Liverpool FC Forum

[In and Out]

De Jong alongside Gerrard in the middle.

[aCe']

Irelands an excellent player and one who would make a difference at any club imo... In terms of creativity, vision, and providing a killer ball i think he's better than anything we have at the club atm... However, his game is not too dissimilar to that of Gerrard and to a lesser extent Aquilani... Playing him in the middle with Mascherano imo would be a gamble, and having him on the bench wouldnt be an optimal solution given the amount of money we'd probably have to pay to sign him...

For me, Nigel De Jong is one of hte best holding midfielders in world football... I dont understand how ManCity would be willing to let him go tbh... He's a better player than Yaya Toure and Barry, and to me is about as good as Mascherano is ... If we sell Mascherano, or even if we get a decent offer for him of 25+mill i think we should take it and sign DeJong for 15mill or so...

Anyways... the only players at ManCity who could get in our side as things stand and improve it in order of importance are:

1. Wayne Bridge (not a player i like, but given what seems to be a lack of options i'd take him if the price is right)
2. Craig Bellamy ( Would be perfect for a 4-3-3 formation playing with Torres and Joe Cole upfront)
3. Santa Cruz ( backup FW, would take him on loan if possible but that doesnt seem likely... not a bad player and would give us options)
4. S.Ireland ( Depending on how we utilize him, he might prove to be a better CM than both Aquilani and Gerrard)
5. DeJong (the pick of the bunch for me... Having him AND Mascherano in the squad might be too much and would probably have us playing 2 holding midfielders , but then again we might not have to worry about that if Mascherano decides to leave..

The other players.. Lescott, SWP, M.Johnson..etc im not too interested in ...

[Dundalk]

Would love to get Stephen Ireland although id Mash is to go the De Jong wouldn't be a bad replacement

[RED BEERGOGGLES]

Hasn't Gerrard already commited himself though?

He has..... but that simply doesn't pacify  the posters , who genuinely believe he  has trouble ignoring the pull of the enigmatic Mourinho ...

[puroresu]

DeJong better tha Toure.  Not a chance.  Not even close.  Toure is more than a holding midfielder and can actually play.  De Jong cannot.  Better tha Barry yes but thats not difficult as his average at best.  Toure is genuine world class and for me the best signing Mancini has made.

[maypaxvobiscum]

Bellamy and Ireland would be great additions.

[mart]

they have got 37 players in the squad.. joke of a club, how can they get good teamwork with THAT many, there will be a lot of sales

I would not call it a joke of a club, but its certainly a sign of where football is headed. I hope that we wont continue in this direction, but most posters on this forum would love it if we were in city's situation. I doubt it would be called a joke then.

[Scottbot]

There are widespread reports this morning that Man City need to shed a stack of players to get their squad number down to the 25 required for the Premier League. I must confess I didn't even know that rule had come in myself, but there it is anyway.

So, there's stories that Joleon Lescott, Wayne Bridge, Sean Wright-Phillips, Craing Bellamy, Michael whatsisname midfield player, Nigel De Yong, Roque Santa Cruz and STEVEN IRELAND are going to be offloaded.

Now I know I sound like a broken record here (and they cannot be about to offload all of those surely), but I really think that Ireland is on the cusp of being a really really top player. Go get him Roy, if it looks like our star striker is on the move get Ireland first, before you even buy a replacement. Also, there is renewed talk this morning of Mourinho coming back in for Gerrard, he's asking Madrid to stump up the 30 million quid fee. Get Ireland now Roy, trust me on this one  .

I'd be more than happy with Steven Ireland at LFC, he's been a quality player for a few seasons now and it seems he's not a Mancini favourite so he could be available for a reasonable price. Have to agree with Ace in that he does play a very similar game to Stevie though. Wayne Bridge is an obvious one bearing in mind our need for a left back and I quite like the player but (as has been pointed out) his wages would be prohibitive. Santa Cruz is a quality player (when he's fit) who would give us the big man option upfront that we so desperately need when it's time to go a plan b. I'd also be very happy if we went for Micah Richards, I know a lot of people don't rate him but I still think he's got enourmous potential and I'm still concerned about our centre-halves.

[JoeTerp]

they have got 37 players in the squad.. joke of a club, how can they get good teamwork with THAT many, there will be a lot of sales

I would not call it a joke of a club, but its certainly a sign of where football is headed. I hope that we wont continue in this direction, but most posters on this forum would love it if we were in city's situation. I doubt it would be called a joke then.

its obviously not where football is heading, at least not anymore, thats why they have to sell players to trim it down to 25, thats why this thread exists.

[puroresu]

they have got 37 players in the squad.. joke of a club, how can they get good teamwork with THAT many, there will be a lot of sales

I would not call it a joke of a club, but its certainly a sign of where football is headed. I hope that we wont continue in this direction, but most posters on this forum would love it if we were in city's situation. I doubt it would be called a joke then.

Thing is what do people expect Mancini to do?  His building his own side.  Not his fault Hughes didnt buy the right players.

[mart]

they have got 37 players in the squad.. joke of a club, how can they get good teamwork with THAT many, there will be a lot of sales

I would not call it a joke of a club, but its certainly a sign of where football is headed. I hope that we wont continue in this direction, but most posters on this forum would love it if we were in city's situation. I doubt it would be called a joke then.

its obviously not where football is heading, at least not anymore, thats why they have to sell players to trim it down to 25, thats why this thread exists.

Obviously I was thinking of the money needed to do what they have done.

[loopyliverpool]

Bellamy and Ireland would be great additions.

Agreed with those two plus Michael Johnson. The one player I would not want is Bridge who is massively overrated imo.

[bigmick]

As a follow on from the fire sale question, if we don't win the league who would you be less repulsed by seeing them lift up the trophy next season? Obviously the Mancs will be at the top of most peoples lists of clubs they would definately not want to win it, and they are firmly at the top of mine, but what of the others? Chelsea winning it would mean I've got to put up with a weekend of stupid c...s in here celebrating it again. There is a limit to how many times you want to hear a scaffolder called Dave giving you a rendition of "carefree wherever you may be" at the top of his voice (the limit is zero), so they'd be second on my list of teams not to win it. Man City have basically bought everyone, but I do quite like Mancini so I wouldn't overly mind if they won it (and I think they will). Arsenal though play it the right way and don't spend too much, it might be better for the league if they won it (they won't I don't think but anyway). Basically, anyone but the Mancs then and preferably not Chelsea either.

Cue someone posting "I'm not commenting on who I'd like to see win the league other than Liverpool you c..."

[NANNY RED]

id make a sneaky cheapo bid for  Javier Garrido . about 2 million. hes got about a year left on his contract

[tubby]

De Jong is prone to bookings but defensively I think he is more capable than Lucas and better going forward than Masch.