No surprises with the two I have gone for here but it was clear from the off that neither player was up to the task of playing for Liverpool Football Club. Although I must admit I expected more from Poulsen, a player who had played in three of Europe’s top five leagues, the signing of Konchesky was in my view even more obvious that it wouldn’t work out:
Christian Poulsen – Roy Hodgson gave the understatement of the year when he said this about the 30 year old Dane after the draw against Wigan back in November:
“He’s not that bad on the ball, but let’s not beat about the bush and try to disguise the fact – he’s had a bad start.”
A bad start? More like a disastrous one as it has become plainly apparent that the Dane could not cope with the pace of the Premier League. The one thing I expected when he arrived from Juventus in the summer was that he would break up play and allow others to deal with the more creative parts of the game, but he hasn’t even done that. His lack of pace means he is never in the right place at the right time to break up a dangerous opposition attack. Earlier in his career, he may have been able to cope a bit better, but now at 30 years of age, there is no prospect of him improving. If he can’t close down opponents and protect the back four, what use is he?
He was bought for £4.5million basically because Roy knew the player. He had given the player his professional debut at FC Copenhagen 10 years before and had seen the player develop during his time at Schalke and Sevilla, where he helped the Spanish side win a UEFA Cup. European leagues are different to England though and the writing should have been on the wall when he failed to impress during his spell at Juventus. The pace of Serie A is significantly lower than the Premier League but he didn’t convince even there. Roy will no doubt have to sell the player in January.
Paul Konchesky – The left back was another player who was bought because Roy knew what he was getting. A player who had played for Charlton Athletic, West Ham and Fulham was never going to be up to playing for Liverpool though. Konchesky had played an important role in Roy’s miserly defence at Fulham and was effectively bought as he could implement Roy’s system without a problem.
The big problem id though; he hasn’t got enough quality to really help secure Liverpool’s backline. His error against Tottenham, where he was caught ball watching for Aaron Lennon’s winner, has simply summed up his time so far on Merseyside, and I hope Damien Comolli brings in a class left back in January so Konchesky is not automatically first choice.
There was no doubt that we needed another left back last summer as we were desperately short of options in the position but to spend £3.5million of a transfer budget, which was severely limited anyway, on a player who had no real proven top level ability, was unforgivable in my opinion. Konchesky’s replacement at Fulham, Carlos Salcido, would even have been a better option, and he was available for a third of the price too.
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Neither would generate much income, or are seen as first teamer’s (well hopefully Hodgson realises that Aurelio is better than Konchesky!).
I’d much rather see Skrtel, Kuyt and Maxi make way for somebody else to finally take their guaranteed starter’s berths, as improving the first team is more important to me than replacing our inadequate fringe players…
Very good article, these two players are exactly why Roy Hodgson should not be allowed spend money in January.
I could add in names like Nathan Blake and Christian Dailly from his Blackburn days but you get my drift.
This man should not be allowed near the transfer market.
Why stop at those two players? Looks to me that there are at least 6 of them that need to be changed. A lot of money has to be spent to get us back where we belong. Unfotunately Rafa spent it all on crap, that’s why we never got near the top four! Now here’s the question, should Hodgson be the guy to spend the money? Does he have the pulling power to attract top players? Myself,i very much doubt it. I also doubt the the commitment NESV have towards English soccerball.
Reina? Alonso? Mascherano? Torres? Kuyt? Lucas? Skrtel? Agger? Johnson? Aquilani (doing wonders for Juve at the moment)? Never got near the top four under Rafa?
Get a grip…
Never got near the top 4? Bad season last year but we were classed as one of the top 4! You need to check your facts? lol
Eh? Under Rafa we didn’t make the top 4 twice. Last year which was bad and the year he arrived when we won number 5. Not that bad a record…have you been living in a bubble Roy?
Getting money for them is not the issue getting rid of them is! Some reduction in the salary books is enough for me. It’s about time the gravy train stopped at a siding and they were ejected..
Of the 2 players, at least Poulsen’s signing was not that really bad as the departure of Mascherano has left LFC in need of an experience defensive midfielder albeit RH could have gotten a much younger one who could play at a higher pace type of league. The signing that does not make sense at all in Konchesky. RH claimed that LFC does not have any left back for the reason of signing Konchesky but why did he let Insua go out on loan in the first place if he knows that the LB position requires filling up? I definitely think Insua is at least 50% better than Konchesky and should be brought back to LFC in January.
You don’t even have to start reading the article to know who the author’s talking about. Just look at the title and you would automatically think it’s Paul Konchesky and Christian Poulsen.
While I expected someone like Dossena to do a good job here, I never once thought Konchesky and Poulsen were going to be good signings. Konchesky is a joke, enough said. Poulsen not as bad considering his experience in Europe but at 30, he’s way past it.
Konchesky is a mid-table left back at best and spending much of his career at teams like Charlton, West Ham and Fulham, you can’t expect him to be able to step up to a club like Liverpool at 29 years of age. His performances pretty much sums up himself, a player who’s just not good enough for Liverpool. To make things worse, Hodgson decided to bring Konchesky to the club when clearly a cheaper and better alternative was available. Instead, he paid 4 mil plus two youngster to get this guy when he could have got Carlos Salcido for 1.5 mil, a player who was playing for a respectable PSV who flourished at the World Cup. Also, it angers me when I see a fit Fabio Aurelio sitting on the bench while Konchesky starts every match. Poor signing by Hodgson and he doesn’t even realise it by starting the guy every match.
Christian Poulsen, a player with vast European experience, played for teams like Schalke, Seville and Juventus but how can you expect this 5 mil signing to replace a world class 25 mil Argentinian captain? Many expected him to fill the void left by Mascherano and protect the back four while also effectively distributing the ball in midfield but he has failed disastrously to say the least. You can get better and younger defensive midfielders with 5 mil but again, it’s Hodgson we’re dealing with so I can’t expect much.
It saddens me to think that we’ve spent almost 10 mil on these two flops. Again, this pretty much shows that Hodgson is out of his depth. He doesn’t know what he’s doing, failing to realise he’s at Liverpool FC, not Fulham. Seeing him waste 10 mil on these two guys, I cannot trust him in the transfer market. At least we’ve got Comolli who will be partly dealing with transfers and linking us with young players with potential. With Hodgson, you can only expect 30 year old and/or British players and/or players he coached before. I want Hodgson out as soon as possible before he wastes 20 mil on Charlton Cole, David Bentley, Wayne Bridge and Simon Davies.
well said…i just hope it won’t be roy who’s going to be doing the transfers
I would also add to this list the following: Reina, Skyrtel, Carragher, Insua, Aurelio, Kuyt, Lucas, El Zhar, Aquilani, Gerrard, Torres, Cole and Babel.
Strange choice, we wouldn’t have a team:L
It seems you are confusing the team with the manager …
Are you Roy Hodgson? certainly seems so judging by your comments…
In response to El Nino all money recouped in sales would obviously be used to buy replacements.
There are 8-9 players who need to be sold/dead wood at the club: who if sold could bring some cash back to club to be re invested in quality transfers who will/can/should Better the squad/team/club.
1: KRYGIAKOS CB 2: INSUA LB 3: KONCHESKEY LB
4:POULSEN DM/CM 5: JOVANOVIC LW/RW
6: RODRIGUEZ LW/RW/AM 7: KUYT RW/FD
8: BABEL LW/RW/FD 9: J COLE RW/LW/AM
10: Aquilani?
Then 8 players should be brought in:
CB: Gary Cahill Of Bolton Or R Shawcross Of Stoke.
RB: Micah Richards Of Man City to come and compete with G Johnson.
LB: Taiwo Of Marseille should be brought in as soon as possible.
DM: M’Villa Of Rennes Or Bring back Momo Sissoko From Juventus.
RW: A Young Of Aston Villa Or E Hazard Of Lille.
LW: R Drenthe Of Real Madrid or D Capel Of Seville, Left Footed, Left winger.
AM: Valbuena Of Marseille.
FD: Llorente Of A Bilbao, Dzeko Of Wolfsburg or bring back P Crouch From Tottenham.
krygiakos is pretty gd on the attack, we should keep him. insua is young and likes to go forward which he does quite well, we should keep him
rodriguez is getting better since his move to anfield. jovanovic i feel is not bad, maybe just not enough chances for him under roy. kuyt, he cant go, he’s crucial. babel and cole, if they dont start shining they can go. aquilani should be given one last chance to show what he’s got
crouch lmao u gone senile? pay 7 mill plus for a lanky streak of piss whose nearly extinct, NESV won’t have it they want young not old.
But the rest i wouldn’t mind……YNWA
Then we could have a good squad capable of getting back into the top 4 and of chaalenging for honours again year in year out,
Starting line could be:
In 4 4 2
Reina GK
RB CB CB LB
Johnson/Richards Cahill/Skrtel Agger Taiwo/Aurelio
RW CM CM LW
A Young Gerrard Meireles Drenthe
FD FD
Torres Crouch/Dzeko/Llorente
Kenny ur a nob. But apart from that this the article was spot on. I would personally add kuyt to the list everyone says he works hard and comes up with important goals. But for me Y have a winger with no pace no skill can’t beat a man hasn’t got a gud shot and is not very strong oh yea and can’t cross. Babel would have done a better job had he been given half the games dirk has played.
I would get rid of…johnson, skrtel, carragher, koncheskey, poulson, lucas + most definatley, without question or hesitation DIK KUYT!! he is among the most talentless individuals ever to pull on the mighty RED shirt of this magnificent club. All the players, (haha) i mean people mentioned above are devoid of the most basic footballing ability..RECEIVE, CONTROL + PASS. Oh and please, please DON’T BRING BENITEZ BACK, i don’t want hodgson either but why get someone who helped turned us into a mediocity club.
Indeed Rafa turned us into a mediocre club. He did that by winning the Champions League in his first year here, winning the European Super Cup and FA Cup and got to the Champions League Final again. He then got us our highest ever Premier League ranking and point tally and won away at places like the Nou Camp, San Siro, Bernabeu and Old Trafford. He brought world class players to the club and left with 14 internationals in the team(the team with the second most players at the World Cup). There, he very much turned us into a “mediocity” club.
Some ppl haven’t got a clue!
Some our so called supporters can’t count to 10 so they need skysports and andy gray to tell them how to think!
Well put ERIC!
Don’t forget the fact that when he won things at the start, it was Gerrard Houliers team. Just look at the list of players that rolled in and out of Anfield during his spell, the list you give is only a fraction of what he signed, i tell you, that’s why we were so badly in debt.
Maybe Benitez just had too much power? You can’t blame the debt on him….the administrators of the club should have given him what they had….not gone getting plenty of loans we couldn’t afford to pay back just to buy mediocre players. Maybe if they held the purse strings tighter, he’d have been more selective. He made some superb signings and perhaps if he came back with a full remit of coaching the first team and joining this “panel” often talked about to sign new players he could have input but not blind authority to sign whoever without justification and considering other options? Nobody can deny his strategic capability of beating “better” teams even on their own patch.
Absolutely agreed with Paul Huddo. We should start playing the youngsters, and players like Martin Kelly, Danny Wilson, Stephen Darby, Jonjo Shelvey, Spearing and Dani Pacheco should be given more playing times. Roy to GO now, and say NO to Benitez, Crouch, Carlton Cole, etc.
Agree Kuyt might be less talented, slow and unable to pass players like other wingers. Thats because he never was and never will be a winger. But look at his recored and he is better then most other wingers in the EPL over the last few years. We could end up with do alot worse then him if Roy lets him go. Compare his goals and assists to the rest and then comment…
If Rafa turned us into a “mediocre” club, God help us with Roy in charge. Championship, here we come!
i’d add jones, skrtel, jovanovic, babel, degen, el zhar and perhaps even lucas and cole to that list. like roy recently said the wages these players are earning surely we could get better players who are desperate to play in prem league and not want such high wages. we need players 20-25 y/o eager to prove themselves. most of the performances of the players i’ve mentioned are lazy to say the least.
Konchesky is one of the worst signings in Liverpool’s history. To top it off we gave Fulham 4 mill plus Dalle Valle, when she should have gone for Salcido at the time who Fulham did go for and cost them 1mill or 1.5mill.
Or we could have kept Insua, whose young, decent going forward gave us quite a few assissts last season ok maybe not the best at the back but neither is Konchesky and Insua playing in the first team a while would have been settled.
Poulsen is another horrendous signing in our history.
Roy’s clueless its time the board acknowledge that and send him packing. If they trust him with the money in Jan expect to see more overated, over priced British players like Carlton Cole, Parker, Brunt, Jarvis, Crouch etc. The only one id like to see is Adam Johnson.
ROY HODGESON THANKS FOR THE NIGHTMARE PERFORMANCES, BUT NOW ITS TIME FOR YOU TO WALK ON!!
SACK ROY, BRING BACK THE JOY AROUND ANFIELD……YNWA
After yesterdays game carlo said to fans the blame is on him for chelsky poor performance. Roy said its not his team. Always ready with excuses.
Please go away from LFC.
In response to Lee, Insua cannot defend and first and foremost defenders need to be able to defend or else opposing teams will use that weakness against them as occurred regularly in the games Insua played last season-remember Lyon’s goal in France. Kuyt at best should only be an impact sub, he has little or no impact in games that he starts. Aquailani is never going to be able to cope with the physicality and pace of the Premier League so the club should sell him in January before his inevitable injury misfortune returns.
In response to Eric, if you think that losing a European Cup final can be called an achievement than you are mistaken. You say that Benitez left the club with 14 internationals at the World Cup but yet you think the club should just give up in the Premier League and concentrate on rubbish like the Europa League.
What the hell are you talking about Kenny??
You call that a response?
Seriously I mean seriously behave!
You don’t think getting to Champions league final for a 2nd time in 2 yrs is an achievement??
It doesn’t show you how under Rafa we were consistently beating the big boys?
4th highest spend in the Prem over his tenure with a £10m net spend and you want him finish 1st?
Now your either a buffoon or a manca…
Which is it?
Absolutely agreed with kenny. The most important thing for LFC right now is Premier League, and nothing else matter.
It was a shame we couldn’t win the Champions League in 2007 but you seriously think getting to the final again in just 2 years is not an achievement? You want Rafa to win every single trophy when he did not have the funds, did not have the backing of the board and did not have the support of the owners. And don’t forget, Liverpool have never won the Premier League before, it was Rafa who came closest with a second place finish with 86 points.
i want Lucas out!!!!!…he’s sooooooo………..weak!!…if sum1 touches him a bit when he’s with the ball..he falls!..and after he loses the ball, he’ll commit a foul by unleashing a flying tackle which wins him the ball…NO!..he wins a beautiful shining, glittering RED CARD!..or maybe yellow if the refeere’s a lil’ lenient
I would only add to the left back slot rather than weaken, injuries could catch us out, As for Christian Poullson i think we have not seen the best of him due to no real run in the side. So they are not first out the door for me but Jovanavic and Dirk Kuyt are top of my list, and since Joe Cole continues to try to hard instead of relaxing and enjoing football he can go in a swap with cash for premiership ready Carltn Cole.
You are happy with players like Christian Poulsen in the team and you want Jovanovic and Kuyt out when they are the hardest working players and Jova never given a chance. And you want to swap Joe Cole for Charlton Cole? Did you forget your pills today?
hard work needs to be swapped for sill nd composure, I never said that I was happy with Paul or Cristian, but the priority would be to bring a left back in, its a squad game, Dirk Kuyt has no position now, cos he aint a winger or a good enough striker. Hi football holds us back.