Summer Transfers 2014

[Dr Nowt]

I wasn't being pedantalisitc. Let alone extremely.

 

Of course Suarez is a striker.

Right, and whether that player is deemed back-up or equal first choice in a 4-4-2 diamond/interchanging from a wider position, we are agreed that we need to buy someone who can at least play in place of Sturridge whenever he isn't available; another senior striker on our roster.

 

We should absolutely also be looking for the other type of player being mentioned from an attacking point of view, but there have been a number of clues that this will remain a forlorn hope. If it is effectively a choice between a striker or such a player who isn't able to lead the line in place of an often absent Sturridge, the latter option would arguably leave the squad even more unbalanced by Suarez's departure than the former would.

 

Both would be perfect, but it appears at this stage we will essentially be going for the least worst option, and just hoping to replace Suarez as a striker with the best we can come up with so late in the day.

[stringvest]

no I'm not Sir, and I'm gonna moan until first PL game, so piss of or ignore

 

you are incredibly boring.  Everyone says so.  

[Boss]

I can understand all our signings except Lallana and Lambert, they make no sense to me. 25 million on a player that's not as good as Coutinho, that'll be 27 next year, should of took that money and bought Pjanic or Firmino, both are better already with scope to improve further.

 

Lambert i just can't get my head around either, it actually pisses me off seeing his name next to the others, he's just not good enough to play for Liverpool, hence the reason why he was let go by us years ago, hence an entire career in the lower leagues and the fact that everyone scoffed at the idea three years ago when Kenny wanted to sign him, then it was "Rickie Lambert?! fuck off" now it's "Rickie Lambert will do a job".

 

Can looks like a bargain, Markovic is class, Lovren is exactly what we need, Moreno will sort out the left flank, even Origi is smart business because he fits our style of play and his potential is vast, but those two just irk me.

[JoeyJones65]

 

The concern here is the fact that the closer we get to the start of the season short upfront, the higher the risk becomes of a panic buy like Jay Rodriguez or a shit loan signing along the lines of Victor Moses - (shudder).

 

My biggest dread is seeing a drip feed of excuses coming from the likes of Tony Barrett as to why we will go into the season without the much needed reinforcements upfront...then I for one will really be worried.

[Jose Jones]

We haven't finished selling yet, it would seem we're likely to get another £25m for borini and agger. As I said a few weeks back, I will be shocked if we spend more than £10-20m net this summer. If we don't replace Suarez, that's just fucking incompetence even if they spend £500m.

Yeah and I'd be fine with a reasonably small net spend to be honest because it's still going to be over 100 million quid going out the door on new players and we're only losing one player the manager wanted to keep.

 

I don't think Rodgers could complain that he wasn't backed whereas he definitely got screwed over on a couple of previous windows and left short.

[Barrington Womble]

Yeah and I'd be fine with a reasonably small net spend to be honest because it's still going to be over 100 million quid going out the door on new players and we're only losing one player the manager wanted to keep.

 

I don't think Rodgers could complain that he wasn't backed whereas he definitely got screwed over on a couple of previous windows and left short.

But he supposedly has money from those windows, that's what we keep getting told.

[JohnnyH]

I can understand all our signings except Lallana and Lambert, they make no sense to me. 25 million on a player that's not as good as Coutinho, that'll be 27 next year, should of took that money and bought Pjanic or Firmino, both are better already with scope to improve further.

 

Lambert i just can't get my head around either, it actually pisses me off seeing his name next to the others, he's just not good enough to play for Liverpool, hence the reason why he was let go by us years ago, hence an entire career in the lower leagues and the fact that everyone scoffed at the idea three years ago when Kenny wanted to sign him, then it was "Rickie Lambert?! fuck off" now it's "Rickie Lambert will do a job".

 

Can looks like a bargain, Markovic is class, Lovren is exactly what we need, Moreno will sort out the left flank, even Origi is smart business because he fits our style of play and his potential is vast, but those two just irk me.

Funny, Lallana is the one I can understand the most. He's a pure Rodgers player. And having a 2nd creative player for those games when Coutinho doesn't show up is vital. I'm really excited by Lallana; more so than any other signing.

 

I agree on Lambert to an extent. It'll be handy to have him for this 3rd round league cup and FA Cup games but he won't figure much in important matches I would think. So while it's a bit of a poor signing, we needs to top up the squad as well as the 1st team, so he'll be ok for that.

 

The rest I'm happy about.

[Jose Jones]

But he supposedly has money from those windows, that's what we keep getting told.

Yeah but it's still over 100 million quid. There's plenty of cash there to be able to choose to sign a forward.

[liverpoolsno9]

I d

I can understand all our signings except Lallana and Lambert, they make no sense to me. 25 million on a player that's not as good as Coutinho, that'll be 27 next year, should of took that money and bought Pjanic or Firmino, both are better already with scope to improve further.

 

Lambert i just can't get my head around either, it actually pisses me off seeing his name next to the others, he's just not good enough to play for Liverpool, hence the reason why he was let go by us years ago, hence an entire career in the lower leagues and the fact that everyone scoffed at the idea three years ago when Kenny wanted to sign him, then it was "Rickie Lambert?! fuck off" now it's "Rickie Lambert will do a job".

 

Can looks like a bargain, Markovic is class, Lovren is exactly what we need, Moreno will sort out the left flank, even Origi is smart business because he fits our style of play and his potential is vast, but those two just irk me.

Why is Markovic class? We've not seen it, he's played about 45 mins in pre season. What are you basing that on? His price tag? The experts who rate him so highly? His stats from last season (26 games 5 goals)? Why is Coutinho better than Lallana? Because he's Brazilian? The stats from last season wouldn't back you up on it. And Coutinho had the advantage of playing for arguably the best attacking team in the country as well & still couldn't match Lallana' stats who was playing for a mid table team. As good as Coutinho is, his end product isn't as good as Lallanas. lambert was a decent bit of business for the price, a player who has averaged a goal every 2 games for Soton. We all agree he's not gonna set the World alight, but we have a good Prem proven striker for little money who will be desperate to prove himself. Not every league winning side has had superstars, they've had to rely on fringe players to get them through too. And Lambert is/will be a very good fringe player to call on.

[Gym Beglin]

Good to see Lallana getting shit before he's played a minute in a red shirt.

 

FSG diddling us? Yeah, that's what I'd do as well, sanction the strengthening of all areas of the field except for striker, that'll fuck with your heads.

 

Wibble.

[Babb'sBurstNad]

I can understand all our signings except Lallana and Lambert, they make no sense to me. 25 million on a player that's not as good as Coutinho, that'll be 27 next year, should of took that money and bought Pjanic or Firmino, both are better already with scope to improve further.

 

Lambert i just can't get my head around either, it actually pisses me off seeing his name next to the others, he's just not good enough to play for Liverpool, hence the reason why he was let go by us years ago, hence an entire career in the lower leagues and the fact that everyone scoffed at the idea three years ago when Kenny wanted to sign him, then it was "Rickie Lambert?! fuck off" now it's "Rickie Lambert will do a job".

 

Can looks like a bargain, Markovic is class, Lovren is exactly what we need, Moreno will sort out the left flank, even Origi is smart business because he fits our style of play and his potential is vast, but those two just irk me.

 

I think the thing to remember with Lambert is that he's Aspas' replacement; in that light, he's an upgrade. Most clubs have to go one of two routes for squad strikers, either go with an older figure who won't halt the progress of any youngsters coming through, or stick with a young player who may not get the games to develop. With Origi coming in next season, perhaps one eye is on not blocking his progression to the first team as happened to both Sturridge (twice) and Lukaku.

 

His presence looks a bit odd because we still haven't signed our main back up striker. Until we have, people will worry.

[Ne Moe Imya]

Didn't Brendan come out with a line the other day about us not doing a Tottenham because "we had a plan this summer"?

 

I admit that I'm struggling to see the plan.  We lose Suarez, the plan was to go after Sanchez.  That makes perfect sense, I think we can all agree there.  Where the plan breaks down is once Sanchez turned us down, we go for ... Loic Remy?  That's a pretty big step down.  And now that he's failed a medical, we opt for ... Wilfried Bony, maybe?

 

It just doesn't make any sense.  If we knew we needed a Sanchez-type player and were willing to spend 40 million to get him, then why did we then downgrade to Loic Remy as the next-best option?  If we really had a master plan, then surely the plan B to Sanchez should have been the next-best option.  Why skip about 12 players after you miss out on Plan A and immediately go for Plan M?  

 

And if Bony is really an option, why?  I'm not a scouting expert but surely there must be a closer match to Sanchez out there somewhere than a "target striker who's good with his feet" like Bony.  (Lavezzi?  Firmino?  Shaqiri? Any of these would be closer to Sanchez in style and quality than Bony.)  And I'm one of those who thinks Bony is a good player; it's just that he's not even remotely like Sanchez and I don't understand how we would have gone from one to the other if we really were following some plan.

[Barrington Womble]

Yeah but it's still over 100 million quid. There's plenty of cash there to be able to choose to sign a forward.

You mean as he's spent 100m, he should have got a forward?

[Boss]

I d

Why is Markovic class? We've not seen it, he's played about 45 mins in pre season. What are you basing that on? His price tag? The experts who rate him so highly? His stats from last season (26 games 5 goals)? Why is Coutinho better than Lallana? Because he's Brazilian? The stats from last season wouldn't back you up on it. And Coutinho had the advantage of playing for arguably the best attacking team in the country as well & still couldn't match Lallana' stats who was playing for a mid table team. As good as Coutinho is, his end product isn't as good as Lallanas. lambert was a decent bit of business for the price, a player who has averaged a goal every 2 games for Soton. We all agree he's not gonna set the World alight, but we have a good Prem proven striker for little money who will be desperate to prove himself. Not every league winning side has had superstars, they've had to rely on fringe players to get them through too. And Lambert is/will be a very good fringe player to call on.

 

Your wrong on both counts, Markovic is class, and Coutinho is better than Lallana. I also like the way you've spun Coutinho's stats and used the rhetoric of Lallana playing for a mid table team to further the agenda your trying to push.

 

Context is important, Lallana was the fulcrum of everything Southampton did, all their play ran through Lallana. Coutinho was not the catalyst of our play, Suarez was, he had to feast on the scraps afforded him by Suarez and Sturridge. Also Lallana was more advanced on the field, Coutinho was put into a tactically rigid role in the centre of midfield, were he would press and had to carry out the dirty work to allow Gerrard to fulfil the Pirlo-esque deep lying playmaker role.

 

Lallana was in front of two defensive midfielders, Wanayama and Schneiderlin. He was often played as a free role attacking midfielder or in one of the wide roles of a 443, hence why he'd have more opportunity to attack and score goals. He was afforded more freedom in their system as he was their creative outlet and more opportunity's to take free kicks and corner kicks that would by the law of averages increase his assist stats. 

[Jose Jones]

Perhaps Plan A was Sanchez, Lallana and Can.

Plan B was Remy, Markovic, Origi, Lallana and Can.

[Jose Jones]

You mean as he's spent 100m, he should have got a forward?

Yep.

Whereas when we were dicking about with 4 million for Dempsey on the last day of the window he had a legitimate gripe.

[Barrington Womble]

Yep.

Whereas when we were dicking about with 4 million for Dempsey on the last day of the window he had a legitimate gripe.

Can't say I agree with that. First of all, he's dealing with the fact we've fucked up all the windows since he's been manager aside from the coutinho/sturridge one. He has constantly reduced squad size and wage bill. He has lost the best player in the league, all while the club has had increased sponsorship, increased TV deals and are back in the CL. Quite frankly £100m (especially in the backdrop if we're likely to bring in as much this summer) is probably less than bare minimum. If we start this season with just sturridge and Lambert as our forwards, for me its a fucking disgrace.

[Jose Jones]

Can't say I agree with that. First of all, he's dealing with the fact we've fucked up all the windows since he's been manager aside from the coutinho/sturridge one. He has constantly reduced squad size and wage bill. He has lost the best player in the league, all while the club has had increased sponsorship, increased TV deals and are back in the CL. Quite frankly £100m (especially in the backdrop if we're likely to bring in as much this summer) is probably less than bare minimum. If we start this season with just sturridge and Lambert as our forwards, for me its a fucking disgrace.

Well I agree with most of that but Rodgers (or the committee) will have decided to spend £10 million on a striker who won't play for us, £20 million on a Centre back when spent £26 million on two last season and £45 million on attacking midfielders. Surely he could have prioritised a forward?

[Major Tom]

Didn't Brendan come out with a line the other day about us not doing a Tottenham because "we had a plan this summer"?

 

I admit that I'm struggling to see the plan.  We lose Suarez, the plan was to go after Sanchez.  That makes perfect sense, I think we can all agree there.

 

We never appear to have a plan. Part of the reason - however big a part - we lost out on Sanchez was that Wenger was wooing him for weeks. We should have been doing the same but it seems we only started to act once Suarez confirmed he was leaving. We must have had some inkling.

 

Our transfer dealings always seem a bit pin-the-tail. There may be some logic to them but none that is immediately obvious. We seem to miss out on a striker and go for a winger, miss out on him and go for a attacking midfielder.

 

Be interesting to see how this plays out.

[Barrington Womble]

Well I agree with most of that but Rodgers (or the committee) will have decided to spend £10 million on a striker who won't play for us, £20 million on a Centre back when spent £26 million on two last season and £45 million on attacking midfielders. Surely he could have prioritised a forward?

But they have to deal with the constraints they're given. As I've said loads of times, I believe FSG want to see each signing as a deal, be it on fee or wages. On top of that, they've brought on lovren, but it would appear agger will go, so its one for one. And this policy of paying 7-10m on kids appears to be a policy. I don't particularly agree with that policy, but I think that's what it is and the committee and manager are just implementing it best they can - to sum up I don't think the manager gets to prioritise anything, he just isn't that in charge of transfers.

[Major Tom]

Rodwell in talks with Sunderland over a permanent move according to the BBC. So City stalled his career by just the two years.

 

Meanwhile Chelsea have now sent 13 players out on loan.

 

And Di Maria may go to PSG for £60m

 

The oil clubs rock and are great for football.

[El Dangerous]

Sanchez was an opportunistic target. I think that's part of the reason he didn't have the time of day for us as Arsensl were already in pretty deep with him.

[Major Tom]

Not planned very well, then.

[Jose Jones]

But they have to deal with the constraints they're given. As I've said loads of times, I believe FSG want to see each signing as a deal, be it on fee or wages. On top of that, they've brought on lovren, but it would appear agger will go, so its one for one. And this policy of paying 7-10m on kids appears to be a policy. I don't particularly agree with that policy, but I think that's what it is and the committee and manager are just implementing it best they can - to sum up I don't think the manager gets to prioritise anything, he just isn't that in charge of transfers.

Not sure what your point is with Agger. You want Rodgers to keep him as 4th choice just so we can lose money on him, piss him off otherwise FSG are putting constraints on the manager?

We just spent £45 million on two players in their mid twenties from a mid table team.

 

Whilst the owners definitely have an idea to target younger players before they become class and more expensive, I'm pretty sure Rodgers has plenty of leeway to prioritise a forward.

[Major Tom]

Rodwell in talks with Sunderland over a permanent move according to the BBC. So City stalled his career by just the two years.

 

Meanwhile Chelsea have now sent 13 players out on loan.

 

And Di Maria may go to PSG for £60m

 

The oil clubs rock and are great for football.

 

Ha. Someone like the oil clubs, then.

 

Can't be a football or Liverpool fan, surely.