Huntelaar to join Every Club in Europe!

[Zebedee]

There's an argument for and against 'poachers'. And against teams which you dominate, create chances against but fail to score against, I can understand why you'd want the legendary 'fox in the box'.

And this applies to Liverpool in part. We haven't been clinical enough when Torres has been injured against teams who play ten or eleven men behind the ball against us.

Here's the but though - where does the poacher fit in when that isn't the case? When teams are of an equal or arguably better quality? That's 12 games a season at least, judging from last season.

Not sure about how well Huntelaar and Torres would mesh well together? Huntelaar dominates the central areas and doesn't move wide - you won't get the same kind of symmetry or understanding as, say, Torres and Villa have shown for Spain. If Torres is fit, what does Huntelaar offer that Torres couldn't in that same position? And if Torres is your primary way to finish moves, how does Huntelaar play the role of someone who creates chances for another?

I don't think it's overlooking Huntelaar's abilities, more that he offers little to recommend himself beyond a very narrow skillset - in effect you have to set up your team to play so that Huntelaar can score and you become one dimensional as a team because of that. Much as we relied upon Michael Owen's pace under Houllier after Fowler was sold but if that didn't work, then Liverpool didn't score.

See what I mean?

Can understand that it may be possible for the 'poacher' to flourish - heck Klose is a good example - but it's based upon the principle that your team will be counter-attacking and your spare man up front will score from the limited chances coming his way. Huntelaar just isn't the type of player to graft for those chances from what I've seen of him.

 

[barcelonic]

There's an argument for and against 'poachers'. And against teams which you dominate, create chances against but fail to score against, I can understand why you'd want the legendary 'fox in the box'.

And this applies to Liverpool in part. We haven't been clinical enough when Torres has been injured against teams who play ten or eleven men behind the ball against us.

Here's the but though - where does the poacher fit in when that isn't the case? When teams are of an equal or arguably better quality? That's 12 games a season at least, judging from last season.

Not sure about how well Huntelaar and Torres would mesh well together? Huntelaar dominates the central areas and doesn't move wide - you won't get the same kind of symmetry or understanding as, say, Torres and Villa have shown for Spain. If Torres is fit, what does Huntelaar offer that Torres couldn't in that same position? And if Torres is your primary way to finish moves, how does Huntelaar play the role of someone who creates chances for another?

I don't think it's overlooking Huntelaar's abilities, more that he offers little to recommend himself beyond a very narrow skillset - in effect you have to set up your team to play so that Huntelaar can score and you become one dimensional as a team because of that. Much as we relied upon Michael Owen's pace under Houllier after Fowler was sold but if that didn't work, then Liverpool didn't score.

See what I mean?

Can understand that it may be possible for the 'poacher' to flourish - heck Klose is a good example - but it's based upon the principle that your team will be counter-attacking and your spare man up front will score from the limited chances coming his way. Huntelaar just isn't the type of player to graft for those chances from what I've seen of him.

I like your argument.

Ideally you'd have one striker to stretch the play and one to then fill the space. Villa has the flair and agility to do just that whereas Huntelaar is similar to Torres.

But if Hodgson keeps our existing formation with one striker, then just as in previous seasons the chances need to come from midfield - Stevie G is marked out of most games and Benayoun has gone and the only guy left with any real creativity is Johnson. This is why I feel we need someone with flair who's good on the ball and can open up defences - like David Silva or someone similar in style (missed that train tho didnt we? lol). Although who knows, maybe Joe Cole can do that now - he has more flair than any other English player, and he was criminally undervalued at Chelsea for years im surprised he stayed so long.

But if Hodgson decides to play two up front then it does make things easier as one Torres is already too much for defenders to cope with, so having two would allow the midfield to penetrate spaces left behind - and I disagree that Huntelaar can't go wide.

Liverpool's problem initially is breaking down stubborn weaker teams, and so in those games we have plenty of shooting opportunities. Huntelaar is the sort who only needs one. And he's more consistent than Torres (given drops in form and injuries etc...).

Without adding more creativity to our midfield the acquisition of Huntelaar is pointless, but did you ever consider the fact that Huntelaar is being brought in because Torres has privately decided to leave the club and is only hanging around for a replacement out of courtesy.

The type of striker you think we want is for example Luis Suarez, but players like that dont often adapt well to the English game whereas Huntelaar is built for it.

The way Rafa used to do it is have our wingers hold up the ball to bring the midfield into play, so what we actually need more than anything is midfielders who can score (prolifically), but given the situation we're in now I'd gladly take a striker who could easily bag us over 10 goals in his first season (imo).

Until we know Hodgson's plan its difficult to speculate, but let's just say I think we could do a LOT worse than signing Huntelaar.

 

[Zebedee]

Don't agree on some specifics mate (eg wingers - Kuyt and Yossi both scored goals under Rafa) but that's a good post.

Worrying isn't it with Torres? We'll see.

 

[barcelonic]

Don't agree on some specifics mate (eg wingers - Kuyt and Yossi both scored goals under Rafa) but that's a good post.

Worrying isn't it with Torres? We'll see.

Sure is mate.

Did u notice tho that Yossi only really scored when he was played in a more central position, or in desperate second halves when he was allowed the freedom to cut inside, and nearly every one of Kuyt's goals was a tap in - usually after a rebound or someone else did all the work and he just made sure he was in the right place at the right time. Call it work rate / determination or whatever (and bear in mind the Dutch have the best first touch ability in the world game imo).

Dont get me wrong a goal's a goal but the point is, they didnt set out with the idea of the wingers scoring goals, it's just that LFC are the most determined team in the world (that 'never-say-die' attitude is one of the main reasons I fell in love with them in the first place).

The idea is to plan to score, not just have to rely on certain individuals' teamwork and determination.

 

[Zebedee]

The wingers are meant to cut inside though - fullbacks are meant to be providing width most of the time. Riera was one of the exceptions to that and you could see why he was brought in to provide an alternative option on the left to help balance the team out a bit more given Aurelio's frequent absences and just to provide a bit of something different. Would be nice to have a left winger who was capable of staying wide and putting the ball into the box on a consistent basis.

You can't run a system like Liverpool's under Rafa if at least one winger isn't coming more central - whether that's as far into the box as your central striker, or into the 'hole' to allow the player there to move further forward.

Don't agree with Kuyt's goals being tap-ins (to my mind they all tend to be balls smashed towards goal from slightly wide of the right post), and Yossi either was told to cut inside at every opportunity from the flank or needed to be shown where the touchline was One of my main criticisms of him last season was that he cut inside too much and the left fullback got exposed too much because he rarely was busting a gut to get back to help cover. Where both players fall down is that they aren't clinical enough from the positions they get into as a result - both have/had a nasty habit of fluffing important chances which you'd think would be easier to score than the ones they do put away.

Lawro was flying a kite earlier this week about how selling Torres would be a good thing because then we could buy two strikers. Which is a fair point at some levels, but insanity on others. We've not struggled to score goals when Torres and Gerrard are fit. It's the inadequate squad depth which kills us when they're out. Joe Cole coming in and Aquilani being somewhere close to fully fit might help take the load off Gerrard, but I don't see how selling Torres and going for a re-enactment of the glory days of Heskey/Owen would help.

 

[Alcaraz]

Maybe nothing concrete yet

 

[Dobcheev]

I have a theory: Huntelar had pre-booked a holiday in sunny seaside Blackpool & landed at manc airport as this was the nearest to the golden mile.