Riise

[Dominus Maximus]

I don't like him. And it's wierd. he is the only player in the squad i wouldn't mind leaving. Just feel like he is a waste of space. Not good enough as a left back, not at all good enough as a winger. Can't drible, doesn't cross. Just receives the ball and shoots from the distance. He said in an interview that if we signed Heinze he might look for another club in order to get playing time. Well let's sign heinze quickly.

Sorry Johnny.

[anny road]

i noticed your ramblings during the match thread i was reading earlier

 

I am not a massive Riise fan, but he is good enopugh to do a job...however, we need a better option at Left Back

 

the probloem with him is he isnt brave, positionally he is poor at times

 

he can do a job at left side of midfield, however he wouldnt be 1st choice if Kewell and Babel are ok

 

squad player

 

i think you are over reacting however

 

if he was as s**** as you say he wouldnt have been at Liverpool for 6 years

[Dominus Maximus]

i noticed your ramblings during the match thread i was reading earlier

 

I am not a massive Riise fan, but he is good enopugh to do a job...however, we need a better option at Left Back

 

the probloem with him is he isnt brave, positionally he is poor at times

 

he can do a job at left side of midfield, however he wouldnt be 1st choice if Kewell and Babel are ok

 

squad player

 

i think you are over reacting however

 

if he was as s**** as you say he wouldnt have been at Liverpool for 6 years

 

Noted, and he has done a lot of good things for us. He has been a loyal servant, but so was Hyppia, and we are fine now post-Hyppia wise. The thing is with Riise at the left mid, we can't play that side. One of his dribbles yesterday, was him running direct at the defender, no change of direction just straight through him, and he lost the ball. This is not based on yeasterdays game only, but a larger scale of games in where he always does the same. He is a weapon in the shooting category, but nothing more. And with Babel and Yossi, Heinze maybe, Arbeloa, it just feels wrong that he is still here. Guess with the market price, we could easily get 7-8 mil out of him.

Edited August 12, 2007 by Flamingo Crouch

[JimmyF]

He shouldnt play another game as a LM, a reserve LB he would be decent

[dorgie]

Had Laursen not put the 1st goal in, Riise was lining it up with his right foot. It was a relief to see Laursen putting it in

[Stevie H]

he's a great athlete, has a great left foot, but his decision making has never improved in all his time with us. he's enormously frustrating.

[Kvarme Ate My Food]

I'm no great fan either, but I still think we'd struggle to find a better left-sided squad player

[Falconhoof]

There were tackles to be made and 50-50 balls he stood off yesterday. He's meant to be the more defensive of our left midfielders but I just don't see him getting a foot in. Kewell makes more tackles than Riise.

Riise is OK, a decent squad player but he'll struggle to hold down a regular place if we get Heinze, because I can't see him playing left midfield very often when we have Babel, Kewell and Leto for that position.

 

Wouldn't be surprised to see him move next summer.

[Stevie H]

I'm no great fan either, but I still think we'd struggle to find a better left-sided squad player

think this is true. many clubs would be delighted to have him in their squads.

[RafaShanks]

Neither good enough for left back or left wing.

 

If only he had a football brain.

[Earl Hafler]

think this is true. many clubs would be delighted to have him in their squads.

 

Quite possibly but would he figure so prominently for the Mancs, Arsenal or Chelsea ?

 

I think he's a good player to have in the squad but i think he's the weak link in the side. He hasn't improved all the time he's been here. Maybe defensively his positioning has improved a touch but he can't use his right foot and contiues to make poor decisions on shooting / passing.

 

I think he's a good example of someone playing modern football based more on their levels of fitness than talent.

Edited August 12, 2007 by Big Stuff

[yellow jumper]

he made one crucial intervention defensively, created a decent opportunity at the other end and won loads of ball in the air, just for anyone who can't see past the negatives.

 

was an average performance with the usual limitations, but that's it. there are plenty of others in the team who were the same.

[rikf]

The thing with Riise is he remind me of Cisse in a way, both excellent athletes, but with somewhat limited footballing abilities.

 

Now admittedly Riise does add a goal threat down the left hand side, but the question is would the team provide a great goal threat with someone down the left hand side who was more intelligent with the ball, and who could maybe go past his man using a bit of guile rather then the classis Riise/Cisse technique of punt it past them and try to race past which rarely if ever works.

 

I Also think sometime he may be trying to hard to do something special all the time, like he is trying to seek approval from the rest of the team/the fans /who knows.

 

Iv lost count of the number of times iv seen Riise receive the ball at lb/lm and seen someone screaming for him to play them in with a quick pass and he just dithers on the ball and the opportunity for some nice incisive attacking play is lost. Now im not tactical genius but I feel with him in the team maybe opposition teams can concentrate there defense more to our right hand side. I don't think he is a bad player to have in the squad as he does provider a goal threat, but I do believe the team would play better with a better "footballer" in that position.

Edited August 12, 2007 by rikf

[RedLars]

I don't like him. And it's wierd. he is the only player in the squad i wouldn't mind leaving. Just feel like he is a waste of space. Not good enough as a left back, not at all good enough as a winger. Can't drible, doesn't cross. Just receives the ball and shoots from the distance. He said in an interview that if we signed Heinze he might look for another club in order to get playing time. Well let's sign heinze quickly.

Sorry Johnny.

 

Thats very harsh.

 

Not my favorite player and clearly has his limitations.

 

But he's player 300 odd games for us and been an integral part of a very solid defence.

[Guest Portly]

As a footballer, Johnny Riise is very imperfect. He is no better than OK as a defender, and he is poor playing LM, mainly because his one-footedness is such a handicap. Often, promising moves come to nothing when Johnny runs round in circles trying to get the ball on his left foot.

 

However, it always seems to me that Riise is more than the sum of his parts. He is a "character" and adds something indefinable to the team, so that we always seem to play better with him than without him.

[slapnuts]

Had Laursen not put the 1st goal in, Riise was lining it up with his right foot. It was a relief to see Laursen putting it in

 

 

Barcelona

[Guest Sabre]

I think he's ok. I think Aurelio brings more to the team but Riise is a great athlete who is hardly injured. What happened to Kewell yesterday?

[dorgie]

Barcelona

 

Pedant

 

I try not to let the truth get in the way when I'm trying to put a point across :-)

[John am Rhein]

The thing with Riise is he remind me of Cisse in a way, both excellent athletes, but with somewhat limited footballing abilities.

 

Now admittedly Riise does add a goal threat down the left hand side, but the question is would the team provide a great goal threat with someone down the left hand side who was more intelligent with the ball, and who could maybe go past his man using a bit of guile rather then the classis Riise/Cisse technique of punt it past them and try to race past which rarely if ever works.

 

I Also think sometime he may be trying to hard to do something special all the time, like he is trying to seek approval from the rest of the team/the fans /who knows.

 

Iv lost count of the number of times iv seen Riise receive the ball at lb/lm and seen someone screaming for him to play them in with a quick pass and he just dithers on the ball and the opportunity for some nice incisive attacking play is lost. Now im not tactical genius but I feel with him in the team maybe opposition teams can concentrate there defense more to our right hand side. I don't think he is a bad player to have in the squad as he does provider a goal threat, but I do believe the team would play better with a better "footballer" in that position.

 

I think there's a lot of truth in what you're saying. If Riise plays at left back the limitations of his passing game make us less effective while he's a bit of a weak link (though improved, IMO) defensively. On the other hand, if he plays left-midfield, he's a genuine goal threat - because he shoots well and playing midfield enables him to get into shooting range - and, ideally, someone else is providing defensive cover behind him.

 

The above would work better if we had a left back as good as Finnan is on the right, of course.

[IgPig]

Kaizer will be along soon to tell you he is better than Pele and A-Ha were better than the Beatles.

[Guest Kaizer]

Riise did not have a great game, but he helped neutralize Villa`s right side completely and he was involved in our two biggest chances in the match.

 

He would maybe have scored as well if not Laursen did score that own goal, so even with an under par performance from Riise he contributed a lot more in the match than a lot of other players.

[IgPig]

What about A-Ha?

[John am Rhein]

What was it Paul Gascoigne said about Norway?

[Sion]

I started the Riise enmity when I first joined, and got laughed at, you're all bandwagon haters. Hopefully Heinze/Other new LB/Aurelio will keep him away from LB, and Babel/Kewell will keep him outta LM. We can do much better

[Guest Kaizer]

What was it Paul Gascoigne said about Norway?

 

He said f*** off Norway in training, Norway answered f*** off back on the pitch.