John Arne Riise, blast or past?

[Nicey]

I'm baffled/perplexed/stunned by all the Riise bashers, i really am.

Me too mate ... has no pace my arse ... thats why he is always onside and 5 yards ahead of his man when he brings a holllywood pass down with one touch, cuts inside and leaves his man for dead everytime ...

Riise has always had his detractors and I have never got it

Its one thing not to rate a player once people dont start being derogatory towards their own I have no problems with that we cant all agree on every player

Risse is Quality in my books, happy to see him on the teamsheet, undervalued at this club by some me thinks

One of the few left backs in the world that can change any game any time

[Dero]

He might have served good years for us but I think its time to get rid of dead wood. He lacks pace of the wing, lapses in concentration, takes shots from God awful angles and despite this he still starts nine tenths of the games.

I'm sure he plays in more than 0.9 games for us

[Darth Marty]

so, to all Riise bashers I say again -
Name me 5 better left backs based on todays form/ability etc.

And no ****ing loading up FM and picking those you think, I want reasons as to why you mention them....50 caps, played all games last season and won the league...anything that proves your point.

Id say Cole, Lahm and Zambrotta..........anyone else is just personal preference and certainly not a huge improvement. So lets buy one of those three or shut the **** up.

[Zapater]

I like Riise he is one of my favourite players, but he has some awful flaws. He isn't a particularly good defender even though he rarely gets caught out. His technique is horrible, he hoofs the ball forward so often. He has no right foot. He always tries nutmegs or kicking the ball one side of the defender and running the other and both almost never work. He pisses me off at the best of times and his ginger.

I love his attitude, his running and his great long shots. He's been here for a long time too so that adds to it.

I would be sad if he left but he shouldn't be a starter here. He isn't good enough going forward to be considered a very good player going forward and he isn't good enough defensivly to be considered a top defensive player.

so, to all Riise bashers I say again -
Name me 5 better left backs based on todays form/ability etc.

And no ****ing loading up FM and picking those you think, I want reasons as to why you mention them....50 caps, played all games last season and won the league...anything that proves your point.

Id say Cole, Lahm and Zambrotta..........anyone else is just personal preference and certainly not a huge improvement. So lets buy one of those three or shut the **** up.

Well, if those 3 you just named don't need explanation I'll name a handful I'd rather have in the squad than Riise at the moment.

Emiliano Moretti. Defensively a brick wall. Makes a lot of tackles, not great going forward but a good passer of the ball to help set up attacks. Good in the air too. Very complete defensivly and is consistent as ****, almost never has a bad game.

Grosso. I've been keeping an eye on him since his palermo days and I can assure you of his quality, he is as good at defending as Riise but his forward play is much better. He is a good dribbler, passer and crosser. Something that Riise is none of. A little inconsistent yes, but a much better player.

Maxwell: I haven't seen him extensively for Inter only around 5-7 times in Serie A but I did see him more than that for Ajax. Around as good as Riise at defending, but going forward he is fantastic.

Kaladze. He can also play DM or centre half. He isn't the fastest but he is very solid. He rarely gets beaten. He is reasonable at contributing while attacking too. Very stylish and composed on the ball I must say.

Off the top of my head there are some other players I would prefer having at left back than Riise. I do prefer someone who is competent at both attacking and defending (which Riise is) but I want them to be very good at one and decent at the other. Not just average at both. That isn't good enough to demand a first choice place at a club like ours. If we want to become the best we need players capable of competing with the best. Therefore they need these qualities. I would be quite happy if Aurelio can return from injury stay fit and be our permanent left back . I love the guy, he exudes quality. Really is a shame he's made out of glass. Oh and keep an eye on Garrido who signed for City. He was very impressive at la Real. Over the next few seasons I expect him to become a top left back. Jose Enrique is also a good prospect played a good season for Villarreal last season, but I don't think he'll be anything great. He'll be average or just above.

Oh yeah, seeing I was naming some players. In a year or two I'll love to see how Taye Taiwo at OM is developing. He looks like Riise but with better technique and defensive skills. He's quite raw atm but could be a great player in the future.

[Welhung]

JAR is a ****in legend. Ok so he's not perfect, but if you look at his record and his consistency for us season after season, I don't reckon you could find a better player. He never gets injured, he can pump in red hot goals with that lethal left foot of his, he does have pace, he's a loylal Mofo, etc...

He is AVERAGE or better in EVERY part of his game. What more do you want??? Perfection is impossible.

If we put him up for sale we'd have heaps of teams killing eachother for his signature.

Don't slag the boy off. Its just not right.

[RedReet]

Spot on. He's won us numerous points over the years and there isn't a better goal scoring full back that I can think of. Give the guy a break and pick on Alonso. Now there's someone who has done absolutely **** all for the last 18 months!! We won't against chelsea if he plays - you need 11 men to beat the top teams. This is one game where we can't afford to carry passengers!

I read a similar post slipped in somewhere (I’m guessing by you) and just presumed it was a wind up.

Are you really being serious? Alonso is a supremely gifted footballer. Granted he didn’t have his greatest season last year, but who did? I really don’t know how to respond to a comment like that.

Maybe you should explain first what you mean or why you think we won’t win against Chelsea if he plays (do you realise how ridiculous that sounds???).

[Shaggy]

so, to all Riise bashers I say again -
Name me 5 better left backs based on todays form/ability etc.

And no ****ing loading up FM and picking those you think, I want reasons as to why you mention them....50 caps, played all games last season and won the league...anything that proves your point.

Id say Cole, Lahm and Zambrotta..........anyone else is just personal preference and certainly not a huge improvement. So lets buy one of those three or shut the **** up.

In the Prem alone...

Cole - obviously
Bridge - obviously
Shorey - better defender and a more cultured user of the ball
Lescott - a much stronger defender than JAR
Heinze - ditto
Evra - similar standard defensively, better going forward

Haven't seen enough of Clichy but he could be better, Baines is potentially better...

[Joe Le Toff]

Ive never been his greatest fan but it has to be said hes been an integral part of what is arguably the best back four in the country for some time now so he must be doing something right.
I think the concentration lapses he suffers from are becoming more and more regular and im not sure that he warrants a place in our best 11.
Without a doubt he shouldnt be allowed to leave though, hes an invaluable squad player.

[anfieldanfield]

Spot on. He's won us numerous points over the years and there isn't a better goal scoring full back that I can think of. Give the guy a break and pick on Alonso. Now there's someone who has done absolutely **** all for the last 18 months!! We won't against chelsea if he plays - you need 11 men to beat the top teams. This is one game where we can't afford to carry passengers!

Have to agree with this sadly.

[tommyg]

boys boys boys http://youtube.com/watch?v=Jjy1PmfGANs

some of you are forgetting about the best LFC goal of this current decade

[DeeTheDog]

Riise is a valuable member of our squad and we'd be a poorer team without him. Yes, he can be defensively suspect but what attacking fullback is not. His ability to score vital goals cannot be understated. He has been and is still a match winner, not many fullbacks can add that to a team, so he may not be a tricky winger but a lot of the times his sheer zest is enough to muscle by players.

Rafa is looking at a more defensive minded left back, to give us another option, yet Riise provides us with an excellent solution all down the left flank. As for Shorey, Lescott and Bridge catch yourself on, if Riise was English he would a regular in the national team.

[Jacko]

Riise for me, at the moment is the most frustrating footballer we have at the club. It's not that he lacks ability cause over the years at time's he's been brilliant. It's just that he lacks a ****ing brain. My point being proved by that god-awful diving header at Villa last weekend- absolutely embarressing. Nowhere near the goal- but tried to stop the ball by flinging himself to the ground.

If tradition is to continue with John Arne he'll have a great season this time around cause since he's joined it's been one good season and then one bad but he's got some ****ing improving to do if that is to happen.

[Darth Marty]

In the Prem alone...

Cole - obviously
Bridge - obviously
Shorey - better defender and a more cultured user of the ball
Lescott - a much stronger defender than JAR
Heinze - ditto
Evra - similar standard defensively, better going forward

Haven't seen enough of Clichy but he could be better, Baines is potentially better...

We have differing opinions on this as out of your 5 I would say 1 is better (cole), 2 on a very similar level (bridge/heinze.. but far far more injury prone, especially bridge) and lescott and evra worse than J.A.R.

But there we are eh....thats why footie is such a great game eh.

[Joe King]

Riise is a valuable member of our squad and we'd be a poorer team without him. Yes, he can be defensively suspect but what attacking fullback is not. His ability to score vital goals cannot be understated. He has been and is still a match winner, not many fullbacks can add that to a team, so he may not be a tricky winger but a lot of the times his sheer zest is enough to muscle by players.

Rafa is looking at a more defensive minded left back, to give us another option, yet Riise provides us with an excellent solution all down the left flank. As for Shorey, Lescott and Bridge catch yourself on, if Riise was English he would a regular in the national team.

Would we be a poorer side without him? Shaggy has mentioned a few just from the Premiership. I am sure they would make our defence even more solid. Riise may be AVERAGE going forward but when defending he isn't strong enough to muscle out wingers, lapses in concentration, passes aren't accurate, make the odd Hollywood pass which is so wayward, his shots aren't even worth taking, he scores every 20 odd matches, his free kicks ALWAYS end up hitting the wall and he is ever so slow.

[kemm1]

In my honest opinion Riise is an average footballer in every aspect of the game both defensively and offensively but has a cannon of a left foot.

On the plus side he has tremeandously incredible high levels of endurance, works very hard for the team and seems to genuinely love the club.

However, I regard Riise as one of the most overrated players at Liverpool FC in my life time.