It's not enough to buy good players, they have to be the right players (ESPN article)

[tlw content]

by Dave Usher for ESPN

 

Liverpool's overall record in the transfer market during the Premier League era really doesn't make for pleasant reading. Hundreds of millions of pounds have been squandered in a vain attempt to re-establish the Reds as the major force they once were and that ineptitude in the transfer market is the single biggest reason for their failure to win a league title since 1990.

 

Graeme Souness set the ball rolling by blowing millions on Paul Stewart, Julian Dicks, Dean Saunders, Torben Piechnik and others. Poor signings led to the poor results that cost him his job. Roy Evans took over from the Scot but fared little better; buying the likes of Oyvind Leonhardsen, Phil Babb, Bjorn Tore Kvarme and Sean Dundee. Liverpool went close to the title under Evans but failure to add the players who could make the difference proved to be the downfall of the popular Scouser.

 

Next up was Gerard Houllier, who ultimately lost his job because El Hadji Diouf, Salif Diao and Bruno Cheyrou flopped spectacularly. Rafa Benitez enjoyed early success but mediocrity followed, with millions wasted on Robbie Keane, Alberto Aquilani, Andrea Dossena and others.

 

Yet among all the misses there were still plenty of hits. Souness signed Mark Wright and Rob Jones while Evans recruited Patrik Berger, Danny Murphy and Stan Collymore. Houllier's success was based on signings such as Sami Hyypia, Stephane Henchoz, Didi Hamann, Gary McAllister and others, while Benitez can point to Xabi Alonso, Javier Mascherano and Fernando Torres as examples of spectacularly good signings he made. As for Roy Hodgson ... well, let's not talk about that.

 

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[Jairzinho]

Would settle for good ones.

[Section_31]

Would settle for good ones.

Funny because it's true.

 

Dave is spot on though. Every single shit player we've ever signed, from Leonhardsen to Carroll to Lovren, has looked better at their previous club.

[eeyore]

All of our recent managers always seem to bang on about signing players with the right mentality. But truth is the players they always sign always hae the wrong mentality for a top club.

 

Even Rodgers spouted bollocks about looking into players eyes to tell if they were winners, I think giving markovic as an example. What a joke that turned out to be.

 

The problem is by and large we just sign massive pussy shithouse cunts.

 

We need winners, not pussys.

 

Hyypia, babel, henchoz, hamann, mascherano, alonso suarez - they all had the win at all costs mentality.

 

Downing, Johnson, markovic, Allen, Henderson, Sakho, lovren, lucas, all OK players but they are just massive pussy shithouses.

 

 

 

 

[redfromtubebar]

Surely a large aspect of our recent transfer failings has been that we're unprepared to pay the going rate in wages for established top-level players? 

 

We take expensive gambles on mid-table players that are coming off the back of the first good season of their careers (Downing, Adam, Carroll, Lovren, Lallana etc) and we'll splash out big on potential (Markovic, Can, Henderson, Ilori, Sakho, Coates, Allen, Moreno etc) but we will NOT compete for a proven package when one comes available. 

 

We seem to have a 'prove yourself here before you're put in the top wage earner bracket' attitude when it comes to recruitment. We'll pay big wages for a contract renewal but only when the occasional transfer success (Suarez, Sturridge, Torres etc) demonstrate for us that they're worth it. Suarez and Torres even had to take wage drops to come here, which is commendable, but says a lot about Liverpool's attitude towards signing top players.

 

Meanwhile, our rivals are just going out and buying the likes of Sanchez and Fabregas and making them their highest earners with huge success on the pitch. It's not a gamble to sign players of this quality as they already have a track record of proven success across their careers. 

 

Case in point, Sami Khedira is going to be available in January. He's one of the best in the 

world in his position and we desperately need a player like him. We might not be his first choice but if we give him what he wants then he might arrive. We'd be talking about making him one of our top 3 earners. Does anybody really have confidence that Ayre and FSG will get the deal done? 

 

Instead, it's more likely we'll be handing over £8m to MK Dons for Dele Ali who's yet another player-with-potential signing that has a low success rate for us. And so the cycle continues.

[ratcatcher]

A lot of them cannot handle the pressure of playing for Liverpool and the weight of expectation.

 

Take lambert. He's said how nervous he is to be playing for Liverpool (of course you wouldnt guess that judging by his 'trip' against chelsea would you?).

 

Really? He's what, 32 years old, played regularly for a couple of seasons in the PL and he's fucking nervous? Why's that then? Playing at a bigger club where he and the team are expected to win, that's why.

[s(k)aturation]

A lot of them cannot handle the pressure of playing for Liverpool and the weight of expectation.

 

Take lambert. He's said how nervous he is to be playing for Liverpool (of course you wouldnt guess that judging by his 'trip' against chelsea would you?).

 

Really? He's what, 32 years old, played regularly for a couple of seasons in the PL and he's fucking nervous? Why's that then? Playing at a bigger club where he and the team are expected to win, that's why.

 

This, in my view.

 

Every player that comes to Liverpool, with every passing year that we don't win the title... and every desperate memory of the past and hope for the future... is incrementally under more and more pressure to succeed.

And succeed not just fast, but yesterday.

 

Our brilliant past is the albatross around everyone's necks.

And funnily enough, the "This is Anfield" sign is probably more frightening to a lad in a red shirt these days than the opposition.

 

And after every occasional close-call, the subsequent failure appears to be even more spectacular.

 

2010, 2014.

[Jairzinho]

Perhaps buy some players that are already winners.

[Ranxerox]

I'm sure nearly every club could list off a litany of "shite" players and blame their performance on that. Most managers are fired eventually and its always easy to say it was because of shite transfer business. The club has also had plenty of great transfers in that time as well.

[Torvald Utne]

Surely a large aspect of our recent transfer failings has been that we're unprepared to pay the going rate in wages for established top-level players?

 

We take expensive gambles on mid-table players that are coming off the back of the first good season of their careers (Downing, Adam, Carroll, Lovren, Lallana etc) and we'll splash out big on potential (Markovic, Can, Henderson, Ilori, Sakho, Coates, Allen, Moreno etc) but we will NOT compete for a proven package when one comes available.

 

We seem to have a 'prove yourself here before you're put in the top wage earner bracket' attitude when it comes to recruitment. We'll pay big wages for a contract renewal but only when the occasional transfer success (Suarez, Sturridge, Torres etc) demonstrate for us that they're worth it. Suarez and Torres even had to take wage drops to come here, which is commendable, but says a lot about Liverpool's attitude towards signing top players.

 

Meanwhile, our rivals are just going out and buying the likes of Sanchez and Fabregas and making them their highest earners with huge success on the pitch. It's not a gamble to sign players of this quality as they already have a track record of proven success across their careers.

 

Case in point, Sami Khedira is going to be available in January. He's one of the best in the

world in his position and we desperately need a player like him. We might not be his first choice but if we give him what he wants then he might arrive. We'd be talking about making him one of our top 3 earners. Does anybody really have confidence that Ayre and FSG will get the deal done?

 

Instead, it's more likely we'll be handing over £8m to MK Dons for Dele Ali who's yet another player-with-potential signing that has a low success rate for us. And so the cycle continues.

You had me until sami khedira

[RoboRiise]

Funny because it's true.

 

Dave is spot on though. Every single shit player we've ever signed, from Leonhardsen to Carroll to Lovren, has looked better at their previous club.

 

It's exactly what I said about nthe three lads from Southampton in another thread - we signed them because they looked good there, not because of how they would suit our existing squad and style of play.

[stringvest]

 

Our brilliant past is the albatross around everyone's necks.

And funnily enough, the "This is Anfield" sign is probably more frightening to a lad in a red shirt these days than the opposition.

 

 

 

This is an excellent point Skaro.  Sorts the wheat from the chaff. Trouble is, we're serving a lot of Chaffabix at the moment.  

[Dr. J]

 

Even Rodgers spouted bollocks about looking into players eyes to tell if they were winners, I think giving markovic as an example.

 

And he would know how? Even Souness misjudged the hearts of a few players, hard to see how Rodgers would know.

 

As for the chain mail shirt theory. You can play pool for fun, play pool for a round of drinks, or play pool for the rent money. Skill is never only enough. One problem Rodgers has, imo, is he's surrounded by people who have no connection to the winning tradition of the club. At least Marsh has some connection but I would have hoped to see Sammy Lee come back instead of him.