Riera

[danperkins]

When i see the words "Thats Bollox" in threads and know its you Craig don't even have to look at username

[Craig_H]

you a Riera fan then?

Not so much a Riera 'fan' as such, in that if i was asked to name my top left sided midfielders, i doubt i would name him.

In terms of whether or not he should still be at Liverpool, or whether i would like him to be - well yes, because he's better than all bar one LM option we now have, and he also offers something which none of ours do.

He isnt one of the best in the world, but he certainly would give us something we both lack, and need.

He aint amazing. He's certainly competent though. And we gave him away for peanuts. Granted, the training ground incident made it difficult.

so you could go on a football equivalent of mr and mrs with him?

When i see the words "Thats Bollox" in threads and know its you Craig don't even have to look at username

I dont really know what you're talking about. But that's indicative of 'normal service'.

[Fernandinho]

I assume you are trying to say when you see the word Bollox used you know its Craig?

[Fernandinho]

Not so much a Riera 'fan' as such, in that if i was asked to name my top left sided midfielders, i doubt i would name him.

In terms of whether or not he should still be at Liverpool, or whether i would like him to be - well yes, because he's better than all bar one LM option we now have, and he also offers something which none of ours do.

He isnt one of the best in the world, but he certainly would give us something we both lack, and need.

He aint amazing. He's certainly competent though. And we gave him away for peanuts. Granted, the training ground incident made it difficult.

Who do you rate better from the club at LM out of interest? Aurelio?

[Craig_H]

Who do you rate better from the club at LM out of interest? Aurelio?

Better than Riera, you mean?

When i said 'all bar one', i was referring to Joe Cole, who i think is a superb footballer, when used correctly, in the right position, system and with the right tactics/mentality.

Sadly under Bodgson, we have none of the above.

Granted though, that Joe Cole isnt a natural left midfielder. He's still an excellent footballer though.

I assume you are trying to say when you see the word Bollox used you know its Craig?

You're asking the $64million question there, because i dont even think danperkins quite knows what he is trying to say

[danperkins]

Not so much a Riera 'fan' as such, in that if i was asked to name my top left sided midfielders, i doubt i would name him.

In terms of whether or not he should still be at Liverpool, or whether i would like him to be - well yes, because he's better than all bar one LM option we now have, and he also offers something which none of ours do.

He isnt one of the best in the world, but he certainly would give us something we both lack, and need.

He aint amazing. He's certainly competent though. And we gave him away for peanuts. Granted, the training ground incident made it difficult.

valid points and more balanced than other arguments.

IMO i just feel we need a winger than can produce goals and assists which win games, after all that is what a winger is there for. I can only imagine how many more goals Torres would have scored in his LFC with decent service coming in from the wide areas.

We have zero options on the left and hopefully that will addressed in January, i pray its not just another stop gap.

[Fernandinho]

Better than Riera, you mean?

When i said 'all bar one', i was referring to Joe Cole, who i think is a superb footballer, when used correctly, in the right position, system and with the right tactics/mentality.

Sadly under Bodgson, we have none of the above.

Granted though, that Joe Cole isnt a natural left midfielder. He's still an excellent footballer though.

You're asking the $64million question there, because i dont even think danperkins quite knows what he is trying to say

I generally forgot about Cole. He really hasn't played a lot. I agree with you though potential wise that Cole could be better than Riera and I would love for him to show us so.

[danperkins]

I dont really know what you're talking about. But that's indicative of 'normal service'.

well played sir

[Fredo]

It's not always easy to buy what we want. If we could afford a Roberto Carlos, I'm sure we would have bought one. In the circumstances, I think Riera was an excellent addition for that one full season he was with us.

[Fernandinho]

Especially considering when we initially got him he was only 8 or 9 mil which is chicken feed for a 25 or so year old winger of his quality.

[Craig_H]

valid points and more balanced than other arguments.

IMO i just feel we need a winger than can produce goals and assists which win games, after all that is what a winger is there for. I can only imagine how many more goals Torres would have scored in his LFC with decent service coming in from the wide areas.

We have zero options on the left and hopefully that will addressed in January, i pray its not just another stop gap.

I wouldnt necessarily specify 'goals' and 'assits' - of course they would be delightful, but more generally, a winger needs to give balance and width, find space, create openings and offer a consistent threat.

In this day and age, they probably need to track back and work hard too.

I agree about Torres benefitting from good service - from anywhere really, but yes, from wide too.

The problem with wingers, is that the best ones who tick all your boxes, are so few and far between. Short of people like Ronaldo (who plays up front now anyway), and people like Robben, Ribery (if you play him wide) maybe Malouda (plays as a left side of a front three) and Nani, who are the 'world class' wingers? I'm sure there's a few others who arent coming to mind right now, but the point remains.

There's a ****ing major lack of them, which is why so many teams (us included) have gambled on lesser names in wide areas, and often find them failing to produce what was hoped.

[DannyMan2006]

In fairness I think we all agree in a round about way. We all admit Riera isn't good enough, but we also all admit we haven't replaced him with any better. We miss Riera, but we also miss Insua - not because they were great players, but because we've replaced them both with absoloute tripe.

[danperkins]

I like Juan Vargas as a LM, was a LB then moved to LM as well he was pretty terrible defensively. Playing in a pretty poor Fiorentina season, probably destined from Real or Barca though.

[danperkins]

I wouldnt necessarily specify 'goals' and 'assits' - of course they would be delightful, but more generally, a winger needs to give balance and width, find space, create openings and offer a consistent threat.

In this day and age, they probably need to track back and work hard too.

I agree about Torres benefitting from good service - from anywhere really, but yes, from wide too.

The problem with wingers, is that the best ones who tick all your boxes, are so few and far between. Short of people like Ronaldo (who plays up front now anyway), and people like Robben, Ribery (if you play him wide) maybe Malouda (plays as a left side of a front three) and Nani, who are the 'world class' wingers? I'm sure there's a few others who arent coming to mind right now, but the point remains.

There's a ****ing major lack of them, which is why so many teams (us included) have gambled on lesser names in wide areas, and often find them failing to produce what was hoped.

well NESV & Comelli (hopefully not Roy) are going to have to pull something out of the bag come January thats for sure.

[danperkins]

In fairness I think we all agree in a round about way. We all admit Riera isn't good enough, but we also all admit we haven't replaced him with any better. We miss Riera, but we also miss Insua - not because they were great players, but because we've replaced them both with absoloute tripe.

fair points