Liverpool FC Forum

by **club_Levis** » Wed Jul 09, 2008 1:17 pm

jono wrote:lol, you speakin from experience

Villa will end up up in Southport on Red Wine of course

Have you actually seen him play?

by **account deleted by request** » Wed Jul 09, 2008 1:17 pm

jono wrote:lol, you speakin from experience

Villa will end up up in Southport on Red Wine of course

No mate, but I think we have all heard the rumours

by **Sabre** » Wed Jul 09, 2008 1:22 pm

Whether we get him or not I'm happy that we're looking for QUALITY players for SPECIFIC positions, not more options.

It will be very complex to get him, but at least the ambitions and goals seem to be right. I'd understand to lose Alonso in a well covered position to bring a top quality player in a badly needed position.

by **LFC2007** » Wed Jul 09, 2008 1:32 pm

Bad Bob wrote:I've copied the story posted on .tv below. The comments about Villa at the end are obviously going to be the eye-catching stuff for the press, who want to feed the latest round of rumours. What's more eye-catching to me, though, are the comments in bold.

BENITEZ PROUD OF CROUCH PROGRESS
Jimmy Rice 09 July 2008
Rafa Benitez has spoken of his pride at the progress Peter Crouch has made under his management at Liverpool – and admitted he would be sad to lose the striker to Portsmouth.
Benitez knows he cannot offer Crouch what he wants more than anything – first-team football week in, week out.

With this in mind, he has not stood in the way of the big man's proposed move to Portsmouth, despite anything written in the press.

However, Benitez knows the popular forward, who only has to agree personal terms for the move south to be completed, will be missed at Anfield as well as Melwood.

The boss told Liverpoolfc.tv: "I am proud of the progress he has made. When we brought him here people were talking – especially because he didn't score for 14 games or something like that.

"But he showed his quality; showed he was a good player and a fantastic professional. He is a nice person. We know we will miss him but you can't stop a player who wants to play every week.

"He understands that with Torres here and Gerrard as a second striker, like he was at the end of last season, it will be difficult for him.

"Everything is friendly. I've talked to him and the agents. If he can agree with Portsmouth it will be perfect for everyone.

"People need to understand that we have supported Peter from the day he signed and we offered him a new contract (before the summer). But I can understand that he wants to play every week, wants to start every game.

"As a manager you have to understand these situations. Also, a few people in the press were talking about £7million – so then I talked about £15million because I wanted to protect the club. But I know you need to respect the players.

"So, we have now more or less agreed a transfer fee and now it's just the player talking to Portsmouth and finding a solution."

Liverpool are now preparing for life after Crouch, which Benitez revealed is likely to include a new striker.

Asked whether Valencia's David Villa was an option, he added: "We have Fernando Torres, Andriy Voronin, Dirk Kuyt, Ryan Babel and Steven Gerrard, who can play as a second striker.

"But we will try to bring in another option. Villa is a player we know all about and he is on our list. But maybe it will be difficult."

-----

First, you have the comment that with Torres up top and Gerrard just behind, Crouch wasn't likely to get much of a game. This sounds to me like Rafa is largely planning to stick to the 4-2-3-1 formation from the run-in last season. And, Big Mick may just have a point about Rafa seeing the light, as there's also no talk of rotation there. In the past, you might have heard comments to suggest that Crouch will still get plenty of opportunities because it's a long season, etc. etc.

The second highlighted passage speaks to the discussion we've had on here about Crouch's fee. As LFC2007 has argued, it seems that the 15 million price tag was a way of setting the bar high so that we'd get a decent fee for Crouch.

The last highlighted bit isn't as exciting as it sounds, IMO. With Crouch gone we will perhaps be in the market for another striker to make sure that area of the squad's not too thin. Given what was said earlier in the interview, however, and given that we seem pretty skint this summer, I don't think it will be a big name. It seems, that Rafa's plan is to play Stevie just behind Torres for most matches and make do with other squad players from time to time as cover. Let's hope both can stay fit!

If Villa is one of our targets, that would indicate that Rafa has no set formation nailed down for next season, rather it depends on the strength of opportunity to sign him. I don't think Rafa would intend to sign him without playing him - that surely means a 4-4-2, unless Rafa styles him into a 4-2-3-1 (Unlikely, I think). I think it's a case of, should the opportunity to sign him arise, he will sign him and go for a 4-4-2, should it not - because it 'will be difficult' - he generally intends to stick with the 4-2-3-1 - which is where the Crouch comment comes in.

It's at least a positive sign that we're interested in him though, he's the type of quality we need, and he must be top of the list. £20m-£30m valued players aren't there to make up the numbers.

by **jono** » Wed Jul 09, 2008 1:40 pm

club_Levis wrote:
jono wrote:lol, you speakin from experience

Villa will end up up in Southport on Red Wine of course

Have you actually seen him play?

yeah looks class to me

by **Bad Bob** » Wed Jul 09, 2008 1:50 pm

LFC2007 wrote:If Villa is one of our targets, that would indicate that Rafa has no set formation nailed down for next season, rather it depends on the strength of opportunity to sign him. I don't think Rafa would intend to sign him without playing him - that surely means a 4-4-2, unless Rafa styles him into a 4-2-3-1 (Unlikely, I think). I think it's a case of, should the opportunity to sign him arise, he will sign him and go for a 4-4-2, should it not - because it 'will be difficult' - he generally intends to stick with the 4-2-3-1 - which is where the Crouch comment comes in.

It's at least a positive sign that we're interested in him though, he's the type of quality we need, and he must be top of the list. £20m-£30m valued players aren't there to make up the numbers.

I completely agree, mate. Were we to get Villa, we'd go 4-4-2 to get him into the line-up, no question. I suppose I'm just more pessimistic than some about this deal happening. I interpret Benitez's remarks about Villa as an honest answer to a question asked and little more. Would he want Villa at Liverpool? Of course he would. Will he get him? IMO, the 'it will be difficult' comment speaks volumes. I read that as, we don't have a great chance at getting Villa here at the moment. If that is indeed the case, I think Rafa's comments about Torres and Gerrard are much more telling because that's the more likely scenario at the moment: we don't sign a top striker and go back to the formula that, in fairness, worked a treat for us the last few months of the season.

by **stmichael** » Wed Jul 09, 2008 1:55 pm

Bad Bob wrote:
LFC2007 wrote:If Villa is one of our targets, that would indicate that Rafa has no set formation nailed down for next season, rather it depends on the strength of opportunity to sign him. I don't think Rafa would intend to sign him without playing him - that surely means a 4-4-2, unless Rafa styles him into a 4-2-3-1 (Unlikely, I think). I think it's a case of, should the opportunity to sign him arise, he will sign him and go for a 4-4-2, should it not - because it 'will be difficult' - he generally intends to stick with the 4-2-3-1 - which is where the Crouch comment comes in.

It's at least a positive sign that we're interested in him though, he's the type of quality we need, and he must be top of the list. £20m-£30m valued players aren't there to make up the numbers.

I completely agree, mate. Were we to get Villa, we'd go 4-4-2 to get him into the line-up, no question. I suppose I'm just more pessimistic than some about this deal happening. I interpret Benitez's remarks about Villa as an honest answer to a question asked and little more. Would he want Villa at Liverpool? Of course he would. Will he get him? IMO, the 'it will be difficult' comment speaks volumes. I read that as, we don't have a great chance at getting Villa here at the moment. If that is indeed the case, I think Rafa's comments about Torres and Gerrard are much more telling because that's the more likely scenario at the moment: we don't sign a top striker and go back to the formula that, in fairness, worked a treat for us the last few months of the season.

I'd agree with that.

I'm puzzled by the links with David Villa and Robbie Keane. Yes they are both very good players, but we shouldn't disrupt the Gerrard/Torres axis as they really seem to have developed something special in their understanding. Keane is at his best just behind the main striker, so does Keane play to either side of the three (he can do a job there, but he's not at his best) or do we shift Gerrard to the right?

That's the one conundrum I can't get my head around.

by **mistyred** » Wed Jul 09, 2008 2:20 pm

F'ck the why's and what's, Rafa go get the boy if that's what you want. You wanted to sign him at Valencia it didn't happen, you wanted to make him your first
signing for Lfc and it didn't happen.

Third time lucky, go and get your man Rafa

by **woof woof !** » Wed Jul 09, 2008 4:34 pm

stmichael wrote:I'm puzzled by the links with David Villa and Robbie Keane. Yes they are both very good players, but we shouldn't disrupt the Gerrard/Torres axis as they really seem to have developed something special in their understanding. Keane is at his best just behind the main striker, so does Keane play to either side of the three (he can do a job there, but he's not at his best) or do we shift Gerrard to the right?

That's the one conundrum I can't get my head around.

Where and when Rafa plays Keane (if signed) does pose a question but I'm not surprised we're in the hunt for any quality striker, we mustn't assume that Torres will be available for every game and without him in terms of quality our current "strike force" looks pretty thin.

by **destro** » Wed Jul 09, 2008 6:10 pm

There was some Spanish reporter on the radio the other day, he was asked about Villa saying he wants to stay at Valencia and basically he said he was a liar. He went on to say that although he would love to sign for Barcelona or Real Madrid, Barcelona do not have the money until they sell and Real Madrid is all about politics, he said because Villa had basically took Raul's place in the national team that they would not entertain signing him in case it p1ssed of Raul and the Real fans that love him ( not sure if Sabre could shed any light on that or not ).

So without getting anyone's hopes up it is a possibility that Raffa could get him, he has ( allegedly ) said he does not want to sign for Chelsea, Arsenal are said to be his preferred choice ( allegedly ) but unless they sell Adebayour that doesn't look likely to happen. So there are not to many options left if he decides to leave Valencia. As good as he is I wouldn't like the fact that we got him because we were the only club left that could afford him or a last resort.

by **Toffeehater** » Wed Jul 09, 2008 6:16 pm

Villa is a good player but not better than torres. Firstly torres has age on his side , he's younger than villa and has time to learn more . Secondly if you notice , torres can create opportunities for himself unlike villa , he can dribble past his man , beat his man and score like the many times we have seen this season . Torres needs to work on his finishing and composure as thats the only areas where villa beats him in . VIlla is a goal poacher , as we saw at the euro's and we saw at valencia this season . Give him a chance or opening and he will deffo take it well .

It's nice to see rafa addressing a position that we are in need off and also finally some big names , whether it happens or not its a entirely different thing altogether and FWIW i doubt it would happen has villa has come out and said that he would like to remain at Valencia , david silva would be an easier option to try and get

by **Toffeehater** » Wed Jul 09, 2008 6:20 pm

RedBlood wrote:i think villa is a brillant player & would love him come here

but 2 be honest i would rather us buy 2 world class wingers

people have said move gerrard over 2 the right winger but weve all seen in the past what a baby he is when he doesnt get his own way

i reme,ber after the season he scored 24 goals he decided he didnt want 2 play there, id be screamin at the telly because everytime we attacked thered be loads of space on the right but he would always drift in & it really did contribute 2 r bad start that season

as much as i love stevie he is selfish................play anywhere 4 the team my

what a ridiculous post , gerrard always had the best of the team at heart . He wants the best for this team and always gives his best . He has dug us out of so many ditches that i've lost count . The man deserves more respect than you have given him in your post . He played on the right but he never complained throughout that season but only after it ended saying that he did not feel as comfortable there as he did as a central midfielder .

by **spion** » Wed Jul 09, 2008 11:31 pm

This isn't a forum its a back slapping contest. You wouldn't know a opinion if it dumped you for a crack dealer. The fact is the real supporters, you know the ones who have been there through thick & thin. The ones that giving your life to a football team is more than buying a shirt every two years feel the slow death of the Liverpool way, which is the right way.

This "new" Liverpool is becoming a homogenised version of what once was. I believe in Benitez but dont enjoy what he is made to do by the owners or because of there ignorance. If this goes on any more he will walk & after that I cant see who can return this beloved club to where its fans should be demanding it be.

It seems on here people question education or your support if you dare disagree with the norm, I for one get tired with the same boring :censored:

licking threads that always talk about the revolution the new dawn the amazing future the resurgence. It aint coming without a complete rethink & at the moment people dont want to here that. Everyone on here seems to have a season ticket on the kop, well you're not sitting near me because Gerrard aint no hero with the hundred or so who are around & there is little adulation when we turn out another average performance. I'm sorry if you bubbles are bursting but wake up & smell the coffee.

by **NANNY RED** » Wed Jul 09, 2008 11:47 pm

spion wrote:This isn't a forum its a back slapping contest. You wouldn't know a opinion if it dumped you for a crack dealer. The fact is the real supporters, you know the ones who have been there through thick & thin. The ones that giving your life to a football team is more than buying a shirt every two years feel the slow death of the Liverpool way, which is the right way.

This "new" Liverpool is becoming a homogenised version of what once was. I believe in Benitez but dont enjoy what he is made to do by the owners or because of there ignorance. If this goes on any more he will walk & after that I cant see who can return this beloved club to where its fans should be demanding it be.

It seems on here people question education or your support if you dare disagree with the norm, I for one get tired with the same boring licking threads that always talk about the revolution the new dawn the amazing future the resurgence. It aint coming without a complete rethink & at the moment people dont want to here that. Everyone on here seems to have a season ticket on the kop, well you're not sitting near me because Gerrard aint no hero with the hundred or so who are around & there is little adulation when we turn out another average performance. I'm sorry if you bubbles are bursting but wake up & smell the coffee.

But youve said it yourself there lad the owners enough said

by **Mustangt125** » Thu Jul 10, 2008 4:42 am

where would villa play in our formation? I think unless we change it around Silva fits our formation better.

Wasn't there an article out a while ago saying that we already had signed three players (not technically signed but agreed upon or something) and one of them was a starting 11 player.

what do you guys think about that? I remember Rafa saying it himself.

Liverpool FC Forum

Liverpool target spain star villa - Is this to be the one big name signing?

Who is online