http://soccernet.espn.go.com/headlinenews?id=277627&cc=5901 Cisse claims he will go to Liverpool during the summer because he's always loved the club, and he thinks Guy Roux will let him leave. If this does happen, you might finally have a good partner up front for Owen.
He was phenomenal at the Toulon U-21 tournament a couple of years back and he has does well for Auxerre but he hasn't done much for the French senior side (not that I know of, anyway). As great as the partnership of Owen and Cisse could potentially ne, if we're going to get someone from Auzerre, I'd rather get Boumsong or Mexes.
I mentioned Boumsong because both he and Cisse have been linked to Liverpool for a very some time now and there were rumors that had both players moving to Anfield this summer, with Roux threatening to quit if Auxerre sold them. IIRC, Boumsong's contract is up at the end of the season so he should be available for free, but Cisse is inked until 2007.
I saw Cisse in the Confederations Cup and 2 or 3 times for Auxerre. He has been very unimpressive everytime I have seen him. He is good in the air and has great pace, but he seemed to lack great skill on the ball. A lot of people are very high on him though, so I hope he turns out good for Liverpool.
do we need a new striker? what with baros showing some signs of brilliance and with pongelle in the wings, i don't think we need to yet. we still need a true playmaker right at this moment, although I feel by the end of this year tony le tallec will have fulfilled that role. of course, assuming that owen leaves by the end of this season, then yes of course we need a new striker. but i think we should spend our 10-15 million on an established goal scorer, and not another hopeful french talent like cisse. this is not to say cisse isn't good... but playing in the french league is no where near as important as playing in serie a, la liga, even the bundesliga. cisse and owen would be fun to watch though.
Yeah you're right, having two strikers who produce is definitely a sign of good squad depth, especially when one has a broken ankle. We really should have tried hard for Eto'o.
right now, having depth at back is probably more important then up front. and if we need more striking power, is cisse the answer? at blackburn we did good with heskey. and if we do lose another striker, then pull up diouf or kewell.
I suspect that Houllier passed on Eto'o for the same reason he let go of Anelka: They're *#*#*#*#*#*#*#s. Edit: I meant to say that they are a-holes.
Why is Cisse so confident of this? Seems to me Houllier is likely out after this season, especially if they fail to qualify for the CL. And at that I see no reason to believe Cisse is better than Baros.
Cisse is France's third choice striker, just behind Henry and Trezeguet and ahead of Govou and Anelka (although Anelka doesn't play anymore, Cisse being picked ahead of him is one of the reasons he quit). The French press raves about Cisse because he uses his physical strength to great effect and holds up the ball well while still scoring loads of goals. None of this explains why Cisse is better than Baros but why Houllier might want him so badly. Houllier has kept faith in Heskey for so long because of his potential to provide exactly the attributes that Cisse is renowned for. Houllier has clearly always wanted a Heskey-type player in his team and now he has the chance to buy a direct replacement who is (or at least should be) better.