10 Dec 2013

'It's a disappointment': BR slams decision to sell £20m LFC misfit. Better than Moses...?

Former Liverpool winger Stewart Downing endured a miserable return to Anfield over the weekend. He had to leave the field at half time after being hacked down by Jon Flanagan (and looks set to be out until the new year), and to add insult to injury, the Reds went on to hammer West Ham 4-1. Downing remains a polarising figure amongst LFC fans, but Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers still seems to harbour regrets over letting him leave in the summer.

Speaking to the Liverpool Echo recently, Rodgers conceded that Downing - who cost Liverpool £20m (!) - 'was a player I didn't want to lose'. He explained:

“He showed in the second half of last season what he could do. He got better and better, played a prominent role [in pre-season] and then had to be sold in order for us to maybe invest in other players. It was a disappointment really because when he was called upon he had showed up really well"

That's a glowing eulogy from Rodgers, but the truth is if he really wanted Downing to stay, he would've persuaded him that he remained an important part of the club's plans. According to Downing, Rodgers basically admitted he'd only be a bit-part player. He told Sky Sports:

"He [Rodgers] said he couldn't promise I would play every week. I need to play. I could not go through that again. I'd missed three or four months when Brendan first came and the season before that I was in and out"

As for Rodgers' contention that Downing had to be sold so he could 'invest in other players' - that seems tenuous to me. Are LFC so hard-up that transfer business couldn't proceed without the paltry €6m received for Downing? (which, incidentally, ultimately led to the club taking an overall £15m loss on the player)

The problem with Downing is - and remains - his end product. At LFC, he just didn't score/create goals regularly enough, and his paucity in front of goal continues at West Ham:

* 2012-13: 2 goals/2 assists in last 24 games for LFC.
* Didn't score/create in his final 9 games of the season.
* At West Ham: 1 goal/0 assists in 15 appearances this season.

With those figures, why would Rodgers want to keep Downing? The primary job of an attacking midfielder is to score and create goals, and he just doesn't deliver on a consistent basis.

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43 comments:

  1. I wouldn't say downing was better than moses but he was definitely more effective. from the start of January when studge and phillipe joined, downing was putting in fantastic performances, both work rate and team contribution. we were battering teams 5-0(Swansea, Norwich) 4-0(Fulham) 6-0(Newcastle) 3-2(Tottenham). the team was playing very good football. despite the fact I think we need a better RW like Yarmolenko or Salah, I think we should have kept downing as he is much more suited to the system and knew how BR wanted to play. now were stuck with Aspas and Moses who are both very ineffective. both defensively and attacking.

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  2. Stats don't lie and 0 goals and 0 assists in the prem in an entire season is not good enough. I know he created a lot of attacking opportunitys but still. In his defence, when he did get dropped he picked up his game and got a few goals and assists, but still not enough from a 20 mil winger. We paid just a bit more then that for Suarez, we offered it for Mkhitaryan and Costa and even though we didn't get them, it proves the quality we should be looking for and Downing wasn't it.
    Sounded like a nice lad and i thought it'd work with him whipping crosses in for Carroll but it never came off. Onwards and upwards... well, cant get much higher then second can we but here's hoping.

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  3. If BR didn't want him gone why did he and his team accept the bid? He said similar things about Henderson, Rodgers claimed he didn't want Hendo to accept the offer from Fulham and he was delighted Hendo said no and wanted to stay and work hard...I have no doubt that Rodgers wanted him gone.


    I recall something similar about Shelvey. It seems Rodgers sat on the fence and allowed the player to decide what to do. I think Shelvey would of had a larger part to play this season for us than Alberto.


    Downing offered width and experience but it was obvious he would leave sooner rather than later. He was never a goal scorer so I don't know why he was 20M. For 10M I'd keep him around and I would definitely have him over Moses any day.

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  4. Many people thought that. 4-4-2, Reina, Jose, Agger, Skrtel, Johnson, Downing, Lucas, Gerrard, Kuyt (Maxi/Hendo), Suarez, Carroll. But unfortunately for Carroll he was left on the bench most of the time as we used 4-2-3-1 and 4-3-3.


    He wasn't up to standard but sometimes he looked unplayable.

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  5. To be fair, him costing 20 mil wasn't his fault. If Dalglish had paid 10 mil for him instead, would people still be complaining so much? I don't believe so.

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  6. Downing did indeed improve, by improve I mean, played better than when he 1st started. I still don't understand why his form dipped so much, at Aston Villa he was probably one of the best wingers in the country together with Young.


    I would not have mind if he stayed as squad player, he is a better option than Sterling but I can understand why he moved. He was on about 80K a week as well so that may have had an impact.


    IMO his time at Anfield was far from a success. I think his best years are well behind him even though he is still 29.


    BR got rid of most the KD and DC players, players than in all honesty were all average. You just have to look at how they are doing now at their respective clubs.


    I think Adam should have stayed on more season to be honest, but glad Carroll is gone, just as injury prone as Agger and Sturridge.


    Rumours going around that a few clubs was Johnson..should we sell him while his price is still high?

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  7. Of course Shelvey would have as Shelvey is an English player who was playing in the Premier League, Alberto has come from a completely different league and has had to adapt. When he has come on, he looks like a quality player and a future star for us, but at the moment, he is still adapting.

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  8. I think you're putting a meaning behind his words that are not really due. Rodgers, a guy who has a habit of using absurd superlatives to describe his players, says that is was a disappointment that Downing was sold. Now he can absolutely say that and still think it was the right thing to do. Ideally we could have kept Downing, played him off the bench every now and then, have him continue to improve the way he did in his last few months here and yet still have cash to buy whatever new players we wanted. To not be able to do that is very conceivably a "disappointment". Not getting an ideal result where everyone gets what they want and it all works out perfectly is always potentially disappointing, but things need to be put in perspective. I'm disappointed when I miss the bus and have to wait 10 minutes for the next one, but it's not really a big deal. Rodgers is disappointed that Downing didn't get to stay but it's not really a big deal and I think given the chance to replay the transfer again he'd make the same decision.

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  9. I think this amongst other things over the past transfer window makes me question Rodgers strength in the transfer committee. Who is it who actually decides if players are getting sold or not? Or who says we will definitely buy this player rather than that? I still think this is a little ambiguous.


    Downing was no great shakes and was never worth the money we payed for him but he could certainly do a job and I thought his work rate and stamina were quite good. He would be doing a similar job to Jordan Henderson now this season (on the right) but with a little added threat (though maybe minimal) coming in on his left foot.



    I think the money he was on was the problem and they were the funds that Rodgers was talking about rather than the money we got from WH. A reported 80-90k a week adds up and when you are looking to give long term contracts the money men have to look at these things. I think we sold him a season too soon but I suppose for Drownings sake it was best he left.


    Moses vs Downing, I would say on their very best games you get more creativity from Moses but as for how much between the players on an average day is hard to say at mo.

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  10. I am happy Hendo stayed now, but at the time I was annoyed. But he has improved.


    But like I keep saying..he is a jack of all trades player. He does not excel at anything specific, apart from having a great engine. But I am pleased he has improved, he needs to start contributing more with goals/assists.


    £20M for Downing is shameful.

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  11. I'm sure Downing is a great guy, but the facts remain. He put fear into nobody. Hendo...great guy...but he puts fear into nobody. The truth is that if Suarez is the only scoring threat, then we become easy to defeat. Bottle up Suarez, out-hustle our midfielders, score, win. It's a simple formula. A team absolutely needs multiple scoring threats to be near the top of the BPL. We got off to a great start because we had two. We stumbled with DS got hurt until the rest of the team stepped up...even if they didn't score, they were threatening and creating space for Suarez. Coutinho, Moses, Hendo, SG need to force teams to account for their threat. I don't miss Downing at all...but I'm sure he's a great guy.

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  12. I agree with what you say and thought it was a good post but for some reason BPL bugs me. Just PL please mate, my bank doesn't need advertising on here.

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  13. Agreed! His creative output was not good at all, especially for a player of his experience. I guess that's what makes football exciting.


    We should go for Farfan!

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  14. Yes with Downing we had better control in possession,in which he links up better. But that did not get us anywhere. With Moses he is too direct and does not seem like he would be able to score any more.Now when I look into the squad apart from suarez there is no one we can count on to get us goals.Hardly the ideal scenario to face Tottenham,chelsea,Mcity.


    Two bad games and we will find ourselves wobbling at 7 or 8. Whether we will be able to Win games with suarez having a bad day? I doubt. In big games he will be double marked by better players and like at Emirates we will have frustrating nights. We cannot rely on Sturridge as he is too injury prone. In this window we should bring in a attacking midfielder who can score some goals and a back up striker at the very least. I hope these injuries will atleast convince the board of our Wafer thin midfield..

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  15. Look how terrible Young is too. Sometimes a club, system and manager work for you and other times they don't.

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  16. The money element isn't that tenuous - it's not just the transfer fee, it's getting him off the wage bill to allow someone else to come in. And he's not getting any younger, not selling him now would have meant his price would only have gone down.

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  17. Even Moses, he doe not offer us much. His creative record both a Palace, Wigan and Chelsea are not the best tbh.


    I'm glad Downing is gone, think Ibe could potentially offer us more.

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  18. A wingers like is quite short as most rely on pace too.


    I think wingers have a really tough role to be honest.

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  19. Yeah it was probably double what should of been paid. Hendo for the same price is excessive but he has had some time to make amends. Hendo was Sunderland's brightest prospect but I'm sure Villa were laughing at our 20M offer.


    Regarding Hendo, I'm someone who has always stood by him. Much like Loganlfc with Allen now. His engine is a recognised trait but I believe he has more to offer. On another article Robo Lasers made a fantastic post about what Henderson offers the team and what he does on the pitch. He made the point that if people stop looking at him as only an engine specific player they will see what else he offers. For example I notice Hendo always makes first time passes which half of the squad often mishit and he regularly makes darting runs into space/box. Finally, his engine is not specifically physical, I believe that type of effort, similar to Suarez and Rooney, is a mentality.

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  20. I'm not doubting his ability. But it's worth pointing out that at the time of being transferred Suso had more top division experience than Alberto. Also, Shelvey probably would of made a greater impact. The only thing Alberto has had to adapt to is a different training ground because he hasn't gotten the chance to play. All I'm saying is Shelvey would of had more game time.

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  21. For me.....Only blind people and having bad taste will says Steward Downing is best player.B.Rodgers will get headache and high pressure because need to keep using Downing because he is just ordinary player who get highest salary payment.V.Moses and Ally Cissoko also no point for LFC to keep for longer times.They will wasting times and money for LFC. Big loss is they are just loanee player will return back to their club when finish time period and LFC need to used another players.LFC only helping to develop others players but the benefit going to........hahaha.

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  22. Shushed the fans - good riddance. At least he copped on to one thing - he wanted to play every week so he needed to go to a club with less ambition. Players like Lucas, Moses and Aspas should take note. For Rodgers to say we needed to sell him to bring in other players makes no sense when he spent 3 times Downing's transfer fee on Ilori and Alberto. How on earth can a squad player need to be sacrificed in order to sign reserves? The man is a fool in the transfer market and our current predicament with central midfield is more proof of that.

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  23. Oh come on. That's like we were going to pay less on agent fees yet we actually paid more. The difference between Ilori and Alberto with Downing is 10 million in transfer fee. You can pay a lot of wages for that. If he really wanted to keep Downing he could have but Downing wanted to go himself and except for BR no one else at the club was too eager for him to stay. I can't think of one person who said they regretted him leaving when he did.

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  24. A bit off subject but on the subject of wingers. Did anyone notice how much better built Assaidi looked when he was waiving his shirt in celebration in comparison to his underdeveloped frail torso while on the treadmill in the Liverpool documentary. Looks like the lad has been hitting the weight-room. I bet he was being muscled off the ball in the training ground. Hope a year at Stoke adds that something to his game to make him first choice competition here.

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  25. Ignoring for the minute that both players don't play in Downing's position or that both are in their very early twenties and could still have bright futures or all we know. Downing did not play he beginning of last season but racked up games later on. This could still happen. Or that it was probably closer to 7million rather than ten. But both players are probably on no more than Downing was on. Considering how much the club have talked about performance based wages it is not beyond the realms of belief that they are on less.

    I think it was true that the club, downing and the manager were ok about him leaving as they had their eyes on players who would have suited us better. But they never happened. Once again we let a player go before he was properly replaced which is folly. Rather than him being a needed player.

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  26. watched shelvey vs hull and from what I saw in the 10 min time period everything went through shelvey for the attack. And I couldn't help thinking that we made a big mistake letting him go. Especially now with SG hurt. It would have been great time for him. Further, I even think shelvey could even have been likely chosen over SG here and there to give SG some R and R. Instead we played SG right onto the rehab table. Shelvey is a better player than Alberto. Currently better higher up the pitch in a creative possition and def better deeper. I wouldn't even think of putting alberto deep in center. I'll even go as far to say that it appears Shelveys development projection appears like there is really something ahead which will certainly be there. Its too early to even say anything about Alberto. Why take a gamble on something which is less developed for the same price is beyond me. Maybe I don't know what I am looking at.
    Shelvey looks a different player now that he has had time to grow. You can see how confident he is. How hard is it to instill confidence in players ethos? Good move on his part to go.
    Just seems like we had something in Shelvey (a nice utility player) and we got rid of him.

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  27. I thought it stood for the 'British Premier League' as opposed to the 'English' because we have two Welsh teams. I never thought the 'B' stood for Barclays. Sorry if I am mistaken.

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  28. Thats what I always took it for as I had never heard it before that sponsor but yeah my apologies for being a bit f a nob. As there is a Scottish and I think a We;sh league I am relatively sure.

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  29. I can't see Giggs lasting......

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  30. Henderson has nothing to offer Liverpool or the game of football. Total waste of money. Can't score, can't assist, looks terribly clumsy...is there anything he can do? Every Premier team has someone at least as good.

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  31. Yes strange comments from BR. He likes the sound of his own voice and he seems to say nice things about players often just before or after they are sold. I expect some of the players are praying doesn't praise them - it's a bit like the vote of confidence from a director to a manager.

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  32. I don't agree, but I love your blunt, unforgiving style :-)

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  33. Not the best winger in the world, but better than Moses... I think that Rodgers knows very well that Downing is not a goalscorer or the player who creates goals like Coutinho or Gerrard. But he is not a lazy boy like Moses! He is running and marking when Moses is walking and looking. Rodgers wants a better player than Downing, but he prefers Downing from Moses and I can understand why.

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  34. Joel Matt Murdock Hwa3:20 am, December 11, 2013

    Damn right! The young Assaidi looks better built and hungrier. Definitely better than Moses for sure. Really hope he can come back next season and be our first team regular.

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  35. Joel Matt Murdock Hwa3:21 am, December 11, 2013

    Totally agree dude. Such a shame letting a player of his potential go.

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  36. Joel Matt Murdock Hwa3:25 am, December 11, 2013

    Shelvey, Suso or even Assaidi would have been ready for first team and ready to step in because they have been around far longer. With Alberto, Aspas, and even Moses, we need time again for them to adapt to tactics and gameplay. And time is a luxury we don't have. It's quite frustrating seeing new players coming in, needing 6-12 months to adapt.

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  37. 4eva LFC, LFC 4eva3:28 am, December 11, 2013

    JK not having ago but would you be kind enough to put Hendo stats on here as well so I can have a look, this has nothing to do with comparisons
    I would like to know what an A/M should be getting in order to be a success, because I believe that Hendo is not good enough either, cheers.

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  38. It's not just the 6m pound received for Downing we got off our books. It was also his 80k per week wages, which could cover two players coming in. Downing was doing well towards the end of last season, but he is not a CL quality player, and we need to try and bring in that level of player to continue our progression. Hard decision, but the right one.

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  39. Henderson stats:


    2011-12: 2 goals/3 assists in 48 appearances.
    2012-13: 6 goals/6 assits in 44 apps.
    2013-14: 1 goals/1 assist in 20 apps.


    TOTAL: 9 goals/10 assists in 112 apps.


    * Goal every 12 games.
    * Assist every 11 games.
    * Goal/Assist every 4.8 games.

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  40. Fully agree his stats show he is a poor attacking player. I think he was shaping into a very good left back though, much better than Enrique or cissokho

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  41. 10mill for his return is still a joke, you then start comparing him to Sturridge and continuo

    We should never have signed him in the first place but I agree daglish is at fault there

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