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Summer 2021 transfer thread.


manwiththestick
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1 hour ago, Lee909 said:

Sitting still for 2 years will bite us in the backside if we don't do something soon. 

 

Yeah, if you don't believe in the concept of players improving under (our) coaches' guidance, I can see why people get worked up when no (or few) transfers are made.

 

I've been advocating this point to most of my fellow supporters of LFC where I live. Without fail, everyone go into panic mode as soon as one of our rivals strengthen their squad. I've been guilty of this many times in the past myself. Why am I so indifferent to the mega-transfers these days? I have total faith in Klopp's (and his coaches) ability to improve the players and the team (also the team spirit/bonding). Look at Jordan HendersonI have to admit, I had completely given up on him, to the point where I advocated his selling (preferring Shelvey instead). Look at what he's achieved under the guidance of Klopp. Look at Andy Robertson, Trent, Salah, Mane. The list goes on.

 

I think coaching is shockingly underrated in the sporting world. A good set of coaches will make your team good/very good. A great set of coaches - and in particular a coach/leader as charismatic and likeable as Klopp - will work miracles with players that others have given up on.

 

I will worry when Klopp leaves, I'm completely honest with that (much the same as when Ferguson retired, I was dead certain their domination was over). Until then, I have the utmost confidence that we will be right at the top in both league and CL.

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32 minutes ago, lebron said:

I'm going to make a controversial statement in the transfer thread....

 

I'm happy with what we have.

 

I also think we'll be City's main competitior for the league, and we'll go deep in the CL.

 

Reasons for this?

 

1. We've got the best (or 2nd best) manager in the league, definitely the best at working without an unlimited budget.

2. We still have the best starting eleven in the league when everyone is fit.

3. The crowds will be back.

4. The ONE area of the field that completely decimated us last year has been repaired and strengthened.

5. Our players and leaders on the field (as well as the manager) will be hungry as fuck to set the record straight.


Also, apart from City, who has better depth than us? Assuming Shaq is leaving, I guess this would be our two best line-ups. I personally prefer Gomez to Matip because of his pace, but as he's been out so long, he'll probably have to wait for his chance.

 

---------------------Allison----------------------

Trent-------Matip--------Vvd----------Robbo

------------------Fabinho-----------------------

----Henderson-----------Thiago--------------

Salah--------------Firmino-------------Mane

 

 

--------------------Kelleher---------------------

Williams-----Gomez----Konate----Tsimikas

--------------------Milner-----------------------

----------Jones------------Keita---------------

----Elliott---------Ox/Origi----------Jota------

 

I'm comfortable with all the players not in bold playing 10+ league games for us. Ideally we would have kept Gini and sold one of Ox/Keita, as that would have given us fewer days on the treatment table, but all these players know the system well by now, and should be able to contribute when given the chance. 

 

Nothing to worry about then? Well, I hope that whinging supporters on social media and in the stadium don't take us back to the days when Klopp had to will the supporters to SUPPORT the players from the stands. Hopefully the days of groans and sighs will be replaced with enthusiasm and a belief that Anfield is still a fortress and our players, manager and supporters are "back to normal".

 

On the field, the usual suspects in black (or whatever colour they are wearing these days) completely fudging up the rules of the game is the only other thing that really worries me.

 

Let's get behind the boys, and hope for a fast start to our league and CL campaign to get the doubters back on the believe train again!

I think if we want to just compete for the title, we don't have to do anything. You can say "Let's give Elliott a clear path" and "the numbers in midfield are sufficient" and both those things are fair arguments. We have 7 midfielders which is numerically fine and Elliott could be good enough and could give us a shot in the arm.

 

But to win what will be a very competitive league and have a chance of winning the Champions League at the same time, we probably need another 35m forward or 35m midfielder, if just to guard against injury. Paradoxically, we have a great squad, but are also a few key injuries away from treading water.

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Roughly how many matches will Salah and Mane miss due the AFCON ?

As our squad is at the moment it’s jota we’ll be relying on to get goals during that period as Bobby won’t produce numbers as his stats seem to be getting worse every year. 
we’ll probably have Oirgi stinking the place out for us up front in January. 

 

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5 minutes ago, lebron said:

Yeah, if you don't believe in the concept of players improving under (our) coaches' guidance, I can see why people get worked up when no (or few) transfers are made.

 

I've been advocating this point to most of my fellow supporters of LFC where I live. Without fail, everyone go into panic mode as soon as one of our rivals strengthen their squad. I've been guilty of this many times in the past myself. Why am I so indifferent to the mega-transfers these days? I have total faith in Klopp's (and his coaches) ability to improve the players and the team (also the team spirit/bonding). Look at Jordan HendersonI have to admit, I had completely given up on him, to the point where I advocated his selling (preferring Shelvey instead). Look at what he's achieved under the guidance of Klopp. Look at Andy Robertson, Trent, Salah, Mane. The list goes on.

 

I think coaching is shockingly underrated in the sporting world. A good set of coaches will make your team good/very good. A great set of coaches - and in particular a coach/leader as charismatic and likeable as Klopp - will work miracles with players that others have given up on.

 

I will worry when Klopp leaves, I'm completely honest with that (much the same as when Ferguson retired, I was dead certain their domination was over). Until then, I have the utmost confidence that we will be right at the top in both league and CL.

It's not about big transfers or making them for the sake of it. We have not competed domestically for cups because FSG don't give a shit about them and won't give him a squad good enough to make a run. And there is little doubt at times the lack of depth has cost us points. I'm not shouting for Sancho on 300 grand a week and a 70ml fee but a bench better than Shaqiri,Origi is a must. Its not helped by having only one midfielder capable of playimg most games in a season now with Hendo,Thiago,Keita,Ox not exactly being the types to 38 games a year, same with Milner with his age,

 

XI vs XI we are as good as anyone but one or two injuries and we struggle to fill the places and throw enough quality into a squad and the mancs will take another step forward as have Chelsea. 

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9 minutes ago, Red74 said:

We’ve got 4 players who haven’t suffered a long term injury or are injury prone and 2 of them are gonna be missing for a month.

I think long term injury and injury proneness are terms that are going to be looked upon differently under the ever-revolving football calendar. What you'll have is physical freaks like Salah, Ronaldo, Mane that are able to play more or less throughout the year. Most other athletes' bodies are eventually going to succumb to fatigue and injuries that last for 6-8 weeks. The difference is how quickly they are able to recover from said injuries.

 

In our squad I'd say these are players more susceptible to injuries than what is "normal":

Keita, Ox, Matip - these have all suffered minor injuries that take abnormally long time to heal.

I'll place Gomez in the unlucky category, even if I know people think he's injury prone. All his major injuries are impact injuries apart from the last one, and even there the waters seem a bit muddled.

 

If you look across the other clubs in the league, they all have the same problem with the congested fixture list. Players get injured. That's it. The only way to circumvent this is by paying obscene amounts of money to world class reserves in every position (aka City). That's just not doable if you're not cheating and/or cooking the books. I'll make a possible exception for Utd, even if I think they are treading a thin line in regards to how much they're spending on wages over the next couple of years (they'll probably have to sell Pogba).

 

 

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11 minutes ago, Mark M said:

Roughly how many matches will Salah and Mane miss due the AFCON ?

As our squad is at the moment it’s jota we’ll be relying on to get goals during that period as Bobby won’t produce numbers as his stats seem to be getting worse every year. 
we’ll probably have Oirgi stinking the place out for us up front in January. 

 

 

2 League games, they will be back 3 days before Leicester if they make the final

Palace away and Brentford at home

They also miss the FA Cup 3/4th rounds and we have the weeks break in that period

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1 minute ago, Lee909 said:

It's not about big transfers or making them for the sake of it. We have not competed domestically for cups because FSG don't give a shit about them and won't give him a squad good enough to make a run. And there is little doubt at times the lack of depth has cost us points. I'm not shouting for Sancho on 300 grand a week and a 70ml fee but a bench better than Shaqiri,Origi is a must. Its not helped by having only one midfielder capable of playimg most games in a season now with Hendo,Thiago,Keita,Ox not exactly being the types to 38 games a year, same with Milner with his age,

 

XI vs XI we are as good as anyone but one or two injuries and we struggle to fill the places and throw enough quality into a squad and the mancs will take another step forward as have Chelsea. 

I honestly don't think Jurgen wants to work with a squad that big. I think he sees having 22 full internationals as a conundrum more than he welcomes it. I'll also gladly sacrifice our cup runs (like all other managers than Guardiola are doing) to compete for the big two. Unless you pay silly money to keep the bench-warmers happy, you'll be stuck with quite a few unhappy players if you keep playing settled sides like Klopp likes.

 

 

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23 minutes ago, 3 Stacks said:

I think if we want to just compete for the title, we don't have to do anything. You can say "Let's give Elliott a clear path" and "the numbers in midfield are sufficient" and both those things are fair arguments. We have 7 midfielders which is numerically fine and Elliott could be good enough and could give us a shot in the arm.

 

But to win in what will be a very competitive league and have a chance of winning the Champions League at the same time, we probably need another 35m forward or 35m midfielder, if just to guard against injury. Paradoxically, we have a great squad, but are also a few key injuries away from treading water.

I don't think it'll be that competitive....

Us and City will pass the 90 pt mark. The others will languish 12-15 pts behind.

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Utd and Chelsea will improve on last year points totals

 

Chelsea will have the whole season under a actual manager and Utd likely won't concede as many with Varane back there aswell. Obviously fully fit we improve but expecting 90pts is alot, its take a monumental effort to get to that figure and will require Firmino to start finding goals and form and the midfield to stay fit if nothing else. Its obviously possible but again your asking the same small core of players to run through brickwalls after many have been playing this summer again or on their way baack from long term injuries.

 

Firmino is starting to become a massive worry in front of goal, he looked absoloutley shite for Brazil(but Brazil did in general imho) at the Copa America. Mane form will need to pick up aswell if we are to get near 90pts

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7 minutes ago, Lee909 said:

Utd and Chelsea will improve on last year points totals

 

Chelsea will have the whole season under a actual manager and Utd likely won't concede as many with Varane back there aswell. Obviously fully fit we improve but expecting 90pts is alot, its take a monumental effort to get to that figure and will require Firmino to start finding goals and form and the midfield to stay fit if nothing else. Its obviously possible but again your asking the same small core of players to run through brickwalls after many have been playing this summer again or on their way baack from long term injuries.

 

Firmino is starting to become a massive worry in front of goal, he looked absoloutley shite for Brazil(but Brazil did in general imho) at the Copa America. Mane form will need to pick up aswell if we are to get near 90pts

Unless penalty keeps his form, I think Utd will be about the same as last year. Chelsea will be about the same I reckon.

 

I don't think we've ever really relied on Bobby for his goals, so I don't see the same issue there as others. In our system, the onus will be on the wide forwards to be more clinical. I think both Mane and Salah will have benefitted from their extended break, and Jota should be fresh as well.

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9 hours ago, joe_fishfish said:

 

We're never going anywhere near him at that price, but imagine how happy it would make @aRdja if we got him.

 

He’s a pretty good player, but wouldn’t be my first choice. He’s a giant but doesn’t seem to be very good in the air. 

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6 hours ago, Lee909 said:

Sitting still for 2 years will bite us in the backside if we don't do something soon. 

 

Gutted we sat still last Summer. It was the perfect time to sign back-up for Robbo, a world class midfielder and a forward who could slot straight into our front three.

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17 hours ago, Mook said:

Apparently Harvey Elliott is set to take his place in the squad.

Does that mean Harvey Elliott will save the club millions? 

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11 hours ago, lebron said:

I'm going to make a controversial statement in the transfer thread....

 

I'm happy with what we have.

 

I also think we'll be City's main competitior for the league, and we'll go deep in the CL.

 

Reasons for this?

 

1. We've got the best (or 2nd best) manager in the league, definitely the best at working without an unlimited budget.

2. We still have the best starting eleven in the league when everyone is fit.

3. The crowds will be back.

4. The ONE area of the field that completely decimated us last year has been repaired and strengthened.

5. Our players and leaders on the field (as well as the manager) will be hungry as fuck to set the record straight.


Also, apart from City, who has better depth than us? Assuming Shaq is leaving, I guess this would be our two best line-ups. I personally prefer Gomez to Matip because of his pace, but as he's been out so long, he'll probably have to wait for his chance.

 

---------------------Allison----------------------

Trent-------Matip--------Vvd----------Robbo

------------------Fabinho-----------------------

----Henderson-----------Thiago--------------

Salah--------------Firmino-------------Mane

 

 

--------------------Kelleher---------------------

Williams-----Gomez----Konate----Tsimikas

--------------------Milner-----------------------

----------Jones------------Keita---------------

----Elliott---------Ox/Origi----------Jota------

 

I'm comfortable with all the players not in bold playing 10+ league games for us. Ideally we would have kept Gini and sold one of Ox/Keita, as that would have given us fewer days on the treatment table, but all these players know the system well by now, and should be able to contribute when given the chance. 

 

Nothing to worry about then? Well, I hope that whinging supporters on social media and in the stadium don't take us back to the days when Klopp had to will the supporters to SUPPORT the players from the stands. Hopefully the days of groans and sighs will be replaced with enthusiasm and a belief that Anfield is still a fortress and our players, manager and supporters are "back to normal".

 

On the field, the usual suspects in black (or whatever colour they are wearing these days) completely fudging up the rules of the game is the only other thing that really worries me.

 

Let's get behind the boys, and hope for a fast start to our league and CL campaign to get the doubters back on the believe train again!

I was dead against this post until you wrote 'support' in capitals, now I am fully onboard. 

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8 hours ago, Captain Turdseye said:


I had him in the FM21 draft and he was shite. 

Watched him for France in the Euros because I thought we maybe should have gone for him before Konate. Didnt impress and he looked a bit lost at times.

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12 hours ago, lebron said:

I'm going to make a controversial statement in the transfer thread....

 

I'm happy with what we have.

 

I also think we'll be City's main competitior for the league, and we'll go deep in the CL.

 

Reasons for this?

 

1. We've got the best (or 2nd best) manager in the league, definitely the best at working without an unlimited budget.

2. We still have the best starting eleven in the league when everyone is fit.

3. The crowds will be back.

4. The ONE area of the field that completely decimated us last year has been repaired and strengthened.

5. Our players and leaders on the field (as well as the manager) will be hungry as fuck to set the record straight.


Also, apart from City, who has better depth than us? Assuming Shaq is leaving, I guess this would be our two best line-ups. I personally prefer Gomez to Matip because of his pace, but as he's been out so long, he'll probably have to wait for his chance.

 

---------------------Allison----------------------

Trent-------Matip--------Vvd----------Robbo

------------------Fabinho-----------------------

----Henderson-----------Thiago--------------

Salah--------------Firmino-------------Mane

 

 

--------------------Kelleher---------------------

Williams-----Gomez----Konate----Tsimikas

--------------------Milner-----------------------

----------Jones------------Keita---------------

----Elliott---------Ox/Origi----------Jota------

 

I'm comfortable with all the players not in bold playing 10+ league games for us. Ideally we would have kept Gini and sold one of Ox/Keita, as that would have given us fewer days on the treatment table, but all these players know the system well by now, and should be able to contribute when given the chance. 

 

Nothing to worry about then? Well, I hope that whinging supporters on social media and in the stadium don't take us back to the days when Klopp had to will the supporters to SUPPORT the players from the stands. Hopefully the days of groans and sighs will be replaced with enthusiasm and a belief that Anfield is still a fortress and our players, manager and supporters are "back to normal".

 

On the field, the usual suspects in black (or whatever colour they are wearing these days) completely fudging up the rules of the game is the only other thing that really worries me.

 

Let's get behind the boys, and hope for a fast start to our league and CL campaign to get the doubters back on the believe train again!

Konate will be a starter. All looks good on paper except a lot of them spend a lot of time on physios couches as you know rather than on the pitch. Hope you’re right obviously, for me we need two more additions.

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One thing that hasn't been mentioned is the number of midfielders. If one comes in (Niguez?) that means we will have 8 in total. Hendo, Fabinho, Thiago, Milner, Jones, Ox, Keita and X. 7 of them on big wages. Surely Ox or Keita would be off?

 

Now I know Ox has been playing in the front 3. So if we bring a forward in you have Firmino, Mane, Salah, Jota, X, Minamino, Ox, Elliott *. So again it seems high on numbers. Perhaps Minamino would be off? I certainly think him, Ox and Keita aren't all likely to stay.

 

*Assuming Shaq and Origi are out the door.

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4 minutes ago, RoyHodgeGone said:

One thing that hasn't been mentioned is the number of midfielders. If one comes in (Niguez?) that means we will have 8 in total. Hendo, Fabinho, Thiago, Milner, Jones, Ox, Keita and X. 7 of them on big wages. Surely Ox or Keita would be off?

Ox and Keita should be sold off purely due to the fact its only a matter of time before their both out injured and not available for selection.

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1 hour ago, Mark M said:

Ox and Keita should be sold off purely due to the fact its only a matter of time before their both out injured and not available for selection.

Ox stays because of the homegrown, also why he was bought probably. They thought they could fix a broken horse. They haven't been able too so far, he'll end up doing a Sturridge and sit out the remainder of the contract.

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2 hours ago, Mark M said:

Ox and Keita should be sold off purely due to the fact its only a matter of time before their both out injured and not available for selection.

They are both useless and contribute nothing all season whilst on massive wages. 

 

They get everyone's hopes up pre season, get injured then take a while to get back into a rhythm after injury then just get injured again.

 

Problem is no one is stupid enough to take them off us. 

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26 minutes ago, Johnlj said:

Ox stays because of the homegrown, also why he was bought probably. They thought they could fix a broken horse. They haven't been able too so far, he'll end up doing a Sturridge and sit out the remainder of the contract.

I think the Sturridge example is good it also reminds me of Agger both really talented players but both players struggled to play at the top level when they were asked to play a couple of games a week they would keep breaking down.

I think Agger mentioned when he retired his body wasn't able to handle the demands.

 

Its looking like a similar situation with Ox and Keita - its irrelevant to me how talented they potentially are if they can't play. 

 

Theres nothing surer than Keita starting the season for us looking great his fanboys wetting themselves over a turn or great pass he makes.

He'll go off with a 'minor injury' after a couple of matches and we might see him again in November.

 

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