Topic: The muppet free Alberto Aquilani topic

[MiddleMan]

No. Because of Gerrard's ability. He's still playing and could be regarded as one of our best ever players. If not one of the all time best players to ever play in the UK. Gerrard not playing well is still a whole lot better than most other players. But by all means drop him and play a player who isn't anywhere near his class.

By all means, ignore what I had to say.

We know gerrard has the ability. but if he's not playing up to his ability, then he should be dropped if a player is able to play better.
This is the sort of blind romanticism that i'm talking about. I know he's one of our best players but surely you cannot expect him to be one of our best players for the rest of his career. by your logic, even if we have better midfielders to deploy, we should keep them on the bench in favor of gerrard because of who he is.

it's okay to concede that maybe he's not his best anymore. it's not blasphemy. it's not going to hurt the man's feeling. it's not going to hurt the club. the only thing stopping people from feeling the same way as i do is the fact that they'll get slated for it. i honestly don't see why it's so hard to agree with me. you want your best, in form players on the pitch to help you win, regardless of the name of them.

[Danny_]

Would love to be proved wrong,but,i think Alberto's a great "italian" player,by that i mean a great player in the Italian league,a slower,less physical and all round weaker competition than the premier league...

I'm not so sure about this.  In fact, I think it could turn out to be the opposite.  He has qualities that are often missing in PL games.  His vision is superb and he has excellent technique.  He's the type of player that can unlock a defense against a lesser side when they park the bus and play for a draw.  We really need that.  The only thing you are correct on is the physicality bit.  But, a lot of great players aren't physical.  I think he could do very well for us this season (providing he stays fit - fingers crossed).

[Marko B]

Rafa didn't rate Aquilani nearly as highly as most on here like to think he did.

IMO of course.

In my opinion that's just plain wrong. Hence the reason why he sacrificed short term results and performances so Aquilani could be extremely well rested and wrapped in cotton wool before being re-introduced to playing. It was short term pain for long term gain - the gain of having a top-drawer player fit for the majority of his contract with the club.

[TepidT2O]

No. Because of Gerrard's ability. He's still playing and could be regarded as one of our best ever players. If not one of the all time best players to ever play in the UK. Gerrard not playing well is still a whole lot better than most other players. But by all means drop him and play a player who isn't anywhere near his class.

It's not just that though, it's his desire, passion and character that set gerrard apart.

Say what you like about AA and his footballing qualities but he will never be close to gerrard on any of the points I raise above.  This isn't a crtisim as such, it is more a compliment to gerrard who has qualities that are most exceptional.

[penga]

Media driven drivel? In what way is it media driven? Its based on the fact he didn't pull up any trees while here. Its called watching the games. The biggest drivel is to make a case for him. What case? What evidence? Where is the evidence? How can anyone conclude he is great? How?

Hey Dick here's some evidence......ENJOY.
(Copy paste from other locked thread posted a while ago)
The Situation: The original signing of Aquilani was paying a bit too much imo especially as he was injured. However the original perceived injury length was 5-8 weeks but it turned out significantly longer so bad luck. He had a poor injury record but he was managed well by us and has just completed basically a full season fit for Juve which is one of his best spells in terms of fitness in any league. I still do not know whether he will remain at Liverpool or not but I expect him to put in 100% if he does. Currently in my view for whatever reasons his value as a saleable asset is significantly lower than his talent so I think it would be foolish to sell him for anything around 10M or less but others will disagree and look to flog him off at any price. He is not world class but he definitely has class and is a very good player. If no clubs are interested then good we have more chance to keep him. He had a decent season for Juve and was recalled to the national team whilst maintaining a spot the CM over Marchisio (moved wider) for the whole season but now Pirlo and new coach Conte has come in and maybe dont need/want him.

Mental problems? Some should be ashamed of themselves for falling for the media agenda-driven headline. Please read Rafa's actual quotes and see how much it corrolates to the headline
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/apr/03/alberto-aquilani-liverpool-mental-physical
"We don't know if he needs an operation. He has some pain and we will just analyse that with the doctor. It's the same ankle he did before. Some players maybe can manage with the pain, some players when they have pain cannot. When you talk of pain you never know, it depends on each individual and that makes it really difficult."
Now honestly its one big fucking stretch to suggest he had mental problems of making up pain just because he said he had pain in his troublesome ankle and couldn't play/train. He also reportedly had some problems with illness but again is it fucking impossible to catch a cold or virus? seen several examples of other players missing games for this reason.

STATISTICS
Sources: http://www.anfieldindex.com/2180/team-part-iii-centre-midfield.html, official PL website
Considerations: Aquilani was injured often so couldnt play consistently yet still had favourable stats especially when compared to other mids, had no preseason.
Erratic Passing? Aquilani played a mixture of CM and CAM in his time at Liverpool, so did Meireles (though plus wide mid) and Gerrard. Aquilani had a similar pass completion rate to Gerrard over the past couple of seasons and was not too far off Lucas a DM. Admittedly I thought Aquilani's passing could be erratic at times but he seems to take much more criticism that others such as Meireles, dont even start me with Adam (though his large amount of set pieces taken skew it slightly). Look at this:
Aquilani pass completion rate: 79-80%
Meireles pass completion rate: 73%
Adam pass completion rate: 67-68%
Aquilani is more creative than Meireles and makes pass and move happen. Meireles makes more gut busting runs but general passing is less precise and has less range. Adam has a great range of passing but he is super erratic especially given he usually plays a deeper role than the above 2. Adam's long passing style is kinda like Gerrard but with less consistency but obviously he excels in set pieces.

In the PL Aquilani had 1 goal and 6 assists in 815 minutes of football, Meireles 5 goals 6 assists in 2525 minutes, Adam 12 goals 9 assists in 3049 minutes. It must be noted all of Aquilani's contributions were in open play, some of Meireles' assists were from set pieces. Adam only scored 2 goals and had 4-5 assists in open play. Imo open play is much more important than having a set piece specialist especially when we have plenty who can do a decent job already. I do not think these stats are a good measurement anyhow cos they only involve 1 season and limited game time e.g. Aquilani only played 18 PL games 9 started, 9 off the bench - in Meireles' first 18 which were all starts bar 2, he did not even score and only had 2 assists (period before purple patch). You could also add Aqua scored a goal in Europa league, Meireles played more minutes in that competition and did not make any contribution.

Cant tackle? Shits out? Look at the link above.
Tackles per 90min average: 3
Tackle win success rate: 64%
Possession duels won: 52%
Now if this is not holding his own, actually winning more 50/50s than losing then I dunno what is. Also look at the considerations regarding his fitness issue, and he says he has improved his defensive side in Italy this season. Also Aquilani is a good presser, should note Rafa Benitez also classed him as a HARD WORKER in one of those recent interviews after he was sacked from Inter.

For comparison although Adam wins 82% of tackles he only goes in for 2.12 per game average and has 51% possession duel win rate.
Meireles has 69% tackle win, 56% duel, doesnt tell us how many he goes in for though but I assume it is around 2.5+
Gerrard has 63% tackle win with 2.76 tackles per game last season, 53.5% duel win
Lucas 63% tackle win, over 5 tackles per game.

VIDEO SUPPORT

Here is a collection of MATCH compilations showing most touches if not every touch in games. Does not include his Burnley match where he got 3 assists (admittedly 2 were lucky but 1 sublime). Don't see where "laziness" comes from, seems very energetic and even passionate to me. Had some erratic passing games such as Bolton and Spurs but came up with important assists in those games. Also Liverpool's MOTM against Fulham and Hull in bland 0-0 draws near end of season where he was the only one creating anything. Only played 3 big clubs Arsenal, Spurs and Chelsea. Chelsea match he was voted best outfield player for Liverpool though no1 was trying.

Aquilani vs Portsmouth http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zklgnhA6x_E (domination) before u say they were relegated - Pompey beat us 2-0 earlier in season and made FA Cup final.
Aquilani vs Atletico Madrid http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4bwSWZg1aOg (pass and move at it's best)
Aquilani vs Wolves http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7G_vVkcGB8M&feature=player_embedded (first start)
Aquilani vs Arsenal http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0RCpEzxVbEE (debut)
Aquilani vs Wigan http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vy6fPs49fWI&feature=related (nice cameo)
Aquilani vs Reading http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QaBoh1GWI3o (works tight spaces well) Actually played well contrary to the belief of some.

Comparison to Juventus matches (none include goals and a few assists missing), can clearly see less movement, deeper role and more tackling and more long passes. In England people close him down faster but strangely it works in his favour as he has a quick mind and opens up spaces whereas in Italy it looks slow and hard to pick out openings. 2 goals and 6 assists as well or somethin near it over there for the season as well, 90% passing completion rate in the 1st half of the season according to a couple of articles.

Aquilani vs Roma http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dfjsg8LA304&feature=relmfu
Aquilani vs Genoa http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUCNuyg9wAU&feature=relmfu
Aquilani vs Lazio http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5AEU4FtG44&feature=relmfu
Aquilani vs Inter http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PlS9ska-4Go
Aquilani vs Bologna http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XugPGTyIql4&feature=relmfu
Aquilani vs Brescia http://www.youtube.com/user/milankakabarosfilms1#p/u/6/sBmYczTQcuk

A match for Italy:
Aquilani vs Slovenia http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UeXW1MQg5_Q

[royhendo]

Rise of the nutters.

[nicholasanthony]

Ben Swain is going on Newsnight?

[redhot-robbie]

Rafa didn't rate Aquilani nearly as highly as most on here like to think he did.

IMO of course.

I think you you are wrong.  Rafa did rate Aquilani but got very frustrated at his fitness issue.  The whole medical set up then was awful, miss managed a number of injuries which kept players out longer than they should have been.  Problem is most fans took the media bait and jumped on the "flop" bandwagan rather than judge him on his time on the pitch.

[guest]

Those balls to Kuyt which were weighted perfectly between left back and centre back?

Imagine those to Suarez. And I don't mean that as a negative towards Dirk.

[Matt8Pie]

The long pass he made to Ngog was sublime who then dragged his shot wide. Good touch from Ngog as well.

[CHOPPER]

Rafa didn't rate Aquilani nearly as highly as most on here like to think he did.

IMO of course.

Fucking hell lad, the king of the kids and the rafapool followers ain't gonna like that.

[guest]

If Aquilani stays on the pitch at home to Atletico Madrid, we go to the final. He has history of being an important player, even during his short period with us.

[Discipline]

I can't be bothered reading 20 pages as I already know Fordy/other trolls are going to say that he's leaving/degrading his ability. So I'll just add that it'd be great for him to stay. Quality player.

[uncle_red]

Rafa didn't rate Aquilani nearly as highly as most on here like to think he did.

IMO of course.

I dont´t understand this. Rafa didn´t rate AA but still bought him? Jesus.

[downtown]

I dont´t understand this. Rafa didn´t rate AA but still bought him? Jesus.

Of course Rafa rated him. but IMO, not as highly as most of us think.

I remember us playing West Ham at home just before driving to Spain for first leg of EL Semi against Atletico.

Aquilani was on the bench ....didn't come on even when we were cruising 30 min, instead Mascherano came on.

Then we went to Spain, it was a dire game, we couldn't string 3 passes together to save our lives, needed someone like Aquilani (who had played a great game last time he played vs Fulham at home and was substituted after 60 mins for w.e reason) to raise the tempo of our passing to at least test De Gea, and Rafa called El Zhar up to send him to the pitch. Alberto Aquilani didn't feature that night despite being totally fit and rested.


If I ever meet Rafa, it'd be my first question of him...why did  you pick El Zhar ahead of Aquilani ?

[Yorkykopite]

I dont´t understand this. Rafa didn´t rate AA but still bought him? Jesus.

He didn't say that did he? He said Rafa didn't rate him "as highly as most on here like to think he did". Jesus.

[Milly]

Rafa was great but never took risks. Played not to lose. KK will want to beat lower end teams,  therein lies the difference. It seems my il principino - a hero will rise avatar was a season too early. I might have to resurrect it!

[Fowllah]

Aquilani is a fucking good player and Rafa is a fucking good manager. One day Rafa'll be back here to finish the job and a lot of people on RAWK will be feasting on humble pie. In the meantime I hope Alberto stays and does a great job for us as we unite behind The King.

Fuck that - he lost it mate. Just like Evans, just like Houllier. He'll never be back here. I thank Rafa for his contribution, but time to move on.

[Veinticinco de Mayo]

Shit title. Shit thread.  If you want to discuss Aquilani's performance in the friendly use the post match thread. If you want tohave an argument about Rafa.  Fuck off and find another site.