Colombian wants in but Reds prefer Belgian

[TheHowieLama]

Rondon Calling

[Jairzinho]

It's a shame Jackson Martinez and Vietto went to Atletico because both would of been perfect for us.

It's ridiculous how good they are at signing centre forwards.

[Boss]

It's ridiculous how good they are at signing centre forwards.

 

What is it? Torres, Aguero, Falcao, Diego Costa, Mandzukic, Jackson Martinez consecutively, just awesome.

[El Dangerous]

What is it? Torres, Aguero, Falcao, Diego Costa, Mandzukic, Jackson Martinez consecutively, just awesome.

Forlan too. All whilst having a mid table premier league club wage budget.

[Jairzinho]

Great academy as well, to be fair. Gabi, Suarez, and Koke. Cheers, that'll be an excellent central midfield...for free.

 

Atletico know their shit.

[Russ Atmosphere]

Not a centre forward but Griezmann also.

[JustTosh]

I’ve really not seen enough of them to be entitled to have an opinion on Benteke or Bacca.

 

But aren’t these the facts?

 

Benteke: Best forward for the 13th best team In the 4^th best league in Europe last year. Year before that the next best forward for the same club after Abgonlahor. Price £32M

 

Bacca: Best forward by far for the 4^th best team from the by far best league in Europe. Price 22M

 

How can this be a difficult decision?

[Cardie]

I’ve really not seen enough of them to be entitled to have an opinion on Benteke or Bacca.

 

But aren’t these the facts?

 

Benteke: Best forward for the 13th best team In the 4^th best league in Europe last year. Year before that the next best forward for the same club after Abgonlahor. Price £32M

 

Bacca: Best forward by far for the 4^th best team from the by far best league in Europe. Price 22M

 

How can this be a difficult decision?

 

Not really no.

 

Benteke - 24 with a 1 in 2 goalscoring record for a notoriously poor Aston Villa - Price 32 million

 

Bacca - 28 with a 1 in 2 goalscoring record for a very good team - Price 22 million plus tax which will probably take it to close to 32 million as well if he activates his buyout clause.

[aRdja]

Great academy as well, to be fair. Gabi, Suarez, and Koke. Cheers, that'll be an excellent central midfield...for free.

 

Atletico know their shit.

Oliver Torres too.

[G Richards]

I'd prefer Aubemayang if we could get him. Some of the conspiracy theorists have said one or two of our current signings look like Klopp would like them. So let's get Aubemayang. Failing that, I think Walcott is going to come into some very productive years, if played regularly and centrally. 

 

Out of Benteke and Bacca I'm undecided. There's more to Benteke than being a big lump. He scores all kinds of goals and it's a mistake to label him as just a target man. I didn't really know much about Bacca so since his name has been linked I've looked at him a bit (granted, only on Youtbe, so I've not really built up a proper picture of the player... about like our scouts then!) Anyway, he's solid. That's the first thing I noticed. I don't think he will be bullied. And after that he seems to have an eye for goal and gets himself into good positions to score all the time. With the creativity we can assemble behind him, I think he will score a decent amount of goals here. Two potential concerns with him though:

 

1. How much? If he buys himself out of his contract is that the net price for us to pay, and the actual cost will be much more? (I'm happy with Firmino, very happy, but the price we paid there was a lot more than was being said earlier on in the process). 

 

2. Age. On the one hand, he could come and be a Van Persie - older, but comes in, scores goals, and wins the league. What's not to like? On the other hand, he could be a Soldado or a Shevchenko. Looks a very good player, but all of a sudden, the move the Premier League made them look old. The point is this: old father time catches every player sooner or later. It's hard to say exactly when it's going to arrive for a striker. 

 

If Bacca comes here, is average in his first season as he settles to a new club/culture/league; and then in his second season has a marked decline in physical capability due to age (by then he will be 30), then he would be a bad signing. But if he comes and scores the goals to fire us back into the CL spots, and gives us, say, two seasons of that, while our younger strikers grow, then he would be a very good signing. 

 

So put me down in the not sure category. Obviously if we sign either player they will have my full backing and I will hope they do very well, but on the face of it, I'd rather Aubemayang or Walcott, and better again Lacazette (but I don't think he is realistic). 

[Cardie]

Great academy as well, to be fair. Gabi, Suarez, and Koke. Cheers, that'll be an excellent central midfield...for free.

 

Atletico know their shit.

The benefits of fraudulent accounting, off shore accounts, tax avoidance and evasion, transfers dealt with by shadowy hedge funds involving third party ownership, non payments to selling clubs and exploiting the financial crisis to bail themselves out.

 

They do indeed 'know their shit'.

[aRdja]

The benefits of fraudulent accounting, off shore accounts, tax avoidance and evasion, transfers dealt with by shadowy hedge funds involving third party ownership, non payments to selling clubs and exploiting the financial crisis to bail themselves out.

 

They do indeed 'know their shit'.

I hope FSG are taking notes.

[aRdja]

Out of Benteke and Bacca I'm undecided.

I am. I want neither. Your list of strikers looks much better. I haven't seen enough of Lacazette, but Walcott or Aubameyang would suit our setup a lot better.

[El Dangerous]

The benefits of fraudulent accounting, off shore accounts, tax avoidance and evasion, transfers dealt with by shadowy hedge funds involving third party ownership, non payments to selling clubs and exploiting the financial crisis to bail themselves out.

 

They do indeed 'know their shit'.

Well if they are getting away with it then yes they do know their shit.

[lebron]

I'd take Benteke over all the players mentioned on the last page, even Griezmann. The only reason he's still at Villa is his injury issues over the last couple of years. His return to form this season shows that he's been able to cope with those too. This is a 23/24? year old playing regularly for one of the better national teams in Europe, really finding his peak form. I think only Aguero, Costa and Kane (talking of strikers/forwards here) outperformed him in the league in the season just gone, and he's got the numbers over the last couple of season to back that up as well, playing for a mediocre to bad side (depending on management).

 

He's big, strong, has great pace and leap, and knows how to put himself about. The only similarity with Carroll ends with their height and potential price-tag. There's so much more to Benteke's game than most of the posters here want to admit. Whenever we've faced Villa over the last couple of years, how many on here haven't shat their pants a little over the matchup with our defenders? Newsflash: Our CBs aren't the only ones struggling to deal with him! The best/only way to neuter him is if you've got a very tall/strong CB to deal with the aerial stuff and a very quick CB to stop him from running in behind (very few CBs around possess both qualities -  as we as LFC supporters can testify to). The term unplayable is overused, but Benteke certainly can be. 

 

I also think those thinking he'll just disappear once we don't serve him a thousand crosses during the season are a bit short-sighted. Playing for a better side will certainly surround him with team-mates closer to him in the final third, giving him better/more passes to latch onto, pullbacks (which he actually scores a lot more from than "regular" crosses) and generally better support (the times he plays badly/receives criticism is normally when he's too isolated with his back to goal). 

 

Set pieces. I know it's not purist stuff, but come on! This guy will do what Carroll didn't. If he doesn't score a lot of goals on set pieces, he'll take away so much attention that our CBs and attackers will have a much better chance at converting set pieces. We haven't had multiple threats from corners and free kicks for a long time (possibly Hyypia/Crouch). With Benteke in our side our +/- ratio (No, I'm not American...) on set pieces would improve with double digits, as he's equally dominant on defensive set pieces. Given our relatively diminutive stature elsewhere on the pitch, I think this is an important aspect. Apart from the 13/14 season (when Gerrard's service from set pieces was way better than anything he's served up before or after) we've been sooooooo far behind our rivals in this department over the last 10+ years it's nearly unfathomable. It's not the most fashionable way to get goals, but as long as it's responsible for anywhere between a third an a fourth of the goals scored in the league, it's an aspect of the game we should take more seriously. Adding some strength, height and leap to our side will do us good in terms of efficiency if not aesthetics.

 

As for Bacca; I fear he'd flop here (if not massively). He might be a better fit for us when it comes to work-rate/pressing than Benteke, and he SHOULD be suited to the way we want to attack (from the centre of the pitch). I just think he's too much a jack of all trades kind of player, with no outstanding physical or technical quality. He's got good movement and when given through balls he often gets there a fraction of a second before the defender. He's pretty good at that stage, able to finish with either foot (even if he hasn't got a thunderous shot). We've seen it before though; Coming into a new environment, changing his daily routines, coming across different team set-ups, different defences/defenders. I think there's a fair chance he's going to lose out in those type of split-second duels in England he's normally been getting on the end of in Spain, especially in his first season here. He's no Aspas by all means, but he's certainly no Aguero either in terms of having the physique required to handle the brute-force defenders he'll be facing here. 

 

To sum up; Benteke isn't a dream signing by all means, but I think he's a much better player for us in this moment of time. I think he'll work well together with all of Sturridge, Origi and Ings (particularly the two former), and if we decide to play with a lone striker he'll be able to handle that as well. Even if we don't cross the ball as often as Villa, he'll give us plenty of goals and opportunities from wide, even before we take the set piece argument into account. Bacca (ironically) would probably like to play with someone like Benteke, who could handle the physical side of the game and create space for him. I can't really see him being effective here though, much like his now departed Colombian compatriot at Old Trafford.

[LFC 6 Times]

Look, Benteke certainly has his uses and strengths, he can be an absolute nightmare to defend against. He's just not the type of forward this team is tailored for, the fans won't take to him and there's a huge sense of trepidation because players in a similar mould have been outstanding failures, it may seem unfair but the precedent has very much been set.

[VladimirIlyich]

I prefer it when we sign players from outside the Premier League. Seems to work out better for some reason. Maybe because the PL is an overhyped bag of shite and players from other countries that win cups and stuff are better?

Would love Volland with Firmino,even instead of,but reckon he will probably go to Bayern or similar.

[therevivalist]

We don't like Benteke. It's not that he's a bad footballer. But he's not an exciting footballer worthy of leading the line for Liverpool. We are spoiled for classy forwards in our history and that can't stop with Rodgers. Fans rule in football. That notwithstanding if Rodgers goes ahead and signs Benteke up, he would be signing his own death warrant...footballing speaing...eventually. 

[lebron]

We don't like Benteke. It's not that he's a bad footballer. But he's not an exciting footballer worthy of leading the line for Liverpool. We are spoiled for classy forwards in our history and that can't stop with Rodgers. Fans rule in football. That notwithstanding if Rodgers goes ahead and signs Benteke up, he would be signing his own death warrant...footballing speaing...eventually. 

 

I think I'd be plenty excited if he could keep his 1 in 2 scoring ratio going for us here. "Worthy of leading the line for Liverpool...."; for all the Fowler's and Suarez's there's been a Clough, a Dundee and an Aspas. Getting the right striker is THE hardest thing in football (hence their price being nearly double that of other players of equal talent), I'm all for giving Benteke a shot, think he'll suit us better than our other targets. Hopefully we don't pull out of this deal over a couple of million pounds. Pleased that Milan have signed Bacca, hopefully we can persuade at least one of the deadweight forwards out the door, leaving squad space and salary means available to get the big Belgian.

[A_S]

What is it? Torres, Aguero, Falcao, Diego Costa, Mandzukic, Jackson Martinez consecutively, just awesome.

And Villa. Not at his best, admittedly, but still helped them to the title.

[Red House]

And Villa. Not at his best, admittedly, but still helped them to the title.

 

And Forlan. Was brilliant for them, only one from that list who managed to break the 30 goals a season barrier.

[Jose Jones]

We don't like Benteke. It's not that he's a bad footballer. But he's not an exciting footballer worthy of leading the line for Liverpool. We are spoiled for classy forwards in our history and that can't stop with Rodgers. Fans rule in football. That notwithstanding if Rodgers goes ahead and signs Benteke up, he would be signing his own death warrant...footballing speaing...eventually.

You can tell a striker is not much cop if the first words used to describe his attributes are big and strong.

 

Our strikers are skilful geniuses like Dalglish, Fowler or Suarez or fast and deadly like Torres and Rush.

 

Big and strong is midtable talk.

[lifetime fan]

I don't know anything about Bacca, I do know I don't want Benteke anywhere near the fucking club.

[Section_31]

You can tell a striker is not much cop if the first words used to describe his attributes are big and strong.

 

Our strikers are skilful geniuses like Dalglish, Fowler or Suarez or fast and deadly like Torres and Rush.

 

Big and strong is midtable talk.

Solid pro, loves his mum.

[lebron]

You can tell a striker is not much cop if the first words used to describe his attributes are big and strong.

 

Our strikers are skilful geniuses like Dalglish, Fowler or Suarez or fast and deadly like Torres and Rush.

 

Big and strong is midtable talk.

Of course it is, it's unfathomable that anyone with strength, size and pace as their main qualities could be effective and dominant at the top end of the Premier League.

 

Didier Drogba and Alan Shearer say hello btw...