Liverpool FC Forum

[Owzat]

its goin well for Arby at the minute

Inevitable really, Johnson is our current player and Arbeloa made defensive mistakes and you're never likely to get too many objectively approaching such a question. It's not nearly as clear cut as the poll was bound to suggest, it's not even done to show by how much ie Johnson just, Arbeloa just etc but even then I it's a bandwagon that plenty will jump on and in a few months/seasons time jump off

And in answer to the question, I'd rather have Arbeloa and the £17.5m back

[Rockthekop]

Johnson can play in several positions unlike Arbeloa, he can dribble, he's got pace, he can cross.  The best wide player we've had in years.

Expensive yes but quality doesn't come cheap.  No contest, no question.

[Sabre]

Johnson can play in several positions unlike Arbeloa, he can dribble, he's got pace, he can cross.  The best wide player we've had in years.

He has a shot. With both foots. He has a cross. With both foots. He's not patternable, due to this, he has resources.

[we all dream...]

I've just seen Arby tearing it up down the left flank for RM. I'd take both to be honest but if i had to choose and I had to choose, I choose Glen. Purley because he's English.



And I'm a terrible racist.

[redbeergoggles]

Arbeloa I was sadly wrong about Johnson I heralded his acquisition as a benchmark for the ensuing season ,and I now in hindsight feel foolish  for not noticing his  actual defensive failings ,I know going forward he is probably unsurpassed in the Premiership ,but as a defender seriously lacking Im afraid ,its one thing when your trepidation for the forthcoming game is warranted because of your opponents skilful wingers ,and in the course of a season you expect your defensive line to get skinned by the most able of adversaries ,but to be fearful of any team sliding effortlessly around or past your latest 18 million right back with sometimes arrogant ease is frankly beyond a joke ...

So Arbeloa for me every time,like I said I was mistaken about Johnsons overall defensive acumen ,and Arbeloa provided a lot more solidity and assurance across the back ,but I still feel Glen has a vital role to play ,but I my particular leaning on that would be in a right wing capacity  .

[NANNY RED]

I liked Arby , very underrated when he was here but got on with his job, does that answer the question

[Fowler_E7]

Arbeloa wasn't even that good, he was decent at best. I seriously cant beleive anyone would prefer him over Johnson who is far superior in every way to Arbeloa. Arbeloa was no better defensively than Johnson, in fact he was easily the weakest link in the defence last year. He was decent at in defence, but couldnt attack, as he lacked the physical capability to get up and down the flank, his crosses almost always never cleared the first man.

The defence isnt struggling because of Johnson, in fact hes the only defender whos shown any sort of form this season. Hes done all the attacking the Kuyt cant produce as well! the defence has been poor because or centre backs have been awful, especially Sktrtel who is completly out of his depth at this level, and Carragher struggling with a weak partner and hugely inexperienced left back in Insua. Johnson has been one of the few decent performers this season and now some fans are calling for Arbeloa who was a distinctly average full back and no loss what so ever.

[made in UK]

Sounds mad but it was a bit close for me . Arbeloa sh!ts all over Johnson defensivly ,but Johnsons light years ahead in the attacking department. So i''ve gone with the attacking option as we need lots of goals and to win win win .

feck me lash we've agreed on the reasoning behind our opinions.

You no your stuff 

[account deleted by request]

Arbeloa was a good steady defender but was no where near as good as Finnan. Johnson is better than both going forward and probably just as good as Arbeloa defensively. I think we paid way over the odds for Johnson but he is a class player.

[aCe']

A better way to put it would have been:

JOHNSON
or
ARBELOA + 15mill

Between Johnson and Arbeloa its a no contest for me, Johnson is the far better player and over the course of a season he'll offer much more (in attacking terms) than Arbeloa would (in defensive terms)... My main concern about Johnson before we signed him was with regards to his performances in cup knockout games.. CL knockouts, carling cup and FA cup... we'll we're out of Europe so thats sorted i guess .. Against better wingers he'll always struggle imo, lucky for us though, theres arent many great left wingers in the league today.. Arbeloa on the other hand is brilliant at man marking and could be trusted to stop the best of wingers..

All in all, i dont think Johnson is 15mill better than Arbeloa... I dont think Johnson is worth 18mill FOR US, not when we need to improve in other attacking positions before we start paying big bucks for luxury players..  I'd much rather we spent the extra 15mill on a striker, a centerback, a right winger, or even a left winger...

[account deleted by request]

spot on Ace'

[shawnk]

A better way to put it would have been:

JOHNSON
or
ARBELOA + 15mill

Between Johnson and Arbeloa its a no contest for me, Johnson is the far better player and over the course of a season he'll offer much more (in attacking terms) than Arbeloa would (in defensive terms)... My main concern about Johnson before we signed him was with regards to his performances in cup knockout games.. CL knockouts, carling cup and FA cup... we'll we're out of Europe so thats sorted i guess .. Against better wingers he'll always struggle imo, lucky for us though, theres arent many great left wingers in the league today.. Arbeloa on the other hand is brilliant at man marking and could be trusted to stop the best of wingers..

All in all, i dont think Johnson is 15mill better than Arbeloa... I dont think Johnson is worth 18mill FOR US, not when we need to improve in other attacking positions before we start paying big bucks for luxury players..  I'd much rather we spent the extra 15mill on a striker, a centerback, a right winger, or even a left winger...

I think Rafa wanted to improve the squad with the purchase of Johnson as he didn't think there's any problem with the current squad. He did improve it as Johnson is better than Arbeloa.

Wouldn't want to comment that he could've use the money for better players but that I'm sure there's enough comment from the anti Rafa already.

Also, it's apparent that the manager gets to spend the money after the sale of Alonso so please dont blame the owners.

[REDTILLDEAD]

Just a quick one.I know we have had a poor first half of a season and maybe that doesn't reflect the player Glen Johnson could go on to become for us, he is really good at going at the opposition and taking there defenders on but on the downside the oppositions wingers seem to beat Johnson with almost ease at times.

So compare that with Arbeloa who didn't have it as much in his locker to get forward and create goals but was disciplined and was one of our most consistent performers over the past 2 seasons and for what we bought him for was an excellent piece of business.

I do believe if we had Arbeloa this season we would of conceded less goals, even though Johnson is really good going forward I feel it is always more important for a full back to defend and that's why my vote goes to Arbeloa.

Who would you rather have in the team now?

Neither!......one will never be good enough to wear the red shirt.......and the other is overated, and overvalued. FFS why do we have to settle for 2nd best all the time?.......because Rafa aint got the brains to spot real talent....and neither have our useless scouts!.

[roberto green]

Just a quick one.I know we have had a poor first half of a season and maybe that doesn't reflect the player Glen Johnson could go on to become for us, he is really good at going at the opposition and taking there defenders on but on the downside the oppositions wingers seem to beat Johnson with almost ease at times.

So compare that with Arbeloa who didn't have it as much in his locker to get forward and create goals but was disciplined and was one of our most consistent performers over the past 2 seasons and for what we bought him for was an excellent piece of business.

I do believe if we had Arbeloa this season we would of conceded less goals, even though Johnson is really good going forward I feel it is always more important for a full back to defend and that's why my vote goes to Arbeloa.

Who would you rather have in the team now?

Neither!......one will never be good enough to wear the red shirt.......and the other is overated, and overvalued. FFS why do we have to settle for 2nd best all the time?.......because Rafa aint got the brains to spot real talent....and neither have our useless scouts!.

Apart from the exception of

Maschereno...

oh and maybe Reina....

Maybe Agger too?...

How about Torres?..

can we put Alonso in this category too?..

and don't forget Sissoko who we bought and made a huge profit on like Alonso?...


= You win some you lose some but he hasn't done too bad

[aCe']

Just a quick one.I know we have had a poor first half of a season and maybe that doesn't reflect the player Glen Johnson could go on to become for us, he is really good at going at the opposition and taking there defenders on but on the downside the oppositions wingers seem to beat Johnson with almost ease at times.

So compare that with Arbeloa who didn't have it as much in his locker to get forward and create goals but was disciplined and was one of our most consistent performers over the past 2 seasons and for what we bought him for was an excellent piece of business.

I do believe if we had Arbeloa this season we would of conceded less goals, even though Johnson is really good going forward I feel it is always more important for a full back to defend and that's why my vote goes to Arbeloa.

Who would you rather have in the team now?

Neither!......one will never be good enough to wear the red shirt.......and the other is overated, and overvalued. FFS why do we have to settle for 2nd best all the time?.......because Rafa aint got the brains to spot real talent....and neither have our useless scouts!.

Apart from the exception of

Maschereno...

oh and maybe Reina....

Maybe Agger too?...

How about Torres?..

can we put Alonso in this category too?..

and don't forget Sissoko who we bought and made a huge profit on like Alonso?...


= You win some you lose some but he hasn't done too bad

Reina, Alonso (bad sell), Benayoun and Torres... very good signings

Agger, Mascherano, Sissoko (bad sell) ... decent signings

Now how many players did he sign again ?

Thing is, any manager at a top club given the money is bound to make good buys... To determines whether the manager is any good in the market though, the two main things to look at have got to be :

- trophies won with given players
- percentage of successful buys

Unfortunately, Rafa falls short but that doesnt mean he didnt sign any good players...