Liverpool FC Forum

by **MilitiaRusher** » Tue Dec 25, 2007 7:12 am

For one, I think that our squad consists of way too much deadwood and perhaps players like Riise, Aurelio, Sissoko, and perhaps even Crouch prove to be a surplus of an already big squad. These players often necessitates the rotation policy in Rafa's eyes, perhaps an attempt to keep everyone happy ala Reading away, Portsmouth away, Marseille home. In my opinion, getting rid of deadwood can allow a greater opportunity for established players, say Benayoun, Kewell, even Voronin, to stake a claim for a first team spot since Rafa no longer has an abundance of players to satisfy. Selling players can also fund the permanent acquisition of Mascherano and the purchase of perhaps another desperately needed CB to cover for the aging Hyypia.

The first player I will look to transfer list is definitely Sissoko. Although some claim it to be a positive thing, his forays with the media regarding his exclusion in France is simply unacceptable in my eyes. Of course, he simply isn't getting games because of his woeful performances, and that other players can contribute more to the team. He no longer is his former self, losing composure on the ball, cannot even make a simple pass resulting in the loss of possession, and often contributing to the breakdown of our own attacks. Whenever he plays, the team loses cohesiveness and the attacking edge ala Reading away. Besides we already have a surplus of central midfielders in Alonso, Mascherano, Gerrard, and Lucas, all of which possess I feel contribute lot more to the team. Should the deal with Mascherano be tied up, I expect Sissoko to be gotten rid of as soon as possible.

The second player I will look to offload is possibly either Riise or Aurelio. I feel our left back position is already filled with enough players, with Arbeloa doing an exceptional job in the position whilst Finnan is at right back. I reckon by offloading either of them we could make funds available for the securing of Mascherano or another CB. I would personally sell Aurelio instead of Riise because Riise appears to possess a greater aggression and a better attacking threat on the left (although Aurelio's prowess with leftfooted set pieces could be sorely missed). With one of them gone, the other could serve as an effective back up for Arbeloa, who would easily be our first choice LB when Finnan is not injured.

Lastly, I think there is also a need to offload one of the strikers if Rafa would want to get the best out of the available strikers ala Kuyt, Voronin, Babel, Torres. In my opinion, I would sell Crouch as I think he does not suit the way the team is playing. The Reading away game serves as a prime example. When Torres was subbed off, Crouch's attacking threat was simply non-existent. He lacks pace, aggression, accuracy, and even heading abilities despite his height. In other words, he lacks all the qualities that a striker in a Top 4 team should possess. Kuyt and Voronin both offers more to the team with their constant running, effective link-up plays with the rest of team, and perhaps superior technical ability in Voronin's case. Besides, selling Crouch would free up one more space for a striker berth and perhaps players like Voronin and Babel can finally get a better opportunity to show their worth in their favoured position, and not always played on the wings (Voronin in Reading away, Babel in many cases). With Man City heavily linked to Crouch, I believe there wouldn't be any problem for us to sell Crouch in exchange for an acceptable sum.

What do you think?

by **Bretc** » Tue Dec 25, 2007 8:00 am

I fully agree with u, we've got too much deadwood in the team and we need to get rid of them asap. Once we got rid of them, we'll have more room for improvements.

First to go on my list would be Riise. Granted, he's a long-time servant but when you are not good enough, then you are not good enough. He simply can't make a decent cross and he possesses absolutely ZERO technical ability. He's a big liability when it comes to defending and delivering the final cross. I prefer Arbeloa any day, with Aurelio as backup.

Next up, Momo. Yes, he's a ferocious tackler and a very fit player but he will never make it with his kind of atrocious passing capability. Besides, Lucas and Mascherano provide more options in midfield. So I say sell him to the highest bidder!

Of the 4 strikers we have, Torres is easily the best one and there's a huge gulf in standard between him and the other 3 - I dun rate any of them at all. We need to sell 1 or 2 out of the 3 and get a really good striker - one who is really prolific. I quite like the idea of a Torres-Berbatov frontline but that's a long shot - a very long shot. Another option is to partner Torres with Babel - their pace will cause havoc to opponents' defences.

If we can sell the above players, we will have the cash to secure the signing of Mascherano, which is our top priority! We may even look for free transfer targets for a central defender. Else, i won't mind sticking with Hobbs as the long-term backup for Carra-Agger. I'm quite impressed with him so far and i hope he will be the successor to Carra in the future.

Jan signings:

1) Mascherano
2) A true striker who knows where the goal is.
3) Backup central defender (free transfer)

by **Foximus** » Tue Dec 25, 2007 8:01 am

Its interesting, ive never been a Kuyt fan so i would off load him ASAP, but thats just my bias talking there. Sissoko is on borrowed time unless he can produce something very soon. But i guess alot depends on what happens with Masch, our priority should be to tie up Javier, hes all quality and has many years left in him (hes 23 i think). If that means offloading Sissoko or even Crouch id be happy to make that sacrifice. Crouch would still be sold at decent value and with that money we could tie up Masch. Im not with you on Voronin, ive never been a fan and i think if you want to win leagues and trophies he just doesnt have that quality IMO. The debates still out on Kewell but personally im convinced, id resign him asap and pray the lad stays fit...IMO that could be like making a big transfer with him linking up with elnino. All in all i think Sissoko and Crouch should be on the outer with Javier and Kewell our main priorities.

by **roberto green** » Tue Dec 25, 2007 11:09 am

Will go

1 Sissoko
2 Carson
3 Crouch

Need to sign

1 mascharano
2 Robbie keane
3 Kaldize (AC milan)

by **maypaxvobiscum** » Tue Dec 25, 2007 11:13 am

sell sissoko
selling crouch is hard cos there is some english policy where you are supposed to have a certain number of english players in the line up or something?
scott carson too.

by **teamleader1** » Tue Dec 25, 2007 11:39 am

OUT
Gillett
Hicks
Parry

IN
One competent (very rich) owner

by **roberto green** » Tue Dec 25, 2007 11:41 am

teamleader1 wrote:OUT
Gillett
Hicks
Parry

IN
One competent (very rich) owner

nice one

by **europian-kings** » Tue Dec 25, 2007 12:00 pm

out:
-sissoko
-crouch
-carson

in:
-messi
-eto
-villa
-henry
-ronaldinho
-puyol
-biscan

by **Foximus** » Tue Dec 25, 2007 12:08 pm

europian-kings wrote:out:
-sissoko
-crouch
-carson

in:
-messi
-eto
-villa
-henry
-ronaldinho
-puyol
-biscan

No dramas, ill shout!

by **ruskiy playmaker** » Tue Dec 25, 2007 5:52 pm

out: Sissoko,Carson,one striker

in: Raid the hell out of Valencia,Ujfalusi

by **JC_81** » Tue Dec 25, 2007 6:16 pm

I think the initial post here is nonsense. Deadwood?? What exactly do you mean by that?

The so-called deadwood that you refer to (Sissoko, Aurelio, Riise, Crouch) are actually all pretty good players. I would say that Riise and Sissoko have lost their way a bit this season, Aurelio is constantly plagued by injuries and Crouch is a good centre forward, but perhaps not good enough to be a regular starting player for us. This does not mean they are deadwood.

For me, 'deadwood' represents players who are no longer of any use to the club and have little or no re-sale value. Thanks to Rafa I don't think we have any players in the squad who you could say that about. Compare that to the end of Houllier's reign when we had about 10 players coming into that category, and it shows you how much our squad has improved over the last 4 years.

For the record, the 4 players you call deadwood could be sold at a profit imo. 3 of them - Riise, Sissoko and Crouch, if sold would move on with reputations much enhanced compared to when we bought them and have had relatively successful Anfield careers. Aurelio was a free transfer who has been severely restricted by injuries, but I suspect there'd be no shortage of takers if we decided to get rid, especially in Spain.

It is my own view that we should keep Riise. He has occasionally had dodgy spells in his LFC career, but always comes out the end and strings a good run of performances together. Now is the time to sell Sissoko while his re-sale value is still high, the same might well be true for Crouch. We might as well see if Aurelio can stay fit until mthe end of the season, but I can see him moving on in the summer. We may well need to move some of these guys on if we are to be successful, but please don't tar them with the same brush as much of the deadwood that we were left with after Houllier.

by **holylamb2006** » Tue Dec 25, 2007 7:00 pm

Out : Sissoko
Riise
Kuyt
Voronin
Pennant
Carson

In : A quality striker
A quality Right Winger
A quality Center Back:;):

by **Cool Hand Luke** » Tue Dec 25, 2007 7:02 pm

We probably have more players in the first team squad than we need. This is not only going to cause unrest with the players who are sitting out for long periods, but it will also mean the youngsters will become disillusioned wondering when or if their opportunity will ever arrive.

By the start of next season I would hope we would have added players in the following areas:

Centre back– We need someone to provide cover for Carragher and Agger. Ideally we would get someone with recovery pace, it’s a dimension none of our current defenders offer us. I would personally keep Hyypia for one more year and send Hobbs out on loan.

Left back– Aurelio looks like a quality player but his career has been hampered by injury so he can’t be relied upon. Riise has served us well and I would definitely not describe him as deadwood, but the time has come for our team to evolve and he seems a likely casualty. My preference would be to sell Riise and generate some useful funds and then bring in a quality left back.

Right Midfield– Benayoun has proven himself to be a useful player (far better than Pennant) who can provide excellent cover but I think we require someone better in the starting 11.

Striker– It’s no secret that we need a striker partner for Torres, but what to do with the rest? I would definitely hang on to Crouch as he has proved that he is more useful than the other two. Sadly I think Kuyt’s timer is ticking and unless he can have a miraculous second half of the season most people will be happy to see the back of him. Voronin was bought in on a free to provide cover and that is what he is doing. I would let Kuyt go and bring in someone to partner Torres, but we could actually afford to let Voronin go as well and use Babel as one of our striking options as well as a midfielder.

By the time the 2008/2009 season starts we need to give Kewell a one year extension on reduced terms, sign a centre back, left back, right sided midfielder, striker, and secure Mascherano on a permanent deal.

And to fund this we can sell the following players, a pessimistic person would look at those players and say they would generate something between 30 – 40 Mil:

Andriy Voronin
John Arne Riise
Jermaine Pennant
Dirk Kuyt
Momo Sissoko
Sebastian Leto
Scott Carson
Danny Guthrie
Anthony Le Tallec

by **Cool Hand Luke** » Tue Dec 25, 2007 7:08 pm

john craig wrote:I think the initial post here is nonsense. Deadwood?? What exactly do you mean by that?

The so-called deadwood that you refer to (Sissoko, Aurelio, Riise, Crouch) are actually all pretty good players. I would say that Riise and Sissoko have lost their way a bit this season, Aurelio is constantly plagued by injuries and Crouch is a good centre forward, but perhaps not good enough to be a regular starting player for us. This does not mean they are deadwood.

For me, 'deadwood' represents players who are no longer of any use to the club and have little or no re-sale value. Thanks to Rafa I don't think we have any players in the squad who you could say that about. Compare that to the end of Houllier's reign when we had about 10 players coming into that category, and it shows you how much our squad has improved over the last 4 years.

For the record, the 4 players you call deadwood could be sold at a profit imo. 3 of them - Riise, Sissoko and Crouch, if sold would move on with reputations much enhanced compared to when we bought them and have had relatively successful Anfield careers. Aurelio was a free transfer who has been severely restricted by injuries, but I suspect there'd be no shortage of takers if we decided to get rid, especially in Spain.

It is my own view that we should keep Riise. He has occasionally had dodgy spells in his LFC career, but always comes out the end and strings a good run of performances together. Now is the time to sell Sissoko while his re-sale value is still high, the same might well be true for Crouch. We might as well see if Aurelio can stay fit until mthe end of the season, but I can see him moving on in the summer. We may well need to move some of these guys on if we are to be successful, but please don't tar them with the same brush as much of the deadwood that we were left with after Houllier.

I agree that we are longer is a position were we have numerous players who can be described as dead wood. Most of the players mentioned in this thread can contribute to the squad and have a good sell on value, its just a case of taking another step up in quality and sacrificing some players.

by **yckatbjywtbiastkamb** » Tue Dec 25, 2007 7:38 pm

i feel a bit sorry for the likes of riise and momo, every player on the planet goes through spells where their game goes to :censored:

.
and we liverpool fans can be quite scathing at times too, blaming one or two individuals for all the teams ills.
i remember players like terry mcdermott, ronnie whelan and even jamie carragher getting the loud jeers and groans from the anfield faithfull at one time or another.

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