Liverpool FC Forum

by **Santa** » Mon Jan 10, 2005 3:19 am

I can't argue with a well presented 'opinion' like this but I think Rafa will look to bring along a player who can compliment our existing squad, and El Moro fits the mould.
However, although I am torned between Moro and Anelka, with Anelka while being younger, and probably more skillful but do not possess the "team" mentality so seeked by Rafa, I venture it will be El Moro in Rafa's book.

by **Santa** » Mon Jan 10, 2005 3:20 am

The post above is a direct reply to Stu's last post...

by **supersub** » Mon Jan 10, 2005 3:54 am

Interesting debate,although the thread has strayed from Johnson slightly.To pick up on a few things from the previous post,by stu,and maybe add a couple of observations/opinions of my own.

Stu,could you please define the relevancy to your 3 questions at the top of your post.To suggest that the higher the numbered answer,to each of your questions,could possibly give that person more credibility
when commenting on football,is surely to say that I am "El Supremo"!,having racked up a right old age,add that to games played and then to include the games attended.Yippee!
I can honestly say that,with games attended,if I was being managed some of today's premiership managers would be resting me for some games because of the mileace Iwas racking up.

Anelka is a massive gamble and it's one that Rafa doesn't seem to keen to take,but you never know.Anelka's finer points have been well documented in your post stu,though tinged with a little artistic impression for good measure.When you compare your view of Anelka with the verdict,given by you,on Baros any manager worth his salt would dump Baros and get Anelka.
My opinion is that your obviously negative "facts" about Milan Baros tend to negate the arguement because you leave out anything positive.

Comments like..."you know what great players are going to do"...well quite frankly you don't always know what they are going to do..Best,Dalglish,Pele,Maradona...they weren't as predictable as Heskey,Murphy,Hyypia.

Morientes seems to be the better option,for me and looks to be the prefferred candidate for Benitez.

Blind loyalty wins you nothing....Bias makes the ball roll to one side!

by **Matt*Lfc** » Mon Jan 10, 2005 4:06 am

stu_the_red wrote:I don't express my thoughts as well as i could.

But what i will ask...

1. How old are you?
2. Do you play the game?
3. Do you attend matches on a regular basis or have you in the past at some point?

1. I am 30
2. I played regular for a decent local standard from 17 to 28 untill I was forced to quit due to injury :angry:

3. I played on saturdays so did not see as many games as I would of liked

Its seems you are more qualified to comment on Anelkas ability having seen him many times but I can only comment on what I have seen .

Baros will improve as this is first chance of regular first team football (which he has done recently) ,I think rafa will analyse his game and point out the flaws you have mentioned which will be hard to iron out over night .

He can hold the ball up and can take on players with skill not just pace and regulary beats a defender to the byline and once he learns when to pass and when to shoot he will be awsome i think .

Anyway good post

You nearly convinced me :;):

by **115-1073096938** » Mon Jan 10, 2005 4:07 am

Comments like..."you know what great players are going to do"...

You know what i meant by that though. good players often play the passes you expect and keep things ticking over in certain situations.

Obviously you have players who do things out of the ordinary but i'm on about in general. You watched Owen and when he played a pass, 9/10 times it was a good pass which gets a clap from everyone in the stand.

great players do good and the right things more times than not...

I do rate Baros, he's a good player, he's improving, but he's nowhere a top class level. You know that, i know that, Benitez knows that.

by **115-1073096938** » Mon Jan 10, 2005 4:08 am

Fair do's.

You're still wrong though.

And i asked your age because kids often think that running with the ball and looking good by skinning a player of two makes you a better player than someone who doesn't skin someone.

I know when i was 12 or 13 it was about who could take the most men on and score the most goals.

These days i see the big picture and the game in a whole different light. I look for EVERY attribute i can think of.

by **davo_p** » Mon Jan 10, 2005 5:12 am

i think he is ****** he has no skill and looks good in a ****** team

by **supersub** » Mon Jan 10, 2005 6:06 am

cheers davo

agree stu a good pass is worthy of good applause......but....wait... just...a ...minute..... a few weeks back maybe months,you weren't a big fan of all this passing being good to watch mullarkey!

and I agree about younger players...It drives me mad at 7-a- side when they try to dribble the world when a pass will do.Us oldies love giving the under 25's a lesson in how to play as a team and win.

by **Matt*Lfc** » Mon Jan 10, 2005 9:06 am

lol I remember me and my mates playing 5 a side when we were teenagers and we thought we was the dogs ****** .
Only to get a lesson in passing by the over 35 brigade and thrashed

by **Redrider** » Mon Jan 10, 2005 4:04 pm

No denial from Rafa re' Johnson and Anelka:

''When asked about interest in former Reds striker Nicolas Anelka and 13 goal Crystal Palace striker Andy Johnson, Benitez would not confirm or deny but only say: "Anelka is a good player, Johnson is a good player also. Both players are scoring goals and playing well."

by **Paul C** » Mon Jan 10, 2005 4:15 pm

Good 'ol Beni :cool:

by **stmichael** » Mon Jan 10, 2005 4:17 pm

stu_the_red wrote:Have you ever seen Anelka live? His awareness, pace, skill, passing and creativety aswell as his link up play an shooting are simply a joy to watch. When he played for us upfront with Owen i thought we had potentially one of the worlds best ever strike forces. Anelka is an incredible player with fantastic ability. He could play at any level with EASE.

Also, is 25 goals for Man City last season not impressive? He's got about 15 this season if i'm not mistaken.

If Anelka fails to impress you, but Baros does impress you, you simply don't know football. Thats the end of the matter.

Also, Anelka hit 25 in a man city side. Baros' best EVER total is 12. So that also puts your "Theory" to bed. Now come back when you have a clue!!!

stu. inexplicably, i'm agreement with you when it comes to anelka. i think in a decent side with a strong manager he'd get you 20 goals a season no problem.

Anelka was nowhere near match fit when he arrived at Liverpool in late 2001, having been frozen out at PSG. When here he didn't start many games consecutively, as Houllier used him as third choice, behind Heskey.

Whether or not Benitez wants to take a small gamble with him, who knows? But it is a fact that at Valencia Benitez had some problem players, with certain members of that team hating him, and yet he managed to subvert their egos and make a team of them. The trouble with players who don't have egos is that the tend to not have a lot of talent, or a lot of personality (and confidence) on the pitch. A bit of arrogance - in a striker, especially - is to be welcomed. (Also, it would stop Anelka scoring goals against us.)

by **The_Rock** » Mon Jan 10, 2005 4:25 pm

Anelka will deffo score goals when he comes here. Do we have the money to sign him.......thats a different story altogether.

by **Red_Si** » Mon Jan 10, 2005 4:31 pm

He could be useful as his bald head would distract opposition defenders at set-pieces. Mind you, so would Anelka's.

by **Fowler_E7** » Mon Jan 10, 2005 4:43 pm

Anelka no doubt is a fine striker but he has drawbacks, anelka is not a superb a finisher, a good finisher but not superb. On occasion his shooting can be quite bad, he tends to scuff the ball instead of placing. Also he can be very greedy, obviously you want your strikers to have an element of selfishness but Anelka at times makes the wrong decison and should pass instead of shooting.

Personally im undecided over who we should sign as both anelka and morientes are good players and no doubt would improve the side, but both have their shortcomings, Anelka for the reasons above plus the fact once Cisse comes back we will be left with two similar strikers. Morientes because of his age, his eligibilty for the champions league and also he has never been the most prolific player in spain.

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