8 Oct 2013

'LFC is a great team, but...' - €25m LFC target is now outscoring Messi. Loss...?

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers surprised many people over the summer with his pursuit of controversial La Liga striker Diego Costa. Given his temperament, the Brazilian attacker seemed to be an unlikely transfer target, and after being repeatedly farmed out on loan by Atletico Madrid, there were questions over his ability to succeed at the highest level. Well, Costa is currently having the season of his life, which arguably shows that Rodgers' judgment in the transfer market is improving all the time.

In August, Liverpool made a €25m bid for Costa, and after the transfer window closed, he explained why he decided to stat at Madrid. He told Spanish newspaper Mundo Deportivo, he explained:

"I had options to leave, and I was very close to doing so. Liverpool is a great team, but after so much fighting and overcoming so many difficulties to win my place at Atletico, how could I go? I thought it was very important for me to continue growing here and playing here for many years. Here I have the trust and respect of the people."

It seems the 'trust and respect of the people' seems to agree with Costa, who is currently one of the top league goalscorers in Europe:

* Costa: 10 goals in 8 league games.
* Messi: 8 goals 6 league games.
* Falcao: 7 goals in 9 league games.
* Ronaldo: 7 goals in 8 league games
* Sturridge: 6 goals in 7 league games.

If Liverpool had signed Costa, he certainly would've been a useful player to have in the first few games of this season, when the club struggled to score more than one goal.

Having said that, would Costa's goalscoring form still be so impressive in the Premier League? Perhaps, like like Suarez, he'd hit the ground running, but there's also the possibility that he'd take some time to adapt (though given his overt physicality, it's probable that he would've settled in quite quickly).

At present, Liverpool do not have a player like Costa in the squad, but if it came down to a straight choice between Mkhitaryan, Willian and Costa, who would you choose?

In my view, even if Luis Suarez stays, Liverpool should sign another striker in January. At present, the club's midfielders are not consistently scoring, and if Sturridge or Suarez get injured/banned, where will the goals come from?



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17 comments:

  1. Well you cant lose something that u were probably never going to get although would have still preferred Mkitaryan over Costa.

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  2. Definitely a loss, he has a similar fighting spirit to Suarez and can play in various attacking positions, would have loved to see him in a red shirt.

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  3. If we want goals from the midfield, we have to play Henderson in the trequartista role with Coutinho as our left forward and Suarez as our right. The goals should flow with these players complementing Sturridge and given the license to swap places while keeping the shape. Henderson is like a Kuyt Mk. II with better pace.


    If we do want a goal getter, they don't get any better than Jackson Martinez. However, I like the style of Luc Castaignos.

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  4. If I had to choose? Mkytharian. We need midfielders more than we need strikers right now. It would be interesting to see where Rodgers would have played Costa though. I think he was right to stay at Atleti. He is a starter there now and I can't for the life of me see him starting too many games at Anfield right now or even at the beginning of the season.

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  5. Henderson behind Suarez, Phil and Sturridge would be my pick as well but that would mean we need a midfielder next to Gerrard who is not Lucas.

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  6. Hendo isn't as skillful and good at creating chances as Coutinho is so I don't think No.10 role should be given to him. He's better playing the mid with his engine.

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  7. I'd have preferred HK over Costa because that's where we're currently lacking, the midfield is so lifeless without Coutinho. Bringing in Pastore or Mata would be such a coup for us if we somehow stay in top 4 come Jan.

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  8. A woulda like mkhitaryan, scores goals and makes the late runs into the box, a also think that signing him would have added shirt sales in eastern Europe, especially in Armenia, it helps to have an open market for shirt sales etc. In terms of what the team needs i really wanted Willian

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  9. Very interesting to see that all three players are different in where they might play. Mkhitaryan would sit deeper, Costa probably anywhere across the front three while Willian is most clearly a left sided attacking player. It does seem odd that we changed that type of player we were going for, but perhaps that's an indication how important other qualities are to BR. I think we absolutely missed out on Costa, I think he's like a larger version of Suarez. Forget about formation or anyone having to play "wide", you would just have a front three of Costa, Suarez and Sturridge and let them play wherever they find space. Defenders would have been having nightmares for days afterwards. Three players who can beat you with the dribble, create their own space, score from range, hold the ball up, find a team mate ... I think this is the kind of player we'll still aim to get in January and it will really solidify our attack, make us a truly top team. TBH I was as nonplussed as anyone else when we were reported to be in for the player, his long term stats didn't add up, but credit to Rodgers and the scouting team for at least targeting the right players. Mkhitaryan and Costa have both turned out to be having cracker starts to the season. Willian will have to bide his time but I wonder if he's regretting his move to Chelsea. If he'd come to Liverpool he'd have started every single game this season.

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  10. I hope we're not talking about missed opportunities again after the January transfer window...

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  11. Or even Honda or De Bruyne. But first and firemost a DM.

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  12. just recived some very sad news brian giannasi who was a massive red home and away and was a steward on barnes coaches has passed away while on holiday with the lads from the flathouse in the canarys .he was one of the funniest fellas u could ever meet and lfc was his life he had jus retired from fords and was a founder member of the york railway fc which ran from the railway pub in binns rd that played in the Liverpool sunday lge in the 1970"s a sad loss r ip brian

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  13. Had the pleasure of Gino's hospitality over the years, looked after everyone, a sad loss! Rip ynwa

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  14. Mr. Point Of View2:20 pm, October 08, 2013

    maybe the tactical suit him really really well

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  15. OMG you're so right. There are a lot of players that are unsettled and will make our midfield tick, a few are Honda, Bryune, Mata, Pastore and many more like Strootman and De Jong as such. What we need now is some exceptional buys in the winter window and we'll be very strong.

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  16. why not try to get yarmolenko or dzagoev ?

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