The OFFICIAL Liverpool Supporters thread

[J70]

Who do ye think was the worst Liverpool player over the last decade or so

Traore?


Bruno Cheyrou?


Phill Babb?



Diouf?


Kromkamp?


or does anyone remember

Erik Meijer

There's been far far worse than that bunch. I think Douff, apart from being a bit of a p***k, is an excellent player, but he just never showed it for Liverpool. The only really great game I remember him having was when he destroyed Silvestre in the 2003 League Cup Final.

Traore has some good qualities, but the overall package just isn't good enough for top class football. He had a decent runs of matches, but a disastrous mistake was never far off. I thought similarly of Westerveld, although in his position, he was better than Traore. A lot of days he was brilliant, but he didn't seem to have the concentration to be a top-class keeper.

Babb threw his career away. Meijer seemed to be thrilled just to be at a club like Liverpool, and although he was very limited, he always gave everything. I remember him having a very good game at Old Trafford one year when Fowler and Owen were both injured (the day Patrik Berger scored the 35 yard free kick).

Cheyrou was always injured, but never seemed to get to grips with the speed and physicality of the English game. Kromkamp was probably mainly bought to cover Finnan and Gerrard, but didn't do too badly in a lot of the games, IMO.

As for really poor players over the last decade, how about Jean Michel Ferri or Sean Dundee? Vladimir Smicer, for a very skillful player,  was disappointing overall.

Biggest waste of undoubted talent - Jari Litmanen (through no fault of his own) or Stan Collymore.

[The Real Laoislad]

They were a fair bad buch all the same i wouldn't be as generous as you in my opinions of any of them
Any views on this american takeover bid?

[J70]

They were a fair bad buch all the same i wouldn't be as generous as you in my opinions of any of them
Any views on this american takeover bid?

Didn't think I was particularly generous to any of them, although some may disagree with my opinion of Diouf!

I don't know very much about the American takeover, except the little bit on the BBC website, so I don't really have an opinion. We'll see how it plays out.

[GalwayBayBoy]

Liverpool have announced the signing of Javier Mascherano from West Ham in an 18-month loan deal that has bent football's rules.

Mascherano, who was deemed not good enough for West Ham's relegation battle by Alan Curbishley, will be thrust into Liverpool's Champions League campaign instead.

The signing is reward for Liverpool's patience.


They hoped to sign the Argentine midfield powerhouse, 22, at the start of the transfer window, but have had to wait while lawyers have thrashed out a deal with UEFA and FIFA, because players aren't supposed to move clubs twice in a season. Mascherano has already played for Corinthians, as well as West Ham.

The authorities finally agreed to cave in on the transfer and it will be announced tomorrow, on the final day of the transfer window.

Rafa Benitez last night saluted the signing. "We have an agreement to take him on loan for 18 months then we have an option to sign him permanently.

"He is a top class player and played at the top level at the World Cup. We were monitoring him when he was with River Plate. The only question is whether he can play to his level in England, but I know he can play a lot better than he did at West Ham.

"We don't have another holding midfielder and this is a crucial time for us. We will play against West Ham, Everton, Newcastle, Sheffield United and Barcelona twice."

Mascherano made only three Premiership starts with West Ham, and seven appearances altogether.

Benitez added: "Maybe Liverpool can be a better option for him because we can speak in Spanish to him and we play a different style of football that suits him better. Corinthians and River Plate are top sides in their countries and he is used to winning trophies. I think he will have more possibilities with us."

Benitez also explained why he expected to get his man. "There is a big difference between the law and the rules," he said. "A worker cannot be stopped working. That's the law in the European Community.

"Then there are the rules, which can change depending on your country or continent. There are players in the world now who have played for three or four clubs in a season.

"The rules are one thing, but the law is another. Nobody can stop people moving to other jobs. They have freedom and they need to work. The law is more important than the rules."

Liverpool are moving to secure the long-term future of a number of their top men because of a new regulation giving a player the right to buy out his contract when it entered the last two years.

Benitez confirmed that Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher would be offered new deals in the summer along with Spanish pair Xabi Alonso and Luis Garcia.

West Ham last night had a £2.5m offer turned down by Charlton for Icelandic central defender Hermann Hreidarsson.

[Mayo4Sam]

Great news, hopefully he'll settle in better with liverpool, at least he'll be speaking the same language as half the team!
Seriously talented player but where will he fit in with alonso, sissoko & gerrard?
Possibly the talk of alonso leaving is true?

[supersarsfields]

Dunno how I feel about this one. It's a loan deal so the risk is pretty low!!
Not sure how well he will fit into the liverpool set-up!! With Sissoko back ready in the next week or so is there much of a need for him? I don't doubt that he's a decent signing but i would hate to think that his coming could signal Alonso leaving!!

[Hound]

First and foremost he'll be cover for when 1 or 2 of Alonso, Gerrard, Sissoko are unavailable - so we should see no more of Bolo Zenden in centre midfield.

But it could also signal that we'll see more and more of the wing back formation, with three central midfielders.

I'm not sure the signing is in the bag just yet, but they are very hopeful that it will happen by the deadline.

[Mayo4Sam]

Liverpool to land Malaga teenager 

Liverpool are set to sign Spanish midfielder Francis Duran from Malaga, BBC Sport understands.
The 18-year-old is expected to be heading to Anfield on Tuesday to sign a contract with the Reds.

Duran made his debut with Malaga's first team earlier this month but does not have a professional contract with the second division club.

"It's a unique opportunity and I couldn't let it go by," Duran told the Spanish press.

[GalwayBayBoy]

Liverpool have continued their flurry of activity ahead of Wednesday night's transfer deadline by signing Deportivo La Coruna defender Alvaro Arbeloa.

With Rafa Benitez targeting three signings over the next couple of days, the centre back is travelling to Merseyside to undergo a medical.

Malaga's Francis Duran has agreed to his switch to Anfield and Javier Mascherano looks likely to obtain permission from FIFA to arrive from West Ham.

Benitez has looked to his homeland again to swoop for Arbeloa after thrashing out a deal with Depor.

"The club has got a very good investment," declared coach Joaquin Caparros in confirming the transfer.

Real Madrid are entitled to 50 percent of the profit on the money earned on the 24-year-old, who has made 14 appearances this term, after he started his career with the capital club

[Fr Ted]

Phil Babb - Joe Guest destroyed him - (lucky boy)

[Gabriel_Hurl]

Rafael Benitez has made two changes to the Liverpool team for tonight's Premiership clash against West Ham.
Out go Jermaine Pennant and Fabio Aurelio, with Craig Bellamy and Sami Hyypia coming in to replace them.

Bellamy will form a three-pronged attack alongside Dirk Kuyt and Peter Crouch as Benitez opts for the system that worked so effectively at Watford recently.

Team in full:
Reina,
Finnan,
Riise,
Hyypia,
Agger,
Carragher,
Gerrard,
Alonso,
Crouch,
Kuyt,
Bellamy.

Subs – Dudek, Fowler, Gonzalez, Pennant, Zenden

[Gabriel_Hurl]

Kuyt scores first 11 seconds into the 2nd half

[Gabriel_Hurl]

Crouch doubles the lead

[AZOffaly]

Another good result, although LFC were hanging on a bit at the end, albeit not too nervously really. I felt Rafa shouldn't have brought off Crouch, LFC were definitely in the ascendency at that point with the 3-4-3 formation. After Pennant and Gonzalez came on it was essentially 4-5-1.

No matter though, just 2 points behind the Russians now, I just hope the run goes on until the end of the season.

[Dinny Breen]

That Crouch goal was one of the goals of the season, the build-up was fantastic.