I believe i read that he is now eligable for a spanish passport, which should either get him around the need or push him over the top to get a permit issued Does anybody know the exact wording on the work permit rules?
http://www.pinkfootball.com/app/showDoc.aspx?comp_id=44208 This article talks both about general work permit rules and the specific situation Liverpool and Gonzales were in last year.
Its going to be exciting to get him into the team next season. It looks like he will give Kewell real competion for that place. Zenden is going to have a really tough time getting into the team now.
Who thinks we will again struggle to get a proper right winger and Kewell will end up playing with Gonzalez at the same time. Hopefully one of them has a decent right foot.
Zenden was very unlucky to have gotten injured so early in the season, and as unfortunate as it is for him, I don't think we'll see him don the red again. Of the left wingers we have, he's the only one who is still an unknown quantity and I think it will work against him.
I think Zenden will still be a good squad member, giving us options both in the centre and on the flanks.
No, not really. Gerrard is not our makeshift right midfielder. Thats going to be the position where he plays in the majority of the games next season.
I make him the best right-sided midfielder in the country, too. I've seen some of the best players in the world start out wide, too-- Thierry Henry and Ronaldinho come to mind-- and then roam. I reckon Gerrard will thrive there.
I agree completely. He, Xabi and Momo are three of our best five or six players. You've got to have them all on the pitch at the same time, even if it means playing Stevie on the right.
I'm holding my thought on Gonzalez until I actually see him fit in with the team and score a few goals. We waited 2 years for one of the best strikers from League Un and he hasn't really worked with our team or the Prem. It's a little more than saying this guy is good in South America he'll be great playing for us. It's alright for a left back to fire rockets at the goal and exciting when they go in. (JAR) But for a forward, well that's his full time job and he'd better make it work week by week.
Hear ye, hear ye. Although what I've seen of Mark Gonzalez is good, given our experiences with "allegedly" hot-shot players from yonder, I agree much caution is called for. The good thing is that he's building something of a reputation in Spain, so were he to flop over here, he'd still be worth something over there, no?
I'm not poo pooing him. We have to give him the chance 'cos we need a regular goal scorer. I'm just not calling him any sort of deity...yet!
Even though gonzalez is a left sided player, i seem to recall rafa musing on him solving our right sided needs, so maybe hes a garcia type who can play rw whilst being left footed. That would make stevie , little luis, kewell, bolo and speedy gonz a 5 man rotation for 3 spots, more or less. Stevie might get a rest now or then, and play centre or wing at other times. Different set-ups for different opponents, the one constant being stevie plays most games. i think zendon would get a decent shot since he looked good pre-injury, plus rafa brought him in in the first place. hes more direct than harry, and maybe insurance in case kewell tails off post world cup...god forbid
The 21-year-old has yet to play for the Merseysiders because of work permit issues but Ireland's large contingent of Pool fans got first sight of the player Rafa Benitez paid 3 million euros for a year ago. http://sports.yahoo.com/sow/news;_y...ZAmw7YF?slug=afp-fblirlchi&prov=afp&type=lgns Mod edit...can't post the whole article and I took out the result, as well.
Gonzalez was awesome, especially in the 1st half, against Ireland. He showed great pace and ability to run past players. He almost scored a great goal, but was denied by the post. The Irish commentators couldn't stop talking about how good he was. Hopefully we get this work permit thing sorted out quickly.
Report from today's Daily Post/Echo: http://icliverpool.icnetwork.co.uk/...i-can-t-wait-to-live-my-dream--name_page.html