The summer of little cash

[LFCman]

Crouch is never going to be a strike that rakes in the goals. He'll get his share but his job to the team is much more important. Make no mistake, his addition to the side was a contributing factor to our improvement last season.

[Peter Delvechio]

I'm not denying that but I think it's possible to have someone with Crouch's qualities who can also score more goals - even 1 in 3 would be great.

[brendan]

Hopefully he`ll pick up a few things from more natural goalscorers like Fowler and Bellamy.

Bellamy isn't really a "natural goalscorer", If he was, he'd have scored more goals.
Fowler is in a different galaxy.

[Rich]

Question: How long did Crouch take to open his account for LFC? and how many goals did he score in his debut season for us?

[Resu]

Bellamy isn't really a "natural goalscorer", If he was, he'd have scored more goals.
Fowler is in a different galaxy.

Bellamy isn`t a poacher like Fowler, but his style of play is more like Pongos. They tend to get in same sort of scoring positions, and if Pongo can learn from him to put those away I think he`ll be a real asset this year.

But it wouldn`t hurt he learnt a think or to from Fowler as well.

[LFCman]

19 games in all comps?

He actually scored 8 goals in the league.

He made 27 starts and 5 subs. So take away the games before his first goal and his ratio isn't that bad. It was clear to see that his first goal really took the pressure off.

[dww]

I like what Crouch brings to the team but we do need someone who is a more regular scorer. I think Bellamy along with Robbie Keane last year surprised me and seemed to add a more predatory streak to their games last year. If Bellamy continues the form he showed last season and stays fit then I think he is the answer to our problems.

However I fear that at least the second half of that is a big ask.

[LFCman]

Of course we do. Rafa is trying to address that now and he has done so a bit by bringing in Bellamy for Cisse. Say whatever you want but in terms of finishing Bellamy is much better then Cisse's hit it as hard as you can and hope style. Now to replace Morientes.

[Red_Polo]

Crouchy was integral to last season's success. Brendan you have some very pertinent points, but you undervalue him to a ridiculous extent.

[Red_Polo]

Crouch is never going to be a strike that rakes in the goals. He'll get his share but his job to the team is much more important. Make no mistake, his addition to the side was a contributing factor to our improvement last season.

Exactly. He may not have scored bucket loads last season, but he was key to our consistency. He was like the small (ironic choice of words yes) but vital cog in an altogether bigger, better, more powerful machine.

[Rich]

The English game is littered with examples of teams that have one prolific striker that do incredibly poorly. Rafa is all about the team ethic, to work hard for the team.

I believe Rafa's idea is to have the goals spread around the team, therefore if the strikers have all been given (fairly) modest targets of 15 each, then there is more chance for them to attain their target, and more chance of us doing well.

[univofchicago]

[QUOTE=rcasemore]I couldn't agree more with what we have been doing on the transfer front, as you have said Speedy, Palleta, Bellamy and Aurelio for c.

[REDSCOUSER]

Having watched his interview on SSN after the Crewe game I think he pretty much sealed a deal or two. He was purring like a Cheshire cat and had a smile as wide as the river Mersey.

[univofchicago]

Having watched his interview on SSN after the Crewe game I think he pretty much sealed a deal or two. He was purring like a Cheshire cat and had a smile as wide as the river Mersey.

Careful though. Rafa rarely gives away too much from his interviews. Always smiles...

[G_Man]

Just to ressurect this thread rather than starting a duplicate one

I think this summer's transfer business has been SUPERB!
At the end of the season we had a few weaknesses
1) Right Midfield- still being sorted but Gonzalez can play there, Gerrard can play there and Paul Anderson will come through I believe. I'm sure we'll sign either Alves or Pennant or both and the selling of Barragan confirmed this for me.
2) Left Back- WOOHOO! No more Champions League winner Djimi Traore as left back and we won't need to ask Warnock to play there. I have no bad feelings against Djimi or Warnock but at the end of the day, they were no players who were going to win us #19. Aurelio has a good pedigree and Riise will spend more time there as left midfield seems sorted
3) Striker- OUT= Nanado IN = Bellamy plus a rejuvenated Fowler. Plus the young lad from the ressies will hopefully come through, Linfield is it? Another striker would be the icing on the cake for me but not an absolute necessity. We've got 1 striker which was a necessity for me.
4) Left Midfield - Kewell showed his class last season. He still has his injury problems though. We've added Gonzalez who I think will soon become number 1 left midfielder.

Sad Loss: Didi Hamann will be missed. A legendary Red. Thankfully Momo should have settled in by now

Bonus: Paletta. Lots of good reports about this lad, we could have paid another 5-7 million out for a centre back.

So in conclusion, I think we've had a great summer which could get better once a right midfielder is signed. We've done it all without spending extortionate prices or wages (Bellamy accepted less than Blackburn were offering). Fantastic work by Rafa and Parry in my opinion. The other bonus is the new stadium seems more on course than ever as rushscored_4 will confirm.

The summer of little cash could be the summer of massive improvement.