Summer Transfer Ballache 2016

[Nightcat]

On another note FSG policy of buying youth and potential doesnt really tally with what they have been doing with the RedSox. Last December they gave a 30 year old pitcher a 7 year $217 million contract. The highest ever guaranteed to a pitcher.

 

Get fucked with the baseball shite. It's a shite game, designed for yank consumers. 

[Jairzinho]

I'm not convinced by him. Goals, assists, tackling, interceptions, dictating the tempo, I don't think he does any of these particularly well.

I agree, but I think overall he just looks like he has more top class potential about him. I find the rest of our midfielders utterly depressing. Allen is okay, knocks it abouts, runs, yadda yadda. Henderson is a complete coward. Milner is a right midfielder. Lucas can't run. It's all relative.

 

None of them are really good enough, but Can appears to my untrained eyes to possibly have the potential to be. The squad really is littered with mediocrity. Bar about three of them it could Swansea's squad. We need to sign a top class left back, top class central midfielder, and a top class wide forward (preferably left footed) or we're going to finish 6th or lower.

 

Can could add to that three or four. I think we have to persevere with him.

[G Richards]

I think we're doing OK this summer and there's too much negativity. Goalkeeper, central defence and winger have all been improved. We've also added depth midfield with Griujic. If Karius was £20M and Matip £20M (by all accounts they are worth that) then would we have been happier? It's all a bit bizarre.

 

The midfield is a tricky conundrum. Having improved three areas of the team the midfield could do with strengthening. But getting players who are definitely better than Can, Henderson and Allen is difficult with no CL. Maybe Klopp will prefer to keep his powder dry and trust that with another year of experience Can will be better; and that without a horrible heel injury Henderson will be better too.

[Jairzinho]

But getting players who are definitely better than Can, Henderson and Allen is difficult with no CL.

Why?

 

Most clubs in the top half of our league, La Liga, Bundesliga and Serie A have better midfielders. It's the one area of the pitch that we could easily improve upon without CL football.

[1892-LFCWasBorn]

I'm starting to get concerned about our inability to get deals done and Klopp faith in some of our squad.

 

Midfield and full back options are simply not good enough for us to get into top 4 let alone put in a title bid.

[JermainePennant]

a rare voice of sanity

You must have missed all the posts I've made the last few days as I've been saying the same thing, good to see a few more are admitting Klopp may not be making the right decisions.The money's there but for some reason Klopp wants to carry on buying potential even when he has to pay big money.

 

Klopp is human. He's made mistakes. He's made terrible signings. He's failed numerous times before. Stop pretending he'll turn a turd gold.

 

Having blind faith doesn't make you a better fan than anyone, it makes you a moron. Same for the overly negative dicks who slate everything.

 

Took those two paragraphs from Twitter, it sums up how I'm feeling at the moment.I can't see a shit player sign for the club and think it's ok because Klopp is choosing him, he like every other manager will fuck up in the market.Also so what if he used a similar strategy at Dortmund, it's not the best strategy is it and most of the top clubs do not get success with that strategy.Arsenal are excellent at what they do but haven't won a title in years, we are a poor mans Arsenal right now.

[Captain]

In midfield, Can is the least of our problems.

[Josef Svejk]

Managers getting contract extensions / pay increases during transfer windows in which club spends, shall we say, modestly (both in relative and absolute terms)?

 

I love Nobby. But that's not good.

[JermainePennant]

I'm starting to get concerned about our inability to get deals done and Klopp faith in some of our squad.

 

Midfield and full back options are simply not good enough for us to get into top 4 let alone put in a title bid.

We've needed a dm since Masch left and could also do with someone who could do Xabis role, everyone knows I was a big fan of BR but even I said it was unforgivable that he didn't sign a dm and left us with only Lucas.Klopp is going one better and is getting rid of Lucas and leaving us with none.

 

The whole team would improve with quality in the cm positions even Moreno, his main problem is he gets caught out when he goes forward.I remember when we actually had dms that when the fbs went forward the dms moved across to cover them, everyone in the defence would look better with protection in front of them.

[ZonkoVille77]

You must have missed all the posts I've made the last few days as I've been saying the same thing, good to see a few more are admitting Klopp may not be making the right decisions.The money's there but for some reason Klopp wants to carry on buying potential even when he has to pay big money.

 

Klopp is human. He's made mistakes. He's made terrible signings. He's failed numerous times before. Stop pretending he'll turn a turd gold.

 

Having blind faith doesn't make you a better fan than anyone, it makes you a moron. Same for the overly negative dicks who slate everything.

 

Took those two paragraphs from Twitter, it sums up how I'm feeling at the moment.I can't see a shit player sign for the club and think it's ok because Klopp is choosing him, he like every other manager will fuck up in the market.Also so what if he used a similar strategy at Dortmund, it's not the best strategy is it and most of the top clubs do not get success with that strategy.Arsenal are excellent at what they do but haven't won a title in years, we are a poor mans Arsenal right now.

Spot on, JP

[SammyAftershave]

I'm not convinced by him. Goals, assists, tackling, interceptions, dictating the tempo, I don't think he does any of these particularly well.

 

It could be argued we don't currently have anyone in the midfield who does any of those tasks particularly well.

[Barrington Womble]

It could be argued we don't currently have anyone in the midfield who does any of those tasks particularly well.

I don't know about it could be argued, it's a fact from what I watch. They're all very ordinary.

[G Richards]

Why?

Most clubs in the top half of our league, La Liga, Bundesliga and Serie A have better midfielders. It's the one area of the pitch that we could easily improve upon without CL football.

I think there's a tendency to underrate our midfielders and overrate others. Aside from obvious improvements like Xhaka, who went to Arsenal, I'm struggling to think of attainable improvements who are clearly better. Perhaps the best approach is to keep hold of our cash until we can sign someone who is clearly better than what we have?

 

Anyhow, I'm no expert on central midfielders out there, but which central midfielders do you think we could buy who are clearly better than what we have at the moment?

[Jairzinho]

Banega went to Inter on a free, he's better than all of our midfielders. They haven't got CL football either.

 

There are dozens of midfielders that are obtainable and would comfortably improve us. It's appalling that we've gone from Gerrard, Mascherano, Alonso and Sissoko to this. No balls, no brains, no presence. We don't control games with any consistency, we're regularly bullied, and we're simply clueless when it comes to managing different periods of games.

[Barrington Womble]

I think there's a tendency to underrate our midfielders and overrate others. Aside from obvious improvements like Xhaka, who went to Arsenal, I'm struggling to think of attainable improvements who are clearly better. Perhaps the best approach is to keep hold of our cash until we can sign someone who is clearly better than what we have?

 

Anyhow, I'm no expert on central midfielders out there, but which central midfielders do you think we could buy who are clearly better than what we have at the moment?

We've been doing that since 2010!

[Captain]

I think there's a tendency to underrate our midfielders and overrate others. Aside from obvious improvements like Xhaka, who went to Arsenal, I'm struggling to think of attainable improvements who are clearly better. Perhaps the best approach is to keep hold of our cash until we can sign someone who is clearly better than what we have?

 

Anyhow, I'm no expert on central midfielders out there, but which central midfielders do you think we could buy who are clearly better than what we have at the moment?

 

I'm sorry to be blunt, but you predicted we would win the league next season about a month ago.

 

Your opinion has no credibility whatsoever.

[Captain]

I don't know about it could be argued, it's a fact from what I watch. They're all very ordinary.

 

Spot on.

[G Richards]

I'm sorry to be blunt, but you predicted we would win the league next season about a month ago.

 

Your opinion has no credibility whatsoever.

We won't be as far away as the last few pages on here would lead people to believe.

 

The biggest weakness in the team, perhaps costing 10 points as he couldn't save a shot on target, was Mignolet. Karius was the second highest rated goalie in the Bundesliga.

 

Another weakness in the team was the central defence. Injuries played a part, as we chopped and changed quite a bit... though all the while Klopp was assessing what he had. The addition of Matip should add strength in the air, some pace on the deck, and ability on the ball. Lovren was one of the players who improved under Klopp last season. Anyhow, I think we'll be better in central defence than last season.

 

Another weakness was on the wing. Lallana is neat and tidy, and he works hard and presses. Unfortunately he has average pace for the position, and his goals and assist stats are lacking. Mane should be an upgrade, and the pace he brings also gives us some variety in our attack.

 

So far that's three areas of the team I think will be better. But sod it, I'm going to continue...

 

Up front last year we were so short it was unreal. Sturridge injured. Ings out for the season. Origi inexperienced, though starting to find his feet. What can we look forward to next season? Klopp persevered with Sturridge. He made him train and work hard, and he resisted the temptation to throw him back in, even when the player was telling the whole world he was fit and ready to go. Consequently Sturridge has some fitness back. What he has proven is that if you get him on the pitch, he will score goals.

 

Origi has started to blossom as a player too. He added some muscle and now looks really strong. There won't be many defenders who will bully him. He has electric pace, and he was starting to show an eye for goal, such that in the eyes of some fans he was edging ahead of Sturridge in the pecking order. Witness the outcry over the Funes Mori tackle, as we knew the Everton hatchet man wounded our prospects by wounding an increasingly important player. I trust Klopp on Origi, when he said, "We'll have a lot of fun with this one."

 

Ings should be a back up, but his industry and knack for a goal will be useful off the bench. Firmino is now bedded in too, although his numbers in his first season were pretty decent.

 

So, to summarize thus far: I fully expect us to be better in goal, central defence, on the wing, and up front. But again, let's not leave it there...

 

What about midfield? Can is a year older and wiser. Henderson won't have that heel injury. Allen showed in the Euros what a tidy player he can be. Grujic is obviously young, but the early signs are positive. We may strengthen further this summer, and I hope we do, as we really need an imperious player in there. But if we can't find one, I'm still backing the central midfield to be better than last season.

 

Finally, what about the manager? He will have had a preseason with the players, and the games will be spaced out enough so he can plan and prepare thoroughly with the players.

 

I think all of this adds up to us giving it a real good go in the league. If you think my opinion has no credibility, that's your prerogative. I know the game and I played the game, and I know what I see at Liverpool. Something good is going to emerge.

 

On another thread (a prediction thread) I predicted that we would win the league. Obviously that's optimistic of me. Forgive me for being a fan. The bookmakers are not usually far wrong, and without checking the odds I would imagine they will have Man City, Man Utd, Chelsea, Arsenal and Tottenham ahead of us; so the dreaded 'par' would be sixth; and as last season showed we can't rule out some other teams from clicking either.

 

I think we are poised to give it a good go in the league. It's wide open and there are at least six teams who will think they are in with a shout. I expect us to be one of them. We will be much better than last season and I can't wait for the season to begin.

[Captain]

Do you still think we'll win the league next season?

[liverpoolsno9]

It makes me laugh when people keep saying we've improved our defence with Matip, how many of these people have actually seen him play? How do you know if he's gonna slot in? He was free, good things don't come free, unless his first name is Markus.

[G Richards]

Do you still think we'll win the league next season?

Feel free to read the last two paragraphs of my lengthy post above!

 

I'm reluctant to be boxed into a corner in some internet spat, with someone seeking to argue my viewpoint has no credibility.

 

The discussion as to where we finish it he league is nuanced. In a tub thumping, proud to be a Liverpool fan sort of a moment, why not? Given all the reasons I tried to outline above. But in the cold light of day there will be 5-6 teams with shorter odds than us.

 

I think we will give it a real good go, and I'm not on the despondency bus with a good portion of the forum just yet!

[G Richards]

It makes me laugh when people keep saying we've improved our defence with Matip, how many of these people have actually seen him play? How do you know if he's gonna slot in? He was free, good things don't come free, unless his first name is Markus.

Fair enough. Everything about next season is speculative, for the purpose of discussion. On Matip I believe he was in the Bundesliga team of the year. I'm not expecting the second coming of Beckenbauer or anything, but I'm hopeful he will do well here. As for Lovren, I saw his improvement under Klopp with my own eyes.

 

I'm prepared to go out on a limb and say the defence will be better next season.

 

Edit: having a confident goalkeeper behind them will be a big boost too.

[amli]

Billy Liddell ‏@Liddellpool now6 seconds ago

#LFC are close to wrapping up three new signings, acc to Chris Bascombe

[Captain]

Feel free to read the last two paragraphs of my lengthy post above!

 

I'm reluctant to be boxed into a corner in some internet spat, with someone seeking to argue my viewpoint has no credibility.

 

The discussion as to where we finish it he league is nuanced. In a tub thumping, proud to be a Liverpool fan sort of a moment, why not? Given all the reasons I tried to outline above. But in the cold light of day there will be 5-6 teams with shorter odds than us.

 

I think we will give it a real good go, and I'm not on the despondency bus with a good portion of the forum just yet!

 

I pulled you up on it before and you confirmed it.

 

If you've changed your mind, fair enough.

[G Richards]

I'm willing to say "yes, I think we will win the league."

 

But obviously it's a nuanced thing. I liked a line Houllier used to say, "In football you can't programme success, but you can prepare for it." Or something close to that anyway.

 

My point is, we are preparing for success under Klopp. I like what I see so far. Key areas of the team are being addressed. I expect us to be one of at least six teams who can fight for the title, and so as a fan I'm willing to back my side to win it.

 

PS - I just checked and we are 9/1 to do it. That's not such a long shot.