Topic: Alberto Aquilani - good luck to the lad

[Sangria]

Fair enough.

I just don't think he's that good a player to get too worried over. I would like to find that out for sure while he's with us so we don't regret it later...but that remains to be seen.

And with his intensity in midfield...i wasn't implying i want a brave scotty parker ingurland midfielder. I just don't want a soft shite in the centre of the park for us is all.

We'll see what happens with him i guess.

There are 2 main elements to midfield play. I value cloggers as much as anyone, but that's not all the midfield is about. I want Aquilani in the squad because I think he can do one of the midfield jobs better than any other midfielders we have, which means we'll have money free to spend on the high quality clogger I want. One of my gripes last summer was spending ungodly amounts of money on areas where the situation wasn't critical, with nothing left to spend on an alternative to Lucas on the back end of the midfield. That was stupid, and I said as much at the time. Why spend to replace Aquilani?

[blert596]

Not wanting to bash Adam but that friendly was pretty telling; Spearing and Aquilani quickly ping-ponging the ball about, no sign of Adam. Suddenly he arrives (late) picks up the ball, does that slow turny thing he does on the ball, puts a foot on, looks up realises he has killed the momentum of the game and decides to cover it up by launching a massive ball up front to a striker who now has to pull it out of the air, bring it down and shoot, all while running at speed with a defender on his back. It was pretty awful.

Not according to the commentators who highlighted it as a positive. Me, I thought how the f8ck is the lad supposed to deal with that.

[CHOPPER]

Yeah, he really is a classic box-to-box midfielder.

More a club to club player for me, a veritable loanie wizard.

The lads had more clubs than Jack Nicklaus.

[mysterio_86]

More a club to club player for me, a veritable loanie wizard.

The lads had more clubs than Jack Nicklaus.

because we have been acting as dickheads and blamed all the short comings of our squad on him when we finished 7th.

[CHOPPER]

because we have been acting as dickheads and blamed all the short comings of our squad on him when we finished 7th.

I think you'll find that it was 8th and we blamed it all on Kenny Dalglish, apparently.

[mysterio_86]

I think you'll find that it was 8th and we blamed it all on Kenny Dalglish, apparently.

The season when Rafa brought him !

[CHOPPER]

The season when Rafa brought him !

Rodgers will be his what then....6th...7th, manager in 3-4 years?

That must be some kind of record.

[Fromola]

Personally would send Spearing out on loan and coach Henderson to play that defensive role and the deep playmaker role when required. I'd sell Adam as well

What about Allen/Aquilani?

[mysterio_86]

Rodgers will be his what then....6th...7th, manager in 3-4 years?

That must be some kind of record.

How many clubs did he have before Liverpool ? and its not as if he went to Dundee United (no offense to them) for his loans

[mysterio_86]

Rodgers will be his what then....6th...7th, manager in 3-4 years?

That must be some kind of record.

Its Liverpool failure as a whole not his alone ! He was not even here for the last 2 sacking and dint play much in Rafa's sacking so I dont see the logic !

He is no world beater but he is a very good option for the position we are desperate to have options about

[redk84]

There are 2 main elements to midfield play. I value cloggers as much as anyone, but that's not all the midfield is about. I want Aquilani in the squad because I think he can do one of the midfield jobs better than any other midfielders we have, which means we'll have money free to spend on the high quality clogger I want. One of my gripes last summer was spending ungodly amounts of money on areas where the situation wasn't critical, with nothing left to spend on an alternative to Lucas on the back end of the midfield. That was stupid, and I said as much at the time. Why spend to replace Aquilani?

I see what you're saying. And i agree with what you mentioned about last summer...i was in the same boat as you.

id rather keep Aqua. I think i mentioned that in my shite argument 

I would get into this more, now im abit more interested in it again, and you do make some good points....but am at work so will leave it at that. And will remember in the future to post opinions on players when i have a little more time on my hands to think things through! ha

[scared_person]

Simple one this surely?

If we sell him we'll probably get Ł4-5Million. Will we be able to buy a better player for the position for that money? I doubt it, so we might as well keep him.

[CHOPPER]

Its Liverpool failure as a whole not his alone ! He was not even here for the last 2 sacking and dint play much in Rafa's sacking so I dont see the logic !

He is no world beater but he is a very good option for the position we are desperate to have options about

It's an observation, nothing more and it's still a quirky stat none the less.

I think he's half decent, not as good as some make out on here mind.

As for all our fault - the vibes the lad has been sending out hasn't really enamored himself to us now has he. 

[ThepepeReina]

It's an observation, nothing more and it's still a quirky stat none the less.

I think he's half decent, not as good as some make out on here mind.

As for all our fault - the vibes the lad has been sending out hasn't really enamored himself to us now has he.

All footballers are mercenaries anyway. Hardly any actually care about the clubs they play for. Doesnt mean they dont play well for their respective clubs.

[.Mike]

Would like him to stay - at times last season the only creative player we had was Suarez.

[aggerdid]

Personally i don't give a shit about aquilani. He's looked quality in the past but he doesnt give a shit about the club and suddenly no quality italian teams want him and we're supposed to believe he wants to play for us. He'll leave late in the window when an italian club comes in

[Mutton Geoff]

How many clubs did he have before Liverpool ? and its not as if he went to Dundee United (no offense to them) for his loans

Royhendo will hunt you down!

[Carlito Roberto]

I like him and think he could make a decent contribution.

That said I'd be amazed if he was here this season.

[Stout]

I thought he had a solid game vs  Toronto...and seemed to be one of the midfielders looking to push the ball forward.  I think he fits Rodgers' system perfectly; certainly 10x better than Charlie Adam does...

[mysterio_86]

Personally i don't give a shit about aquilani. He's looked quality in the past but he doesnt give a shit about the club and suddenly no quality italian teams want him and we're supposed to believe he wants to play for us. He'll leave late in the window when an italian club comes in

Blame the managers who treated him like shit just about when we was fit and was told "not required" we have Poulsen and later on Adam. There are always two sides to a coin, and if your ignorant enough to look at only side - why blame the coin !

[CRAZY HORSE EMLYN]

Blame the managers who treated him like shit just about when we was fit and was told "not required" we have Poulsen and later on Adam. There are always two sides to a coin, and if your ignorant enough to look at only side - why blame the coin !

Also, I kinda stopped believing in the idea that most players 'wanted to play for the club' a long time ago. Plenty of exceptions to the rule, especially, thankfully, at lfc, but the majority of these guys are mercenaries.

[Redshadow]

What did Aquilani do to offend some of RAWK's finest members? 

I truly believe that he'd be here in August and Rodgers would be able to bring the best in him

[smicer07]

What did Aquilani do to offend some of RAWK's finest members? 

Whinge and moan about not wanting to be here and not wanting to play for us via his agent when we'd spent good money and been patient with his injury? I like him as a player but as a man he's a fanny.

[Sangria]

Also, I kinda stopped believing in the idea that most players 'wanted to play for the club' a long time ago. Plenty of exceptions to the rule, especially, thankfully, at lfc, but the majority of these guys are mercenaries.

I think we'll get better results if we look for, not players who want to play for the club, but players who want to win things while they're here. Signing for Liverpool shouldn't be the pinnacle of their careers. It should be the first step towards achieving the pinnacle of their careers. It's the difference between Hodgson (where's the dotted line) and Benitez (what resources will I have).

[Phil M]

Personally i don't give a shit about aquilani.

Still felt the need to voice your opinion on him in here though.

["Ninja Skrtel"]

Based on what?

We're linked to players that can hold possession and are great with spreading the ball.

Cole and Adam don't fit that. Aquilani and Allen do.

based on a CM roster that's this long:

Gerrard
Henderson
Shelvey
Spearing
Adam*
Aquilani*
Allen*

1 or 2 of them would probably have to go considering we also have Suso and Coady on the fringes. I'm not doubting your player assessments.

[lorenzo23]

Whinge and moan about not wanting to be here and not wanting to play for us via his agent when we'd spent good money and been patient with his injury? I like him as a player but as a man he's a fanny.

Like Gerrard wanting to go Chelsea then I respect the fact that instead of sitting on bench and taking wages, AA went out and got him self a club i wonder what he would be labelled if he refused to go and sat on bench or out of squad and took his wages. He was told he wont be featuring and forced a move and what? the club don't want you so do all you can to leave jesus some serious stupid people here.

[sattapaartridge]

have to agree with Sangria on this.

and the worrying thing is, we're still not looking to strengthen the DM role. Spearing has been given a chance to shine in this area, but is he good enough?

Aquilani could be good for us this season, he'll get games in the "Gerrard" role for sure if he stays. Its going to be interesting.

[Eeyore]

Whinge and moan about not wanting to be here and not wanting to play for us via his agent when we'd spent good money and been patient with his injury? I like him as a player but as a man he's a fanny.

He was in training looking forward to starting the 10/11 season when Cecil told Aquilani, Lucas and Insua that they were surplus to requirements and that we had lined up a Club for him. We are the guilty party here not Aquilani it was the stupidity of LFC that brought in Poulson, Koncheskey and Cole and looked to move on Aquilani, Lucas and Insua.

As it goes for me Aquilani has been a brilliant professional it would of been easy for him to come out and slaughter the mis-management of the Club but he didn't. Even when we recalled him from Juventus he came back and worked his nuts off and was excellent pre-season.

[Mutton Geoff]

Totally right Al I would like him here for at least this season just to see if he can cut it in the prem  for more than just a handful of games, he moves the ball on well and with that spots a pass quicker than many on our books!

[Nessy76]

have to agree with Sangria on this.

and the worrying thing is, we're still not looking to strengthen the DM role. Spearing has been given a chance to shine in this area, but is he good enough?

Who says we aren't?

[sattapaartridge]

Who says we aren't?

Who says we are?

[astowell1]

Like Gerrard wanting to go Chelsea then

You're seriously comparing the two players/situations.  Jeez.

[Nessy76]

Who says we are?

What does that mean?

[Phil M]

Who says we aren't?

Who says we are?

What does that mean?

Rawk gold.

[U13]

Not that I feel obligated to answer, but here it goes; if you don't care, don't read it.

First off, that was said after the first half of the game. I have specified after that that his short range passing was excellent, but his long range was 10 yards off (review the game and see his passes to Pacheco). But if you are judging the team  success by Aquilani's pass completion ration, and you don't seem to be alone in that, you are in for a very disappointing season... Many teams would be happy to sit back and watch us to pass the ball around while the time is ticking. It's not an easy task; even Spain looked toothless in the Euros in all games bar the final and they are the gods of the passing game. Aquilani's job (as I understand it) is not to pass the ball around, but to create situations from which we could score. Lucas would 'circulate' the ball around, Aquilani has to create the danger. Unfortunately, he does not offer anything close to what Gerrard does. DonkeWan wrote about Aquilani exploring the channels, I didn't see it that way.

I read your and several other opinions to get an idea of how some players performed as I didn't watch the game but afterwards I saw the compilation vids by MKB. Now unless he missed bits out Aquilani was very tidy in possession and spreading the play well but you said he was sloppy and way off with his passing.  If 97% pass completion is an example of being way off and sloppy I'd be interested to see what you call a neat and tidy performance.

[Juan Loco]

Can't see the point in talking about him 'til the transfer window is shuts and we'll know where he is.

He looked dashing on Saturday though. Lovely hair, really set off the kit nicely.

[kenworthy]

He looked dashing on Saturday though. Lovely hair, really set off the kit nicely.

 

Would love to have him for the season. I have hope under Rodgers.

[Stretch Armstrong]

Not sure if it's just me but the whole situation seems quite simple; he's a quality player but not convinced he ever wanted to play for Liverpool.  Time will tell and this will be in the next month or so

Central midfield wise, we've struggled with the exception of Lucas.  Gerrard seems better in a free role 20 to 30 yards further up the field whilst the likes of Adam haven't looked decent.  New manager and new chances but the next couple of months and Rodgers decisions may dictate our season

[nocturnalvin]

There are 2 main elements to midfield play. I value cloggers as much as anyone, but that's not all the midfield is about. I want Aquilani in the squad because I think he can do one of the midfield jobs better than any other midfielders we have, which means we'll have money free to spend on the high quality clogger I want. One of my gripes last summer was spending ungodly amounts of money on areas where the situation wasn't critical, with nothing left to spend on an alternative to Lucas on the back end of the midfield. That was stupid, and I said as much at the time. Why spend to replace Aquilani?

Wages mate.