Liverpool FC Forum

[AlanHansen]

I can see Rafa, reverting to 4-5-1 (or any of its variants 4-2-3-1/4-3-3) if he gets the players he wants in the summer. Thus enabling him to play Sissoko along with Xabi and Stevie.

I think this is exactly what will happen, but Benitez mixes it up quite a bit, even during games which is a Very Good Thing after years of hoof it long, mikey run fast.

I really like sissoko and he has great speed in the middle of the park, something which isn't alonso's greatest attribute.

[xd3vilx]

Why does he need to be Viera when he can be Sissoko...u don't expect someone to be the same...each player has their own pros and cons...they has their own style of playing...

[jeffiroquai]

As I said in the game thread yesterday, Mommo  was outstanding against Birm.  Flying in for headers, throwing his typical crunching tackles.  This lad hasn't skipped a beat. 

Welcome back Mommo!  We missed your contribution in the Mid.  Hope he is fit enough to get stuck in this weekend.

[banana]

Sissoko has been a revelation this year.  Over the last five or six games (might be a co-incidence, might not be) we have missed him to a massive extent.  Benitez has admitted as much in the Liverpool Echo (one newspaper I do read, and I hate tabloids.)  Simple as.  We've missed him, as we've missed other important players.  He may have made the difference between victory and defeat against Benfica.  For a new player, he's made a massive impression and we've missed him as Finchy would say when asked if he’s going to Chasers, defin-ate-ley.

He had a frightening start to the season.  For me personally, who has watched the lad live in the flesh a few times this season, he was our best player between August - November.  Certainly, a game that sticks out is a game we lost in fact, at Anfield against CSKA Sofia.  Sissoko, best man on the park.  Should have scored as well in the last minute, alas - he hit the bar.

Over the last few years, we have signed players who let's face it, have flattered to deceive.  I'm sick of signing players for the future who simply don't deliver.  By the same token, signing players who have delivered for their previous clubs, but as soon as they sign for Liverpool they (for want of a better phrase) shit themselves.  Big Club expectations and they can't deliver.  Let them go and play for Aston Villa or someone s*i*e like that.  This is LIVERPOOL FOOTBALL CLUB.  Too many players have disgraced the sacred name.  It happened so much in the Nineties.  I'm not even naming names, it does my head in that much typing them.  I've just typed a few and deleted them out of both shame and embarassment whilst typing this post.......... they don’t deserve their names to be on this forum.

Sissoko is one exception as far as the proof of the last eight months go.  Correct me if I'm wrong, but this lad is 20 years old? 

Last summer when everyone wanted us to sign Essien and Ibrahimovic and Van Der Vaart and all of the superstars of Europe because we'd won the Champions League and they'd automatically want play for us because we were the best team in the world and blah blah blah…..

Yes.  Benitez went and signed the RIGHT players.  Which he will do next summer as well.

But Christ Almighty, where did he get Sissoko from?  Mali is it?  This boy has already played a major part in the team Benitez left behind in "Va-len-thia".  I've said from the start that this lad can be as good as anything we've got.  People say he's a natural replacement for Hamann.  It's a bit premature to say to be honest.  Still a young guy, whereas Hamann is nearing the end, and it’s funny the way these players who are coming to the end of their career can still “buy and sell” these young players when they have or need to.  Hamann still has something to offer.  That’s another thread though.

But if we're going to discuss Sissoko lets do it.  He was only brought to Benitez' attention because Everton were about to steal him from Valencia.  Thank Benitez we were spared that.  Imagine the job he could have done for Everton?  I'm not as bitter as those blue bastards.  I always thought in the Houllier years that Thomas Graveson could have done a job for us.  But all that "Once A Blue Always A Blue" b*ll*c*ks was ultimately shown up as a sham wasn't it, Wayne?  If it were me, I still would have signed Graveson at the time.  Blue or not.  He was good enough for Real Madrid, but even that doesn’t hold any water anymore does it?  Madrid are a joke.

Never mind that sideshow though, all this might unashamedly demonstrate some details of the relationship between Benitez and Valencia.  The young man Sissoko was potentially (obviously) one of Valencia's best footballers.  If Liverpool and Benitez of all people weren't made aware of his availability, what of this Brazilian left back Aurellio we're supposedly after?  Why the sudden interest in Valencia players now?  I’m just asking have we lost out elsewhere in the past?  Could we have signed Baraja, Aimar etc.....?  I'm just asking.........?  Don’t mention Pellegrino by the way…….  But could we have taken advantage of the calibre of player Valencia had two years ago?  Another argument for another time perhaps?

But why was Sissoko available to Everton and not Liverpool?  Moyes is no transfer market genius.  You don’t need me to reel off his signings.  Look them up yourself if you really give a shit.  But he knew what Sissoko was.  A damn good player, who would have suited Everton’s style of play to a tee.  I'm just bothered about the fact that they were onto his availability before us.  Everton, despite their out-of-date big club protestations shouldn't even theoretically be on the same playing field as us.

Hard to say how the rest of the season would have panned out for Sissoko barring his eye injury though isn’t it and I’m not about to hypothesize.  What’s the point?  It doesn’t take a clever person to say we’ll miss him though, that’s for sure.  I’m no genius when it comes to soothsaying, nor do I know what I’m talking about when it comes to tactics that well.  I watch more amateur than professional football because it’s cheaper and funnier standing on the sidelines with the lads in my local park verballing the useless referees, then we go the boozer afterwards and get smashed whilst watching Liverpool usually live on telly, if we haven’t got tickets for Anfield that is.  I can get by talking about Liverpool and their tactics, but I’m no Bigmick or Sabre, who if you read their regular posts, clearly know what they are talking about, without being blinded by support.

I’m nearly finished now, cause I’ve gone on too much, I’ll mention the Vieira comparisons; no matter how young Sissoko is, they can’t be ignored.  They do look physically similar and with more awareness Sissoko could control and impact on games in a similar way but it’s way off at the moment in my opinion.  Everybody knows that Vieira was consistently one of the best, if not arguably the best midfielder in Europe domestically and internationally over the last decade.  A World Cup winner, a European Championship winner, and countless domestic trophies cannot masquerade that.  Now he plays for the Italian champions and at 29 years of age still commanded a +£12 million transfer fee.  No sell on value there is there?  He’s special.  Enough arse kissing though. 

Sissoko has an unnatural energy about him rarely seen at professional level even this early in his career which has prompted Benitez to uncharacteristically label him as Vieiras heir (if that’s the right word to use).  Actually, Benitez said something along the lines of he’s the player that reminds him most of Vieira.  Some praise that.  Sissoko definitely has the stamina and ability to run games but he is still only 20.  Benitez did warn us this boy could run all day and longer.  In fact, his energy is frightening.  We’ve got him for five years I assume and the reports are he will fully recover from this injury.  He will be raring to go next season.  And the season after that, and the season after that.  Just look at the way he sits in front of the defence.  It’s probably no co-incidence that we have started looking vulnerable (Benfica, Fulham) at the back whilst he has not been in the team.  During the first few months of the season, Jamie Carragher was quoted as saying he had been the most impressive player in the squad at Melwood, and this was said while the super-human Steven Gerrard was wowing the tabloids.  The point?  Listen to Carragher.

When was the last time you were optimistic about a signing for Liverpool who you literally had not heard of?  We’ve had a few of them over the last five or six years.  Medjani, Diarra, etc….. where are they now?  I apologise for not knowing them all but we have taken on a few players “for the future” as 20 year olds and how may of them have made it?

Sissoko could be the real deal already.  We’ve got a fantastic player on our hands here.  A bit of fine tuning and the rest of the league will realise they have to get past him, before they get near one from Finnan, Carragher, Hyypia, Agger, Riise or Reina.

And if they’ve taken their eye off the ball for that split second already, Sissoko will have already broken the play up, took the ball off them and sprayed it to Alonso, Gerrard, Kewell, Gonzalez or Garcia.  Excited yet?

Top and bottom of it, he might be raw, he might misplace the odd pass, and it’s his first season in a foreign league, but Mohammed Sissoko is worth his weight in gold.

Wonderful post man. The best post I have read in a long long time. And nice timing if I may say. Posted a couple of days before the Birmingham massacre.

And Stmichael - mind my words. He is already class. F@ck man. There's no friggin doubt about that. The thig is matey, Sissoko will never be af fancy as Alonso or score goals for fun from midfield like Ballack. But he is maybe number ONE on the world in his trade. Breaking down the opponent, winning duels and second balls, stealing the ball from midfielders, tackling their azzes off the pitch. If Sissoko was playing for LFC against Benfica I guarantee that we had been able to put more pressure on them and control midfield better. We would have been through.

And so to the Sissoko haters - like Stu. Time to shut up isn't it?

[115-1073096938]

Wonderful post man. The best post I have read in a long long time. And nice timing if I may say. Posted a couple of days before the Birmingham massacre.

And Stmichael - mind my words. He is already class. F@ck man. There's no friggin doubt about that. The thig is matey, Sissoko will never be af fancy as Alonso or score goals for fun from midfield like Ballack. But he is maybe number ONE on the world in his trade. Breaking down the opponent, winning duels and second balls, stealing the ball from midfielders, tackling their azzes off the pitch. If Sissoko was playing for LFC against Benfica I guarantee that we had been able to put more pressure on them and control midfield better. We would have been through.

And so to the Sissoko haters - like Stu. Time to shut up isn't it?

When did i ever say i hate Sissoko?

Get a grip. If you think a lad who's got average (on a premiership basis) passing, no shooting ability, very average heading ability, poor crossing ability, average technical ability, average influence, average positional play, average off the ball movement, average dribbling ability and average vision is "Class" then that show's the lack of knowledge you have as a football fan.

He's excellent at what he does and is a good part of the team but to call him "class" is complete and utter stupidity.

Gerrard is class.
Alonso is class.
Fowler is class.

Sissoko hasn't even scored one goal for us yet, how the is that "class".

Come back when you know what you're talking about dipshit.

[Dundalk]

Hope he will play on saturday, the Everton game would soit him down to the ground. he is a real fighter and IMO is better then Makelele at winning the ball back 

Welcome back Momo...

[GerrardisKing]

Was impressed with him against birmingham last night,considering the injury he had he was throwing himself in to challenges.Top player,been impressed with him another good signing by rafa.

[banana]

Wonderful post man. The best post I have read in a long long time. And nice timing if I may say. Posted a couple of days before the Birmingham massacre.

And Stmichael - mind my words. He is already class. F@ck man. There's no friggin doubt about that. The thig is matey, Sissoko will never be af fancy as Alonso or score goals for fun from midfield like Ballack. But he is maybe number ONE on the world in his trade. Breaking down the opponent, winning duels and second balls, stealing the ball from midfielders, tackling their azzes off the pitch. If Sissoko was playing for LFC against Benfica I guarantee that we had been able to put more pressure on them and control midfield better. We would have been through.

And so to the Sissoko haters - like Stu. Time to shut up isn't it?

When did i ever say i hate Sissoko?

Get a grip. If you think a lad who's got average (on a premiership basis) passing, no shooting ability, very average heading ability, poor crossing ability, average technical ability, average influence, average positional play, average off the ball movement, average dribbling ability and average vision is "Class" then that show's the lack of knowledge you have as a football fan.

He's excellent at what he does and is a good part of the team but to call him "class" is complete and utter stupidity.

Gerrard is class.
Alonso is class.
Fowler is class.

Sissoko hasn't even scored one goal for us yet, how the is that "class".

Come back when you know what you're talking about dipshit.

Didn't know you felt so threathned by Sissoko's fantastic contribution. Why you hate him beats me. Maybe it is because he has taken the place of one of your favourites (and a player I think is cr@p, Murphy), maybe it is because he is 10 times better than the players you want to sign (Barton and Bullard).

Sissoko should be measured on his goal ratio? Is that what you say? Well if so I suppose Makelele and Roy Keane is just as bad as Sissoko?

Don't take this personal man. Just admit your mistakes and move on. Sissoko is here to stay and you might as well accept it and start giving him the credit he deserves. Please don't continue to embarass yourselves man.

[dawson99]

Wonderful post man. The best post I have read in a long long time. And nice timing if I may say. Posted a couple of days before the Birmingham massacre.

And Stmichael - mind my words. He is already class. F@ck man. There's no friggin doubt about that. The thig is matey, Sissoko will never be af fancy as Alonso or score goals for fun from midfield like Ballack. But he is maybe number ONE on the world in his trade. Breaking down the opponent, winning duels and second balls, stealing the ball from midfielders, tackling their azzes off the pitch. If Sissoko was playing for LFC against Benfica I guarantee that we had been able to put more pressure on them and control midfield better. We would have been through.

And so to the Sissoko haters - like Stu. Time to shut up isn't it?

When did i ever say i hate Sissoko?

Get a grip. If you think a lad who's got average (on a premiership basis) passing, no shooting ability, very average heading ability, poor crossing ability, average technical ability, average influence, average positional play, average off the ball movement, average dribbling ability and average vision is "Class" then that show's the lack of knowledge you have as a football fan.

He's excellent at what he does and is a good part of the team but to call him "class" is complete and utter stupidity.

Gerrard is class.
Alonso is class.
Fowler is class.

Sissoko hasn't even scored one goal for us yet, how the is that "class".

Come back when you know what you're talking about dipshit.

Football is about more than scoring goals.
Rob jones never scored for us but would u trash his name as well?

When Crouch wasnt scoring you said there is a lot more to football than scoring goals, then u say this?

methinks u is on the windup mate

[48-1119859832]

Gerrard is class.
Alonso is class.
Fowler is class.

Your forgot Dietmar Hamann, you know the guy who took a penalty in last years Champions League final and scored it with a broken foot. The guy that was instrumental in everything we've won since 2000 (treble). The guy who was mistakenly taken off in the Semi-Final of Champions League a few years back when we lost to Bayern Leverkusen (I think). And who came on in Istanbul & was instrumental in turning the game on it's head.

And he doesn't score ten goals a season let alone twenty, he doesn't have much pace, if any at all. He doesn't do fancy footwork or trickery, so does that mean he's not class?

It seems as though you see what you want to see and not what is actually happening or happened.

[dawson99]

ive gone on and on and on about hamman on this board. the guy outplayed viera 2 seasons running according to the OPTA stats which cant be overlooked, but hamman as a player is always overlooked. its only when makelele and others get recognition that we realise just how much hamman has actually done for us

[Sean]

Hamann is class.

[48-1119859832]

You're correct Dawson, Hamann is one of the most underrated players of his generation, even by his own supporters he isn't deemed worthy of major recognition. Shame that but when you have people like Stu, who only believe that your class unless you either score 20 goals a season, being hyped up by the media or doing fancy footwork.

I don't want to take this topic too much off track but its not always about looking fancy & scoring bags of goals, it's about consistancy & getting the job done to a high standard all the time & Hamann does that. As has Sissoko this season, altho it's rather soon to be calling Sissoko "class" or branding him the next x player because he is only young.

[bigmick]

In fairness describing Sissoko as being "class" by almost any definition is probably going a bit too far at this stage. Most of us equate class with a sureness of touch, an ability to find time on the ball in the most congested of areas, a propensity to simplify the game with a one touch pass or a spark of vision to lift the game above the ordinary and mediocre.
that Sissoko does none of these things is beyond dispute from what I can gather. Even his biggest supporters such as Banana (and much as I try I can't get away from the feeling that almost always Banana you tend to champion the cause of black players, if I'm wrong please post up some examples and I'll gladly apologize) wouldn't claim that he is an Alonso or a Gerrard in the making.
Where Banana is correct though in my view is in his assertion that at what he actually does do, Sissoko is an extraordinary player. I said in an earlier post that he is probably the most destructive midfield player I have ever seen in modern day football.
He is the up to the minute evolution of the modern ball-winning midfielder. There are no crunching tackles just long legs to get in the way and deflect passes, gangly movement to tangle up the most skillful of dribblers and an engine that revs at full tilt for the whole of 90 minutes. As an athlete he surely has no peers and is on the way to becoming a fantastically effective player IMHO, if not a class one.

[ivor_the_injun]

F*cking hell, can we have just one thread on this b*stard forum without it descending into a debate about who is and isn't "class"?

There are just two categories of player in my book that should matter as far as this forum is concerned - those who deserve to be at Liverpool, and those who don't.

In the context of this, Sissoko is very much in the former category.