Fuck Suarez. Cheating twat. The Kop would scream blue fucking murder if he pulled the stunt he did at the WC at Liverpool. And, let's remember, all those goals aren't pushing Ajax to the top of the table this season, and didn't stop Twente winning the title in the last. Won't help us, either, to have an overly expensive Uruguayan strutting his ego around the place - not when we've got a defence leakier than Richard Keys' arsehole.

Negredo all the way. :)

That's because Ajax's defence conceded silly goals. They only conceded 20, but some of the ones they did were dreadful. They haven't won the title since '04, regardless of how good their team is.

Negredo is worth half what Sevilla want for him. Neither player is value for money, but at least Suarez is physically capable of matching it in the EPL.

Negredo will probably stay in Spain, rumours being rumours. My preference may not be reality - I just have a good feeling he could hit the kind of form Torres hit, and two Spaniards up front is a good thing. I can think of two I'd prefer to see before either Negredo or Suarez, but neither of those will happen.

Ajax is an object lesson on how having the best strike force in the world can't help you if your defence is stacked with Weebles. Especially this season. Particularly relevant, given the recent defensive performances and serious lack of depth we have at the back.

Telegraph has Suarez asking Ajax to reduce his asking price.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/liverpool/8281997/Liverpool-target-Luis-Suarez-keen-to-convince-Ajax-to-reduce-their-30m-asking-price.html

Negredo for 10-12 mil is better than paying double that for Suarez.

17m, I read.

Speaking of 17 - Romelu Lukaku?

Insanely talented. And BIG.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zwqE3dxwps

17? Hmm, if that's in pounds, then no thank you. (referring to Negredo)

Hopefully Suarez's desire to come (and play with Torres) will make Ajax drop their price. Not long left in the window now, though...

Fan of Lukaku, but he'll probably end up going to City ](*,)

Edited by imnofreak: 26/1/2011 07:53:57 PM

Tbh, I thought that was Man City's mantle.

Romelu Lukaku is too expensive and inexperienced. No doubt the lad has ability, but is he going to be able to keep his head in the pressure of the EPL?

Negredo is over priced. More so than Suarez.

:lol: I think Arsenal might win that title this year. Strong competition from our Weebles though.



Agreed at the quoted 17m (pounds :)), but to partner Torres it might be worth it.

Mind you, this disturbingly effective 4-5-1/4-3-3 - bringing in another striker to hang around might be worth it, no matter who he is. I mean, playing a false 9 like he did the past two games, but playing a false 9 and 11... crikey. Given license to run around the field, Torres and Negredo/Suarez could cause chaos.

Lukaku though - see, I remember certain people saying the same kinds of things about Owen. And he made Glenn Hoddle look like a right twat.

"Michael Owen is a goalscorer - not a natural born one, not yet, that takes time."

Negredo wouldn't be worth 17m if he was partnered with Lionel Messi.

The thing with Owen was that he fell apart, If you told me that Lukaku was going to turn out like Owen I'd pass.

Owen was the architect of his own downfall - and he mostly fell to pieces after he left for Real. Mistake one, for a Red to go to Real. Repeated the mistake when he decided to play for Man U. Mistake two, for thinking that it wasn't his problem, it was the team's. Some players just don't fit in to other leagues the way they'd like to think they could.

If you told me Lukaku was going to score every other game and then fuck his career up after leaving, then I'd buy him for 15m tomorrow.

Owen's biggest problem was his own ego. Not realising that he was valued at the club and leaving to 'further his career' and win trophies, and he still hasn't won anything since the '03 League cup.

If you told me Lukaku was going to be so egotistical and naive I'd pass. A goal every other game is respectable, but to lose him in the same fashion would just #-o That said, if we picked him up now he'd count towards our homegrown quota in three years, which can't be said of Suarez or Negredo.

Sorry, I try to stay out of here as much as possible but he has won the league cup with United scoring in the final. I know nothing big, but he is at a club who can win trophies.

Edited by busbybabe: 26/1/2011 09:51:18 PM

I'm not sure you can really say he's playing for a club who can win trophies when he's played just 160 league minutes all season, and not much more in the cups. Point still stands that he left Liverpool to win trophies and in eight seasons he's won just one trophy.

Edited by afromanGT: 26/1/2011 10:16:16 PM

\:d/ Raul and Torres have a great understanding already. Shame Lucas was out, and I think Gerrard was played a big deeper than he should've been. Johnson was class.

Why do we have so many skinheads in our team?

Better aerodynamics

It confuses the opposition.

It was better when the whole back four had shaved heads: Kelly, Agger, Skrtel and Konchesky as well as Meireles. :lol:

Decent reuslt to get us up to 7th, but there's still a lot of work to go. It's the first time we've had consecutive league wins since November 7th.

February looks interesting for us...
Stoke (H)
Chelsea (A)
Wigan (H)
Sparta Prague x 2
West Ham (A)

The Europa League clash aside (which I'd expect us to win), there's no reason why we couldn't take 10 points out of our league clashes in Feb. That said, we could take just six given that we've won just two away games all season.

I think that's why he's at LB, to refer you back to when you asked why he wasn't further forward on the wing. Option to get forward, but doesn't really need to. Always has been a good defender. This team harks back to the days when fullbacks defended, which given the width we're currently capable of with this squad is a good thing. Meireles was great - very loose in the attacking third, constantly causing a lot of problems and very confident. Torres was... eh. But then, he did occupy a much more forward looking position than he has in the previous few games and he was marked out of contention for the most part.

This is why we need another striker on the pitch - Torres against two centre-halfs can be bolloxed, but another piece of quality out front would give sides real trouble if the midfield can be as strong as it was today.

Gerrard needs more than a game to get back into things though. A little off - a few mistakes you wouldn't normally expect from him, very much like Kuyt. Both of them were having a little trouble today, Kuyt more than Gerrard. Kelly can perform better, too. Johnson had blocked off the left, so the weakest link in the defence was again Kelly. Ten tackles and he lost out in seven, five of them in our own attacking third. Baird and Murphy caused him all kinds of trouble, whereas Johnson was able to keep Gera/Duff really quiet. Duff ended up being forced over to the right to try and have an effect. Kelly did have a good spread of passes though, got forward nicely, but personally I'd like to see more emphasis on defence.

Poulsen is starting to show his worth. Lots of effort, looking very handy as a defensive midfielder.

But you can't detract from Fulham. Very good performance, matched only by Reina's performance and a little bit of luck - save! from Meireles on the line too! Andy Johnson was very good in the first half hour, but then ended up very subdued until he sparked a bit into life in the final ten, when to be fair the entire Fulham side did. Gera was too quiet, couldn't make inroads into Johnson's zone, and nor could Duff. Baird was excellent - you barely heard his name mentioned, but he was the one who kept Dempsey and Murphy supplied with good, pacey passes and got right in Kelly's face. As for Dempsey... fair play to the man. Always where he wasn't wanted.

Same with Dembele, and Hangeland. It was small wonder we couldn't find anywhere to get through.

Same issues for us though - lacking defensive depth and experience, and trouble in the front. With Gerrard back and Meireles able to push forward, and with Maxi and Kuyt out on the wings and Poulsen doing some good stuff as a midfield stopper, the midfield doesn't look quite as shaky as it did against Everton.

Some new signings might help at this point, especially because we're down a Babel. :D

Edited by dizzy_red: 27/1/2011 06:52:47 PM

I can't understand why we'd let Babel go and not have a replacement lined up...but it wouldn't surprise me if we didn't.

I think we do, it's just that currently he's not in contention - Ngog. There was always a feeling that Ngog doesn't have quite the kind of natural ability that we really need. Very hard worker, but very young in both real age and in his development of experience, and I don't think he's a favourite with Clarke or Kenny at the moment.

If we do need people, we have Shelvey, Aurelio, Ngog and Pacheco. We don't really need to replace Babel for the role he's been fulfilling - not good enough for the front and too lazy for the wing.

Edited by dizzy_red: 27/1/2011 07:09:52 PM

Ngog is a decent player, but I just don't think he's up to the standard we expect of him for playing at this level. He'd be great for a lower table team. Someone like West Ham would use him effectively.

tbh, I think Pacheco's a better player than Babel anyway...

Kelly? Bald?
Its just funny seeing any combo of Reina, Konchesky, Meireles, Shelvey, Skrtel, Spearing, Ngog, Babel (at the time), Glen Johnson.. im sure im missing some more.. edit: joe cole


Id be disappointed if we didnt win 4 of those 5. Im probably being a tad unrealistic though. Wouldnt be surprised if got bullied by stoke, taken advantage of by Fulham, underestimated Wigan and SP then bounced back against west ham. -_-

Edited by bonkers: 28/1/2011 12:09:02 PM

Stoke (H)
Chelsea (A)
Wigan (H)
Sparta Prague x 2
West Ham (A)

All of those games are winnable if we play to our potential

Really?

Yep. The Chelsea game will of course be difficult, but they are teetering at the moment too. Stoke and Wigan are at home, and I think we can take them.. West Ham away will be tough but we can get up... I'd take two wins a draw and a loss tbph. Three wins would be superb.

Yeah, Kelly had a shaved head when he came out of the academy. Looks better with the ahir.

You also forgot Agger. He had a shaved head at the start of the season.

Possibly. The Chelsea game I'm not worried about, dropping points there isn't the end of the world and it's importnat that the players know that. But we have to be careful not to let ourselves get bullied physically by stoke and Wigan. West Ham we've got a solid psychological advantage over.

If all out best players (Gerrard, Torres, Reina, Agger) go into the Chelsea game fit and in form, we'll beat them though.

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

We beat Chelsea last time, why can't we again? :P

I'm stoned. Everything is funny :p

Moreover, we beat them when they were in form :lol: