28 Jul 2013

£14m for 48 goals/assists: Proof that LFC's transfer policy is back on track...?

GUEST POST: Last season, new Liverpool signings Iago Aspas and Luis Alberto grabbed 23 goals and 25 assists for Celta Vigo and Barcelona B respectively, which is clearly an excellent creative return. Together, the Spaniards cost the club a comparatively cheap £14m, yet some fans insist that signing ‘cheap players’ means the Reds have 'no ambition'. Site regular Max disagrees with this, and his is certain that Aspas and Alberto will turn out to be good business for LFC.

Being relatively unknown, Aspas and Alberto may be risks (isn’t every transfer?), but at £7 million each (and affordable wages), they can’t do any worse than Albert Aquilani and Robbie Keane, ‘marquee signings’ who cost of a combined £38 million, and managed 9 goals between them before being sold at a massive loss.

There’s every possibility that Aspas and Alberto will end up being major successes at Liverpool, but if things don’t work out, the club will be able to move them on without struggling to find a team who can afford them, which is a win-win situation.

Value for money is the key phrase when talking about Liverpool’s new recruitment policy. It has nothing to do with the age of the player or ‘moneyball’. Indeed, Kolo Toure is a clear example of FSG’s willingness to add experience to the squad. The Ivorian is in great shape for his age; he captained and won the Premier League with two different clubs; appears to be a perfect replacement for Carragher, and his experience will be crucial to LFC.

Additionally, Aspas will be 26 on the 1st of August 2013, so the theory that Liverpool only buy young players just isn’t accurate, and is manufactured by those who can’t seem to grasp the concept of value for money.

Liverpool also took this this prudent approach during the January 2013 transfer window. The club signed Philippe Coutinho and Daniel Sturridge, and both players hit the ground running. Coutinho ended the season with 3 goals 7 assists in 13 appearances, and Sturridge grabbed 11 goals/5 assists in 16 appearances. As I’m sure many would concede, 14 goals and 12 assists in 16 matches is an incredible return for a combined fee of £20.5 million.

Compare the signings of Couthino and Sturridge with those of Aquilani and Keane, and it’s clear LFC is doing the smart thing by rejecting big money risks with the potential to cripple the wage bill. Give the club’s recent transfer history, how can this be bad thing?

The £9m signing of Simon Mignolet has also raised eyebrows. Some claim that the Belgian - one of the most promising goalkeepers in Europe - is not capable of filling Pepe Reina’s boots, yet whatever people think about him, he is almost certainly on half Reina’s wages, so once again value for money is the key factor here.

Due to his experience and standing in the game, it’s possible that Toure may be on higher wages than any of the new signings, but as a free transfer, that still makes financial sense.

Only time will tell whether the likes of Aspas and Alberto have the same impact as Coutinho and Sturridge, but after many years of transfer mismanagement, LFC’s new recruitment policy is finally heading in the right direction. Onwards and Upwards!



NOTE: If any other site regulars would like to post an article, please contact JK. Your views are welcome! (And no, you don't have to post something that matches my take on things. I encourage people to submit articles that take the direct opposite view to me)


200 comments:

  1. Whilst I agree with everything said, unfortunately there are many Liverpool Fans who refuse to accept the reality of our situation, which is we do not have the finances in regards to wages and transfer fee's to compete directly with the likes of Man Utd, Chelsea, Arsenal, Man City, and we also suffer from not being in Europe when competing with other club around the world who are in Europe in attracting players.


    So when you take all of this on board, trying to find the right type of player who will improve the squad is a difficult task.


    You also have the media linking the club with every player under the sun which raises the hopes of know naive fans who seem to believe everything they read in the media.


    So far, personally, I think BR and the transfer team at Liverpool are doing a good job, they still need to make a few more signings which BR has already said a number of times.


    Some people have to remember that in Football sometimes negotiations take time and its not instant like on same computer games.


    Have faith and support our team

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  2. This is one way to spin it, but there's no guarantee that Alberto and Aspas will be successful in England. In pre-season so far, Alberto has shown nothing, and Barcelona B means nothing. Dalglish also bought players based on assist stats, and look how that turned out.

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  3. Couldn't agree more, spending massive money on new players is no guarantee that they will be a success. Because we don't have the finances of some of our rivals we have to trust our scouting network and hope these lads turn out to be good players.

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  4. Max I think your article above makes good sense. However, I think it's the mix (no pun) of value for money acquisitions and established marquee players that will eventually bring home the bacon for the Reds. We are all disappointed and bored with the Suarez saga but I hope the manager and the owners stick to their guns and refuse to sell him to anyone. It's time Liverpool showed the football world that a contract is not just a signal of intention but a binding requirement on both parties. I fail to understand why a transfer request will change anything but the players absence of loyalty.

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  5. Good post pal
    We are heading in the right direction. All I could hope 4 now is the fans all on the same page.
    Moto. Spend less 4 good talent
    Can all the short sighted fans wait until end of season to criticise.

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  6. would it not be better to sign proven quality players from the start rather to gamble on transfers that may or may not work out and that takes time and if we had signed the likes of miki, ericcson, Bernard, etc that would have proven to suarez that we meant business and may not have wanted to move on

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  7. Excellent points but if you want to replace 30 goals a season you do need to spend big. So far so good but when Suarez leaves they need to get in a proper goalscoring striker to replace him and a top class combatative midfielder like Diame to bulk up our midfield. I know that you're hesitant on him but I'd love to do a swap for Benzema plus £20M. Should cover for a replacement striker a decent midfielder and an emerging star defender. Good pre season transfer window with the books balanced well.

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  8. Fans who are determined to see the negative side of things just won't be convinced. We all have some pre-conceived idea of what it takes for the club to get better and for plenty of folks thats 60 million pounds of highly rated signings. If that's what they think we need then that's what they think, it's not likely to change. Some are convinced Rodgers hasn't got what it takes, so why would that attitude suddenly change? Others, like myself, have a degree of trust in Rodgers and the approach the club is taking, but part of that is how it's not going to be instant success. Aspas won't be a superstar and Alberto is definitely a player to grow over the next couple of seasons. Still, there have been a ton of bargain successes in the PL recently, players like Ba, Michu, Cisse as the obvious examples. Why can't our good value signings be like that? Coutinho is the model we want to follow, so why can't these guys achieve what he has? I think it's exactly the way we should be building this club back up again, but the proof will be in how well we finish this season. If we really do get better Rodgers will be lauded, but if these players flop then it'll be the same old story and Liverpool will go nowhere.

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  9. Its a shame Suarez doesn't share your optimism, with the new transfer policy. He might of considered staying if the club bought some game changers. A WC player like Suarez hasn't got the time needed, that it will take for the promising players bought to maybe turn Liverpool into a top 4 side. Even though he has gone about leaving the wrong way. I personally don't like this way, of doing things. It makes Liverpool into a feeder club if they don't reach the CL. the club isn't showing ambition, for me.

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  10. None of those players are proven. They're just expensive. A high transfer fee doesn't mean a successful PL star. Reckless spending doesn't show ambition, it just shows a willingness to throw money at the problem. Every pound spent on a player who doesn't make it ends up as club debt. Maybe that's how the top club are doing it, I don't know, but this isn't monopoly money.

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  11. I agree Ste...we all want value for money max, but a player has a short window to win things its like a viscous circle if the players take a few years to hit form thats if they ever hit it while your waiting you lose another one.....if we miss this year theirs every chance courtino will leave come next summer. i don't make the rules on football its a very here and now industry its not like running a farm and waiting for your crop to go.

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  12. We already are a feeder club of sorts. Until we get the stadium sorted and back in the CL this is possibly our new reality. As a result I think our current transfer policy is our only real option.

    At the same time, I'm quite excited by the players we've already got and those coming through. If we spend the money we get for Suarez cleverly we might even be able to look higher than the 4th place ceiling everyone seems to put on our ambition.

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  13. those players mentioned are far better than what we have at the moment and would have improved our team no end, im sorry but that is my opinion,,, as far as money goes I just don't get it, cutting costs, balancing the books, spending next to zero, it hardly fills you with confidence

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  14. You can't expect to keep a player like Suarez with the transfer policy of signing promising gambles. The club have to let him go when they receive closer to 50 million. You can't have it both ways. Arsenal a few years back are the perfect example. They lost Nasri,toure, clichy and van Perdue to name a few. And they were in the CL every season. What makes you think Suarez should have to stay at Liverpool? He wants to maximise his career. I'm beginning to symphaphise with Torres now. Lol.

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  15. that's if we are allowed to spend the money if suarez goes...i don't want to sound defeatist but if we don't hit champions league this year there is a chance we may never get back in...if you would have said Liverpool wont win the league again when they last won it you would have been called nuts ...if you had said notts Forrest would be relegated after winning there second European cup you would have been called nuts...

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  16. But if we spend crazy money and do not make the top 4 then what was the point in spending big money from the start?


    Nothing is a guarantee seeing that spending crazy money on your Aquilani's, Keane's and Carroll's did not make us reach the top 4!

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  17. Well do you want to see the club covered in uncontrollable debt again just for the sake of signing players for 35 million and high wages?

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  18. your right its not but our history is also littered with record signings who transformed the club ..

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  19. In this case, I hope Suarez does get sold, but I agree with your general point: LFC have the power to make Suarez honour his contract (to a point), and clubs in general should exercise that power more often.

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  20. Totally agree about a Diame-like midfielder. You're right, I don't rate Benzema, but objectively speaking, he is undoubtedly a good player, and a swap plus £20m would be good value for Suarez.

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  21. Those record signing won us what exactly?

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  22. I agree with the majority of the article but the money lost on Keane wasn't 'massive' the money lost on Carroll was.

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  23. Great points. Rodgers got it 100% right during the January transfer window, and the knock-on positive impact on the club was immense. If just two of his summer signings have a similar impact, it could move the club forward even more. I'm sure at least one of Rodgers' summer signings will struggle to make an impact, but every manager is going to make mistakes; no gets it 100% right. For every four transfers, we should expect at least one 'flop', and not be surprised when it happens.

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  24. It's not just about winning trophies; it's about moving the club forward to a place where trophies become a possibility.

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  25. For sure but I am just trying to outline the risks involved in buying players who eat away your wage bill. If they do not work out then you will struggle to find clubs who can afford them.


    We were luck that West Ham signed Carroll and funniest things is they are now paying him more than what he earned at LFC...

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  26. anyone with half a brian could see those 3 signing where poor...kenny was my idol as a kid but he overpay ed for carroll we all know that ...and i don't know a single fan who was in favor of buying Keane and aqua man...but there are good players out there...also its worth noting we are still spending crazy money on average players see allen and borini

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  27. I sense some Irish solidarity here ;-)


    According to LFC's accounts, the club lost £8m on Keane, a significant sum, but you're right, nowhere near the catastrophic waste on Carroll.

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  28. I agree that the prudent and patiant building of this team is really a step in the correct direction, we do not have the finacial muscle to compete with the top 3 at this stage, and that means being very clever, this would be a problem without a strategy and method, we have this vision thoug and has been shown to be sucessful through the winter transfer window at least, i doubt you will find very many fans that doubt Sturridge and Continho were flops!, now why then would some fans start doubting the new signings without giving them a chance? who knows.

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  29. I agree. You could say Liverpool has too big a worldwide fan base, too much revenue and decent enough players to not head into a downward spiral...But we've seen it before, Leeds, Boro, Newcastle...


    We need to at least be playing Europa League or be competitive in the cups to remain positive about the future. There's too many strong teams for us to just magically appear in 4th position.

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  30. max ..dagleish was a record signing ...larenson was a record signing ....john barnes ...and peter beardsley may have been record signings id have to check

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  31. Spending big money is surely a good thing...as long as the players bought are worth it. Carroll, Aquilani etc were clearly not worth it, and as Gilstrap suggests below, anyone could've seen that. Those signings were stunningly negligent.

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  32. so to answer your question they won us a lot

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  33. I am talking about recent record signings.


    How times have changed.

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  34. Don't agree. If a player wants to go, he should be allowed. That is in a deal that suits the club that is. Why keep a player that wants to leave?

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  35. Beardsley was definitely a record signing at the time. £1.9 million from Newcastle.

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  36. not at all max but we should show more ambition than what we are at moment, how long are you willing to wait to get back into the top 4, other teams around us are making good sound signings we are being left behind spuds,swans,etc etc are are showing far more ambition

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  37. Totally agree but the point i am making a big money move right now is a major risk for us because there are no guarantees that we will reach the top 4 then we sit in another Suarez situation.

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  38. Yes, I agree that it's probably not the best idea to keep an unhappy player, but what happens when the fee being offered for a player who wants to leave is insultingly low? Just take it to get him off the books? That's not beneficial.

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  39. good point steve you could argue that michu and bony at swansea are potentailly far better than our forwards if suarez leaves

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  40. If that is your opinion then great!

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  41. All true sadly.... At least we are heading to a 60,000 stadium (is that enough?) and following a clear and consistent transfer policy. I can also see many of our squad making big strides forward this year and I like the fact we have some depth to the squad this year. I'd be happy to trade Suarez for a Shaqiri / papa / yilmaz combination.

    I should add I'm always a deluded, pre-season optimist!!!!

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  42. Good point. That is the only reason, though. Its already taking up to much of the focus this summer.

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  43. Allen and Borini were signed before our new scouting system was put together by Rodgers.


    We had no scouting system when Rodgers was appointed as our manager so he went with his gut and signed players he could trust. They still have plenty of time to make it at Anfield...

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  44. Yes, there's no guarantee that a big money move will get LFC into the top four, but when is there *ever* such a guarantee? Never, IMO. If the right player is signed for big money now, then I'd be in favour of that. For example, if LFC signed Jackson Martinez for £22m, I'd be ecstatic. The guy is a superb, proven goalscorer, and the probability is that he'd help take LFC to the next level There's no guarantee, but some risks are worth taking. The risks on Carroll et al were not worth taking.

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  45. i think 40m for a player who will miss a large percentage of the season and cause general unrest is a good deal....suarez sees arsenal as a stepping stone to madrid ...every chance he would perform to his best in the European games and take it easy by not risking injury etc in the prem games...just a thought jaimie

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  46. Yes but will Martinez join a club that is not playing in the CL?


    Not that easy for us to just pick from the best. We have unfortunately have to be smarter in the transfer market.

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  47. Dalglish situation was completely different we are no longer over spending on players just based on stats if you are right and alberto fails then he can easily be moved on for a loss of £3-4 million now compare that to the amount we lost on carrol and the amount we would lose on downing if he was to go

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  48. rogers has managed them at swansea they hardly needed scouting

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  49. The 'no scouting system' excuse is a massive red herring IMO. Are we to believe that prior to this, there were no scouting reports from the previous 3-5 years? That no one at LFC had any idea about the transfer market? That Rodgers himself had no knowledge of european transfers outside players he'd worked with in the past? Does everything just grind to a halt at Anfield because the senior scouting hierarchy is in transition?

    This should not be used as an excuse for Rodgers' £26m outlay on two players who have made zero positive contribution to the club over the last year. Right now, their signings are no better than Carroll/Downing/Aquilani. That may change in the future and I hope it does.

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  50. Your point? Read my post again.

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  51. Yes, but that's not the issue here. The point is that signing the *right* players for big money is a risk worth taking, even now.

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  52. Most managers sign players they have worked with before...

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  53. Haha there could be perhaps :P I thought we lost around £5m on him The £8m seems more significant when you see the players that can be bought with that amount but there really is no positive comparisons to make when Carroll is involved.Perhaps the worst piece of business ever in the clubs history?For the price paid anyways.

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  54. Exactly right. The biggest, issue I've got is Rodgers hasn't been given a chance to spend big. People judge everything on Dalglishs failed windows.

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  55. But like I said, what if Martinez only wants to join a club in the CL?


    That leaves us to take big money risks on players like Mkhitaryan who was an unkown player to most peolpe until he got linked with LFC.

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  56. I still can't believe WH are paying him more wages AND including the loan fee we got the guts of £20m for him.We done well for the situation we were placed in. But my bias shows for Keane :P

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  57. great article Max. I agree, even if only one of Aspas or Alberto works out, we can sell the other and it's no real loss. Pretty shrewd business if you ask me.

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  58. Agree. Undoubtedly the worst transfer in LFC history. Sean Dundee was a worse player than Carroll, but at least he only cost £1.8m (!)

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  59. Thanks for reading mate!

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  60. Jez!! have a bit of patience, The big money attracts mercenaries.Liverpool is an institution, Liverpool is history, Liverpool is the template for success, Liverpool is about the badge, and the soul. End of story. THAT is Liverpool, always was always will be. In the long term, Liverpool is about , amalgamating a group of young and gifted players , into a team, A team , not primarily concerned with money, A team that is LIVERPOOL , in their hearts. Brendan, knows this is what we want, ( I suspect at least,) and hopefully, he will deliver..

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  61. im irish but keane wasnt never liverpool standard i was sick when he was bought carroll much better just paid far too much

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  62. Yeah nice article.

    Games kicked off. Come on you reds!

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  63. Line up is possibly our Premier League 11 until Sturridge returns.


    Rodger's comments could confirm this.

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  64. Simple answer: no this is not proof that LFC's transfer policy is back on track. As suggested in the last paragraph, only time will tell whether the purchase of Aspas & Alberto have the desired impact. Once they start to perform as they did for their previous teams (and I really hope they do), then we can say that the transfer policy is back on track. No one knows how these players will adjust to a different team's playing style, a different league and a different environment. After all, Coutinho and Sturridge were written off by some before they joined LFC.


    Unfortunately, I'm still not convinced that these are the players to get us back into the Champion's League. And whilst I don't believe you have to spend a fortune to acquire good players, it does seem that you have to spend above £10M and closer to £20M this days to acquire a quality player that will perform to a high level on a consistent basis,

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  65. Let this moron Suarez go and take Soldadi. There is life after Suarez at LFC I promise.

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  66. What a goal what a player!

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  67. I agree and would suggest that buying just one player of that ilk in any given transfer window would be better than buying than 2 or 3 worth £7-8M, whose ability match their price.


    Having just seen Coutinho score, it confirms to me that we were lucky to acquire him for the price that we did. But that sort of good fortune is a rarity,

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  68. It’s all about buying players who will be able to play the
    system and style that BR wants the whole club to be able to play so that a
    player moving up from the juniors doesn’t have to learn how his new team mates
    play he already is playing that way

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  69. So write to Jaimie on why you think the way we are going about signing players is not the way to go forward.


    Good luck!

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  70. Excellent goal by Coutinho. Can see him having a brilliant season.


    8 million? What a bargain!

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  71. Quite honestly, Mauricio Pellegrino is the worst player I have ever seen in a red shirt!

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  72. Christmas Jumper LOL!

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  73. KD's priority for players is nationality, it is pretty clear to everyone I guess. Anyway, FSG allowed KD and Comolli to throw away rock hard cash that manner was one of the biggest if not the biggest blunder in world soccer history. Any comparison for new player against players bought by KD and Comolli will make the deal sounds genius.

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  74. But what if we get the quality of AC, SD and JH instead? No one in this world can rule out the possibility?

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  75. More importantly, the players bought during this summer window are not that costly and not on high wages. Yes, every manager makes mistakes but they should be manageable ones, at least financially.

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  76. Look at Arsenal! And they have a better football setup than we do.

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  77. So write to Jamie about it then!!!

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  78. FSG displayed tremendous ambition soon after they took over. What did they get in the end? Till now we are still having some of those dead weights in the team displaying qualities and stats that cannot justify their transfer fees and wages. FSG is not oil-rich Arabs or Russians, so now we have to spend prudently and be a feeder club, at least temporary. Even Arsenal has to be one, they have a higher revenue growth than us, have a bigger stadium, more expensive tickets, above us in the league, in the Champions League and a much leaner wages vs turnover ratio. That is nothing to be shameful about. We have to inch towards our target given the present circumstances.

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  79. So where do we get the money from? Do you have it? Just because it's football doesn't mean the money just appears from nowhere. If the club buys a player then the club has to pay for that player. The owners don't pay, the club does. That's how it works even for Chelsea and City. Every penny spent comes from the club books. So what do we do? Go further into debt to buy big name players who might not work out? Because I absolutely respect your view that there are good young players out there to target, but if we buy them and they flop ... what then? We're further into debt and no better off.


    Look, the club is clearly looking to spend more money. We had earmarked Mhkitaryan but it didn't happen, so there is at least 20 million more budgeted. That's not spending "next to zero". We've just got to get it right. In the meantime these less expensive players might well be the next Michu or Demba Ba, so why not try to get quality when we see it and it doesn't cost the earth?

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  80. I hope you can come up with something good :)

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  81. Let's talk about history of the past 10 years. Anything back in the Division 1 era is a little meaningless.

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  82. Thew club fits the bill is something that many of our fans do not understand! It does not help to explain it again and again. You are wasting your time to convince that point!

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  83. spoken like a true arsenal fan go gooners :s

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  84. sure thats what man city thought about maicon how did that work out i personally like aspas and alberto i mean aspas has been performing quite good for pre season two assists three goals and alberto is a sublime passer of the ball all u can do is hope for the best

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  85. I've nothing against anyone idolizing KD. He is our club legend and no dispute about that. But why will one not mention SD, JH, Coates and Charlie Adam when Allen and Borini are singled out as 'average'. I can only see a huge sense of bias here and nothing else.

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  86. Not sure what you're on about and why you want me to write to Jamie??? Please explain.

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  87. Cause you think our new recruitment policy is not heading in the right direction.


    So explain it by writing an article like I have :)

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  88. If Liverpool could replace Suarez with Dzeko (26), then Liverpool have found their answer. Two years younger than Soldado. and a much better attacker. He would be surplus to requirements at city with Jovetic, Negredo joining Aguero and Guidetti.

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  89. Strange response. Are you offended that I didn't compliment your article? Furthermore, not sure why I have to write a whole article to justify my opinion. The point is:
    1. We will not know if these players are value for money until they prove their worth in the EPL. Look at Assaidi, obviously talented, cost £2.4M, so looked like he would be value for money, but has not proved his worth, whether it's through his fault or someone else's. Add Borini to that.


    2. Let me make it clear to you that I never stated that our recruitment policy is not the way forward. The predicament we are in leaves us with no choice. However, my point is that I doubt very much that these are the calibre of player that will bring us Champion's League football. Do you think they will?


    3. It is questionable whether we buy 2 players for a combined £15M or 1 player for that same price. If your scouting team is doing it's job properly, then both routes should produce positive results. Except that your £15M player is more likely to produce the quality and consistency to take your team to the next level. I reiterate, that's providing your scouting network is doing it's job properly.


    4. The point about Arsenal is that they have repeatedly opted to buy young, promising players on the cheap, rather than using that same money more effectively, to buy proven players to bring that extra quality that wins trophies. Unfortunately for them, in recent years, they have haemorrhaged their best players to their direct competitors (something we are also in danger of doing). So, looking at Arsenal is like looking through a window to the future. One difference, though, is that Wenger has a long track history of developing players, we have yet to see how good Rodgers is.

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  90. Offended that you did not compliment my article.


    Ha Ha, you are so funny!

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  91. kd played his part lets support this current coach for his vision is excellent

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  92. I did not expect you to like my article in the first place so how can that be sad?

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  93. Why did you not expect me to like it?

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  94. I see you have a sense of humor. Any thoughts on my essay above?

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  95. Read my article again. :-)

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  96. How long do you think it will take for us to return to the Champion's League?

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  97. I cannot answer questions based on time but in my opinion we can reach top 4 without Suarez.

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  98. i think top 4 is a stretch even with Suarez. Without him, well we're going to have to acquire 1 or 2 top quality (not necessarily expensive) players.


    My main concern is that the market isn't that great currently, especially for a team that is not already in the Champion'S League AND doesn't have money to burn. Furthermore, it's hard to see who will drop out of the top 4. Arsenal seem the most likely candidates, but they're yet to dip into the market.

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  99. We would have finished last season in 7th with our without Suarez. If we had signed Sturridge and Coutinho at the start of the 12/13 season then there is not knowing where we would have ended in the table.


    Is Suarez really that important?

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  100. Buckfast Warrior3:06 pm, July 28, 2013

    lol anyone with half a brian!! hes a very naughty boy!!

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  101. ok lesson learn t, we are a mid-table team with a good history and we cant at the moment compete with the new top three ..ok. anyways Borini should be shipped off quickly. total waste.....

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  102. Agree with you. Destro replaced him at Roma and he seems to be better than him.

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  103. I think Suarez is that important. Last term, he was consistent, he scored 20-odd goals and when you have a 'star' player on your team it gives everyone a psychological lift and that is not a quality that can be measured, but has been spoken about many times throughout the history of sport. How that 'lift' translates into points is anyone's guess.


    The team will find a way to cope without Suarez (if it should come to that), but I think it does mean making additions. They have to be the 'quality' players that Rodgers spoke of, not just players to fatten out the squad.


    It's not imperative that Suarez, as such, is a Liverpool player come season start. It is imperative that we acquire a player/players that bring to the table the positive qualities that Suarez possesses. Right know we don't have enough of that quality in the team.

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  104. One or two quality player at 8 million pounds just like Coutinho will do.


    We do not need to go sign players that cost 40 million pounds to reach the top 4.

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  105. add cisskho (loan), the duo ajax pairs for 22mill pounds, and atsu for 4 million pounds. we can buy them for a combined fee of 28 million pounds and we still have 20+ mill pounds and the possible selling of assaidi means we have money available to bu those players. those players will surely add quality to our squad to push on top 4 finish.

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  106. I totally agree that 'good' players don't have to cost the earth. But I really think we were fortunate to acquire Coutinho for that price - Inter definitely made a mistake in selling at that price.


    When you look at the teams above us, the quality of the squads and how much they've paid to assemble such squads, the reality is we can't compete unless there is some factor that lifts the quality of the team above the sum of it's parts. That means superior coaching, tactics, team spirit, luck or a combination of these things, because man-for-man, we are not on a par with some of those teams. Furthermore, until we address the midfield properly,we will struggle to progress.

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  107. Good points, Banoog. Interesting Arsenal comparison.

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  108. Max - please do not post needlessly antagonistic posts like this. Thanks.

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  109. Who have Arsenal and Spurs signed to make LFC shake in their boots?

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  110. The penny is starting to drop with Wenger, after 8 trophy-less years. I just hope it doesn't take us that long.

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  111. I have not asked anyone to to compliment me Jaimie so there is no need for anyone to ask me to be complimented.

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  112. So we have little or no history then? If we go on your logic, Lol. Whats all the fuss about then? ;)

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  113. Your question is very revealing. It suggests as most believe, that we are realistically competing for the 4th Champion's League spot, although you can never tell what's going to happen.


    In answer to your question, it's not just about who they've signed, it's also about who they've got on their books already. Whilst we can say those teams aren't great, they seem to be able to consistently finish above us in recent years. These are the facts that concern me. Every season starts with optimism, but reality sets in several games later.


    If Aspas and Alberto are the players to bridge that gap, fine, but I'm not yet convinced that they are. Aspas does look more promising to me than Alberto.

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  114. Name the players who Spurs and Arsenal have signed and then you will answer my question.

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  115. Max, it's not just about the players brought in during this window. Arsenal are still quite capable of finishing above us even though they've only brought in Sangoo - and they are the weakest link.


    Nothing suggests to me that our transfer activity to date represents a good chance of overhauling Arsenal. We've improved the depth of the squad more than anything. I can turn the question on it's head and ask, do you think that any of our acquisitions represent a cause for concern to the teams above us? The players teams most likely fear the most are Suarez, Gerard and Coutinho, none of which were bought in this window. Why do you think Arsenal are trying to snatch Suarez.

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  116. BR is trying to buy goals because last year we didn't get enough or create enough chances. He's brought in a few more goals and likely assists in Aspas and Alberto, but when Suarez goes we will be losing 20+ a season. The reality is that if Suarez goes we need a bloody good replacement to compete. I think Sturridge started well but I have major doubt about his consistency and temperament. If Suarez goes we need another 20 goals a season mana no with all the strikers moving about there ain't many left - I can only think of Yilmaz and Martinez!?.

    It's a big season - come on the reds!! YNWA

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  117. So if we had signed Coutinho and sturridge at the start of last season what would your predictions have been for the 2012/2013 season?

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  118. Do Arsenal have a player as good as Coutinho in their squad?

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  119. It's not as simple as that, and you know it. They have class in players like Carzola, Wilshere, Arteta. They have a manager with years of experience and also years of experience of hitting the top 4, so even if the answer to you question was no, it means nothing. It's like saying Coutinho is the final piece in our top 4 jigsaw, when that couldn't be further from the truth.


    There's also Spurs....

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  120. In the same way you couldn't predict when we would achieve a top 4 spot, I couldn't make that prediction. There are so many variables that determine the outcome of a season. And your argument would be based on the premise that Coutinho and Sturridge could continue their form throughout the whole of the season

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  121. Right ! However, we still need strength, speed and goal scoring from midfield and 1 experience stud striker. Lets face it, Suarez is gone and 45-50 m gets you a good striker and either a goal scoring midfielder and a stud defender with pace ( Ylmaz, Soldado, Papadopoulis?) As a fan with the memory of last summer still fresh, I just want hem to get on with it even though these things take time. No CL play is a challenge to land great players but we can only hope for now.....

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  122. But they had a storming season with only the second half of last season available to them so i think they would have made a major impact if they were available for the whole season.

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  123. Borini, Assaidi, Allen all should be harvested for better quality ASAP! supplies funds while there are good folks still to be had.....

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  124. This is partly my take too. All the 8mil players add up to a lot. We do need to increase the depth but first we need to increase the first teams quality. Its all about the right players, regardless of if cheap or costly.

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  125. The price don`t matter so much to me, of course we have to stay stable as a club, but the main thing is the quality. You get amazing players who are cheap and some who are costly, same for duds, however generally the good ones will cost more. Its not often a good player is cheap. Price is often dependent on talent.


    For me I dont feel the players signed so far are good enough to get us top four. They are a improvement on what we had, but not enough. In this case I would rather not buy two average players for 8mil each, and buy someone better for 16mil if they would make the difference. Sqaud depth is all well and good, if the depth is class.


    Its not about spending money for the sake of it, its about spending it to get the best.


    There are great players out there, who would still come even though we dont have CL. Spurs are a good example of this. Paulinho is a great little player, and he went there. Erisken isnt bad either. There is only so many places available in the top clubs, so by nature some great players do have to play for non CL clubs. There is only so many strikers Barca or Madrid can have.


    We have, and still do spend a lot of cash. In return we dont get good enough players. That has to change. I hope all the new guys do well, and im sure a few will, however I think this year is a great chance to take that risk and sign better players. Most of the top clubs will have new managers, and its such a chance to use that to our favour, its a shame if we dont take it. Might not come around again for decades.

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  126. That's possible, but there are still so many variables. Form, injuries, etc, I want to be as positive as you, but history tells me we have to take things one day at a time. We can't base anything on ifs and buts.

    It will be interesting to see how this season pans out. But a team needs 4, maybe 5 players, who can contribute to the level of a Suarez or Coutinho, to produce consistently. This season, we will see what sort of character Coutinho is, because it's obvious to me that some, and I'm not referring to you, are already seeing him as Liverpool's saviour.

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  127. I suppose one out of two isn't too bad seeing that Iago Aspas has got on the score sheet. Lucas took a lot longer time to come good do why isn't Luis Alberto given the same benefit of the doubt?

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  128. I love this type of logic. Whenever we sign low quality players, people will tell you, you should compare them to even worse players and then it's not so bad. Those who feel the club is showing a lack of ambition by these signings are not saying they are the worst players ever to walk the face of the earth so comparing them to worse players is pointless. Also, comparing them to our January signings doesn't prove anything. Just because Sturridge and Coutinho worked out, doesn't mean these guys will. And furthermore, which is much more important than that, Coutinho and Sturridge came from respectable clubs (and no, Barcelona B is not the same as Barcelona) where it's understandable you don't make the first team so easily. Had Coutinho or Sturridge been at Celta, they would have been superstars over there. Simple realism shows that whilst we have let go Suso, Reina, Shelvey and soon Suarez, we haven't signed better players to replace them. We also, so far, have signed no one who would be an additional improvement to our first team. Last year, our weakness was on the left side of the pitch and we still haven't signed anyone to address that. The marquee signings comment was made by BR himself by the way, not by those who criticise our lack of ambition. So what remains is the question, where are they? I will tell you where. The same place our much needed striker signing was last summer. In the land of regret that we couldn't sign anyone. This summer will end without us having improved either our squad or first team one bit and that is not only lack of ambition but also lack of proper management of our club.

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  129. If they're willing to sell Suarez, they should tell Arsenal and anyone interested to get their finger out and get the deal we want on the table by 1 August. After that, he will not be sold. Tell him that too. That way we won't end up seeing him leave on 31 August and us too late again to find a proper replacement because they've all gone elsewhere.

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  130. they are from B team not A team. Nothing great.

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  131. Jimminy Cricket7:44 am, July 29, 2013

    Great article, and whilst Aspas might be not be in the Suarez category (not many are) he has impressed me with his work rate and also his true strikers feel for the game, he seems to get in the right position for a cross or pass; something Borini can learn from.


    Alberto might not set the world on fire, but he is all class, his touch and vision are already apparent.


    So it appears to be 3 very shrewd signings.


    Borini hasn't done so well, but he is young, and Allen started the year off well and he has talent (you cant expect him to be like a gerrard)



    As fans, we all want Liverpool to sign a Messi or some player worth 50 million, but its completely unrealistic, and a few other clubs might have collapsed due to the last 3 years transfers.

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  132. good post man. i agree with everything you just said. at this stage things look good, and the policy is good. hope they work out good for us.

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  133. True Steve, better to sign proven quality players like Fernando Morientes, Jari Litmanen, Robbie Keane, Joe Cole, Alberto Aquilani, Andy Carrol, Stewart Downing, do you still more. I think like it is said, you cannot use the same formula and expect different results. Its high time Liverpool FC spent wisely other than taking great gambles. Does Manchester City ring a bell?

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  134. Jaimie i also agree with u on this Diame guy. i just wonder why there have been no interest for him from Liverpool. I have seen that guy in games and he is indeed an intelligent warrior. He reminds me of Viera.

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  135. Excellent analysis. It is worth noting that BR is the major player in all that we see. Success is not an event, it is achieved over a process and for sure BR is depicted himself as a strategist. LFC followers should brace themselves for more success to come. Those who say LFC have not done enough to vie for top spots in the premiership are simply too forgetful. The squad was mastering a playing formation for the first half of last season and watching keenly the results of the latter half will be enough to demonstrate that the trend is from regression to progression.

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  136. I think if Sturridge would have started the season and he hadin,t gotten any injuries, and coutiniho also was there from the start we wouldin,t be having this discussion now, Suarez let us down with his erratic behaviour in both incidents which in my opinion last seasons brutal attack on Abramovich was unacceptable, we should have put him on the transfer list straight away, he dosen,t deserve to be a LFC player imo he as dishonoured our great clubs name and the quicker hes out the door the better. We will be fine without Suarez if we bring in Martinez or Soldado and Eriksen and Alderweired with the sale of Suarez we could also bring in a leftback maybe Melgarejo and then i think we would have improved the areas we most needed to too reach a champions league spot this coming season, Brendon stop trying to persuade Suarez to stay and lets get our business done quickly this could be the start of our great clubs reemergence. LFC in my bones YNWA.

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  137. Max your article has brought out many salient points regarding the building of a team to challenge in the EPL and then (hopefully) in the CL. Jamie K has made it clear again that he would like to see Suarez move on and whilst he recognises the importantance of players (and employers) honouring contracts he fails to see the dangers in allowing players to decide to move on for spurious reasons.


    You and other writers have mentioned the brilliant young Coutinho and how much you are looking forward to watching him perform for The Reds when the EPL kicks off soon. But I ask you to stop for a moment and put yourself in the young Brazialian's shoes who must be asking himself 'Is Liverpool just a feeder club'? 'Are they about to allow their best player to move on to a bigger team while he has still 3 years remaining on his contract?' He must be saying ''perhaps I should now move too'!


    For the above reason it's imperative that both Liverpool (and Spurs) show the football world that they will stand firm and not allow their assets to be stripped by bigger green eyed clubs who think they can rob our nests. That's even before we ask ourselves where will we get a player with the skills of Suarez for £50m.


    Stick to your guns Mr Henry and most Liverpool fans will be ecstatic.


    his view is less than absolute

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  138. Well with your continues negative outlook on Liverpool FC things will never be right for you!


    The club is in much better shape than what is was under Moores followed by H & G but let me rather not try to convince you as clearly it is going to be a waste of time...

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  139. Looking forward to the new season and hopefully new faces before the window closes!

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  140. Thanks, happy you enjoyed it :)

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  141. It is going to be a big season for Rodgers and I have no doubt that we will make further progress under him. Keep the faith!

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  142. If we carry on signing unproven players, coutinho will leave in a year or so along with any young players who get good. I think people forget that loyalty doesn`t exist now. That dont matter if you came through the youth team or where brought. Soon as they get good, a top club wil come calling, and they will be off, just as we did to the lesser clubs when we were top. It`s very much like a food chain.

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  143. We are not in the CL!


    Do you think it is that easy for the club to just snap up every top player that they are after?


    It leaves the club to take big money risks on players like Mkhitaryan who most never knew about.


    We are not in a position to attract the best players and is why the club needs to be careful of how money gets spent on new players.

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  144. The not in the CL thing is a excuse to me. Spurs arent but have snapped up Paulinho, who was well sort after. Other clubs who finished below us have snapped up some good players.


    Who said EVERY top player, just one or two would do.


    I stand firmly behind the idea of getting top players. There is lots of examples of other clubs doing it without CL, so I dont see why we shouldnt. CL helps, big wages help, but it doesnt mean you can`t.


    Erisken is a better player than we have been signing, and we could get him, Toby looks good and we could get him, Paulinho we could have got. Soledo (spelling) appears to be off to spurs, so again we could have got. The list is endless. Only so many places CL clubs can fill, or need to fill.


    Them players above arent the best in the world, but they are better than what we have been getting.

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  145. Wgo says Paulinho is better than Aspas?


    Paulinho has hardy stepped foot into Europe and can honsetly not see the Brazilian outperfoming the Sapniard.


    Clearly we were not after Paulinho.

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  146. well clearly. Surely that goes for everything haha

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  147. Why add the first line? Just cause hes got a different view.

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  148. Well did you want me yo tell him he has a positive outlook when he doesn't?

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  149. no, but its written very patronising. Same for the end line. The guy might be positive normally, but feels the club isnt doing as well now. He is makes very vaild points, esp about Barca B not being the same as Barca. You could have left his outlook out of your reply and replied to what he had wrote which clearly had effort put into it due to its size without putting him down.

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  150. "I love this type of logic" was his opening line.


    Pleae mate, get of your high horse.

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  151. Most of your posts put people down who don`t agree with you, so your alright, I wont "get off my high horse" as you put it. You were the same with me the other day, which in turn lead to several of your posts getting deleted. You are the same with pretty much anyone who disagrees with you. That is your right. It is then my right to point it out after surely.

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  152. your alright, I will stay on it for as long you keep putting people down.

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  153. Your saying your going to keep putting people down? Why would anyone do that?

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  154. No, you miss my point.

    Eric can use a line like "I love this type of logic" but you accuse me of being patronising?



    Seriously, go to bed.

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  155. because you have to insult in almost every post Max. Even these.


    Eric, very rarely seems too, thus it doesnt appear so bad.


    Your last line sums it all up. Even though I am disagreeing with you, I would like to think I am still putting it over in a grown up, non insulting way.

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  156. Lies, lies, lies.


    I asked you to prove where I insulted you in the previous thread and you couldn't.

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  157. I did. I had already. Go read the post and you will notice that, but thanks for saying I lie. Again adding insults into the post.

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  158. Well you are accusing me of insulting you!

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  159. which you did, which is prob why some of your posts got deleted. I would say telling someone to go to bed, is insulting, telling someone to get off there high horse, is insulting. Replying to a different poster, saying you would be wasting you time explaining stuff to him, thus suggesting he isnt smart enough, is insulting.

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  160. you did. Hence some of your posts getting deleted.

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  161. You could not prove that I insulted you rthe other day as you never did every time I asked you.


    It is easy, click on my profile and show everyone the comments relating to where I insulted you.

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  162. Max - you know that your views are always welcome here, but please, you need moderate the antagonist streak in your comments. There's nothing wrong with Eric's 'I love this type of logic' line, and there have been several instances over the last week where you've been at the centre of bickering tangents on comment threads. This needs to stop now. Thanks.

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  163. Max. I replied to you the other day, which highlighted every line you had used. Its still there I just read it. I dont see why I should keep repeating where you did though. Everytime you asked, I replied read above. It was all there.

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  164. Great Jaimie, then do not pull me to one side when I say "I love this type of logic"

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  165. I love this type of logic.

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  166. to be fair, that was pretty funny. Kudos.

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  167. See Jaimie's comments above and my reply.

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  168. If it's done in a sniping manner, I'll have no choice but to call you on it. Eric is not a sniper, and having followed his posts for over a year (if not longer), I have no doubt about his intentions.


    Just don't get involved in tit-for-tat arguments. There's no point.

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  169. If it's done in a sniping manner, I'll have no choice but to call you on it. If many of your posts from now include that line, then it's clearly sniping. Eric is not a sniper, and having followed his posts for over a year (if not longer), I have no doubt about his intentions.

    Just don't get involved in tit-for-tat arguments. There's no point.

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  170. At least under Brendan, there is progression. How fast or slow it is, we will see in this coming season. Encouragingly, we are buying players to fit the club's mentality and playing style.


    Aspas will be great for us this coming season. He may not be as skillful as Suarez, then again not many players are, but he looks effective. He attacks the box, gets into good scoring positions and has a knack for scoring. A typical striker which we have been missing. And at the price that we pay for him, maybe a bargain. Hopefully he is.


    So far, the 4 players that we brought in looks to be good business. Suarez departure may have minimal impact on our offense. The squad is now stronger unlike when Torres left, there was a gaping hole in offense which Carroll was not able to fill.

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  171. I will tell you when things would be right for me. They would be right for me when on the back of a decent half season, we would have bought a couple of players that would have improved the first team. We've sold Carrol and Shelvey for a combined fee of around 20 million pounds. Things would have been right for me had we spent that money and some extra on Touré, Konstantin Rausch and Mkytharyan and then would have looked for a goalkeeper and a striker.

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  172. Southampton are also not in Europe and they managed to sign Wanyama didn't they? You know why? Because they paid what Celtic asked. We have a CEO who has told the world that this club can compete with any club in the world financially. We have a 25 million pound per year shirt sponsorship deal and a 25 million pound per year kit sponsorhip deal. We are in the top ten globally in regards to kit sales, way ahead of many of the clubs that are outspending us and we fill a 45k seater stadium every two weeks. Maybe, just maybe, it makes sense that we're being outspent by Citeh, Chelski, Real etc but we're currently being outspent by Napoli, Dortmund and Spurs. Indeed Rodgers has told us that they want to make more signings. Actually, he said they will and that they will be signings that will get people excited. If he's so sure about that, then where are they? I'll tell you where. Waiting for us to sell Suarez so FSG can balance the books. If they are there at all.

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  173. But our goal should not be to lose as little money as possible. Our goal should be to challenge for the flippin title!

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  174. lucas is a CDM , alberto is a winger .. no comparision .

    There are so many times that even defenders out score CDM's owing to their set peice superiority

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  175. Yaya Toure? Are you kidding me or are you referring to a different Toure?

    Mkhitaryan made it clear why he joined Dortmund and it was because they were able to offer CL football. We were never even given a chance to speak to the player. What was the club supposed to do, hold a gun to his head? And I am not sure we have ever even been linked with this Rausch guy you are talking about?



    The window is not even closed yet so as the Joker would say "why so serious"

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  176. carrol did not come cheap,??????

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  177. ins't it about time all clubs took stock of how much they are wiling to pay for players, fee's and wages, outrageous money, why not spend less and make it easier for fans to have a family day watching their teams, why do all fans think you have to spend big, spending big is ruining the game. spend big, like on andy carrol, £35mil. torres to chelsea £50, yea buy big.

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  178. Nobody ever said he was cheap?

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  179. No...the Touré we signed. Our only signing so far that is both quality and necessary. Rausch is a left back and a very good one at that. Young, Germany's natural successor to Lahm and would have fit perfectly.He's now gone to those Giants of European football - VFB Stuttgart. I'm so serious because we're falling back into the same destructive transfer behaviour we had under previous managers. Wasting our entire budget on beefing up the squad and getting in squad quality players. What we should be doing instead is improve our first team. By doing so, first teamers will drop to the bench where they will replace bench warmers and as such we'll have a stronger first team and a stronger bench. From last season, our weakest areas were blantantly obvious. Left back and Left wing. Enrique and Downing. Then DM. Then AM. And we needed to replace Carragher. By bringing in Touré we did the latter. But to replace Downing we brought in Aspas AND Alberto....no one for LB or DM and we lost out on Henrikh without any sign of a plan B or we would have seen him signed already. We can agree to disagree on our optimism but don't be too surprised when we finish seventh or eight again this season. If that.

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  180. But the transfer window is not over yet!!!

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  181. Our first match is in two weeks. If we want to seriously mount a challenge for top four we should have our first team in order on opening day. Rodgers said himself that the pre-season lineups are aimed on being ready for opening day. So if we were going to sign two left backs, again, it would have been good had we got the first team options in place first. Sure the season is "still" two weeks away but our last title is over two decades ago so excuse me if I'm running out of patience with one after the other icompetent owner and manager.

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  182. Rodgers has only been here for one season and FSG are still sorting out the mess previous managers and owners left the club in.


    You want to blame Rodgers and FSG for not winning the EPL since they arrived?


    Ridiculous.

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  183. No, I blame them for taking us one step forward, two steps back. When FSG came everything that happened was positive but there were positive signs about G&H too initially. Looking at the situation the club is in right now we can safely say we're in a better financial position due to some good sponsorship deals like Warrior (judging by money and not by the horrible jerseys they produce) and we've stopped public bickering between our owners and our manager. On the pitch though, things are getting worse and worse. We finished with slightly more points last season than the season before due to the fact that we failed to get in a striker last summer. Once we did, we shot up the table. So that would be the one step forward. The two steps back would be failing to build on those final five months of the season by adding second rate players and losing first rate players. I would not expect us to win the league this season but I would expect us to improve every season. Since our squad and first team hasn't improved one bit, I doubt our league position will. If you look at the size of our club, the players that were there when FSG took over and the fanbase we have, there is no reason why we would need to finish behind the likes of Spurs or Everton and have a lower quality squad than they have. Yet we do.

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  184. Excuse me, the squad FSG took over finished in 7th back in 2009/2010.

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  185. And last year we finished? 7th. Improvement? None. Signs of improvement for next season? None. Signs of decline? 1. Better players going out than coming in. 2. Not addressing our problem areas.

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  186. How can you say that there are signs improvement when next season has not even ended yet.


    Just go look at how many changes the squad has gone through sin 2009/2010.


    You are just doom and gloom. Have it your way,

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  187. Doom and gloom maybe but that's because I'm being realistic. A sign of improvement for next season would have been - brought in a left back better than Enrique. Brought in a winger better than Downing. Brought in a DM better than Lucas. None of that has happened, ergo, no signs of improvement.

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  188. Well clearly we agree to disagree :-)

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  189. Come the end of next season I'm sure we can both agree I was right ;-) In all honesty, I hope I'll have to eat humble pie again the way I was in relation to Sturridge but for now, I just can't see it. Until next May, I'm sure we'll agree on something other than to disagree :-)

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