by Red Soul » Sat Aug 27, 2005 2:59 am
I think Liverpool should jump at the chance of signing Owen, and I believe they should sell Morientes.
Morientes just looks to me like one of those players who'll never quite make the switch to the Premiership. I'm not doubting his ability or his credentials, it's just that he doesn't look like he'll be able to adapt to the faster-paced, more physical style of English footy. Owen, on the other hand, is a proven goalscorer, the one thing we're really lacking up front. In Cisse and Crouch, we have the option of blistering pace or the ability to hold the ball up in the final third and provide flick-ons. Imagine the tactical changes that could be made if you started playing with Owen and Crouch, with Crouch playing the role that used to belong to Emile Heskey... and then substituting Crouch for Cisse.
You'd switch immediately from the 'big man, little man' partnership, which relies mostly on aerial balls into the 18-yard box for Crouch to nod down to Owen, to having a pair of strikers relying on through balls and using their pace to neutralise defenders, probably on the counter-attack. A quick switch like that could seriously unsettle a defence once they think they've got their gameplan sorted out.
Morientes, for me, just doesn't seem to be able to do the business. He doesn't have the pace of Cisse... he can't hold the ball up or provide flick-ons with the same success as crouch... and God knows he doesn't stick the ball in the onion bag at anything approaching the rate we'd get from Owen.
So to summarise... sell Morientes. Keep Cisse. Buy Owen. And play 4-4-2, for God's sake!