It's fair to say that Liverpool loanee Aly Cissokho has failed to excite fans since arriving at Anfield in the summer, and like Iago Aspas, he continues to attract transfer interest from abroad, and Serie A giants AC Milan are reportedly considering a January bid for the player.
The Rossoneri agreed a deal to sign Cissokho in 2009, but the deal was scrapped after his medical revealed a 'malformation of the teeth', which the Italian club's doctors believed could cause a long-term posture problem.
Well, that unusual medical issue no longer appears to be a problem - according to Italian newspaper Tutto Sport this week, AC Milan plan to approach Valencia about the possibility of a permanent deal for Cissokho.
Cissokho - who cost Valencia €6m in 2012 - hasn't set the world alight, but he hasn't done much wrong, either, but Reds legends John Aldridge, Jimmy Case, and Phil Thompson would probably be glad to see the back of him, and all three have criticised Cissokho this season.
In a recent column for the Liverpool Echo today, Aldridge revealed that he's 'worried' about the defender's ability to handle tough Premier League games. He observed:
"Without being unkind to Cissokho, he just hasn’t fitted in yet, and I would be worried about thrusting him into a match like this [Everton] in an atmosphere like that"
Soon after than, Case told BBC Radio Merseyside:
"The more I see Aly Cissoko the less I’m happy. I wouldn’t play him there [left-back] again. His control and first touch isn't there, he can’t get past a player from a standing position and he doesn’t have the intelligence to follow the fluency of play".
LFC fans also don't rate Cissokho. Last week, Jimmy Case attacked Cissokho again, arguing the he's 'not good enough for Liverpool'. I conducted a survey on the site, asking if that's true:
* 9000 visitors (approx) voted.
* 82% of participants voted NO
That's a pretty emphatic vote of no-confidence by significant sample of Liverpool fans.
To be honest, the Reds would lose very little by terminating the loan deal in January. Jon Flanagan and Jose Enrique will be fit again very soon, and when they return, Cissokho will, in all probability, spend the rest of the season warming the bench. The club should just cut its losses, get him off the wage bill, and promote another youngster to cover Cissokho's place in the squad.
There's also the possibility that Liverpool may sign another left-back in the January transfer window, though in my view, it's not a priority position to fill right now.
Author: Jaimie K
The Rossoneri agreed a deal to sign Cissokho in 2009, but the deal was scrapped after his medical revealed a 'malformation of the teeth', which the Italian club's doctors believed could cause a long-term posture problem.
Well, that unusual medical issue no longer appears to be a problem - according to Italian newspaper Tutto Sport this week, AC Milan plan to approach Valencia about the possibility of a permanent deal for Cissokho.
Cissokho - who cost Valencia €6m in 2012 - hasn't set the world alight, but he hasn't done much wrong, either, but Reds legends John Aldridge, Jimmy Case, and Phil Thompson would probably be glad to see the back of him, and all three have criticised Cissokho this season.
In a recent column for the Liverpool Echo today, Aldridge revealed that he's 'worried' about the defender's ability to handle tough Premier League games. He observed:
"Without being unkind to Cissokho, he just hasn’t fitted in yet, and I would be worried about thrusting him into a match like this [Everton] in an atmosphere like that"
Soon after than, Case told BBC Radio Merseyside:
"The more I see Aly Cissoko the less I’m happy. I wouldn’t play him there [left-back] again. His control and first touch isn't there, he can’t get past a player from a standing position and he doesn’t have the intelligence to follow the fluency of play".
LFC fans also don't rate Cissokho. Last week, Jimmy Case attacked Cissokho again, arguing the he's 'not good enough for Liverpool'. I conducted a survey on the site, asking if that's true:
* 9000 visitors (approx) voted.
* 82% of participants voted NO
That's a pretty emphatic vote of no-confidence by significant sample of Liverpool fans.
To be honest, the Reds would lose very little by terminating the loan deal in January. Jon Flanagan and Jose Enrique will be fit again very soon, and when they return, Cissokho will, in all probability, spend the rest of the season warming the bench. The club should just cut its losses, get him off the wage bill, and promote another youngster to cover Cissokho's place in the squad.
There's also the possibility that Liverpool may sign another left-back in the January transfer window, though in my view, it's not a priority position to fill right now.
Author: Jaimie K
Not our decision but I don't think we'd miss him. The talk of the net at the moment is the possibility of Kalou moving to LFC. This is a really interesting possibility. I always liked him and he's still only 28 yrs of age. Good move?????
ReplyDeleteIsn't Brad Smith a left back?
ReplyDeletewell your view is very wrong as Aly Cissokho is a massive laibility and LB must be a serious position we should be looking at. Cissokho cost us 2 points against newcastle for lazyness, stupiness and lack of awareness. again sloppyness and slowness let sagna in to cross for cazorlas goal and he COMPLETELY ineffective. his assist for suarez header was a fluke and Suarez really made the most out of it as Cissokho was tackled anyways. jesus navas was all over him. he is always just staring at whats going instead of getting in the game. his exit against Notts County and the big grin on his face when he signed shows this club is much too big for a player like him. point is, hes probably the worst LB we've had, even worst than Konchesky and he cant play any more games against LFC.
ReplyDeleteproblem is theres not alot of LB out there but we must find a solution to this. if milan want to take him they can IMO. we dont want these stupid players at LFC and we must look into this asap. Evra is coming to the end of his United contract and IMO him and Enrique would be great at competitng for the LB spot. Evra may be old but is a excellent proffesional with greta fitness levels. we can use the pair until we can get a suitable long term LB.
LFC need to take a look at Roberto Firmino as well. young kid only 22 lighting up the bundesliga. plays Centre Midfield and has grabbed 12 goals/10 assists in 19 games. great work ethic and does both the dirty work and the scoring/assisting. great player
He's been OK as a defender, hasn't made too many mistakes and has done a good deal of what has been asked of him. Basically he's filled a role and the world hasn't ended. But is he really the kind of cutting edge left back we need to be one of the best teams in world football? No, I think that's clear enough. We don't need to persist with him so long as we have appropriate cover in the position. I think the real problem is that Enrique has issues with his knees and they seem long term. So if we need cover and we can't find any players who are clearly better then perhaps we should stick with Cissokho. On the one hand he's not providing width on the left that we need and his skills are a bit lacking, but on the other hand he is a dependable defender who doesn't put his team in trouble with ill-advised attempts. You need both in a team, but I think the second is more important. The last thing you need is for your left back to give away possession and get caught out. That will cost us goals it's never acceptable, even in the name of "attacking football". He's a good option as a conservative left back to play if we don't sign anyone else. I would pick Cissokho over some unproven youngster because at least you know what you're going to get.
ReplyDeleteI am not saying this because i disagree with you but "when he signed shows this club is much too big for a player like him." is a bit harsh, ok he's not playing well fair enough. He used to be a beast, really good for porto and lyon up until he had massive injury problems. I remember him containing ronaldo pretty well when porto played MUFC in the champions league and lost 3-2 on aggregate.
ReplyDeleteYes he's crap, but he isn't a low calibre player, just past his prime.
I am thinking about next year if we get the UCL. We'll need every player we can get. Yes he's not the most graceful guy, but he isn't terrible. If he goes we are going to have to find another defender when we should be focusing our money on more mid-fielders and another striker.
ReplyDeletewell past his prime. infact that game was his prime. when you see cissokho in the lineup every player has a proffessional photo mugshot. his one he got a big grin on his face which he cant take down as this club is too iconic for him
ReplyDeleteGlen Johnson is liability also at 31 we must look to Future But at Left and right wing back we need class players who can defend attack. Very important to bring in proven and not test projects .
ReplyDeleteKeep him for the squad until the summer then send him back.
ReplyDeleteHe's ok until summer as a back-up.
ReplyDeleteI'd like to see any of you play even as badly as he has. It's not an easy position. One minute u are all saying Enrique isn't good enough either. Enrique is class and it shows when he's out of the team. Cissoko is unlucky to have such a big task ahead of him. We are Liverpool state your opinion bit get behind the players. Freeloaders
ReplyDeletelast year a lot of calling for signing this player! The first match when he played, i was thinking did we made a mistake? He's one of the player that prostitute to Liverpool, i'm afraid salah will end up like him too!
ReplyDeletewe r not getting salah anyway...
ReplyDeleteGood read, Zelphyius. Nice work :-)
ReplyDeleteCheers. I shortened it a bit. I had to really, I was going to go on and on and on!
ReplyDeleteAn yet, y some accounts he had a decent game against Hull. Let's just see what the manager decides to do,. Ex-Liverpool players just love their opportunity to backseat manage, but as far as the team is concerned only one person's opinion really matters. There's no denying that fullbacks are an area of concern, but selling for the sake of doing so without established options is ludicrous. If we get a better option, bearing in mind it is World Cup year and it's unlikely the real quality will want to leave in January while their World Cup place is up for grabs, then by all means, why not?
ReplyDeleteWhy are people so upset that he's on the bench? Same as Moses. Has it influenced our results in a negative way? Nope. Yet it has strengthened our bench. These loan deals are not meant to provide us with options for the future. If it works out that way because a player becomes integral in the season he's on loan with us then great but if that's the case, the club we loan from may not want to sell anymore. These loan deals just give us cheap stop gaps and squad depth and that's how these players should be judged imo. I'm fine with Cissokho and Moses in the squad. Sure, I'd prefer to have 11 world class players on the pitch, 5 more on the bench and another 9 in the stands but that's not where we are right now. If Valencia want to sell him, I hope we have at least something in the loan agreement that means they have to reimburse us as it will leave us with a hole in our squad.
ReplyDeleteAmazing if we will lose on Salah after the summer we had. We could have had Makitiriyan and Salah by now at the price of Ilori let's say, or Aspas for example.
ReplyDeleteAmazing, Allen cost 15 while they apparently take ages to seal a deal on Salah which wouldn't even match that. Unbelievable. 18 for Sakho??? What's going on with Ayre and FSG? Enough.
Salah is a Suarez kind of singing. Secure it already.
It's not like I'm saying pay more then you can. But they just make every market look like a joke with the money they waste threw it, while at the same time it's like they're being ego-maniacs who play spite when they negotiate the important targets.
Never did and still don't like FSG, not a bit.
I bet if fans put on SPEND sings FSG won't spend a buck just to do spite. They don't care about the club i swear to god all they care about is rotten.
ReplyDeleteAh yes, Salah's name was in a newspaper and someone said Egyptian Messi and now he's the best player in the world that we cannot miss out on....
ReplyDeleteWhat do you know about how the club does business? We've missed out on targets because they wanted to play for other clubs, not because anyone has withheld money. The club was very clearly willing to spend big on three major targets in the summer, it just didn't work out. The fact that we've consistently spent money on a variety of players shows very much that FSG and Ayre have no issue with splashing the cash and yet somehow you turn it into a negative. What exactly is it that they've done to earn your distrust?
ReplyDeleteThree years have passed since he used to knock in a few for Chelsea,he shouldn't even be mentioned in the same sentence as LFC IMO.
ReplyDeleteTo be honest our Cissokho is not the Cissokho that played for Porto circa 2008-09. He is average at best. Flannagan offers more IMO, and Enrique a lot more.
ReplyDeleteIf he was to leave then I would not be too bothered to be honest. We have some exciting full backs coming through.
Shame about Theo...
CJ is 29
ReplyDeleteHe is, I don't know why people keep saying he's a left winger!
ReplyDeleteKalou should have singed for us when he left Chelsea. He can play LW, RW and ST so would be an interesting signing. I feel we lack experience in the wings.
ReplyDeleteIt can work both ways I guess. At the end of the day, players are the ones on the pitch performing, sometimes the manager may chose the correct tactics and team choice but the players may not be playing well or implement the tactics.
ReplyDeleteWhen RH was manager I did not doubt we would finish much higher up the table but certainly sacking him was the best decision. Same with KD. But given time then maybe they could have turned it around. It's a tough one.
One thing is clear, if I own a business and the manager I hired is nor performing or its staff then I would sack them. So really and truly the owners have the right.
Whether it's right or wrong I cannot comment.
I wouldn't be disappointed if he came to LFC. I think he is a good player and still has a lot to offer. He has stated he would like to return to the EPL and LFC are being linked with him by many sites. At least he's a proven performer who could drop straight in the team.
ReplyDeleteHow do you fill that gap in less than half a season?
ReplyDeleteMy point is the were on par before anyone had really settled in. You think you can let seven first team squad players go (One being Bale) and bring in something like eight players and expect it all to work out straight away?
ReplyDeleteThe point would be closer to if we sold, Parker not a regular but valuable squad player, generally did a job, Dempsey (scored something like 12 goals last season) Gallas and Caulker, (Galas old Caulker young but both would get in my team ahead of Dawson).Assou Ekotto (Terrible attitude but like possibly their best left back, and of course the best player and top goal scorer. As well as Hudleston. To put that in to context it would be like losing Allen, Enrique, Ilori and Agger and then I have trouble as who has scored 12 goals for us last year or whatever from midfield? As well as Suarez and a back up midfielder. That is a lot of turnover and while the argument could be that such a big turn over was folly, if you as a chairman decide that that is OK and you have someone bringing in players then surely a whole season is only fair to make it all work. Don't you think?
Good point re Pochetino.
It's not about this one summer though. His first year he brought in Vertonghen, Dempsey, Sigurdson, Adebayor, Dembele, Lloris, Fryers and Holtby and I think only Vertonghen and Lloris can be considered useful buys. Sounds to me like a man without a plan.
ReplyDeleteNot sold on Flanno either though, yes he's been pretty sturdy at the back over the few games he's played this season but he is still prone to an absolute shocker as he proved on more than one occasion last year. I really hope he does make it at Liverpool but I still cringe every time I see his name on the team sheet wondering which Flanno is going to turn up today.
ReplyDeleteWhat? Lloris is one of the best keepers in the prem (despite recent slight slump) Dempsey scored 12 goals, second highest scorer in the team despite not always starting.Sigurdson only started to show form at the end of the season but has qualities and is still quite young. Dembele is still arguably there best midfielder, Adebayour is lazy and selfish but after his loan which was quite good (Jaimie had posted stats the other day I won't look now) it is understandable why he signed him. He has talent. Holtby was relatively cheap considering his reputation in Germany and again was worth a punt. So Dembele, Dempsey (one season but again 12 goals), Lloris, Vertonghen,were all success to some degree. Adebuyor and Sigurdson could be argued over for sure. 5 of 8 is not bad and considering he didn't spend all that much net and had lost Modric and Van der Vaart I think the highest points tally in their history was a decent showing. Unfortunately for them Arsenal were phenomonal in 2013 and went on a ridiculous run otherwise Spurs may have been playing Champo this year.
ReplyDeleteFor the record I would love Lloris, Dembele and Vertonghen in our side. I think that Holtby and Sigurdson have more to offer too. I would rather either compared to Moses.