Liverpool FC Forum

[Bad Bob]

if it comes down to Alonso OR Silva OR Teves i'd have to say i'd pick the latter 2...

It's not as simple as that though, you would have to replace Xabi as well otherwise we'll be very short in the middle. I don't know anyone who really trusts Lucas to do the job be it 4-2-3-1 or 4-4-2 and for all his qualities, Masch is a bit of a water-carrier with the ball at his feet. OK, the manager could slot Gerrard back into central-mid and use the money to buy someone like Tevez to play in the hole but it looks clear that Gerrard is set to continue in that role next season. Even if their offer is as big as the £22 million being reported (that's a lot for a holding midfielder) I still wouldn't take the money. The spine of this side is fantastic. See if we can offload Babel and Dossena for a few quid, KEEP the rest of the squad intact, buy in an impact player with some versatility, Aguero (my new Arshavin) fits the bill for me, or Silva would do it and then see what's left in the pot for another Right Back.

Glad to see married life hasn't robbed you of your faculties, mate (Congrats BTW).  This is how I see it too.  Preserve the existing spine at virtually all costs.  In other words, it would have to be absolute silly money from Madrid (north of 30 million pounds) to consider selling Xabi.  Especially with Barry gone.

On aCe's point about what formation we'd play next season if we sold Xabi, I'd be very surprised if we reverted to 4-4-2 even if we did let Alonso go.  It's no coincidence that none of the top teams play 4-4-2 anymore and I don't see Rafa being the one to bring that one back.  I'm sure we'll stick with the 4-2-3-1 and that means that we either see Gerrard dropping back into Alonso's slot, we see another CM bought for that role or we see Lucas thrust into the firing line on a permanent basis.  It would be an interesting thing to contemplate if we sold Alonso but I still hold out a strong hope that this whole thing has been overblown by the papers and that Xabi's going nowhere.

[Octsky]

Well on the short changing - it was our own fault with regards to Macca .

I hope we hear something from xabi saying he is staying soon.

we have a deal of 12.5 mil agreed for Macca with Barca only for it to fell through. Then in came the Real Scu.m.s
and of coz a few years later we have no choice but to sell Owen, boy wonder, our only superstar before gerrard for 8 mil. when he is worth at least 25 mil.

and what happened? they sold Owen back to newcastle for 17 mil after one season, pocketed a nice profit of 9 mil. they even have the audacity to quote us 17 mil for a player we sold to them a season ago.

This is a club that once spent 50 mil, a world record and still a world record, on Zidane. signed Figo for nearly 40 mil from barca. This is the club that signed footballers (no for football reasons) to sell shirts or political reasons, sacked managers for wining titles and the team is determined by the local newspaper.
sorry for the tirade, guys, but they want alonso, then F off with the 20mil bullsh..i..t, and offer something astronomical.

[aCe']

if it comes down to Alonso OR Silva OR Teves i'd have to say i'd pick the latter 2...

That's right - rip out a top-notch kitchen and sell it on so you can afford to add a top-notch bedroom.

Gimp.

back to the tennis thread Lando...

[aCe']

on the whole 4-4-2 or 4-5-1 thing.. wouldnt really matter what you call it.... as far as im concerned if we sign Tevez we'll have 2 forwards on the pitch and we'll be playing 4-4-2 with the 2 wingers playing a slightly more conservative role... Gerrard down the middle with Mascherano with 2 wingers... doesnt matter what you call it really... 

However.... if we sign a winger then its a different ball game... in that case we'll absolutely have to buy a top midfielder to play alongside Mascherano and with Barry off to city i cant really see where the money to finance such a deal would come from.. surely selling Alonso would have meant 1 of 2 things for me, and im guessing for most down here as well..

-Either sell Alonso and get a direct replacement for cheaper and use the extra money to finance a deal for a top attacking player
or
-Bring in a top quality forward and change the system to fit him in.. in which case, Gerrard and Mascherano would handle the central midfield starting positions with Lucas and perhaps a new backup midfielder making the numbers...

In both cases, Barry for 10mill or so would have made a good buy but now that that isnt an option anymore i cant see the point in selling Alonso, or bringing in a striker to play alongside Torres for that matter.... Surely playing 2 upfront, we cant have Kuyt playing as a right winger in a 4-4-2 or whatever you want to call it.... Not only would be missing out on the Gerrard-Torres partnership with all the goals Gerrard would chip in with, we'd also be missing out on the goals Kuyt provides to the side... would the 1 added striker compensate for all those goals ? or is it all about breaking the smaller sides ?!

Theres more to it but ill leave it for another time.... the whole centerbacks discussion comes in if we are to keep our current 4-5-1 with the attacking intent we've shown lately... dont think we can seriously expect to play a full season the way we've been playing the last couple of months or so... not with the backline we've got...

[SupitsJonF]

With our back line?  We let in 3 more then Chelsea and United, despite a 4-4 with Arsenal, which everyone knows was down to a bunch of stupid mistakes.  Not a bad back line imo.

[NiftyNeil]

From your mates. You've been kicked out the loop mate.

Funniest post of the year, had me pissing myself.

[Rorschach26]

we have one of the best spines in the world and alonso is truely worldclass, he makes our team click and should not be sold in any circumstances.
if we have 25million to spend buy silva, and offload the likes of voronin, dossena, degen and any young players that wont make the grade and buy a striker or right fullback with the money made (whitch i think would be around 10/12million)

[lakes10]

From your mates. You've been kicked out the loop mate.

lol well it seems if it was he did not tell Ciggy the truth, there was a meeting with RBS, I dont know what happened in it but it did take place, G&H are looking to boost the loanfrom 50 mil to 100 mil, with the books that liverpool posted RBS are open to extend the loan.

at the same time there is still a deal on the table but the price of that deal will go up.


what we need to keep in mind is that the new money might not be used on players, the new ground looks like what it will be spent on.

the next time i can get any sort of info is next monday when my mate has a team meeting, this is when he meets back up with his old area, and only then if its something that is spoken about, as he dont work in that area anymore its not something he can bring up himself this time.

one thing he did tell me it that La Senza  shop have big problems lol

[GYBS]

Why are people planning formations and life without Xabi when he is a Liverpool player last time i checked and Madrid are about to blow 60mil on Kaka . All this speculation has stemed from Perez boasting about him during the run up to their elections.

[lakes10]

Why are people planning formations and life without Xabi when he is a Liverpool player last time i checked and Madrid are about to blow 60mil on Kaka . All this speculation has stemed from Perez boasting about him during the run up to their elections.

I know what you are saying but as they have made him a target they will get him if they like, its reported that they have over 150mil to spend on players this year.

makes me sick that sort of money, just wonder what football is going to be like in 10 years, it can not carry on this way....i think i said that 10 years ago and was wrong.

[Ciggy]

From your mates. You've been kicked out the loop mate.

lol well it seems if it was he did not tell Ciggy the truth, there was a meeting with RBS, I dont know what happened in it but it did take place, G&H are looking to boost the loanfrom 50 mil to 100 mil, with the books that liverpool posted RBS are open to extend the loan.

at the same time there is still a deal on the table but the price of that deal will go up.


what we need to keep in mind is that the new money might not be used on players, the new ground looks like what it will be spent on.

the next time i can get any sort of info is next monday when my mate has a team meeting, this is when he meets back up with his old area, and only then if its something that is spoken about, as he dont work in that area anymore its not something he can bring up himself this time.

one thing he did tell me it that La Senza  shop have big problems lol

Check the takeover topic Lakes, but thats not referring to what I was told yesterday.

[lakes10]

From your mates. You've been kicked out the loop mate.

lol well it seems if it was he did not tell Ciggy the truth, there was a meeting with RBS, I dont know what happened in it but it did take place, G&H are looking to boost the loanfrom 50 mil to 100 mil, with the books that liverpool posted RBS are open to extend the loan.

at the same time there is still a deal on the table but the price of that deal will go up.


what we need to keep in mind is that the new money might not be used on players, the new ground looks like what it will be spent on.

the next time i can get any sort of info is next monday when my mate has a team meeting, this is when he meets back up with his old area, and only then if its something that is spoken about, as he dont work in that area anymore its not something he can bring up himself this time.

one thing he did tell me it that La Senza  shop have big problems lol

Check the takeover topic Lakes, but thats not referring to what I was told yesterday.

yep just posted on it.lol

[tubby]

We all want Xabi to stay but none of us know what wheeling and dealing Rafa has planned. Rafa knows as well as anyone how influential Xabi is to us so IF he is even thinking about selling him i'm sure he is looking at the wider picture. At least we know now if he does go it will not be for Barry. And I doubt it will be for some midweight player from La Liga either.

[maguskwt]

rafa has denied again and again xabi is for sale... it's the press that's making all these speculations and the main reason was to get Barry... now that that's gone out the window I don't know why we would still be speculating...

[DrPepe]

We all want Xabi to stay but none of us know what wheeling and dealing Rafa has planned. Rafa knows as well as anyone how influential Xabi is to us so IF he is even thinking about selling him i'm sure he is looking at the wider picture. At least we know now if he does go it will not be for Barry. And I doubt it will be for some midweight player from La Liga either.

...and given the situation where Alonso knows Rafa is totally pragmatic about transfers, I can see why he wouldn't stand up and entirely commmit himself to LFC, then look a dick 2 weeks later when he's sold to Osasuna or some such