroppable, and neither Xabi nor Mascherano will get tired if they are splitting games.

Although, if Rafa plans on putting Gerrard on the right or in the hole A LOT than that is a different situation, same thing if Mascherano leaves, which would be terrible.

[LFC2007]

Rafa said he wanted money to go after who he wanted to get deals done quickly right after the CL final.  Then we were linked with Malouda and got priced out and same with Mancini.  Same thing happened with Alves last season.  If this Mascherano story is true, than I would have to question Rafa's decision if in fact he knew that Mascherano could and might want to leave this summer and decided to sign momo to a long term contract instead of buying Mascherano outright.  Rafa certainly knows more about football and the squad and transfer than I do, but he isn't an all knowing being, he has made mistakes before and will continue to make them, as will I, so I don't see the point in throwing in the old Rafa knows more than you argument every time because that is a given.  But it is also almost a given that not all of his moves will be the right ones, because if that was true we would ahve gone undefeated last  year.   I agree with you on all the points you mentioned about Lucas, BUT Lucas' game seems to be much more balanced and therefore over the long run seems to have a much better chance to offer more for the team.  Who cares if Momo is a better option than Lucas for teh first 1/4 or first 1/2 of the season? Gerrard is undroppable, and neither Xabi nor Mascherano will get tired if they are splitting games.

Although, if Rafa plans on putting Gerrard on the right or in the hole A LOT than that is a different situation, same thing if Mascherano leaves, which would be terrible.

I never threw the omniscient argument at you, it's only common sense to trust him in his job as that is what underlines every relationship. I trust that he knows more about our spending plans than the Sunday times sports editior does about our APPARENT bids for Malouda and Mancini. I also trust him that he knows more about the potential interest in Sissoko than the sports editor of the vitalfootball.com website. I trust that he is more than capable and more than aware of what we need, who we need to keep and who we need to sign, I also know that he is more capable in this judgement overall than any sports editor of any newspaper. So I will reserve my judgement until the end of the transfer window before jumping on the "Rafa made a poor decision in re-signing Sissoko" bandwagon.

[account deleted by request]

There is a difference between being priced out of a transfer because you can't afford the fee, and deciding that the player concerned is not worth the size of fee asked for. Which of these applies to the particular case of Maluda or Mancini ?

If at the start of the season Rafa turns round and say's we missed out on player x because we couldnt afford him, you may have a point, until then all we can do is trust that Rafa knows what hes doing.

The case of exchanging Alonso for Eto'o was slightly different as it was rumoured that Alonso was an integral part of the deal. ie Barca would only allow Eto'o to leave if Alonso went the other way.

As for Mash and Xabi not getting tired (which THEY SHOULDN'T) what about injuries or loss of form?

As I have said if it was a choice of Sissoko or a top striker I would take the striker. At the moment we have no information that leads us to believe this is the case.

Personally I think it would be foolish to sell a very good midfield player before the Mascherano situation is clarified and Lucas has shown himself as a capable replacement. God forbid Mascherano leaves and Lucas turns out to be flop, but if the worst happens its nice to know we have Sissoko to turn to.

Having said all that, in my opinion hes a v. good player and will still get plenty of games this season, and I am delighted hes staying.

PS who said I never agree with you LFC2007? 

[LFC2007]

PS who said I never agree with you LFC2007? 

  Almost fell out my chair reading it!