8 Sept 2014

'There was interest': £10m LFC attacker admits he rejected Spurs transfer last month

Over the last couple of years, Tottenham Hotspur have repeatedly (and irritatingly) gazumped Liverpool in the transfer market, but this summer, the tide finally turned, and on-loan Liverpool striker Divock Origi has confirmed that he rejected White Hart Lane in favour of Anfield.

Speaking to Sky Sports last week, Origi - who cost the Reds £10m - admitted that Spurs made a late play for his services. He explained:

“Of course there was a lot of interest which is normal. It was on me to stay calm and make the right decision. In the end I chose Liverpool and I have never regretted it"

At Lille, 'exciting' Origi has one goal/no assists in six appearances so far this season (four starts), which isn't the greatest record, and possibly explains why Rudi Garcia dropped him for Lille's recent League game against Monaco.

To be honest - I'm finding it hard to muster up any enthusiasm for this deal. Some fans seem to rate Origi very highly, but he seems overrated to me, and a couple of decent games in the World Cup doesn't make him a world-beater.

However, given LFC's striker situation, it may have been a good idea to keep Origi at Anfield this season. Liverpool legend Steve Nicol feels the same, and in a recent radio interview, he mused:

"I'm a little worried. It's a season without him [Origi], and Liverpool could really do with him [this season]. He's a huge talent, and I'd love to have had him this season"

Steven Gerrard also wanted the youngster to stay for the upcoming season, as revealed by Origi last month:

"Steven Gerrard told me it was a shame I could not be here immediately, and they were expecting me with patience"

Three games into the season, and Daniel Sturridge is already injured, so Origi would make sense as extra cover right now. Granted, the Reds have Balotelli, but what happens if he gets injured and/or struggles for form? The idea of relying on Lambert and Borini is a chilling prospect to consider.

As for Origi - all the players Spurs stole of Liverpool have turned out to be duds, so let's hope he fares better than the likes of Dempsey, Sigurdsson et al.

Author:


80 comments:

  1. I'm pretty sure the loan back was part of the reason Lille agreed to the deal. It wasn't our choice.

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  2. Nevergonnacrackthecode5:47 pm, September 08, 2014

    if balotelli fails origi coems in , if origi fails , bony comes in

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  3. Nevergonnacrackthecode5:57 pm, September 08, 2014

    i feel so sorry for rafael benitez
    twice he had the chance to leave for the worlds biggest club real madrid but he stayed loyal, one bad season and we sack him




    if rodgers joins england we should get him back he will win us the cl again and bring in players of the quality of torres,alonso,mascherano,reina,
    and kuyt

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  4. Spirit of the Shadows6:05 pm, September 08, 2014

    if he turns out to be a dud we'll still get a buyer for him and make a profit anyway, cause he is young. That's what Chelsea does .

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  5. We should expect Studge to get injured each time he goes to play for England... He is an inherently fragile player and the England coaches apparently are clueless when it comes to managing fitness and condition of players... Woy seems a wonderful bloke but he bristles like a hedgehog at every criticism and he is a dud when it comes to tactics... I hope Hendo won't start today even if his injury is not serious...

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  6. Never look back. Loved Rafa, but we weren't exactly the most entertaining to watch under him. I'd take the sumptuous footy we're playing and the successful trajectory we seem to be on over Rafa I'm afraid.

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  7. When Rafa turned down Madrid to stay at Liverpool we were a far superior team, as shown by our 5-0 aggregate thrashing of them when we met in the champions league at that time. He also knew there was/is zero job security at Madrid unless you win the champions league every year.
    Rafa had plenty of time and spent an absolute fortune during his time in charge of Liverpool and never got as close (2 points) to winning the league as we did last year, the brand of football we played was nothing like as exciting as our current style and our squad depth was nowhere near as strong. There was also a lot more to it than one bad season and he was gone

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  8. RB was one of my favorite managers but he is too stubborn and he lacks the man management skills of BR... He also never favours the all-attack approach... It would be a step backwards... But he was tactically extremely astute and in the knock out stages in CL, the players were very well prepared tactically...

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  9. He never mentioned Tottenham......pie in the sky??...I should say so!

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  10. I seen Origi play twice this season, Kaboul was their striker. And Origi was played as a left winger, hugging the touchline all game, thats not the position we bought the player for, and probably why he was dropped.


    On another note, Markovich looked like a really good player against France at the weekend, see Markovich V France on Youtube.


    And Mclaughlin was singled out by his Manager for his performance against the mighty Germany.

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  11. Read the Sky article - he mentioned Spurs in comments not referenced in the post. That is a standard journalistic device, designed to stop an article being mostly quotes. If you have nothing constructive to add, why bother commenting at all?

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  12. Still far too early to draw any conclusions about Origi. Couple of times I've seen him play he's looked decent but who knows how he'll develop over the next few years

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  13. Agree 100% he did very well in winning the champs league and the F.A cup but I'd not swap him for Rodgers ever, rafa was lucky in the fact that we had an inform Torres and Steven gerrard at his peak

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  14. Nevergonnacrackthecode6:28 pm, September 08, 2014

    what does "he also never favors the all - attack approach"
    since when is this a good thing


    rafa used to have the best of both worlds a top attack and a top defense , plus our attack was devastating alonso,gerrard and fernando torres if he had fund like rodgers he would have signed villa,silva and alves


    apart from barcaloena name me one team that dominated the world with an all out attack approach
    as bill shankly said you start form the back

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  15. Nevergonnacrackthecode6:31 pm, September 08, 2014

    gerrard was not as good as under houlier, plus none of the england mangers got the best out of him
    rafa was crutical for gerrard


    also torres moved to anew level under rafa and since he left has never been the same , rafa had the perfect system for him




    i would say rodgers is more lucky to have got luis suarez at his peak

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  16. Our future is very bright. We have four potential RB's in our ranks in Manquillo, Flannagan, Wisdom and McLaughlin. Let battle commence from next season. Markovic is a player who has always managed to catch the eye even in a short cameo appearence. I would like to see him given the chance. Him and Lallana should start against Villa.

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  17. I wouldn't say we were devasting in attack we were heavy reliant on gerrard and Torres,.... Torres and Alonso absolute cracking buys I do think he got lucky moving gerrard into the number ten role to accommodate masch and Alonso, tactically he is a genius no doubt especially at the back but to watch we were a proper snooze fest

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  18. He did not have Suarez at his peak. He had a dejected Suarez who had just come back from racism allegations and struggled with proficiency in front of goal. Rodgers transformed him into the behemoth he is today and Luis has even admitted that. You should give the man more credit after what he has done for the club.

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  19. Spot on. Plus there's no way Gerrard was better under Houllier than Rafa

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  20. Nevergonnacrackthecode6:37 pm, September 08, 2014

    lots of fans are devaluing rafa benitez achievements

    truth is rafa won trophies at pretty much every club he has been at

    valencia,liverpool, inter milan,chelsea and porto he is a winner

    rodgers has done well but has not yet won anything and no trophies in two season cannot be taken lightly , mourinho said he would leave teh country if he went two season trophy less at chelsea


    , if simeone a true winner became available would you sack rodgers for him if you were fsg ?

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  21. That is debatable. Gerrard in his autobiography credits his success to Houllier the most and treats him like a father but Gerrard was at his peak under Rafa. Tough one to call.

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  22. Nevergonnacrackthecode6:38 pm, September 08, 2014

    sorry not porto ,napoli

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  23. Nevergonnacrackthecode6:39 pm, September 08, 2014

    rather win a trophy playing boring football


    saying we should be happy playing good football is loser talk , spurs and newcastle used to play good football

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  24. He won a Mickey Mouse trophy at inter. To be fair his time there was an absolute disaster. He's not really achieved anything at Napoli yet either

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  25. Rafa got gerrard in his mid twenties just as you want any centre midfielder unlike houlier and with doubt rafa got the best out of gerrard but I still think moving him to number 10 was more luck than judgement, he. Tried him on the right wing before moving him there, Torres his the ground running first 18 months and then slowly got worse, lost his pace .. And Rodgers lucky with Suarez that's debatable he was always a talented but he thrived under Rodgers

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  26. i like the look of oggy ...at least he has pace and athleticism and i wouldnt read to much into his form at lille because he wanted to start at liverpool from the git go so as young kid you done know how its affecting him

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  27. Nevergonnacrackthecode6:41 pm, September 08, 2014

    26 goals from right wing suggest rafa knew what he was doing

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  28. Rafa got sacked by Inter after just six months in charge. He had a great spell for Valencia and us but has not achieved much after that apart from a Europa League with a CL winning squad. He was a great tactician but isn't the same anymore. As for the Simeone point, I would ask you this same question. If Simeone became available, would you sack Wenger at Arsenal or Pellegrini at City as I would not sack Rodgers apart from maybe if Shankly mysteriously came back.

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  29. Houllier may have been more important to Gerrard's career but his best years on the pitch was definitely under Rafa

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  30. He wasn't on the right wing for long he moved him to accommodate mascherano and Alonso and he ended up in number not long after. I'm not denying his best period was under rafa but I think it was more luck than judgement moving him further up the field

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  31. I think he needs a full game or 2 to get up to speed with the BPL, deffo looks like a real player, and only 20.

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  32. Nevergonnacrackthecode6:44 pm, September 08, 2014

    well i am a liverpool fan so do not see what pellegrini or wenger has to do with it


    but 100% if klopp or simeone became available i would sack wenger maybe not pellegrini he just won the league

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  33. In the end it was time to go with rafa ....it was like an endurance test watching the reds play at times plus i was sick of his interviews he started coming across real petty and hard done to........poor me poor me poor me 100 grand a week

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  34. Wouldn't sack Rodgers for anyone right now

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  35. Nevergonnacrackthecode6:45 pm, September 08, 2014

    trying to follow someone who just won a treble you are doomed to fail

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  36. Spirit of the Shadows6:46 pm, September 08, 2014

    I read somewhere that kalou left Lille so that means Origi will start playing in the center from now on and to be fair to him he should be evaluated once he starts playing the central role. With kalou in the team he was chucked to the wing.

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  37. Nevergonnacrackthecode6:46 pm, September 08, 2014

    not for klopp or simeone?

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  38. Why so we can start again with someone new? No way. We're moving in the right direction at a phenomenal rate under Rodgers and we'd be crazy to change managers just now

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  39. Just looking at it from the perspective of other clubs because we are there with them and Rodgers is showing that he can be as good if not better than the other managers of the top clubs. Rodgers has done an amazing job and continues to do so. If his transfers click, we have our team set for the next 10 years. I would not undo any of the work he has done even if the best managers became available.

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  40. Maybe but not quite as spectacularly as he did

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  41. Mourinho had millions millions to spend and a decent squad so anything else and he would be sacked, rafa is a good tactician and did well with us, but it's in the past... And for the Rodgers comment that's laughable the years prior to him taking over we finish 7,6,8 inherited a poor squad, average first 11, and started his campaign with little money, he built a very good squad great first 11 and spent a fair bit of money... He's lost a world class striker, however I think this will be the year that defines him

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  42. Nevergonnacrackthecode6:55 pm, September 08, 2014

    "being with them" that means nothing
    lfc is about winning trophies we are not newcastle under keegan jsu happy to come second


    kenny daglsih was a failure but won a trophy so how can rodgers be classed a success when he has won nothing

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  43. Nevergonnacrackthecode6:58 pm, September 08, 2014

    see i am not against rodgers
    but ultimatly it is winning trophies and rodgers has none


    how come micheal laudrup can win trophies with swansea , roberto martinez with wigan , but not rodgers the so called "messiah"with liverpool,swansea or reading ?

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  44. Nevergonnacrackthecode6:59 pm, September 08, 2014

    i hope you are right but rodgers has lost the SAS
    and that will tell a lot
    i heard things that sturridge is out for 4 months and with suarez gone , rodgers has lost his two biggest weapond of last season

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  45. Nevergonnacrackthecode7:01 pm, September 08, 2014

    BTW, i hope no one is thinking i am attacking rodgers
    the question came up asking who would i rather have rafa benitez or rodgers i choose rafa and have justified why
    i am not here to cause any trouble

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  46. Exactly! The best football under RB came under the season where we finished 2nd. We had masch and xabi, then behind Torres, we had stevie. It was a wonderfully balanced team. But when xabi left the next season and RB played masch and lucas, that was hard to watch... BR however in his first season itself started showing us what sort of football to expect... BR makes mistakes too but he learns from them, something that RB lacked the humility to do... He was stubborn as a mule...

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  47. Nevergonnacrackthecode7:03 pm, September 08, 2014

    please all the best manger are stubborn
    mourinho,ancelotti,mancini,wenger

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  48. Nevergonnacrackthecode7:04 pm, September 08, 2014

    rafa saved liverpool
    he exposed hicks and gillet

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  49. What i hated was the 'facts' speech RB made... At that time, we were top of the league... There was no need to pick a fight and unsettle the team...

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  50. Nevergonnacrackthecode7:07 pm, September 08, 2014

    yet we won 10 out of our last 11 games


    the fact speech did nothing we drew with everton and wigan and then the media manipulated to make fergie seem like a messiah with mind games


    mourinho got under the skin of pellegrini as well last season it does not mean anything


    "mind games" is false it does nothing

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  51. Inherited Rodgers team at Swansea and Martinez is a great manager that got that little bit of luck that you need with a small team but none the less an outstanding achievement I think hell win something this year but who knows.

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  52. On a side note, Hendo is starting today... As we all know, he is made of similar stuff to suarez and this is great for Liverpool... However, I hope he does not aggravate his injury if he is not fully fit... A tough match awaits at the week-end against villa...

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  53. This post is about Origi. forget Rafa. He is never coming back with his boring football and rants. He is still an astute cup manager though.

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  54. Gerrard was at his peak under Rafa. He was always bitching about playing out of position under Rafa. Why??

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  55. Newcastle don't really and spurs are poor with no back bone, and I think we'll win under Rodgers, it's not just good football it's exquisite but he is a lot more than that

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  56. Maybe because he was playing out of position? Anyway he was hardly "always bitching" about it. The season he played wide right he may have mentioned he would rather play centrally but that was only one season it was hardly an ongoing thing between them

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  57. Amazing innit ! 12 hrs ago on the 'Rodgers for England' post you were telling us all he was out for 3 months ;-)

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  58. Nevergonnacrackthecode7:52 pm, September 08, 2014

    i really hope him and sterling play badly then maybe they will stop getting picked

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  59. Nevergonnacrackthecode7:53 pm, September 08, 2014

    wow andy townsden is really bad at commentating anyone disagree

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  60. Nevergonnacrackthecode7:53 pm, September 08, 2014

    i am english
    but come on switzerland

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  61. you also heard Hendo was out for 3 months fella ... don't believe all YOU hear.

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  62. Nevergonnacrackthecode8:10 pm, September 08, 2014

    watch now it will happen
    he was injured last nigh now roy will ruin him
    why play an injured player for a meaningless friendly game?

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  63. what meaningless friendly ?

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  64. Nevergonnacrackthecode8:14 pm, September 08, 2014

    switzerland vs england in the euros qualifying

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  65. HOW THE F*CK IS IT A FRIENDLY

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  66. Nevergonnacrackthecode8:17 pm, September 08, 2014

    alright soldier


    it had england in and no one cares about england

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  67. explain ...... 3 month injury ? explain........friendly ?

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  68. Sigurdsson has been immense since going back to Swansea. Maybe he just needed an arm around the shoulder but maybe he just does not have the big club mentality. We can be lucky the Dempsey deal fell through.



    Origi is going to thrive in our system. No need to go hunting for a striker at the start of next season.

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  69. The difference is that Rodgers makes the diamond work.


    Hodgson tries to but does not know how.

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  70. And finished 7th in the league? Give me 2nd and champions league every time and I think the vast majority of fans would agree with that

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  71. The reason why Origi hasn't scored more is that he's being played at left and Garcia's football is terrible. They just defend defend and defend without any attacking idea. They were the most boring team I've seen in a while in Champions League qualifiers against Porto.

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  72. 'It would have been a good idea'...we weren't allowed to Jaimie....

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  73. Do you ever actually think about what you're going to say before you hit those keypads?

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  74. We can put aside the World Cup, Origi himself highlighted how much research Liverpool had done on him. Fans might only know about the player because of a major event but for the scouts it's a full time job to know about these kinds of players, the young talent on the fringes of good teams. I'd guess that Origi came to people's attention when he started featuring in games for Lille. Any time an 18 or 19 year old striker starts playing extended minutes and keeps his spot in a senior football side, people take notice. No, the French Ligue isn't the best in Europe but it's still a high standard and Origi didn't get his run of playing time as some kind of charity, he would surely have deserved it. I think that's the point at which a few people would have started noticing him. He got picked for Belgium on that basis, it's reasonable to assume a few scouts also noticed his performances.

    He's still a risk and this is another instance of Liverpool paying decent money for potential. I can see the downside to that, it's obvious, but if done right it's a good strategy. I'd guess that at the end of this season, if he avoids injury, Origi will be worth a million or two more than what we paid for him, just by virtue of having another year of experience under his belt. When you buy a player at that age, that's what you can get. If you do your job right then one scenario is that the player at least retains their value and you simply decide to sell them after a year or three.


    No football club should be doing that as a money making scheme and I don't see Liverpool working that way. What I do see, however, is a club that is using good business sense to invest in players that, at the very least, they'll try to not lose money on. If it then becomes that 1 out of every 5 young players becomes good enough for the first team you'd probably consider that a good result. That 1 player is kept while the others are sold. We've already seen with Borini that, despite his lack of success for Liverpool, he was on the verge of being sold for a profit. Assaidi was the same, although for various reasons both deals didn't go through. Maybe Alberto will have a good year for Malaga and then either be ready to come back into the squad or at least retain his value to be sold on for no appreciable loss.


    Just from what I've noted here that's 4 players Liverpool have bought young: Borini, Assaidi, Alberto, Origi. If just one of them becomes a first team player, is that a success? Or do the other "failures" indicate some kind of problem? For me, having young players in the squad and failing to get first team playing time isn't something to be particularly bothered about. So long as Liverpool have enough quality players to compete at the top level it doesn't matter if you have some young players come and go. Of course it's better if all new signings have an immediate first team impact but that's just never going to happen. I think what Liverpool are doing to mitigate some of the risk is a good strategy: Buy young, take smaller risks with smaller sums and make sure you get a player who can at least retain his value.

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  75. You have to look at the bigger picture. Rodgers inherited a squad that was completely broken and has completely re shaped it whilst getting us into the CL playing great football. Would you of even been mentioning Simione 3 seasons ago as he hadn't won anything?

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  76. Liverpool finished second and challenged for the title. The Carling cup is not something I would celebrate to be honest and I would be embarrassed to see my team skipping around Wembley as though it was a respected competition.

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  77. He doesn't answer common sense questions, just talks s***!

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  78. It's not just me then

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