Ok possibly the most important summer as far as transfers go. Last year was a bit of a disaster with Keane & Dossena proving to be 30million worth of disastorous buys. Reira in fairness worked the treat. I believe we're in alot stronger position this summer though. All in-fighting between Rafa / yanks / Parry has more or less stopped with Parry gone & Rafa settled with a new contract. This was the main reason the Keane transfer was a waste - powers that be using him as a square peg for a round hole. Rafa has highlighted that 2 players are needed. The spine of the team is in place so these couple of purchases can push us on to win the league next season. Finger's crossed anyway. The vibes coming from the club the last few weeks have been extremely positive - even considering the owners. Key players, Gerrard, Kuyt & Agrger have renewed their contracts. There's talk of King Kenny coming on-board as part of the coaching set-up. All positive. Hillsborough has galvanised the club - the show of unity in and around the 20th Anniversary was a credit to the club. Unfortunately Rafa reckons we must sell to buy. I believe this is partially true & he may be using it as a ploy to keep potential targets within reason. Here's my opinions on essential moves this summer: Alonso must stay - 20mill or regardless. We need his passing ability for Torres & Gerrard to flourish A right sided player to be purchased. Possibly Johnston but id have worries regarding his defending ability but he would be certain to bring alot of attacking options David Silva - If Rafa can strike a deal for half nothing (like with Torres) then It would be great to see him come. Bit of a Luis Garcia player but better, would bring alot to the party. Garth Barry - Depreciation in price greatly from last Summer could see Barry finally seal his dream move. I reckon Rafa will nail him this time & at a good price two. Contrary to what alot of people think I believe he would be an excellent signing. Has premiership experience, would fit right in beside Alonso / Mascherano giving the squad some serious strenght. He can play left-back & also on left-wing where Reira plays. His experience could be key as we've no time to be waiting for players to settle in. Dossena springs to mind Dossena, Lucas & Babel will be in danger of being off-loaded to facilitate some of these buys. Would not be sorry to be honest to see any of them leave but I would like to give Babel one more season. I know alot of people have made up their minds on him but I think he has serious potential. I just don't think he's a winger. Forgive me if I've left anything out. Please discuss & we'll see come August how we're looking
I know most people have put him in the 'possibly offloaded' category but I will personally be shockked if Lucas is let go.
Ya I know but if they buy another player for his position & don't sell he's gonna struggle to get the games. Has done ok but Barry would be a far greater asset
im unsure about silva no doubting his ability hes a class player but hes adabatability and he doesnt look very aggresive just makes me worry about his cost doesnt speak any english at all
We need a big big squad of kwality so adding Barry and keeping Lucas and Alonso is a must. I really believe that Lucas will come good, his natural position is att mid and not a def mid.
Thats a fair point. Experiance does mean alot. But we can only take it with all the Spanish lads at Liverpool that it would be alot easier to settle. The rest seem to settle pretty quick & I believe he can be the same. Regarding the price it's hard to see how it'll be done with using someone as part of the deal..It was done to get Torres on the relative cheap & Im sure this is what Rafa will be trying to do with Valencia
I'm not convinced about Silva either, admittedly I haven't seen enough of him in La Liga but i think 20M is a lot of money to spend on him and he's missed half of this season through injury. Inter Milan made a similar mistake last season buying Quaresma for big money and he turned out to be a disaster for them, we don't want to be in the same boat next season. While I don't want to spend 20M on him i would nearly prefer to pay a fee of about 15M for Antonio Valencia to play right side. I also think Lucas may look to leave, even if just on loan. He wants to go to the World Cup with Brazil next summer and hasn't a hope of making their squad if he stays with us!
I was of the same opinion as everyone else at the start of the season, regarding Lucas. But as the season has gone on, I'm starting to see what Rafa see's in him. His biggest problem at the start of the season, was his infuriating ability to stick his leg out if an oppo players was getting past him. He caused countless fouls and received too many cards for this behaviour. Lately though, I've noticed that he's not doing this as much at all. It's seems to be something that the coaches have worked on. I can see a massive improvement in his play as well. I would be very reluctant to jump on the "Lucas must go" bandwagon just yet. If he shows the same rate of improvement over the next year, we could have something very special on our hands. Unfortunately, the same can't be said for Ryan Babel. I would still give him another season, because the talent is obvious, but he really needs to channel his concentration this season. Otherwise, he'll have to go next year.
The main I dont want to see if Xabi leaving as mentioned on another thread, we are a massive club and not a selling club and there is plenty of room for players like Barry, Masch and Alonso, its along season and to be fighting on all fronts we need a big squad, thats how the mancs do it and sadly thats what we have to better, those b***ards
i would love to see silva come in. but if we signed gareth barry i would be delighted obviously not at the expense of xabi. i hope babel stays,his potential is enourmous.
I know i've spouted this a few times already and i know its looking very unlikely that the mancs won't hold onto him but i reckon Tevez is the real deal and adding him to our squad would be a phenomenal addition, but unfortunately i think the mancs will sign him soon enough. Anyways other than that i would like to sign johnson and definitely barry (but not in place of Alonso of course)
Anywhere from the left, the hole behind the striker, up front by himself or out on the right. Personally speaking i'd have him playing instead of kuyt on the right.
The thing is though we are crying out for natural width on the right hand side and Tevez won't give us that option. I just don't know how wise it would be to spend 20M + on Tevez when we could get a proper winger for 15M and interchange him and Kuyt depending on the opposition. Tevez already spoke out about not being happy playing out wide at United, he wants to play as a proper striker and I can't see him coming to liverpool knowing number one he isn't guaranteed to play every week and number two when he does play he's likely to be played out wide.
Silva and Anelka please. Chelsea will have a clear out this summer me thinks and i think he's love to come back.
I remember being on here for the last two summers crying out for actual wide players but i think i'm starting to realise that we're never going to have actual wide players. With how effective Dirk has been this year despite his technical deficiencies i actually reckon that they're not as necessary as i originally imagined. If we had someone like Tevez (who has the same work ethic as Kuyt but an awful lot more skill and technique) on the right with a decent full back overlapping i really can't see the issue. On the subject of weather he'd be happy with the situation then yeah you have a good point its probalby not what he wants and i'm sure he could have his choice of any number of clubs that would have him as a striker. I wouldn't be against using 4-4-2 with him and Nando up front but it would require a change in formation and could end up with Gerrard being accommodated again. Realistically i can't see it ever coming to this though because Alex Ferguson is no idiot and i'm sure he realises that he's got one of the best footballers in the world there and i can't see him letting him go to one of his rivals.