2 Jul 2013

Top Target: Dutch giants want to sign 'gifted' €3m LFC star. Dead Man Walking...?

The writing is on the wall for LFC flop Oussama Assaidi. Since January, Liverpool have signed three attacking midfielders, and Reds boss Brendan Rodgers is currently trying sign a Henrikh Mkhitaryan, and if that deal takes place, it would almost certainly mean there's no room in the squad for the Moroccan international. Assaidi has been linked with loan moves to Sporting Lisbon and Ajax this year, and reports this week suggest a return to the Eredivisie could be on the cards.

According to Dutch newspaper Algemeen Dagblad:

"Feyenoord plan to add two players to their squad this month. Coach Ronald Koeman needs a new winger and Technical director Martin van Geel has identified Liverpool's Oussama Assaidi as a top target.

"Feyenoord favour a loan deal initially, and when the club sells someone, Koeman may then have the funds to make the deal permanent".


PSV Eindhoven also want Assaidi on loan, but Liverpool are reportedly only willing to consider a permanent deal.

Assaidi - who cost Liverpool €3m last summer - made only four appearances for the Reds last season, and with the influx of attacking players, I don't see how that is going to improve next season.

Calling the Moroccan a 'flop' is, perhaps, a tad unfair. It's not his fault that Rodgers decided to basically ignore him for the entire season.

Assaidi's lack of action is especially mystifying given his great form for Heerenveen, and prior to the move, Ajax boss Frank De Boer - who knows a thing or two about decent players - made clear his disappointment at missing out on the winger. He told Voetball International:

"We never made it a secret that we were interested in him [Assaidi]. It's a pity he chose Liverpool, but he's gone to a very good club, and we could not compete with them"

What went wrong with Assaidi's move? If Rodgers didn't rate him, then why waste €3m on him in the first place. It's a comparatively small amount of money, but it could've been used more effectively. Some fans argue that Rodgers did not want Assaidi, but that is total nonsense, as the Moroccan himself confirmed last summer. He told LFC.com:

"Rodgers convinced me to choose Liverpool. How he wants to play is the way I like to. We both want to play football.”

The most likely possibility for Assaidi's failure at Anfield is his inability to get to grips with the physical aspects of the Premier League. Indeed, prior to the LFC move, Jan de Jonge - the man behind the Moroccan’s breakthrough in the Eredivisie - hinted that this could be a problem:

“Assaidi is extremely gifted. However, sometimes talent is not enough to survive in a tough competition like the Premier League. Oussama must keep working on his physical attributes and show the right mental attitude.”

Is there any way back for Assaidi? I can't see it. The competition for his position is too fierce now, so it's probably best to just let him go.



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61 comments:

  1. I have thought that the couple of times he has played he has looked really promising. He looks really keen to take players on and he has a bit of pace. I find the whole thing a little strange; not coming to grips with the the English style of play seems the most likely explanation.

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  2. he reminded of babel minus the attitude skilled enough but seemed to miss something.....

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  3. I'd take the 3m for him and if we really wanted a winger i'd invest the 3m in Nathan Redmond.
    High potential, Low cost.
    or just keep the 3m, Whatever im not fazed

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  4. Personally I rate him and I would not sell him, give him until January to get to grips with the PL???..................he is very talented.

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  5. Sell him for as much money as we can and put that money towards the best centre back we can find.

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  6. waste of money by rodgers ,the ? is why did he sign him

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  7. to mess with ajax id daresay :P

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  8. assaidi + 3m for de vrij???

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  9. liverpool4life56510:54 am, July 02, 2013

    3 million is hardly anything which we will get back when we sell him. When played he done well but BR doesn't like him so best to get rid.

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  10. lol dude he just signed a new contract and all that is hell of a lousy offer

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  11. thats the question alright

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  12. OR OR OR!!! We get 3m for Assaidi and the 3m or so we get for Ince and then we go out and miss a few target and have 6m for jan!!!

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  13. I thought he was a far more effective attacker than suso who had a lot more game time. He never had a bad game in the few he played. Must be some other reason for his lack of game time.

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  14. Unless he shows something special at the start of preseason, we may as well sell him for as much money as possible and put the money towards strengthening in other areas

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  15. £3m coming in from Tom Ince............:-)

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  16. I think compared to our recent history of expensive flops I think putting "waste of money" and assaidi in the same sentence is a bit harsh he came into a team that is undergoing massive changes after decades of decline and he hasn't broken through. I'd like to give him another season to se if he can bulk up and break through as long term I think he will come good (look at Lucas).

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  17. he will not come through because the man who bought him refuses to give him a chance

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  18. on another subject ,dose anyone no a good source for tickets do not mind paying over the face value ,want 2 for man ure game must be next to each other want to take my lad .maybe need four tickets but would settle for two

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  19. Sahin, Assaidi, Yesil...a bit too much of a coincidence to me...

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  20. In other news, VI states Toby Alderweireld has left the Ajax training camp for "personal reasons". Could be he's about to sign somewhere. Possibly Liverpool?

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  21. Yeah he did start promisingly esp in europe. But I remember him coming on in a league game and looked totally out of place. Could have been lack of match activity

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  22. Could look to maybe use him as part of a deal to get eriksen?

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  23. That could be an option, but if reports are true that Henry Mac is on his way to liverpool along with the Alberto signing i dont think Eriksen will be looked at.
    But who knows alot could just be media talk and we got Eriksens name on a contract :P

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  24. Liverpool Kopites12:36 pm, July 02, 2013

    My guess is he probably wanted to play him but fearing that he may offend the big shots in the squad, he decided not to take the risk. Not being able to come to grips with the physical aspect of the league is a chicken or the egg thing - (my view is that if) you don't get the chance to play much in the actual games, how do you even get to grips with it. Rodgers can often be a yes man and that's why it seems that he does a lot of strange things like this assaidi issue.

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  25. Yeah I guess I get greedy this time of year and want both :)

    Eriksen or Henry would make me happy. I also have this unwanted, 'please make it go away' feeling we could end up losing out on both. I really really really hope I am wrong...

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  26. I don't think Rodgers or any of us doubt his dribbling ability, although he did seem a little lightweight. What we don't see as fans is a player's ability to understand and play within a tactical style.
    The way Rodgers wants us to play demands a high level of tactical awareness; higher than most of us were used to having to display when we were playing, maybe Assaidi just didn't *get it* in training, which made it difficult to include him.
    Whatever the reason, £3m was a decent gamble on a player like him, and we'll get our money back to try again, so no harm done. Good luck to him wherever he goes, he tried a lot harder than the likes of Ryan Babel..

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  27. Mr. Point Of View1:01 pm, July 02, 2013

    worth for ince? he didnt perform well euro u21....

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  28. Mr. Point Of View1:04 pm, July 02, 2013

    how much when we buy him? + wage ???
    now selling we at earn or loss???

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  29. Theycallmemrburt1:29 pm, July 02, 2013

    Also I read today that Swansea are interested in taking Shelvey, which is great news. I can smell an AShley Williams Part exchange deal coming on which is not so great.............

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  30. Apparently Cardiff have bid around 9m for him so we should get atleast 3m from the deal.

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  31. I think that's a problem with mangers nowadays they buy players like my wife buys clothes, gets them home and decides they don't like them. Benitez did the same with Babel lots of potential but confidence/ability shattered because of no faith by manager

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  32. It's not Assaidi's fault that Rodgers chose to ignore him?


    It's Assaidi's fault that he never forced Rodgers to play him. Granted it's difficult to show your stuff when you don't get games, but he barely got a sniff, which leads me to believe that he never gave Rodgers a reason to play him consistently.


    I'm not happy that Rodgers didn't play him. I would have liked to see the guy play at least a decent amount of games to see what we have in him. And for that, Rodgers is at fault. But to put all the blame at BR's feet and none at Assaidi's is not fair. It's a combination of the two.

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  33. lets hope rodgers stops the trend

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  34. agree m8 no balls

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  35. f we sell him for what we paid for him it will still leave plenty of wages down the swanie

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  36. I agree, giving him a chance is one thing but if he doesn't put in at training why should he get a chance.
    We will most likely never know the reason but it could have been worse, we could have spend 35m on him lol

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  37. Mr. Point Of View2:45 pm, July 02, 2013

    the only option is loan his out to raise his value. his capability is still a doubt but just dunno why BR sign him at 1st. Waste his time and waste our $ if we not utilize him. Mayb BR woo a Moroccan chick needs his help?

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  38. but we will end up paying some if not all his wages whilst he is on loan,we should just cut our losses,and hope rodgers dose not,buy anymore players he will not give a chance

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  39. Mr. Point Of View2:57 pm, July 02, 2013

    mayb just mayb assaidi project come from BOARD instead of him.

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  40. i wonder how Jamie considers a player a flop when he barely gets a string of games ?????

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  41. I agree with you over Nathan Redmond as he would provide with competition as well as cover for the RW position and be one for the future too.

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  42. Yesil was injured for most of the season btw. However, Sahin and Assaidi just make me sigh. Especially Sahin.. should have put him and lucas together holding the midfield

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  43. I think its better for us and him to sell him. It'd be better if we put a buy back clause, who knows if he might turn out to be something special.

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  44. No real place in the team for him tbh. Better to sell fast than hold onto a player who isn`t going to play.

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  45. ouch, the Utd game will be a tough ask, could you have picked a harder game to get tickets for lol

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  46. Please read the article properly - said it is 'harsh' to call him a flop.

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  47. Brendan hasn't given him much of a opportunity to shine... when he came on against westbrom, I remember thinking wow the dudes got talent! I suggest LFC keep him and give him and opportunity to play...if his not good enough he can go in the January transfer window.

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  48. Totally agree... Well said!

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  49. I'm only referring to the beginning of your article

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  50. been on the club site and i can get a package with meal (not bothered about the meal) for 1 adult and 1 child for just over £300,the snag is you have to have been on a package to a lesser game before lol

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  51. excatly hence why its hard to just get utd tickets. There is also places which offer hospitliaty packages from places like ticketmaster etc, I will have a hunt for you and get back to you Jas if I find anything

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  52. link below to thomas cook, might take a while for the mods to let it through though

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  53. heres there link Jas, http://www.thomascooksport.com/Football/Premier-League/Liverpool-FC?ac=ga_lv0612&gclid=CLSNr_H_k7gCFUFY3godYXgABg

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  54. cheers m8 i have already checked it out over £500,and i would not want the hotel stay lol,looking at stoke now £240 no overnight stay i will decide at the end of te month

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  55. yeah its costly aint it, but does get around getting tickets to hard games. Stoke aint a bad option, although can`t you wait till a later game? just normally us v stoke aint one of the more beautiful games of the season. Don`t want ur lad turning to the dark side and supporting the blues, or worse still the Reds of Manc.

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  56. never happen lol stoke is the 1st game of the season

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  57. if we go we will have to meet

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  58. Yeah for sure. Will keep you posted bud :-)

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