Is Aquilani Liverpool's Worst Ever Signing?

[sharecropper]

Given this perma-crocked, bench-warmer's hefty 20million quid price tag, he is my pick of the crocks at Liverpool.

Rafa sure can spend other people's money.

[MSingh]

Nothing wrong with Julian Dicks, who mentioned Julian Dicks ??

Last Liverpool Player to score up at the famous standing Kop too...

[Jimjim]

Wow, 2 league games and you already have a verdict. He's been out for 9 months or so, first season in the best league in the world, and you already have a verdict as the worst signing ever? Nonsense. Far too early to be making such judgements, and there are much better candidates, for sure.

But that's just the kneejerk reactions you see from fans on the internet these days.

[carmine]

Probably better to let him play a few games before deciding on his abilties

[StevieH]

he's not even near liverpool's top 100 worst ever signings you berk.

[sharecropper]

Wow, 2 league games and you already have a verdict. He's been out for 9 months or so, first season in the best league in the world, and you already have a verdict as the worst signing ever? Nonsense. Far too early to be making such judgements, and there are much better candidates, for sure.

But that's just the kneejerk reactions you see from fans on the internet these days.

Some of what you say underlines my point. Why pay so much money for a sidelined, injured player when Liverpool have so badly needed him in their drop down the table?

Rafa has seemed nervous about playing him even when the player himself declares himself fit, further undermining the PR surrounding the player.

Anyway we'll see. Injuries permitting, he may get more playing opportunities next season, when Torres and Gerrard have been sold to pay the bills or demanded transfers (if the Liverpool real Mafia allow Gerrard to leave this time).

[sharecropper]

he's not even near liverpool's top 100 worst ever signings you berk.

Would you care to offer your opinion of the likeliest candidate for this honour - even if just only from Rafas signings?

[sharecropper]

I am watching the Liverpool v Reading game.

Aquilani is on the bench AGAIN.

<deleted>?

Oh, and Reading have just this second scored.

[rijit]

Agree with all the others that, Basicly say give the boy a chance, 2 games and he's being written off. ! Pathetic media biting football fans, get a grip.

[sharecropper]

I have answered my own question.

Their worst buy ever is undoubtedly RAFA BENITEZ, as this season will no doubt prove.

[Sparkles]

I have answered my own question.

Their worst buy ever is undoubtedly RAFA BENITEZ, as this season will no doubt prove.

I read somewhere that Rafa has made 79 signings since he was installed as Manager at Liverpool ,that cant be correct , surely ,or is it ? If he has made only half that many where are they ?

[sharecropper]

I have answered my own question.

Their worst buy ever is undoubtedly RAFA BENITEZ, as this season will no doubt prove.

I read somewhere that Rafa has made 79 signings since he was installed as Manager at Liverpool ,that cant be correct , surely ,or is it ? If he has made only half that many where are they ?

I have read that figure too. I think most of them flopped and went out the revolving door, but it gives the lie to blaming everyone else for his having no money and no decent players, especially when he wrested transfer policy control away from Parry at the end of last season. It's like giving an alcoholic a drinks voucher.

If any underperforming manager was completely and totally to blame for a clubs sorry plight, Rafa is it.

[Penkoprod]

I read somewhere that Rafa has made 79 signings since he was installed as Manager at Liverpool ,that cant be correct , surely ,or is it ? If he has made only half that many where are they ?

I've seen figures varying from 45 upto the 79 you mention.

It seems a fair proportion of those in the 79 quote were "for the future".... Acadamy members and the like, though.

The mysterious thing for me is that, with virtualy the same squad members (the outgoing Alonso being the only big change of personel) Liverpool stood proudly at the top of the table this time last year, already qualified for knockout stages of CL, etc, etc, etc.

THIS year its all turned to sh*ite, though. Its like the pre-season form has just carried on into the season itself. Are people thinking Alonso made THAT much difference? Or is there some underlying problem we dont know, think, or want to talk about? Bad man management, perhaps?

Do fans think Pako Ayestarán was the REAL driving force behind the team, and,should never have been let go.

My theory is the problem lies with, and therefore is MY candidate for worst "signing" is someone who came to the club a long time ago........ David Moores !!!!!!

Think about it.

Penkoprod

[StevieH]

he's not even near liverpool's top 100 worst ever signings you berk.

Would you care to offer your opinion of the likeliest candidate for this honour - even if just only from Rafas signings?

well i'd say it's probably el hadji diouf. and from benitez's time, robbie keane. aquilani is not even in the top 100 as i said as he's had no chance to prove or disprove himself yet.

i have to assume you're a bit of a newcomer to football if you can't remember cisse, diouf, diao, cheyrou, ruddock, babb, dicks, kvarme, piechnik, stewart, kozma, leonhardsen, dundee. . .i could go on for a while at this.

[StevieH]

I read somewhere that Rafa has made 79 signings since he was installed as Manager at Liverpool ,that cant be correct , surely ,or is it ? If he has made only half that many where are they ?

I've seen figures varying from 45 upto the 79 you mention.

It seems a fair proportion of those in the 79 quote were "for the future".... Acadamy members and the like, though.

The mysterious thing for me is that, with virtualy the same squad members (the outgoing Alonso being the only big change of personel) Liverpool stood proudly at the top of the table this time last year, already qualified for knockout stages of CL, etc, etc, etc.

THIS year its all turned to sh*ite, though. Its like the pre-season form has just carried on into the season itself. Are people thinking Alonso made THAT much difference? Or is there some underlying problem we dont know, think, or want to talk about? Bad man management, perhaps?

Do fans think Pako Ayestarán was the REAL driving force behind the team, and,should never have been let go.

My theory is the problem lies with, and therefore is MY candidate for worst "signing" is someone who came to the club a long time ago........ David Moores !!!!!!

Think about it.

Penkoprod

good post. you can trace liverpool's current problems back to the moores / parry era of commercial underdevelopment and then subsequent sale to the pair of frauds we have in charge now. moores got an extra 8m quid for selling to hicks and gillett rather than to DIC, the greedy bastard.

[carmine]

he's not even near liverpool's top 100 worst ever signings you berk.

Would you care to offer your opinion of the likeliest candidate for this honour - even if just only from Rafas signings?

well i'd say it's probably el hadji diouf. and from benitez's time, robbie keane. aquilani is not even in the top 100 as i said as he's had no chance to prove or disprove himself yet.

i have to assume you're a bit of a newcomer to football if you can't remember cisse, diouf, diao, cheyrou, ruddock, babb, dicks, kvarme, piechnik, stewart, kozma, leonhardsen, dundee. . .i could go on for a while at this.

I think MSINGH might have a thing or two to say about the inclusion of one of these guys!

[longstebe]

Too early to say about Aquilani. From what we have seen of him he clearly has good ability.

I agree with Stevie, Diouf was a bad signing.

Is the OP a blue?

[StevieH]

he's not even near liverpool's top 100 worst ever signings you berk.

Would you care to offer your opinion of the likeliest candidate for this honour - even if just only from Rafas signings?

well i'd say it's probably el hadji diouf. and from benitez's time, robbie keane. aquilani is not even in the top 100 as i said as he's had no chance to prove or disprove himself yet.

i have to assume you're a bit of a newcomer to football if you can't remember cisse, diouf, diao, cheyrou, ruddock, babb, dicks, kvarme, piechnik, stewart, kozma, leonhardsen, dundee. . .i could go on for a while at this.

I think MSINGH might have a thing or two to say about the inclusion of one of these guys!

msingh is a closet istvan kozma fan?!?!

[sharecropper]

he's not even near liverpool's top 100 worst ever signings you berk.

Would you care to offer your opinion of the likeliest candidate for this honour - even if just only from Rafas signings?

well i'd say it's probably el hadji diouf. and from benitez's time, robbie keane. aquilani is not even in the top 100 as i said as he's had no chance to prove or disprove himself yet.

i have to assume you're a bit of a newcomer to football if you can't remember cisse, diouf, diao, cheyrou, ruddock, babb, dicks, kvarme, piechnik, stewart, kozma, leonhardsen, dundee. . .i could go on for a while at this.

I thought Keane was a terrible bit of business for Rafa as well. The only person who's laughing is Keane with his share of all the double transfer money. But Liverpool could have done with him now.

[sharecropper]

Too early to say about Aquilani. From what we have seen of him he clearly has good ability.

I agree with Stevie, Diouf was a bad signing.

Is the OP a blue?

I won't say "and proud". More long-suffering, but well used to it.

I used to like Liverpool but grew to hate Rafa and hope I can rehabilitate them once he has gone. I am sure a lot of the over-critical and gleeful press reporting of Liverpool's demise is also down to the fact he has rubbed so many up the wrong way, with his misplaced arrogance and hubris. Nobody will lament him when he's gone.

But he can still do some serious damage to the club this season, from which it may be hard to recover.

I read UK press reports this morning of bids being tabled for Gerrard, who MUST be a contender to leave, given his age (assuming he can persuade the Liverpool Mafia to let him go, as opposed to when he tried to go to Chelsea), and Torres and Mascherano.

The vultures are circling the dying beast, but Rafa stumbles on regardless.

[Penkoprod]

good post. you can trace liverpool's current problems back to the moores / parry era of commercial underdevelopment and then subsequent sale to the pair of frauds we have in charge now. moores got an extra 8m quid for selling to hicks and gillett rather than to DIC, the greedy bastard.

And its not only the commercial underachieving. List all his "signings" and dealings.

He came to the club with Souness ripping the bowels out of a tried and trusted formula, AND LEFT HIM THERE to get on with it !!!!!! Next up was "spice boy" Roy Evans. Loyal club man, but crap manager...always wanting to be "one of the lads" just isnt a good position for a manager to be in, i don't think. Then the joint venture with Evans and Houllier, then Houllier himself, and then Benitez. Hardly earth shattering, huh? And dont even mention Parry !!!!!

I'm not saying Benitez is a bad manager, but, perhaps not good ENOUGH for what we want of him.

And, while i dont like Hicks and Gillett running the club, i cant see much difference in what they are doing, to what Moores did, regarding lumping debt onto the club. Wasnt part of the monies those 2 paid the debt accrued by Moores?

So, to actually call them frauds is (just a little) harsh?

They are American businessmen and run things in an American way. Gone are the days of the semi altruistic local with cash to spare, and an ego to inflate and feed. Those two are INVESTORS first and foremost, and expect a return on their investments at some stage. Come the advent of more PPV games in the near future, those returns will be vast. You can see the fingernail marks on the boardroom door-jam as they claw their way into keeping as much control over the club as they can. So i think they are here for the longhaul in some capacity, and we better get used to it. That, or someone else with the same rationale...even the Arabs/Russians to some extent.

Penkoprod

[TheAceFace]

Wheres all the Alberto doubters????? Hello Hello

[redrus]

Worst ever, if not the funniest anyway......

In 1998, Karlsruhe were relegated from the Bundesliga. Their tubby star forward, Sean “Crocodile” Dundee, scored just three times. These facts did not deter Liverpool manager Roy Evans from splashing out £2m for the German international who claimed to be as fast as Michael Owen. In fact, he wasn’t as fast as Liverpool fan Michael Howard. Liverpool’s official website raised the notion that Dundee was “possibly the worst player to have donned the red of Liverpool

Source--ave-it.net

And, Benitez worst..........

Fernando Morientes, £6.3m, Real Madrid, 2005

Some transfers shouldn't work but do, some should work but don't. Morientes, one of Europe's best strikers for a decade, arrived amid much fanfare in January 2005 but struggled to cope with the pace and strength of Premier League life. He left just 18 months later, for half the price, after scoring a measly 10 goals.

Source--telegraph.co.uk

Scores on his début, he always scores on his début.......................

redrus

[spongeman]

Anybody who thinks Aquilani is Liverpool's worst signing knows nowt about football.

How about

Paul Stewart

Antonio Nunez

Phil Babb

Josemi

[rijit]

What a <deleted> comment. Aquilani is a TOP TOP footballer. And sensible management keeping him on the bench and slowly bringing him bac, to many footballers extend there injuries by coming back to soon.

What about Alan evens, boy wonder didnt do much, babb was crap as was stewart totally over rated.

[MSingh]

Wheres all the Alberto doubters????? Hello Hello

Why ??

What has he doen & what have i mised ??

For the record, i never doubted him as i am not foolish enough to judge a Footballer when given such little time, EITHER way..

[sharecropper]

I think even Rafa is starting to believe this.....

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/...ss-Benitez.html

[angiud]

The worst player ever? So, please give us back (for free).

Angiud (AS Roma supporter)

[sharecropper]

The worst player ever? So, please give us back (for free).

Angiud (AS Roma supporter)

A mate of mine, also Italian and a Roma supporter who now lives in Perugia, reckons Aquilani has not been managed properly by Benitez. If Rafa now thinks he is faking injuries, or imagining them, I think I know who to blame!

[angiud]

For sure, although italian football 'softer' than the british one, and Aquilani was a 'rising sun' in the Roma team, I guess the main fault could be in the Benitez (mis)use of the player.