The Bootroom - No Speculative Tosh

[dww]

Is that from Martipedia?

And surely it should be [pedant]"Dirk Kuyt, officially spelt Dirk Kuijt..."[/pedant]

I believe both are acceptable although yours is the traditional English spelling (although as it is fairly illogical I prefer spelled in some ways - whose rot as you might expect is American I believe).

[Darth Marty]

Is that from Martipedia?

And surely it should be [pedant]"Dirk Kuyt, officially spelt Dirk Kuijt..."[/pedant]

[slimbimjim]

Would you shut up, he put the ball practically at his striding feet inch perfect bending it from god knows how far ... the words What a ****ing ball were uttered around the world in unicence, you know its a good pass when the comentators spend more time talking about it than the goal .. I'm Carried away

I didn't say it was a **** pass, just that it wasn't hard to spot. He placed it well enough.

[Nicey]

And I did not say you said it was a **** pass ...hmmmm

It was an amazing pass ... you obviously dont think it was that special ..

Your are mistaken apology accepted

[Nicey]

Found a good Bable compilation video, definitely not the most comfortable player I have ever seen on the ball but obviously is quality

http://youtube.com/watch?v=ULTksfsqpWA

[Red11]

With Aurelio, Agger and Alonso still to come back our back to front play, our movement and goal threats could become far too much for most teams. And all within the next couple of weeks... feels shiver down spine

[Skillz]

With Aurelio, Agger and Alonso still to come back our back to front play, our movement and goal threats could become far too much for most teams. And all within the next couple of weeks... feels shiver down spine

Add to that

- Kewell will improve quite a bit yet IMO *touchingwoodsmilie*
- Pennant will return and offer an option
- Kuyt will improve IMO
- new players over summer to help squad strength

I'm excited

[Rich]

Ryan Babel:

Things we must remember:

1) He's 20
2) New Country
3) Playing in a variety of attacking positions at LFC
4) A certain pressure due to the price-tag

Things we've seen so far:

1) Terrific shot on him - pace, power and usually accurate; he's also not afraid to take a shot (in contrast to other wide players at the club)
2) Tremendous pace - he might not have the edge on Torres over 5 metres, but over longer distances he's surely one of the quickest in the club; perhaps the league.
3) Variety - he's made runs with the ball, he's played the early ball, and he's tried to beat players on his right and on his left.
4) Going missing in games - I think over time this has diminished; some of his earlier games for us he went missing, which is totally understandable, however since he's becoming more settled either as an impact sub, or starting he's starting to have more influence on games - certainly in the role of impact sub, which is probably his best role in the club at the present time.
5) Making the right decision. An area he can improve on, but this surely will come in time?

Overall: Well, I was worried when we signed him; I caught a Ajax v PSV game last season where Ajax destroyed PSV 5:1 and Babel looked awful - lack of composure, lack of control, didn't seem to have the desire to get past his man; however he's definitely shown glimpses of talent and ability - I think he has every chance to become a very important attacking player for us in the next 2 to 3 years; and a role as impact sub this year could become very important as the season progresses.

[Skillz]

Ryan Babel:

Things we must remember:

1) He's 20
2) New Country
3) Playing in a variety of attacking positions at LFC
4) A certain pressure due to the price-tag

Things we've seen so far:

1) Terrific shot on him - pace, power and usually accurate; he's also not afraid to take a shot (in contrast to other wide players at the club)
2) Tremendous pace - he might not have the edge on Torres over 5 metres, but over longer distances he's surely one of the quickest in the club; perhaps the league.
3) Variety - he's made runs with the ball, he's played the early ball, and he's tried to beat players on his right and on his left.
4) Going missing in games - I think over time this has diminished; some of his earlier games for us he went missing, which is totally understandable, however since he's becoming more settled either as an impact sub, or starting he's starting to have more influence on games - certainly in the role of impact sub, which is probably his best role in the club at the present time.
5) Making the right decision. An area he can improve on, but this surely will come in time?

Overall: Well, I was worried when we signed him; I caught a Ajax v PSV game last season where Ajax destroyed PSV 5:1 and Babel looked awful - lack of composure, lack of control, didn't seem to have the desire to get past his man; however he's definitely shown glimpses of talent and ability - I think he has every chance to become a very important attacking player for us in the next 2 to 3 years; and a role as impact sub this year could become very important as the season progresses.

Pretty good summation. I think we are all happy so far, fortunately he is scoring goals and this has to help his transition. He could develop massively because he has all the raw product. Just needs refining and it will be very interesting to see what Rafa can do with him.

[Nicey]

Ryan Babel:

Things we must remember:

1) He's 20
2) New Country
3) Playing in a variety of attacking positions at LFC
4) A certain pressure due to the price-tag

Things we've seen so far:

1) Terrific shot on him - pace, power and usually accurate; he's also not afraid to take a shot (in contrast to other wide players at the club)
2) Tremendous pace - he might not have the edge on Torres over 5 metres, but over longer distances he's surely one of the quickest in the club; perhaps the league.
3) Variety - he's made runs with the ball, he's played the early ball, and he's tried to beat players on his right and on his left.
4) Going missing in games - I think over time this has diminished; some of his earlier games for us he went missing, which is totally understandable, however since he's becoming more settled either as an impact sub, or starting he's starting to have more influence on games - certainly in the role of impact sub, which is probably his best role in the club at the present time.
5) Making the right decision. An area he can improve on, but this surely will come in time?

Overall: Well, I was worried when we signed him; I caught a Ajax v PSV game last season where Ajax destroyed PSV 5:1 and Babel looked awful - lack of composure, lack of control, didn't seem to have the desire to get past his man; however he's definitely shown glimpses of talent and ability - I think he has every chance to become a very important attacking player for us in the next 2 to 3 years; and a role as impact sub this year could become very important as the season progresses.

think we are very much on the same page regarding this player

[barnes10]

----------------Reina---------------
----------Carra------Hyypia--------
Arbeloa--------------------------Riise
------------Gerrard---Lucas---------
-------Bennie------------kewell-----
----------Torres------Crouch-------

my old championship manager formation. who says CM isnt the place where the best tactics are honed... i used to wipe the floor with everyon with that one. bit of a newcastle formation mind. would score 3 but would always concede 1 or 2.

[Slinky Skills]

I reckon we should go for Shevchenko, he's still got a good few years left in him!

[dww]

I reckon we should go for Shevchenko, he's still got a good few years left in him!

I don't even if there might be the spark of a good player left he would still be lacking in pace and fight and the former would be a key attribute for me in any striker we bought in and the latter is for all players in the PL. I think he is best left collecting his vast wages at Chelsea.

[Nicey]

I have not seen enough of Reading this season to accurately comment on them but from memory of last season, they like to play attractive attacking football, not the kind you would expect from a newly promoted team, sometimes they look closer to Arsenal than what you would expect from a club the size of Reading. Add into the mix there heavy weight physical defenders and it makes for a potent mix.

Looking at the game, we tend to dominate possession due to our style and Rafa's ability to get his strategy just right. I could be wrong but Reading don't just sit back and try and hit teams on the break which for me is what a lot of the lower teams do when playing us. I think they are going to come at us from the get go. That said just looking now at there form its not the best going into this match. 3 loses on the bounce and one draw hardly spectacular, combine that with their manager announcing he is leaving, them missing some key players through injury and Sidwell there main engine for me last season, its looking like nothing less than 3 points will do here.

I have a feeling they will set there stalls out to defend, they have been leaking goals and we have been banging them in for fun. Should be interesting.

I dont care who we play as long as Harry Torres Stevie and Benny play

[Nicey]

A bit of a U turn there in that post you will notice