On Friday, Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers gave the strongest indication yet that Gylfi Sigurdsson would be the Reds' first signing of the summer. Most fans, I'm sure, will welcome a player of Sigurdsson's quality, but Iceland coach Lars Lagerback has warned that the 22 year old will need to be surrounded by quality players if he is to perform to the highest level.
In an interview last night, Lagerback hailed Sigurdsson as a 'fantastic player' and waxed lyrical about the 'great quality' he showed at Swansea. However, he seemed to suggest that teams need to be set-up a certain way to get the best out of Sigurdsson. He observed:
"If he [Sigurdsson] has some good players around him, then I think he’s an absolutely top player – but he does need to be surrounded by quality. If that happens, then I think he could be a really world-class player in the right environment"
Lagerbeck has worked extensively with Sigurdsson through the Iceland national team, and he believes the youngster has the quality to emulate one of Europe's top players:
"We have found a role for him in the Iceland team where he can be involved as much as possible and really influence the attacking part of our game. There are elements of his game that are like Zlatan, but he's not a goalscorer like Henrik [Larsson] was"
High praise indeed, but if Liverpool are going to get the best out of Sigurdsson then it seems like the attacking side of the team will have to be built around him.
Sigurdsson will be surrounded by 'good players', but are Liverpool's players of a higher quality than Swansea's? On a technical level, the answer is probably no (with the exception of Gerrard and Suarez), but hopefully Rodgers will sign a few more technically proficient players over the summer.
Jaimie Kanwar
In an interview last night, Lagerback hailed Sigurdsson as a 'fantastic player' and waxed lyrical about the 'great quality' he showed at Swansea. However, he seemed to suggest that teams need to be set-up a certain way to get the best out of Sigurdsson. He observed:
"If he [Sigurdsson] has some good players around him, then I think he’s an absolutely top player – but he does need to be surrounded by quality. If that happens, then I think he could be a really world-class player in the right environment"
Lagerbeck has worked extensively with Sigurdsson through the Iceland national team, and he believes the youngster has the quality to emulate one of Europe's top players:
"We have found a role for him in the Iceland team where he can be involved as much as possible and really influence the attacking part of our game. There are elements of his game that are like Zlatan, but he's not a goalscorer like Henrik [Larsson] was"
High praise indeed, but if Liverpool are going to get the best out of Sigurdsson then it seems like the attacking side of the team will have to be built around him.
Sigurdsson will be surrounded by 'good players', but are Liverpool's players of a higher quality than Swansea's? On a technical level, the answer is probably no (with the exception of Gerrard and Suarez), but hopefully Rodgers will sign a few more technically proficient players over the summer.
Jaimie Kanwar
pop him into a midfield with lucas and gerrard sure.
ReplyDeleteAdd reina and agger to your list and it's starting to sound like a pretty good spine of the team!
ReplyDeleteJaimie, these adverts are getting quite ridiculous and certainly over the top.
ReplyDeleteSwansea's players are on a better technical level than liverpool's????
ReplyDeleteNo no no liverpool's squad is littered with top quality internationals, ok Swansea's footballing ethos is better however I'm sure Brendan will instill that in us over the course of the season.
holy fuck man how on earth do you get by as a football writer...you are an embarassment.
ReplyDeleteMost player's look better with more skilled players surrounding them.
ReplyDeleteI'd hope to see as few technically lacking players in the squad as possible though, so hope we don't stick around waiting for Downing's improvement and instead dump him on Sunderland, Villa or some such team, and use the money to help fund a rebuild of the squad.
There is a fair argument that Swansea's central midfielders are more technically gifted than Liverpool's. Having two midfielders (Britton and Allen) with a plus 90% pass completion rate is something I'm not sure our midfielders ever achieved after a season in the Prem.
ReplyDeleteWell lets see if our central midfield can keep the ball as well as Britton-Allen-Siggy did, as Allen and Britton are very good at keeping possession ticking over. If our central midfield do, great, as I'd love see us being comfortable on the ball as well as Swansea were. Could be a case of ethos like you say, not so heavily reliant on individuals, which is fair enough. Will be interesting to see how Stevie adapts.
ReplyDeleteCan't believe how excited yer all getting about an average player, don't see any other top clubs or any other club apart from Swansea rushing to sign him. Get used to it guys cos this is what you'll be getting with Rodgers. That's why the yanks appointed him , already said don't want to build a new stadium
ReplyDeleteJUST F..U..C..K OFF KANWAR
ReplyDeleteMaxi has the required level of tehnical ability to gel with him and rodgers style in general
ReplyDeleteto old and no pace
ReplyDeleteour pass completion rate .do you mean not given the ball away will improve now that that donkey dk has gone !!
ReplyDeleteREINA u must be jokin
ReplyDeleteMan United are in for him now.
ReplyDeleteMaxi like Sigurdsson has pace in his head! But only would be used sparingly anyway.
ReplyDeleteThe wide positions will mainly be occupied by Suarez and a new wide forward with Sterling and Downing as back up.
Aquilani, Adam and Spearing will be sold and Suso will go out on loan.
The 3 mid roles will be Lucas, Gerrard, Sigurdsson with a new DM, Hendo, Cole and Shelvey as back up.
The lone striker role will be competed for by a new Striker and Carroll.
A left wing back will also be bought.
In summary the ins will be:
Sigurdsson (CAM)
A wide forward
A defensive midfielder
A striker
A left wing back.
OUTS:
Aquilani - Milan
Adam - whoever will take him
Spearing - " "
Suso - loan
Anyone seen the 'I am Zlatan' youtube video? Weird but amusing! 'I am Zleten'
ReplyDeleteForm is temporary, class is permanent. He had one bad season so what? Suits Rodgers' style of play and is still one of the best 'keepers in the world. Even if someone came in with a massive offer for him who would you rather get that we have a realistic chance of signing?
ReplyDeleteYou're taking the "glass half empty" approach which is your choice. I just don't agree with the assumption that the owners are happy to run a second rate club and Rodgers doesn't have a clue with regards what it takes to compete at the top level. I don't really see any reason to believe that. Why would they buy the football club and then not be ambitious? They've been ambitious with the Red Sox, to the point of being ruthless. They've shown their not cheap i.e. willing to spend money, as much as Kenny asked for. They say all the right things in terms of wanting to grow the club, make it profitable, but also make it competitive on the field at all levels. What have they done in your eyes to deserve the cynical point of view?
ReplyDeleteAnd did you read what Henry said about not building a new stadium? It actually makes sense. If you have to spend 100s of millions to build a new stadium, what's the point? You just end up selling tons of corporate boxes and the fans gets screwed over with higher ticket prices. He says there are better ways to make money so why don't you believe that he knows what he's talking about? We can extend Anfield, make it closer to a 60,000 stadium and what's wrong with that? I think it's a great idea and you get to keep the atmosphere and all the history. Would you prefer they bulldoze it and push up ticket prices to 60 quid a head?
The way I see it we have owners who really want the club to do well, both on and off the pitch. I think they firmly believe Rodgers can do this and I think Rodgers is no idiot. This might be a new challenge for him but if blokes like you can work out that we need top class players to challenge for the title, how much of an idiot must Rodgers be to not see the same thing? FFS, the guy managed a premier league football club, he seems to have a clue. So I just don't see any real reason to conclude that we're going nowhere, we won't try to get top quality players and, by that logic, that Sigurdsson is not a great player. Why would Rodgers buy him if he's no good?
Well that sounds great "for him to be at is best he needs to be surrounded by quality players" correct me if i am wrong but don't we need quality players in the first place, i mean if we are going to target players that only perform, when surrounded by quality players than what are we doing, i am tired of people saying oh he is good as long as he has good players around him, that's shit.
ReplyDeleteWe need players that are just plain good on their own and then we can put them together. I mean take a look at Afellay (spelling) he looks fantastic playing for Barca but yet when he came on against Portugal he looked pretty average, a team full of very good players will make the average ones look good.
I personally don't think much of him hope i am wrong.
Mate are you serious you could give me the ball in our mid for 90% of the time, but i'd rather be in that 10% that actually does something with the ball, it's no point just looking good passing, if you don't score you will get beat all the time. We lacked finishing, now im not saying that our mid can't do with improvement but lets not go overboard with the whole stat, on they passed this much.
ReplyDelete