Out of the back 4, only Kelly has been worthy of a first team spot. I'm really excited about his future, maybe even the future skipper for Pool. Skrtel is old and is full of suxorz. No one jumps anymore to defend crosses or setpieces. Johnson is mediocre IMO, he's a forward mentality, which is fine... but he's been put out of position for the most part and he can't defend. I'm thinking Pool will probably buy someone worthy in the off season. Torres will either leave for Chelski or a move back to Spain (Atletico maybe). Torres has been a disappointment since his second year with Pool. He's also one tackle away from possibly putting Suarez or NDog up front.
Skrtel old? He's 26, a ripe age for centre-backs. He has good size and for the most part is quite surefooted. A lot of our defensive shortcomings in the past couple months has been due to the lack of the direction and leadership Carragher provides. When he plays you can tell that he is the leader of the defense and he dictates a lot of the positioning of the other defenders. As for the attacking nature of our fullbacks, since we moved on from Rafa we've a more defensive team. Under Kenny, we've moved forward another step, playing a free-flowing offensive game. The 30-pass goal against Wolves, for example, was a thing of beauty. It's vital we have fullbacks who can cut up and allow the wingers to drift inwards. Every top team now has guys who can provide an offensive punch (Ashley Cole, Maicon etc).
True, I stand corrected. I keep thinking Skrtel is old whenever I watch Pool play. Carra is 33 and he probably has 2 serviceable years left, which then I think Kelly would take over as the lead. Pool will most likely concentrate on improving defense this coming off season, I hope. With Torres' inevitable exit, I'm afraid Reina might take off too. I know he's reiterated several times that he's happy and loyal to Pool, but that's just PR talk. Man if that happens, I'm excited about the young guns tho. Kelly is of course a future star and I'm hoping Pacheco will be a future star and Shelvey would be the next Gerrard. I haven't heard anything about the rest. I read Danny Wilson is OK. Anyways, the future looks bright for the Reds despite these recent setbacks.
Suarez for that much money. Suarez is a very good player, but he is crazy, after the biting incident I didn't expect Ajax to get that much money for him. <iframe title="YouTube video player" class="youtube-player" type="text/html" width="640" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/8_4jioyxn6k" frameborder="0" allowFullScreen></iframe> I'm not sure if Suarez will be able to handle The Premier League, Especially mentally. We will see.
Chelsea are reportedly considering a $60m bid and offering Daniel Sturridge. I don't mind the money but giving away a young talent like Sturridge is too much.
Never thought I would say it as a Liverpool fan but be happy to see Torres go for the right price. Freak of a player but like most Spanish players has the heart the size of a pea and instead of working to put himself back in form and try and help the team and reward the fans who cheer for him he takes the Lebron approach and opts for the easy route... although I actually don't think an old mercenary squad like Chelsea is going win anything more than us anytime soon. Better to have 50 million pounds to secure Adam and another good player than have a sulking soft player like Torres.
Kelly has been great, Johnson is yet to really be tested as most of the guys he's gone against have been more worried about defending him than testing his defense. I think the King can get us in a decent spot at the end of the season... Meireles has really started to find his groove in the EPL and Maxi has improved a lot as well, if we get Adam we really have a nice looking midfield and makes it weirder why Nando put in a request as it was going to be a good looking team.
No, Arsenal fans generally still expect to win silverware every year, and usually the club is still in the hunt up until the last couple of weeks. For Liverpool, the realization that they'll never finish higher than fourth or fifth usually sets in by week 5, hence "next year".
In Torres' defense tho, he did talk to the Pool organization and said he would want out if the team doesn't make CL for next season. Halfway through the season, it's looking a very doubtful Pool will make it there. The question is, if he knew he wanted out, why WAIT until the last couple of days to put in the transfer request??? One theory says that Torres wanted to make sure Liverpool finds a proper replacement in his place before he leaves. If that's true, then I guess it's nice of him. I know a player of Torres' caliber is after one thing and that's silverware, primarily CL silverware. No one should be surprised that Torres wants to leave, but the timing is just really really really bad. For those who've watched the last few games, you could tell from Torres' body language and the faces he makes during games, that he's not happy. I've given up on Torres last season, but it's still a douche move. A nonsensical douche move. Liverpool is looking like a definite top 4 threat come next season in the EPL, but I guess Torres doesn't want to be a part of that. I hope he fails to win any trophy where ever he goes until he retires. The reason I'm upset is that the Suarez thing ISN'T a done deal yet. They've agreed on a price, yes, but Suarez hasn't signed anything and nobody's finalized a deal. Suarez wants to come to Pool to have a chance at playing along side el nino and he could back out of the deal and choose to find a better suitor in the off season if Torres ends up leaving soon. Imagine the hole Pool will be in if Torres leaves and Suarez's deal falls through.
I say that because Voyeur always brings up the excuse of his youthful squad (a la David O'leary) everytime the season is wrapping up and Chelsea/United have pipped his side to Silverware. But as you mentioned, for Reds fans the realization sets in quite early that Silverware won't be coming to Anfield that year. For Arsenal fans it takes a bit longer.
How is he crazy? He had a crazy incident. Do you want to go down the list of players who've had crazy incidents in the EPL? Suarez's incident wouldn't be top 5. The lad's a good player and the move was always on the cards. I hoped it'd be to United but SAF made a prescient move last year by getting Chicharito. I hope for the best for Suarez. He reminds me of Steve Francis in terms of the love Ajax fans I know have for him. During the last few lean years, Suarez was the one bright spot for Ajax. Just like Francis during the post Dream years.
Hasn't it been more than five years now since the Gunners won a trophy? I know Liverpool's not much better, but to compare Arsenal to Liverpool historically is a joke. Also, you make it seem like Liverpool has been mired in mediocrity for the past decade. Outside of a couple anomalies (last season for example), we've been right up in the Big 4. Heck, less than 2 seasons ago at this time we were leading the league and looking like probable champions. Not to mention the two Champions League Finals we reached in 3 seasons. I'm proud of what Liverpool has done in the past decade, and I'm sure there are many out there who agree with me.
Nice to see fellow LFC supporters becoming more common and not ashamed to show their support. If Torres stays and plays like he's capable of playing, with Suarez and the new good feeling surrounding the club a CL spot isn't out of reach. Nine points is not that much considering how many points have been dropped this yer by everyone. Chelsea have been very poor too and if they don't get Torres I expect that to continue. We, on the other hand are starting to turn the corner.. well before all this happened. I still expect at least one more signing.
Not a LFC fan or anything but SELL SELL SELL [rquoter]Chelsea chief executive Ron Gourlay is waiting at the club's Cobham training ground for the arrival of Fernando Torres in order to complete a deal worth £80 million (~$130 mil) in transfer fee and wages. [/rquoter] http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/s...a-edge-closer-to-fernando-torres-deal?cc=5901
Andy Carroll just became the Joe Johnson of the English premier league http://www.footylatest.com/newcastle-accept-35m-bid-for-andy-carroll/19650
I've been following the live trade tracker on soccernet and time couldn't move much slower. Suarez (#7) + Carroll up front... no go for a top 4 dream comeback this season. I hope Pool stays calm and collected and not haste into stupid overpriced Britt players. 4th place is lost. Euro is big possibility. I hope NESV waits for the summer to make a big splash.
