Liverpool FC Forum

by **The_Rock** » Sat Dec 18, 2004 4:46 pm

http://www.ananova.com/sport/soccer/story/sm_1215258.html?menu=sport.football

Morientes poised for Real exit

Real Madrid coach Mariano Garcia Remon has admitted that Liverpool target Fernando Morientes could leave the club in the transfer window.

The arrival of Michael Owen at the Santiago Bernabeu and the departure of former coach Jose Antonio Camacho, who had specifically asked for Morientes to stay at the club, have meant the striker has had to watch most of the season from the Real Madrid dugout.

He returned to the club with high hopes after ending last season as top scorer in the Champions League and helping guide Monaco, where he was on loan, to the final of the competition.

Morientes wants first-team football and with Madrid hoping to still be able to cash in on his reputation, a move after January 1 looks the most likely outcome.

"He is thinking of leaving, because he is getting very few minutes football and he wants to play," admitted Garcia Remon in his traditional pre-game press conference.

"Morientes and the club have to look for the best solution."

Real are looking for £8m although Liverpool are unlikely to pay that amount for the 28-year-old.

by **adayinthelife** » Sat Dec 18, 2004 9:20 pm

azriahmad wrote:Morrientes is very skillful but he is not one who will bang in 20 plus goals a season. At Madrid, he is the supporting striker to Raul in the past and has created numerous chances for his strike partners. If I am not mistaken, his best tally was 18 a couple of seasons ago wheras Raul and Rolando gets 20+ (Raul had not been in this form for some tiem now).

Morrientes would be a good bet to breach the deadlock in tight matches but I fear he may have to adjust to the hustle and bustle of the EPL where defenders get a lot of leeway for physical challenges as compared to the continent. This si where Cisse really struggled.

Anelka, as a comparison, is more of a finisher and he has done a tremendous job at Man City givent their poor team and is fully adapted to the Premiership. he can also play in the Premiership and has shown his quality when he scored in both legs of the Champions' League semi or quarter for Real Madrid against Bayern Munich. The only thing is his attitude and the very negative influence of his brothers who act as his agent or advisers and successfully unsettled him at Arsenal, Real Madrid and PSG.

I'd go for Anelka given that the EPL top 4 finish is a must and it is very unlikely that we will win the CL as we don't have enough quality at this moment. He did not score many when he was on loan to us because of the way Houllier's team played with no build up and straight punt for Owen to chase.

It has to be Morientes for me as just because he isn't proven in England he is made for the premier league.

Compare that to Anelka who is proven like people say but yet only managed 4 goals in 20 games when on loan with us?

Morientes also has 23 goals in 36 games for Spain compared to Anelka with 6 goals in 28 games for France.

Anelka has been living off 1 good season for arsenal when he was a youngster that earned him a move to madrid where he was a complete failure.

He scored a very poor 16 goals in 4 seasons after he left arsenal despite having 2 seasons in France.

Since going to man city he has scored 30 odd goals in 2 seasons which is not great considering he is the main man,takes penalties and plays for a very attacking team.

Add to all that his mental problems which some people say have been blown out of proportion yet if we don't qualify for the champions lge next season it would be only a matter of time before he started moaning.

Compare all that to Morientes who finished top scorer in last seasons champions lge despite playing for a 2nd rate team.

He has also shown he can perform at a big team which Anelka has failed to do apart from 1 season as a youngster.

Morientes has also had to sit on the bench for long periods at madrid but at any other team he would be a regular and people would see how good he is yet he has still managed nearly 100 goals in la liga.

He would also be an ideal partner for Baros who has played his best football alongside that giant Koller in the Czech team.

Morientes is in a different league to Koller as despite being huge is not a great header and his skill level is very poor compared to Morientes who has a great 1st touch and is a superb finisher.

IMO Anelka is a quality player but he is very much an individual which we already have in Baros and Cisse where as Morientes is a great target man who could finally get on the end of some crosses and is much more of a team player.

Morientes although 3 years older at 28 has rarely started more than 20 games a season and doesn't rely on his pace so I reckon he has at least 4 or 5 years left.

The only problem with Morientes is him being cup tied in europe which is not ideal but with him I think we have every chance of making the champions lge for next season where with Anelka he can play in europe but thats about it as IMO he is more trouble than he is worth.

by **XSD** » Sat Dec 18, 2004 10:45 pm

Morientes could have done better in the French league last season though couldn't he? He seemed to save himself for the CL, which he won't play in for us this season.
I think he's a great player, I prefer him to Anelka, but 8m for a cup-tied 28 year old striker? They must be joking.

by **A.B.** » Sun Dec 19, 2004 12:31 am

adayinthelife wrote:
azriahmad wrote:Morrientes is very skillful but he is not one who will bang in 20 plus goals a season. At Madrid, he is the supporting striker to Raul in the past and has created numerous chances for his strike partners. If I am not mistaken, his best tally was 18 a couple of seasons ago wheras Raul and Rolando gets 20+ (Raul had not been in this form for some tiem now).

Morrientes would be a good bet to breach the deadlock in tight matches but I fear he may have to adjust to the hustle and bustle of the EPL where defenders get a lot of leeway for physical challenges as compared to the continent. This si where Cisse really struggled.

Anelka, as a comparison, is more of a finisher and he has done a tremendous job at Man City givent their poor team and is fully adapted to the Premiership. he can also play in the Premiership and has shown his quality when he scored in both legs of the Champions' League semi or quarter for Real Madrid against Bayern Munich. The only thing is his attitude and the very negative influence of his brothers who act as his agent or advisers and successfully unsettled him at Arsenal, Real Madrid and PSG.

I'd go for Anelka given that the EPL top 4 finish is a must and it is very unlikely that we will win the CL as we don't have enough quality at this moment. He did not score many when he was on loan to us because of the way Houllier's team played with no build up and straight punt for Owen to chase.

It has to be Morientes for me as just because he isn't proven in England he is made for the premier league.

Compare that to Anelka who is proven like people say but yet only managed 4 goals in 20 games when on loan with us?

Morientes also has 23 goals in 36 games for Spain compared to Anelka with 6 goals in 28 games for France.

Anelka has been living off 1 good season for arsenal when he was a youngster that earned him a move to madrid where he was a complete failure.

He scored a very poor 16 goals in 4 seasons after he left arsenal despite having 2 seasons in France.

Since going to man city he has scored 30 odd goals in 2 seasons which is not great considering he is the main man,takes penalties and plays for a very attacking team.

Add to all that his mental problems which some people say have been blown out of proportion yet if we don't qualify for the champions lge next season it would be only a matter of time before he started moaning.

Compare all that to Morientes who finished top scorer in last seasons champions lge despite playing for a 2nd rate team.

He has also shown he can perform at a big team which Anelka has failed to do apart from 1 season as a youngster.

Morientes has also had to sit on the bench for long periods at madrid but at any other team he would be a regular and people would see how good he is yet he has still managed nearly 100 goals in la liga.

He would also be an ideal partner for Baros who has played his best football alongside that giant Koller in the Czech team.

Morientes is in a different league to Koller as despite being huge is not a great header and his skill level is very poor compared to Morientes who has a great 1st touch and is a superb finisher.

IMO Anelka is a quality player but he is very much an individual which we already have in Baros and Cisse where as Morientes is a great target man who could finally get on the end of some crosses and is much more of a team player.

Morientes although 3 years older at 28 has rarely started more than 20 games a season and doesn't rely on his pace so I reckon he has at least 4 or 5 years left.

The only problem with Morientes is him being cup tied in europe which is not ideal but with him I think we have every chance of making the champions lge for next season where with Anelka he can play in europe but thats about it as IMO he is more trouble than he is worth.

With the midfield we have today Anelka would score much more than he did back than. Now he is a much more experienced player as well.

by **aco67** » Sun Dec 19, 2004 1:29 am

No-one's mentioned James Beattie
1. He's English
2. He's big & strong
3. Redknapp will sell him in January

by **azriahmad** » Sun Dec 19, 2004 2:07 am

Perhaps Beattie or Seharer or Anelka will almost definitely do better in the EPL immediately as compared to Morrientes, but he will do better in Europe because the slower game suits him. Only thing is that he is cup-tied and will be no use to us and he will struggle for sometime in the EPL.

For the past 2 seasons, Anelka has been a regular goalscorer for Man City in spite of being in a poor team. This is his class but as I have also mentioned, his excess baggage may not make him as an attractive proposition ans he seems to get bored easily and historically his performance fades for his clubs after the second season.

Still, Anelka is a much better goalscorer than all of those we presently have in the squad - Baros, Cisse (must be the worst when his transfer price is factored in), Pongolle, Mellor etc.

by **LFC #1** » Sun Dec 19, 2004 6:41 am

aco67 wrote:No-one's mentioned James Beattie
1. He's English
2. He's big & strong
3. Redknapp will sell him in January

there is a reason for that, he would cost as much as Morientes and he is defo not a better player, would take Anelka or Morientes over him anyday.

by **The_Rock** » Sun Dec 19, 2004 3:56 pm

Who needs beattie when we have mellor

by **crazyhorse** » Sun Dec 19, 2004 6:23 pm

Morientes is a better bet for the club than Anelka, but for the cut price we could get Anelka for we could poss get both for 15 million if we let Man City have some of our dead wood in an exchange deal..
Morientes is a thinking player, who reminds me of King Kenny sometimes (not as good mind), Baros will feed off him like a hungry baby at a tit!.

by **Honolulu Bob** » Sun Dec 19, 2004 6:39 pm

aco67 wrote:No-one's mentioned James Beattie
1. He's English
2. He's big & strong

Yeah so's Frank Bruno and he's probably quicker than Beattie too

To improve this team we need to buy thorough breds not carthorses.

by **JBG** » Sun Dec 19, 2004 6:44 pm

Rumour has it that the club may well secure investment immediately after Christmas and there may be more money available for Benitez than was previously thought.

All the same, in January I see us signing a forward and a defender, and quite possibly another midfielder as well, but not two strikers.

Mellor has done surprisingly well and now has 5 goals this season in a limited amount of starts, and there was nothing shabby about any of his goals. His goal today was well taken, and despite his obvious limitations, the guy has a sense of where the goal is and I detect a natural strikers instinct.

Of course he is not the future, but his surprising form might stay Benitez' hand and I doubt we'll see two forwards coming in. Assuming money is limited, the funds will be allocated elsewhere after a forward is brought in.

by **zarababe** » Sun Dec 19, 2004 6:59 pm

.. true Mellor's frustrating inablility to combine with some of the one-touch play that was evident at times today.. hightlights some real limitations.. Baros was frustrated bv his lack of awareness more than once today.. he ain't the future ... but credit to the lad for putting-em in the net...

by **XSD** » Sun Dec 19, 2004 7:36 pm

aco67 wrote:No-one's mentioned James Beattie
1. He's English
2. He's big & strong
3. Redknapp will sell him in January

4. he's not good enough
5. injured too often

by **A.B.** » Sun Dec 19, 2004 7:51 pm

true Mellor's frustrating inablility to combine with some of the one-touch play that was evident at times today.. hightlights some real limitations.. Baros was frustrated bv his lack of awareness more than once today.. he ain't the future ... but credit to the lad for putting-em in the net...

Baros can be the future if he works on his awareness which he has improved on.

by **L-type** » Sun Dec 19, 2004 9:18 pm

well I'm absolutely torn but for a particluar someone that reccomended shearer read any source and shearer is telling everyone to ****** off cus he's done.

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