Liverpool FC Forum

by **JBG** » Fri Apr 30, 2004 10:18 pm

I believe that this team firmly needs an Eric Cantona figure if we are going to pull ourselves out of the rut.

Remember all the doom and gloom at Old Trafford in 1992?

Man Utd missed out on the championship to a very ordinary Leeds side and all they could do in the summer of 92 was buy Dion Dublin from Cambridge. They thought they'd never win the league.

Then they bought Cantona who transformed them in so many ways. He provided goals, creativity and most of all, inspiration to his team mates and unified the fans.

Man UTD were an ordinary team in 1993 but Cantona papered over the cracks and led them on to bigger and better things.

Liverpool clearly need a guy that will lead from the front, create goals out of nothing, inspire his team mates and most importantly of all, provide a cult hero figure to the fans to unite them behind the team again.

Liverpool aren't perfect and have many problems but a flamboyant show man with a little bit of genius could solve a hell of a lot of problems.

What do people think?

by **115-1073096938** » Fri Apr 30, 2004 11:52 pm

yes and no.

we need a class act. doesnt matter where he plays. just somene who can come in and boost everyone at the club, weather its a skillfull player or not i dont think it matters. i firmly belive that cisse could provide this much needed spark.

the one thing he needs to do better tho is learn to link up play and keep possession.

by **Woollyback** » Sat May 01, 2004 12:19 am

For me, we already have our man - Stevie Gerard. He's not the same kind of character as Cantona but he leads by example and consistently gives 120%. No matter how bad a game is going SG always looks capable of something when he gets posession. I'm surprised he's not burnt out after a whole season carrying most of the team on his own. I wish his commitment, vision, drive & aggression would rub off on a few of the slackers in the team.

by **Woollyback** » Sat May 01, 2004 12:24 am

stu_the_red wrote:yes and no.

we need a class act. doesnt matter where he plays. just somene who can come in and boost everyone at the club, weather its a skillfull player or not i dont think it matters. i firmly belive that cisse could provide this much needed spark.

the one thing he needs to do better tho is learn to link up play and keep possession.

Pongolle's in the papers today bigging up Cisse. He says when he gets the ball he's "like a plane - even quicker than Henry."

I can't profess to being an expert on Cisse as I've only seen him a handful of times on TV but from what I have seen I'm looking forward to seeing him in a red shirt. Pongolle's played with him at French U-21 level and rates him very highly.

I can't see him becoming a talisman-like figue but if he does what it says on the tin, then he should be everything Heskey could/should have been. Cheerio Emile.

by **Dalglish** » Sat May 01, 2004 12:43 am

Hi Woolyback , how many times have we heard people talking up players as a "bit special" , Biscan ? Diouf? Diao ? Le Tellac? Kewell ? I'm not disagreeing that we need a "cantonesque" type figure but he our man GH hasn't found one in 5 years, whats the chances he'll find one in the next 5 !!!!!!

The closest he has come is getting a charismatic figure in was Gary Mac who lifted the players and fans alike. I'm amazed we haven't enquired about Rivaldo, rumour is we could have had him at Xmas 2003 but GH wasn't keen.

by **Woollyback** » Sat May 01, 2004 1:05 am

Hi Dalglish, personally I would've taken Rivaldo back then on a 1 year contract. Like the Dr Pepper ads used to say "Whats the worst that could happen?"

Gary Mac was a legend and in all the years I've been following the 'Pool I've never known a player make such an impression in such a short time. I still think we could've had one more season out of him, even if it wasn't always 90 mins. but I can also understand his decision to take the Coventry job.

I see what you're saying about false promises and hyped-up new signings but I genuinely think Cisse is a little bit different in that he's proven himself in France, as opposed to proven hos potential in France. I'm still not 100% convinced but only time will tell. Let's hope GH has got it right for a change!

PS. Don't know why I've suddenly thought of this but an Irish girl I used to work with had a little boy called "Dal" and it only dawned on me when I met her fella who was a big LFC fan from Tue Brook that Dal was indeed short for Dalglish! Full name Dalglish Peter Connolly. Don't know why I'm telling you that either but it seemed right

by **Dalglish** » Sat May 01, 2004 1:15 am

Hi Woolyback , thanks for the reply.

My wifes having Baby in August (due 7th - before the new season

) Got to get those priorities right haven't I !

We are discussing names and if its a BOy i'm currenytly in "discussions" witht eh mother to be ...... Jack Ellis is more or less agreed on but I've requested Jack Ellis Shankly and she can't understand WHY !!!!!!! She argued the kid will get labelled ......my answer to her cokmment was SO !!!!!!!

On the Rivaldo/Gary Mac/Cisse Questions.

Gary Mac's Wife was very ill at the time and he had personal reasons for leaving to go back to coventry, she recovered but sadly is apparrently very ill again and thats the reason he has vacated the job at coventry

Rivaldo was offered to Gh but he didn't want him . I saw Rivaldo when Barca played LFC a couple of seasons back and he was class, they beat us 3-1 and I still maintain its the best AWAY team i've ever seen at Anfield.

Cisse ? I have to admit I know nothing other than he is top scorer in France. I sincerely hope that if he comes then he will make asimilar impression in England but at £14 Million its another huge risk ........

by **glenbuck patriot** » Sat May 01, 2004 1:19 am

Wooly,have spoken abut Cisse in different threads, He wants to come to us for the Nightlife!.... Still unproven, Coaching again.... (Want to leave it to the School Teacher?)Wants to come even if we don't qualify for CL. Say's openly the nightlife in Auxerre is sh##e....my only thought is He'd end up a Bin Dipper like Diaou.... and for HOW MUCH?

by **Woollyback** » Sat May 01, 2004 1:24 am

Nightlife thing all sounds very El Hadji Diouf to me and £14m is a lot to blow on one player but the law of averages says even GH has got to get it right at some point! Fingers crossed but an eyebrow constantly raised...

by **glenbuck patriot** » Sat May 01, 2004 1:37 am

If it was YOUR MONEY WOULD YOU?, I would'nt touch him, my reason; If He's that good why aren't the rest of EUROPE even putting in a bid;

NO Juventus
NO AC MILAN

NO Madrid
NO Valencia................

So we're led to believe the HOTTEST NEW Striker is set to join us for £14M, & NO ONE ELSE WANT'S HIM, Auxerre is a sh##e place to live......... THAT'S IT!

by **Woollyback** » Sat May 01, 2004 1:41 am

To be completely honest I haven't seen enough of him to give an informed opinion just yet. But if he takes the p#ss then I'll burn his house down :laugh:

by **Scottbot** » Sat May 01, 2004 9:06 am

If you believe what you read in the papers, i don't, but they all seem to agree (when they all say the same they tend to be right) that most of the big clubs would like Cisse but the deal with Liverpool is rubber-tight + public knowledge for more than a year now. I must admit i'm pretty excited to see what he can do.

I don't know that Cisse can be the Cantona type that JBG refers to but i hope he starts well and the fans take to him quickly coz Houllier has put the lad under a lot of pressure to perform.

I was quite excited when we were linked with Rivaldo a while back but have to admit, he has been portrayed as quite a mercenary.

I still like Jay-Jay at Bolton. The fans would love him at Anfield + there would be no transfer fee. Unfortunately, le boss does not seem keen and i can see him staying at Bolton unless Fergie takes a gamble on the lad.

by **azriahmad** » Sat May 01, 2004 10:58 am

Quote (Scottbot@May 01 2004,09:06)

I still like Jay-Jay at Bolton. The fans would love him at Anfield + there would be no transfer fee. Unfortunately, le boss does not seem keen and i can see him staying at Bolton unless Fergie takes a gamble on the lad.

Just like you said, Le Boss doesn't seem to like flair players because as he has said about Rivaldo that "he is not a Liverpool type of player" whatever that means.

I like watching Jay-Jay and also Mendieta play but you can bet ypur life that these are "not Liverpool type". Remember how he used to treat Litmanen? He has a fair bit of individual flair but never gets enough breaks to show his worth by Le Manager.

Perhaps he'd like 5 more Biscans and 5 more Dioufs to make his squad "complete". Let's face it, the defensive way Liverpool plays under Houllier, why do we need flair players?

I am already lowering my expectations for next season as I am resigned to the fact that my beloved club will still be underachieving under Houllier's management next season...

by **LFC #1** » Sat May 01, 2004 11:28 am

On the Rivaldo issue, I believe Rivaldo wanted to come and play for Liverpool, but GH said that his wages were too high a player who would only be here a couple of seasons (i.e. He's too old).

I think he still has 3 years left in him , which is quite a long time and if Bolton can afford his wages then why can't we?

by **JBG** » Sat May 01, 2004 1:50 pm

Steven Gerrard is the best player in the current Liverpool squad and is the fans favourite but what I am talking about is a "genius" player whose game is based on skill and flambouyance.

We need a player who causes excitment in the crowd every time he touches the ball, a guy that can win games on his own.

In the past we had players like Dalglish and Barnes who could do this. Robbie Fowler was the last true Kop cult hero (no disrespect to Steven Gerrard but I'm really focusing on forward players here).

The kind of player I am talking about would be similar to Zola at Chelsea, Bergkamp at Arsenal around 1998 or Henry today.

A guy that can create goals out of nothing, an iconic individual who would rally his team mates and the fans around him.

I have said it a thousand times before to Stu about Cisse: how can you possibly be so optimistic about Dbjril Cisse?

He is the top scorer in an average league, playing for a small club, hasn't really made an impact on European competition, hasn't made much of an impact on the French national team.

I have my fingers and toes crossed that Cisse succeeds but stating that Cisse caan be our Cantona figure is simply blind optimism.

As for Rivaldo he's completely passed it. He was a great player three years ago but I watch a lot of Seria A football and he showed serious signs of decline at Milan. It says a lot thaat he couldn't get a decent offer in Europe when he left Milan and it says even more that his current best offer is Bolton Wanderers.

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