Liverpool FC Forum

Dundalk wrote:Whos that with him?

DAV wrote:firstly i no very little about aquilani, other than he has had alot of injurys. A month and a half into the season and still injured. Before people have a go for me having ago at the new lad (i'm not). i just want to no the following
how did he pass his medical?
and how/why did we agree such an over the top transfer fee?

Fauxy wrote:Found this post on RAWK, thought it was a good read and interesting coming from somebody who has actually watched him play and not just on youtube..


I've watched Aquilani for two years in Serie A and international football (Italy) so here's my take on the situation:

As we know Alonso is an intelligent distributor of the ball. His weakness (being slow and less agile) was also his strength because he was our thinking man, the brain in our midfield orchestrating our attack from deeper.

Aquilani is very different in that he is faster and able to run into more dangerous positions into the box, and also play quick one-two's around the box. He is also an excellent passer of the ball, but he is not only faster in speed but also with his decision making... has brilliant vision and able to crack open tight defences with pin point short passes. This is an ability we see with players such as Kaka and Fabregas. It's rare for us to get a foreign player with this ability and the only other player we have who's ball control, technique is of similar standard to play outside the box - is Benayoun. Though, Rafa even played Kuyt ahead of Benayoun in that position, he prefers to use Yossi out wide so its encouraging that we have Aquilani with this possibility. Expect him to change positions with Gerrard sometimes.

Aquilani also has a stunning long range shot on him, and is able to hit them quite sweet with both feet and I think the Premier League's style for speed and shooting (think Lampard) would suite Aquilani better. Of course he is never going to be as physically strong as Ballack but there are many lightweight players who have been very effective in England or against English teams.

Many people are concerned with his injuries, but I believe that has been totally misunderstood. The mistake is that people have read the amount of starts he has made and thought he only plays 15-20 matches a season. No. He's played much more because half the time he starts on the bench, since Roma already had established players De Rossi, Totti and Perrotta occupy the same positions he plays in. He had two long term injuries but for a player in his position and for that type of injury, it isn't a serious concern. He could well miss 3 or 4 weeks a season from minor injuries, but so might Gerrard, Torres... and so does the likes of Fabregas - but it would be insane for Arsenal to sell Fabregas because he is lightweight.

Aquilani (together) with Johnson will be crucial to open up teams who park the bus. Aquilani is a clever player who is effective around the box and this is exactly what we needed. He is more mobile, takes a cracking shot and can spot a tight pass in crowded defences. In an ideal world we'd have him AND Alonso. But we have to move on.