5 Nov 2014

Mega Deal: LFC put in a £38m bid for 'exceptional' attacker. Good as Suarez?

Liverpool's failure to sign Barcelona star Alexis Sanchez is arguably one of biggest transfer disappointments in years. For a few brief, exquisite moments, it seemed like the deal might happen, but the dream died when the Chilean maestro secured a £35m move to Arsenal. Sanchez would've been a perfect replacement for Luis Suarez, but it wasn't meant to be, and new reports suggest that Liverpool were never seriously in the running.

In August, Reds boss Brendan Rodgers dismissed the accusation that Liverpool 'struggle' to attract top-class players, and outlined the reason why Sanchez rejected LFC. He explained:

“Sanchez was one where geography dictated where he wanted to go, simple as that. It wasn’t a lack of ambition. The player and his family simply wanted to choose to live where they did. He’s a fantastic player...but it was not to be”

Reports this week has shed some more light on the how the transfer collapsed. According to Spanish newspaper Sport:

* During the summer, Rodgers instructed the club to outbid Arsenal for Sanchez.

* The Reds consequently put in a £38m offer, but Barcelona rejected it - and took a £3m hit - to allow Sanchez to move to Arsenal, which was always his first choice club.

* If the deal had gone through, Sanchez would've been Liverpool's record signing.

Sanchez's decision is totally understandable, though, and it's hard to begrudge his choice. London is widely regarded as one of the world's greatest cities, and Arsenal have a long record of consistently playing attractive football. Plus, Arsene Wenger remains a major attraction for top players, which is an advantage that he - and the likes of Van Gaal, Mourinho etc - hold over Rodgers.

Liverpool's historical prestige is simly not strong enough to attract the world's biggest players, and to be honest, it never has been. LFC may be the UK's most successful club, but that is clearly not an attraction for the game's elite, and Rodgers is not established enough to pick up the slack.

Alonso, Torres, and Suarez aside (all three of whom were not World stars prior to joining Liverpool), there are very few (if any) elite, world-class signings in LFC's transfer history. This is the reality, and it continues to this day. As such, Liverpool fans simply have to accept it, and prepare themselves for a raft of similar disappointments in the future.

I have to say, I still find it hilarious how some LFC fans wrote Sanchez off after he signed for Arsenal. The guy is pure quality, and with 12 goals/assists in 13 games so far, he's arguably Arsenal's player of the season.

Conversely, Balotelli, Lallana, Markovic and Lambert - combined cost £66m - have collectively contributed a pathetic two goals all season.

Author:


75 comments:

  1. He could have been our next Suarez....

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  2. If Balotelli continues to be played up top on his own then he will continue to struggle scoring goals. In fact if BR continues to play one up top irrespective of who he selects as the striker we will struggle scoring goals. We cannot rely on Sturridge's fitness!


    Get Rodgers some very thick spectacles.

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  3. we should call and tell him

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  4. sanchez would have been the ideal signing for us...
    it's hard to accept we can't attract top players, although we qualified for the CL and were playing one of the most entertaining football last year

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  5. One thing Mourinho will be quite happy with is the fact that he will not have to set his team up to park the bus as we are causing very little problems for the opposition's defence.


    We are going to play 4-2-3-1 and dire football again on Saturday and but Rodgers thinks he is still going to get a different result.

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  6. Why is it though JK that we cannot attract players like this yet Man United can attract DiMaria and Falcao?

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  7. Just throwing it out there- why is Ian Ayre still in a job? Can't we add a Steve McManaman or a John Barnes to the board of execs to add the extra star quality?
    Liverpool cant compete geographically or in terms of current prestige & now our present style of football is not helping! We also have a history of not paying top wages which is one way of compensating.

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  8. SAF built Man Utd's name globally through their sheer success. They also have a manager in LvG who is of high prestige. They also have rich backing in the Glazers.
    Meanwhile, we're still feeding off 20 plus years of history which I'm afraid to non LFC fans is completely irrelevant!

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  9. He will brush it off and quote himself again

    “The transition and improvement of this team has been about dangerous possession.”



    There is one word for BR at this moment = Delusional.

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  10. The obscene wages they pay doesnt go astray.

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  11. Nevergonnacrackthecode11:38 am, November 05, 2014

    Sanchez does not want to join us , no top players costa,willian,mkhitaryan,reus ,cavani,falcao,benzema wants to join us




    so like with suarez we have to create our own sanchezs
    thats why i think rodgers bought origi and markovic

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  12. Nevergonnacrackthecode11:44 am, November 05, 2014

    borini plays look more dangerous
    we can play 433 with them :
    ............markovic.....................balotelli....................borini
    .................................................lallana
    ............................................can............lucas


    so by playing three strikers we have more then 2

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  13. Falcao.... really?

    You want Liverpool to spend an obscene amount of wages on a guy who has not played 1 CL game, has had a serious knee injury, who is currently injured and even his manager is expressing doubts that he can cope with the PL?

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  14. What has Ian Ayre done wrong?


    Is it not his fault that top players do not want to join a club that has not won the PL ever and been out of the CL for 5 years.


    It is also not his fault if players want to live in London or if the manager is playing a formation that clearly does not work

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  15. last year we achieved was mainly due to suarez.

    He is as good as 3 players. He occupied the best defenders, giving the other players time and space (which they don't have any more..hence we are useless now.

    Suarez was a team player with plenty of assists

    Suarez was a menace to the opposition because he would track back.


    As for attracting players of the highest quality. .what can we offer them?

    one season in champions league?
    no guarantee of finishing in top 4
    manager who looks out of depth.

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  16. The question wasn't, is he working out for Man U. The question was, why can't we attract him but a club who finished 7th last year can?

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  17. Which is my point. It's not a matter of money, it's a matter of how you choose to spend it and, more importantly, who spends it. Why did no one worth their salt want to sign for Moyes and the PL Champions whereas a year later they do sign for Van Gaal? After Man U finished 7th (or 8th I don't care really). We have a manager and a transfer policy which allows us to get to a certain level once in a while (last year) but not to build on that.

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  18. Optimistic chap aren't you? Hahaha

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  19. What if we get him but BR fail to utilize him? Same like AW fail to utilize podolski n ozil?

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  20. If we consolidate our position as a regular champions league club then it will become easier. Look what Dortmund have achieved under Klopp. They can't attract the top names either, they developed players into world class players, there's no reason we can't do the same

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  21. Shankly's appointment and shared Shankly's vision of Liverpool as the best club in England. At one board meeting in 1961 when Shankly insisted the club make offers for two players in Scotland, the board's initial response was that "we can't afford them" but Sawyer stepped in and said: "We can't afford not to buy them

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  22. Fair enough, how about, Why should of the likes of Falcao sign for us?

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  23. So what?


    Football is a completely different sport to what it was 40 years ago.

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  24. The Bayen come along and buy those players. That is part of the reason why Klopp wants out of the bundesliga. He knows that Dortmund can never compete with Bayern because of the rules they have in germany

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  25. It had nothing to do with players not wanting to sign for Moyes but for the Utd board screwing everything up.


    The only player who turned Utd down under Moyes was Fabregas and it had nothing to do with Moyes but because he wanted to play in the CL.


    Those players who have gone to Utd this season have done so not because of Van Gaal but because they are being paid an obscene amount of money.


    There have a been a few players who have turned down the chance to go to Utd this season because they are not in the CL and money is not the most important factor in their decision making.

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  26. Liverpools demise is sad one but visible to all.Money has always been part of football but liverpool have lost their way they can not attract top players can not keep top players but the most saddest of all is they can not play football at the moment. Kenny dalglish was not regarded as a superstar outside of liverpool or Scotland but he had heart and played his socks off and we knew he would give any player in the world a run for their money but liverpool players now looked scared and nervous like they can't play and That stems deeper from belief

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  27. I find nothing wrong with the players BR has signed, my problem is how he is utilizing them.

    Why buy the likes of Markovic and Can if you are not going to play them.

    Why loan out Origi back out when you need more striking options. We all know Sturridge has injury problems, We know Borini is not the answer so why loan him back out?

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  28. ??? Again your talking about 20 - 30 years in the past and even then we did not attract World Wide Super Stars.


    Name me 5 players Liverpool have signed in the last 20 years who were already established World Class Players.

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  29. id like to see balo and borini up front tgthr against Chelsea with sterling as the 10

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  30. So would many people but for some reason BR seems to think playing with one up front is the answer when we can all see it isn't

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  31. I agree its so frustrating BR needs to put away his stubborness

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  32. Man I know, personally I think whilst Borini might not score lots of goals, he will run himself into ground, make space and support Balo. When a team si struggling players like Borini can make the difference, just look at how he help Sunderland last season.

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  33. I also thought Can and Toure put in a good shift also yet BR while ignore that ....I have a slight feeling though toure might have sneaked his spot back

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  34. My only issue with what BR did last night is that what is is he going to do with those players who played well.


    Toure, Lucas, Can, Markovic in my opinion all did well, now if he drops them it is only going to kill their morale.

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  35. None that was my point and if you looked at the comment the reason I referred to the past is liverpool would pay money for top players and iterating that they don't have this approach anymore and that's why I said they can not attract top players or keep any top players but the saddest thing is they are struggling to play football

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  36. I agree my feeling is he will drop lucas for SG and markovic for sterling...I admire SG dnt get me wrng but as soon as he came on all the quick passing and pressing went astray

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  37. What top players... Liverpool have never paid money for top players. What Liverpool were very successful at was finding good up and coming players from the leagues below and improve them.

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  38. Liverpool is liverpool nothing has changed there.

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  39. They bought top players as in big money for liverpool at the time.as I said Dalglish was not in high regard out of liverpool or Scotland even after he played what.I am referring to is the belief the fight and not giving up and happy to be just another club

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  40. Do you think his reasoning behind dropping SG and sterling was rest for the Chelsea game?

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  41. I love Gerrard, he has been perhaps one the greatest players to have ever put on the red shirt but every players career comes to an end at some point.

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  42. Pieter Engelbrecht3:21 pm, November 05, 2014

    the truth hurts

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  43. Pieter Engelbrecht3:28 pm, November 05, 2014

    amen to that

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  44. I think he's the only real difference between us and Arsenal. Good to know we did what we could. A shame that we didn't seem to have a contingency when the Sanchez deal collapsed.

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  45. Right now I couldn't think of a reason myself.

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  46. However we're not in a position where we would have no choice but to sell our best players to our biggest rival. We can also compete with big wages whereas Dortmund cant

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  47. You can't see anything wrong with Rodgers' signings?
    Really? Borini, Allen, Aspas, Alberto, Assaidi, Illori,Sakho,Lovren, Mignolet,Moreno, Markovic, Lallana, plus Moses and Sissokho (loans). None of these are the standard we expect to see at Anfield, they're mediocre players at best, we overpaid for the lot of them. Are you new to watching LFC?

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  48. lets be optimistic. ..we are going to win the league and lambert is be top scorer

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  49. Sakho, Lovren, Moreno, Markovic, Markovic are good players.

    Borini whilst not the best can do a job. If he can score important goals to help Sunderland survive then he can certainly do a job for us.

    Illori from what I have seen is a good player and defo one for the future.

    Assaidi has done okay at Stoke, I do not know wht he did to annoy BR so much that he has been loaned out twice without having a chance to prove himself.

    Sissokho is funny enough doing okay at Villa. I can understand why he got him on loan as at the time we were struggle for cover so I have no problems here.

    I understand why he got Moses on loan but he never really played him.

    As for Allen, again I understand why he signed him but he paid well over the odds.

    Mignolet was a good at Sunderland and show a lot of potential.. Sometimes players fail to make the step up and it seem to be the case as far as migs goes but he still could become a good keeper with the right coaching.

    I will give you Aspas and Alberto.

    As for they are not what we expect to see at Anfield.. why?

    We have had a hell of a lot worse over the last 20 years or is your memory not very good.

    My god Souness, Houllier, Rafa, KK and Hodgson brought some really tripe to our club.


    Let me know if you need reminding.

    FACT is with our squad we should be doing better unless you are saying Southampton, West Ham and Swansea have better squads? (they are ahead of us)

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  50. I don't think Ian Ayre has done anything wrong, I was just thinking he could do more to increase the profile of LFC. The real blame probably lies with the transfer committee, paying over the odds for average players. Also the scouting leaves a lot to be desired.

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  51. Couldn't agree more Jaimie, that's were our problems began this season, he was an ideal replacement for Suarez and it knocked LFC back when we didn't get him, still doesn't explain why we bought a certain Italian who is the polar opposite of Suarez !!! what were they thinking?

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  52. Wissem Ben Yedder plays for Toulouse has 6 goals this season we could get him for 10-15 million. I think he's a great target for us maybe a swap with Ballo.

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  53. I suppose it depends what you mean by raise the profile of the club. In the last few years we have made some great sponsorship deals as well as great pre season tours.
    I agree in regards to scouts and over paying for players but on the other hand we would all be screaming blue murder of FSG did not back KK or BR

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  54. Liverpool didn't really need to lose twice against Real Madrid to make it clear to Brendan Rodgers, the board , FSG, the fans or anyone else that gives a fuck about Liverpool that Liverpool of today is not as competitive as it used to be. Liverpool fans had to watch their team lose out to bigger clubs when trying to sign talented marquee talent.


    Liverpool fans only have to go the transfer window two summers ago to remember Liverpool's attempt to sign Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Mohammed Salah, and Willian. Mkhitaryan was heavily pursued by Brandon Rodgers and Liverpool had made inquiries about the player before any of the other big clubs even smelled his availability. As the negotiations for Mkhitaryn went on the player showed interest in coming to Liverpool but then "ugly money got in the way." Liverpool could not meet the transfer fee asked for by Shakhtar Donetsk. Not surprisingly Borrussia Dortmund then expressed interest and the rest was history. Liverpool was left holding the short end of the stick.


    Now repeat the same thing with Willian and Mohammed Salah. Liverpool saw themselves outmaneuvered by Chelsea and by Dortmund in the same summer while pursuing top targets. It pains me to state that Salah joined Chelsea never to start for them which he could have been a guaranteed starter with Liverpool. Our team ended up signing people like Victor Moses, Lago Aspas, Luis Alberto, Aly Cissokho, Players who were not clearly being pursued by any of the bigger clubs at the time. Liverpool was able to successfully sign them un-opposed. It is also important to mention that none of these signings have since made any real impact in the team, a lot of them are on loan or have been shipped off elsewhere.


    Liverpool could not sign Luis Suarez today if they were trying to sign him for the first time. Our cheap club would not be able to compete with the other big clubs for him. We will always have a problem attracting big names until the time the club is taken over by an oil family from any of the middle Eastern countries.


    I am appealing to any oil family from the Middle East please buy Liverpool so that we can compete with the other big clubs in football like PSG, Man City, Man United, Chelsea and now Monaco.

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  55. What this article makes clearer is that LFC management need to take some steps:
    1. get a credible soccer name in the front office to help sell the team to prospective players
    2. starting building a PR campaign
    Liverpool will never be London, Paris or Madrid but LFC could and should team with the City to pull together a public relations effort so that, over time, we don't get rated as if we were some athletic ghetto. Both the team and the city have great tradition and that can make for a very good story. Hell, is Manchester better than Liverpool as a city? Been there too and I don't get that impression at all.

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  56. Just like Scholes and Giggs at Manc U; but Fergie used those guys better than we use Stevie, period!!!

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  57. Funkdoc,
    Spot on! See my post as well. Macca would be great; he's smart, funny and is credible. Don't know Barnes; he's before my time. This is exactly what I think we need to do......

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  58. The very definition of insanity; doing the same damned thing and expecting a different result.................

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  59. The club could try all kinds of things to get players like this to come to the club but if he's not interested then that's usually the end of it. What else can you really do? No one at the club is going to somehow convince Sanchez and his designer/artist girlfriend that Liverpool is where they should want to live. The only thing the club has to offer is the club itself. That means the kind of football they play, the fans, the stadium, the history, the other players that are there and the ability to compete on all levels. Apart from that I think it's silly to think we can offer players something to make them come here. They will always have their personal preferences and if they don't want to come then at some point it becomes obvious when it's a waste of time trying to convince them otherwise. Just focus on making Liverpool the best football club it can possibly be and accept the reality of everything else.


    What's good to see is, if it's true, that the club were serious about spending big money on a Suarez replacement. We could possibly accuse Liverpool of failing to plan properly to get a Suarez replacement but if a series of high profile players simply turn you down then no amount of planning can change that. It does seem as if Liverpool made serious efforts to bring in the right calibre of player but in the end the only ones who wanted to come were Remy, Balotelli and maybe Bony.

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  60. thexcuriousxwanderer3:24 am, November 06, 2014

    Can was out injured most of the time, it wasn't because BR didn't want to play him. I don't think Markovic is adapting well, he seems really expensive at at £20m i think he was overpriced. Hopefully he does a Henderson, he does have some talent.

    I think loaning Origi was part of the deal, else no go, so I wouldn't say that's his fault either. In fact tying down a potentially world class talent last season at that price is good business (and in terms of accounting should count as expenses for the next season rather than in the total figure touted around now.)

    I did wish though Borini was played more often, even though he is not fancied.

    Roy: A lot of the signings you mentioned were bought pre last season for us. That means they were bought when we finished 7th, and I imagine it took an enormous amount of persuasion. If we finish only 7th, we can only attract the likes of Assaidi with BR, who is unproven and has few connections, unlike Van Gaal who is proven and can convinced players to join (on top of the huge paycheck that they dish out.) United did the right things to stay afloat and stem the bleeding, getting someone reputable to resuscitate the team while having a doctor in training learn in the wings.

    I think Illori, Sakho, Moreno, and Lallana are quality, i think it is the system that requires a great learning curve for defenders right now (especially those who don't play with the ball at their feet like the Masia grads.)

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  61. your last sentence says it all Jamie.....fearing a not too positive Chelsea result now .......then what ????

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  62. Why did LFC let Suarez go if Barcelona was not helping us to get Sanchez. Stupid management . We always lose out to Chelsea Arsenal Manu and Spurs when buying elite players. Always about money not that they dont like Liverpool city. Pay them they will come. It is human nature.LFC very very slow in negotiations. U see even for Jan nothing confirm waiting for last minute. The players BR bought not elite players so easy to get.

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  63. Just play your stupid diamond thing Brenda ! It seems to works perfectly with Sterling on top of the Diamond behind TWO (2) strikers !!!! He even looks like Ronaldo and England golden boy when the diamond being used. Why the hell you using the lone striker formation???

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  64. Joel Matt Murdock Hwa5:51 am, November 06, 2014

    Bring back Damian Commoli! Just kidding! :P

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  65. Yes he did. Personally I would alternate between Gerard and Stirling at the tip of a diamond.


    This way Stirling would not burn out and it has always been Gerrards best position.

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  66. Let's get serious. Suarez was as selfish as any striker when he played for Liverpool. Many times I got frustrated when he opted not to play in teammates in better positions. But we forget this because when he got it right, he got it very right, and last season he got it right often. Great player, but not team player in the discursive sense of the term.

    Also, track back? No. He pressed hard at the front. Borini tracks back. I'm not saying Suarez was lazy defensively, because he worked extremely hard (despite getting frustrated easily), but he wasn't big on tracking back for Liverpool. Hence his strength on the counter-attack.

    It's insulting to suggest that last season's success was only down to Suarez.

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  67. Yes Ron was that einstein? We all know the great mans phrases no need for unto give us. Refresher. The only thing more hilarious than fans writing off Sanchez is now they want to write off brendon mpfhahahaha. So many deluded fans with no grasp on the reality of where/what lfc are right now And how long and weary the road back to the top will be. Last season proved that.

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  68. I'm not sure if location has anything to do with it. At the end of the day, it probably boils down to two things - as highlighted by Man Utd's situation:

    (i) a top caliber coach; (ii) european prestige.

    We don't have a top caliber coach. End of story. In terms of location, Liverpool or Manchester isn't London. In terms of european prestige, we have a upper hand over Man Utd, and we qualified for CL, and they didn't.

    Yet they attracted Di Maria, Blind, Falcao, etc etc. Why? simple reason: the COACH. Likewise Arsenal attracted Sanchez: the COACH.



    If BR doesn't win a Cup at least, he should be replaced. I remember writing here at the beginning of the season that we are going to have a very very long season, and I was asked to shut it.

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  69. If I met Suarez one day, I won't ask him about the biting, or the rogue Evra incident, but whether he'd have stayed at LFC if he saw an ambition to build a team around him.


    Remember, after a tremendous season, BR's first buy was ..... Rickie Lambert. And who else were we being linked with ? Lallana, Lovren ......


    Much has been made of Gerard's slip against Chelsea. Again, the problem there was BR's philosophy. All we needed was a draw. A bloody draw, and we were trying to finish off Chelsea like we did the rest of them. For heaven's sake park a bus, park 3 buses even. Take Suarez and Sturridge off, and play Toure and Agger upfront. Total naivety.

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  70. Why did you delete my earlier post, JK ?

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  71. None of your posts have been deleted.

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  72. An earlier post suggested that BR was delusional and a post like this just feeds that even more. The players we have signed since BR was appointed by FSG have been woeful apart from two players both of whom are prone to injury which maybe why we were able to attract them so cost effectively. Don't compare BR to Houllier, RB ,and KK . We have an average manager and board buying average players and guess what you end up with what this enables you to achieve.!!

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  73. Great post and one which the current board should make a note of.

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  74. Both average Joe players and Sunderland almost got relegated from memory.

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