Have you heard this yet.

Torres has been signed to do a lot more that just finish off chances. He is very much the sort of player who can unlock defences and create chances for both himself and other players.

There’s actually a big difference being not being known for tracking back and acting like your above it. I’ve watched countless clips of Ronaldo losing the ball and not even chasing back to recover it. Henry was a striker and they get special dispensation, up to a point. Sometimes he could have done a bit more but, when their back was to wall, he generally didn’t go missing. Strange as it may sound, I’ve never been completly convinced by Ronaldinho. He’s got quality but I wouldn’t put him up there with Maradona or Cruyff or Best.

I’m sorry but there really isn’t any one ’special player’ that’s going to turn us in to a great team.

Henry? Ronaldinho? Not known for tracking back but they are great players. If Ronaldo repeats last season’s displays he won’t be far off either.

If we don’t sign anyone after Babel we’ll have a very stron squad with good balance and might just challenge. If we signed one “special” player I would expect us to challenge rather than hope.

Nice to have the majority of signings in place for pre-season training though!

The thing is, I wouldn’t take Ronaldo. I dislike any player who won’t chase back. All the true greats did.

We do, on the whole, agree. I just don’t think it’ll be a major disappointment if we don’t sign anyone after Babel.

A fully fit Kewell would be great and he did show encouraging signs at the end of last season. Having said that I don’t think he played in more than 5 games and he didn’t complete a single 90 minutes. Solskjaer did well for part of last season but is injured again. Berger had a decent cameo even by Villa’s standards. I take your point though.

Kewell can be useful but I don’t think we can rely on him next season. If we can get another first choice left-winger we should and if Kewell gets fit he should be good enough to get into the team. I do have my doubts about Kewell’s attitude though. As in I wonder if he has the mental strength required to get back on form.

A willingness to dig deep is no bad thing. All I’m saying is that those who tend to be able to tend to be decent going forward whereas the truly gifted attacking players don’t tend to do defensive work. I think our squad needs both. And yes, I’d take Ronaldo.

I think we need true creative attacking players and wingers who can stay wide and cross. Giggs did play wide at times and don’t forget Ronaldo.

Benayoun will give us creativity. Who are the other two we’ve signed?

I’m guessing we’ll see the formation rotate as much as the personnel next season.

Even John Barnes in his pomp was expected to get back and help out. Why is a willingness to dig in a drawback? Benayoun can attack. With lethal intent. He is creative. More so than Houghton in my opinion. He can go past players. He can run the touchline. It’s just he can do alot more. He’s not Ronaldo but who wants some perfume ponce preening himself when the opposition are pressing down on you.

The discrepency in our opinions here boils down to this one thing. I don’t believe it all comes down to whether we have a player who can run into the corner and throw in a cross. It’s handy, yes, but what we’ve lacked, since Houlliers time even, is true creative attacking players. We’ve just signed three players capable of unlocking a defence. Man Utd won the league last season with only one orthodox winger - Ryan Giggs, and he played most of the time in the middle of the park.

By an out-an-out winger I mean someone who runs the touchline and stays out wide. One of the reasons that we’ve struggled to break down defences has been that Pennant is the only player on our books who doesn’t come inside (and Kewell but he hasn’t played) and he’s been hit and miss. Looked good at the end of last season though so fingers crossed.

I am happy with this summer’s signings but I feel that the special players are within our grasp and it would be a missed opportunity not to grab them. Having said that though I trust Rafa’s judgment on the players who can do what he wants.

You’re right about the 3 pronged attack. A player like Babel looks very suited to that system. Benitez used a 4-2-3-1 system at Valencia and it looks like he’s signing players for that now too. Hope he remembers to keep his 4-4-2 options open for the Premiership though.

Did you read my initial post Bif? I’m delighted with the signing of Benayoun. I expect him to do well and think he might be the next Ray Houghton (not that I like to compare players like that, but in terms of the options he brings).

My reservations are about the squad not the player. The fact he can contribute defencively is good, but why do we always look to sign wingers who can defend. A winger who can attack gives more going forward and sometimes that’s what is needed. It’s not like Finnan needs much help now is it?

Don’t know much about Mancini but I don’t know what all the fuss was about Simao. I’d take Benayoun over him any day. I’m also not entirely sure what you mean about an out-and-out winger. What does an out-and-out winger give us that a winger who can pull inside or play more centrally offer us? The reason Quaresma featured high on our list of targets in the first place was, surely, because of his ability to play in the hole as well. What we’ve needed over the last few seasons is a creative player with the ability to unlock defences. We’ve just signed three and we have, potentially, another one coming back from a lengthy lay-off - fresh and determined to prove a point. It’d be lovely to have another but we’re making progress.

At the moment it looks like Rafa will use Kewell and Pennant(and yes I share your reservations there) as his more direct wingers and Yossi/Babel when he wants someone who will cut in and cause a bit of chaos. It’s also possible we’ll see him using a Dutch-style three-pronged frontline more often.

I’m curious, do you not remember the FA cup final two seasons back when Benayoun ran us ragged and still managed to, somehow, turn up at the back throwing in decisive challenges. He’s a real Liverpool player and I’m betting he’ll have a much bigger impact that you’re imagining he will.