Given he's out since November that's not really surprising. His rehab is progressing well from what I heard.

Reports in Italy linking us with Genoa midfielder Juraj Kucka. Other than knowing he's more defensive minded I know very little about him though.

Tiago Ilori is linked to Liverpool. Not sure if it's been mentioned, but he's a 20 year old CB from Sporting. He was born in England to a father of Nigerian decent and a Portuguese mother. Tiago has been playing for them in recent times. I can't see it happening if we get the big Greek fella (well he will be a good young back-up).

Edited by ryan2008: 28/5/2013 10:11:59 AM

I'm one of the many who feel we should play three at the back in the coming season. BR may very well be thinking along the same lines, he has both stated that Skrtel is not for sale while also moving to praise Coates for his patience this season.

As far as Ilori himself goes i have not once seen him play, but apparently he is lightning fast which would be a more valuable attribute for a CB then usual when playing with three at the back.

I've not been convinced three at the back will work for us when we've used it. We play better with an midfield/attack of Suarez, Sturridge, Hendo, Gerrard, Coutinho,and Lucas. I'm not willing to sacrifice one of those for Coates and Skrtel.

Three at the back doesn't work in the premier league. You're left way too exposed when a team pushes up the wings. A couple of pacey wingers is all it takes to completely dismantle 3 at the back, and most teams have that. We'd especially struggle because we don't have any 'true' wingers so as opposition defence turned into attack we'd be left very exposed.

The list of defenders we're been linked to is pretty extensive: Carlos Zambrano, Papadopoulos, Ashley Williams, Raul Albiol, Chedjou, Toure, etc.

It's all about execution tho isn't it? I mean in theory a 3-5-2 or a 5-3-2 should be defensively sounder then a 4-3-3 with attacking minded fullbacks. Your defensive numbers when defending against counters are in fact almost exactly the same as the aforementioned 4-3-3, but relies much more on a cohesive back three to initially stem or slow the counter while the rest of the team drops back. This is of course harder to get right, but if you do you're in a much better position for it (three Cb's should be defensively sounder then 2 + one fullback/DM).

On the wingers point. We would probably better off not having 'true wingers', defensively we would be a lot better off using Johnson and Enrique as they both understand and execute the one sit's, one goes wingback system well. Of course you could also bring somebody like Sterling in and play him in either of these positions with the opposite wide man taking a much more cautious, defensive approach.

It would totally be a risk deploying something like this, but maybe we need to overachieve just that little bit to get our noses in front of the likes of Arsenal and Spurs who in reality have squads just as strong if not stronger then ours.

So Toure has been confirmed, no spring chicken but free transfer so why not, will add some starch, reads the game and can attack the last third, will be handy imo.

Toure could be a good signing but I would be very interested in his wages. Joe Cole came in on a free and seemed like a good deal as he came in on a free but was very expensive in the end. I have read it is a 2 year deal and he has taken a cut from his 90k a week but I would imagine by not too much especially when his agent could easily link him to Monaco to demand higher wages.

yer true moofa and yes colewas another expensive liability but the french tenure would have reduced the wage bill some and then the sell off to the hammers would have reduced the cost more so but thats the given a dud player always costs you period.
At least in Toure's case his form even though down last season compared to his cracker championship form should spike back up with a new club and BR's influence me hope should be worth it :d

Ever since Day 1 FSG have spoken about and been all about cutting wage bills. Transfer fees you can recoup later on sales but wages are just gone.

I highly doubt they've got him on big money. Probably bonuses etc for performance but base wage wont be too much.

I like Kolo. He's perhaps past his best but still did a decent job when he had a run of games for City.

Happy with the toure signing, get papadopoulos on board and I'll be fairly happy with the CB options

Playing Enrique and Johnson on the wing could work, but they've been poor when played on the wing in the past. And as I said three at the back does not work in England. Wigan tried it and were punished, Arsenal tried it and were punished. The last time we tired it we were beaten by fucking West Ham. It doesn't fucking work.

You're going to have to pay the player regardless. Money is money. And we've saved ourselves a transfer fee. That said, Kolo Toure has a checkered past and hasn't had regular football since before his ban in 2011.

When did we try 3 at the back?

So you're saying its impossible to have success while playing three centre backs in the premier league?

Late last season? Early this season? During injury issues. I couldn't give you a date, but I remember the complaints.

I'm saying that in the (highly) unlikely event that it works, we'd have to overhaul our tactics and structure and after spending the last 12 months doing EXACTLY THAT we'd have effectively just wasted an entire season, as well as the transfer funds we'd be required to spend in doing that.

Definitely not early this season and not late last season. Only time we've played with 3 CB's in the same defense is when Vermaelen has played at LB, but it's always been a back 4.

I think what Afro is talking about is the game against Sunderland (?) where we played Bac at CB but it was falsely reported as 3atb.

That could be what I was thinking of.

I know it's the Liverpool thread but on the topic of 3 at the back, it won't happen but I would love United to try 3 at the back

Obviously looking to the future and signings would change it a lot. But I think with the strengths of players, it would suit those players. It would allow Jones to step into midfield and create a 442 and it gives Kagawa his preferred role while maintaining width with the twins.

United actually have two players who can play competent wing-backs and haven't just spent a fortune on players like Downing, Coutinho, Borini, Sturridge and developed a player like Sterling in order to use the full width of the pitch going forward.

I really don't see any radical formation changes by the big clubs - I mean, in recent years we've seen a standard base formation of 433, turn into a 4231. English football also places too high an emphasis on offensive wingbacks, as well as creative, advanced AM's/wingers, for a club to make massive changes to their base formation.

The closest Liverpool will get to 3 at the back is in attack - with Lucas dropping deep and Johnson/Enrique moving forward.

Liverpool have apparently agreed to a fee with Celta Vigo for Iago Aspas.

Sky Sports saying deal confirmed. 8.6m for Iago Aspas.

Reports that the media has made Suarez consider a move away from Anfield, but only if Real Madrid come knocking.

Pretty sure that's a standard template

He's blamed harsh treatment by the media for him giving consideration to it.

Does anyone know much about this guy?

Good player, but little hot-headed. (He got suspended from Celtas most crucial games after headbutting opponent). Without him Celta would have been already relegated and he is above everyone in Celta Vigos team. He was also the main reason why they even played in La Liga this season. His has played CF in Celta but could fit in any attacking midfield position.. One thing in his game which is good is his creativity. I could imagine him playing some absurd combinations with Coutinho. He is also quite clinical. He was rumoured to be called to Spanish national team at some point, which tells something about his level. Potential to be new Michu. I would say that his normal price would be around 15-20 million euros, but Celta are in financial troubles and aren't sure about the first division status next season.

(Though this comes from seeing 5-6 games from the said player and all highlights from Celta matches)

From someone on r/soccer