Riera

[ric.williams]

when riera first arrived he stuck to stick to the touchline and offer good width. as time progressed he seemed to drift more and more inside and thus lost his effectiveness.

or thats how i remember it anyway

[Buzzo]

when riera first arrived he stuck to stick to the touchline and offer good width. as time progressed he seemed to drift more and more inside and thus lost his effectiveness.

or thats how i remember it anyway

Or to put it in fluent Perkinsese. 'A good player but ****e signing', if you will.

[Neil Young]

Or to put it in fluent Perkinsese. 'A good player but ****e signing', if you will.

Shocking proof of an event hitherto never conceived, let alone seriously considered possible - danpekingese taking a brief moment to reflect on the sensibleness of his reply before pressing the 'submit' button:

[Craig_H]

[CJ]

anyone who cant see that Riera gave the side balance for that one season is blind.

sometimes players contribute more than their ability suggests. so not a world beater but good enough when you look at his impact on our displays.

in the end he had a crap attitude and had to go. So not good enough but for one season he most certainly was. We havent had such balance since he went which is sad but the good news is that it shows you dont need a ronaldo or whoever out wide to improve the team or squad

[Gibbo]

Stumbled on this while looking to see if Mayweather has mentioned fighting Pacquiao yet

Liverpool's 2-0 defeat at the hands of Stoke on Saturday made a pretty clear statement: It doesn't matter how talented a team is if it doesn't go forward.
The Reds surely have talent -- particularly on the attack -- but what do Joe Cole, Raul Meireles and Maxi Rodriguez have in common? They are being deployed on the wing without being natural wingers. The result of such is pretty much what you'd expect. The team lacks width as the wing players drift to the center and are slow up the flanks, and the team lacks pace, because natural wingers are simply faster people than the converted wingers that Liverpool is using.
In fact, who is Liverpool's paciest player? David Ngog? Ryan Babel? Glen Johnson? Steven Gerrard? Arsenal has Theo Walcott. Manchester United has Nani. Chelsea has Florent Malouda; City has Adam Johnson; The list goes on and on. Just about every team but Liverpool has somebody with explosive speed who creates width by taking the ball up the wing in a way that forces defenses into panic mode. Roy Hodgson's team continually looks conservative, especially due to the lack of midfield creativity and the deep line taken by the group, but much of that is because nobody is pushing the play up the sides. The team has to slowly establish their shape at midfield before beginning the attack -- which often can't even get started.
Luckily, it appears that Hodgson will have some great options to remedy the situation come January. Aston Villa's Ashley Young, who has been in the best form of his career thus far in 2010, has said that he won't sign a new contract at Villa Park this season, and many have speculated that he is therefore available. Aston Villa nearly universally ship off its prized prospects, so it's hard to believe that Young can't be had.
Tottenham, however, may also be interested in Young, but given its crowded midfield, the team would likely be swapping him for Aaron Lennon, who is also said to be available, according to The People. He, too, would perfectly fit the mold of what Liverpool needs.
Many have criticized Hodgson for straying from Rafa Benitez's style of attacking football, but his problem is largely one of personnel. Liverpool simply doesn't have Arsenal's or Tottenham's roster. Liverpool has a midfield comprised of great players who are in their late 20s and early 30s and weren't natural wings when they were at their paciest.
In Young and Lennon, Hodgson surely has options for fixing the club's glaring flaw. Come January, he'd be wise to pursue them fervently.

While the article is quite Pro-Hodgeson, but I wouldn't mind Young or Lennon at the club... at the right price.

[Rudo]

Reira was very average and added nothing to LFC except for being a left footed player on the left side of midfield, if anything he made us play narrower by cutting inside every single time that "he gave is balance and width" is so untrue. He Didn't score, didn't create, didn't run at players, didn't beat a man, didn't get crosses in, zero productivity for him and had a poxy attitude. Shocking buy and is now where a player of his ability should be, sunny Greece. Played well first 5 or 6 games, much like Johnson did, but i struggle to remember a single good game he played any time after that, good riddance.

[Craig_H]

[little dave hedgehog]

agree with craig. a rudo-ldp perkins high five after saying riera never helped us at all is today's moment of zen.

[Fredo]

Perkins & Rudo must both be kids.

[little dave hedgehog]

or should it be high 5 ive?

[Craig_H]

agree with craig. a rudo-ldp perkins high five after saying riera never helped us at all is today's moment of zen.

It's not that....

I just KNOW that both of them will always agree on the same nonsensically and absurdly wrong viewpoints - and they always always do It's priceless.

[little dave hedgehog]

actually it is that, because that's more or less what I'm saying, albeit the high 5 ive part really is the icing.

[Rudo]

What up fella?

[Rudo]

Jermaine Pennant LFC Legend

- in fairness when Jermaine joined Liverpool i feared the worst but he behaved himself for the most part during his time on Merseyside.