I wouldn't mind Pennant or Malbranque who are both recently up for sale. Pennant is probably more of the player we need though. We've got Paletta coming in and we're in the market for Luisao again. I don't see how Upson is needed or could contribute.
I thought Pennant was a good choice when Birmingham picked him up from Arsenal two January's ago, and I still think it would be a good pick-up. He seems to have matured as well.
I was thinking about this the other day, and thought I'd throw it out there. Emile Heskey--phenomenal work rate while he was with us, but only scored once in a blue moon--save for the 22 goal season in 2000/2001 or Djibril Cisse--petualnt attitude, questionable work rate at times--but does have an eye for gaol. At 22 (IIRC) he's got the potential to be great. So the question is--who would you rather have-- a player with a great work rate an dattitude like Emile, or a goalsocorer?
To an extent. But I would say that he has an "eye for goal." He would have at least five more goals if he learned how to deal with one-on-one's against the keeper.
I see the stats but many times Rafa didn't play him against top opposition when we went a 4-5-1. Also, Cisse was top scorer in france 1-3 times (cant remember) so he obviously has the ability. He's still young and he just needs more time.
Or he played in a wing role, which significantly decreases his direct chances at goal. I would, however, dispute the fact that he never really got a shot against top opposition, and he did miss the chance against Manchester United.
I really like Pennant and i think we should take him for under 4m or less. No Malbranque please. He's okay but i think he is always destined to be a great player on a terrible team and could never be a squad player like he will if he is at Liverpool. Lusiano would be an excellent buy. David Villa would be an absolute steal. This guy is great. Cisse is pretty useless but Far more useful than Heskey or Morientes. I guess Cisse is one of those guys where you love him or you hate him. I personally despise him. He's a brat with a huge ego.
From the BBC gossip page: "Another player on the move is West Ham's Yossi Benayoun, who is set to join the team that dashed his FA Cup dreams - Liverpool. Anfield boss Rafael Benitez has been watching the player closely since his £2.5m summer transfer to the Premiership. (Daily Mirror)"
He would also have had about 10 more assists if he bothered to look up the words "teammate", "pass", and especially "cut-back" in the dictionary. How many times have I watched him dribble his way through the defense, draw 2-3 defenders on him and then shoot from an impossible angle whilst an unmarked teammate stands on the edge of the box.
I think that's what makes it worse with Cisse - Morientes, for whatever reason, just doesn't seem to be able to get going for 'Pool. Fair enough, it happens sometimes, not the first 'pedigree' player to do that, and he won't be the last. But Cisse, every so often, shows a flash of what he's capable of, but then invariably follows it up with an error an u8 player would be ashamed of. He's just so bloody frustrating...
... and a brain. There is a more general point, which I think we may be in danger of missing here-- Cisse scored all those goals because, and not despite that, he was playing on the right. Whenever he played through the centre we were practically toothless and he invariably gave the ball away in dangerous places. Unlike Crouch and, to a lesser extent, Morientes.
Guardian says we are in for Pennant and perhaps for Benayoun. The latter is just a Monday after the Cup rumour but the former is something to ponder.
Eh? Sounds like a whole lot of whatsit to me. Still, I don't like the sound of that "family problems".
Pennant sounds good. Would probably come cheaply, too. Benayoun would be after one bitter too many, although you never know.
What exactly does "eye for goal" mean? It seems like a pretty hollow cliche to me. He is a striker. Shouldn't every striker have an "eye for goal"? Especially one who can't pass and doesn't uderstand the value of making a run away from goal without the intention of receiving a pass? Until you actually cite some games as good examples. Then this is pure myth. Did it ever occur to you guys that Rafa sees Cisse play everyday for 10 months of the year in "training"? Add to that the fact that "training" is tailored for the players to succeed. Or the So basically he cannot perform consistently everyday in training to be awarded a starting forward spot over Crouch, Morientes, or now Fowler. The manager doesn't play him for a reason. Why you guys haven't clued into that is beyond me.
I wouldn't be surprised to see him go. As much as I love to see him play in big games, I've always gotten the feeling that he's sort of expendable. One of the better players on the team, but over the course of the year you had a very set midfield 4 of kewell xabi momo and stevie. Luis is versatile and could fill a whole host of roles, but could ultimately be replaced and could fetch a decent return in sold. When they came in during their first summer, just listening to rafa talk, there was one spaniard who it seemed mattered more than any of the others that came in and that was xabi. I'm just trying to put a rational on it. I'll wait until there is significant hard proof that this is likely to happen. Until then, I'll lump in in with my laundry and forget about it for a few weeks.
Garcia is going nowhere...he just got here and Rafa always utlizies him well. He's not going to let that happen.
I am by no means a Cisse apologist--I've berated him on numerous occassions. I just think that a guy who scores 19 goals in a season is worth another look. He didn't start a lot of those games he appeared in--so I'd say that qualifies him as a goal scorer. He is still very young as well. I think Rafa could eventually get the best out of him--IF Cisse himself realizes he's not God's gift to football (everyone knows that's Robbie Fowler .) Remember, Jamie Carragher and Stevie Gerrard have come on in leaps and bounds over the past several years. Maybe Cisse will as well.
I tend to agree. He's a better player now than he was at the beginning of the year. If not for the record price tag, most would be pretty satisfied with what he has done.
19 is a nice number, but look at the stats K77K posted about who he scored the goals against. Not one goal was scored against top class opposition, and several of them were scored in our "preseason" Champions League qualifiers. Gerrard's goal talley is overrated too since he had like 7 goals before the season even started for real. Lets not forget that Rafa didn't buy Cisse. He is a good player with lots of potential, but that doesn't mean that he fits into Rafa's plans. Based on the signings Rafa has made, he wants strikers with good technical ability that can hold up the ball. Cisse doesn't fit that description at all. Maybe thats why he gets thrown out on the wing.