Liverpool FC Forum

by **red37** » Tue Jun 16, 2009 2:40 am

How Much!?!

by **aCe'** » Tue Jun 16, 2009 2:46 am

hahahaha... Fcking hell... and we thought 20.5mill for Keane was bad... hahahaha... i got a good explanation for all of this though....
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wait for it...

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Rick Parry is a kunt !

by **Effes** » Tue Jun 16, 2009 2:57 am

I haven't seen much of Johnson in action like - but what's his final delivery like? - can he cross a ball?

by **bigmick** » Tue Jun 16, 2009 3:08 am

Effes wrote:I haven't seen much of Johnson in action like - but what's his final delivery like? - can he cross a ball?

Yes he can Eff. He's got pace, power, a trick and a shot. He's made for the modern game, a physical moster who can impose himself on his opponent. The one minus (and admittedly it is a bit of a minus in a fullback) is that he isn't the best defender in the World.

I'm fairly sure though that many of the people who are angry today will be pleasantly surprised after a couple of months. If he really settles, he'll be a very potent weapon indeed will this lad. He's not afraid to back himself and get beyond the play either, him and Kuyt might just be able to forge a very decent partnership.

by **RedRoots** » Tue Jun 16, 2009 3:21 am

Have to laugh at some people here actually admitting johnsons a good player who'll improve our team yet complaining about buying him for a large amount of money(if its true). United do it all the time, look at the money they've spent on players who havent been superstars yet have improved their team, thats where we've fallen down over the years, buying a cheap option that'll make do, this time we're shelling out for a top player who's coming into his prime and will be a an improvement on one of our weakest areas. Arby is okay but he's never filled the void left since finnans departure.

by **The_Rock** » Tue Jun 16, 2009 3:35 am

bigmick wrote:
Effes wrote:I haven't seen much of Johnson in action like - but what's his final delivery like? - can he cross a ball?

Yes he can Eff. He's got pace, power, a trick and a shot. He's made for the modern game, a physical moster who can impose himself on his opponent. The one minus (and admittedly it is a bit of a minus in a fullback) is that he isn't the best defender in the World.

I'm fairly sure though that many of the people who are angry today will be pleasantly surprised after a couple of months. If he really settles, he'll be a very potent weapon indeed will this lad. He's not afraid to back himself and get beyond the play either, him and Kuyt might just be able to forge a very decent partnership.

My Take....

If we had better CBs than skertel and agger...we might get away with Johnson....Even carra seems to be going downhill in the last 2 seasons. If johnson comes in, we might be conceding even more soft goals.

by **aCe'** » Tue Jun 16, 2009 4:06 am

RedRoots wrote:Have to laugh at some people here actually admitting johnsons a good player who'll improve our team yet complaining about buying him for a large amount of money(if its true). United do it all the time, look at the money they've spent on players who havent been superstars yet have improved their team, thats where we've fallen down over the years, buying a cheap option that'll make do, this time we're shelling out for a top player who's coming into his prime and will be a an improvement on one of our weakest areas. Arby is okay but he's never filled the void left since finnans departure.

Sorry but the point your making doesnt stand.. United can go out and spend 30mill on Berbatov simply because they have all the other positions sorted out... we dont and so, we shouldnt... Signing a right back would be nice, surely we can improve oon Arbeloa, we can also improve on Reina, Aurelio, Mascherano, Kuyt, Riera... but thats besides the point.... point is that we lack creativity upfront against the smaller sides and i doubt Johnson as good as he is would provide that extra thing we'r looking for in the final third... For the money being talked about i'd rather we go out and sign a TOP attacking asset rather than a fullback whos faily good going forward but isnt that great at defending..
Johnson isnt a top player as you put it... theres plenty out there who play his position who are much better and would cost less... hes a very good player i wouldnt deny that but deffo not worth 18.5 mill or whatever... half that amount i'd say would be more than reasonable...

Again, we find ourselves in a good position needing one or two TOP players in the final third and we go out and chase the wrong targets... We have the money to spend so the 'Rafa has to settle for third option' BS is out of the question now...
Keane, Bellamy, Pennant, Kuyt, Dossena, Riera, Babel, Lucas Crouch, Gonzales... thats 86million spent on average players so fck me but im not buying into the whole we'r doing ok with our transfer sht... If we keep signing such average players for big money year in year out then we can fcking kiss any title hopes goodbye now.. you want to talk about Manutd.. well yea they spend big but the difference is that they bring in quality players with their money... The likes of Rooney, Ferdinand and Teves... I'd understand if we paid big money for big names but at the quoted price im afraid im sticking to what i think.. yet another huge waste of money by Rafa..

by **The_Rock** » Tue Jun 16, 2009 4:37 am

aCe' wrote:.......Johnson isnt a top player as you put it... theres plenty out there who play his position who are much better and would cost less... hes a very good player i wouldnt deny that but deffo not worth 18.5 mill or whatever... half that amount i'd say would be more than reasonable...

Gosh....for 18.5 million...i thought we would bid 7 or 8 million tops.... (and even then...it would be a bad move). I still can remember how the great Diouf tormented him at anfield a few seasons ago until johnson had to be substituted.

If Benitez blows half our transfer budget on johnson......

by **red_guy** » Tue Jun 16, 2009 4:49 am

Overpriced and overrated.

by **aCe'** » Tue Jun 16, 2009 4:57 am

Fck it mate i give up on Benitez when it comes to transfers... have to say with all the top players who are available this summer (regardless of cost), if we end up starting next season with Glen Johnson as our biggest buy i'd be piisssedd off as hell.. Between a Robben, Silva, Tevez or Etoó for an added 10mill or so or Johnson i know who i'd pick ...

by **bigmick** » Tue Jun 16, 2009 5:08 am

A classic case IMHO this of a player not seeming exotic enough. If his name was Glenoli Johnstonovoni and he had been starring for Valencia as well playing for Portugal, people would be all over it. As his name is Glen Johnston, he plays for Portsmouth and England, suddenly he's way overpriced.

I don't buy it. When Leeds shelled out 19 million for Rio Ferdinand he was "way overpriced" as well. Some even said Rooney was "way overpriced" at 25 million. Frank Lampard was a "joke purchase" at 12 million quid, while further back players such as Gary Pallister were ridiculously expensive, as was Paul Ince.

In two years time, Johnson might well look cheap. I'd go for him at the money, if we are going to coninue toplay Kuyt we need him. We need a full on attacking right back who can beat people, get beyond the play, has pace etc. It's all about giving the team balance. At the end of the day it's all opinions, but I'm amazed that people would dvocate signing David Silva to play in the Premiership then argue that Johnson is "way overpriced" at 17 million quid

.

by **bigmick** » Tue Jun 16, 2009 5:12 am

See Ace I think Robben is past his very best (which was shown at Chelsea) while Silva would be a flop in England. Now obviously Eto and Tevez are good players (particularly Eto IMHO), but where would we play them? Neither are better than either Torres or Gerrard IMHO, and the last thing I'd want is rafa being given more "options" and "possibilities" with a plethora of front players. No, we need first team players who are better than the ones we've already got. Johnson fits the bill for me.

by **Effes** » Tue Jun 16, 2009 5:51 am

Well, when Rafa has spent big (Xabi, Masch, Torres) it has normally been a good buy,
so Im pinning my hopes on that.

by **account deleted by request** » Tue Jun 16, 2009 6:38 am

bigmick wrote:A classic case IMHO this of a player not seeming exotic enough. If his name was Glenoli Johnstonovoni and he had been starring for Valencia as well playing for Portugal, people would be all over it. As his name is Glen Johnston, he plays for Portsmouth and England, suddenly he's way overpriced.

I don't buy it. When Leeds shelled out 19 million for Rio Ferdinand he was "way overpriced" as well. Some even said Rooney was "way overpriced" at 25 million. Frank Lampard was a "joke purchase" at 12 million quid, while further back players such as Gary Pallister were ridiculously expensive, as was Paul Ince.

In two years time, Johnson might well look cheap. I'd go for him at the money, if we are going to coninue toplay Kuyt we need him. We need a full on attacking right back who can beat people, get beyond the play, has pace etc. It's all about giving the team balance. At the end of the day it's all opinions, but I'm amazed that people would dvocate signing David Silva to play in the Premiership then argue that Johnson is "way overpriced" at 17 million quid .

I suppose you could look at the fact that we could have bought Johnson for £8.5million at Christmas to suggest he is overpriced. Or maybe you could look at the price that we paid for Dossena (Italian International) or the price of Heinze (Argentinian international)

We have already seen how a defensively inept fullback causes problems with Dossena, now you want to repeat the experiment?

I don't believe Johnson has improved by £10million since Christmas, I don't believe he is a player that will greatly improve the team either by his ability or by bringing balance to the team. For me he is the type of player that looks good on occasion, but all too often is found lacking both in discipline and defensively when called upon.

As with Keane and Barry last season, I think we have got carried away rather than walking away when the fee started rising. If we were forced to buy English I suppose you could somehow justify the exorbitant fee, as we could look elsewhere I can see no reason or justification.

Sorry Mick, but as with Keane's price last season we will have to agree to disagree. Or put it another way, if we hadn't paid such an outrageous fee for Keane we could probably have bought Johnson at Christmas for £8.5million.

I just wonder who we will be forced to miss out on this time by paying way over the odds for Johnson.

by **bigmick** » Tue Jun 16, 2009 6:59 am

No probs with the disagreement S@int, we'll know where we stand visa vis the right and wrong of it all after six months or so I guess. As you probably remember, I was fine about the Keane signing as well (doesn't bode too well does it

) but accept we overpaid there.

There's a couple of points to consider, one or two of which have already been made. Firstly, we had the absolutely ridiculous spectacle last season of some people on here blaming the signing of Robbie Keane on Rick Parry. This was despite Rafa being all over Keane like a cheap suit at first. Whether this goes right or wrong, I hope Rafa's staunchest can bring themselves to actually lay it at the mans door should it go pearshaped.

Secondly, as I've already made clear, if we are going to buy Glen Johnson and then d!ck him around, treat him in the same absolutely ridiculous manner which we treated Keane last season then it will be a complete waste of money and time. We gave it a good go with the Keane, the old "if you score twice we'll drop you for a couple of matches" routine and it's fair to say it never really worked. Quite why anyone thought it ever would will remain a mystery to me until the day I draw my last breath, but I sincerely hope that along with other "lessons" that we've gradually been ticking off over these last five seasons, we've learnt this one as well. If we do buy the bloke, lets give him a chance. Lets not stick him on the left wing however good an "option" it might appear, lets not drop him for the next match if he's man of the match in the previous one. Lets get to know him a bit, talk to him occasionally. Even if in fact we don't, lets pretend we like the bloke. You never know, it might just work.

At least that way he will have a chance of not emulating Keane, who to be truthful still cuts a forlorn figure to this day. Not only could we really do with getting a return on our investment, but the rest of British football will be watching to see how Johnson gets on, see if he "fits in". We've already missed out on Barry as he seemingly thought "feck that for a game of soldiers" when it finally came to the point where he had to put pen to paper. A little bit of normality when handling a new signing is probably called for.

As it is, had we done that with Keane I remain convinced he would have been a good player for us. That's why valuations are very subjective. If a player comes in and performs to the absolute maximum of his ability, he is worth a very different amount of money to what he is if he performs ridiculously badly relative to his ability. That's what we did with Keane, we made a good player look awful, which made his signing look worse. All I hope is that we don't do the same with Johnson.

If we don't ruin him, he is a good player who is better than Arbeloa by a fair distance. As long as he shows that and we are simply left to quibble about whether we paid a couple of mill too much for him, all is good.

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