West Ham attacker Ravel Morrison scored a superb solo goal against Spurs last week, and in his press conference on Friday, Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers revealed that he is a fan of the former Manchester United starlet.
Speaking to reporters, Rodgers enthused:
"It is well known that British players will work their socks off, but they also have technique and tactical understanding that they can use if you give them the confidence they need.
"We've got fantastic talent here [in England] - look at the young boy [Ravel] Morrison. What a mover. If you were to come away after watching him for the first time you would probably guess he was Spanish or Brazilian"
High praise indeed for a player who's made only eight appearances for West Ham. Rodgers is not the only one hyping up Morrison. This week, Hammers captain Kevin Nolan enthused:
"We are excited about his talent because it's frightening, but it's about nurturing him now."
And former Liverpool midfielder Joe Cole (ugh - it just sounds wrong saying that!) believes that Morrison can force himself into England's world cup squad. He told the BBC:
"He can go on and achieve massive things in the game. He's a top lad as well. He wants to learn and that's the main thing. He's on a good run of form and he just wants to keep his head down and keep going."
When Morrison left Man Utd, Alex Ferguson hailed him as a 'brilliant footballer with Brilliant ability' but conceded that he he 'needs to get away from Manchester and start a new life'.
Morrison - who now has a £19m buyout clause in his contract - ended up at Birmingham City on loan, where he worked with Liverpool legend Terry McDermott, and speaking to the Daily Express this week, McDermott described the youngster as a 'rough diamond' with 'absolutely no malice in him at all', and revealed how he tried his best to steer Morrison onto the straight and narrow:
“I developed a soft spot for him. I told him that he could do things on the football field that I had hardly seen throughout my entire career, even in my days at Liverpool. I explained to him what he was in danger of missing out on. Hopefully, we turned him in the right direction and now he is doing all he wants to do – which is play football".
If 18-year old Raheem Sterling can make it into the England squad, then so can Morrison, and I'm sure most England fans would love to see a wildcard go to Brazil, as opposed to a boring safe pair of hands (i.e. the likes of James Milner). It worked for England in 1998 with Michael Owen; perhaps Morrison will be the next England breakout player...?
Author: Jaimie K
Speaking to reporters, Rodgers enthused:
"It is well known that British players will work their socks off, but they also have technique and tactical understanding that they can use if you give them the confidence they need.
"We've got fantastic talent here [in England] - look at the young boy [Ravel] Morrison. What a mover. If you were to come away after watching him for the first time you would probably guess he was Spanish or Brazilian"
High praise indeed for a player who's made only eight appearances for West Ham. Rodgers is not the only one hyping up Morrison. This week, Hammers captain Kevin Nolan enthused:
"We are excited about his talent because it's frightening, but it's about nurturing him now."
And former Liverpool midfielder Joe Cole (ugh - it just sounds wrong saying that!) believes that Morrison can force himself into England's world cup squad. He told the BBC:
"He can go on and achieve massive things in the game. He's a top lad as well. He wants to learn and that's the main thing. He's on a good run of form and he just wants to keep his head down and keep going."
When Morrison left Man Utd, Alex Ferguson hailed him as a 'brilliant footballer with Brilliant ability' but conceded that he he 'needs to get away from Manchester and start a new life'.
Morrison - who now has a £19m buyout clause in his contract - ended up at Birmingham City on loan, where he worked with Liverpool legend Terry McDermott, and speaking to the Daily Express this week, McDermott described the youngster as a 'rough diamond' with 'absolutely no malice in him at all', and revealed how he tried his best to steer Morrison onto the straight and narrow:
“I developed a soft spot for him. I told him that he could do things on the football field that I had hardly seen throughout my entire career, even in my days at Liverpool. I explained to him what he was in danger of missing out on. Hopefully, we turned him in the right direction and now he is doing all he wants to do – which is play football".
If 18-year old Raheem Sterling can make it into the England squad, then so can Morrison, and I'm sure most England fans would love to see a wildcard go to Brazil, as opposed to a boring safe pair of hands (i.e. the likes of James Milner). It worked for England in 1998 with Michael Owen; perhaps Morrison will be the next England breakout player...?
Author: Jaimie K
I have to say Morrison is showing more promise than Sterling at the moment. Ironically they both reportedly have had issues off the field that has thrown them off track, but Morrison seems to pushing on. My fear with Sterling is that I hope his natural ability to take on a player is not 'coached' out of him. He seems to be deployed in the wrong positions of late but I hope we can see Sterling capture that promise that he showed early last season.
ReplyDeleteI'd like to see both Morrison and Zaha both break into the England team this year.
ReplyDeleteHe has no escape clause for any amount, no Man U buy back clause and no sell on clause. confirmed this week by David gold
ReplyDeletehe could be the next peter beardsley
ReplyDeleteI don't think if many fans are following our Assaidi, but he's doing quite good than we all expected him to in PL with Stoke City at the moment. His dribbling and running at players was just amazing, hopefully he can push works his way into BR's plans.
ReplyDeletecan chelsea call back Moses if they want to?
ReplyDeleteIt isn't written published anywhere, but no they can't because LFC aren't fool enough to get a player on call back loan agreement. Also, Chelsea have enough players who are upset warming the bench for them and unhappy about it.
ReplyDeleteWhy should they?
ReplyDeleteBrendon reckons Teixiera is not good enough to play for Brentford, He scored again today for the u21s. Brendon is foolish giving his hand away like this as everyone will now know he will be signing at least 2 Brentford world beaters. I could name four young players who have made the first team who could not lace this lads boots or ryan mclochlan's unlike Brendon I will not embarrass them.
ReplyDeleteAn honest answer please - jonjo shelvey (a better player scores goals makes goals) sold for six million to the club we bought allen from for 15 million - 9 million plus shelvey. Texiera is or soon would be given the chance, better than both cost one million not bought by brendon. I judge on ability, he is suso with an end product.
ReplyDeletefor god's sake give him a chance, he's being played out of position
ReplyDelete....Even though it was Brentford who sent him back? Get your facts right.
ReplyDeleteHe didn't say Teixiera is not good enough he said 'Some of the young players are not good enough'. Speaking of young players in general going out on loan from academies to lower league teams expecting to do well just because the have come from a big club.
ReplyDeleteWe need width a lot with our current game play which isn't actually working.
ReplyDeleteOn another note, everyone get behind Liverpool FC's brothers, the Boston Red Sox, in the 2013 world series! Another WS win for FSG could really give them some subconscious confidence with Liverpool.
ReplyDeleteBased on value, obviously Jonjo is a better deal at this point.
ReplyDeleteThough a bit unfair considering Allen has been hurt for the better part of the season thus far.
If I had to pick one with the equal money and both are healthy, I'd say it's a toss-up.
They play different roles for each club but it's safe to say we vastly overpaid for Allen by meeting the buy-out clause.
Apparently Andre Wisdom is joining Derby on loan - great news as I think it will be the making of him - too good for the reserves and competitive games will help him improve quickly. I also hope this signals an unofficial partnership between the clubs which hastens Will Hughes's arrival at Anfield. Quality player which we need and someone capable of taking over from Steven Gerrard who is nearing the end as a top player.
ReplyDeleteWTF? That last statement is a stretch.
ReplyDeleteWe need another quality AM. If Tex is quality then he should be playing. We still haven't seen PC and SAS work together with all cylinders firing. We have no functioning AM right now...at all. Something has to change.
ReplyDeleteI thought they sent him back because they needed to concentrate on their own guys and couldn't guarantee Tex playing time. Sounds like an honest thing to do.
ReplyDeleteWhat's concerning for me about that is the whole point of a loan is a quick fix to fill a hole in the team with someone who is better than anyone you have.
ReplyDeleteIf he's not playing, that means they didn't consider him to that much better than who they currently have so they might as well play their long term project instead of the quick fix.
He created half a dozen chances including maybe three excellent chances with his passing and movement on Saturday and worked like a beast, give him a break.
ReplyDeleteHe is a one-dimensional footballer.
ReplyDeleteI think he is great, I am afraid they will- that is why I am asking if they can.
ReplyDeletethink he is great, I am afraid they will- that is why I am asking if they can.
ReplyDeleteNothing in my QUESTION implied I want him out...
ReplyDeleteThe width my friend is something that we aren't getting which is required to break up the play. Even though he has one dimension its something that I'd love for LFC to have rather than players who are multi dimensional but lack that one dimension which might give us an edge over other teams.
ReplyDeleteI agree. Look at how direct Andros Townsend is and the impact he has in games...all from running at defenders.
ReplyDeleteBut Rodgers wants his wingers to cut inside and width in our system comes from the full backs. I don't understand the tactics behind squeezing players into the middle of the field. That's how he gets away with Strikers (like Borini) being played out wide. It would be nice to have a Mcmanaman type player on the wing.
I was feeling optimistic, haha.
ReplyDeleteSounds like you're from New York. So why on earth did you choose the mets when even your family goes for yankees?
ReplyDeleteSorry about that. Your wording actually does imply in a way that you are unhappy with him, and hope for Chelsea being allowed to take him back.
ReplyDeleteLife story time! Well I'm originally from Southport but then we moved to New York as my dad got a job and obviously had to choose a team and because everyone loves an underdog I chose the Mets :)
ReplyDeleteReal New Yorkers are Mets fans
ReplyDeleteOr being scared they can because I am happy with him.. Never mind...
ReplyDeleteAnd nobody answered my question by the way, haha... Found out in the meantime...
ReplyDeleteThe Mets make me suffer as well... Just when I thought we would have some continuity this year, Harvey goes out and tears his elbow...
ReplyDeleteOne thing after another... I'm never surprised anymore... At this point, I just look down and shake my head in disbelief
What was the answer? Are they allowed to?
ReplyDeleteHow many teams still play with out and out wingers?
ReplyDeleteEven Southampton rely on their full backs to provide width.
If we give 8 or 9 mill there is nothing they can do about it...
ReplyDeleteRight now Liverpool have a decent squad but its not a world class squad capable of achieving a PL title or sustained CL success. every world class team needs two solid centre backs who know how to work with each other, good backup, one good defensive mid. two world class natural central midfielders. 3 world class attacking midfielders and 2/3 top strikers. I think currently we need a world class Attacking Midfielder to feed SAS and help develop Coutinho further so one day he can also become world class. we need a world class left winger as moses is only on loan and can only be seen as backup really. don't get me wrong, moses is good but wont take our club to the heights we want to reach.
ReplyDeleteif I was to choose 2 players it would be Stefan El-Shaarawy for LW and Shinji Kagawa to play number 10. Stefan El-Shaarawy in my eyes is world class, some of his play is unbelieveable at his age and he was at the start of last season expected to reach the heights of leo messi. £17M is a bargain for me and being only 20 and capable of playing at the highest level with the best players in the world, in 2-3 years you'll hear RM offering £130M for him.
As for Kagawa I also believe he is world class and genuine quality and I would love for him to share the number 10 role with coutinho. Hes obviously not wanted at Man United and that's clearly because of the depth they have. but with consistent game time, just like sturridge, I think Kagawa can be the best AM in the premier league. on form hes unstoppable but when does he ever get the chance? hardly, I think for £20M, even though were rivals, I think United will sell and I think Kagawa would push for the move anyways.
then we' have goal scoring midfielders. which is what we really need!
Not sure if anyone noticed but Honda has signed a pre-contract with Milan. Him and Valencia's Rami. I read the other day that Matuidi may be ready to leave PSG for lack of playing time and being in the final year of his contract but then I heard last night that he's played in every match so far this season. Would be a great addition for DM anyway. For me, that needs to be sorted out first so we can go back to playing 4-3-3. It doesn't matter where your width comes from as long as you stretch the pitch when you're attacking. With the full backs far up the pitch you will have more players in the middle they can play the ball to though.
ReplyDeleteConformist, are you?
ReplyDeleteIt doesn't matter how other teams play. However, throughout United's most dominant period in history, they had quality players out wide who could deliver the ball into the box and they had players breaking their necks to get in the box.
I'm just pointing out that Assaidi has no chance with Rodgers
You can't deny what a natural winger offers is better than the new style of inside forward. Borini on the wing or an out and out winger? Townsend is the current example, Macmanaman is the ultimate example.
I bet you have been watching Spurs matches because if you were then you would realise that Townsend is a left footed player and is playing down the right side of midfield as a inverted winger!
ReplyDeleteSo again, how many teams still play with out and out wingers?
A winger can play on the opposite side, that's not what I'm referring to.
ReplyDeleteI'm talking about players who on paper are in wide areas but operate as inside forwards and Rodgers has used this several times, it's how he got Borini in the team when he signed him.
Townsend is a natural winger who offers the ability to beat defenders. Direct running and crosses cause threats to the opposition. It's these traits of a natural winger that I'm referring to. Conversely, Rodgers squeezes attacking players into central positions and relies on his full backs for any width.
That is how Brazil, Barcelona and many other top teams play. Width is provided by the full backs and the attack consists of interchangeable forwards so I do not see the problem here?
ReplyDeleteIt just never seems to get better. We seem to take a step forward in progression but you know somewhere down the line will just send us back where we started.
ReplyDelete