Liverpool FC Forum

by **Waldo** » Sat Aug 07, 2010 8:21 am

Roy has an abundance of options in MF. Joe Cole looks the most likely to play off the central striker so, to me, that leaves Lucas, Aquilani, Spearing and (soon to be at the club) Poulson vying for one spot in CM alongside Gerrard. You have to assume that Poulson, as a Roy signing, will be first choice so the only way I can see Aquilani getting a regular place is ir Gerrard plays in a more advance role as part of a 3 with Jova and Cole and then Aquilani slots in beside Poulson.

It's a good problem to have but IMO if he is not going to play regular then maybe it's best if we look to sell Aquilani on.

by **Owzat** » Sat Aug 07, 2010 8:43 am

You have to wonder what Rafa's thinking was behind the signing, was he intending changing the style of play or did he think Aquilani could replace Alonso like-for-like?!?

by **ruskiy playmaker** » Sat Aug 07, 2010 9:04 am

rocky29 wrote:the problem is we got a million midfielders and no fecking strikers. So were gona play arsenal and man .city with ngog upfront on his own. Wow i bet they will be bricking it. Someone remind me what happened last season when nando was out. We played ngog and he couldnt score for toffee!

Will somebody please think of the STRIKERS!

by **bigmick** » Sat Aug 07, 2010 10:13 am

Yes based on what we currently have seen I'm afraid Alberto doesn't get into our strongest eleven for me, and that's even if we sell Masherano and don't replace him. His signing remains a truly awful, terrible piece of business from where I'm sitting, and I say this despite the player having obvious ability.

Hopefully in some way, maybe in a Kuytesque kind of fashion he can re-invent himself as some kind of full back or wide man or something. One things for sure though, if Cole plays like he did on his debut then Aquilani is going to be his reserve at best playing off the front man.

by **maguskwt** » Sat Aug 07, 2010 10:23 am

rocky29 wrote:We played ngog and he couldnt score for toffee!

Of course he couldn't score for the toffees he was playing for us! :glare:

by **maguskwt** » Sat Aug 07, 2010 10:29 am

bigmick wrote:Yes based on what we currently have seen I'm afraid Alberto doesn't get into our strongest eleven for me, and that's even if we sell Masherano and don't replace him. His signing remains a truly awful, terrible piece of business from where I'm sitting, and I say this despite the player having obvious ability.

Hopefully in some way, maybe in a Kuytesque kind of fashion he can re-invent himself as some kind of full back or wide man or something. One things for sure though, if Cole plays like he did on his debut then Aquilani is going to be his reserve at best playing off the front man.

Yes Mick, we know you don't like Alberto...

by **In and Out** » Sat Aug 07, 2010 10:55 am

I like him and think he will be useful to us, imagine having the quality of Alberto on the bench as opposed to someone like Spearing or Yossi.

I don't agree that he 'truly is an awful signing', infact had he played more last season (re injuries & lack of appearances from selection) he may have proved some of his doubters wrong or persuaded them he's worth a spot in the team.

From what I have seen of him I wouldn't consider him a 'hole' player who IMO is more akin to the ilk of J.Cole. I think his position is central midfield and would do the 'Gerrard job' differently but well none the less. It is definately going to be a bit of a puzzle fitting him in to the side but I'd doubt with the quality he has Roy is going to disregard him just like that. For starters, Roy probably is a little better at adopting 'the arm around the shoulder' encouraging Alberto all the while even when he is out of the side. And who knows, we'll probably have a few injuries this season and he may be called upon. It's better to have him as an option than Spearing or Shelvey say.

IF, Roy really wanted to he could persuade or convince Gerrard to 'sit' more asking for more discipline from the captain to allow Alberto to play the creative CM. I'd love to see Gerrard make those bone crunching tackles again like he did when he was a kid it could spark the fire in his belly more. The pair of them could strike up an understanding unlike Gerrard and Lampard for England as they'll be training and playing week in week out with each other. He could use these two as options when we're playing at home trying to break the buses down and throw Lucas in against the trickier away trips. A philosophy Rafa would be proud of, we'd have "options" real ones and a manager who's willing to try them.

Whatever. Roy has dilemas, good dilemas though, and its good to have that feeling for the side again.

by **Tim LFC** » Sat Aug 07, 2010 11:10 am

Aquilani will get game time. There's 38 games in the PL, 19 games in the EL, Carling Cup, FA Cup. He will get at least 20 games and probably more. He probably knows it's going to be hard to work into the team but he has to show it if he wants to become a first team player. For me he's still adapting and i honestly don't think we will see the best of him until december. But we've got a good bench now which is what we need. I recall Aquilani sitting on bench a lot in Roma so he's used to it.But there's plenty of games to play for all our players.

by **Ben Patrick** » Sat Aug 07, 2010 11:13 am

I have said right from the start about him that he needs to take far more responsibility.
Yes its good to keep the ball moving but he lays it off virtually every time he gets it without actually checking whether he could be more positive.
It frustrates the hell out of me tbh.

by **Tim LFC** » Sat Aug 07, 2010 11:23 am

Ben Patrick wrote:I have said right from the start about him that he needs to take far more responsibility.
Yes its good to keep the ball moving but he lays it off virtually every time he gets it without actually checking whether he could be more positive.
It frustrates the hell out of me tbh.

Yeah i agree. He needs to do his fair share of tracking back and defending. He also needs to hold the ball and look for pass instead of laying it off to quick. It will come with the time in the league though, eventually he will know when to pass the ball quickly and when to hold the ball and look for a pass. He's still settling in, players can sometime take 2 years to settle in the PL and italians regularly aren't suited straight away to the PL.

by **rocky29** » Sat Aug 07, 2010 5:50 pm

Tim LFC wrote:
Ben Patrick wrote:I have said right from the start about him that he needs to take far more responsibility.
Yes its good to keep the ball moving but he lays it off virtually every time he gets it without actually checking whether he could be more positive.
It frustrates the hell out of me tbh.

Yeah i agree. He needs to do his fair share of tracking back and defending. He also needs to hold the ball and look for pass instead of laying it off to quick. It will come with the time in the league though, eventually he will know when to pass the ball quickly and when to hold the ball and look for a pass. He's still settling in, players can sometime take 2 years to settle in the PL and italians regularly aren't suited straight away to the PL.

what a laugh. Tracking back and defending. You lot are obsessed with him getting stuck in. Hes not that type of player for fecksake. What do masch lucas and kuyt do. Do a shift run up and down get stuck in but do they create alot during a match not really. I couldnt give 2 fecks whether aqua gets stuck in or not. All i want is for him to give killing passes split defences and the signs are looking good 2 me.

by **Ben Patrick** » Sat Aug 07, 2010 6:10 pm

rocky29 wrote:
Tim LFC wrote:
Ben Patrick wrote:I have said right from the start about him that he needs to take far more responsibility.
Yes its good to keep the ball moving but he lays it off virtually every time he gets it without actually checking whether he could be more positive.
It frustrates the hell out of me tbh.

Yeah i agree. He needs to do his fair share of tracking back and defending. He also needs to hold the ball and look for pass instead of laying it off to quick. It will come with the time in the league though, eventually he will know when to pass the ball quickly and when to hold the ball and look for a pass. He's still settling in, players can sometime take 2 years to settle in the PL and italians regularly aren't suited straight away to the PL.

what a laugh. Tracking back and defending. You lot are obsessed with him getting stuck in. Hes not that type of player for fecksake. What do masch lucas and kuyt do. Do a shift run up and down get stuck in but do they create alot during a match not really. I couldnt give 2 fecks whether aqua gets stuck in or not. All i want is for him to give killing passes split defences and the signs are looking good 2 me.

who said feck all about him tracking back

I said he needs to take more responsibility when in posession instead of constantly laying the ball off whenever he has it.
Its like he is too nervous to take any responsibility.

by **Zidane** » Sat Aug 07, 2010 6:25 pm

I don't think he should be sold even if he doesn't get into our starting 11. He's a quality player that brings much added depth do our squad, and good depth at that. It's a good problem for us to have having Aqua sitting on the bench like that. He's obviously a good player and having people like that in your squad makes the team better, makes them try to maintain their standards of play a lot more as well. Last year Stevie played all the games while he was in some of the worst form of his career largely due to us not having anyone to replace him with. Plus, I don't think Stevie should be playing every single game, he's getting up there in age soon and I would like to see us conserve him a bit more to avoid those nagging hamstring injuries he seems to pick up so often. I think to raise our standards to the level of our club we need to keep as many quality players in the squad as possible. I would still like to see him paired alongside Stevie for a game, I don't think that has happened yet correct me if i'm wrong though. I think they could possibly have a really good partnership, just depends how much Stevie is willing to sacrifice attacking wise.

by **rocky29** » Sat Aug 07, 2010 6:43 pm

Zidane wrote:I don't think he should be sold even if he doesn't get into our starting 11. He's a quality player that brings much added depth do our squad, and good depth at that. It's a good problem for us to have having Aqua sitting on the bench like that. He's obviously a good player and having people like that in your squad makes the team better, makes them try to maintain their standards of play a lot more as well. Last year Stevie played all the games while he was in some of the worst form of his career largely due to us not having anyone to replace him with. Plus, I don't think Stevie should be playing every single game, he's getting up there in age soon and I would like to see us conserve him a bit more to avoid those nagging hamstring injuries he seems to pick up so often. I think to raise our standards to the level of our club we need to keep as many quality players in the squad as possible. I would still like to see him paired alongside Stevie for a game, I don't think that has happened yet correct me if i'm wrong though. I think they could possibly have a really good partnership, just depends how much Stevie is willing to sacrifice attacking wise.

your spot on there i think he would be a great impact sub coming on second half when players are tired and would have that bit more time and space to find that killer pass. But i know people will moan its alot of money to pay for a bench warmer. Think he should start all the european games though.

by **Tim LFC** » Sat Aug 07, 2010 6:57 pm

rocky29 wrote:
Zidane wrote:I don't think he should be sold even if he doesn't get into our starting 11. He's a quality player that brings much added depth do our squad, and good depth at that. It's a good problem for us to have having Aqua sitting on the bench like that. He's obviously a good player and having people like that in your squad makes the team better, makes them try to maintain their standards of play a lot more as well. Last year Stevie played all the games while he was in some of the worst form of his career largely due to us not having anyone to replace him with. Plus, I don't think Stevie should be playing every single game, he's getting up there in age soon and I would like to see us conserve him a bit more to avoid those nagging hamstring injuries he seems to pick up so often. I think to raise our standards to the level of our club we need to keep as many quality players in the squad as possible. I would still like to see him paired alongside Stevie for a game, I don't think that has happened yet correct me if i'm wrong though. I think they could possibly have a really good partnership, just depends how much Stevie is willing to sacrifice attacking wise.

your spot on there i think he would be a great impact sub coming on second half when players are tired and would have that bit more time and space to find that killer pass. But i know people will moan its alot of money to pay for a bench warmer. Think he should start all the european games though.

Perhaps worried because players get agitated when on the bench. But it's been a long time since we've had a good bench. I mean why can't he sit on the bench? Mancs shove Berbatov and Anderson on the bench. Chelsea benched Cole, Zirkov even though Cole left because of not getting enough game time. We're just as big as those clubs big players should be benched if there not proving there worth yet or out of form. I'm absolutely in favour of dropping out of form players> Last season we could of done with Maxi coming in for Kuyt, Aquilani in for Gerrard and Pacheco given some game time. But Maxi and Aquilani only started to settle at the end. Now we have options to drop Kuyt, bring in Maxi, Torres gets injured shove Jovanovic up there for a shot and bring in pacheco or Babel on the left. Agger and Skrtel injured. Bring in the Greek or give Ayala or Wilson a chance. We've finally got options and it's a great problem to have.

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