Veronin barely featured because he got injured and because he's sh*t. We need better cover up front than a player better suited to Bolton. Houllier had Owen, Anelka, Heskey and Litmanen in 2002 and we need that sort of depth now too. If Houllier could get those kind of strikers within budet Benitez should be able to do better to.
Er, Owen was already at the club when Houllier arrived. He chose to let his contract run down under Houllier and had already decided to leave before Benitez arrived. So Houllier lost us Owen, rather than finding him.
Anelka was on loan. Houllier opted not to sign him on a permanent deal, more fool him.
Heskey cost £11m, or about £20m by today's money. He did okay, but he was hardly a resounding success.
Litmanen was free because he was physically past it; he barely played for us because he was always injured, which is why he left Barcelona. Great player on paper, but offered us very little as rarely played.
So what's your point? Torres is better than the lot of them, btw, and Crouch is better than Heskey. Kuyt, meanwhile, has scored more goals in two years at the club than Litmanen did. And as much as I loved Jari and don't rate Voronin that highly, Voronin has done no worse than Litmanen, who perhaps wasn't given much of a chance, but only had a few excellent matches.
Yes, we need more depth up front, but it's disingenuous to say Houllier did well to get those players on a budget when the only success was inherited!
Kuyt has got one goal in open play in the league all season.
Of course. But against PREMIERSHIP sides - and two of the best at that - he scored crucial CL goals from the right wing. He got 12 league goals the season before, so he's a good option to use from the wing. He can score against Premiership defences - he's like Ljungberg in that he score goals when starting out wide.
Maybe we can get better than Kuyt, but this "we won't win the league with players like X, Y or Z" is rubbish. You need players like Kuyt. United have had their Phil Nevilles, Darren Fletchers, Wes Browns and Parks. I have no worries if Kuyt plays on the right for us next season.
Portsmouth are an example. The point is pretty obvious; you have to beat the trashy teams home and away to win the league.
Yeah, I know it was an example. But a sh*t one. The fact you called Portsmouth "trashy" shows your ignorance.