Liverpool FC Forum

[Leonmc0708]

Personally i think Rafa rates Harry and he'll get a 1 year extention.

I read somewhere that when Rafa was over here working with United and Arsenal studying training etc he watched the United Leeds game where Kewell riped them to shreds and has maintained ever since that he is the the best winger in Europe.

[account deleted by request]

I sometimes think that some people on here are fkn blind. Look at our results and "goals for" before Kewell came back and look at them since. Look at the balance he gives to the team when he plays, the intelligence he shows with his passing, AND HE'S NOT FULLY FIT YET.

Then take a look back to when we started to play well in 2005/2006, just after Kewell came back we went on our great run, not only to the FA cup final, but we also earned more points than ANY other team. Coincidence? Bollox. Maybe he's not the same player that he was, and maybe he never will be again, but he's STILL better than most of the wingers that we could buy.

I have no doubts that Kewell will be offered a new contract, because Rafa's not daft, he knows what Kewell brings to the table. The ONLY doubt I have is whether he can stay fit, so yes, I would put some sort of safe guards in his contract, but I have no doubts about offering him a new contract.

FFS a half fit Kewell is still miles better than a fully fit HARDWORKING Kuyt.

[7_Kewell]

FFS a half fit Kewell is still miles better than a fully fit HARDWORKING Kuyt.

spot on fella

[Leonmc0708]

I sometimes think that some people on here are fkn blind. Look at our results and "goals for" before Kewell came back and look at them since. Look at the balance he gives to the team when he plays, the intelligence he shows with his passing, AND HE'S NOT FULLY FIT YET.

Then take a look back to when we started to play well in 2005/2006, just after Kewell came back we went on our great run, not only to the FA cup final, but we also earned more points than ANY other team. Coincidence? Bollox. Maybe he's not the same player that he was, and maybe he never will be again, but he's STILL better than most of the wingers that we could buy.

I have no doubts that Kewell will be offered a new contract, because Rafa's not daft, he knows what Kewell brings to the table. The ONLY doubt I have is whether he can stay fit, so yes, I would put some sort of safe guards in his contract, but I have no doubts about offering him a new contract.

FFS a half fit Kewell is still miles better than a fully fit HARDWORKING Kuyt.

But do we want to give a contract to a maybe or buy a definite ?

No doubt he is effective, but he does not score or create the amount of goals that hleb, rosisky or giggs do.

[bigmick]

I sometimes think that some people on here are fkn blind. Look at our results and "goals for" before Kewell came back and look at them since. Look at the balance he gives to the team when he plays, the intelligence he shows with his passing, AND HE'S NOT FULLY FIT YET.

Then take a look back to when we started to play well in 2005/2006, just after Kewell came back we went on our great run, not only to the FA cup final, but we also earned more points than ANY other team. Coincidence? Bollox. Maybe he's not the same player that he was, and maybe he never will be again, but he's STILL better than most of the wingers that we could buy.

I have no doubts that Kewell will be offered a new contract, because Rafa's not daft, he knows what Kewell brings to the table. The ONLY doubt I have is whether he can stay fit, so yes, I would put some sort of safe guards in his contract, but I have no doubts about offering him a new contract.

FFS a half fit Kewell is still miles better than a fully fit HARDWORKING Kuyt.

There's no question Saint that he's a good player, and it's no surprise to me that our best periods have coincided with him being fit. The question is though whether or not we are bewtter off sticking with him as our first choice left midfielder (which he is by about twenty four miles at the moment) or whether we should look elsewhere.

Given he is absolutely the only option we have, I would probably advocate keeping him AND buying somebody else. I would though do so nder the provision that the bloke who comes in doesn't provide "options" and "possibilities", but that he is good enough to make Harry a first change player. If it was somebody from over here (I mean England but you know that anyway) it'd be Ashley Young for me, if it was somebody from abroad it's be someone else who I've probably never heard of.

[ivor_the_injun]

I think Rafa would be doing himself and Kewell a favour by actually trusting him to get through 90 minutes right now.

It's like the situation with Fowler last year - he went on and on about the player not being match fit, but routinely hauled the guy off instead of letting him get the minutes his body needed to get into condition.

He's far and away our best option on the left, and he's not injured. Why not get some value out of the guy for a change and just f*cking play him until the next niggle hits. He gets so much time out each season for recuperation that the rules of rotation need not apply.

[Bad Bob]

I sometimes think that some people on here are fkn blind. Look at our results and "goals for" before Kewell came back and look at them since. Look at the balance he gives to the team when he plays, the intelligence he shows with his passing, AND HE'S NOT FULLY FIT YET.

Then take a look back to when we started to play well in 2005/2006, just after Kewell came back we went on our great run, not only to the FA cup final, but we also earned more points than ANY other team. Coincidence? Bollox. Maybe he's not the same player that he was, and maybe he never will be again, but he's STILL better than most of the wingers that we could buy.

I have no doubts that Kewell will be offered a new contract, because Rafa's not daft, he knows what Kewell brings to the table. The ONLY doubt I have is whether he can stay fit, so yes, I would put some sort of safe guards in his contract, but I have no doubts about offering him a new contract.

FFS a half fit Kewell is still miles better than a fully fit HARDWORKING Kuyt.

There's no question Saint that he's a good player, and it's no surprise to me that our best periods have coincided with him being fit. The question is though whether or not we are bewtter off sticking with him as our first choice left midfielder (which he is by about twenty four miles at the moment) or whether we should look elsewhere.

Given he is absolutely the only option we have, I would probably advocate keeping him AND buying somebody else. I would though do so nder the provision that the bloke who comes in doesn't provide "options" and "possibilities", but that he is good enough to make Harry a first change player. If it was somebody from over here (I mean England but you know that anyway) it'd be Ashley Young for me, if it was somebody from abroad it's be someone else who I've probably never heard of.

I'd agree with Saint and yourself on this, Mick.  Kewell still offers us an awful lot but having him as our only truly quality player on the left is a recipe for disaster given his injury record.  We need to extend his contract on a pay as you play basis and also bring in a quality left midfielder to compete for his spot.  Indeed, in a perfect world, we'd sign a top calibre LM and use Kewell as an impact sub or as someone to play in the hole behind Torres (should we be unable to sign a top second striker or should injuries hit etc.).  Kewell doesn't have the pace to beat fullbacks consistently anymore but he's got great game intelligence and can operate in tight spaces so he'd do the business in support of Torres, IMO.

[Bad Bob]

I think Rafa would be doing himself and Kewell a favour by actually trusting him to get through 90 minutes right now.

It's like the situation with Fowler last year - he went on and on about the player not being match fit, but routinely hauled the guy off instead of letting him get the minutes his body needed to get into condition.

He's far and away our best option on the left, and he's not injured. Why not get some value out of the guy for a change and just f*cking play him until the next niggle hits. He gets so much time out each season for recuperation that the rules of rotation need not apply.

I agree, mate, and it would have the added benefit of giving us Kewell and Babel on the pitch at the same time.  I think that those two, along with Benayoun, could support Torres and Gerrard in attack quite nicely late on in matches like today's.

[LFC2007]

I wouldn't discuss anything until the summer, keep him on his toes.

Should he manage to stay fit, I think he'd be a valuable asset, and he'd at the very least be an excellent second option should we go out and sign a top-class conventional left winger next summer.

In summary, no discussions until the summer, the time to perform is NOW.

[112-1077774096]

I wouldn't discuss anything until the summer, keep him on his toes.

Should he manage to stay fit, I think he'd be a valuable asset, and he'd at the very least be an excellent second option should we go out and sign a top-cass conventional left winger next summer.

In summary, no discussions until the summer, the time to perform is NOW.

the problem with this is that kewell can sign a contract tomorrow with another club and leave on a bosman at the end of the season

[LFC2007]

I wouldn't discuss anything until the summer, keep him on his toes.

Should he manage to stay fit, I think he'd be a valuable asset, and he'd at the very least be an excellent second option should we go out and sign a top-cass conventional left winger next summer.

In summary, no discussions until the summer, the time to perform is NOW.

the problem with this is that kewell can sign a contract tomorrow with another club and leave on a bosman at the end of the season

If he has the desire to stay, he'll stick it out and fight until the summer. I think now is the time for Kewell to get his head down, work hard, and earn a new contract.

The risk of him leaving on a bosman is one I'd accept right now, he's 29, highly injury prone, and in all probability on a hefty wage.

[112-1077774096]

I wouldn't discuss anything until the summer, keep him on his toes.

Should he manage to stay fit, I think he'd be a valuable asset, and he'd at the very least be an excellent second option should we go out and sign a top-cass conventional left winger next summer.

In summary, no discussions until the summer, the time to perform is NOW.

the problem with this is that kewell can sign a contract tomorrow with another club and leave on a bosman at the end of the season

If he has the desire to stay, he'll stick it out and fight until the summer. I think now is the time for Kewell to get his head down, work hard, and earn a new contract.

The risk of him leaving on a bosman is one I'd accept right now, he's 29, highly injury prone, and in all probability on a hefty wage.

60k a week, but it is a risk, i think if we dont tie him up he will sign elsewhere for the security that offers, as you say he is injury prone so its in his interest to have a contract, even if that contract is elsewhere

[The_Rock]

FFS a half fit Kewell is still miles better than a fully fit HARDWORKING Kuyt.

You forget to add that he is also better than a 200% riise and auerlio too (comparison done as LWs)....

He is also much MUCH better than the waste of $$$ babel (comparison done as a LW)... who is the winger version of sissoko. Just look at how he perform against derby ....

I can't believe that after one average game against mancity (who are the 5th best team in this league....no Doubt), people are questioning kewell ....

If we are questioning kewell...well we should be questioning other players too like

1)sissoko,
2)kuyt (is he doing his job as a striker to score goals),
3)voronin, riise, auerlio (how fit is he compared to kewell),
4)pennant (will he ever he score more than 2 goals a season for us
5)Alonso (can he ever play with gerrard and bring balance to our CM)
6)Finnan (how long can he continue)


I admit kewell ain't the best winger in the league....but he has been rafa's best left winger (and i will also say houllier's best too). Yeah....we should replace him with someone better. I would love it if we can get vicente, drente, silva, sneider, zakora or the dutch winger in hamburg....but until we do get a replacement...we should keep kewell. No point getiing rid of him and playing riise, auerlio or babel as a LW or getting a panic buy like nunez (a LW version)....

[The_Rock]

I sometimes think that some people on here are fkn blind. Look at our results and "goals for" before Kewell came back and look at them since. Look at the balance he gives to the team when he plays, the intelligence he shows with his passing, AND HE'S NOT FULLY FIT YET.

Then take a look back to when we started to play well in 2005/2006, just after Kewell came back we went on our great run, not only to the FA cup final, but we also earned more points than ANY other team. Coincidence? Bollox. Maybe he's not the same player that he was, and maybe he never will be again, but he's STILL better than most of the wingers that we could buy.

I have no doubts that Kewell will be offered a new contract, because Rafa's not daft, he knows what Kewell brings to the table. The ONLY doubt I have is whether he can stay fit, so yes, I would put some sort of safe guards in his contract, but I have no doubts about offering him a new contract.

FFS a half fit Kewell is still miles better than a fully fit HARDWORKING Kuyt.

There's no question Saint that he's a good player, and it's no surprise to me that our best periods have coincided with him being fit. The question is though whether or not we are bewtter off sticking with him as our first choice left midfielder (which he is by about twenty four miles at the moment) or whether we should look elsewhere.

Given he is absolutely the only option we have, I would probably advocate keeping him AND buying somebody else. I would though do so nder the provision that the bloke who comes in doesn't provide "options" and "possibilities", but that he is good enough to make Harry a first change player. If it was somebody from over here (I mean England but you know that anyway) it'd be Ashley Young for me, if it was somebody from abroad it's be someone else who I've probably never heard of.

People thought gonzales was gonna kick kewell out of this club 2 seasons ago....well what happen then ?

I agree with you. Even if we get someone (most likely it will be overseas buy going by rafa's track record)...we have to keep kewell...at least for a season.

We don't know how the other player is gonna turn out ...

[account deleted by request]

Kewell was quoted a few weeks back as saying he didn't want to sign a new contract until he had proven his fitness. Whether thats to get a better contract for himself from Liverpool, or to see what other offers come in from elsewhere, or a genuine effort to prove he's still worth a "proper contract" I'm not sure.