Steve Finnan

[Shaggy]

Whatever happened to Trabelsi from Ajax? Were'nt we meant to have been close to signing him in the summer?

Went to City and I don't think he's kicked a ball for them.

[Joe Le Toff]

It is clear that Rafa wants dynamic attack minded full backs - Riise and Aurelio can provide this on teh left but at RB Finnan is not that type of player. He has been fantastic but the team will evolve without him IMO.

Whatever happened to Trabelsi from Ajax? Were'nt we meant to have been close to signing him in the summer?

How is it clear? I wouldnt call Lucas Neill a gung-ho attack at all costs right back but Rafa is clearly a fan of him.

On the subject of Neil, I think he would be a good signing for us. IMO I think he is a better all round defender than Finnan who can also slot in the CB position if it ever came to it.
There was a thread the other day that mentioned something along the lines of 'When Liverpool Used To Be As Hard As Hell' and mentions the players of the past who were all about putting themselves about and putting the boot in where necessary.
Theres no doubt that Neil is capable of that and has a nasty streak in him, something that is missing from our current squad IMO.
I think too many of us are blinkered by the fact that he done Carra a while back and as such dont want him.

[Charlie_B]

I've never understood the obsession with Finnan on these boards. A good player he is, but that's as far as you can take it. He is SHOCKING in the air, I remember last year Kilbane ****ed him over every time in the derby, and that's ridiculous.

[Mattshark]

I I remember last year Kilbane ****ed him over every time in the derby, and that's ridiculous.

Kilbane is actually very good in the air, he is just **** on the ground.

[Diego]

I've seen him play four or five times (not many, admittedly) but I think he's been MOM every time. He looks a right player.

hate it that they don't let cameras in to their stadium, alves and navas are suposedly on fire this season, wish we could see it...

[Morph]

hate it that they don't let cameras in to their stadium, alves and navas are suposedly on fire this season, wish we could see it...

didn't know that, how come they dont let the cameras in?

[kurtangle01]

didn't know that, how come they dont let the cameras in?

They claim that as UEFA cup winners they are not getting a good enough slice of the T.V. money so they have decided that if they don't get a bigger wedge the T.V. companies don't get to show their matches.

[kurtangle01]

P.S. the matter is some way from being resolved. Neither Sevilla or the T.V. companies are budging.

[Morph]

Interesting, hadn't really heard about that, whats the general concensus then because I don't know how tv rights are settled in spain, are they more in the right or the wrong?

Judging by Sevilla's form tho, it's only a matter of time before the tv companies cave, if they can keep their run going.

[kurtangle01]

Interesting, hadn't really heard about that, whats the general concensus then because I don't know how tv rights are settled in spain, are they more in the right or the wrong?

They are getting what most mid-table teams recieve which is obviously alot less than Barca or Madrid get in terms of revenue. As UEFA cup winners they feel that they deserve to be on a similar amount of cash as at least Valencia who earn slightly less than the big two. They probaby have a point to be fair to them.

Until it's resolved Sevilla won't let their matches be shown.

[Bob]

Good player but i think Rafa is gonna replace him with Alves some time in the future. Very solid defender and not bad going forward, but we probably need one world class flying right back to add another dimension to our play.

Discuss.

We need more strength in depth. Particularly RB.

I'm totally ambivalent to us getting Alves though.

[dww]

So is Alves any good at defending? When ever I have seen him he has been under very little pressure, but I guess that could be that he is so good that he has always pushed back the opposing winger.

On a differen note how is he in the air. I think that we need to make sure that whoever takes over from Finnan (or is added to the squad) means we can field a defence where there isn't such an obvious weakness for the opposition to exploit. At the minute it is hard to criticise a player like Finnan who is so consistant, never a world beater but also one of the few players who hasn't see a horrendous dip in personal form this season.

[Red Chilli]

He's a tough little fecker and his express pace more than makes up for any positional frailties.

[carrsim]

if alves or anyone else comes in and gets finnan's spot on a regular basis then we'll have one hell of a right back on our hands.

stevie f has been a bit off form for the first 6 or 7 games this season for me, but in the last few matches has looked closer to his reliable self of the past 2 seasons. i think he suffered in the overall slump of the whole team

he is younger than gary ****** and every bit as good imo

but every team needs players like stevie f who are steady and just do their job very well every game.

i'm a big fan

[dww]

I'm a fan but we need a genuine alternative in the RB position. Would be nice if Peltier were to step up but I think it is more likely to be Alves in the long run and possibly Niell to give us a choice against teams like Bolton who are likely to try and exploit his weakness in the air.