16 Apr 2015

Landslide: 69% of fans hail 'amazing' £10m star as 2014's 'best signing'

On Monday, Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher argued that 'amazing' utility man Emre Can is the best signing of last summer's transfer window, and it appears that Reds fans agree with that contention.

At a weekend event for the 5-Times Liverpool Former Players Association, Carra told London-based Liverpool fans:

'Emre Can is Rodgers best signing last year'

I conducted a survey this week asking fans if they agree with Carra's selection.

The results are pretty emphatic:

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* This is a massive vote of confidence in Can, but to be honest, given the club's poor overall transfer business, it's hardly surprising that the German is the fan's choice for best signing.

* Lambert may be a Scouser, but with only 1% of the vote, that doesn't seem to cut any ice with Liverpool fans.

* Balotelli on 4%, ahead of Manquillo, Lovren, Markovic? Strange result, but to be fair, the Italian has contributed a couple of very important goals, including vital winners against Spurs, and Besiktas.

* As a defender, Can is a good signing, but in my view, he's not the answer in central midfield. I've explained my thinking on this several times, so I won't repeat myself here.

My assessment of Rodgers' transfer business last summer:

Success: Can (£10m)
Adequate Moreno and Manquillo.
Disappointing: Lovren and Origi* (£42m)
Flop: Lallana, Lambert, Markovic, and Balotelli (£64m)

* For Lille

The disappointments and flops may come good next season, but right now, it's £106m splurged on players who've had a negligible positive impact on Liverpool's season.

Author:


20 comments:

  1. I feel its a bit unfair to say that Origi is disappointing, he hasn't even kicked a ball for Liverpool, it's not his fault that he was bought and loaned back.
    I also don't think Lallana has been an overall flop, sure he hasn't set the world alight, but he's been pretty plagued by injuries which is something that isn't his fault, and he has shown glimpses of good form.

    Markovic has been disappointing but I feel he could come good, although I don't feel he will ever be much more than a squad player. I hope I'm proved wrong.

    Agree with the others.

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  2. Agreed. Lallana will prove to be a good signing - hopefully sooner rather than later. Markovic just needs a bit of confidence - at the moment, he seems too panicky when in possession.

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  3. For sheer value of money, Can has been a brilliant signing considering he was our second cheapest signing behind Lambert who never plays. I would say Moreno also has been a pretty good success for the club considering he has become a vital member of our team and was only bought for 12 mil. Markovic and Lallana come in the OK bracket but for the moeny we spent, they have come nowhere close to delivering. Lovren has been an unmitigated disaster and Lambert has been pointless since he does not even come off the bench anymore. Manquillo and Balo come in the unknown category. Manquillo has done well but has been shunted out whereas Balo started to turn up well only to be permanently dropped.

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  4. The problems I have with Lallana, Markovic, Balotelli, and Lovren is not so much that they haven't played well or set the world alight. It may take time to settle in.


    The problem is we spent over over 80m on them, therefore there has to be some sort of return on investment. There simply hasn't been thus far.

    That's not to say that can't change. But as a club, we can't afford to spend so much money on our signings and watch them go through the motions for a season or two.

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  5. agree with your assessment Jaimie, spot on

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  6. I do agree with you on that. But the players don't set the value of themselves, so in a way it's a little harsh to judge them more simply because they cost more.

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  7. That's valid and certainly logical.


    Unfortunately, reality and fan expectations don't follow that logic.


    And going further along with what I said, the club really suffers as a result because it affects future budgets.


    I have no problem with Brendan coming back next year. But I do have a problem with trusting him to spend in another transfer window.

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  8. I reckon Lovren should be on the flops list he should of been ready to go and has done nothing to suggest he is a 20 million pound player.

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  9. Yep make sense Can will only get better but I'd like to see him in midfield next season.
    A lot of the players outside the premier league have a good reason to take time to settle.
    Markovic( who i was harsh with) I think will improve next season.
    Lovern, Lallana ,Balotelli, have no excuses they know the premier league.


    On another note I know no one is thinking about it but I really wouldn't be surprised if Bredan is removed at the end of the season.
    The owners we know previously wanted Klopp (I wanted Klopp after Kenny) they will have the perfect excuse to go and get him.
    No likelihood of CL qualification got Kenny the sack and he won a trophy and is loved by the fans.
    Brendan doesn't have that relationship.
    I am not advocating his removal but I can't say I'd be surprised if it happened

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  10. Best assesment i read so far..

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  11. Moreno and Couts have it already if another runner joins, really lethal..

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  12. Good thing, not repeating oneself..

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  13. This is the same Jamie Carragher that said of Emre Can, "He can't defend," right? Many people cannot understand Rodgers' thinking but then many people are ignorant of the wider transfer market or the fact that Chelsea, City, Spurs and United splurge just as much, if not more, capital on players that don't succeed in their first season at the respective club.

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  14. How can you deem Origi a disappointment? he has never even stepped out in a LFC shirt!


    Lille is a medicore team in the french league. If you look at the stats Origi is leading the team in both assists and scoring. In other words he is the main man of a decent, not great, side at the age of 19. Part of being a forward is dealing with the service being delivered and clearly he is doing a better job at that than anyone else there and one of the youngest too.


    He is a kid and is going to grow and everybody saw it on display at the world cup. At least let him give it a fair crack, in better side, at an older age actually wearing our crest before you deem him not good enough.

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  15. I'd place lallana in the disappointing category with Lovren. Origi should not be included at all that's really unfair.

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  16. Buying dross players from Southampton was worst transfer decision, in which I feel BR had a major say.
    Balotelli was measured risk (A committee decision I presume) . Considering coaching credentials of BR, no world class would have agreed to join Liverpool unless we offered to shed load of money.

    Rest of the guys are just "Potentials". Will surely provide some return on investment as we go along, or at least major chunk of transfer fee we paid for them, if we sell them in future.

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  17. Buying the players from Southampton was illogical from the beginning.


    If we're going to choose to buy 3 players from a team, wouldn't we want to choose at team that finished higher than 8th last season

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