So Robbie Keane looks like heās signing today but Barry looks less likely. Think Liverpool need a striker alright since getting rid of Crouch, not sure how it will work out for Ireland if Keane doesnāt get that many games but it can only help to have another guy playing CL football.
Surely Liverpool are buying Keane with the intention of playing him with Torres no?
They donāt always play two strikers though. The reason Crouch didnāt play that often wasnāt that Voronin or Kuyt played up front ahead of him - it was more to do with the formation lot allowing for two strikers. That said Keane is more able to play deeper than Crouch so could fit into the system better.
Obviously itās true that Keane can play deeper if needs be, I donāt think itās ideal for Ireland if thatās the way Liverpool are going to play him. I think itās a good move for him and for Ireland in theory, but in practice it could take him some time to settle, and Iād fear his confidence would be affected. No matter how much he has matured in recent seasons, heās still dependent on confidence to a large extent.
Liverpool played better last year with the 4-2-3-1 system with Torres up top on his own. I canāt see any reason for Benitez to change this. The question is who to play in the centre of the three with Gerrard being there last season in what is his only position really. That would be where Keane would play as he is not an out and out striker to play up there by himselfā¦
If he signs Keane, surely it has to be as a first team player for big matches. You donāt pay twenty million to sit a player on the bench if youāre liverpool. Playing him out wide isnāt that much of an option as Benitez certainly likes two nippy out and out winger types(his use of Kuyt aside). So he plays where gerrard played last season a lot. Which means Gerrard has to be either shunted out right to where he doesnāt like(and can sometimes drift from) but is pretty effective as Benitez did before or as one of the sitting two(when he canāt resist the hollywood ball every second go). Either way, I think buying Keane means a change in formation or an unhappy Gerrard. In either case, Iām happy enough.
Robbie Keanes agent is a genius!
All of that is quite possible Juhy. Been thinking about this a bit and I also see two other possibilities.
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Keane will play on the left or right of the three that play behind Torres. Probably the right as Babel is decent at coming in from the left and having a shot. I donāt see this as a likely option but sometimes Rafa worries me by doing daft things.
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Liverpool play something like Spain did in the Euros and do actually move away from the 4-2-3-1 to more of a 4-1-3-2 with Keane and Torres up top.
Time will tell. Why the fook havenāt we bought a wide player would be my biggest concern. Iād love to get SWP from Chelsea - not gonna happen though.
Rafael Benitez has confirmed he must sell again to bring Gareth Barry to Liverpool after completing the 20.3million signing of Robbie Keane.
The Reds manager insists that is what he aims to do, but he has no intention of selling Spain international Alvaro Arbeloa.
Liverpool are believed to have had a 7million bid from Sevilla for the 25-year-old, but Benitez has made it clear the player is going nowhere, despite speculation defender Arbeloa wants to return to Spain for personal reasons.
Benitez maintains there is no truth in the assumption Arbeloa is eager to leave and the former Deportivo La Coruna player will be part of his plans in the coming season.
But there is no question that Benitez still wants to sign former Aston Villa skipper Barry, the subject of a summer-long saga which has frayed tempers at Villa Park and Anfield.
Benitez could sell Jermaine Pennant, Andriy Voronin or Steve Finnan, but it is still more likely that he will persuade Xabi Alonso to leave if he can get a 15million-plus bid for the Spanish midfielder.
After completing the Keane deal, Benitez talked in terms of one more major departure rather than a string of smaller deals, to finance an 18million move for Barry.
Benitez said: "We knew that we could only spend money by selling players and we have been doing this (for Keane).
"We are still trying to sign the players that we need, and if we need to sell someone now, okay, we will do so.
āIf we can do it (the Barry deal) before the end of the transfer window, we will continue to try. We will always continue to improve our squad.ā
Benitez was delighted to finally land Keane, and he declined to discuss Tottenham chairman Daniel Levyās anger over how the move was concluded.
Benitez said: "We are pleased he is here. We dealt well with Mr Levy, and my role was to bring the player here as quickly as possible.
"Robbie is one of the very best forwards in the Premier League. He is settled and more than used to the requirements. He is a good professional with a solid mentality, obviously I am pleased he is here, other managers would say the same.
"Robbie can play alongside (Fernando) Torres and (Dirk) Kuyt, and also (Steven) Gerrard. He is clever and is the right kind of player.
āHe can play on the right, he can play up front. If you have clever players it makes it easier for the manager.ā
He added: "If you play 4-4-2, Keane can play alongside Torres. If we play 4-2-3-1 he can play as a second striker or on the right.
"He is the kind of player who is adaptable, and can be used in different positions and will give you 100%.
"Robbie is intelligent, he can play on the right and he can adapt. He is a very positive signing.
"He scored twice at Anfield last season, he knows where he has to be to score and where he must be to support team-mates. He is very clever.
"We have known he was a good player for a long time, the goals he scored against us just underlined what we already knew.
āWe wanted the player, he said he was a Liverpool fan and wanted to come here. We are happy, our fans are happy.ā
Rafa as quoted on f365.
So there it be. Robbie willspend most of the season trying to play on the wing methinks. Liverpool rarely go for that crazy 4-4-2 shit anymore, so itās squeeze him into a formation that wonāt suit him, heās been bought to put the shits up Dirk Kuyt effectively. Maybe Dirk wasnāt working hard enoughā¦
Lads, any merit for ye in going for 3 centre halves and re-introducing (the dreaded) wing-backs?
Reina____
Carragher__Agger__Skrtel_____
Degen_____________________________Dossena
Gerrard__Mascherano_Alonso__
Keane__
Torres____
Donāt think it would work because itās too narrow but it does play to Liverpoolās current strengths - good centre halves, good central midfielders, good central strikers.
[quote=ātherock67ā]Lads, any merit for ye in going for 3 centre halves and re-introducing (the dreaded) wing-backs?
[/quote]
No.
Next question please.
Canāt believe that we were turn down 7m for Arbeloa who is distinctly averageā¦
Seems quite a lot of money for Keane though by current EPL prices it is probably not. Only a couple of years ago now I was debating whether it would be worth Celtic paying 8million euro or so for him. Hope this move doesnāt affect his performances for Ireland. General consensus is when a player moves to a more succesful club it will impact positively on their international performances. I am not so sure. Players like Duff seemed to get ideas above his station when he moved to Chelsea and seemed to think that he didnāt have to work hard because he played for a top four EPL side.
In fairness Larry that is bullshit.
Duff was excellent for Ireland in the last Euro campaign and always has been. The only thing I would ever say against him was that his move to Newcastle showed a woeful lack of ambition.
[quote=ātherock67ā]Lads, any merit for ye in going for 3 centre halves and re-introducing (the dreaded) wing-backs?
Reina____
Carragher__Agger__Skrtel_____
Degen_____________________________Dossena
Gerrard__Mascherano_Alonso__
Keane__
Torres____
Donāt think it would work because itās too narrow but it does play to Liverpoolās current strengths - good centre halves, good central midfielders, good central strikers.[/quote]
Yes. Although Iād have Keane more beside Torres than behind. And it depends on how good the two new full backs are at getting up and down. But that looks a strong team to me.
But really heās just going to do what Juhy has said I reckon.
i donāt know if heās your kid brother larry, if so then heās fair gameā¦but if heās just a distant relative of yours i think that statement is a bit harshā¦Under mourinho Duff was turned into a work horseā¦he used to run his socks off back tracking the whole time so much so that he actually lost his attacking flair and forgot how to go passed a manā¦ his workrate cud never have been questioned at chelseaā¦Newcastle was the wrong place for him to goā¦its rotten to the coreā¦deadwood everywhereā¦You couldnāt have got two more opposite environments to go from chelsea under mourinho to newcastle under Roederā¦
I donāt know Larry. Iād say two things:
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I think he has a cracking attitude - I know plenty of people disagree on that point but sometimes his frustration looks like laziness and I think he always puts in a serious shift for club and country and I donāt see his attitude changing.
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I think heās improved at Spurs. His goalscoring record there is:
2002/03: 13
2003/04: 16
2004/05: 17
2005/06: 16
2006/07: 22
2007/08: 23
His (league) goals per games ratio is:
2002/03: .45
2003/04: .41
2004/05: .30
2005/06: .44
2006/07: .40
2007/08: .42
In 2004/05 he was behind Mido and Defoe in the lineup so many of his appearances were off the bench and his ratio is distorted. Otherwise a ratio of close to a goal every second game is very good going for a team which has been very inconsistent and considering he had a lot of appearances from the bench in that time.
His workrate for Ireland was really poor and he failed to track back on numerous occassions during the last campaign. Donāt know about his EPL performances scumpot and donāt doubt what you say about Mourinho turning him into a work horse but that certainly didnāt transfer to Ireland.
sorry larry i misread your postā¦
Reports in the press claim that a fee of 17.5million plus Steve Finnan has been agreed between Liverpool and Aston Villa for Gareth Barry.
The only stumbling block now is the cah that the Reds need to raise in order to fund the deal.However, it is believed that Yossi Benayoun may be on the verge of a switch to Manchester City, while Blackburn Rovers have expressed an interest in Jermaine Pennant.
I dont know about you lot, but iād rather Bentley than Barry. He is younger, Cheaper and offers Width.
[quote=āChocolateMiceā]Reports in the press claim that a fee of 17.5million plus Steve Finnan has been agreed between Liverpool and Aston Villa for Gareth Barry.
The only stumbling block now is the cah that the Reds need to raise in order to fund the deal.However, it is believed that Yossi Benayoun may be on the verge of a switch to Manchester City, while Blackburn Rovers have expressed an interest in Jermaine Pennant.
I dont know about you lot, but iād rather Bentley than Barry. He is younger, Cheaper and offers Width.[/quote]
I then go on to fooking sky sports and read this;
Aston Villa have confirmed Gareth Barry is staying at the club and will not be joining Liverpool.
Barry has been a target for Liverpool throughout the summer, but the Premier League rivals have been unable to agree on a fee.
Liverpool have seen multiple bids for the England international rejected, with Villa reportedly wanting a sum in the region of 18million.
The midfielder had stated that he wanted to take up the opportunity to move to Anfield to play UEFA Champions League football.
He was critical of Villa boss Martin OāNeill and was also fined by the club before returning to pre-season training a fortnight ago, and then being booed by fans in a friendly against Walsall last week.
Deadline passed
Barry will now spend the new season in the Midlands after Villa revealed Liverpool did not meet the deadline to agree on a deal.
A statement on Villaās official website read: "This evening, Aston Villa can announce that Gareth Barry will be staying with the club following the interest from Liverpool over recent months.
"During discussions in the past few days, a final deadline to conclude this episode was set that all parties were aware of and agreed to.
āThis deadline has now passed and so Gareth will remain with Villa.ā
Reds boss Rafa Benitez had admitted on Tuesday, following the signing of Robbie Keane from Tottenham Hotspur, that he would have to sell before being in a position to buy Barry.
However, Benitez will now have to look elsewhere for midfield reinforcements after Villa ended negotiations regarding a possible deal.