I would have Barton over Poulson, Lucas or Spearing without a moment's hesitation.
Raul Meireles
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Yep, likewise.
[quote author=mark1975 link=topic=42409.msg1205527#msg1205527 date=1288016731]
I like him. I think he's looked good and fitted in well so far with no fuss. Maybe not as eye catching as others but certainly keeps it simple and tries to be positive with his passing and movement.
[/quote]
Mark, is that Shelvey in your avatar?
I like him. I think he's looked good and fitted in well so far with no fuss. Maybe not as eye catching as others but certainly keeps it simple and tries to be positive with his passing and movement.
[/quote]
Mark, is that Shelvey in your avatar?
[quote author=gene hughes link=topic=42409.msg1205531#msg1205531 date=1288017050]
[quote author=mark1975 link=topic=42409.msg1205527#msg1205527 date=1288016731]
I like him. I think he's looked good and fitted in well so far with no fuss. Maybe not as eye catching as others but certainly keeps it simple and tries to be positive with his passing and movement.
[/quote]
Mark, is that Shelvey in your avatar?
[/quote]
Yeh mate, he looks like Verne Troyer's big brother.
[quote author=mark1975 link=topic=42409.msg1205527#msg1205527 date=1288016731]
I like him. I think he's looked good and fitted in well so far with no fuss. Maybe not as eye catching as others but certainly keeps it simple and tries to be positive with his passing and movement.
[/quote]
Mark, is that Shelvey in your avatar?
[/quote]
Yeh mate, he looks like Verne Troyer's big brother.
Fucking hell.
Blofeldian.
Blofeldian.
[quote author=Brendan link=topic=42409.msg1205445#msg1205445 date=1288009149]
[quote author=Asbo link=topic=42409.msg1205444#msg1205444 date=1288009088]
I always liked Nolan too, and thought he'd be a good squad player.
[/quote]
He's good enough to be more than a squad player. Always liked him
[/quote]
No he isn't.
Seriously, watch him.
[quote author=Asbo link=topic=42409.msg1205444#msg1205444 date=1288009088]
I always liked Nolan too, and thought he'd be a good squad player.
[/quote]
He's good enough to be more than a squad player. Always liked him
[/quote]
No he isn't.
Seriously, watch him.
There's been good reason for despondency about the team, and this was especially the case this summer, and I think this, combined with an awful start has understandably overshadowed Meireles' encouraging play for Liverpool.
It was absolutely crucial that we got this purchase right, because any failure would leave the club with a completely ruined central midfield. There's still a lot of work to be done there, but I think there's a lot of promising signs that this was a very good buy. He may well be one of the older purchases that have been spoken about, given that he is 27, but we desperately needed some experience in the position, and we ought to get his best years of play.
Meireles looks to progress our play far more than our other midfielders, and although he isn't so athletic, he's quite mobile and takes up good positions. Crucially, he takes up more aggressive positions in space, and delivers the ball to our attacking players, rather than making safer passes across a fairly stagnant midfield line. He's certainly not a replacement for Mascherano, nor Alonso, but he accomplishes some of what the latter did in a different way with shorter passes and movement. He is comfortable on the ball, he isn't slow, and though he'll never score lots of goals, I've been very impressed with both his technique striking the ball, his accuracy, and the fact that he's obviously hungry for a goal. He isn't afraid of either, and he won't be bullied.
Let's not forget that for whatever insane reason, he hasn't had even a handful of games in his proper position yet, either. I'm desperately hoping I'm right on this one, because he could really help us turn things around.
It was absolutely crucial that we got this purchase right, because any failure would leave the club with a completely ruined central midfield. There's still a lot of work to be done there, but I think there's a lot of promising signs that this was a very good buy. He may well be one of the older purchases that have been spoken about, given that he is 27, but we desperately needed some experience in the position, and we ought to get his best years of play.
Meireles looks to progress our play far more than our other midfielders, and although he isn't so athletic, he's quite mobile and takes up good positions. Crucially, he takes up more aggressive positions in space, and delivers the ball to our attacking players, rather than making safer passes across a fairly stagnant midfield line. He's certainly not a replacement for Mascherano, nor Alonso, but he accomplishes some of what the latter did in a different way with shorter passes and movement. He is comfortable on the ball, he isn't slow, and though he'll never score lots of goals, I've been very impressed with both his technique striking the ball, his accuracy, and the fact that he's obviously hungry for a goal. He isn't afraid of either, and he won't be bullied.
Let's not forget that for whatever insane reason, he hasn't had even a handful of games in his proper position yet, either. I'm desperately hoping I'm right on this one, because he could really help us turn things around.
Haha.
Well, in order to distract you all from this quiff and a half, I'll just leave this banner proposal here.
Well, in order to distract you all from this quiff and a half, I'll just leave this banner proposal here.
Er, time for some thread-merging perhaps, mods?
They do say fellas typically think about that every few seconds.
[quote author=Sunny link=topic=42409.msg1206963#msg1206963 date=1288206341]
[quote author=Judge Jules link=topic=42409.msg1206960#msg1206960 date=1288206234]
They do say fellas typically think about that every few seconds.
[/quote]
It was an urge, not a twinge.
[/quote]
all this talking of merging and urging has given me a twinge
[quote author=Judge Jules link=topic=42409.msg1206960#msg1206960 date=1288206234]
They do say fellas typically think about that every few seconds.
[/quote]
It was an urge, not a twinge.
[/quote]
all this talking of merging and urging has given me a twinge
[quote author=Sunny link=topic=42409.msg1206963#msg1206963 date=1288206341]
[quote author=Judge Jules link=topic=42409.msg1206960#msg1206960 date=1288206234]
They do say fellas typically think about that every few seconds.
[/quote]
It was an urge, not a twinge.
[/quote]
Oi! I'll have you know the sap still rises. [Waits for Sunny to tap the ball into the empty net]
[quote author=Judge Jules link=topic=42409.msg1206960#msg1206960 date=1288206234]
They do say fellas typically think about that every few seconds.
[/quote]
It was an urge, not a twinge.
[/quote]
Oi! I'll have you know the sap still rises. [Waits for Sunny to tap the ball into the empty net]
Ming The Meireles!
Genius.
And with Shelvey next to him, it's football Baldygeddon!
Genius.
And with Shelvey next to him, it's football Baldygeddon!
we can almost field a bald XI now can't we?
reina
?
skrtel
?
konchesky
spearing
shelvey
meireles
cole
babel - nearly
ngog
2 players short; 9 players shorn.
reina
?
skrtel
?
konchesky
spearing
shelvey
meireles
cole
babel - nearly
ngog
2 players short; 9 players shorn.
http://neiljones.footballunited.com/
In-form Raul Meireles emerges as Kenny Dalglish and Liverpool’s trump card
February 9th, 2011 | Uncategorized | No comments
Not even the most optimistic, enthusiastic Liverpool fan could find much to shout about during Roy Hodgson’s ill-fated six month spell in charge at Anfield. With results poor, performances rarely any better, and the club’s future clouded by a multitude of off-field issues, the red half of Merseyside was a decidedly miserable place to be during the first half of this campaign.
Now, as Kenny Dalglish continues to dust the cobwebs off a club which had run into a wall under Hodgson, the former manager – widely criticised for guiding the club to just 13 wins in his 31 games in charge – can at least point to one decision which, it appears, he got absolutely spot on.
Raul Meireles cost Liverpool a fee of £11.5m from FC Porto back in August, as the Reds looked to replace the hole left by Javier Mascherano’s departure to Barcelona. And though Hodgson never lasted long enough at Anfield to see the best of his marquee summer signing, the arrival of Dalglish last month has seen the 27-year-old emerge as a key figure in the club’s climb back up the league table.
It was his second-half strike which settled Sunday’s clash with champions Chelsea at Stamford Bridge – a result which moves Dalglish’s men into the Premier League’s top six for the first time this season. Meireles, compared by Alan Hansen to another Liverpool legend, Terry McDermott, upon his arrival, has now scored four times in his last five games, having failed to find the net in his first 21 appearances for the club.
The manner in which he has taken his goals – all emphatically finished, first-time and with both feet – was certainly McDermott-esque, and his new manager is not surprised to see the Portugal star finding his feet at Anfield.
“Understandably Raul has been getting some headlines for the goals he’s scored in recent weeks,†Dalglish told LFC Weekly.
“His performances have been what I’ve expected. I knew he was a good footballer before he came to the club and he’s shown that.â€
Plenty have credited Dalglish, as well as new Reds coach Steve Clarke, for the upsurge in Meireles’ goalscoring form. Hodgson may have been the driving force behind his signing, something the player himself admits, but he often struggled to find a way to shoehorn the new-boy into his rigid 4-4-2 system. Meireles was utilised as an orthodox holding player, and even wide on the right of midfield, as Liverpool’s midfield play was stunted, one-paced and, at times, downright agricultural.
It was not the first time he had been forced to adapt to a new role – in his early days at Porto he was deployed as an auxiliary left-back as he struggled to find his place in a side reeling from the departure of José Mourinho and several of their 2004 Champions League-winning squad – but, though his application and endeavour could not be questioned, he was unable to settle into any kind of rhythm under Hodgson. Fortunately, his new manager has no doubts as to his most effective position.
“He’s intelligent and very good technically; he puts in a pile of running too,†said Dalglish, “He’s getting on the scoresheet so often because he’s playing a bit further forward. Those goals are a huge bonus for us.
“The strike on Sunday wasn’t as easy as it looked. He had to get up and over the ball to make sure he knocked it inside the post.
“The great thing for us was we had players getting into the box to capitalise on chances like that.â€
Capitalise he has, and Liverpool are all the better for it. The departure of Fernando Torres, despite the subsequent arrivals, of Andy Carroll and Luis Suarez has exacerbated the need for goals from elsewhere in the team, and Meireles has stepped up to the plate in stunning fashion. His movement means he is always an outlet for the man in possession, and his use of the ball has improved with each game. Statistics show his pass completion rate getting better by the week (from 58.5% v Everton last month, to 83.8% at Stamford Bridge), whilst his shots on target ratio has been at 100% in four of his last five league games.
Dalglish joked after his dazzling strike at Wolverhampton that his midfield man was “going for the golden bootâ€, but his goalscoring form has surprised few who saw him star for Porto over the past six years.
Meireles arrived at Estádio do Dragão from Boavista in 2004, having begun his career with another Porto-based club, Aves. And, alongside the more languid Lucho González and Paulo Assunção, formed a midfield axis which would help the club win four successive Portuguese league titles between 2005 and 2009.
For his country, whom he helped to glory at the European Under-16 Championships back in 2000, he is now an established first-choice with 43 senior caps, and was one of the shining stars of a disappointing World Cup in South Africa last summer. This week, he will come face to face with the man he (ostensibly) replaced at Anfield, as Portugal take on Mascherano’s Argentina in a friendly match in Geneva on Wednesday.
It surprised plenty when Andre Villas-Boas, the promising young manager who arrived at Porto last summer, decided that Meireles’ all-action style did not tally with the more technical, controlled game he wished his new side to master, but Andy Brassell, who watched Meireles at close quarters whilst working as a journalist for UEFA and Portugoal.net, believes he was always destined to play in England – and to score goals.
“He really developed at Porto under (former coach) Jesualdo Ferreira, and really became a key player for them,†he says, “I think a lot of people were surprised it took him so long to come to the Premier League. He always looked a player who would really suit English football, with his ‘box-to-box’ play, and he is proving that now.
“For Portugal in the (Euro 2012) qualifiers earlier this season, he played as almost a nominal midfield ‘sitter’, but I think the system Liverpool have found, with three midfield players, all comfortable on the ball and all taking it in turns to get forward, suits him perfectly.
“It was always a question for me of how you fitted Meireles and (Steven) Gerrard into the same midfield – which I’d guess is why we saw Meireles used on the right at times earlier in the season – but at the moment they have found a good system, and the personnel allows him to get maybe 10-15 metres further forward than he did at Porto, which of course allows him more goalscoring opportunities.â€
How does Meireles himself see it? “As a player I am a team worker, not a star or an individual player,†he says, “I just try to do my best every day.â€
“I like the three positions in midfield and I fl comfortable in any of those,†he adds, before proving the Dalglish-effect has stretched to matters off the pitch too, “But the most important thing is that the team plays well and wins. That is all that matters.â€
In-form Raul Meireles emerges as Kenny Dalglish and Liverpool’s trump card
February 9th, 2011 | Uncategorized | No comments
Not even the most optimistic, enthusiastic Liverpool fan could find much to shout about during Roy Hodgson’s ill-fated six month spell in charge at Anfield. With results poor, performances rarely any better, and the club’s future clouded by a multitude of off-field issues, the red half of Merseyside was a decidedly miserable place to be during the first half of this campaign.
Now, as Kenny Dalglish continues to dust the cobwebs off a club which had run into a wall under Hodgson, the former manager – widely criticised for guiding the club to just 13 wins in his 31 games in charge – can at least point to one decision which, it appears, he got absolutely spot on.
Raul Meireles cost Liverpool a fee of £11.5m from FC Porto back in August, as the Reds looked to replace the hole left by Javier Mascherano’s departure to Barcelona. And though Hodgson never lasted long enough at Anfield to see the best of his marquee summer signing, the arrival of Dalglish last month has seen the 27-year-old emerge as a key figure in the club’s climb back up the league table.
It was his second-half strike which settled Sunday’s clash with champions Chelsea at Stamford Bridge – a result which moves Dalglish’s men into the Premier League’s top six for the first time this season. Meireles, compared by Alan Hansen to another Liverpool legend, Terry McDermott, upon his arrival, has now scored four times in his last five games, having failed to find the net in his first 21 appearances for the club.
The manner in which he has taken his goals – all emphatically finished, first-time and with both feet – was certainly McDermott-esque, and his new manager is not surprised to see the Portugal star finding his feet at Anfield.
“Understandably Raul has been getting some headlines for the goals he’s scored in recent weeks,†Dalglish told LFC Weekly.
“His performances have been what I’ve expected. I knew he was a good footballer before he came to the club and he’s shown that.â€
Plenty have credited Dalglish, as well as new Reds coach Steve Clarke, for the upsurge in Meireles’ goalscoring form. Hodgson may have been the driving force behind his signing, something the player himself admits, but he often struggled to find a way to shoehorn the new-boy into his rigid 4-4-2 system. Meireles was utilised as an orthodox holding player, and even wide on the right of midfield, as Liverpool’s midfield play was stunted, one-paced and, at times, downright agricultural.
It was not the first time he had been forced to adapt to a new role – in his early days at Porto he was deployed as an auxiliary left-back as he struggled to find his place in a side reeling from the departure of José Mourinho and several of their 2004 Champions League-winning squad – but, though his application and endeavour could not be questioned, he was unable to settle into any kind of rhythm under Hodgson. Fortunately, his new manager has no doubts as to his most effective position.
“He’s intelligent and very good technically; he puts in a pile of running too,†said Dalglish, “He’s getting on the scoresheet so often because he’s playing a bit further forward. Those goals are a huge bonus for us.
“The strike on Sunday wasn’t as easy as it looked. He had to get up and over the ball to make sure he knocked it inside the post.
“The great thing for us was we had players getting into the box to capitalise on chances like that.â€
Capitalise he has, and Liverpool are all the better for it. The departure of Fernando Torres, despite the subsequent arrivals, of Andy Carroll and Luis Suarez has exacerbated the need for goals from elsewhere in the team, and Meireles has stepped up to the plate in stunning fashion. His movement means he is always an outlet for the man in possession, and his use of the ball has improved with each game. Statistics show his pass completion rate getting better by the week (from 58.5% v Everton last month, to 83.8% at Stamford Bridge), whilst his shots on target ratio has been at 100% in four of his last five league games.
Dalglish joked after his dazzling strike at Wolverhampton that his midfield man was “going for the golden bootâ€, but his goalscoring form has surprised few who saw him star for Porto over the past six years.
Meireles arrived at Estádio do Dragão from Boavista in 2004, having begun his career with another Porto-based club, Aves. And, alongside the more languid Lucho González and Paulo Assunção, formed a midfield axis which would help the club win four successive Portuguese league titles between 2005 and 2009.
For his country, whom he helped to glory at the European Under-16 Championships back in 2000, he is now an established first-choice with 43 senior caps, and was one of the shining stars of a disappointing World Cup in South Africa last summer. This week, he will come face to face with the man he (ostensibly) replaced at Anfield, as Portugal take on Mascherano’s Argentina in a friendly match in Geneva on Wednesday.
It surprised plenty when Andre Villas-Boas, the promising young manager who arrived at Porto last summer, decided that Meireles’ all-action style did not tally with the more technical, controlled game he wished his new side to master, but Andy Brassell, who watched Meireles at close quarters whilst working as a journalist for UEFA and Portugoal.net, believes he was always destined to play in England – and to score goals.
“He really developed at Porto under (former coach) Jesualdo Ferreira, and really became a key player for them,†he says, “I think a lot of people were surprised it took him so long to come to the Premier League. He always looked a player who would really suit English football, with his ‘box-to-box’ play, and he is proving that now.
“For Portugal in the (Euro 2012) qualifiers earlier this season, he played as almost a nominal midfield ‘sitter’, but I think the system Liverpool have found, with three midfield players, all comfortable on the ball and all taking it in turns to get forward, suits him perfectly.
“It was always a question for me of how you fitted Meireles and (Steven) Gerrard into the same midfield – which I’d guess is why we saw Meireles used on the right at times earlier in the season – but at the moment they have found a good system, and the personnel allows him to get maybe 10-15 metres further forward than he did at Porto, which of course allows him more goalscoring opportunities.â€
How does Meireles himself see it? “As a player I am a team worker, not a star or an individual player,†he says, “I just try to do my best every day.â€
“I like the three positions in midfield and I fl comfortable in any of those,†he adds, before proving the Dalglish-effect has stretched to matters off the pitch too, “But the most important thing is that the team plays well and wins. That is all that matters.â€
Yeah. How's your Portuguese by the way?
[quote author=Sunny link=topic=42409.msg1206963#msg1206963 date=1288206341]
[quote author=Judge Jules link=topic=42409.msg1206960#msg1206960 date=1288206234]
They do say fellas typically think about that every few seconds.
[/quote]
It was an urge, not a twinge.
[/quote]
Hahahahahahaha
That deserved more love.
[quote author=Judge Jules link=topic=42409.msg1206960#msg1206960 date=1288206234]
They do say fellas typically think about that every few seconds.
[/quote]
It was an urge, not a twinge.
[/quote]
Hahahahahahaha
That deserved more love.
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