Alvaro Arbeloa Player Thread

I think he's an unsung hero and is pretty underrated. People talk about Rafael, Bosingwa, Sagna and others but I think Arbeloa just doesn't get the recognition he deserves.

Two reasons why mate

1 - he plays for Liverpool and our lesser name players if you like don't get mentioned. Look at Insua for example, not even in the running for young player of the year which is why the awards are no way to judge a player. Reina, best keeper in the land for the last three or four years but it's still Cech, Van Der Sar, Jaskallienan, Friedel and Given who get the plaudits. So because Arby is a lesser name people do not notice him, fortunately the majority of fans of this club and the manager of this club do notice what he brings. He's a top quality full back and without being biased I'd say he's as good as anything in the league. Once he knocks the silly fouls on the head, he'll be fine all round defender. The only work needed then would be his attacking which for a right back isn't bad.

2 - he didn't cost the end of the earth. Pundits on the telly are of the belief that if a player cost a lot of money he must be a good player. That's why the likes of Bosinghwa is raved about when he's actually been a huge disappointment. Again you only need to look at the likes of Agger and Skrtel, both relatively cheap in comparison to the of the league so hardly get a mention. But huge transfers such as Carvalho and Ferdinand who are not much better, if at all, than our Dane and Slovak. So because of Arby's cheap fee, he goes under the radar.

What Arbeloa has proved is that Rafa Benitez knows a good transfer bargain when he sees one. Benitez is good at shopping at the lower end of the transfer market which is one reason why when people bemoan our lack of transfer funds holding us back from winning titles holds no weight. He buys quality players on the cheap and Arbeloa is just another to add to the list.

Arby will be transfered to Madrid by Wednesday I reckon, Photo's of him on Marca with both our shirt and Madrid's sat at a table. Maybe why he did not feature ?

Alvaro Arbeloa player of Real Madrid next week by 4.5 million pounds (about 5.2 billion euros).  Moreover, the British press spoke of the request for Klaas-Jan Huntelaar will pay for that leave.

Arbeloa, a step of returning to Real Madrid the player will return to the club that was formed in the next week, both sides reached an agreement for 5.2 million euros, an amount between what began offering Madrid (four million) and he called on Liverpool (almost 10).

www.marca.com

Hmm?

When did they take that picture?

I'm sure his hair is longer than it is in the picture. Just met him 2 days ago. Does it mean that Huntelaar will move to Liverpool? It doesn't really say that clearly.

Huntellar will be sold to fund the move and create space in their squad, lost in google translation

Its looking pretty definite that Arby's leaving. He was a great buy, an absolute bargain but I think Rafa was right to bring in someone like Johnson. Arbeloa is solid as a rock but he definitely lacks a bit going forward. I think if we're going for number 19 we need full-backs who are going to attack their opposite player. The fact is most clubs won't push forward against us so we need someone who will add a little pace and flair to break them down. I don't think Arbeloa ever really offered that and with Kuyt not being the traditional winger its something we really need

Keep the transfer talk about Arbeloa in his transfer thread please lads. http://www.lfcreds.com/reds/index.php?topic=18919.0

Arbeloa is solid as a rock but he definitely lacks a bit going forward. I think if we're going for number 19 we need full-backs who are going to attack their opposite player. The fact is most clubs won't push forward against us so we need someone who will add a little pace and flair to break them down. I don't think Arbeloa ever really offered that and with Kuyt not being the traditional winger its something we really need

Pretty much nail on the head there Shaner.

Arby was one of those straight forward players, predictable players who you would know how he'll go about his business because he does things pretty standard.

With Johnson it will probably be an upgrade considering he has great ball sense, creativity about him. I wouldn't jump into conclusions but I just hope that Johnson would prove to be the signing to win us the title.

Sry mate but you have no chance in starting over Ramos or winning anything next year.

http://www.insidefutbol.com/2009/07/28/alvaro-arbeloa-swaps-liverpool-for-real-madrid-deal-done/

I'm not a big Arbeloa fan and I know he has only one year left on his contract, but why were so desperate to sell him for peanuts, 4.2 million euros is shocking for a 26 year old current Spanish international.

 Why do we always undersell ourselves and why didn't we just keep him for the last year of his contract. Are we that desperate for money. I feel we needed Arbeloa versatility this season, Darby isn't ready if Johnson is injured and it looks like Dossena is going also and with Aureilo injured at the moment we will be starting the season fairly bare at full back.

Agreed about the price, that'd be just over £3million by my guess which is quite a measly figure considering he was being valued at about £8million only a few months ago.  As far as I'm concerned, if a valuation is set by Rafa he should stick to it and I surely hope he's not being forced to sell at any mediocre price by those c**t yanks at the top.  It seems to me that we're being held to ransom by Real Madrid over both Arbeloa and Alonso, as it appears they keep talking down the asking price for both.  IMO it should be no less than £8million and £35million respectively, and that is no overestimation in this current transfer market.

I suppose being in his last year and with the possibility of a bosman at the end of next season not to mention his desire to return to Spain, selling Arbeloa now is the wise option.  But I'd rather either sell him for a higher, more reasonable price or keeping him here even with the threat of him leaving on a free next year if it means the versatility and obvious strength in depth he brings, help deliver us the league title this year.

Its a bit difficult to demand a large fee for a player with one year on his contract, as next year they can get him on a free.

Liverpool agree Arbeloa transfer

Liverpool today confirmed they have reached agreement with Real Madrid for the transfer of Alvaro Arbeloa to the La Liga side.

A Liverpool spokesman said: "We have agreed a fee with Real Madrid for the transfer of the player, subject to him completing a medical."

Link

This thread will be locked in half an hour. So if you want to say goodbye to Alvaro, go for it.

Adios Arby.

Good luck Arby make sure you put a few strong tackles in against ladyboy in training.

This could be a bollock dropped on our part ,how the fck do real always nick our players for peanuts what the fck do they have on us ,just made a bad day even worse,even so good luck ARBY.

Good luck at RM Arby, you've been a good player for us.

This could be a bollock dropped on our part ,how the fck do real always nick our players for peanuts what the fck do they have on us ,just made a bad day even worse,even so good luck ARBY.

Would have been good to keep him as backup but Glen is a better option at RB so I don't think Arby would have gotten many games.

Not much to say.

All the best, hope you do well individually, but I can't bring myself to wish your team well after the sh*t they've put us through this summer. I hope Real fail terribly.

Thanks for giving your all in the Red shirt.

Topic Locked.

Further discussion on Arbeloa's bench warming career at Real Madrid is here.

http://www.lfcreds.com/reds/index.php?topic=20728.0