Liverpool FC Forum

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?

JoeTerp wrote:a medical is not a test to see if you are fit to play tomorrow. I am sure he had a rigorous medical to check to see if his injury was healing the way it should heal, as well as to check the strength on the other areas that he has injured over the years.

We bought Aquilani because we are looking for a 5 year replacement not a 5 week replacement for Xabi Alonso. Over the run of his contract, this injury will seem insignificant.  I hope he can stay fit for most of it.

DAV wrote:i agree, i hope he stays fit as well,and hope he does really well for us.
not being a medial man my self, - how can anyone be sure with any long term injury that a full 100% recovery will be made

DAV wrote:i appreciate that, (infact no i dont) i'm not saying he's a bad player. but the valuation you gave is way off the mark
ok so one more question.
do you think it was shrewd business?
or a gamble not worth taking?

Not sure why you think the valuation is way off. I'm not saying he's worth that, I'm saying Roma would have asked for that. We got him for a reduced price (£20m) due to the injury so it's only natural to assume they'd ask for more if he were fully fit.

If he turns out to be brilliant then it's shrewd business (like Torres). If he's a pile of poo then it won't be (like Keane) 

It's actually in our best interest that he either overcomes his injuries or is forced to retire - that way we'd get the insurance money. If he ends up having niggly injuries like Kewell did then it's a bad bit of business.

So to summarise all that waffling: wait and see 

s@int wrote:I do wonder whether the most atractive part of this deal wasn't that he his more direct and attacking than Alonso, but the fact that we could buy him for £5million down and the rest to be paid sometime in the future. Thereby allowing more of the Alonso money to go towards paying off the RBS lump sum demands.

You mean the "add ons" S@int 

HacksawJimDuggin wrote:

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.

Good to see some insight on this guy. He sounds like a very good player but I would reiterate the point that we cannot expect him to come into the team and immediately hit the ground running. It will take him time and it will be weeks/months until we see the best of him.

stmichael wrote:I expect him to be a classy player. And by that i basically mean someone very accomplished technically. That's what i expect as a bare minimum. Unlike Alonso, i expect him to be more dynamic, mobile and versatile, being interchangeable with our front players when/if appropriate (more-so with Gerrard than the others) and will also provide a goal threat in the form of an on-running midfielder into the box or from shooting at range.

What i would hope he would offer is not only the technique but the intelligence to run our midfield and have the passing to comfortably supply our front four with ammunition. Whether he is up to being the fulcrum of one of Europe's best sides in one of Europe's best leagues remains to be seen. I would also hope that he can stay fit and adapt to the game over here; hopefully even thriving.

s@int wrote:

stmichael wrote:I expect him to be a classy player. And by that i basically mean someone very accomplished technically. That's what i expect as a bare minimum. Unlike Alonso, i expect him to be more dynamic, mobile and versatile, being interchangeable with our front players when/if appropriate (more-so with Gerrard than the others) and will also provide a goal threat in the form of an on-running midfielder into the box or from shooting at range.

What i would hope he would offer is not only the technique but the intelligence to run our midfield and have the passing to comfortably supply our front four with ammunition. Whether he is up to being the fulcrum of one of Europe's best sides in one of Europe's best leagues remains to be seen. I would also hope that he can stay fit and adapt to the game over here; hopefully even thriving.

#34    Yesterday, 07:16 PM 
Death. 
First Team   Join Date: May 2008
Posts: 1,143 

I expect him to be a classy player. And by that i basically mean someone very accomplished technically. That's what i expect as a bare minimum.

Unlike Alonso, i expect him to be more dynamic, mobile and versatile, being interchangeable with our front players when/if appropriate (more-so with Gerrard than the others) and will also provide a goal threat in the form of an on-running midfielder into the box or from shooting at range.

What i would hope he would offer is not only the technique but the intelligence to run our midfield and have the passing to comfortably supply our front four with ammunition. Whether he is up to being the fulcrum of one of Europe's best sides in one of Europe's best leagues remains to be seen.

I would also hope that he can stay fit and adapt to the game over here; hopefully even thriving.

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Seems someone on LFC Online had similar thoughts.LINK

Not again 

s@int wrote:

stmichael wrote:I expect him to be a classy player. And by that i basically mean someone very accomplished technically. That's what i expect as a bare minimum. Unlike Alonso, i expect him to be more dynamic, mobile and versatile, being interchangeable with our front players when/if appropriate (more-so with Gerrard than the others) and will also provide a goal threat in the form of an on-running midfielder into the box or from shooting at range.

What i would hope he would offer is not only the technique but the intelligence to run our midfield and have the passing to comfortably supply our front four with ammunition. Whether he is up to being the fulcrum of one of Europe's best sides in one of Europe's best leagues remains to be seen. I would also hope that he can stay fit and adapt to the game over here; hopefully even thriving.

#34    Yesterday, 07:16 PM 
Death. 
First Team   Join Date: May 2008
Posts: 1,143 

I expect him to be a classy player. And by that i basically mean someone very accomplished technically. That's what i expect as a bare minimum.

Unlike Alonso, i expect him to be more dynamic, mobile and versatile, being interchangeable with our front players when/if appropriate (more-so with Gerrard than the others) and will also provide a goal threat in the form of an on-running midfielder into the box or from shooting at range.

What i would hope he would offer is not only the technique but the intelligence to run our midfield and have the passing to comfortably supply our front four with ammunition. Whether he is up to being the fulcrum of one of Europe's best sides in one of Europe's best leagues remains to be seen.

I would also hope that he can stay fit and adapt to the game over here; hopefully even thriving.

-------------------------------------------

Seems someone on LFC Online had similar thoughts.LINK

GYBS wrote:Havent we been through this already ? does it really matter ?

Wait until he posts about how rubbish Rafa