Maxi the man for Benitez
Rafael Benitez has made his first move to bolster the Liverpool squad in an attempt to improve his side’s fortune on the pitch by capturing the signature of Argentina International Maxi Rodriguez from Atletico Madrid on a free transfer. Maxi’s contract at Atletico was due to expire in the Summer, and as he had fallen out of favour with the Spanish giants, he was seeking to gain some regular first team action with the World Cup Finals just 147 days away.
Maxi has signed a 3-and-a-half year deal at Anfield, and could make his début this weekend against Stoke. The winger, who is also capable of playing through the middle, introduced himself to the Anfield faithful before kickoff in last night’s FA Cup third round replay against Reading. The bad news was the he actually had to watch that miserable excuse of a performance from his new teammates.
Rafael Benitez gave us an inkling of what we’re in for:
We were looking for players with character and a good mentality… He is comfortable on the ball, can pass and keep possession. He is good at getting into the box and scoring goals and is a good finisher… I think he will adapt to English Football because he is a clever player and takes up good positions on the pitch.
Sounds like a decent purchase then for Rafa, and he’ll certainly be hoping that Maxi can adapt to the pace of the English game as soon as possible. Liverpool’s season continues to go from bad to worse, and now with only the Europa League to challenge for, the chance of any success this year is fast running out.
He needs to bolster the squad with the news that Torres is out for six weeks, Benayoun three weeks and Gerrard two weeks! :-S
Yep, I can’t believe it. I was watching Sky Sports News earlier thinking “how is this happening?!”. Things can’t get any worse, surely!
We need a centre-back, a left-back, another winger, another striker and another central midfielder. Not too much to ask is it?
I, m sure all your troubles are behind you now that you’ve signed Maxi for FREE, he must be one hell of a player with that price tag.MUGS
You need a new team. Also Rafa must admit his transfer failings in Ngog, Insua, Lucas, etc. The only other person who has never admitted his failings is Arsene Wenger. At least he had a few good seasons at the start of his tenure (albeit with alot of players not of his signing)
Maxi Rodriguez was free because his contract is up in the summer. I don’t think the price tag reflects the quality of the player. His record speaks for itself and if you’ve seen him play for Atletico, which I have, you’ll realise that he’s a very talented player.
I have confidence that he’ll work out for us. No, sorry, I’m PRAYING he will.
George, wise words as always, however, Maxi boy really isn’t in the class of Torres and Gerrard. Of all the usual suspects, Man U, Chelsea and The Arse, Liverpool have, by at least six furlongs the weakest squad. Presently, Rafa stays in work because having put pen to paper recently on a contract extension, it’s going to cost LFC a hideous amount to get rid of.
Cool, they recently beat Tottenham because Carragher had the second of his three seas0nal good games, the first came against Man U in October and no doubt decent performance number three will occur next month at The Emirates.
Rafa’ appears to have lost the scousers dressing room!!
Maxi Rodriguez at 29 might have been a good signing five years ago, sure, he had 40 odd La Liga and Copa del Rey games in 2008/09, but if Carragher/Gerrard/Torres can’t influence Liverpool’s season…………………
Rafa Benitez in my opinion, is a lucky man, Liverpool by nature don’t tend to fire then hire with the monotonous regularity of, say, Flavio Briatore at QPR.
Vieira and Owen spring to mind with this capture, if he’s that good why isn’t he playing?
Well you can only play 11 players Kevin, and Atletico have Jose Antonio Reyes and Simao that play on the wings as well as Sergio Aguero who plays in the whole behind the striker. There’s simply no where for him to play on a regular basis.
I rate Rodriguez as a player. I remember watching him when Argentina beat Serbia 6-1 where he scored one and I think made two goals, one even for the much-derided (and delusional starter) Javier Saviola scored. He looked fantastic, but then again he had the support of so many stars around him. The question is whether he can repeat this form in the EPL (and soon, for Liverpool’s sake) when so many big stars failed to live up to their reputation.
Haha. Right. And not to talk of you Spurs who regularly sell and rebuy the same players each season. Arsene Wenger a failure at the transfer market indeed.
And for that reason I never believed we would qualify for the CL this season. Go back to posts and pods from the start of the season. I am a fan no doubt and would like to see us take a CL spot off Liverpool, but I still see us “doing a Spurs” and botching it at the last minute.
Maddy, and the point you are making that is relevant to this thread is what exactly?
To help you out a little, Maxi Rodriguez was signed by Liverpool from Atletico. Any more ill educated words that might move this debate further forward? Thought not!