Liverpool FC Forum

[burjennio]

crikey, defoes wasting away at spurs and he must be better than voronin and  more prolific than kuyt

[mart]

Do we honestly believe that Liverpool is going to shell out the money needed for another world class striker like Villa or any of the other world class strikers that have been floating around?

not when the likes of dirk kuyt are seen as good enough for LFC.

If the likes of Kuyt and Crouch were seen as good enough we would not have bought Torres this year.

But with the moneyproblems i doubt we will see any 20 mill striker coming in soon.

[ivor_the_injun]

Every time I think that Anelka would be great here, I look at Babel and wonder whether we've already got a ready-made partner for Torres on the books.

For me, rejig the squad. Add Babel to our list of strikers, discard Kuyt, and make a quality signing for the left wing. Kewell's the best we have, but obviously isn't going to be ever-present, so that's clearly still a failing seeing as though Babel isn't going to fulfil our needs out there. He's plainly a striker, and in all fairness he's arguably our second or third best option up front at the moment.

[Roger Red Hat]

babel is a good striker and with a good run in the team would pull in 15 a season - easy. he has the know how

[Fowler_E7]

if were gonna buy in January then it has to be Anelka, there are no other strikers of that quality available for the Champions league  apart from him.

[stmichael]

I'd love to see Robbie Keane in a pool shirt. I've always thought he'd do better at Liverpool, he our kind of player.

big fish in a small pond. struggled at inter milan and would struggle to have the same impact here as he has at spurs imo. having said that, i'd take him ove kuyt and voronin in a flash.

on torres, for me it's a prime example of a top top player playing with better players around him. i truly think he'll score 20 league goals this season provided he stays fit and gets picked regularly.

[Fowler_E7]

I'd love to see Robbie Keane in a pool shirt. I've always thought he'd do better at Liverpool, he our kind of player.

big fish in a small pond. struggled at inter milan and would struggle to have the same impact here as he has at spurs imo. having said that, i'd take him ove kuyt and voronin in a flash.

on torres, for me it's a prime example of a top top player playing with better players around him. i truly think he'll score 20 league goals this season provided he stays fit and gets picked regularly.

actually he played quite well for inter milan, he was about 19 at the time as well, he was well liked there and they didnt wanted to sell but he decided to leave for more regular football.

[ivor_the_injun]

I'd have absolutely no problem with Anelka or Robbie Keane arriving in January. I don't think either will happen, but I think either of those guys would significantly improve our striking options.

[JC_81]

On the whole, I agree that we need a decent strike partner for Torres.

Kuyt works hard, but each game he plays he just looks less and less of a goal threat to me.  I think his all-round game is deteriorating because he's low on confidence - his link-up play isn't even what it used to be.  He looks like he's playing with the weight of the world on his shoulders these days.  IMO he either needs to have the shackles taken off - forget about the defensive side for a few games, just get into the box and try and put the ball in the net.  Unfortunately I can't see him turning it around and he needs to be sold.

To be honest though I can't see the yanks giving Rafa money for a new striker in January and I fear we're stuck with what we have.  We do have options though.  Crouch and Torres haven't had a decent run in the team together yet and I think it's worth a go.  Babel could be tried up with Torres.  Failing all that, the young lad Nemeth in the reserves looks a very good player to me who scores all different types of goals.  Why not give him a chance if the other first team strikers aren't performing?

[Fowler_E7]

On the whole, I agree that we need a decent strike partner for Torres.

Kuyt works hard, but each game he plays he just looks less and less of a goal threat to me.  I think his all-round game is deteriorating because he's low on confidence - his link-up play isn't even what it used to be.  He looks like he's playing with the weight of the world on his shoulders these days.  IMO he either needs to have the shackles taken off - forget about the defensive side for a few games, just get into the box and try and put the ball in the net.  Unfortunately I can't see him turning it around and he needs to be sold.

To be honest though I can't see the yanks giving Rafa money for a new striker in January and I fear we're stuck with what we have.  We do have options though.  Crouch and Torres haven't had a decent run in the team together yet and I think it's worth a go.  Babel could be tried up with Torres.  Failing all that, the young lad Nemeth in the reserves looks a very good player to me who scores all different types of goals.  Why not give him a chance if the other first team strikers aren't performing?

as bad as Kuyt been, his still ahead of Crouch and Voronin IMO. He may be lacking goal threat but he still has good movement and links quite well with Torres, something that the other strikers have failded with. He creates space, has intelligent movement as when he does getting himself in a scoring position he usually tucks it away. His confidence is clearly shot, and i agree with u that he should concentrate on getting himself in the box and scoring and forget about the defensive side for a while.

[ivor_the_injun]

On the whole, I agree that we need a decent strike partner for Torres.

Kuyt works hard, but each game he plays he just looks less and less of a goal threat to me.  I think his all-round game is deteriorating because he's low on confidence - his link-up play isn't even what it used to be.  He looks like he's playing with the weight of the world on his shoulders these days.  IMO he either needs to have the shackles taken off - forget about the defensive side for a few games, just get into the box and try and put the ball in the net.  Unfortunately I can't see him turning it around and he needs to be sold.

To be honest though I can't see the yanks giving Rafa money for a new striker in January and I fear we're stuck with what we have.  We do have options though.  Crouch and Torres haven't had a decent run in the team together yet and I think it's worth a go.  Babel could be tried up with Torres.  Failing all that, the young lad Nemeth in the reserves looks a very good player to me who scores all different types of goals.  Why not give him a chance if the other first team strikers aren't performing?

Good post.

On Nemeth, if he did get a run out, it'd have to be due to injuries, or else due to Rafa deciding that he's moving on a striker or two.

In all fairness, I don't think any of Kuyt, Crouch or Voronin would think they're assured of a future at the club beyond the summer on current form, and if the lad is still impressing at reserve level, maybe a spot on the subs bench for him could scare a decent performance or two out of them.

Totally agree on Torres and Crouch being a combination worth persevering with. The amount of defensive attention Crouch occupies should potentially give Torres freedom to create havoc.  It hasn't really come off yet, but I really think that's our most obvious pairing right now.

[stmichael]

hopefull pennant will be back in the next 2-3 weeks. that would mean that we could move benayoun infield and play him as a second striker which is more his position anyway. he's not a traditional wide player and he's got good vision, so much like garcia, i think he'd be great just off a front man.

[JC_81]

On the whole, I agree that we need a decent strike partner for Torres.

Kuyt works hard, but each game he plays he just looks less and less of a goal threat to me.  I think his all-round game is deteriorating because he's low on confidence - his link-up play isn't even what it used to be.  He looks like he's playing with the weight of the world on his shoulders these days.  IMO he either needs to have the shackles taken off - forget about the defensive side for a few games, just get into the box and try and put the ball in the net.  Unfortunately I can't see him turning it around and he needs to be sold.

To be honest though I can't see the yanks giving Rafa money for a new striker in January and I fear we're stuck with what we have.  We do have options though.  Crouch and Torres haven't had a decent run in the team together yet and I think it's worth a go.  Babel could be tried up with Torres.  Failing all that, the young lad Nemeth in the reserves looks a very good player to me who scores all different types of goals.  Why not give him a chance if the other first team strikers aren't performing?

as bad as Kuyt been, his still ahead of Crouch and Voronin IMO. He may be lacking goal threat but he still has good movement and links quite well with Torres, something that the other strikers have failded with. He creates space, has intelligent movement as when he does getting himself in a scoring position he usually tucks it away. His confidence is clearly shot, and i agree with u that he should concentrate on getting himself in the box and scoring and forget about the defensive side for a while.

Disagree with a few things there mate.

How can you really say that the other strikers have failed in linking up with Torres, but that Kuyt has succeeded in doing so?  What is the evidence for this?  Torres is a lone striker.  Even if another striker is on the park, Torres plays as a lone striker.  His intention is always to shoot or run at players when he gets the ball, he rarely looks to link up with his strike partner.  I think he must be difficult to play with if you're Kuyt/Voronin/Crouch, as Gerrard/Kewell etc are always looking for Torres.  My point is that I don't think any of our strikers have necessarily hit it off with Torres.  Torres is the main man and he'll get us goals.  What we need is someone else to provide a bit more of a goal threat alongside him, not necessarily someone who links up well with Torres specifically.

You also say that when Kuyt gets himself into a goalscoring position he usually tucks it away.  Firstly I don't necessarily agree with that.  Secondly, Kuyt's problem is that he hardly ever gets into clear goalscoring positions.  He doesn't have the pace to get in behind defences and he doesn't have the guile to drop off and be a playmaking second striker.

[Foximus]

hopefull pennant will be back in the next 2-3 weeks. that would mean that we could move benayoun infield and play him as a second striker which is more his position anyway. he's not a traditional wide player and he's got good vision, so much like garcia, i think he'd be great just off a front man.

I think that Kewell would be better suited to play this role.  He has lost a bit of pace but he is still a class act and a very smart player IMO.  Plus having him just behind Torres would reduce his defensive workload and i think we would get the most out of him then...maybe even 90 minutes.

[JoeTerp]

hopefull pennant will be back in the next 2-3 weeks. that would mean that we could move benayoun infield and play him as a second striker which is more his position anyway. he's not a traditional wide player and he's got good vision, so much like garcia, i think he'd be great just off a front man.

why wait for Pennant to come back? Now that Alonso is back or that Lucas has emerged as a legit player partner either one of them in the centre with Gerrard out wide.  I know that having Pennant on the wing and Gerrard on the wing are two totally different things, but it would give Yossi a chance to see how he plays with Torres in a 4-4-1-1, and if it doesn't work out just take off Xabi for Kuyt or Babel and move Gerrard back inside.