Liverpool FC Forum

by **RedBlood** » Mon Apr 09, 2007 6:20 pm

I have been very impressed with the way Alvarao Arbeloa has settled to life in a liverpool shirt he has looked impressive in some very big games against barca an the gunners and scored a very impressive goal on saturday

He looks solid in defense an very capable coming forward with the ball and also has a good physic whitch is important in the prem, also his versatality is a big bonus

i was just wondering what you lot thought and with him and finnan at right back do we really need to spend 15million+ on alves no matter how good he is? the money could go elsewhere

your thoughts plz gents

by **red37** » Mon Apr 09, 2007 6:37 pm

he is going to get plenty of opportunity to consolidate the early promise shown over the next few weeks thats for certain.

Good start for the lad...its down to him and JAR now to guide the left flank through the upcoming battle ahead. Reasonably well known player, that seems to have slipped into the ethic fairly smoothly. Whether or not he's the answer......well have to wait and see.

by **Paul C** » Mon Apr 09, 2007 6:39 pm

RedBlood wrote:I have been very impressed with the way Alvarao Arbeloa has settled to life in a liverpool shirt he has looked impressive in some very big games against barca an the gunners and scored a very impressive goal on saturday

He looks solid in defense an very capable coming forward with the ball and also has a good physic whitch is important in the prem, also his versatality is a big bonus

i was just wondering what you lot thought and with him and finnan at right back do we really need to spend 15million+ on alves no matter how good he is? the money could go elsewhere

your thoughts plz gents

Yeah I've also been very impressed, defensively he's been sound and he has also posed a threat when going forward, he's also looked good on either side of the field which makes me think he's going to play a lot of footie on the left now that Aurelio is out for the rest of the season.

by **wrighty (not mark!)** » Mon Apr 09, 2007 6:46 pm

He definately looks more composed and more comfortable than finnan i the final third. Not that I am saying that Finnan doesn't do his bit, His crosses that he can do are excellent, just a shame there hasn't been the right people up front to attack them this season. Arbeloa looks like the type of player that can go past a man. Not as solid as Finnan I don't think, but definately gives us something different on that right flank. Just look at his move with Pennant against Arsenal....Beautiful.

As mentioned in previous threads, that left side needs sorting out big time and I'm sure will be come pre-season. I would also like to see a forward as well as a pacey clinical striker. I would love for us to hang on to pongolle as his close ball control is superb and is also not bad in the creative department. Would look the business playing off Anelka.

by **redmikey** » Mon Apr 09, 2007 6:47 pm

seems like he has been in english football for years which is a credit to him

every team needs a consistant base of players so that your stars can shine every week i e steve finnan

is that him well i don't think we have seen enough of him yet but so far so good

by **RedBlood** » Mon Apr 09, 2007 6:54 pm

it sounds like the lad has a few fans and its a case of so far so good

it just shows maybe coming to a club with no hype and expectation can help alot when it comes to settling in

by **JBG** » Mon Apr 09, 2007 7:36 pm

Well, he's better than Josemi.

by **RedBlood** » Mon Apr 09, 2007 7:37 pm

lol my nans better then josemi

by **stmichael** » Mon Apr 09, 2007 8:03 pm

Arbeloa has made a very good start with us against really difficult opponents. Part of me wants to go into overdrive and assume Rafa has this position sorted and strengthened, but then I remember Josemi's positive start too.

To be fair, Arbeloa looks a class above, but it is still early days. Hopefully Rafa has pulled a rabbit out of the hat here.

I agree that the best left flank we have is Arbeloa behind Riise. If Kewell ever gets fit (!) he should displace the ginger ninja, but that ship may have sailed.

Anybody who can virtually mark Messi out of two CL games and also show the composure he has showed recently in setting up Crouch against Arsenal and scoring the other day, is a huge positive for me.

by **JoeTerp** » Mon Apr 09, 2007 8:09 pm

what a great winter transfer window for Rafa! Arbeloa and Mascherano!

by **kunilson** » Mon Apr 09, 2007 8:46 pm

yes its nice to see our later signings having immediate impacts in a positive way.....and no goddamn "settling-in" period...

by **Bad Bob** » Mon Apr 09, 2007 10:15 pm

Going forward he's definitely impressed: his goal on Saturday was sublime and the move and cross for Crouchy's first against Arsenal was top drawer.

Defensively I'm not convinced yet. Sure, he did a solid job man-marking Messi but, to be fair, Messi was largely going through the motions by the end of the match in Barca, although he looked up for it at Anfield. The trouble for me is that, at times, he gets sucked into the middle far too easily, allow the opposition to steal in off the wing. Deco's goal at the Nou Camp was a case of this and, in the first half on Saturday, a Reading player (can't recall who) also got into the box because Arbeloa followed the ball into the middle too far and failed to cut out the pass. I think he's still learning how to play LB and seems a much more natural RB or CB. He may well get a chance to hone his LB techniques now that Aurelio's out but I still see him primarily as cover for Finnan.

by **Igor Zidane** » Mon Apr 09, 2007 10:22 pm

Bad Bob wrote:Going forward he's definitely impressed: his goal on Saturday was sublime and the move and cross for Crouchy's first against Arsenal was top drawer.

Defensively I'm not convinced yet. Sure, he did a solid job man-marking Messi but, to be fair, Messi was largely going through the motions by the end of the match in Barca, although he looked up for it at Anfield. The trouble for me is that, at times, he gets sucked into the middle far too easily, allow the opposition to steal in off the wing. Deco's goal at the Nou Camp was a case of this and, in the first half on Saturday, a Reading player (can't recall who) also got into the box because Arbeloa followed the ball into the middle too far and failed to cut out the pass. I think he's still learning how to play LB and seems a much more natural RB or CB. He may well get a chance to hone his LB techniques now that Aurelio's out but I still see him primarily as cover for Finnan.

Agreed there bob, i was about to say , the reason he's getting sucked in at times is because he's favouring his right hand side and forgeting about the left. I thinks it's only natural at the moment as he is essentially a RB or possibly a CB . I can't see him being used to much on the left when our left sided players are fit.
He's definatley showed so far that he has the ability to push finnan for a starting place, well better than the last two we had at any rate.

by **Sabre** » Mon Apr 09, 2007 10:23 pm

I didn't see him much in La Liga, and never going forward like that. To be honest he finnished that play better than I expected. I do not think though that his main feature is to go forward, I think he's more defensive.

For now I'm happy with his games but not that I'm impressed neither. It's a handy player to have in the squad because he can play both L/RB and for what I saw in Spain, he can be an ok CB too.

Good signing, anyway. Definitely better than Josemi, as JBG says and more useful than Kronkamp, that's for sure. Good squad player IMO.

by **stmichael** » Mon Apr 09, 2007 10:37 pm

I just wonder what all the people who championed the signing of Lucas Neill are thinking now?

Arbeloa certainly looked impressive as a right back. Pacy, decent tackling, composed, willing to go forward. He is showing potential... but I have my reservations on him playing CB or playing as a regular.

He seemed to be pushed of the ball a couple of times. He is quite skinny and that means he will get pushed off very often especially against those really physical teams. I think Rafa will use him against teams that are fast and like to play football first and foremost. One of the reasons we used to lose against teams like Arsenal is because of the pace.... In the last match we showed up with full backs with more than decent pace... and nullified them to a large extent.

I do think he still needs to come to terms with the time he's allowed on the ball, however that'll come. I think the other day was only his second game in the league.

But he looks a superb man-marking specialist, and is not too shabby on the ball at all. And unlike Josemi, I can't see him throwing his chance away by diving into needless tackles all the time.

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Alvaro Arbeloa - Impressed?

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