Martinez would be a great signing for Liverpool.
20 years old and helped Athletic get to the Copa Del Ray final. He is a talented player with good feet and he is big and strong aswell.

Being bought for 6 million euros at 17 years of age must mean someone thought highly of him.

I think he could easily make the step into the PL [iwhen[/i Alonso leaves.

Yeah but could he make the step up to our level?

Alonso's been at the club for about 5 years now, and this year was without doubt his best and most consistent. I've always had mixed opinions on Alonso over the years, doubting whether he was up to it in England. This year he finally shows us what he's all about and we have our best season in years. Martinez, although good, isn't at Alonso's level, I think he'd take a few years to get there, and he'd take a bit to adapt in England.

Letting key players go and replacing them with unproven youngsters could set us back a few years. Just ask Wenger.

Alonso played well pretty much since he arrived at Liverpool, no denieng that this has been his best season, but i think thats because the spotlight in the midfield has been put onto him now with Gerrard moving alongside Torres. I agree he has been integral to us finishing 2nd and alongside Mascherano he has been fantastic

Martinez is in the same mould as Alonso though, i would have no worries about his adaptability with players like Torres, Arbeloa and Reina to talk to about Liverpool and the PL in general. Alonso didnt have this so that is why he perhaps took longer to adjust. Martinez is not an unproven youngster, he has played 90+ games for Athletic in 3 seasons.

Tony Adams to be new Celtic boss



According to Adams anyway?

Farsley?

Just watched SSN and the presenters were laughing to themselves when they read it out.

Of course he's unproven. He's never played in England, he's never played in Europe, or for Spain, and as you say, he's still only 20. He's not fulfilled his potential. Considering he could be signed as a key part of our spine, he isn't proven.

Sounds like Tony's been on old moonshine again.

Fella, I wouldn’t say that Barry is similar to Kompany or De Jong.
Kompany is not a midfielder. He can produce some very good performances (about 1 in 3 or 4) but his positioning isn’t great and he doesn’t have the technical ability. He should be playing centre-half. De Jong is a good player. He covers the ground well, he’s aggressive and he is tough. He’s not a footballer but he does a job.

IMO we will play with a 3-tier midfield. De Jong will sit on top of the back 4, Barry will play in-front of him and Ireland will support the striker. Barry will be the one who links the play between De Jong and the more advanced players.

Kompany gets in De Jong’s way. The Dutchman looks twice the player when the Belgian isn’t in midfield.

Barry addresses a number of our weaknesses, in particular he gives us greater flexibility. Having Barry will allow us to change tactics and our approach mid-game. We didn’t have the players who could do that last season. His signing could also address our inability to take effective set-pieces. Dunne, Onouha Richards, Kompany and De Jong should be scoring more goals. I would guess that they only got three between them all season (not including Duinne’s OG tally).



I personally don’t think we are in desperate need for one of those type of players. We have Ireland, Robinho, SWP and Elano who can all play that role. Having a small, skillful, tricky-type of player is not something that should be a priority. We also have Weiss and Bellamy who are skillful and tricky. It could be argued that we have more of these types of player than any other club.

What we deseperately need is a striker. Preferebly not Tevez. We need someone who is a presence upfront



I’m sure he does. Hughes is a sharp cookie IMO. Despite what a number of City fans think, I like him. He’s not the best in terms of tactics but to be fair, he inherited an unabalanced squad, he had little to play with last season because of injury, and he did inherit a squad that was probably the worst team in the Prem from March to May 2008. We were on the slide, big time.

Very good post, fella. I doubt any sensible City supporter would disagree with you

Its a massive step up from Portsmouth but im sure big T can handle the pressure

Actually Arsene should apply to be in charge of Chelsea's youth policy. He'd be fantastic there. He shouldn't be a manager at a major club though, because bringing kids through is a waste of a top clubs potential.

Milan's expenditure over the last ten (?) years is at a similar level to Arsenal's. But in return Milan have won the Champions League twice.

I'm still not convinced over Ancelotti, his assertion that the CL is Chelsea's priority is stupid to me, but winning the CL twice and getting Kaka for 8.5m Euros pi55es all over what Wenger has done.

Apparently Arsene is looking for an opening at Young Boys of Bern. Allegedly.

Gareth Barry is now officially undergoing a medical at Man city www.skysports.com/story/0,19528, ... 19,00.html Champions league football eh! mwahahahahahahahahahahaha

Gareth Barry is now officially undergoing a medical at Man city www.skysports.com/story/0,19528, ... 19,00.html Champions league football eh! mwahahahahahahahahahahaha

well i think £5m if he had signed a new contract which was pending earlier in the season, but thats £5m in the back pocket still

City must have offered Barry alot of money. I see no other reason why he would go there, especially with Liverpool being linked with him.

Confirmed on SSN, Barry signs for Man City for £12m.

Ridiculous.

YES!!!!!!!!!

Rafa can finally get rid his Gareth Barry fetish.

It means Alonso will remain a Liverpool player. The bad news is it means Lucas will also remain a Liverpool player.

Dont be silly mate.
Lucas will leave and Martinez will still come in

The old "Come play for Manchester" again?

seems a bit rushed this transfer? barry so called wanted to play for a team that plays in c.l and wants to join liverpoo for summat like £18m did'nt get his wish but then sign's for a club that is [ihoping[/i to get into europe(i would'nt commit and say c.l yet) for £12m! how has his value gone down so much? i suspect he's got a huge signing on fee or some other huge incentive to join man city