Liverpool FC Forum

by **Owzat** » Wed Jul 09, 2008 7:10 am

Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez admits David Villa is on his list of potential striker recruits after Peter Crouch's impending departure to Portsmouth.

Villa, 26, was one of the stars of Euro 2008, scoring four times as Spain won their first major trophy in 44 years.

"We have Torres, Voronin, Kuyt, Babel and Steven Gerrard, who can play as a second striker," Benitez said. "But we will try to bring in another option.

"Villa we know all about. He is on our list. But maybe it will be difficult."

Fernando Torres scored 33 goals in a spectacular first season at Anfield, but the other strikers only managed a combined total of 17 goals to undermine any hopes of launching a sustained Premier League title challenge.

Villa scored 18 league goals for Valencia last season and was the top scorer at Euro 2008, notably scoring a hat-trick against Russia in a Group D match.

And he also proved he could form an effective partnership with Torres, despite pre- tournament concerns that Spanish coach Luis Aragones would be forced to leave one out in order to select a balanced team.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/l/liverpool/7496686.stm

FINALLY we're focusing on an area that needs attention, hopefully Rafa will see sense and leave the Barny bid until he's secured Villa's services. Last thing we want is to come up short of cash having wasted some on a player we don't need.

I do wonder if Rafa isn't banking too much on sales of Crouch and Alonso at set prices to raise funds, a risky game and could prove to be juggling too many balls at once

by **puroresu** » Wed Jul 09, 2008 7:12 am

I hope this happens but doubt Villa will be playing in England at al next season.

by **SundanceKid** » Wed Jul 09, 2008 7:16 am

If Villa does come and outscores Torres. How many of you will be singing Villa's song more? I sure wouldn't. I love the way he plays, but his attitude is nothing compared to El Nino's.

by **LegBarnes** » Wed Jul 09, 2008 7:31 am

They both are great players but there is some thing about torres that just feels 100% right.

Villa would be good in prem he is alot like torres in fact his game is more a classic english center forward but with a slight spanish edge to it.

But as torres is more a shoulder runner villa is more a back to goal and lay off man i think they could work well in prem together and there partnership in euro was very good.

I think torres - villa - gerrard combo sounds to good to be true.

What you gotta ask ya self is do you want torrers /villa and play 4-4-2 or some thing close or do you wanna keep 4-2-3-1 and get a pace winger like say silva ?

I know alot of you think it be great to have players to play both but me for one would like us to get 1 formation down 100% first instead of playing 2-3 formations say at 70%.

Rafa has to this season pick one style and nail it this season for league. So him , players and us the fans know what is going on.

What i worrie about is the best form we had last season was when we played 4-2-3-1 and if rafa buys villa will this make him change that formation if so what is the effect of that poor form , better form ?

Just hope we dont go through another season trying to find a way to play.

by **whylongball?** » Wed Jul 09, 2008 7:52 am

4-4-2

Reina
Finnan Cara Agger Dossena

SG Alonso Mash Babel

Villa Torres

too good to be true

by **Owzat** » Wed Jul 09, 2008 7:53 am

LegBarnes wrote:What you gotta ask ya self is do you want torrers /villa and play 4-4-2 or some thing close or do you wanna keep 4-2-3-1 and get a pace winger like say silva ?

I know alot of you think it be great to have players to play both but me for one would like us to get 1 formation down 100% first instead of playing 2-3 formations say at 70%.

Rafa has to this season pick one style and nail it this season for league. So him , players and us the fans know what is going on.

What i worrie about is the best form we had last season was when we played 4-2-3-1 and if rafa buys villa will this make him change that formation if so what is the effect of that poor form , better form ?

Just hope we dont go through another season trying to find a way to play.

You have to ask the more crucial question, WHY did 4-2-3-1 work and 4-4-2 didn't? Could it be because we could field the best/most effective 11 players, that the second striker in 4-4-2 wasn't doing enough, or because it posed different problems to the defence with our second best goalscorer in a position to make most of him?

Some might argue it boils down to two things - Gerrard playing in a role that suited him AND giving up on an ineffective striker partner for Torres, putting Kuyt down the flank where he scored about as many goals, worked hard and played well (scored a lot more than a goal every 15 games or so before any idiot comes out with that classic cobblers)

But what you have to remember is it won't be the same component parts/players, if we sign Villa we hopefully would have a striker who can score goals, the goalscoring role Gerrard played. And with a quality winger or two we could play a proper 4-4-2 without worrying if they will produce or the strikers will make most of crosses and general supply.

For all we know 4-2-3-1 may not work (as well) this season, I'd rather have two top notch strikers regardless whether both play at the same time or not. At least we'd have the option, at the moment it looks like being Torres with Voronin, Kuyt and Babel the other options

by **LegBarnes** » Wed Jul 09, 2008 7:58 am

i think 4-4-2 is more a man marking system and 4-2-3-1 works better for zonal due to the way team line up across the midfield.

Rafa we know likes zonal and this for me works better with latter system so if rafa does go 4-4-2 will he go man marking i doubt it and i fear we leave vital gaps in midfield agian like we did last time we played 4-4-2.

by **JoeTerp** » Wed Jul 09, 2008 8:42 am

ok in case you don't have e-season ticket this is how this got started. Rafa was doing an interview that was almost all about crouch leaving and what he has done for the club and what not and at the end the interview just drops the old hey what about david villa he is good? on rafa and he says word for word

He's one of the names that was in the press, we know that he's a fantastic player, we know him really well, because he is in Spain and also because we know alot about Valencia, so we know which is the situation, OK we'll see, we can progress with different issues with different players, and Villa is one of the names, and we will see but I think that will be difficult.

by **ALONSO_14** » Wed Jul 09, 2008 9:53 am

What rafa really said in the interview:

He's one of the names that was in the press, we know that he's a fantastic player, we know him really well, because he is in Spain and also because we know alot about Valencia, so we know which is the situation, OK we'll see, we can progress with different issues with different players, and Villa is one of the names, and we will see but I think that will be difficult.

by **spion** » Wed Jul 09, 2008 10:14 am

I thought we had no money? Thought we were having a fire sale because the manager was in dire need of funds? Why has Benitez commented on buying Villa? In my opinion this is a smoke screen because if Villa was available Chavski would be flashing the cash & we would be left looking silly again.
The more realistic target is Keane, not only that but the player (Villa) himself has stated he wants to stay in Spain & if he left Valencia Barca would be his preferred destination. Villa would be a dream signing & that’s exactly what it is, a dream!
Benitez is again doing his washing in public & I am getting tired with it, “It will be difficult bringing him here” too bloody right mate.
Oh & if we’re so desperate for wingers why is he loaning our best young player to Forrest. Paul Anderson should be getting a chance this season but is again off to the lower leagues. Plessis got a chance & Anderson is a far more seasoned player who would really benefit playing with better players rather than fighting for life in the championship.

by **stmichael** » Wed Jul 09, 2008 10:58 am

we can barely afford barry. how the hell are we going to afford villa?

by **Redman in wales** » Wed Jul 09, 2008 11:01 am

spion wrote:I thought we had no money? Thought we were having a fire sale because the manager was in dire need of funds? Why has Benitez commented on buying Villa? In my opinion this is a smoke screen because if Villa was available Chavski would be flashing the cash & we would be left looking silly again.
The more realistic target is Keane, not only that but the player (Villa) himself has stated he wants to stay in Spain & if he left Valencia Barca would be his preferred destination. Villa would be a dream signing & that’s exactly what it is, a dream!
Benitez is again doing his washing in public & I am getting tired with it, “It will be difficult bringing him here” too bloody right mate.
Oh & if we’re so desperate for wingers why is he loaning our best young player to Forrest. Paul Anderson should be getting a chance this season but is again off to the lower leagues. Plessis got a chance & Anderson is a far more seasoned player who would really benefit playing with better players rather than fighting for life in the championship.

calm down. He commented on it because he was asked the question. Its not exactly washing in public is it?! - he was asked & he answered in a polite and responsible mannor saying he's a good player and villa is one of the names that was in the press, but it would be difficult to bring him here. what more do you want?

by **Rafa D** » Wed Jul 09, 2008 11:46 am

spion wrote:I thought we had no money? Thought we were having a fire sale because the manager was in dire need of funds? Why has Benitez commented on buying Villa? In my opinion this is a smoke screen because if Villa was available Chavski would be flashing the cash & we would be left looking silly again.
The more realistic target is Keane, not only that but the player (Villa) himself has stated he wants to stay in Spain & if he left Valencia Barca would be his preferred destination. Villa would be a dream signing & that’s exactly what it is, a dream!
Benitez is again doing his washing in public & I am getting tired with it, “It will be difficult bringing him here” too bloody right mate.
Oh & if we’re so desperate for wingers why is he loaning our best young player to Forrest. Paul Anderson should be getting a chance this season but is again off to the lower leagues. Plessis got a chance & Anderson is a far more seasoned player who would really benefit playing with better players rather than fighting for life in the championship.

All your thoughts seem to be wrong..

by **HacksawJimDuggin** » Wed Jul 09, 2008 11:53 am

If Villa came then he would have to play every week. Is he really a "2nd striker" in the mould that we need (i.e. playing off the central striker in the hole)??

I have my doubts as I would see him more as a 2nd up top striker in a traditional 4-4-2 or 3-5-2 formation.

Not saying he's not a very good player and wouldn't be an asset but I am all for Rafa's 4-2-3-1 formation and I'd struggle to see where Villa would fit into that!!

by **Bad Bob** » Wed Jul 09, 2008 11:57 am

I've copied the story posted on .tv below. The comments about Villa at the end are obviously going to be the eye-catching stuff for the press, who want to feed the latest round of rumours. What's more eye-catching to me, though, are the comments in bold.

BENITEZ PROUD OF CROUCH PROGRESS
Jimmy Rice 09 July 2008
Rafa Benitez has spoken of his pride at the progress Peter Crouch has made under his management at Liverpool – and admitted he would be sad to lose the striker to Portsmouth.
Benitez knows he cannot offer Crouch what he wants more than anything – first-team football week in, week out.

With this in mind, he has not stood in the way of the big man's proposed move to Portsmouth, despite anything written in the press.

However, Benitez knows the popular forward, who only has to agree personal terms for the move south to be completed, will be missed at Anfield as well as Melwood.

The boss told Liverpoolfc.tv: "I am proud of the progress he has made. When we brought him here people were talking – especially because he didn't score for 14 games or something like that.

"But he showed his quality; showed he was a good player and a fantastic professional. He is a nice person. We know we will miss him but you can't stop a player who wants to play every week.

"He understands that with Torres here and Gerrard as a second striker, like he was at the end of last season, it will be difficult for him.

"Everything is friendly. I've talked to him and the agents. If he can agree with Portsmouth it will be perfect for everyone.

"People need to understand that we have supported Peter from the day he signed and we offered him a new contract (before the summer). But I can understand that he wants to play every week, wants to start every game.

"As a manager you have to understand these situations. Also, a few people in the press were talking about £7million – so then I talked about £15million because I wanted to protect the club. But I know you need to respect the players.

"So, we have now more or less agreed a transfer fee and now it's just the player talking to Portsmouth and finding a solution."

Liverpool are now preparing for life after Crouch, which Benitez revealed is likely to include a new striker.

Asked whether Valencia's David Villa was an option, he added: "We have Fernando Torres, Andriy Voronin, Dirk Kuyt, Ryan Babel and Steven Gerrard, who can play as a second striker.

"But we will try to bring in another option. Villa is a player we know all about and he is on our list. But maybe it will be difficult."

-----

First, you have the comment that with Torres up top and Gerrard just behind, Crouch wasn't likely to get much of a game. This sounds to me like Rafa is largely planning to stick to the 4-2-3-1 formation from the run-in last season. And, Big Mick may just have a point about Rafa seeing the light, as there's also no talk of rotation there. In the past, you might have heard comments to suggest that Crouch will still get plenty of opportunities because it's a long season, etc. etc.

The second highlighted passage speaks to the discussion we've had on here about Crouch's fee. As LFC2007 has argued, it seems that the 15 million price tag was a way of setting the bar high so that we'd get a decent fee for Crouch.

The last highlighted bit isn't as exciting as it sounds, IMO. With Crouch gone we will perhaps be in the market for another striker to make sure that area of the squad's not too thin. Given what was said earlier in the interview, however, and given that we seem pretty skint this summer, I don't think it will be a big name. It seems, that Rafa's plan is to play Stevie just behind Torres for most matches and make do with other squad players from time to time as cover. Let's hope both can stay fit!

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