Liverpool FC Forum

by **tubby** » Mon May 04, 2009 12:48 pm

Yeah id prefer Llorente too. But i've not seen us linked with him at all. That's not to say Rafa isn't considering him.

by **redbeergoggles** » Mon May 04, 2009 5:55 pm

After giving this thread careful consideration, and going with the theme of the threads title (Realistic striking options )some of the names being bandied about are beyond the realms of fantasy ,let alone realistic ,so my shout would be Dean Ashton who I consider one of the most underrated Ive seen ,his skill with the ball at his feet is exceptional and he is equally adept in the air plus has a penchant for scoring brilliant goals ,the only downside being his irritating nack for picking up niggling injuries.
I suspect Zola would let him go for the right price ,but before people start jumping up and down in indignation ,Ashton is proven Premiership quality and if he had been available for a more than workman like West Ham side then they would have surely been higher in the league ,but like anything being debated its just an individual shout ,but is it in the boundaries of Realistic? (the theme of this thread )
Benitez will surely have his own targets ,but he will probably shock the hell out of us ...

by **tubby** » Mon May 04, 2009 6:01 pm

Yes Ashton is a good striker but the fact that he spends more time on the bench than the pitch should be enough to convince you all that he is not an option. As it is Torres keeps getting niggling hamstring injuries, 3 so far this season if i'm not mistaken so buying another striker to who has a bad injury track record would be a waste of money.

I suspect Rafa will look to La Liga. Probably Negredo.

by **redbeergoggles** » Mon May 04, 2009 6:19 pm

bavlondon wrote:Yes Ashton is a good striker but the fact that he spends more time on the bench than the pitch should be enough to convince you all that he is not an option. As it is Torres keeps getting niggling hamstring injuries, 3 so far this season if i'm not mistaken so buying another striker to who has a bad injury track record would be a waste of money.

I suspect Rafa will look to La Liga. Probably Negredo.

All well and good fella ,but what striker is going to sign knowing he will play second fiddle to Torres ,After all it is a second choice striker we are after ,sorry to bring you all crashing to earth with a bump ,but someone had too ,there is not one realistic punt since this thread started ,we would all like a quality striker (ie 25 million plus) but I suspect we are all going to be slightly disheartened with the actual targets Benitez has in mind ...
Speculation is ok if you keep it grounded,Negredo is a decent shout but like so many others is not familiar with Premiership football ...

by **redbeergoggles** » Mon May 04, 2009 6:34 pm

Another point I have to raise is Ashton has been injured for West Ham this Season ,next Season he could stay injury free and be a revelation for the team willing to take a risk .
A lot of strikers have injury problems ,but Ashton is still only 26 he could even be involved in West Hams closing games ,so maybe we will get to see his obvious quality again ..

by **RedRoots** » Mon May 04, 2009 6:47 pm

redbeergoggles wrote:Another point I have to raise is Ashton has been injured for West Ham this Season ,next Season he could stay injury free and be a revelation for the team willing to take a risk .
A lot of strikers have injury problems ,but Ashton is still only 26 he could even be involved in West Hams closing games ,so maybe we will get to see his obvious quality again ..

Ah come on man the chap is always out injured, whats next a bid for Ledley King?

by **tubby** » Mon May 04, 2009 6:58 pm

redbeergoggles wrote:
bavlondon wrote:Yes Ashton is a good striker but the fact that he spends more time on the bench than the pitch should be enough to convince you all that he is not an option. As it is Torres keeps getting niggling hamstring injuries, 3 so far this season if i'm not mistaken so buying another striker to who has a bad injury track record would be a waste of money.

I suspect Rafa will look to La Liga. Probably Negredo.

All well and good fella ,but what striker is going to sign knowing he will play second fiddle to Torres ,After all it is a second choice striker we are after ,sorry to bring you all crashing to earth with a bump ,but someone had too ,there is not one realistic punt since this thread started ,we would all like a quality striker (ie 25 million plus) but I suspect we are all going to be slightly disheartened with the actual targets Benitez has in mind ...
Speculation is ok if you keep it grounded,Negredo is a decent shout but like so many others is not familiar with Premiership football ...

Come on mate it's a big squad and they would know we would be challanging on several fronts. Are you saying we can never have an established or good striker aside from Torres simply becasue of the formation we play and he 1st choice?

by **metalhead** » Mon May 04, 2009 7:02 pm

I don't rate gerrard playing as a second striker in the 4-5-1 formation, because it limits his strengths even though people say otherwise. A tevez type or a Bergkamp type will definitely compliment Torres, a real shame we didn't go for Arshavin.

A big target man could be great, can always give us a Plan B.

by **JoeTerp** » Mon May 04, 2009 7:20 pm

Sabre wrote:Llorente

Perhaps Negredo has more skill with the ball, but Llorente's height and strenght and aerial threat could be VERY useful to us, plus Llorente has been a striker in a team that plays shíte.

Llorente is a player that drags and sweeps defences too and I think he would be a better companion to Torres.

The problem in this comparison Joe is the quality/price relationship. I preffer Llorente not by miles, but his price can be 4 times?

I didn't realize how much more Llorente would cost, I thought he would cost more though. About the size thing, clearly, Llorente is in the category of being a "big striker" but Negredo is no midget. I would think that although I would never want to play negredo out left, our general play in attack would not have to alter as much in philosophy if he partnered Torres, even though it would likely drop Gerrard back compared to a Llorente-Torres partnership, which I guess would work in similar fashion to the Crouch-Torres partnership. My memory is escaping me because Crouchie didn't play much towards the end, but I don't think that had the best results, or at least it was inferior to Gerrard-Torres. I guess I would wonder how good of an all around striker would Llorente be if he was of a normal height with only decent or good aerial ability?

by **JC_81** » Mon May 04, 2009 7:46 pm

metalhead wrote:I don't rate gerrard playing as a second striker in the 4-5-1 formation

You're a hard man to please metalhead!! :laugh:

I would say though that in most games Gerrard has played there it's pretty much 4-4-2. Gerrard has basically played as a forward most of the season. And he has been awesome there.

by **redbeergoggles** » Mon May 04, 2009 8:21 pm

RedRoots wrote:
redbeergoggles wrote:Another point I have to raise is Ashton has been injured for West Ham this Season ,next Season he could stay injury free and be a revelation for the team willing to take a risk .
A lot of strikers have injury problems ,but Ashton is still only 26 he could even be involved in West Hams closing games ,so maybe we will get to see his obvious quality again ..

Ah come on man the chap is always out injured, whats next a bid for Ledley King?

The topic is Strikers fella , may I suggest you find a more suitable example, if you really want to excercise your sardonic wit .

by **redbeergoggles** » Mon May 04, 2009 8:36 pm

bavlondon wrote:
redbeergoggles wrote:
bavlondon wrote:Yes Ashton is a good striker but the fact that he spends more time on the bench than the pitch should be enough to convince you all that he is not an option. As it is Torres keeps getting niggling hamstring injuries, 3 so far this season if i'm not mistaken so buying another striker to who has a bad injury track record would be a waste of money.

I suspect Rafa will look to La Liga. Probably Negredo.

All well and good fella ,but what striker is going to sign knowing he will play second fiddle to Torres ,After all it is a second choice striker we are after ,sorry to bring you all crashing to earth with a bump ,but someone had too ,there is not one realistic punt since this thread started ,we would all like a quality striker (ie 25 million plus) but I suspect we are all going to be slightly disheartened with the actual targets Benitez has in mind ...
Speculation is ok if you keep it grounded,Negredo is a decent shout but like so many others is not familiar with Premiership football ...

Come on mate it's a big squad and they would know we would be challanging on several fronts. Are you saying we can never have an established or good striker aside from Torres simply becasue of the formation we play and he 1st choice?

Ashton is a good striker ,and to quote your post he is established, and a lot more so than the names being proffered by posters on here .... I just think what Liverpool need is a quality striker, but one that could be integrated into the team straight away ,and I think Ashton would give us this ,but thats just my opinion mate it may differ from other posters but thats what makes free speech so enlightening ....

by **NANNY RED** » Mon May 04, 2009 8:51 pm

redbeergoggles wrote:what striker is going to sign knowing he will play second fiddle to Torres ,After all it is a second choice striker we are after ,

Someone who dosnt mind keeping the bench warm, someone wholl step in to give Fernando a rest, Bargain basement second stiker.

Ive mentioned it in another thread im sure Javier Saviola :;):

by **tubby** » Mon May 04, 2009 9:03 pm

Bargain Basement is ok but what happens if Torres gets injured again? Or Stevie again? We need someone of real quality, not just someone who is happy to warm the bench. We have NGog for that.

by **Sabre** » Mon May 04, 2009 9:03 pm

JoeTerp wrote:
Sabre wrote:Llorente

Perhaps Negredo has more skill with the ball, but Llorente's height and strenght and aerial threat could be VERY useful to us, plus Llorente has been a striker in a team that plays shíte.

Llorente is a player that drags and sweeps defences too and I think he would be a better companion to Torres.

The problem in this comparison Joe is the quality/price relationship. I preffer Llorente not by miles, but his price can be 4 times?

I didn't realize how much more Llorente would cost, I thought he would cost more though. About the size thing, clearly, Llorente is in the category of being a "big striker" but Negredo is no midget. I would think that although I would never want to play negredo out left, our general play in attack would not have to alter as much in philosophy if he partnered Torres, even though it would likely drop Gerrard back compared to a Llorente-Torres partnership, which I guess would work in similar fashion to the Crouch-Torres partnership. My memory is escaping me because Crouchie didn't play much towards the end, but I don't think that had the best results, or at least it was inferior to Gerrard-Torres. I guess I would wonder how good of an all around striker would Llorente be if he was of a normal height with only decent or good aerial ability?

You mean, like six years ago?

Llorente is an interesting case of player adaptation Joe mate.

He's always highlighted as a football player, back in the times he played with Arenas de Getxo and he came to San Sebastian to play, he was one of the players that caught your attention. Back then, he wasn't a exceptionally big player, rather he focused his game on skill.

The problem with Llorente is that he saw his body grow massively within 2-3 years, and many of the things he did, were of no use, or less effective. We even thought he might fail to succeed in primera in the dark times he went through with Clemente and Mendilibar.

But Llorente has adapted his football to his body, and he has done relatively late, not at 19-20, but yesteryear or so. He's 24 now.

So to answer your question, he'd be a normal striker, with a bit of luck, of a mid Spanish team, but the fact is that I don't see the point to ask what if he didn't develop that body, because he has, and he has adapted his football succesfully. Don't think he's a total "9" like Aldo who lives only in the Box, because he can unleash a powerful shot from outside the box too.

And I'm very objective with this, because if it was up to me, I would like to see failing every Bilbao player. :laugh:

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