by Leonmc0708 » Fri Jul 30, 2004 10:52 am
In answer to your puzzlers Stu :
1. Gerard Houllier, despite having excellent footballing knowledge, and a great deal of respect within the game, was tactically inept. (Michael Owen does NOT play well as the lone striker, Did Hamman should NOT have been brought off against Bayer Leverkusen, Igor Biscan is NOT a centre Half). His eye for spotting and nurturing raw young talent was there for all to see, Milan Baros, Stevie G and the two young Franch lads owe him a great deal, but his man management skills when dealing with Star Players was clearly lacking. A managers only responsibility, be it in football or any other line of work, is to posotively influence performance. towards the end GH was not doing this, so his time was up.
2. NO, categorically no. Michael Owen is not adept to ploughing a lone furrow, this is not the way to employ his undoubted talents. John Arne Riise is not a true left back. When he played left midfield in front of Gregory Vignal when he first joined the club, he and Vignal were awesome and gave the team a great balance. Emile Heskey is not a left midfielder, no two ways about it. Harry Kewell is a left winger/midfielder and forward and is out of his depth on the right. El Hadji Diouf is not a forward and he is not a midfielder either, the lad could not cross a coupon. Salif Diao was excellent when he played in the engine room when he first signed. He is not a right back or a centre half.
3. See Above
4. Sami Hyypia would walk into anyside in football, as he is a collosus. He is great in the air, comfortable on the ball and he scores three plus every season. his only weakness is the lack of pace, but a more mobile partner would alay that worry.
Stevie Gerrard has the potential to become the greatest midfielder in the world, and would get into your team on that alone. He does however need to get his head down, work harder and stop reading the newspaper inches about himself.
Owen is class, no two ways about it, however his over employment from a young age has left him injury prone and a little slower. He is still good for 25 goals a season with the right partner and service though, so its a yes for Michael also.
5. No, not by a long shot. Real Madrid undoubtley had the best players, and Barca and Deportivo had some rela star names. Valencia did have some good players, but not the best team in La Liga by a distance. This is why I beleive that the board have produced a masterstroke in Rafa's appointment. He gets the very best and the most out of his players.
6. To a decent standard, a fair few, but LFC is not about the average performances or the decent games, its about excellent performances and superb games. This is where we have been lacking. Stevie G obviously stood out, but Carra was excellent, and Sammi was very good considering the different partners he had to endure.
7. On paper, not too far away, but nobody ever won the league on paper.
8. As I said in response to question five, I think we are in for some amazing times at Anfield, I back and support the new gaffer, but I also beleive in him, which was something I could not have said about Roy Evans, Souness and Houllier (in the later years).
9. All in all, the two players are very similar, strong good in the air and pacy. Djibril is much stronger and he also scores a lot more goals than Emile. so it will only improve the team.
10. It is inevitable that all the players will perform better for the new boss. Obviously they will be fighting to impress the boss, to get a place but they will also feel that they have the trust of the new man, where they may have not been looked upon as first team material by GH.
11. The reason why you and me both love football is that anything can happen. For every Arsenal read Wrexham, for every Brazilian world cup winner there is a Greek Europen Champion. Its the unpredictability of football that makes it so exciting. Build it and he will come.
12. If there is one signing of the three bad that has a chance of making it, and indeed that Rafa has a chance of improving then it is Salif Diao. I rate him and I think he could be the impressive surprise on the team sheet next season.
JUSTICE FOR THE 96
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