Welcome to Anfield Raul Meireles

[little dave hedgehog]

That's ****ing cringeworthy!

And what the **** was that dreadful song?

note that the "!" was somehow added in the copy and paste job...

[little dave hedgehog]

he has nice teeth, though.

[BillobShaisley]

Sydney - Australia's a**ehole

Koptalks reserve asshole, pulled out by Dunk when tired of dry bumming the paying masses.

[el matador]

i would have expected a warmer welcome from the club captain for such an important player.

[DannyMan2006]

i would have expected a warmer welcome from the club captain for such an important player.

In fairness he had a game to get ready for.

[red g]

Portugal manager Carlos Queiroz has praised new Liverpool signing Raul Meireles. Talking to Goal.com, the 57 year old praised the midfielder’s all round ability and character:


“I think Raul Meireles is a fantastic player in the national team. He’s one of the pillars of the Portugal team. He’s a great player and an excellent professional. He has all the conditions to be a success in English football at Liverpool. They have just signed the services of a player who stands out for his application, his professional dedication, his technical and footballing quality, and will be very successful for the Liverpool team. He’s a box-to-box midfielder, he’s hard-working, creative, is a good finisher, he’s consistent, very solid, a great team player. He’s a great person who is serious, he’s a player who has a lot of capacity to communicate. He’ll be a great reinforcement for the Liverpool team.”


Decent words by carlos cuntface but then as his national manager suppose he was never going to say anything else

[Craig_H]

He's also the same bloke who allegedly recommended that 'Bebe' bloke to Ginsoak.

[anfieldanfield]

Anything that means Lucas nears the exit door is good for the club.

[Fierce]

Anything that means Lucas nears the exit door is good for the club.

Edgy.

[Mostar]

In fairness he had a game to get ready for.

I saw it the same way.

Given the circumstances it was fine.

[SB]

Nothing new but thought I'd post it anyway.

There was a strangeness about the arrival of Raúl Meireles on Merseyside four days ago. Unusually for the modern transfer market, the deal was conducted swiftly and quietly, with none of the haggling or agent-wrangling which has become almost customary for high-profile signings. Scarcely twenty-four hours after Javier Mascherano completed his protracted move away from Anfield, the 27-year old Meireles completed his switch in the opposite direction, for a fee of around £10.7m. However, despite being a well-established player, in England at least, Meireles is not all that well-known. What then, can Reds fans expect from their newly arrived Portuguese man of war?

Firstly, Meireles is right to point out that he is not Javier Mascherano. Despite the proximity of their respective transfers, it is wise of the Portuguese international to try and protest being pigeon-holed as a like-for-like replacement for the outgoing Argentinian. Meireles shares Mascherano's work-rate and stamina; he has what the fan of the football cliché might call a 'good engine'. He's also a hard tackler. However, this is about where the similarities end. For one, Meireles has a much more attacking mindset than the Argentinian: Whereas Mascherano revels in the role that football scholarship posits began with Claude Makélelé – that of the defensive anchorman, deployed just in front of the back four as a sort of shield – Merieles is more of a classic, 'box-to-box' midfielder.

In this sense, Meireles offers far more than the outgoing Mascherano in terms of what he brings to the team. Indeed, what is widely seen as the chief deficiency in the Argentinian's game – his passing range – is regarded by many as the chief asset in Meireles'. He has mustered five or more assists in almost every one of his seasons with Porto – a decent tally for a player often deployed in a primarily defensive role. Similarly, whereas Mascherano has only mustered two goals in his entire professional career, Meireles has 16, and is somewhat renowned for occasional excellent strikes such as this one. Meireles even has a far better disciplinary record, despite being similarly sharp in the tackle.

Of course, there are things that Mascherano does better than Meireles, and in any case, to simply compare any two players is to indulge in a fairly limited form of football analysis. However, the comparison is an important one to make, because in the same way that Alberto Aquilani's chances of success on Merseyside were undoubtedly damaged by the fact that people were expecting him to directly fill the hole left by Xabi Alonso, Liverpool fans risk jeopardising Meireles' prospects in a Red shirt if they view him as simply a Mascherano replacement.

As always, whether Meireles will adapt well to the Premiership remains to be seen. He certainly has the experience – 137 appearances and four league titles with Porto, including six seasons of Champions League's outings, and a current role as, to quote Queiroz again, “one of the pillars ” of the Portuguese national side – and seemingly the physical presence for the English league. He is in the prime of his career, is injury-free, and has a personality and demeanour which, as pointed out this week by A Different League, should instantly endear him to Liverpool fans. However, the acid test will come on the field, in a red shirt – starting, in all likelihood, in eleven days time, at Birmingham.

http://www.adifferentleague.co.uk/p6_1_4292_liverpool-player-focus-ra%C3%83%C6%92%C3%82%C2%BAl-meireles.html

[Norbs]

Anything that means Lucas nears the exit door is good for the club.

Harsh

[SB]

Harsh

He had a good season last time around. Good but not great

[Norbs]

He had a good season last time around. Good but not great

Great squad player who never moans. I'd rather have him than 5 Reiras

[saj]

Anything that means Lucas nears the exit door is good for the club.