Barry saga leaving a sour taste

Murphman

I'll reserve judgement mate, I am concerned that our new left back can't get into a piss poor Swiss team though. We should have Agger back at last and Carragher looks likely to be back in his old full back slot so there's plenty of cover with Aurelio getting fit again, Finnan will be hard to replace mind.

I was taking the piss (a bit) with Villa but I'd be delighted if we did sign him, same with Robbie Keane actually I think they're both what Liverpool need right now.

jasonrh

You might just find a newspaper lying its tits off about causing the deaths of three dozen people and some idiots chanting on a terrace have a slightly different degree of seriousness.

You also might find that for comfort since 1990 I have the following to comfort me:

Premier League: 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2007, 2008
FA Cup: 1994, 1996, 1999, 2004
League Cup: 1992, 2006
Charity Shield (Murph counts it!): 1990 (w/ you), 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997, 2003, 2007
European Cup: 1999, 2008
European Cup Winner's Cup: 1991
European Super Cup: 1991
Intercontinental Cup: 1999

I feel pretty cushy actually, and secure in the knowledge that my club has spent less than yours in doing the above and has a history and traditions to be proud of without the need for Mythmaking.

jasonrh

You're fine at the back.

You need a Keane - IF Benitez will be willing to play him and not just let him warm the bench like he did with Crouch.

M'n'M

You're getting your left and rights mixed up again Murph.

Degen is the right back, Dossena is the left back. Can't argue with anything else you said though.

If we do sign Keane, and it seems there is defo some truth in this, I will be happy as Larry (Sanders not Hagman). I think he can be the perfect foil for Torres and I would fully expect him to be a regular in the starting line up.

Torres
Babel Gerrard Keane (in any order)
Barry Masch


Doesn't look too bad does it?

CnutOfAllCnuts

No, it doesn't. Will most probably be enough to secure your 4th place.

M'n'M

I didn't see that coming

Red-Indian

There's no width in that formation. Liverpool don't have Evraesque fullbacks who overlap and provide the crosses either. Its incredibly narrow, low on creativity and will be easily contained by two good centrehalves and a decent defensive midfielder.

M'n'M

Liverpool have just signed 2 new fullbacks for this reason. Whether or not it works out remains to be seen but they are both overlapping fullbacks who like to get forward as far as I am aware.

redman5

I thought £8 million was a lot for the Italian left-back, considering he's not played that often for the national side. The young Argie kid, Insua, looks very good. I can see him making the grade for us at left back over the next couple of years.

M'n'M

Michael Carrick hadn't played that often for the national side - don't read too much into that when he went for £18m. Barry hasn't played that much for the national side and Villa are looking £18m for him.

If he's good, £8m will seem like a snip.

rocks13

Please God, lets not have a David Villa to Liverpool saga, it'll take forever.

Rafa will start the bidding at £5 million, Valencia will want £30 million and we'll spend the next year with Benitez raising the bid by about £10,000 a day until he finally reaches the amount Valencia asked for in the first place.

M'n'M

As opposed to SAF paying exactly what the selling club wants for their player first time every time.

Oh, right.

Murphman

Rafa has today ruled Villa out and ruled Keane in as a possibility.

Does anyone remember the days you picked up the paper and there it was, the first you knew about it, a photo of your new player shaking hands with the boss? I'm not sure I'm happy with us talking about signing other teams players in the media, I know you do it and so do chelsea and arsenal but there's something almost impolite and arrogant about it.

No wonder the rest of the league fucking hate the top four clubs.

djemba's arse

Looks a bit short on width to be honest.

I still feel liverpool have looked a bit vulnerable at the back. Collectively you might be the best defensive unit in the premier league, but that comes at a price. One on one I think there are some parts of the liverpool defense that comes up a bit short compared to us and chelsea. That might change this season, mind.

M'n'M

How does this look then?

.................................Torres........... .............................
Babel..........................Gerrard............ ...................Keane
................Barry..........................Mas cherano.................

djemba's arse

Terrifying!

Paddy

Eh?

M'n'M

He said "Collectively Liverpool might be the best defensive unit in the premier league"

Paddy

I know he said it I just dont understand why he said it.

M'n'M

He's a sensible poster? (Just one suggestion of course)

77

Raffa's like a kid out shopping with his mum in a toy shop but only has so much pocket money to buy what he wants.

Paddy

I would have said United and Chelsea have better defensive units than Liverpool myself. If this means I'm not sensible then so be it.

rocks13

I'm just a bit concerned about Rafa's bargaining skills.

Barry - Rafa offers £10 million, Villa want £18 million, about 6 weeks later its looking like £17 million plus Finnan which sounds like more than Villa started out asking for.

Crouch - Rafa wants £15 million, Portsmouth offer £9 million, final reported fee £9million plus possible £1 million add ons

Alonso - Rafa wants rid, Juventus offer £14 million, Rafa wants more, current status - Rafa stuck with player he's made it clear he doesn't want

Carson - Rafa wants £10 million, everyone laughs, no reported interest so far.

I'm thinking of buying a house soon, don't think I'll ask for Rafa's help in the negotiations.

djemba's arse

Yeah, what I meant was that when Liverpool are defending with everyone back, they might be the hardest team to break down. However, when they're stretched or the victim of a counter attack, they (to me) seem to be more vulnerable than ourselves and chelsea. This means they have to be more cautious in their build-up play, which reduces their effectiveness going forward. They also seem to leak soft goals more often than us, which is often down to individual mistakes.

Note that I don't claim to be some kind of liverpool expert, and the scousers on here have obviously watched more liverpool games than me, so this is just my impression from the games I have watched them in.

77

The Dippers septics have very tight purse strings and Rafa's doing the best he can to work with it... which isn't very good.

CnutOfAllCnuts

He's a transfer muppet's dream.

I bet the Caftard transfer muppets wish Benitez was managing United.

Vidicious

The way Barry has treated the club who took him in at 16 and made him the player he is today is disgraceful.

What a vile, disgusting human being.

peterstorey

Yeah I'd go along with that. They sit deep and play 2 DMs with a third sort-of-CM in Gerrard and wide players like Kuyt not going forward. If they played a more expansive game they'd get exposed at the back more often.

M'n'M

No it's not. That's what Villa are saying they still want but it won't happen. We hold all the cards now after MON has played a shocker by shooting himself in the foot. It'll probably end up as £14m + Finnan which will give both teams the chance to say they got the deal they wanted. Even the Birmingham press are now swapping sides this morning, saying MON has fecked up royally by letting Liverpool know he is not welcome at Villa anymore. We're just biding our time now.

Rafa didn't WANT £15m it was a starting price to make the opening bids higher. Fcuk me, it's not rocket science. We were more than happy to accept £10m but if we had said that do you really think Pompey would have come in with a bid of £9? Would they fuck? Rafa and Parry have played a blinder to get £11m for Crouch with one year left on his contract. Just look at the price Inter are offering for Lampard!!

This is still ongoing and to be honest you have absolutely no idea how much weas offered initially or what the payment terms were. We'll see how it works out before judging..[/quote]