Liverpool FC Forum

Posted: **Thu Dec 18, 2008 12:25 pm**

Id like Mario Gomez or Lukas Podolski.

Posted: **Thu Dec 18, 2008 12:34 pm**

Perfect partner for Torres? I say none. Did Torres have a great European Championship? No. Did he score the winner in the final when Villa was absent? Yes. Only scored once in five games playing alongside Villa, he had a similarly dry spell playing alongside Keane compared to when he was on his own

I think the Zenit phenomenon has ended, Arshavin is less linked now than in their peak. They crashed out of the Champions League and into the UEFA Cup.

No way Jose, Pedro etc on bringing back Heskey. We've done the target man alongside a quick goalscorer before, funny how both Heskey and Crouch have moved on.

I suggest we get Owen back as cover for a lesser rotation system and the odd two up front game and where we need to score goals. I'd rather invest in an attacking midfielder who can pass, supply, score and play a more creative role which is what we need. A playmaker to bring in other players, a more attacking version of Alonso perhaps. I think this target man alongside a striker idea is awful, which Premiership title winning side has adopted such a tactic?

The mancs? Nope. Berbatov hasn't exactly set old toilet alight, but he is much more skilful than Heskey and Crouch. No long ball hoofing with him in the side, but he did disappear entirely after he scored against us

Chelsea? They could use Drogba for it, but they prefer solo striker

Arsenal? Doubt it, although that may be all Bentdner is good for

EDIT : Blackburn played with the "SAS" partnership up front, but if we're basing a title challenge on a tactic that has worked once in sixteen seasons and then over a decade ago, then I think we can write off a title bid until more people get that tactic out of their heads

Posted: **Thu Dec 18, 2008 12:35 pm**

bavlondon wrote:Id like Mario Gomez or Lukas Podolski.

Gomez ? is that the german guy who played in the eruos and was truely awful ?

Posted: **Thu Dec 18, 2008 12:39 pm**

GYBS wrote:
bavlondon wrote:Id like Mario Gomez or Lukas Podolski.

Gomez ? is that the german guy who played in the eruos and was truely awful ?

Jahowl, das is correct. Another Gomes/Gomez doing his best to look useless.

Posted: **Thu Dec 18, 2008 12:40 pm**

John carew

Posted: **Thu Dec 18, 2008 12:41 pm**

I was actually waiting for your answer about him playing on his own with someone a little deeper supporting him which is where i think people like arshavin and why i went with tevez or maybe even david silva

Posted: **Thu Dec 18, 2008 12:55 pm**

As a lot of people have said, it appears Torres plays best on his own.

The problem we have with Torres is that there is no replacement in the squad and his absence knackers the balance of the side. If looking for a replacement for when Torres is injured / needs a rest then you can't have another Torres clone (£20 - £30 million pound player, in his prime) so you need either a youngster who is happy with 15-20 games a season or a player who is past his prime who again, is happy to be at a massive club like Liverpool and appreciates that he will play second fiddle when Torres is fit.

This is fundamentally the problem with the Keane signing. Keane isn't a replacement for Torres (he can't play up front on his own), he is unwilling to not be number 1 (which I can understand) and to play the both of them together then we lose our ability to play with two defensive midfielders and Gerrard.

If we were to buy another striker I'd prefer it be one in the above categories (young or old / experienced). The problem is finding the players who fit into those two categories

Posted: **Thu Dec 18, 2008 12:57 pm**

GYBS wrote:Lets not bring kuyt into this mate - at the end of the day dont think crouch scored enough tbh .

Honestly I think the draw against Hull demonstrated that Rafa tinkers too much. Kuyt is our most effective RM at the moment, moving him out of that position puts someone less effective in it, and reverts Kuyt to a role he's never going to 'win' in because he won't score enough goals - through working too hard.

He didn't play great against Hull, BUT played a key part in both goals - a square cross pass/ball to Gerrard for the first, a nod down to Benayoun to put in Gerrard for his second. Both examples of how he has become a team player at the expense maybe of some of his goalscoring instincts. He has scored a few goals from playing on the right, why did Rafa undo that by moving him back up front? I know he gets a lot of flak on here from some, but he chips in with goals and assists from the right so why such animosity towards him? There's talk of some "ideal" solution to the RM, when he's doing better than a lot of players. Some prat was talking about Young being better than Messi, I suspect it was O'Neill's words. I checked the stats and both Kuyt and Young have the same number of goals this season. We know Kuyt sets goals up as well so maybe Kuyt is worth £30m or whatever the latest O'Neill valuation is of Young (VERY tongue in cheek)

If one position isn't working out, you don't take someone who is performing well in a different position and move him. That may solve one problem, it may simply create another - or problems in both positions.

IF we play two up front, who drops out? Alonso? Gerrard? Mascherano? Or are we going to chop Riera or Kuyt and play Gerrard left or right? Instead of signing someone or playing two up front, why not play Benayoun behind Torres/the lone striker? I think it would be Benayoun's best position for us, again it would mean changes to the three man (centre) midfield. Is all this "partner for Torres" talk because of a few draws? I say that because it isn't necessarily the formation that needs changing but the personnel ie Torres' absence IS the problem. Not so long ago people wanted to play Keane alongside Torres until such a time as it worked (if it ever will) Then talk was of one up front vs Keane & Torres, now we're shifting focus to make it "ideal partner" & Torres, although I think Torres is most effective as a loan striker (as mentioned)

Posted: **Thu Dec 18, 2008 1:02 pm**

Has to be Drogba or Carew for me

Posted: **Thu Dec 18, 2008 1:02 pm**

At this point in time, I'd say we already have Torres' best partner in Stevie. It may be a separate debate but Tompkins reckons Gerrard's being deployed as a 2nd striker in our current system and I wonder what others make of that? In any event, striker, midfielder or whatever you want to label him, we were at our most potent last year with Stevie deployed just behind Nando. Stevie's still doing the business in that position despite Torres' absence so why not accept that that's the way we need to set up and focus on other parts of the system that need work.

Posted: **Thu Dec 18, 2008 1:08 pm**

Yeah cant argue with that Bob .

Posted: **Thu Dec 18, 2008 1:34 pm**

huntelear but he on his way to real madrid

Posted: **Thu Dec 18, 2008 1:39 pm**

Gerrard

Posted: **Thu Dec 18, 2008 3:03 pm**

santa cruz... but this wont happen either, if reports are correct, big sam took the job with the knowledge that his big player wouldn't be sold.

It winds me up seeing crouch scoring because he just didnt do it for us... I liked the guy tho.

Posted: **Thu Dec 18, 2008 3:43 pm**

Kenny. And SG isnt even on the same planet as Kenny in that role. Has to be Keane once he gets his pecker up :laugh:

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Partner for torres