Liverpool FC Forum

by **account deleted by request** » Mon Jul 20, 2009 8:35 am

aCe' wrote:20-25 mill is good money imo... the market is a little inflated with ManCity, Madrid, Barcelona, maybe even Chelesa, ourselves and Manutd willing to pay more than you'd expect to get their targets but Alonso at 30+mill is just ridiculous money if we manage to get that...
Melo who was one of the best midfielders in Italy last season moved for 25milion Euros and i wouldnt think Xabi's transfer deal would be all that different from his... I wanted us to sign him i think hes a brilliant player but atleast he didnt end up at Arsenal like expected.. would have been a brilliant buy for them...
Anyways back to Xabi... i think a player exchange deal would be good for us... We'll probably need a replacement for Alonso and we definitely need a backup forward and Real have players they are ready to offload who would fit in both areas... Maybe adding Sneijder to the deal wouldnt be such a bad idea... Personally i'd love to see us go for Robben but i dont think he's quite the Rafa type of player... for starters, he's not Spanish, and he also doesnt run around too much when he doesnt have the ball so... probably not going to happen...
Anyways... key to me whatever the deal is, is that we sign the right players given the money...

I agree mate, I would like Robben too, but I don't think many would agree with us.

I think the Alonso drama has lasted too long now, something should be sorted one way or another then we can move on.

by **tubby** » Mon Jul 20, 2009 8:47 am

I thought Real were going to offer Sneijder as part of the deal too? That way they can meet Rafa's overall valuation.

by **lakes10** » Mon Jul 20, 2009 8:48 am

well he was on the plane with the rest of the team last night, dont think he would have gone that far away from Spain if a deal was about to be done.

by **aCe'** » Mon Jul 20, 2009 9:03 am

Well if he stays then thats good news but i feel we still need to make atleast 1 or 2 attacking signings before the window closes regardless of whether Alonso stays or leaves... Scott Parker coming in should have nothing to do with the other deals either imo...
What worries me is that we dont seem to be looking to offload the likes of Dossena, Voronin, Degen and Babel yet... Those players would bring in atleast 20mill or so imo.... would go a long way in funding a top attacking player without significantly weakening our side , if at all...

A top winger (Robben, Silva, Young..etc) and a backup forward for me would have us looking alot more competitive next season imo...
Because lets face it, the side we have now isnt that different from the one that started last year... If you'd call losing Robbie Keane and replacing him with Voronin an improvement then fair enough i guess

but seriously besides Johnson the side is very similar to what we had last year and i wouldnt think Johnson would prove the missing piece in the puzzle that would then allow us to dominate the smaller sides and turn the draws into wins... I dont think our run from the end of last season can or will be maintained.. I dont think we'll be seeing that expansive all attack mentality from Rafa week in week out starting day 1 because it quite simply isnt Rafas style... And funny enough i somewhat agree with that... given the players we have, its not what we do best...
Our old style.. replace 1 or 2 of the attacking players with better players and we'll be laughing...

by **heimdall** » Mon Jul 20, 2009 9:09 am

hmm I'm really torn now, on one hand I really would like to see Alonso at Liverpool next season but on the other hand if we could get both Silva and Sneijder then that would be great too. I wonder if Rafa has the same dilemma?

by **Sabre** » Mon Jul 20, 2009 9:10 am

I dont think we'll be seeing that expansive all attack mentality from Rafa week in week out starting day 1 because it quite simply isnt Rafas style...

Most Goals Scored 77 Liverpool

Well last season with Torres injured in several parts of the season we got 77 goals, more than anybody.

Not bad for a conservative manager. Or perhaps that conservativeness is yet another mantra about the manager that is repeated as universal truth, but it's actually bóllocks. We have a few bóllocks mantra running on the forum for a long time, and I guess no data nor achievement of the team will break that. If scoring 77 goals doesn't destroy the notion of Rafa's Liverpool being negative, then nothing will.

by **NANNY RED** » Mon Jul 20, 2009 9:12 am

Xabi has gone with liverpool to the far east

Oh an i forgot ..they have got to sell first before they spend any more trillions

by **Soul** » Mon Jul 20, 2009 9:18 am

Xabi Alonso has fought the red colours for many years now. He has been part of something big, something beautiful.

Now, it could be a time to end it. A time for him to move on to other times. Real Madrid have an ambitious dream and we'll see whether Xabi will be part of it our not.

On the other chance Alonso could decide to stay with Liverpool in the pursuit of the first English Championship since 1991.

by **Ciggy** » Mon Jul 20, 2009 9:25 am

Alonso said: 'It is always a great feeling when Madrid want you, especially considering the phase of the career I am in now.

'But at this point, whether or not that can happen is not up to me. It's a matter that involves three parties, including myself. I do not like to force the issue. I prefer to talk.

'Madrid's project is certainly impressive. But beyond that, I cannot tell you anything else.'

Alonso intends to hold discussions with Benitez. He said: 'I will talk to him, sure, but the first thing to do when I arrive [in Austria] is to greet him.

'But I imagine that in the next few days, there will be time for all that, even though in reality, there is nothing in particular to talk to Rafa about. It's the clubs who have to negotiate to reach an agreement.'

On the reported fee, Alonso said: 'I am not the man who can answer these questions.

'The truth is that I cannot say much, because every little thing can be misinterpreted. And I do not know how things will turn out either because I am not a fortune teller.'

Benitez has consistently said in public that he does not want to sell Alonso, but if the position becomes untenable with the Spaniard having to search for a replacement, the fee he wants is over £30m.

Valencia's David Silva is reputed to be a target, while Liverpool are also likely to enter the bidding for Aston Villa winger Ashley Young.

Taken from AS.

by **aCe'** » Mon Jul 20, 2009 9:31 am

Sabre wrote:
I dont think we'll be seeing that expansive all attack mentality from Rafa week in week out starting day 1 because it quite simply isnt Rafas style...

Most Goals Scored 77 Liverpool

Well last season with Torres injured in several parts of the season we got 77 goals, more than anybody.

Not bad for a conservative manager. Or perhaps that conservativeness is yet another mantra about the manager that is repeated as universal truth, but it's actually bóllocks. We have a few bóllocks mantra running on the forum for a long time, and I guess no data nor achievement of the team will break that. If scoring 77 goals doesn't destroy the notion of Rafa's Liverpool being negative, then nothing will.

I said we played a very attacking style towards the end of last year didnt i ?! we scored many goals towards the end of the season..

game 38: scored 3
game 37: scored 2
game 36: scored 3
game 35: scored 3
game 34: scored 3
game 33: scored 4
game 32: scored 4
game 31: scored 1
game 30: scored 5
game 29: scored 4

so in the last quarter of the season we scored almost half our goals so lets not get too jumpy here now pablo..

heres some more stats for you if you wanna keep bringing up numbers to try and defy common sense..

2004/2005 : scored 52... (Chelsea, Arsenal, ManUtd Middlesbrough, Fulham all scored more than we did)

2005/2006 : scored 57... (Chelsea, Arsenal, ManUtd scored more than we did)

2006/2007 : scored 57... (Chelsea, Arsenal, ManUtd, Tottenham all scored more than we did)

2007/2008 : scored 67... (Manutd, Arsenal scored more with Tottenham and Chelsea(2nd) scoring 1 & 2 goal less respectively)

so i think overall its rather safe to say that we havent always been best know for our attacking play and being the best attacking side in the league (not that many would claim that today but anyways...)

by **Ciggy** » Mon Jul 20, 2009 9:34 am

The shackles come off the second half of last season because he had no choice the fans wanted that league so bad, and it was great that Rafa let our players express themselves rather than worrying about what the other teams would do.

More of the same this season please.

by **ConnO'var** » Mon Jul 20, 2009 9:34 am

Sabre wrote:Not bad for a conservative manager. Or perhaps that conservativeness is yet another mantra about the manager that is repeated as universal truth, but it's actually bóllocks. We have a few bóllocks mantra running on the forum for a long time, and I guess no data nor achievement of the team will break that. If scoring 77 goals doesn't destroy the notion of Rafa's Liverpool being negative, then nothing will.

Have to disagree with that Sabre.

As you yourself often say, looking at one particular stat and deriving the definitive conclusion is impossible.

11 draws (7 at home) also tells a story..... albeit an incomplete one...... The view in totality, which includes his track record in past years, adds to the perception.

by **Sabre** » Mon Jul 20, 2009 9:43 am

aCe' wrote:
Sabre wrote:
I dont think we'll be seeing that expansive all attack mentality from Rafa week in week out starting day 1 because it quite simply isnt Rafas style...

Most Goals Scored 77 Liverpool

Well last season with Torres injured in several parts of the season we got 77 goals, more than anybody.

Not bad for a conservative manager. Or perhaps that conservativeness is yet another mantra about the manager that is repeated as universal truth, but it's actually bóllocks. We have a few bóllocks mantra running on the forum for a long time, and I guess no data nor achievement of the team will break that. If scoring 77 goals doesn't destroy the notion of Rafa's Liverpool being negative, then nothing will.

My point with that stat wasn't to say we practice an all attacking football, nor we don't have to improve attacking wise.

Nor to try to say stats are my favourite weapon. My point is to say we have things to improve attacking wise, but we're far from being dull or conservative system wise. If you wanted to improve our attacking numbers and goals, you should look changing some of the men of our normal team (Kuyt) rather than the system.

From the figures from 3 years ago we have seen the impact of Torres. Likewise if you want to improve your goal tally further you have to think of changing men, rather than the system. The Liverpool system is not conservative per se. You don't become the most scoring team of the league if you are too conservative.

I don't think we're the best attacking side in the league, but I think that it's unfair to paint us as a dull team attacking wise with our numbers and after a title challenge, where as other teams like Arsenal get all the plaudits of attacking football but would have envied to be in our positions and with our goal tally. Not the best attacking team? probably. Dull and conservative? nah.

11 draws (7 at home) also tells a story..... albeit an incomplete one...... The view in totality, which includes his track record in past years, adds to the perception.

Conn, I too suffered those draws as you did. Tell me, in those games, did you see the team reaching the opposition goal once or twice? or rather you remember games in which we reached plenty, but the last pass or the last cross or a key control wasn't good enough?

I remember more of the latter, and I remember our Torres and Gerrard dependancy when they weren't around. That last pass isn't something a system will give you, but a certain player will.

by **NANNY RED** » Mon Jul 20, 2009 9:44 am

In one of the pics hes pointing to himself an saying me off to that circus :censored:

off . an look at aggers barnet lol

http://liverpoolfc.co.za/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/1126051643/m/996100873

by **red37** » Mon Jul 20, 2009 9:59 am

All this recent palava revolving around the 'will he stay - will he go' situation must have taken its toll. Xabi looks thoroughly miserable there.

I really hope he does capture the form of last season, should he decide to remain a Liverpool player. Besides....nothing less would be acceptable.

From any of them for that matter. Used to be a f*cking privilege to wear this shirt.

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