Liverpool FC Forum

by **Sabre** » Wed Sep 13, 2006 11:12 pm

All that said, he has shown the best part of feck all so far so I can only assume he will take time. Please, before anybody says remember Pires, Henri etc etc don't bother, we've done all that before. I know it takes time for a player to settle, but when I say he's shown us nothing so far I mean exactly that, nothing. Not a flash of pace, a nice bit of control, a piece of cultured movement off the ball, a nice trick, a good shot, nothing. Actually I tell a lie, he does track back with enthusiasm. By the end of the season my suspicion is that he will have provided a few Garciaesque cameo flashes of brilliance and we will be hoping for more consistency next campaign.

Thanks for the kind words.

My prediction is that we'll see rarely tricks, we'll see good long shots, we'll see tap in finishes in counterattacks as he knows moving well without the ball in this kind of actions, and if he's allowed some very long range efforts in free kicks.

He just needs to settle in, and I know I can be wrong (I was wrong with Mori's adaptation) but I do think his abilities are very universal as in it will work in every football of the world.

by **Graeme Noble** » Wed Sep 13, 2006 11:14 pm

I think if Kuyt is played from the start frequently he will score the goals and have a good run of form. Maybe if he plays a home game from the start (ie the game against Newcastle) then he will score and then onwards and upwards from there.

Aurelio and Pennant haven't been too impressive but its too early to judge them.

Gonzalez has been a mixed bag and looks like he has a lot of potential.

Bellamy has been a good buy, pretty much what I expected from the lad.

by **Squigels** » Wed Sep 13, 2006 11:41 pm

Im looking at this from the outside. From Benitez's signings none look bad value for money and obviously its to early to judge so far but blind faith is better then no faith for now anyway.

The only problem with it is they seems to be a reliance on one of these signings to push Liverpool to another level. The fact is and as a Manc I begrudingly admit Liverpool are only a player not nessecarily a star player neither from being a serious team that will win serious honours. Benitez has emphaisised the importance of the team ahead of any player at all the clubs he has been at.

I would feel sorry for young Agger, Benitez has to give his lad a proper chance while Carragher really wanted to and probobly been the local lad should have played the derby Hypia is not getting younger and his pace looks increasingly a liability against quicker strikers.

Aurelio's value will be seen i believe he is a proper attacking full back something liverpool have missed. (Especially when Risse is played on the left wing) One of the reasons Liverpool are good defensively is because they have 2 holding midfielders and their full backs dont overlap enough to compensat for this, Gerrard and Alonso seem to rarely have more then 4 players ahead of them to aim their passes and thats saying something considering how deep Alonso is sometimes employed consequently their attack suffers.

But are some of you missing a point its not which footballer is the most talanted its the one which suits Benitez's system best for example for 7 million quid their are more talanted footballers are available then Peter Crouch and for 10 million more talanted Dirk Kuyt I am not insulting them as players or their acheivments within the game but these paticular players suit Benitez's idea.

These questions can't be awnsered now at this moment anyway.

by **Graeme Noble** » Wed Sep 13, 2006 11:47 pm

Why is a Manc posting here???

by **anti-hero** » Thu Sep 14, 2006 12:08 am

Squigels? Manc?

What the fuck?!?

by **account deleted by request** » Thu Sep 14, 2006 1:54 am

Aurelio - Tidy in defence, likes to tackle, but after the build up he got hasnt looked as comfortable going forward. His passing is hurried and his crossing avarage at best. Hopefully this will improve as he becomes more acustomed to the pace of the EPL. He seems willing to work hard (Benitez trademark)and as you would expect from a Brazilian looks comfortable on the ball. Rating now 5/10 Expect 7/10 by end of season as he will make the transition.

Pennant - my biggest doubt amongst our new signings. Works hard, I am just not convinced he is the answer (I hope I am wrong) so the less said the better. Rating now 5/10 Expect 5.5/10

Gonzales - Indifferent performances after an explosive introduction. Shown nothing up to now that makes him the player we hoped for. Expectations where raised too high. Needs time to settle but has offered no real threat up to now. I still expect great things from him once he settles. Rating now 4.5/10 Expect 7/10 Pace to burn in a league where pace is so important.

Bellamy - Baros like player who uses the channels to great effect and works hard all the game. I am very happy with his form, he just needs a goal or two to complete the picture. I never expected a prolific goal scorer, but has shown enough to be a 15 goals a season man.Rating now 7/10 Expect 8/10

Kuyt - Hard working, good movement , a great eye for a pass and hopefully goals. I actually think Fowler could be the best player to partner Dirk. Dirk is not a box preditor and neither is Bellamy, they both work and make runs from deeper positions. Fowler would be the perfect foil for Dirk, creating space in the box and making the most of Dirks great passing skills. ( I love Fowler so may be biased

) If the best is yet to come from Kuyt, I cant wait , because he is looking special now.Rating now 8/10 Expect 9/10 Star man and Rafa's best buy this season.

A great bunch of new signings with only Pennant in my opinion not going to eventually make the grade at Liverpool. I am sorry but I just dont think hes good enough. Time will tell.

by **Lando_Griffin** » Thu Sep 14, 2006 1:59 am

sepak wrote:Aurelio - a signing mistake - he couldn't defend well, he hasn't provided good crosses or good corners, his free kick might be accurate, but lack of pace n power to go back of the net.

Kuyt - A bit disappointed though he did play well ,because what we need is a striker who can score plenty of goals, doesn't matter simple goals like what Moreintes scored yesterday.

Are you on drugs?

Aurelio has class written all over him. Give him time, and you'll be eating those words.

As for Kuyt, he has been the best signing by a Country mile so far.

You can't score the goals if you don't get the service.

by **Mannyk** » Thu Sep 14, 2006 3:18 am

Kuyt will stand out as the best signing of the lot. Although I think Gonzo has huge potential.

F--- I hope they all tun out to be superstars:D

by **account deleted by request** » Fri Sep 15, 2006 10:55 am

I should also have mentioned Agger, as although he isnt new he didnt get much of a chance last season.

Agger - Starting to look like a genuine replacement for Sammi. Confident and comfortable on the ball and a good passer. Im not sure how fast he is yet, or how dominant he wil be in the air, but his tackling up to now has been clean and sure. Impressive display against PSV. Rating 7/10 Expect 8/10 by end of season.

by **66-1112520797** » Fri Sep 15, 2006 11:24 am

Im not sure how fast he is yet,

I remember Jan Molby urging us to sign Agger, but at the time he pointed out Agger wasnt the fastest center-half going.

I also remember thinking, thats the pot calling the kettle black

by **account deleted by request** » Fri Sep 15, 2006 11:26 am

Bamaga man wrote:
Im not sure how fast he is yet,

I remember Jan Molby urging us to sign Agger, but at the time he pointed out Agger wasnt the fastest center-half going.

I also remember thinking, thats the pot calling the kettle black

Im still not sure how fast Molby was - nobody has ever seen him run

by **66-1112520797** » Fri Sep 15, 2006 11:35 am

s@int wrote:
Bamaga man wrote:
Im not sure how fast he is yet,

I remember Jan Molby urging us to sign Agger, but at the time he pointed out Agger wasnt the fastest center-half going.

I also remember thinking, thats the pot calling the kettle black

Im still not sure how fast Molby was - nobody has ever seen him run

One day I saw him run fast, but that was at half-time to get a pie.

by **Redbilly1960** » Fri Sep 15, 2006 11:57 am

From what I have seen so far all have impressed. Although Agger stands out as a possible long term fixture in the side the more I see him the more Hansenesque (is that the right word) he is becoming which aint no bad thing.

My only worry is the lack of cover at right back if Stevie Finnan has a knock there seems like only Carra to fill the spot.
But I guess thats a whole different thread.

All in all The Futures Bright, The Futures RED

by **stmichael** » Fri Sep 15, 2006 1:24 pm

s@int wrote:Pennant - my biggest doubt amongst our new signings. Works hard, I am just not convinced he is the answer (I hope I am wrong) so the less said the better. Rating now 5/10 Expect 5.5/10

I agree that he's not exactly set the world on fire but I still think he can be a quality player for us. He's got good technical ability and plenty of pace, just want to see him demand the ball a bit more. He seems to content to let the likes of Gerrard try and do damage when he should be looking to terrorise the left back himself.

by **bigmick** » Fri Sep 15, 2006 1:35 pm

Pennant is more of a Beckham type of winger than an Aaron Lennon type in that he usually crosses it around the full-back rather than by beating him so he can fail to catch the eye sometimes. That said I'm surprised that he is coming in for criticism to be honest. He set up the goal which got us through a tricky Champions League second leg and I think in the brief time he has been with us he has developed already.

Obviously he still has some way to go and in this sense you could say he was a gamble for the money. In my opinion he needs to provide much more of a goal threat and also to show more of a willingness to recieve the ball in a more central position occasionally. Width is lovely to have but so is variety. By simply coming in off his line and picking the ball up fifteen yards infield, Pennant opens up a plethora of opportunities both for him and the rest of the team. It makes him more difficult to pick up and gives him the opportunity to do something other than whip the ball in around the outstretched leg of the full-back, which even though he is very good at gets a tad predictable.

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