Liverpool FC Forum

by **Bam** » Wed Apr 01, 2009 10:18 pm

Reg wrote:Agree RVN´s a great player but is he still hungry?

I've heard he has been on the atkins diet which is a bit unusual for horses, but nonetheless is Hank Marvin and right about now would eat an apple through a chain linked fence.

by **NANNY RED** » Wed Apr 01, 2009 10:44 pm

Bam wrote:
Reg wrote:Agree RVN´s a great player but is he still hungry?

I've heard he has been on the atkins diet which is a bit unusual for horses, but nonetheless is Hank Marvin and right about now would eat an apple through a chain linked fence.

by **heimdall** » Wed Apr 01, 2009 10:50 pm

I think we need to find a player who can fill in for Stevie and/or Nando if they get injured, so a striker who plays a bit deeper, not sure who fits that bill really.

by **tubby** » Wed Apr 01, 2009 11:08 pm

Whoever he is he has to be good at getting goals. Not just getting in good positions ect....goals.

by **Kharhaz** » Wed Apr 01, 2009 11:27 pm

Cool Hand Luke wrote:If money is tight or we need to spend most our money elsehwere Kanu on a free transfer and give him a one year contract. Not a bad option for a player who can play upfront on his own and has shown his quality in the Premier League.

Im also thinking along these lines. Experience would be a massive advantage as they have been in the game long enough to know they are not going to play every game but can do a job when the are selected. Kanu is the kind of player we should be looking at if indeed rafa is sticking with the play one up front formation.

Van Nistelrooy or Raul himself would be a good place to start.

by **GYBS** » Thu Apr 02, 2009 9:48 am

what we must also see is a player like silva is able to play in the gerrard role and has played up front as well .

by **Owzat** » Thu Apr 02, 2009 10:15 am

woof woof ! wrote:Hopefully whoever we sign will have premiership experience, with this in mind, off the top of my head I'll give a shout for Benni McCarthy (seriously underrated) and Oberfemi Martins, think either of them surrounded by the quality we already have would be more than successful, also, for a short term (quick fix) I'd go for Eider Gudjohnsen.

If Owen should be discounted on injury grounds, so too should Martins who's played half as many games since 14/12

Eidur Gudjohnsen (Barcelona)

DOB : 15/09/78 (Age 30)
La Liga : 10 goals in 66 apps (0.152 goals/app)

Benni McCarthy (Blackburn)

DOB : 12/11/77 (Age 31)
Prem : 33 goals in 88 apps (0.375 goals/app)

Obafemi Martins (Newcastle)

DOB : 28/10/84 (Age 24)
Prem : 27 goals in 81 apps (0.333 goals/app)

And to throw in Santa Cruz :-

Santa Cruz (Blackburn)

DOB : 16/08/81 (Age 27)
Prem : 23 goals in 57 apps (0.404 goals/app)

I think "Premiership experience" is a massively over-rated factor, how much did Martins himself have before he arrived? Or Van Diver? Or Santa Cruz, McCarthy, TORRES, Adebayor, Van Persie etc? Did the best strikers in the Premiership have Premiership experience? Not many, if any. What that requirement really means is we're scared of taking a gamble so we'll take a different gamble - that a player who scored goals elsewhere in England will score goals here. How did that work with Bellamy and Keane by the way? Our best strikers/forwards in my time supporting Liverpool didn't always have top flight experience - quality is quality, experience is just a bonus

Fowler - youth
Owen - youth
Rush - Chester City (lower leagues)
Aldridge - Oxford Utd
Torres - Atletico Madrid
Beardsley - Newcastle Utd
Dalglish - Celtic

And Kevin Keegan signed from Scunthorpe, maybe we're not going to find too many brilliant strikers in the lower leagues or Scotland these days, but our signings from Premiership clubs have hardly proved a massive hit. How many of our best XI came with Premiership experience? Riera? You can test games, test software, test hardware, test anything a million times and it doesn't mean it will work the next time. What you gain in Premiership experience you can readily lose in them being known better by other teams, by a loss of initial zest and energy, by the demands the English game has on players etc

For every season of experience a player has of the Premiership, the Premiership has a season of experience of the player - and it takes a season's toll on him. One might assume a player has settled in this country, they may simply be one season or more more homesick, less endeared to the Premiership, nagged by WAG to move back to sunnier climates etc

by **tubby** » Thu Apr 02, 2009 10:44 am

Kharhaz wrote:
Cool Hand Luke wrote:If money is tight or we need to spend most our money elsehwere Kanu on a free transfer and give him a one year contract. Not a bad option for a player who can play upfront on his own and has shown his quality in the Premier League.

Im also thinking along these lines. Experience would be a massive advantage as they have been in the game long enough to know they are not going to play every game but can do a job when the are selected. Kanu is the kind of player we should be looking at if indeed rafa is sticking with the play one up front formation.

Van Nistelrooy or Raul himself would be a good place to start.

Raul?

Did we not learn anything from the Morientes mess. :suspect:

by **JC_81** » Thu Apr 02, 2009 10:53 am

I'm gonna mention Eto'o again here. I don't think he's unrealistic to be honest. Contract's running down and Guardiola's already tried to offload him once.

If it doesn't happen I don't think it'll be because of us not willing to pay the fee (which would be 15-20 million bracket probably), or because of Barce not wanting to sell. It'll come down to the player and where he wants to go.

Years ago Houllier tried to sign him before he joined Barce and he turned us down making some comment about English weather. I'm sure he also had some non-complementary things to say about English football.

The fact is though that our stock has risen so much throughout Europe now that attracting these types of player is not beyond us anymore. Anyway, my take on it is if Eto'o fancies this move it'll happen. Watch City try and hijack it though.

Personally I don't give a feck what people say about Eto'o's attitude, he's a world class striker perfectly suited to English football imo. If we signed him and nobody else this summer, I'd be happy.

by **Dundalk** » Thu Apr 02, 2009 10:55 am

Bam wrote:
Reg wrote:Agree RVN´s a great player but is he still hungry?

I've heard he has been on the atkins diet which is a bit unusual for horses, but nonetheless is Hank Marvin and right about now would eat an apple through a chain linked fence.

by **woof woof !** » Thu Apr 02, 2009 10:58 am

I think "Premiership experience" is a massively over-rated factor

Not suggesting that Prem experience in the "be all and end all" , Torres and Keane are would debunk any such assertion that no prem experience invites failure whilst previous prem exp guarantees success. However a player that is already acclimitised to the rigors of english football , life in the uk, and speaks the language surely has a better chance of succeeding than a player of equal ability who has never played in england , lived here or speaks the language ? .

by **Sabre** » Thu Apr 02, 2009 11:05 am

woof woof ! wrote:
I think "Premiership experience" is a massively over-rated factor

Not suggesting that Prem experience in the "be all and end all" , Torres and Keane are would debunk any such assertion that no prem experience invites failure whilst previous prem exp guarantees success. However a player that is already acclimitised to the rigors of english football , life in the uk, and speaks the language surely has a better chance of succeeding than a player of equal ability who has never played in england , lived here or speaks the language ? .

Yes, but given the amount of foreign players this league has, which I think it has the highest foreign ratio in Europe, then we can't really say it's especially difficult to adapt.

It's not the Torres or Keane the ones who debunk the theory, but the Luis Garcias, the Bellainis, the Benayouns, some of these players, small physically or coming from small leagues like Belgium are the ones who prove that it's an overrated factor. Note the overrated, it's a factor, but it's given too much importance.

Sure some players will fail to adapt, but that may happen to Rush in Italy, or to Finnan in Spain, or to Morientes in England.

by **stmichael** » Thu Apr 02, 2009 11:09 am

Cool Hand Luke wrote:If money is tight or we need to spend most our money elsehwere Kanu on a free transfer and give him a one year contract. Not a bad option for a player who can play upfront on his own and has shown his quality in the Premier League.

yeah but he's 73

by **heimdall** » Thu Apr 02, 2009 11:45 am

Sabre wrote:
woof woof ! wrote:
I think "Premiership experience" is a massively over-rated factor

Not suggesting that Prem experience in the "be all and end all" , Torres and Keane are would debunk any such assertion that no prem experience invites failure whilst previous prem exp guarantees success. However a player that is already acclimitised to the rigors of english football , life in the uk, and speaks the language surely has a better chance of succeeding than a player of equal ability who has never played in england , lived here or speaks the language ? .

Yes, but given the amount of foreign players this league has, which I think it has the highest foreign ratio in Europe, then we can't really say it's especially difficult to adapt.

It's not the Torres or Keane the ones who debunk the theory, but the Luis Garcias, the Bellainis, the Benayouns, some of these players, small physically or coming from small leagues like Belgium are the ones who prove that it's an overrated factor. Note the overrated, it's a factor, but it's given too much importance.

Sure some players will fail to adapt, but that may happen to Rush in Italy, or to Finnan in Spain, or to Morientes in England.

I disagree, if it is so over-rated a factor then what is the reason for the English clubs dominance in Europe the last few years. Is it just a case of having more money? Personally I think it's becuase of the increased physicality of the English game combined with quality players and management. A lot of legendary prem players needed a while to settle down, for example Henry and Drogba to name but two.

by **LegBarnes** » Thu Apr 02, 2009 11:51 am

I think martins be a good punt if newcastle go down.

Apart from that if we got the cash go for someone like villa ?

Liverpool FC Forum

Striking options - Realistic suggestions?

Who is online