Liverpool FC Forum

[Tiiger]

First let's see who can be used as a striker: Cisse, Nando, Baros, Mellor, Pongolle*, Le Tallec, Garcia*, Kewell*, Nunez*.

Obviously we've got abundant strikers to pick up. However, only Cisse and Nando meet CL level.

Baros, IMO, will quickly find himself in the headlines about quiting the club for that he will not be the first choice. His performance last season prooved that the lack of professionalism harms his performance drastically. We need a player who produces solid performance even if he's not happy on the bench. Baros has the quality but the heart of commitment.

Mellor is lack of pace and finishing, but I like his enthusiasm on the pitch as well as his potential. If he can get away from injury next season, I believe his perfomance will be better than Crouch.

Le Tallec is similar to Mellor. I can't tell which of them has more potential, but by far Mellor is stronger and more experienced.

Pongolle, Nunez, Kewell and Garcia are not pure strikers. They are all attacking middlefielders sneaking behind the striker. Rafa only pushed them to the front last season when all our strikers were stroke down by injury.

In a word, I think we have enough strikers because:

1. Rafa will sign more wingers or attacking middlefielders, which means Pongolle, Nunez, Kewell and Garcia can still be used as a shadow striker if Cisse injured. And Baros can be sold out if he's not willing to be a backup.

2. Mellor has the potential to be a competent backup for Nando. What he needs is time and chance. And once again, I stress that he has more potential than Crouch.

3. In case of purchasing Kuyt, we will have to spare Cisse on the bench, which is a big waste.

4. It's almost impossible to find a player who are top quality, willing to be a backup and still scoring constantly(such as Solskjaer).

So my suggestion for managing our strikers is: sell Baros; use Cisse-Nando as first choice, then Mellor/Le Tallec-Pongolle/Kewell as backup. It shoud be enough to cover next seaon if injuries are not that rampant as before.

[76-1115222408]

I kinda hear what you are saying, and we COULD save some money for a top class CB, and possibly a few other signings.
But i would say NUNEZ cannot play as a striker, Stevie G or Harry Kewell and prob even Bolo would do a better job in that position.

And you have a point that only Cisse/Moro are CL quality which is a fair point (Garcia tho?) the thing is though, using your own argument that ONLY these two are CL quality, what would we do if they both are injured at the same time, we wouldnt have players (in your opinion) that are CL quality, so what would we do then??

YNWA

[Fernando Morientes > 19 <]

Baros was excellent against Wrexham. Strangely enough he was playing with his head up.

I don't really think we need anymore strikers as i think that youngsters such as Pongolle, Mellor and Le Tallec need more game to show their real potential. We can't really judge them from one or two games.

[graemelebroy]

Ok, so your saying that if Baros started all this hype again, then sell him. That leaves us with Cisse and Nando that are proven strikers at a higher level. So if you sell Baros, and (GOD FORBID) one or both strikers take on injury, youd only be left with;
Mellor, who you said has potential. Im sure he does, and I've seen him through the years, and he does lack the pace, but he is a good striker in the making.
Pongo, who has the greatest enthusiasm in all of the squad, he genuinely should be ahead of Mellor in the pecking order, but is still nursing an injury.
Le Tallec, who needs to be toughened to make it in the English game, he gets pushed off the ball too easily, but has the pace we lack since Owen left.
Kewell, who is NOT a striker at club OR International level, and should never be, because he is a winger, and always will be.
And that goes for Nunez, and Garcia, although the latter did manage to find some great form at the second half of the season, most of the goals were from hanging off the striker

We need another striker if we sell Baros, simple as that. If Baros makes headwaves again, the Kuyt deal (hopefully) will seal his departure. I do think Baros is a commodity to the team, he has some great touches and pace, and he isnt easily taken off the ball, he gets into some great positions as well, but he doesn't pass the ball. Then again he is a striker, and hey, they're all hogs of the ball. Its his attitude that stinks.

[kopite_1232002]

long season cummin up. injuries last season and most of are goles game from midfield last season, so yes we need a new striker

[Tiiger]

I kinda hear what you are saying, and we COULD save some money for a top class CB, and possibly a few other signings.
But i would say NUNEZ cannot play as a striker, Stevie G or Harry Kewell and prob even Bolo would do a better job in that position.

And you have a point that only Cisse/Moro are CL quality which is a fair point (Garcia tho?) the thing is though, using your own argument that ONLY these two are CL quality, what would we do if they both are injured at the same time, we wouldnt have players (in your opinion) that are CL quality, so what would we do then??

YNWA

I choose Nunez because his heading. He's definitly the last choice if I forgot to mention that. SG and Bolo are also capable, but don't you think that's too luxury for us?

Anyway, of course I'd like to have 4 or even more CL level strikers, but that's not possible in this seaon. We don't have the money, man!!! Sparing either Cisse, Baros or Kuyt on the bench are somewhat extravagant IMO. Don't forget we still need at least one CB, one winger, and/or one RB. Since we have a relatively strong middlefield, I think we can foucus on building depth into our defence. Not only because good defence is the foundmental of success, but also quality defenders are rare in the market(and Sami is old). On the  contrast, strikers are available all the time and their values are somehow exaggerated. We need to be more patient in acquiring strikers, avoiding making same mistakes as Man Utd, Chelsea and of course, ourselves.

In case of, for god's sake, Cisse and Nando are all injured at the same time, let's pray for our young talents to shine. With a much stronger middlefielder than last seaon, I have the faith in them to make big impact.

Anyway, I hope strikers are the last thing to buy, since we are not rich at all. Rafalution takes steps, and this is just the second season. Don't be hurry, especially on buying strikers.

[Alonso14]

if rafa insisits on pusuing a striker i say he should go for saviola whos on a free altho on extremly high wage and save the transfer fee on a top quality centre half. which imo is where we need improving

in rafa we trust tho boys.

p.s. miltarush is a , alonso_14 stole my name and will pay in due time for that.

[Paul C]

Mellor - Isn't good enough and wastes too many opportunities!

Baros - he is a good striker but cannot player with a strike partner and unsettles the team with the he talks

Pongolle - looks like he could be a good player with experience

Cisse - looked class in France and will hopefully show us this season how good he is

Morientes - Class player and now he has his fitness back will bang them in this season

So personally I think we could do with one more class striker.

[London_Red]

if Rafa is thinking about using one striker like he did many times last season we have enough now, but to play with 2 up front at the moment we are 1 class striker short, but if we dont buy anyone we should be looking to see a big improvement in pongolle and le tallec, theyve been here a while now

[dward]

Mellor - Isn't good enough and wastes too many opportunities!

Baros - he is a good striker but cannot player with a strike partner and unsettles the team with the he talks

Pongolle - looks like he could be a good player with experience

Cisse - looked class in France and will hopefully show us this season how good he is

Morientes - Class player and now he has his fitness back will bang them in this season

So personally I think we could do with one more class striker.

good post!!!
agree with you there for most of it  

[Tiiger]

Mellor - Isn't good enough and wastes too many opportunities!

Baros - he is a good striker but cannot player with a strike partner and unsettles the team with the he talks

Pongolle - looks like he could be a good player with experience

Cisse - looked class in France and will hopefully show us this season how good he is

Morientes - Class player and now he has his fitness back will bang them in this season

So personally I think we could do with one more class striker.

I definitely agree that we need more class strikers. However, the problem is that we don't have many choices: Kuyt, Saviola or Crouch(others I don't know).

Kuyt and Crouch all cost around 8m, which is a little bit overvalued IMO. Saviola is cheaper on price but his salary is another problem (I also doubt about his adaptability). None of them can be regarded as "class" or "practical" I think. So if we can't find an ideal target, we'd better not waste our money and hold until January or next season.

[65-1114725958]

why don't we just sign back Owen, as he's only gonna get a bit-part this season for real.

[Tiiger]

why don't we just sign back Owen, as he's only gonna get a bit-part this season for real.

Is Owen himself willing to come back?

[tubby]

Real already made an informal enquiry a few months ago to bring him back but Rafa painly said no. Good on him to. Forget own. Let him pay continue to sit on the bench and maybe one day theyll say remember Michael Owen the one who scored 200 (or however many) goals for Liverpool and then spent 3 years on the bench at Real Madrid. No i think Baros is gonna stay this season and play well. Rafa wouldnt had played him otherwise against Wrexham. I think though if Crouch comes is may get a bit crowded. One thing about Morientes is that as long as hes fit, keep playing him and heel keep scoring. He demonstrated that at Monaco but at Real he was overcrowded once more with Raul, Ronaldo and co.

Whats the deal with Mellor and Siniema anyway, are they staying, on loan ?

[JC_81]

Mellor - Isn't good enough and wastes too many opportunities!

Baros - he is a good striker but cannot player with a strike partner and unsettles the team with the he talks

Pongolle - looks like he could be a good player with experience

Cisse - looked class in France and will hopefully show us this season how good he is

Morientes - Class player and now he has his fitness back will bang them in this season

So personally I think we could do with one more class striker.

Yep, speaking a lot of sense there.

Also, i think pongolle is out until october or so injured, and with the possibility that baros will still leave (if not now then january) then i think we could do with 1 more striker.

Looks like it'll be crouch whether people agree or not