Liverpool have been linked with Denmark’s Christian Poulsen pretty much since Xabi Alonso left us for Real Madrid a year ago. The signing of Alberto Aquilani helped quieten these rumours thankfully but here we are a year later being linked with the tough Dane again. Upon first reading the speculation I dismissed it as lazy journalism, and this was backed up when Poulsen’s agent denied that he had spoken to Liverpool I was hopeful that this would signal the end of the rumour, but with Roy Hodgson now confirming his interest, it seems as if he will be a Liverpool player in the not too distant future.
Even though Poulsen is currently a fringe player for the struggling Juventus team, that is not really my biggest concern when it comes to us signing him. We’ve all seen players (and managers for that matter) revitalise their careers after having a change of scenery, and I wouldn’t claim that Poulsen’s not capable of ever regaining his form. While he was at Schalke and then Sevilla especially he actually proved to be a talented midfielder, and won the Danish Player of the Year Award two years in a row.
His ability isn’t the reason I’m against Liverpool signing him, because he’s shown in the past that he does possess some. I’m against Liverpool signing him because of his well-documented aggressive playing style and discipline problems.
It seems like everywhere Poulsen’s played he’s had serious altercations with opposing players and has made headlines for having a real nasty side while on the pitch. His higher profile incidents include him punching a Sweden player in the penalty area during an important Euro 2008 qualifier which led to the game being abandoned and Sweden later being awarded the game 3-0. He was also heavily criticised during a match for Schalke against AC Milan due to his overly aggressive play while marking Kaka, with the Italian side’s manager at the time, Carlo Ancelotti branding Poulsen a ‘coward’ for his quite blatant dirty tactics. During an interview which can be seen on Youtube, Poulsen even happily admits that his desire to win games is so great that he is willing to sometimes play beyond the rules to ensure he ends up on the winning team. I personally don’t agree with playing dirty to win games, and I’m doubtful that this type of character would integrate well with the values of a club like Liverpool.
One of the most positive things I noticed about Liverpool in recent times was that we have a reluctance to sign dirty or selfish players. An example of this is when it was revealed years ago that Liverpool had held talks with Ricardo Quaresma but chose not to follow through with the signing after realising he wasn’t a ‘Liverpool type’ player. I have to admit that when I see other team’s players disrupting the harmony of their squads but still being kept around, it makes me grateful that we don’t put up with that kind of behaviour: you only have to look at how quickly Albert Riera was removed as an example of this. It is observations like this that really makes me feel like I support a club full of genuinely good people, and in my opinion a player who openly admits to sometimes playing outside the rules to win shouldn’t be allowed anywhere near Liverpool. When you take into account the amount of yellow and red cards he would potentially gather it makes it even clearer that we shouldn’t be signing this type of player. Bossing the midfield during a game is surely what every central midfielder aims to do, and the very best of these players do so without having to use dirty tricks or bullying the opposition. I want Liverpool’s midfield to be no different so I’m hoping that Roy Hodgson chooses not to sign a player with this much baggage, as I have no doubt that it could seriously disrupt the harmony of the squad.
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I’m in total agreement. It also doesn’t seem sensible if there is talk of a takeover and funds.
I couldn’t agree more. Its seems to be pretty common knowledge that Hodgson would like to sign a younger and much better player like Steven Defour but thanks to our beloved American owners Defour is beyound our reach and we are limited to signing rubbish like Poulsen. I’ve seen the Dane many times and he’s never impressed me at all. Average players like him are a large part of the reason why Juventus have struggled in recent years but sadly he is all we can currently afford.
i don’t want him because he’s crap, simple!
bring in flamini, younger, cheaper and much much better!
If i was on the liverpool board first things first would be to answer rafa with you put the price tag on him thats what u pay or remind masch that we rescued him from west ham where he was a fringe player just like an argie to forget whats ares init. He owes liverpool fc for reserrecting what was a failing career, dont want him but would send him on loan to a championship side to show him what passion and belief in english football is. Poulson Hot dog knows him well and like many of the fulham players knows how to get the best out of him, but be a short deal for a 30 yr old has gotta be on the cards, but if he sparks well worth the 5 mil we’ll sell him for next summer. Im all for playing the young lads theres plenty of Talent coming through like Paccheco, Souso(Fernandez), Ince, I also like jay spearing but feel he needs a loan to sunderland, wigan or blackpool to gain some much needed experience. Emphasis right now should be ensurring we dont do a portsmouth, or a man city and chelsea who seem to buy anyone english with any talent and relegate them to rot in their training centres. Sounds alot like Celtic and Rangers doesnt it? Money only buys trouble Id stick with the fringe players that are here (Cole being a prime example) and top em up with the fringe quality players lining europes fat cats back rooms who want to show they can play and will give you a team performance week in and week out.
Whereas I agree with the sentiments that LFC definitely don’t need a player who rocks the boat (a la Riera), I’m not sure that there are too many differences between Poulson and Mascherano in terms of ‘dirty tactics’ and the like. A bit of bite and a huge desire to win are vital characteristics for a ball-winning midfielder and Poulson could add these qualities if Mascherano does end up leaving.
Did you ever see Graeme Souness play?
I think Liverpool have possibly lacked a little nastiness every winning team has some of it, look at the current Chelsea squad, look at Manchester United squad, look at ‘Arsenal’s invincibles’, don’t kid yourselves it may not be palatable to think about but sometimes you need some nastiness.
Every club needs a player with a bit of bottle. We’ve had some real tough players that only stayed on the pitch through luck, more than judgement. The “likely to leave” Mascherano is one of them. He’s always getting booked for persistent fouling. A team of nice players never wins things. Look at Arsenal. We need a midfield General. It used to be Gerrard (who got sent of a bit early in his career). But he’s now moved forward out of the firing line. If Masch really is leaving. Poulsen sounds exactly the type of player we should be looking at.
To Mark Wilson you must of only watched liverpool in the last few seasons mate we had two of the hardest and to be honest could be dirty players playing for liverpoolfc one tommy smith and one graham sounnes who would do anything to win the game for liverpool fc especialy the latter and you no what mark we were european cup holders several times and we were league champions numerous times with them two in the side i seen sounnes hit i think it was a csk player on the jaw when he lost the ball and they scored in a european cup and seen him kick lumps out numerous players to all us liverpool supporters he was the best midfield player to wear the red shirt so Mark the point i am making is that you need players like that to whin the league ie roy keene ,paul ince ,jimmy case steve mcmahon , peter reid bet if you ask the players they were in the same team as did they think they were dirty players bet the answeres is no
Poulsen is not a trouble maker nor is he a nasty or dirty player. There have been a few incidents on the pitch – often with him as the victim. His opponents hate playing against him because he often manage to bulldoze them out of the way. Sneijder, Gattuso and Totti have talked about his mean streak, but often their problem was that he made them look bad/ordinary. Xavi has talked about Poulsens qualities – probably urging Barca to sign the player that did so well for Sevilla. He was linked to all major clubs after his two years in Sevilla. He is a tough player and like most other tough defensive midfielder he does what he can to get under the opponents skin. Actions like that can be compared to the pushing and tugging going on at every corner in every game. It is not within the rules but can hardly be labelled dirty. He rarely – if ever – goes in with studs raised or anything like that. Compared to the likes of Keane and Viera his is a saint.
Off the pitch his behaviour is perfect. He does his job and is willing to fight for his chance. He would be an excellent signing in my opinion – too bad we didn’t sign him years ago. BTW: The game Denmark-Sweden was not abandonned due to Poulsens actions. A spectator ran on to the pitch an lashed out at the ref.
gr8 comment albey. was gonna write something but u said it all m8
This guy would come in handy against Man United and Everton. Other than that, he doesn’t fit in with our current squad. I don’t even know why we’re about to sign someone like this. If we want a replacement for Masch then get de Jong or Toulalan, not this trouble maker. So please Hodgson, do not sign this guy.
Hodgson should not bring in Poulsen, we are Liverpool not Fulham, he should sell Mascherano to Inter Milan for £30-£35M and no less, the disloyal, ungrateful git.
And then he should bring in 3 players for that who will increase the quality at club:
M flamini from A.C Milan for £8-£12M
Bring Back M sissoko From Juventus for £10-£12M
And bring in E Banega Of Valencia Or S Defour Of S Liege for £8-£10M
And then Hodgson needs to ship out LUCAS to Palermo asap, for £5-£7M
And Itandje, Degan, Krygiakos, Insua, Plessis, El Zhar, Ngog and Kuyt should be sold to Inter for £10-£12M.
Weren’t we looking for a replacement for Masch? If so, a troublemaker would fit the bill perfectly…
Well if Masch is sold then we have around 30m to spend so why are lining up a move for someone of Poulsen’s calibre? If we want a decent replacement for Masch then let’s go for de Jong or Toulalan and not this guy, please.
i don`t agree!
poulsen was hit by the sweede first + was also provoked in milan.
he isn`t as tough as mascerano or skrtel etc.
he is really a decent positive guy – but a fighter!
I was going to ditto the statement to do with souness ect, also it was never a problem for united to have keane, and mascherano hardly has the discipline record of the virgin mary. I think somebody like this might be good for liverpool.
trust me: he is a nice guy!!
The only reason Roy is possibly going to sign this player is because the yanks are taking out as much cash as they can get their hands on before we are sold. Selling a £20 million plus player and replacing him with Poulson who will cost no more than £4 – £5 million is crazy. This is not Roy’s fault because he can only act within the confines set by the club. In other words what those scumbags in control will allow him.
The club has only spent £4 million since last summer (2009) on Shelvey and Wilson. In 2009 after players bought and sold (including part payments for Aquilani) the club had a surplus of £30 million net. This year we have sold 2 players (Yossi and Riera) for approximately £10 million. With the sale of Mascherano for a reasonable £25 million and another payment to Roma for Aquilani (£4.5 million),so far the club would have generated in the last one year approximately £65 million with £15 million or so being paid out for Rafa, Shelvey, Wilson and Aquilani(part payment due). There is £50 million net floating around somewhere, and we all know it wont be spent on players.
The fact that Cole, Jovanovic and Aurelio came on free’s is just pure luck. If we had to buy them then it’s clear we would’ve not of been able to. Lucky for the club and in a sick way for the yanks to, because the big summer Hicks (the snake) promised he can say he delivered now.
I honestly believe Gerrard and Torres were never going to leave LFC, it was the media and talkshite that hyped it all up into frenzy. They were always going to make the yanks stew before they committed to the club but I was never in any doubt they would stay. The fact there is an impending sale probably made it easier to.
Defour or Banega would be my preferred choice, but this is unlikely to happen. So don’t expect anymore signing after Poulson unless we get new owners before the end of the transfer window.
He’s crap and 30 years old. Don’t buy him. end of…