Summer 2011

[bonesman]

Dont know if its been posted yet but heres some footage of Thommo saying that enrique newcastle to Liverpool is a done deal..

IX0l5rpYyGc

[Lee909]

Reports this morning that the club that are in talks is Athletico and the fee is 12ml euros.

He would be worth ago at that price.

[18-5]

Pretty dumb on our part if we spent 12 million and don't even know who the guy is.

[Lee909]

Might explain how we have ended up with some of our players of late.

 

Arda Turan was the player

[18-5]

Good for him. Rafa is going to takeover from Sanchez Flores.

[The Dude Abides]

There are 7 first team players that need replacing before Gerrard. That means we need to look at sorting those positions out first (let alone looking at backups for some of those areas) then look to a Gerrard replacement.

 

He's had a few injuries the last two seasons (hence my reference to him having a shit two seasons) but replacing him is miles from a priority which is why I said the Modric signing is unnecessary at this time.

 

You disagree but so what, the facts are we won't replace Steven Gerrard this summer as he's still our most talented and proven player. Next summer is when we should look at getting in a replacement. This summer we need a decent partner for him in centre midfield

 

You speaka da Englieesh?!

 

We are shit in the middle of the park. Gerrard isn't much of a central midfielder at the best of times, he's an attacking midfielder. Modric is a very good central midfielder. We need a central midfielder. So, do the math.

 

This latest Gerrard injury is a serious one, as tears go, it's just about as bad as it gets, or so i've read. So who knows how long he'll be out and in what shape he'll be in. The likelihood is that he'll miss a good amount of games next season.

 

Modric probably wouldn't happen anyway, but to deny that we need that kind of player, because we have Gerrard, Raul and AQuilani? Is frankly ludicrous and the type of thing that will see us slip even further behind.

Edited April 11, 2011 by The Dude Abides

[Lee909]

Liverpool are plotting a bid for 22-year-old Borussia Dortmund defender Mats Hummels at the end of the season.

The German centre-back has produced a string of impressive performances this season that has helped his side to the best defensive record in the league.

Hummels recently signed a contract extension with the Bundesliga leaders until 2014, but Reds Director of Football has earmarked Hummels as a real talent and is ready to offer £9million to secure his services.

With Kop hero Jamie Carragher’s career winding down and Sotiris Kygriakos likely to leave in the summer, Reds boss Dalglish is hoping to recruit a young centre-back in the summer.

The highly-rated stopper seemingly fits the bill with an all-round game consisting of tough tackling, excellent positioning, and composure in possession.

The stopper has seen his stock rise considerably since establishing himself in the Dortmund setup in 2008 having joined initially on loan from Bayern Munich.

He has since racked up 80 appearances with the Bundesliga table toppers and earned four international caps - having made his debut in May 2010 against Malta.

 

 

Udinese goalkeeper Samir Handanovic is reportedly a transfer target for Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester United

 

The 26-year-old has been in good form for club and country over the past couple of seasons, with the former Domzale keeper impressing for Slovenia at last summer's World Cup in South Africa.

 

His form has led to a number of Serie A clubs showing an interest in recent months, but according to his agent, a move to the Premier League could be on the cards.

 

Arsenal and Manchester United are both keen on signing a new number one this summer and have been linked with a number of top goalkeepers from across Europe.

 

One of those names is Liverpool keeper Pepe Reina, who is believed to be considering his future at Anfield. Should the Spain international decide on a move away from Merseyside, then Liverpool will be seeking a replacement.

 

Handanovic's agent, Federico Pastorello, has hinted that the Slovenian could be on his way to the Premiership, with Aston Villa and Tottenham Hotspur also showing interest.

 

Pastorello told Sport.co.uk of his client: "He is doing really well and has had a fantastic season.

 

"I think we will try to find something for him in the summer because he deserves it to be honest. He has been fantastic.

 

"He was brilliant at the World Cup. I look at the Premier League and I think why not? I think there will be lots of movement with goalkeepers in the Premier League – we are aware a number of sides are in the market.

 

"Arsenal will be looking, Manchester United will be looking, Aston Villa as well, and Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur. There are many big clubs who could be in the market so it could be interesting.

 

"I think Handanovic will be a target for a number of top clubs in the summer."

[18-5]

9 million for Hummels is a pretty decent price.

[FidelMurphy]

Where's that link to Hummels from? it's too good to be true if I'm honest as he'd be perfect.

[Unrighteous]

Mats Hummels?

 

[18-5]

Where's that link to Hummels from? it's too good to be true if I'm honest as he'd be perfect.

 

Think @Lee909 got it from this website: Liverpool eye highly-rated £9m German stopper - Sportingo

 

Pretty shit source mind.

[Lee909]

I was just checking the daily hate mail site that has links to stories regarding,poor link most likely.

[Skully]

Not sure if right place but a cracking read I though

 

 

Tony Barrett

Last updated April 12 2011 6:31PM

“IF there is a very good 18 or 19 year old full back we need to make sure that in two or three years they are in the first team and not sign another player in front of him from outside. That’s the strong message I give to the staff at the Academy and also to the scouts, I say don’t push players in a position where we already have a talented player. If we did then we may as well shut down the Academy.” Damien Comolli, Liverpool’s director of football.

 

On Monday night, Liverpool deservedly defeated Manchester City at Anfield in a largely one-sided affair. The result was noteworthy as was the manner in which it achieved but the real significance was to be found in the strategy and philosophy which lay behind it.

 

At the behest of Fenway Sports Group, the owners, under the direction of Damien Comolli, the director of football, and implemented by Kenny Dalglish, the caretaker manager, Liverpool have adopted a policy which will see the club’s most promising youngsters being given a pathway into the first team where they will rub shoulders with established stars.

 

Just as Real Madrid implemented a Zidanes y Pavones approach to great success in the late 1990s with the best youth team players being developed and ultimately promoted to play alongside the the Galacticos, so Liverpool have hatched a similar scheme. Given the success of their first steps in this new direction, it could easily be given a brand name of its own – Carrolls and Flanagans.

 

The concept is simple and yet the results could be significant. From now on, Liverpool will endeavour to sign players for the first team as long as they (a) provide value for money and (b) do not block the progress of their most promising Academy prospects. In January, Andy Carroll and Luis Suarez were acquired at great expense but also in the knowledge that their recruitment was absolutely necessary given the fact that the only promising forward at the club was Adam Morgan, a 16-year-old with a precocious eye for goal but who still requires time to develop before being thrust into the first team.

 

Jonathan Flanagan, meanwhile, had already been earmarked by Dalglish as a player of first team potential and that determined that there would be no moves for a right back, particularly given that Liverpool were already well served in that position through Glen Johnson and Martin Kelly. For the first time in many years, and perhaps since the Academy opened its doors more than a decade ago, Liverpool have a definite vision of how their youth programme will dovetail with the senior squad.

 

“We want the Academy to produce players because the more Academy players you have in the first team the stronger the sense of identity is and the stronger their love for the shirt and the club will be,” Comolli explained. “It would also mean that we are producing players who play the kind of football that we want. These are key things for us.

 

“But in terms of recruitment for the first team, there are positions where you have to get experience. There are other positions where you can use a young player and we would rather invest a lot of money in a young player than on a 29-year-old. That’s our philosophy but we’re not the only ones – Spurs do the same, Arsenal do the same. It is how we see it for the future but it’s all about balance because we don’t want 21 to be the average age of our first team. We need Stevie (Gerrard), we need Carra and we need Dirk Kuyt but we are also very happy to get Andy Carroll who is 22 and Luis Suarez who is 24.”

 

The Academy revolution was actually instigated by Rafa Benitez almost two years ago, bloodless it was not and a number of senior and long serving figures within Liverpool’s youth set-up were shown the door. At the time, the Spaniard was roundly criticised for the moves, particularly as his vision involved introducing two of his fellow countrymen, Pep Segura and Rodolfo Borrell, to implement his proposed transformation in coaching and technical development. With Frank McParland tasked with overseeing the modernization process and Dalglish brought in to lend both legendary status and extensive experience to the project, the early stages were testing for all involved but in recent months the changes have begun to bear fruit.

 

Flanagan’s rapid rise through the ranks is the most vivid illustration yet of how effective the changes have been. The 18-year-old has long been regarded as a young player of potential – at one stage he was taken to Old Trafford by a member of the club’s staff with a brief to watch and learn from none other than Gary Neville – but at the start of the current season few at the club expected this to be the campaign when he would make the breakthrough. But so effective has his coaching been and so well has the 18-year-old adapted to the new regime and the guidance offered by Dalglish, McParland and Borrell that he was fast-tracked into the first team as soon as an opportunity presented itself and against City he was arguably Liverpool’s best performer.

 

The effect that Dalglish has on youngsters like Flanagan cannot be understated. Before replacing Hodgson as manager, the Anfield legend was based at the Academy where he regularly played 5-a-side with the club’s young players. He got to know them and they got to know them and that meant Dalglish was ideally placed to assess which of them were best prepared for the first team. After moving to Melwood, one of Dalglish’s first appointments was at the Academy where he told the youngsters that they, like him, could graduate to the senior scene. “He assured the players that there would be big opportunities ahead for them to be involved in first-team training sessions and that some of them will be going away with the first-team for Barclays Premier League games so they can sample the experience of it all,” McParland recalled.

 

Flanagan is the first to make the jump and he is likely to be the first of many with a whole batch of young players – including Conor Coady, Suso, Jack Robinson, Raheem Sterling and Andre Wisdom – all waiting in the wings and hoping to follow in his footsteps. “To play for the first team is a dream come true,” Flanagan said following his outstanding debut.

 

“Kenny has been a big help to me and the other young players. He’s been working at the club for the last two years and he was at the academy so he knows all of the youngsters well. He’s always a big help to us, telling us what to do and stuff like that. It helps us just the fact that we already know him well from the Academy because it means that he knows us well too.

 

“It gives all the young players a boost because we all know that Kenny is looking at us and is willing to give us our chance so that gives us confidence. The thing for us is that when we do get a chance we have to take it. There is a great bunch of lads at the Academy, we were unlucky in the Youth Cup but we’ve got great teams in the Academy and the reserves.

 

“My dad was here when he was younger but unfortunately he didn’t make it. But even that is something that can help me because he’s able to speak to me about what worked and what didn’t work for him and that means I can learn from his mistakes. He keeps telling me he used to clean Kenny’s boots!”

 

The challenge facing Liverpool now is to ensure that more youngsters, like Flanagan’s father, do not fall by the wayside. At least now they have the conditions to ensure that the most promising players at the club’s Academy have the best chance in a generation to make the grade and equally importantly they also have a clearly defined strategy aimed at ensuring that this does happen. It may have a long way to go before it can be as successful as the Zidanes y Pavones philosophy which ushered in the Galactico era at Real Madrid but, on the evidence of Liverpool’s commanding victory over Manchester City, the Carrolls and Flanagans policy is already showing rich promise.

[Lee909]

The Zidanes y Pavones era was overall a disater,the youngsters were only there as they were pay peanuts so the galacticos could be paid massive amounts,it led to the collapse of madrid from the side that had been playing well in europe for a few years while macca and redondo etc were there.

Adam Morgan the only promising young foward at the club?so have we written off Michael Ngoo,Adorjan,Amoo and Ecelstone then.

[Royal Family]

It's a great philosophy, but one can't help wondering if it's more motivated by money considerations than by footballing realities. After all, it relies on the Academy selecting and producing players who can be world-class (which, after all, every Academy tries to do). And I still think it's impossible to know whether most players will 'make' it at the age of 21, let alone 18, 16 or even 14.

 

It also makes recruitment to the Academies important - Arsenal for instance rarely 'produce' theiur own (Willshire is a notable exception), as we have tried to do with local lads, but bring in youngesters from all over the globe. We absolutely need to do the same.

[Lee909]

the nabbed Wilshere of luton

[Iantn]

the nabbed Wilshere of luton

 

True but he was only about 10 at the time.

[BurtReynolds]

Mats Hummels now there's a player. Hell i'd be tempted to sign him and Subotic and ship The Greek,Agger ( for fitness reasons) and Carra out the door.

[Lee909]

I wouldnt let Carra go anywere,he stills has a major future at the club.Just look at last night the way he help Flanagan through the game,niether Hummels or Subotic could do that.

[phc1965]

an interesting twist with the emergence of flanagan is that we now seem to have three players who can be quality right backs in johnson kelly and flanagan. ive always thought that kelly would eventually turn out to be a centre half so this might save us £15m on splashing out for someone like cahill in the summer.

 

johnson as first choice right back with cover from flanagan kelly and carra, with kelly and carra at centre back with cover from skertl and agger, a new left back with cover from johnson and agger and maybe aurelio, although it looks like we have signed enrique from newcastle. it all looks pretty flexible and has a lot of potential for improvement and it may just provide us with important funds to spend on other positions.

 

i think its imperative that we sign another striker. LFC have been hamstrung in recent seasons by a lack of striking options due to injuries. if we are to mount a serious challenge to the top four (which i think is well within our capabilities even with the squad we have now) we must have adequate cover for suarez and carroll. its no good thinking we can cover with ngog kuyt and gerrard. it'll cost us too many points if we go with that. who do we sign? well i think it needs to be someone with premier league experience who we could get for a knock down price that wont mind too much playing second fiddle to carroll and suarez. odemwingie elmander and rodellega are possibles. but i think clint dempsey is a decent shout. a regular scorer who is having is best season so far (10 league goals) for a fulham side who set up firstly not to get beat, at his peak at 28.

 

charlie adam and ashley young are the two attacking midfielders i would like to see arrive in the summer. i'd also like eden hazard but i cant see that happening. not at the moment anyway

 

plenty of definates to move out, soto maxi cole konchesky aquilani insua ngog. not sure how much that lot will bring in but we appear to have big funds available for rebuilding.

 

plus we have a telanted bunch of kids about to emerge in the next couple of years. im particularly excited by adam morgan. he reminds me a bit of john aldridge

 

we have a lot to look forward i think

 

 

pete

[Best Believe It]

Adam Morgan the only promising young foward at the club?so have we written off Michael Ngoo,Adorjan,Amoo and Ecelstone then.

 

No idea about Adorjan, I do rate Ngoo, but I think it's fair to say you can probably write off Ecclestone. Amoo is a winger anyway (and there is debate about whether he can make the step up).

[Guest Numero Veinticinco]

A young, hungry, fit, strong, pacey spine down the team, thanks very much. I normally dread the summer, but I hope we get off to a flyer this time. Really looking forward to see who we bring in.

[Carvalho Diablo]

Cheers Skully, great read that.

 

I think the bottom line is this : over the past 10 years we've had too many players !

 

Way too many players - especially shit players - simply blocking the way to the first team for our young talent.

 

Over that time it seems to have become the vogue to have a 1st 11, a reserve 11, and then a shadowy bunch of 11 foreign journeymen somewhere inbetween.

 

This latter group get very little playing time either, not for either the 1st team or the ressies, ( no wonder the likes of Babel, Voronin, Ngog etc looked so off the pace and rusty when given a rare opportunity), they stifle and block the progression of the genuine, young, hungry talent coming through, and they cost the club a huge fucking packet in wages.

 

Poulsen or Spearing, Jovanovic or Pacheco, Degen or Kelly ?

 

It's not fucking rocket science.

[MLB]

I think Morgan and Ngoo both have a chance of making it, but it's very hard to tell. Unless a player is quite obviously special then there will always be doubts. Mellor was a goal machine at reserve level but never really made the step up. It does seem to be our weakest area at youth/reserve level though.

[Lee909]

Links in some online site of Kjaer, not sure were they have come from though