25 Apr 2015

Legend raves: 'Unbelievable' €25m goal-machine in contact with Liverpool is 'like Ronaldo'

Liverpool are reportedly in contact with PSV over a potential summer deal for coveted attacker Memphis Depay, and with speculation continuing to intensify, what better to accompany the endless conjecture that a spot of gross overpaise and exaggeration?

With 32 goals/assists in 37 appearances, Depay is on fire for PSV this season, and when asked this week about the youngster's rise to prominence, Ajax assist boss Ronaldo De Boer enthused:

"He [Depay] is one of the biggest talents in Europe. [He is] like a young Cristiano Ronaldo: technically unbelievable, very skilful, very fast; great goalscoring record [and] he can shoot from every distance. He has everything. "

Every young player heralded as the next big thing is inevitably compared to either Lionel Messi or Ronaldo, but in this case, there's possibly some merit to the contention.

32 goals/assists in 37 apps for a 21-year old is a formidable record, and it compares favourably Ronaldo's record during the 2006-7 season (when he was 21):

* 23 goals/15 assists in 53 apps.
* Goal/assist every 1.4 games.

This season, €25m-rated Depay averages a goal/assist every 1.1 games (i every 95 minutes), and if he continues to incrementally improve over the next few years, he could conceivably be in with a chance of matching Ronaldo's incredible creative output.

That said, the Premier League and the Eredivise are worlds apart in terms of physicality and overall quality, so Ronaldo's record at the age of 21 is (arguably) the more impressive of the two.

There is another (depressing) comparison to be made between Ronaldo and Depay: Liverpool had the chance to sign the Portuguese prior to his move to Anfield, but the club abjectly failed to seal the deal. In 2012, Gerard Houllier confirmed:

"I saw him [Ronaldo] in the Toulon Under-21 tournament and we went for him, but we had a wage scale and we weren’t paying the sort of salary he wanted"

Man United swooped in, and the rest, as they say, is history. Like with Ronaldo, the Mancs are currently sniffing around Depay, so here's hoping that history doesn't repeat itself.

Author:


80 comments:

  1. Afraid this is a NON - STARTER - Man U are waiting for us to do the leg work agree a price and steal him - Wakey Wakey Ayre - BR

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  2. Ah with every bit of overpraise and exaggeration comes the inevitable criticism of overpraise and exaggeration.

    There seems to be some reports that Depay prefers a move to Liverpool due to Rodgers preference for developing youngsters. I wonder how some "anti-Rodgers" fans would react to that if it's true.

    Don't worry I'm just getting back in bed so I can get out of the other side instead ;)

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  3. BR's preference for developing players? This is a myth.

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  4. Same as global warming !

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  5. Never seen this guy play who is he similar to ? Does he fit the BR model of a small quick striker like sterling Ibe and sturridge or is he more of a skillful player like suarez ?

    Me personally I'd rather go for some experience and buy the likes of Jackson martinez , lavezzi , Pedro etc we have enough youngsters who need developing. Benteke should be our main focus in my opinion.

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  6. Is it? Well that's a matter of opinion I suppose but if a 'well sought after' player moves to LFC because of it then who cares

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  7. LOL Klopp will handle depay.

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  8. I suppose one player he is similar to in style, potential and stature at the same age might be Eden Hazard

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  9. BR bought several dozen young players only for them to rot on the bench or send them on loan.

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  10. There is always 2 sides to every coin!

    He has brought into the team and developed in a number of young players too

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  11. The mirror reports: "Memphis Depay flew in by private jet for secret talks with Liverpool this week.

    The Dutch superstar made the trip on Thursday when he jetted to Manchester airport with his advisors Kees Ploegsma and Kees Vos from top agency SEG International.

    Depay’s arrival airport sparked speculation he was ready to open talks with Manchester United.

    The Mirror can reveal that it was Anfield officials – including MD Ian Ayre - he met in a hotel close to the airport, after the Reds were given permission by PSV Eindhoven to talk to the Holland international.

    Sources in Eindhoven have revealed the 21 year old was hugely impressed not only by Liverpool’s determination in pursuing him for more than a year, but also in the vision they presented."

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  12. Yeah; bit bigger and stronger than Hazard, though. More latter-day Cristiano.

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  13. I have never commented here, preferring to just read responses and reserve judgement. While nominally I am a Rodgers fan and feel his attempt at continental style football coaching, style and tactics is welcome and long overdue in the British game. However following his comments yesterday on no longer feeling Sturridge can be relied on, to me was yet another example of Rodgers blaming others for his shortcomings and throwing another of his players under the bus. Memphis is a good player, but
    you can't tell me Balotelli, Lambert and Borrini have only 4goals between them. Lambert scored at Southampton, Borrini while not prolific scored at Roma and Sunderland. Balotelli is an international class forward. Their collective failure imo is down to Rodgers shortcomings as a manager.
    Liverpool's best display of the season was the 3-0 win against Spurs playing 442, and Balotelli played a blinder paired up front with Sturridge. Sturridge got injured afterwards and instead of Rodgers to pair balotelli with either Lambert or borrini and continue the good spell, he went ott on his preferred 433 and 4231, which meant one striker, even when it clearly wasn't working. Neither balotelli, Lambert or borrini fit into the style Rodgers prefers, of running into space as a single striker. They need to be paired. But simple football seems too simple for Rodgers. He wants to be acclaimed as a master tactician and come up with even more continental system's of his preference.
    Just to be clear, bayern played 343 before Rodgers and so did man Utd with LVG, but Rodgers insisted on taking full credit for this system change at Liverpool at that point thinking we would qualify into top 4. While we may still do, the fa cup further showed his limitations. That's forgivable as he is a young manager, but what is unacceptable is now blaming the poor season in Suarez leaving, failure of the other strikers to score and Sturridge injury. Rubbish. The failure is down to Rodgers. He needs to take a look at himself instead of blaming others. His treatment of balotelli, Lambert and borrini, especially balotelli is criminal. A more experienced manager would have got more out of those guys and this team. Ancelotti would have made a 442 diamond or 4-2-2-2 work as he has done at Real when needed to. He is a secure manager and doesn't feel the need to wear a badge to prove he is continental unlike Rodgers. So back to Rodgers yesterday; Hewants a striker he can rely on next season unlike Sturridge and his injuries? Yup deflecting once again and blaming others for his own shortcomings.

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  14. Presumably this is sarcasm

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  15. It sounds promising

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  16. If it was a decent paper I would be made up. It's not though so I am still doubting.

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  17. Sturridge has played leas than fifty percent of Liverpool games since he has been here. He can't be relied upon, saying that seems like just the truth to me.
    Balo missed several easy sitters. He is not taking pens or free kicks as he has before and his goal ratio reflects that. The spurs game is far over played. He wasn't all that, missing some guilt edged chances then.
    Could we have gotten more out of him and the others? For me, yes. We have never had a player working off Balo or Lambert which is what they need. Definitely a missed chance from the manager. Borini, like Balo is not on pens so doesn't get many goals. He lacks the technical ability of others and really doesn't deserve to get in ahead of others.
    The manager has made mistakes but comparing to Ancelloti and Real is silly. There are a million reasons those comparisons don't have any clout.
    As for the 343 none of those others played with a 3421 it may seem trivial nutrition meant that other managers had a harder time getting their heads around that system whereas the conventional 343 they will have all seen. The credit was deserved as is the criticism.

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  18. I say only buy Depay if Sterling is sold. Or markovic. How many promising young wingers can we give game time to? I would like to see the two Ukranian wingers brought in. Both are very consistent in Europa and at the international level.

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  19. Rodgers committed the cardinal sin-


    he didn't take his chance when it came. I'm talking about the Chelsea game. It was time to shut up shop, park the bus even, wait for Chelsea to commit players as they had to WIN the game, then use our awesome speed up front to counterattack them.


    Rodgers will rue the decision to play exactly the same way as he had all season for the rest of his life. The Gerrard slip was incidental. Us trying to attack a side which itself would have been forced to change tactics had we not done so led to the Palace debacle. Draw at Chelsea in a borethon then at 3-0 we would have been job done, not pushing for more goal difference.


    HAD he gone for a draw, he would have been an instant hero. Untouchable. The first for nearly 25 years.


    The rest of his life.

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  20. You mentioned all systems other than the one we used.one o have not seen before and one that was said by more than one other managee was unique
    I would have liked to have seen a 4222 also but Real are such an expensively assembled superstar team that you can use many systwms and win most games. We are not that.

    I think he deserves criticism but players recruitment is not entirely his fault. As for Can and Gerraed, Can didn't play at the start of the season and itbwss a conversation With Rodgers about limiting game time that led to him.leaving. So think that lacks cadence.

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  21. No mate it isn't. Players don't develop themselves. Even Suarez spoke of it. He DEFINITELY improved under Rodgers. As did Hendo, Sterling, even Skrtyl. when other managers do it like SAF he gets the credit even though it's well known he does little if any coaching.




    The one thing undeniable about Rodgers is that he is EXTREMELY hands on in day to day coaching. So if any players improve, then Rodgers had a hand in it.


    Denying that just illustrates that you don't rate BR as a MANAGER. He has fallen short in that capacity on numerous occasions. It's where people like SAF excel.


    But as a developer of players? You really should reconsider your view imo. The proof is clear

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  22. I disagree. Ibe was sent out on loan and only recalled when BR realized he wasted millions on duds. Sterling was already a talent and soon became the club's best player in absence of Sturridge. I think Sterling is a kind of player who would have developed under any manager. BR has wasted money on many young players rather than developing any of them.

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  23. Developing young players. BR has failed miserably on that front. You name me 3 young players who developed under BR and I will name you 10 young players who BR bought and hardly ever played them.

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  24. Well you can't get much more secret than that.!

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  25. as recent windows have shown us. never belief a transfer rumour about a Worldclasstalent/player or very good established one before he is pictured in Liverpool Kit. we do have talent for reeling in works in progress though.

    those that got away:

    Costa
    Mkhitaryan
    Willian
    Eriksen
    Danilo

    those we actually got:

    Balotelli (ok he was supposed to be established player)
    Markovich
    Moreno
    Lallana
    Can

    (i do actually rate Moreno Lallana and Can)

    Press writes Depay and we will sign Wickham for same ammount Depay signs for PSG or Chelski or Manure.

    i hope FSG decides to do something to our scouting system.

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  26. I want Rodgers to go, but to come out and say he's the one responsible for meritelli goal drought makes no sense to me.. Those sitters he miss Vs hull, QPR, spurs away and so on! Was it Rodgers fault?

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  27. Well it was either his fault or Johnson's take your pick

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  28. I am not trying to say Rodgers hasn't made mistakes. All managers make mistakes, especially with transfers, even the great managers have! However I try and form a balanced view and will applaud our manager for the areas that he has done well in too

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  29. Sterling, Coutinho, Sturridge, Flanagan, Can, Henderson...... There's 6 for starters let's here your 20 first then I'll give you some more :)

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  30. Good points. Those that got away look pretty good now don't they

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  31. Can = Disagree.


    Luis Alberto, Iago Aspas, Tiago Illori, Markovic, Joe Allen, Cissoko, Manquillo, Borini, Balotelli, Assaidi

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  32. I don't try and form a balanced view as you can see. BR is history.

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  33. Very nice comment. Echoes my feelings completely. I do feel that Rodgers hasn't been dealt the transfer hand he wanted, so he has reason to feel aggrieved. At the same time, he hasn't managed the hand he HAS been dealt optimally. Far from it, in fact.


    Please comment more. :-)

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  34. If that's true, then fair play to the club. Would be one of the best transfers in the last ten years.

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  35. Totally agree and I feel Rodgers has been scared to play the types of players that might not be fashionable. I mean, everyone dismisses Borini so easily but how many games has he actually played for Liverpool. In his first season, he played the first 5 odd games then got injured and then he came back and got injured again and even many of the appearances in the first season was as a sub. Second was a loan. In the third, he has barely played so how many games has he actually played to make a judgement.

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  36. Success has a thousand fathers while failure is an orphan. In Rodgers case, anything successful is down to him (343 etc) He demands he is acknowledged for his brilliance. Facts are Pep Guardeola played 343 with different variations this season prior to Rodgers. LVG has also done so and Juventus have played 343 or 352 for a few seasons including other teams. Rodgers played 343 because of his failure to get the best out of his remaining fit forwards. While he should be given some credit for the switch, it was actually too little too late. Because he persisted with his favoured 433 and 4231 for too long which wasn't clearly working.

    Lfc top scorer is sterling on 8 goals. Balo can miss chances, all strikers do. But the lack of goals all round shows its clearly a fundamental tactical problem with the team set up. However Rodgers would prefer to blame this on personnel and throw them under the bus. He doesn't have to come out and blame himself. But whenever anything goes wrong, it's down to Sturridge injury, hinting Balo doesn't fancy playing or this or that, passing the buck, or throwing hints or subliminal messages to the press it's others fault not his. But a good manager should always plan for injuries especially when his star striker is injury prone. If I was Sturridge that is exactly what I would think. Don't blame this season's failure on me. One man shouldn't make a team. That's a failure on Rodgers part.

    Rodgers was exposed tactically at Wembley and shown to be quite a novice. Talented but a novice. Lambert scored at Southampton and England and Balotelli has in the past, and for Italy. Maybe not 20+ goals but those two have 15 goals each in them. If Lambert can score for Southampton then in theory he should score more at Liverpool with more chances created. And there is the problem. Set the team up to get the best out of them. Forwards win you games. Rodgers refused or was incapable to see this, that those guys needed to be paired up. Again I can excuse all that as he is a young manager and good for the British game. But his moan yesterday that the teams failure this year was down to not having reliable striker in Sturridge is rubbish and passing the buck.

    If you remember Rodgers said prior to the season starting he has absolutely no sympathy for Southampton selling their best player's and they get what they deserved. Well they are near enough on the same amount of points as Liverpool for all their upheaval which should be absolutely embarrassing for Rogers. So why should others have sympathy for Rodgers? And he is demanding it with his excuses. There are soo many other things he has said that have come home to embarrass him or shown him to pass the buck which personally has disappointed because I do feel he has ability, but can now see he lacks character.

    Balotelli paired with Lambert or borrini as a pair playing to their strengths will score goals. 442 diamond or 4-2-2-2. Liverpool have performed poorly mainly because Rodgers has failed to get the best out of them.

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  37. I'm under the impression fee is ok, and wage demands are also ok... It just boils down to Depay to chose the tam he feels will provide him with the best opportunity to play almost every game.... Signs are good... LFC could easily offer him everything he wants and needs to move forward with his development...

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  38. Outstanding.

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  39. I'm still chuckling so I'm good with sarcasm.

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  40. Classic reasoned response.

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  41. Stop please... I can't stop laughing and it hurts...

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  42. Confirmed LFC team: Mignolet, Johnson, Skrtel, Lovren, Can, Ibe, Gerrard, Henderson, Sterling, Coutinho, Balotelli

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  43. Who said that?

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  44. Confirmed LFC subs : Jones, Toure, Manquillo, Lallana, Allen, Borini, Markovic

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  45. Porto RB, or more likely, Braga, DM..

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  46. There is a scary amount of people who don't believe in global climate change mate. You worried me for a second.

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  47. Sorry I can't tell you that ;-)

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  48. Again, I agree completely, which is saying a lot because you've said a lot. Nice first sentence, by the way.


    I remember Rodgers saying that about Southampton, and about Spurs. While those things shouldn't be a hard and fast yardstick, they are a little embarrassing.


    You're right about the formation change, and about the forwards. The point, surely, is to use what you have to win games. His change was a good one, but indeed it came too late.


    The one thing that bugs me about him is what you point out about him throwing players under the bus. I'm not against public criticism of players, but after nearly three years I sense that Rodgers has his favourites that he will defend to the hilt (Gerrard, Henderson), and others don't appear to qualify for such treatment. It's all politics, I suppose. Internal labour market and all that. It's very disappointing, particularly because I'm excited by the type of football and attitude he preaches (mostly).


    Cheers.

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  49. Maybe... Coutinho playing off Balotelli could work...I don't get why we'd bother with Johnson,, the blokes been on holiday for the past 2 years...

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  50. Good to see Lallana at least on the bench

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  51. Success has a thousand fathers while failure is an orphan... Did you nick that off Brendan?

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  52. I think that is a cleaned up version !

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  53. He hasn't gotten away yet, has he?


    We don't even know if we were after him in the first place either.

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  54. we were linked with Danilo pre christmas i think. or atleast winter window because our right back position is what it is. http://www.uefa.com/uefachampionsleague/news/newsid=2230190.html

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  55. Signed for Real Madrid in 30+ mil fee.

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  56. i actually posted a link but waiting for aproval.

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  57. Yeah I googled it. Confirmed.

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  58. Can = I disagree with you
    Markovic = let's judge in a year or too
    Cissokho = young really? He's 28 this year

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  59. We can't definitively say he'd be one of the "best," since he could flop for all we know (though extremely unlikely), but he'd most certainly be one of the biggest coups in the last 10.


    Also read Kuyt's put in an excellent word for us. Van Gaal might be the coach, but Dirk seems like he's highly respected in the Dutch camp as well. At the very least, it can't hurt our chances.

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  60. Kuyt; class act as always :-) He deserved more play time in his last Red season.


    You're right. More accurate to describe it as a coup at this stage, if the deal is sealed.

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  61. Excellent analysis and one I agree with wholeheartedly.

    Another reason to question BR's tactical genius.

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  62. Really good post and shows how must frustration is brewing against BR by the silent majority of LFC fans.

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  63. Where are the BR loyalists to dismiss your points or excuse away his behaviour?

    I too have labelled BR an embarrassment and it did not go down to well.

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  64. Bolasie scores a hatrick in 1 game against a team that let in 8 against southampton and what do you know, he's being linked with a move . No thanks

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  65. And there you have it again today against hapless West Brom 0-0.


    Another struggle to get a shot off let alone score with Rodgers 433. Back to the system and set up that clearly failed beginning of this season but he stubbornly clung on to it. This people, is why we aren't qualifying for champions league.

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  66. Day dream the price £60 milion.

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  67. Very good points... You know what though, if the media claim it so, then it must be so...

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  68. Saurez was just banging goals in for dalglish right? Wrong.

    Benitez took over a very talented Chelsea, one that won the CL. pathetic comparison.

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  69. Rodgers has final say on transfers. He has publicly admitted this, and it wouldn't make any sense for him to admit it and heap pressure upon himself if it were not true. Rodgers signed off on Balotelli, Lambert, Markovic et al.


    I don't have a problem with those players. The problem is Rodgers failing to utilise them. Jaimie goes on about loss of utility or whatever and it's a valid point IMO. Nothing inflated about it.


    West Brom game is an example of what I mentioned of Gerrard and Can. Both weren't required in the team. I'd give Rodgers another season just because he's had to deal with Gerrard this season.


    It's unacceptable that Rodgers can sign 3 strikers, blatantly ignore them and throw them all under the bus, and then hold others like Can and Gerrard up on a pedestal.

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  70. Empty the wallet on a producer AND and youngster! Everyone, us fans and BR should be happy except Ian Ayre who wants to pay 1,000 pounds.......let's pray we DONT blow this one.....

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  71. Bahahaha, I tend to have a frequency in making up a footballers first name and then strongly believing it's true for no reason. Same with Montoya. I thought his name was Erik for some reason.

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  72. Like I have said numerous times final say is not first say. It's vague and considering how often he complain about the tools he has at his disposal, the Mario will categorically not be signing and numerous other contradictions I take everything he says with a bag of salt.

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