Reds need reinforcements - Wark

[friedk]

John Wark
Wark would welcome striker Robbie Keane at Anfield

Former Liverpool midfielder John Wark believes the Reds must sign at least two more players to mount a challenge for the Premier League title.

Manager Rafa Benitez has already signed Swiss defender Phillip Degen and a deal to buy Italian full-back Andrea Dossena is thought to be imminent.

"I think a good signing would be Robbie Keane if that comes off," Wark told BBC Radio Merseyside.

"But I still think they need another defender and another midfield player."

The former Scottish International made 105 appearances and scored 42 goals in his four year spell at the club between 1984 and 1988.

The defensive midfielder was brought to the club by Joe Fagan and was part of a squad that won two league titles, one FA Cup, one European Super Cup and one FA Charity Shield in his four seasons at Anfield.

Wark is aware the fans crave success and stressed the need to bring in reinforcements for this to be achieved.

"They still need two or three players to be where the Liverpool fans want them to be and that's winning the league," he added.

The most incredible scoring record ever for a defensive midfielder, he came in for Souness and was probably one of the most underrated players we have ever had.

[senorbutch]

id welcome keane to lfc, stil need a winger though

[SK]

id welcome keane to lfc, stil need a winger though

not so sure about that, as keane would play in the trio behind the striker, and its imperative that the players who play behind the striker in this formation get in the 16yard box when the ball is in the wide area, and the fullbacks provide the width, and crossses needed. playing out and out wingers imo is not the best solution for the 4231.

[friedk]

id welcome keane to lfc, stil need a winger though

Haven't you heard, we've signed one already:

Talented winger Gary MacKay Steven made the move from the Academy to Melwood in the summer of 2008.

The Scot was brought into the Academy from Ross County during the summer of 2007. He is a talented winger who can make things happen during a game.

Reds Academy manager John Owens commented: "Gary is a left-sided player who is a strong runner with the ball. He provides very good service to the strikers."

He has the skill of Barnes, the passing of Molby, the finishing of Rush and the vision of Dalglish (although fans shouldn't expect too much from him )

[senorbutch]

not so sure about that, as keane would play in the trio behind the striker, and its imperative that the players who play behind the striker in this formation get in the 16yard box when the ball is in the wide area, and the fullbacks provide the width, and crossses needed. playing out and out wingers imo is not the best solution for the 4231.

yea but we wont be playing 4231 the whole season. rafa will change it about at times. when games are not going well and at times throughout the season

[zimbo]

John Wark
Wark would welcome striker Robbie Keane at Anfield

Former Liverpool midfielder John Wark believes the Reds must sign at least two more players to mount a challenge for the Premier League title.

Manager Rafa Benitez has already signed Swiss defender Phillip Degen and a deal to buy Italian full-back Andrea Dossena is thought to be imminent.

"I think a good signing would be Robbie Keane if that comes off," Wark told BBC Radio Merseyside.

"But I still think they need another defender and another midfield player."

The former Scottish International made 105 appearances and scored 42 goals in his four year spell at the club between 1984 and 1988.

The defensive midfielder was brought to the club by Joe Fagan and was part of a squad that won two league titles, one FA Cup, one European Super Cup and one FA Charity Shield in his four seasons at Anfield.
Wark is aware the fans crave success and stressed the need to bring in reinforcements for this to be achieved.

"They still need two or three players to be where the Liverpool fans want them to be and that's winning the league," he added.

The most incredible scoring record ever for a defensive midfielder, he came in for Souness and was probably one of the most underrated players we have ever had.

Those wishing to avoid blatant pedantry, please look away now.

We never won the Super Cup whilst Wark was with us, although we did lose 2-0 to Juventus (on their own ground) in 1985 - on an ice-rink of a pitch, if I remember correctly. Also, we shared the Charity Shield (in '86) though I'm fairly certain Wark played no part (hence the 'part of a squad' caveat).

In truth and despite his impressive goalscoring return, Wark was never really that impressive at Anfield. His only full season as a regular was 84/85, which is when most of his goals came, but it soon became apparent that he wasn't up to the Souness role, leading to the subsequent signings of Molby and Macdonald (who, it must be said was no improvement), and eventually McMahon. He appeared more comfortable alongside what we would now call a holding midfielder, which gave him the freedom to make the unseen runs into the opposition area that he excelled at.

Other than his goals, he contributed little to the performance (although I am aware that an ability to find the net regularly is not a bad trait in a footballer), and seemed to suffer from a number of injuries which obviously didn't help his cause. Spent the last couple of years with us largely on the sidelines. Although he was always impressively moustached, which was the continuation of a noble Liverpool tradition.

To be honest, I'm only going on about Wark because it's nice to talk about something other than protracted transfer sagas and investment disputes for a change. Normal service will soon be resumed.

[Cormack74]

In truth and despite his impressive goalscoring return, Wark was never really that impressive at Anfield. His only full season as a regular was 84/85, which is when most of his goals came, but it soon became apparent that he wasn't up to the Souness role, leading to the subsequent signings of Molby and Macdonald (who, it must be said was no improvement), and eventually McMahon. He appeared more comfortable alongside what we would now call a holding midfielder, which gave him the freedom to make the unseen runs into the opposition area that he excelled at.

Other than his goals, he contributed little to the performance (although I am aware that an ability to find the net regularly is not a bad trait in a footballer), and seemed to suffer from a number of injuries which obviously didn't help his cause. Spent the last couple of years with us largely on the sidelines. Although he was always impressively moustached, which was the continuation of a noble Liverpool tradition.

To be honest, I'm only going on about Wark because it's nice to talk about something other than protracted transfer sagas and investment disputes for a change. Normal service will soon be resumed.

Good post mate and a welcome change as you say. I must admit I don't remember Wark being a defensive midfielder. He was certainly impressive at doing not much all game and then scoring. (Always thought that David Platt was a class leading exponent of this more recently).

[zimbo]

Good post mate and a welcome change as you say. I must admit I don't remember Wark being a defensive midfielder. He was certainly impressive at doing not much all game and then scoring. (Always thought that David Platt was a class leading exponent of this more recently).

Yes, Platt was very much in the same vein, although possibly a bit more athletic than Wark, who tended to move with grace of an arthritic break-dancer.

I suppose there's always been room for that sort of player, provided the rest of the team supply the necessary compensation in terms of covering. You could look at the likes of Martin Peters, Colin Bell, even Terry Mac to an extent (although he could also pass and put in a hell of a lot of work that largely went unseen). I always marked out Bryan Robson as a similar sort of player, despite the hysterical media plaudits. Yes, he got stuck in, but he also went missing for 10, 20 minutes a time, before often bailing out his team by bundling a mi**** cross over the line.

Not sure if such players could survive these days, although Lampard does his best to convince otherwise. Then again, it's not as if Lampard doesn't see a lot of the ball - just that he can be fairly profligate in his distribution of it.

[SK]

yea but we wont be playing 4231 the whole season. rafa will change it about at times. when games are not going well and at times throughout the season

i can only see rafa changing the formation when we'll be in all out attack and chasing the score, and in that cases the formation doesn't really matter does it?

any how, i see your point. if he were to change it, we have no real wingers/right-left sided midfielders, but that to me is an indication that the formation isn't going to change..

[Cormack74]

Yes, Platt was very much in the same vein, although possibly a bit more athletic than Wark, who tended to move with grace of an arthritic break-dancer.

I suppose there's always been room for that sort of player, provided the rest of the team supply the necessary compensation in terms of covering. You could look at the likes of Martin Peters, Colin Bell, even Terry Mac to an extent (although he could also pass and put in a hell of a lot of work that largely went unseen).

You're showing your age mate. Obviously Peters is well known for the '66 connection and I remember the name Colin Bell from when I was quite young ( Man city ?).

I think I always assumed that Bell was in the boiler room rather than getting in to the box. Was he prolific near goal ?

[zimbo]

Your showing your age mate. Obviously Peters is well known for the '66 connection and I remember the name Colin Bell from when I was quite young ( Man city ?).

I think I always assumed that Bell was in the boiler room rather than getting in to the box. Was he prolific near goal ?

To be honest, I only remember Bell fleetingly, but recall him being a regular goalscorer in the "ghosting into the area undetected" school. But many qualified judges rate him as one of the finest midfielders of the 70's and he's regarded as arguably City's greatest ever players, so maybe I'm doing him an injustice.

Just checked and he notched 177 goals in 578 games, impressive figures by anyone's standards.


Now...do I have a Werthers Original or an Everton Mint with my Ovaltine?

[Cormack74]

Now...do I have a Werthers Original or an Everton Mint with my Ovaltine?

Looks like you're losing your marbles old timer.

[zimbo]

Looks like you're losing your marbles old timer.

Why are all you people in my house?

Hang on. This isn't my house.



Ethel. It's happening again.

[nbryan1764]

Defensive midfielder my arse! He was an attacking midfielder and had a great scoring rate for Ipswich before he came and as you can see a great rate for a midfielder with us. His record for Ipswich when we signed him was 381 games 136 goals. Journalists pah!

[redstaralex]

he was boss and anyone who can make Stallone look like a good keeper deserves every bit of praise