Alberto Aquilani may have gotten one of his biggest boosts in his Liverpool career to date. John Henry tweeted, “One missing link last year: Aquilani” following the Italian’s great display for Liverpool against the Malaysia XI on Saturday.
Liverpool went on to win the match 6-3 and Aquilani was instrumental in the second half, pulling the strings and providing assist from midfield. Aquilani is continually linked with a move away from Liverpool as he is thought to be surplus to requirements following the signings of Jordan Henderson and Charlie Adam.
I know it is not good to judge a player from one pre-season game against average opposition but you have to give Aquilani credit for putting in such a display. Maybe he was playing to put himself in the shop window for other clubs to take notice of him and come in with a bid for him that meets Liverpool’s valuation, or he was simply playing to show those at Liverpool that he can stay and be part of the team next season.
John Henry certainly seems to think that Aquilani should stay this coming season.
Below is a video showing highlights of Aquilani’s display against the Malaysia XI.
Do you think Aquilani should stay at Liverpool or should we cash in on him?
pls king keep aqua he has always being a fantastic midfielder. Can be compared to steven G anytime anyday
i agree aquilani should stay, there never was any doubt about his quality. i just worry about keeping him fit.
Keep him!!
YNWA
Aqua must stay!!!
I have said all along that we should never have loaned him out last season as you could see the from the few games that he played towards the end of the season before that he could cope with the premiership. you could see that he has class and keeps the ball moving and create attacking moves.
Its not like Aquilani showed us anything new in this game. Most of us already new he was extremely talented. His only weakness has been injuries. If he is fit, he is the best player we have to link the mid and the attack. He thinks like Gerrard and Suarez. They will link well.
dont think about selling him. This is pure class
Aquaman has always been good, Hodgson behaved like an idiot by farming him out, simple truth is, HOdgson didn’t like him because he did not fit into his ridiculous gameplan of heavy defensive play, Hodgson had no idea how to utilise a player of Aqua’s calibre.
Last year there were only 2 players that had the creative spark Liverpool so desperately needed, Aqua was one, Cole was the other.
Every team needs a player with this ability, and Aqua, given the chance can equal or even surpass the abilities of Xabi Alonso.
I think Kenny recognises this and is more than happy to play him, realising that he never received the chance he deserved under chump Hodgson, we should also bear in mind, he was playing with a very deflated team at the time, yet, there were glimpses of his quality.
He proved himself yet again with Juventus, and again, circumstances went against him, with another manager not recognising his ability and choosing to let him return to LFC.
I love watching the artistry the likes of Aqua employ, his play is in the mould of Zola, Bergkamp and Cantona, that ability to pick a pass that no defence can do anything about, the pass that leaves the striker one on one, aside from a goal, this type of assist is what makes football the beautiful game.
With Adams in with Aqua and Gerrard, and the steel of Lucas, we will finally have a team that has the possibility to rip the opposition defence to shreds, so now we have those sublime skills in place and skills that Suarez will thrive on (he will be the target man for this type of play), while Downing and Carroll mix it by using the route one approach.
It is great that Henry recognises Aqua’s potential and it goes a long way to dispel any murmurs of another American (ala Hicks and Gillett) who does not know about football, Henry clearly has a passion for this, he likes what he sees and hope that Henry personally will stand in the way of Aquaman being pushed out, but I don’t believe Kenny has that in mind.
Technically the best footballer at the club, intelligence, positioning, vision and awareness allied to a brilliant first touch – it would be insanity to let him leave. The thought of him linking with Gerrard, Suarez, Downing, Carroll, Maxi, Kuyt and Agger is a mouth watering prospect.
King kenny, pls keep Alberto bcos he has something to offer.
@Gerorge Jones!!!, Insanity is spot on mate, the fella has class stamped all over him……..to sell him would be criminal……Juve made a huge mistake not signing him!!!!
A crazy amount of over reaction here! I’m not saying that he is not a very good footballer I do believe under Kenny he can play a part in liverpool, this is just one preformance against an average side though. Judge him over the course of a season!
I just love the way mr. John Henry care with LFC like a father love his son. I see the future is bright! Ynwa!
That half field shot on was Alonso-esque…and it was on target!!!
4 me, i think aquilani should stay at lfc becos he has something special to offer. Pls kk keep him and give him chance to prove himself and u will see that he wil perform braniantly and absolutely thanks.
GET RID! Him Gerard Carrol Suarez Reina, Ye get rid of all the rubbish… Huh
P.S from above Mark (above) says it all
HE WILL BE A HUGE ASSET.
he did very well but he wont get that amount of time on the ball at stoke bolton blackburn etc etc
I have always liked Aquilani he is a fantastic player, please keep him.
How in hell Roy.H could send him on a loan is insane when we know what he did get in!.
I will be devastated if Aquilani leaves.
the man is s**t HOT in the central midfield. Awesom passing, has to be in starting line up. We need someone like him with his technical ability, silky moves and fancy flicks. It has been missed ever since Xabi left.
Just like Henry said, “The missing link”
I think we’ve signed Doni on a free so aqua will have another Italian speaker in the team to help him setle in Liverpool. And he knows him from his Roma days
Keep him, should never have been loaned out. This is a Liverpool side with a heavy midfield which can be rotated to match the type of game the team requires on the day.
You cannot judge anyone in a 45 minute display of football, but what you can’t get away from is Aquilani played a part in every goal in them 45 minutes, his past to N’gog’s goal was world class.
His vision alone created space to split their defence open time and time again, and the cheeky long ball lob, it nearly came off and if it had would have rated along side Alonzo’s.
Judge him on this season, he is not the injured player he was, he is now back to fitness so lets see how he plays under Kenny’s plans.
I’m looking forward to this season, as always, come on Redmen.
am supprised at such amount of support for aqua and am double happy cause I saw glimps of what he could do in the few games under Roy. He is very creative, keep him please kk, God bles LFC
Aqualini isnt half the Premier League player even Scott Parker , who isnt half the player Gerrard is , is .
In that video I seen a player with a heavy touch giving overhit hospital balls to his team mates & wasting possession against inferior opposition with irresponsible flicks & half touches , he also risked a stupid back heel in a very dangerous area to our cb when caught dilly dallying on the ball by a peasant part time footballer .
It takes a lot to make Joe Coles first season look successful but well done Aquilani not only did you manage that in one single video compilation but you also proved why Juve didnt wanna spend on you & why it was right to sack Rafa The Shop-a-Holic with money burning a hole in his pocket .
Hey lads, Darren Clarke the Golfer and massive Liverpool fan has just won the British Open…….YNWA Darren Clarke!!!!!
Exasperated, you simply have no clue do you? Obviously you idea of tactic must align with that of Hodgson, and you would prefer Liverpool hoof up the field with every attack as it’s the simplest approach.
While you might think Aquilani made some mistakes you completely miss the bigger picture, in that he is showing the ability of a player that with more confidence has the ability of unlocking defenses without resorting to the hit and hope tactics you would prefer.
This sort of player takes risks, it is what being creative is all about, they will make more mistakes than others because of this, even Messi doesn’t succeed all of the time, so stop knocking what you clearly have little understanding of, and learn about football, everyone else on this site can see Aqua’s potential and why Liverpool has been crying out for someone like this since Xabi left.
Yer obviously very new to the game Mark , it musta been a slow week of gossip at the Hairdressers the day you turned the newspaper to the sports pages .
So you want to talk about the potential of a 27 year old player do ya ?
Heres a clue , if he hasn’t fulfilled his potential by the time he is 27 he shouldn’t be any where near a top 6 club let alone our club , we are nobody’s nursery school .
You obviously arent aware we have Jovanovich , Cole , Pacheco , Meireles ,Shelvey & Maxi & they like your true love Aquilani have the “confidence” to play like irresponsible ponces & are willing to sacrifice possession for the selfish gain of media headlines which lead to advertisement deals for them .
Messi , seeing as you seem to have over looked this , has a team built around him at Barca which is what you need to do to play with a “Playmaker” & that system of Play is uniquely Continental , it doesnt happen anywhere in Britain because of the pace & physicality of the game .
Even it did ?
You want to play Aqualini ahead of our best player Gerrard & build the team around him ?
You are beyond stupid , you even compare him to Alonso who played a complete different role .
Do your parents know you are online embarrassing your upbringing ?
You do realize there are Liverpool fans that know what its like to win a League dont you ?
Or do you ?
A couple of nice balls through to nGog from Aquilani ..its looking good for the reserves this season..they should link up well together.J Henry’s heart is in the right place though
I dont care wher his heart is just so long as his head is in the right place & he keeps his beak outa team affairs & lets Kenny get on with what Kenny does better than any man alive , namely winning League Titles for LFC .
Henry needs a course in the difference between an Arse & an Elbow before he goes bleating on Twitter again .
It was only a few weeks ago he tweeted that we fans should disregard speculation linking us to “Players of a Certain Age” & then we go & sign a 31 year old Keeper !!!
He’s in danger of talking outa his ass so much like Wegner does that nobody in the football world will respect him , not even his own clubs fans or in Wegners case not even his own players !
yes he shoiuld stay.. i saw the match he has been amjor instrumental in 3 of the goals..
he has a keen vision and good passing..