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Kennel Legend
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Are you 50 years without a league title? Almost.
Soccer The Liverpool FC Super Thread
- Thread starter Özil
- Start date
Aquilani Could Be Kenny's Biggest Folly
Even before Charlie Adam's inevitable red card against Tottenham, Alex Hess had been thinking that ditching Alberto Aquilani for the Scot was a pretty poor idea...
Whilst Kenny Dalglish has unarguably played a fundamental role in Liverpool's top-to-bottom reform from relegation fodder to Champions' League candidates over the past nine months, the one aspect of his management that has not escaped scrutiny has been his ventures into the transfer market in partnership with Damien Comolli.
Criticism of their dealings has generally been aimed at the seemingly inflated prices paid for their recruits, but there is also a significant argument to suggest a closer look should also be taken at Dalglish's decision this summer to allow Alberto Aquilani to join AC Milan (on loan, with an option to buy), and to effectively replace his position in the squad with fellow Scot Charlie Adam.
When the two players are compared in terms of function, it's fairly obvious that they perform the same basic role from the same basic position - they're creative, central midfield playmakers. However, when compared in terms of quality, Aquilani, I would suggest, offers everything Adam does and more. Reliably excellent set-piece delivery? Check. An eye for a defence-shearing pass? Check. A penchant for thwacking home the odd long-range screamer? Yes indeed. Crucially though, Aquilani manages to combine these qualities with added subtlety, mobility and dashing good looks - three attributes it's fair to say that Charlie Adam does not possess in abundance.
As we know though, the biggest question mark over Aquilani's worth has always been, far above his footballing ability, his capacity to stay fit. 34 appearances in a Juventus shirt last season would appear to render that less of an issue, however - and indeed he performed well enough throughout to play himself into the plans of both the Italian national set-up and AC Milan's recruiting department.
Of course, things are going to seem a good deal worse on Adam's part in the wake of last weekend's humiliating defeat and his horribly rash sending-off (a weekend, incidentally, that saw Aquilani score an absolutely blinding header), and scouse knees should not be jerked too rashly on the basis of one performance - indeed, two assists and a goal in his first six outings would certainly indicate that Adam will contribute his fair share of positives over the course of the season.
However, the three bookings and a red card accumulated in the same course of time show the flip side to Adam's game, and, as exposed on Sunday, his desperate lack of pace and agility often make him seem like a sending-off waiting to happen, while he struggles with his famed passing range when not given time on the ball. Ultimately, when pitted against the league's classier, crisper and more agile midfields, it remains hugely debatable whether he represents a superior option to the Italian.
While Liverpool's clear policy of buying young and British is one that serves a very decent purpose with regards to the buying players acclimatised to the Premier League, and displays an encouragingly long-term plan for the club (as well as providing a short-cut into the good books of a few short-sighted fans), it has arguably also led to the skewed prioritisation of a player's passport over their ability. Depending on how the season turns out for Messrs Aquilani and Adam, Liverpool's management could find themselves reassessing their apparent obsession with this approach come August.
Alex Hess
Even before Charlie Adam's inevitable red card against Tottenham, Alex Hess had been thinking that ditching Alberto Aquilani for the Scot was a pretty poor idea...
Whilst Kenny Dalglish has unarguably played a fundamental role in Liverpool's top-to-bottom reform from relegation fodder to Champions' League candidates over the past nine months, the one aspect of his management that has not escaped scrutiny has been his ventures into the transfer market in partnership with Damien Comolli.
Criticism of their dealings has generally been aimed at the seemingly inflated prices paid for their recruits, but there is also a significant argument to suggest a closer look should also be taken at Dalglish's decision this summer to allow Alberto Aquilani to join AC Milan (on loan, with an option to buy), and to effectively replace his position in the squad with fellow Scot Charlie Adam.
When the two players are compared in terms of function, it's fairly obvious that they perform the same basic role from the same basic position - they're creative, central midfield playmakers. However, when compared in terms of quality, Aquilani, I would suggest, offers everything Adam does and more. Reliably excellent set-piece delivery? Check. An eye for a defence-shearing pass? Check. A penchant for thwacking home the odd long-range screamer? Yes indeed. Crucially though, Aquilani manages to combine these qualities with added subtlety, mobility and dashing good looks - three attributes it's fair to say that Charlie Adam does not possess in abundance.
As we know though, the biggest question mark over Aquilani's worth has always been, far above his footballing ability, his capacity to stay fit. 34 appearances in a Juventus shirt last season would appear to render that less of an issue, however - and indeed he performed well enough throughout to play himself into the plans of both the Italian national set-up and AC Milan's recruiting department.
Of course, things are going to seem a good deal worse on Adam's part in the wake of last weekend's humiliating defeat and his horribly rash sending-off (a weekend, incidentally, that saw Aquilani score an absolutely blinding header), and scouse knees should not be jerked too rashly on the basis of one performance - indeed, two assists and a goal in his first six outings would certainly indicate that Adam will contribute his fair share of positives over the course of the season.
However, the three bookings and a red card accumulated in the same course of time show the flip side to Adam's game, and, as exposed on Sunday, his desperate lack of pace and agility often make him seem like a sending-off waiting to happen, while he struggles with his famed passing range when not given time on the ball. Ultimately, when pitted against the league's classier, crisper and more agile midfields, it remains hugely debatable whether he represents a superior option to the Italian.
While Liverpool's clear policy of buying young and British is one that serves a very decent purpose with regards to the buying players acclimatised to the Premier League, and displays an encouragingly long-term plan for the club (as well as providing a short-cut into the good books of a few short-sighted fans), it has arguably also led to the skewed prioritisation of a player's passport over their ability. Depending on how the season turns out for Messrs Aquilani and Adam, Liverpool's management could find themselves reassessing their apparent obsession with this approach come August.
Alex Hess
Steven Gerrard
At last, after six and a half months of inaction, the longest lay-off of Gerrard's career has reached the point of return.
Liverpool's refusal to rush back their captain should be to his long-term benefit, but that refusal can also be interpreted as an indication that his time left as an Anfield mainstay is short. Though his return will be welcomed with open arms, it's also true that Liverpool no longer fret about his absence.
Liverpool
Mini-crisis averted. As readers of the Forum's Midweek Review will be aware, the first murmurings of discontent at Kenny Dalglish's second coming have broken cover in recent week, railing against tactics and the limited contribution of his expensive summer acquisitions. At the end of a difficult week, the last thing Dalglish needed was another Northampton on the South Downs.
Yet in addition to the required respite, victory at Brighton also had the added bonus of demonstrating that Dalglish still possesses an eye for a bargain. Albeit against Championship opposition, Craig Bellamy, brought not bought on a freebie in the final throes of the transfer window, looked Premier pedigree. Playing as a partner for Luis Suarez, he offered pace and penetration and the obvious potential for advanced versatility. It's straightforward to envisage the Welshman in any number of combinations; see him in a 4-4-2, spot him in a 4-3-3 or a 4-5-1. So long as he keeps himself out of trouble, he could be the coup of the window.
But there's a 'but' coming. Long-suffering readers will know there always is around these parts. Bellamy's classy reminder was made at the direct expense of Andy Carroll, benched after another difficult day at Tottenham this weekend and likely to stay there for the visit of Wolves on Saturday. He's not fit, which is bad enough given he has been at Liverpool for nine months, but worse still, he just doesn't seem to fit in. No matter how many different combinations the cameos of Gerrard and Bellamy made conceivable, they all have one shared absentee.
At last, after six and a half months of inaction, the longest lay-off of Gerrard's career has reached the point of return.
Liverpool's refusal to rush back their captain should be to his long-term benefit, but that refusal can also be interpreted as an indication that his time left as an Anfield mainstay is short. Though his return will be welcomed with open arms, it's also true that Liverpool no longer fret about his absence.
Liverpool
Mini-crisis averted. As readers of the Forum's Midweek Review will be aware, the first murmurings of discontent at Kenny Dalglish's second coming have broken cover in recent week, railing against tactics and the limited contribution of his expensive summer acquisitions. At the end of a difficult week, the last thing Dalglish needed was another Northampton on the South Downs.
Yet in addition to the required respite, victory at Brighton also had the added bonus of demonstrating that Dalglish still possesses an eye for a bargain. Albeit against Championship opposition, Craig Bellamy, brought not bought on a freebie in the final throes of the transfer window, looked Premier pedigree. Playing as a partner for Luis Suarez, he offered pace and penetration and the obvious potential for advanced versatility. It's straightforward to envisage the Welshman in any number of combinations; see him in a 4-4-2, spot him in a 4-3-3 or a 4-5-1. So long as he keeps himself out of trouble, he could be the coup of the window.
But there's a 'but' coming. Long-suffering readers will know there always is around these parts. Bellamy's classy reminder was made at the direct expense of Andy Carroll, benched after another difficult day at Tottenham this weekend and likely to stay there for the visit of Wolves on Saturday. He's not fit, which is bad enough given he has been at Liverpool for nine months, but worse still, he just doesn't seem to fit in. No matter how many different combinations the cameos of Gerrard and Bellamy made conceivable, they all have one shared absentee.
grk_adonis
THIS IS ANFIELD!
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Poor effort...
why did we get rid of raul and alberto and only keep adam?
adam is a good player but he is no Xabi Alonso... if adam gets injured or suspended who do we replace him with?
grk_adonis
THIS IS ANFIELD!
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We've had lots of fans asking why Raul Meireles was allowed to leave the club to sign for one of our rivals?
I think Raul said it himself with what I've seen recently in the press. Basically, he came to see me and said 'I want to leave, I want to play for another club'. Our intention was not to sell him but we were put in a corner a little bit when he put in a transfer request and said he wanted to go and that he didn't want to play for Liverpool anymore. I think the owners and Kenny have said it, and we all have the same view. When someone doesn't want to be here it's difficult to say 'you are going to stay'. We've been through that process in January with Fernando Torres and this felt like the same situation. We've done it, we think it was the right thing to do for the club, because it's very, very difficult to have somebody here who doesn't want to be here. The job of the manager in the Premier League is already difficult having to manage 25 players and only having 11 to start on a match day, so you have to deal with all the others. On top of that if you have someone who is adamant they don't want to be here and wants to play for someone else, we took the view it's better if he goes and we get the best possible deal for the club. In the end I think we did well.
We've also had a number of supporters wanting to know why Alberto Aquilani was allowed to leave on loan when he had impressed during pre-season?
With him it was more a question of opportunities to play. He's obviously a big player, he's got a very good resume and he's a very good player. But Kenny and the coaching staff felt he would play in a certain position. As I told Alberto during the summer, unfortunately in that position is someone called Steven Gerrard and it would have been difficult for Alberto to play. There were different reasons. There were tactical reasons, the fact he was playing in this position and also we felt it would have been very difficult to keep him here not playing regularly.
I've got to say I was very impressed with the way Alberto behaved throughout the process. He was really an act of class. He only wanted to play football. He was not obsessed about money or anything else and to be fair to him, I was very impressed by his attitude and his personality.
---This is what Damien Comolli had to say baout these transfers. Each situation was different, and the club did what they thought best. Id assume they were willing to go until january with the midfield options of gerrard, adam, henderson, with shelvey and spearing behind them, and then maybe purchase another CM in january? Who knows?...and i do agree with you 100% on adam, hes a good player but not world class like Alonso. I would personally like to see adam as a back up option on the bench rather than a certain starter.
I think Raul said it himself with what I've seen recently in the press. Basically, he came to see me and said 'I want to leave, I want to play for another club'. Our intention was not to sell him but we were put in a corner a little bit when he put in a transfer request and said he wanted to go and that he didn't want to play for Liverpool anymore. I think the owners and Kenny have said it, and we all have the same view. When someone doesn't want to be here it's difficult to say 'you are going to stay'. We've been through that process in January with Fernando Torres and this felt like the same situation. We've done it, we think it was the right thing to do for the club, because it's very, very difficult to have somebody here who doesn't want to be here. The job of the manager in the Premier League is already difficult having to manage 25 players and only having 11 to start on a match day, so you have to deal with all the others. On top of that if you have someone who is adamant they don't want to be here and wants to play for someone else, we took the view it's better if he goes and we get the best possible deal for the club. In the end I think we did well.
We've also had a number of supporters wanting to know why Alberto Aquilani was allowed to leave on loan when he had impressed during pre-season?
With him it was more a question of opportunities to play. He's obviously a big player, he's got a very good resume and he's a very good player. But Kenny and the coaching staff felt he would play in a certain position. As I told Alberto during the summer, unfortunately in that position is someone called Steven Gerrard and it would have been difficult for Alberto to play. There were different reasons. There were tactical reasons, the fact he was playing in this position and also we felt it would have been very difficult to keep him here not playing regularly.
I've got to say I was very impressed with the way Alberto behaved throughout the process. He was really an act of class. He only wanted to play football. He was not obsessed about money or anything else and to be fair to him, I was very impressed by his attitude and his personality.
---This is what Damien Comolli had to say baout these transfers. Each situation was different, and the club did what they thought best. Id assume they were willing to go until january with the midfield options of gerrard, adam, henderson, with shelvey and spearing behind them, and then maybe purchase another CM in january? Who knows?...and i do agree with you 100% on adam, hes a good player but not world class like Alonso. I would personally like to see adam as a back up option on the bench rather than a certain starter.
grk_adonis
THIS IS ANFIELD!
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And btw, Aqua and Adam play different roles really...
Big game against those blue nose toffee licking ****s.
We can't afford to get anyone sent off in this game (carragher is an exception) since we have Utd next.
My prediction is us beating them 2-1 with goals from Suarez scoring both
We can't afford to get anyone sent off in this game (carragher is an exception) since we have Utd next.
My prediction is us beating them 2-1 with goals from Suarez scoring both
LebaneseBulldog
Bulldogs
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the_crusader
I'm a big blob of LARD
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liverpool players are going down way too easy
LebaneseBulldog
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lol we r so****
lol at carrol going down unoutched going for a header piece of **** useless ****
lol at carrol going down unoutched going for a header piece of **** useless ****
LebaneseBulldog
Bulldogs
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finally carrol did SOMTHING GOOD GOAL BABY !
LIVO 1-0
LIVO 1-0