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Xsaviour

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john_mac:
Yet again we appear to be in the position where many fans is questioning Mr Houllier’s judgement, some people appear to have little or faith. We have bought a player who is a regular international, can provide cover across a number of positions and is available for European competition.

GH does not rush into decisions, so you can be assured that this is not a panic buy but a well considered decision, probably planned some time ago. Xaviour is a big player, who appears calm and confident on the ball, whose undoubted strength is his passing ability. His previous clubs include Benfica and Sporting Lisbon as well as Bari and PSV Eindhoven. Bobby Robson signed him for PSV and he has played in a number of positions.

The toffees I have spoken to, have not questioned his ability, but have been wary of his attitude and commitment, as well as his injury record. It does appear he has been injured regularly for every club he has played for. I have no doubts in GHs powers of motivation and the fact that he will get players attitudes and commitment right, or ship them out. You only have to look at the majority of the signing to see the improvement in the players attitude or look to Ince or Ziege to see what happens if they do not reach this level.

Gerrard probably feels that he is in a similar position to the Anelka signing. He is signing a regular international who probably has something to prove in the run-up to the world cup. The fee is small enough as to be considered negligible and he would undoubtedly recoup a good proportion of that should the relationship prove unsuccessful. The element of risk is, in fact, minimal.

We also get an international player who is used to the environment and will not be subject to many of the problems associated with moving to a new club. He already knows many of the players at his new club and this will help him to settle. His performances at Euro 2000, in a relatively successful Portugal team, were reasonable especially against England, where he was one the better players on the pitch. This and the teams he has played for previous to Everton, suggests that he may be more at home in a better “passing” team.

I must admit to being unsure as to the role GH sees for Xaviour, but have no doubts that he will have left little to chance. I doubt that there would be many players in the lower leagues that Liverpool could buy for the type of money we are talking for Xaviour. The mere mention of Liverpool being interested in one of their players would send the accountants at the likes of Peterborough, Portsmouth or Brighton in orgasm.

What Xaviour may provide is breathing space for a number of developing young players to hone their talents without too much pressure being placed on them. We have all recently seen the burden of expectation being placed on the shoulders of Wright and Vignal, as talented as they may be. It also provides us with undoubtedly needed cover, especially across the back line.

Hopefully Gerrard will be back in the very near future, and we only have to look at his signings, and his defensive signings in particular (Hyppia, Henchoz, Babbel, Vignal, Traore, Riise & Ziege) to have a considerable level of confidence in this signing. GH will make us great again and we will win the league.

GH will make us great again, and we will win the league. I may take a trip to goodison on Feb 16th to watch our two feeder teams (Everton v Crewe) in action.

Steve C:
Is right.

In Houllier We Trust.

Dan_L:
You can't really judge as fans a player who plays for a shite Everton but Houllier can.  ;)

Paul:
I said in another thread that I dont really rate Xavier, but at the end of the day I said that about some of GH's other signings and made a tit of myself (Hamann is the most obvious, but i was right about Ferri!! ;D)

So I have learned my lesson, and trust GH 200%

Come on Abel, lets see what you can do :)

By the way, will he be available for the Leicester match?

Dan_L:
The deal won't be completed until tommorow I think. JC isnt suspended for tonight is he?

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