Thoughts on our transfer dealings so far

[gentingfrmhell]

quite disappointed with our transfer dealings so far. i dont think its enough as many of u have identified. anyone knows how long more before the window closes?

[ronanm]

Johnson will be a good addition (although was a bit worried with some of his antics vs. Holland). £3.5m for Arbeloa was a joke - although maybe they used that discount to secure more for Alonso. Alonso's replacement being out for 2 months concerns me. Rafa said he would have had to have paid £30m if he was fit (or whatever) but I fear this guy could be out on a regular basis. No back up to Torres is still a concern but Voronin isn't as bad as some people make out. Nonetheless, I think we're a weaker team now than we were before the end of last season

[DannyMan2006]

quite disappointed with our transfer dealings so far. i dont think its enough as many of u have identified. anyone knows how long more before the window closes?

5pm on 01/09/09

[Neil Young]

Back in June I posted:



Seeing as no new left winger or striker has arrived it just shows what my powers of prediction are like

But, forgetting the size of the budget for a minute, what's everyone's thoughts on our transfer dealings so far?

Personally I think we are still an attacking player light, but am otherwise pretty happy. Johnson and Aquilani should improve our attacking play compared to Alonso and Arbeloa, though I worry that we might lose our trademark control of some games without Alonso in there. My thoughts on likely transfers back in June probably reflected my own thoughts on our weaknesses, and I still think we are weak on the left-side of midfield and in cover for Torres. I hope that Rafa is bluffing and we pick up Silva for £20m before the deadline (still over a fortnight away), otherwise I'm left hoping that either Babel starts to show better consistency and decision making, or Riera learns how to play in cold weather.

Overall though, and assuming we sign some centre back cover, I reckon we we still be at least as strong as we were last year. If we can keep Gerrard and Torres fit we'll have a great chance.

Anyone else?

Half empty.

Half full.

Half empty.

Half full.

half

empty

Half full.

Half empty.

Half full.

Half empty.

Half full.

Half empty.

Half full.

Half empty.

Half full.

Half empty.

half

full

Half empty.

Half full.

half

empty

Half full.

Half empty.

Half full.

Half empty.

Half full.

Half empty.

Half full.

Half empty.

Half full.

Half empty.

Half full.

Half empty.

Half full.

That took far longer than it's worth.

[Craig_H]

I want to call you a bad word but i dont want to get done for being abusive

[Neil Young]

Yes, well, it was a fairly disrespectful post by me, if I meant it seriously. Anyway, there are other threads where it would be far more accurate than this one which, entirely out of character for this forum, is pretty much all a well argued exchange of personal views.

I was just being a bit provocative. That's out of character too.

[DannyMan2006]

Yes, well, it was a fairly disrespectful post by me, if I meant it seriously. Anyway, there are other threads where it would be far more accurate than this one which, entirely out of character for this forum, is pretty much all a well argued exchange of personal views.

I was just being a bit provocative. That's out of character too.

I like how you descibed Rafa Beintez Maudes:

Half

Empty

[Craig_H]

I've always said (maybe not on here) that if people have a pop and it's actually funny, i'm never offended. You got off on a technicality

[dww]

My general feeling is that we have made two good signings who I think will improve us in the PL but they are both quite large gambles. We have lost two first team players who we at least knew were reliable and fitted our system and one excellent backup.

Overall I kind of feel like we are worse off but at the same time a couple of really good performances from Johnson, Aquilani and/or Lucas (not new but likely to be given opportunities he would not have gotten otherwise) and I might reverse my view. A defensive signing would have me feeling very optimistic actually.

I still feel like I did at the start of the summer we probably need another attacking player ideally but I'm not as concerned about it as many.

[Craig_H]

As i said, Aquilani deserves to actually play for us before we make any initial judgements on him as a player.

What you said about Hyypia is so true. It's only now that he's gone and we're talking of Shawcross/Turner and such-like, that i truly appreciate what a magnificent asset Sami was

[JohnDoe]

I'm pleased with Johnson and Aquilani. I'd like two more players in, a defender and a striker. If we can get those two players in, I'll be very confident about our chances this season.

[DannyMan2006]

A centre back and a striker and I'd be feeling a lot better about our chances. Get them in and I'd be happy we could cope with any injury problems.

If I'm being greedy I'd ideally like the attacker to cover across the line and the defender to do the same. But at present I'd settle for standard players.

[Craig_H]

A central defender for cover. And a wide winger/forward who can also play up front when needed, and i'll be delighted. Assuming both are fit for purpose, that is.

[kingfunk]

IT'S ALL OVER FOR LIVERPOOL - WITHOUT A BALL BEING KICKED...


THE new season is so close you can almost reach out and touch it.

It's the time of year when you should be dreaming up songs for new signings, dusting off your lucky boxer shorts and picking your fantasy footie team with a big smile on your face.

But if you believe the ex-pros and national newspaper columnists, you needn't bother this year.

Carry on shopping, cutting the grass and painting the fence - because without Xabi Alonso there's no hope of the title coming to Anfield in May.

Now it seems, Liverpool are no longer a two-man team, other Reds players are decent - now they've left, that is.

But if Xabi's suddenly so good he can single-handedly swing a title one way or another - where were the articles hailing him as the world's best?

Where was the praise for Benitez for plucking such a gem from the relative obscurity of Real Sociedad?

Well don't bother exercising your Google searchbar - they're not there.

Not just because it didn't suit certain journos' agendas to write that kind of piece. But also because Alonso had two ordinary seasons before peaking in the last campaign.

With the saga of his sale out the way, a sizeable sum of £30million banked, Rafa Benitez kissing his middle finger in the direction of Madrid and the quickfire signing of Alberto Aquilani, everything should be alright again though, right?

Wrong. He's a crock, we're told. Not in Xabi's class. Too lightweight for the Premier League. And on it goes.

Suddenly, everyone's an expert on Aquilani.

Well I'm not - and I'm not afraid to say it. I've read the background and watched the clips on Youtube. I've heard the Roma players and staff speak favourably about him, not least former Red John Arne Riise.

But I'll judge for myself when Aquilani runs out in red which, unfortunately by the looks of things, won't be until October.

Meanwhile, everyone continues to overstate the influence of Alonso.

How far can it go? It's like when Kevin Keegan left, Kenny Dalglish retired or Ian Rush headed for Italy?

Even better. How about that Liverpool's title challenge is over before a ball is kicked because of the sale of Alonso?

I'm exaggerating though, right? No-one could write off a club that finished four points shy of the title. A side that won home and away against the Champions and Chelsea. And all this despite not having the best striker in the world available for a large chunk of the season.

They could you know.

According to Daily Mail columnist Martin Samuel, by selling a player who was desperate to leave for an inflated fee and immediately replacing him with a highly-rated Italian, the Reds have: "put a stick of dynamite under their title aspirations again".

And once one 'expert' reels out this unsubstantiated drivel, they all follow suit. It's like a huge snowball - only this one is a browner shade of white.

I've been away on holiday for a week. And in the matter of hours since I've been back I've watched Ray Parlour and Andy Townsend write us off because Alonso's left.

Then I read a few season previews - everyone trotting out the same old line that Liverpool have been severely weakened by his departure and can't possibly push for the title.

It seems Rafa Benitez can't do anything right - while Alex Ferguson never does any wrong.
Glen Johnson is the England right back, Portsmouth's player of the year and could have gone back to Chelsea.

But he's too dear.

And there's no point in having a decent right back because there's no decent left wingers in the Premier League (according to Paul Merson).

On the other hand, it's a stroke of genius to sell arguably the world's best player in Cristiano Ronaldo (in his peak) and replace him with Michael Owen (definitely not in his).

Sometimes I despair, I really do.

But then I remember I've got some boxer shorts to dust.

http://robbohuyton.blogspot.com/2009/08/its-all-over-for-liverpool-without-ball.html

[TonyR]

I think we've done as well as we could given the money that's been made available to Rafa & the fact that Alonso wanted to leave, yes we'll miss Alonso - who wouldn't - but look at how much we got for him!! We've spent big money (for us) on 2 players & we still have a still have a hell of a squad from last year. In general we've players who are at age where they're getting better. Sure we'd like another Torres or Gerrard but that's not the real world. If you look at how the other teams we'll be challenging with have done we're in good shape.

United have a poor centre midfield - I'd take Mascherano & Lucas against them any day. They've also lost their best player & will have to change their style completely to compensate.

Arsenal have been severely weakened down the spine of their team (1st choice striker & centre back gone). They'll have good days but not strong enough for a season.

Chelsea are, however, strong. I think they'll be closest to us but I don't think Anchelotti is the genius he's being built up as - only ever won the Italian league title once as a manager! Things can't be all that great there when their captain was looking to move on!!

From what I can see the main thing this year, was to try not be weakened too much, & I don't think we've done too bad at all.