Liverpool FC Forum

[account deleted by request]

Fowler is one of the best players in the squad and is certainly the most technically gifted and intelligent player in there.

Class act and i'd play him every game he's fit. Fowler and Bellamy to start next season.

Sounds very promising to me.

Do you think Fowler and Bellamy could form an effective partnership then Goodbob? Im not so sure that they can without changing Liverpools style of play considerably from last season. Neither Bellamy or Fowler are target men and if we continue with the long ball its going to come straight back. A more patient controlled passing game would be essential if we were to get the best out of a partnership of Bellamy and Fowler which is why I think Crouch with Fowler/Bellamy would be a more likely choice especially away at Sheff U.

[Kharhaz]

Fowler is going to get more games because he only signed a 1 year contract, hes only short term i reckon because of his age but i think hes going to start against Sheff Utd along with Flo Po. Last season playing football then probably think about coaching at liverpool would be my guess

[Lando_Griffin]

Fowler is going to get more games because he only signed a 1 year contract, hes only short term i reckon because of his age but i think hes going to start against Sheff Utd along with Flo Po. Last season playing football then probably think about coaching at liverpool would be my guess

Seriously mate - why the f*cking f*ck would Rafa play Pongolle (who spent last season on loan because Rafa didn't want him) instead of 2 of his own signings?

You pudding.

[stmichael]

what i noticed during the back end of last season was that fowler had a tendancy to drop deep and link the play between midfield and attack a lot more. that's why i think he could possibly be used from the start on a more regular basis. where as crouch will come deep with his back to goal, robbie has the ability to come deep, turn and play the ball forward for bellamy to run onto. see cisse's second goal against west ham at upton park as an example.

i'm a fan of peter crouch. he improved us no end last season but i just can't see him starting as regularly this season if we want to take that extra step forward again.

[Bad Bob]

I would love to see Bellamy and Robbie starting the first game together.  Robbie has the ability to link play and set Bellamy on his way but the same is true in reverse--Bellamy can spot a pass and set his teammates up (he did it repeatedly for Dickov against the Scum at Old Trafford only for the little blighter to spurn his chances).  Robbie would certainly make the most of cunning service from Bellamy.

Oh, and Saint, I disagree that we are a long ball team, even with Crouch on the pitch.  England played far more long balls to him in the WC than Liverpool did last season.

[clik]

Fowler is going to get more games because he only signed a 1 year contract, hes only short term i reckon because of his age but i think hes going to start against Sheff Utd along with Flo Po. Last season playing football then probably think about coaching at liverpool would be my guess

Pongolle start you are havin a giraffe mate he may not be a pool player by then and if he is he wont start

[48-1119859832]

It cant be that hard to sign a Right sided player! are you off your trolly? Rafa has been trying for 2 years to get one.You know the list of players hes tried for so I wont name them all. Everyone knows we are after a right winger/midfielder so they are all trying to rip us off. Gerrard will have to play in the centre more this season as we wont have Hamann to cover for injuries /suspensions and given the choice between Kromkamp or Bellamy on the right I would choose Bellamy.
        I hope we sign a right sided player but we also need a target man who scores goals just as much, as I dont see Bellamy and Fowler playing together much at all. It's much more likely to be Bellamy and Crouch or Fowler and Crouch.

I can list hundreds of right sided players we can sign, but the best one would probably be Jermaine Pennant. He's been relegated with Birmingham and he's likely to go on the cheap, there you go Rafa and Saint that's a problem sorted. I agree if we sign a right winger/ midfielder than Gerrard will likely play in the centre but he'll also play on the right as well. I can't see Sissoko or Alonso being dropped as they both bring a hell of alot to the team. Fowler as Stu says is probably the most techincally gifted player in our squad and he's very intelligent, with Bellamy you have pace as well and someone who will run at defenders, it will be a very good partnership. Crouch and Bellamy would be good also, a target man to nod down the long balls to Bellamy to run onto, but you need some aspect of pace within your forward partnership.

[account deleted by request]

Oh, and Saint, I disagree that we are a long ball team, even with Crouch on the pitch.  England played far more long balls to him in the WC than Liverpool did last season.

i wasnt meaning we are a long ball team ,but that we do use the long ball and that would have to change considerably if we played Bellamy and Fowler as a partnership. Same with the quality of our crosses - without Crouch we will need better and more variety on our crosses( hopefully Gonzales) than last season.

[Cool Hand Luke]

Regardless of who we sign this summer, and presuming that Robbie gets a full pre-season under his belt, should he start up front in our first League game of next season against Sheffield United?

Whatever anyone says, at the moment he's still our best striker/goalscorer, and his form towards the end of last season, merits inclusion straight away at the beginning of '06/07 in many people's eyes (apart from 7-kewell)

Thoughts?

Way to early to tell. The advantage he will get over the other strikers is that he was here at the end of the last season so Rafa would have outlined exactly what he wants from him, what standards of fitness and style of lifestyle is acceptable for him to gain a contract, he will get the full pre-season, he will get to play in the early friendly matches.

The ball really is in his court, if he came back into pre-season not out of shape, works hard to get some fitness and scores goals and plays well in the early friendly games then he could push himself up in the pecking order, but he has no divine right to a first team spot against Sheff Utd for the first game of the season. Crouch will come back late, if we do sign a striker he will come late also, so Fowler and Craig Bellamy have a chance to gain some ground in the race for a first team spot, in fact they may be fighting for a first team spot alongside a new front man, or Crouch.

Its all their for Fowler to take, if he is fortunate enough to stay clear of injuries then he has a great chance to claim a first team spot, but an awful lot depends on what happens over the next 6 weeks or so.

[Cool Hand Luke]

If Fowler could play all 38 games and doesn’t keep coming off after an hour, and the team plays well I have no doubt that he capable of scoring 20 league goals. But I am just not confident that he is capable of playing a full season, can he really hack 2 competitive games in a week? He will be very useful for us next year and if he can get us 15 goals in all competitions then he would have done very well.

[Kharhaz]

Rafa seems to give a good idea of whos on his lists of outs and ins, pongolle did indeed spend last season on loan but has he been placed on the transfer list ?? has he been put in the same position as cisse??? i genuinely believe pongolle has a future at liverpool simply because rafa hasnt said otherwise, i might be mistaken but didnt he say he has a future at liverpool??

[sid_19840]

I think Robbie's a natural goal scorer,but if we sign someone like Kuyt or one of the Juve strikers(Trez or Zlatan),I doubt if Robbie would be making regular starts ahead of them.We might well see him playing the super sub role more often than not.

[Red H]

It depends what formation is used.  4-4-2 Fowler has a fair chance of starting, 4-2-3-1 and Bellamy will start on the right hand side of the three, I think.  Much as I like Fowler, I'd like to see more of Bellamy in our colours, in order to make an opinion of him.

[tubby]

It depends what formation is used.  4-4-2 Fowler has a fair chance of starting, 4-2-3-1 and Bellamy will start on the right hand side of the three, I think.  Much as I like Fowler, I'd like to see more of Bellamy in our colours, in order to make an opinion of him.

Yes on Bellamy but I dissagree about about seeing less of Fowler. If he has started the season with us last year in shape, im sure he would have scored plenty more.

He showed his consitensy in the few games he played in. If Rafa wasnt intent on using Robbie a lot then im sure he would not have offered him a new contract.

[dawson99]

I hope Robbie has a great preseason and earns a starting place because to be honest hes the only forward we have who can score 20+ goals next season. If Gonzales is as good as we all hope, the lack of pace playing Crouch and Robbie up front wont be such a problem and Bellamy could always play on the right if we cant sign a right sided player. (Wouldnt like to have to tell Bellamy that tho') I think there will be a fair amount of rotation next season,(horses for courses) and at least now we will have players who can make a real impact when coming on as subs.

I will be willing to wager that Bellamy scores 20 or more next season, and Robbie more like 10-15.

so fowler and bellamy to get 35 between them? You'd get a good price.
I think they will play robbie and bellamy up front next season and crouch wont be used as much as he was last season. Thats just my thought anyways. Just hope there is not too much of crouch up front by himself with bellamy on the right wing