Liverpool right back Glen Johnson signed for Liverpool in the summer of 2009, a transfer window that marked the beginning of the end for Champions League winning Reds boss Rafa Benitez. The current Napoli boss also made the ill-fated signing of Alberto Aquilani that summer, but according to Anfield legend John Aldridge, Benitez also had the chance to sign one of the Premier League's most consistent players, but turned down the opportunity.
In his column for Sunday World today, Aldo claimed:
“If Benitez had been more open-minded [in 2009], Seamus Coleman could be...at Anfield and not...Everton.
“Paul [Cook. Sligo Rovers boss] knew this kid was top drawer and he rang...Liverpool, but Benitez rejected his advances and said he wasn’t interested.
“Every time I see him, I can’t help but lament what might have been"
Coleman is a fine servant for Everton, but Benitez probably rejected the chance to sign him because he'd already lined-up Glen Johnson. However, even with the GJ signing, Coleman only cost £60K (!), so there were clearly very few risks involved with bringing him to Anfield.
Five years later, and Coleman is arguably one of the steadiest right-backs in the Premier League. Additionally, since 2009 (despite costing £17m less than Johnson), he's continually outscored/assisted Liverpool's right back:
* Johnson: 8 goals/14 assists in 160 apps | G/A every 7 games.
* Coleman: 14 goals/16 assists in 126 apps | G/A every 4 games.
This season alone, £10m-rated Coleman has six goals and four assists for Everton, which is amazing for a right-back.
Imagine if Benitez had bought Coleman instead, and used the £17m earmarked for Johnson on another player; depending on the player, the Spaniard's final season might not have gone so badly.
£60k? Come on!
One that got away...?
Author: Jaimie K
In his column for Sunday World today, Aldo claimed:
“If Benitez had been more open-minded [in 2009], Seamus Coleman could be...at Anfield and not...Everton.
“Paul [Cook. Sligo Rovers boss] knew this kid was top drawer and he rang...Liverpool, but Benitez rejected his advances and said he wasn’t interested.
“Every time I see him, I can’t help but lament what might have been"
Coleman is a fine servant for Everton, but Benitez probably rejected the chance to sign him because he'd already lined-up Glen Johnson. However, even with the GJ signing, Coleman only cost £60K (!), so there were clearly very few risks involved with bringing him to Anfield.
Five years later, and Coleman is arguably one of the steadiest right-backs in the Premier League. Additionally, since 2009 (despite costing £17m less than Johnson), he's continually outscored/assisted Liverpool's right back:
* Johnson: 8 goals/14 assists in 160 apps | G/A every 7 games.
* Coleman: 14 goals/16 assists in 126 apps | G/A every 4 games.
This season alone, £10m-rated Coleman has six goals and four assists for Everton, which is amazing for a right-back.
Imagine if Benitez had bought Coleman instead, and used the £17m earmarked for Johnson on another player; depending on the player, the Spaniard's final season might not have gone so badly.
£60k? Come on!
One that got away...?
Author: Jaimie K
seamus coleman is a top class right back. he does his role with perfection, similar to baines and i think along with midfielders if you have two genuine good full backs your team is bound for success. Baines and Coleman are quality. Lahm and Alaba. Johnson and Cissokho :(. the pair were so badly exposed against villa as well. non-stop chasing. the clubs negligence at times must be questioned as we've questioned purchasing Cristian Eriksen for £9M despite being highly interested but signed Aspas for the same price. tbh im tired of being linked to the second rate players. when the talent is out there that every1 else wants we need to make sure we buy them instead of being smart and trying to get it on the cheap. were starting with Mohamed Salah hopefully, and hopefully he can become Messi at Anfield. he has the Attributes most certainly. I'd also look at the possibilty of having Assaidi in the team next summer if we definately sign Salah. them two linking up play cutting in on there favoured foots would be problems for defenders.
ReplyDeleteBet he is glad he went to Everton
ReplyDeleteThis is rubbish ,managers don't get it right all the time ,like we also do at work ....did u also know Benitez signed Torres and wanted £3million at the time to sign Radamel Falcao ...which our owners rejected.let him beeeeee.
ReplyDeleteWho wouldn't swap our fullbacks for Everton's right now? GJ on his day is very good but at £17m and what I heard the other day to be more than a 100k a week, has he ever been deserving of this? That same window we let Arbaloa go for a paltry fee. It's pointless to imagine but in alternate universe somewhere we kept Arbeloa and signed Coleman and would probably be much better off for it. Ah well.
ReplyDelete10 Mill? Yeah right! And the rest
ReplyDeleteExcept Agger is carrying (another) injury. So too Sahko.
ReplyDeleteThis is a good example of the flaws of a club like LFC.
ReplyDeleteBenitez had a hole burning in his pocket whenever he had money to spend so he had to spend it every window thats why we have a player in GJ for 17m.
We all love to have the stories of Hyppia and Coleman that cost very little but did very well, but we are only happy once they become stars and most of the time these days alot of people dont want to give the little signigns a chance to prove/develop.
So we tend to ignore all the availible cheap talent.
So we stick with 4-3-3.... lets follow your logic. Sahko and Agger are injured, Cissoko (our only LB) has no confidence and Johnson is playing poorly. Lucas is carrying a knock and Allen & Gerrard are just coming back from injuries. Would you contemplate not playing Sturridge and Suarez down the middle? The key thing here is that the squad is light on experience and quality. That's part of the transition issue, but with the players available I too would have tried to utilise a front 2. If you decide to use a front 2, then your options are limited from there on in, particularly as you don't have 3 fit quality CB's. If you go with 4-3-3 you play Sturridge out right and drop Sterling and play Hendo, Gerrard and (a lame) Lucas? Nah! Go with the 4-4-2 and try to use our attacking force as the best defence. Sometimes it will work, and others it won't. But with out squad strength you gotta take that gamble sometimes.
ReplyDeleteI'm not going to disagree with you about Johnson, Toure and Cissokho... BUT Agger, Sahko, Flanno, Enrique and Coates are all injured. Kelly has been sidelined for a year and (IMO) doesn't look like the player he was (for the reserves). Lucas was carrying a knock and probably would not have been able to play 90mins too. That means your options at the back are Toure, Johnson, Cissokho, Skrtle or the untested Lloris. As for DM do you put Lucas on from the start knowing you're going to need to take him off or play an England International Captain who has played most of his international career in that holding role? He may not be the best at it (I'm being kind) but there are few options.
ReplyDeleteOn the plus side, we still got a creditable draw and still in a good place to get CL football next season. Then my concerns really will start, as we don't have a squad capable of sustaining a PL challenge, never mind a CL one too... We'll either end that campaign quickly or fail to qualify again in 2015 without some serious squad investment
Why buy a player if you are not going to use him in his natural position? That is waste of money to me.
ReplyDeleteBrendan Rogers is just a stubborn man. Or is he afraid to drop Gerrard to the bench? To get the top 4 position, we need a DM or 2 DMs and Gerrard should be dropped to the bench.
ReplyDeleteat last a comment about GK that makes sense. Why are we not allowed to have 2 1st class keepers. Especially when it's being mooted selling 1 of them for 5-6m. What sort of keeper can you buy for 5-6m. A rubbish 1 I would suggest or a kid.
ReplyDeleteExcept the top 3 has become clearly defined now. We are in a scrap for 4th and the others in that scrap are quite capable of taking it away from us. I'm nervous about the season now and the thought of losing Suarez next season.
ReplyDeletePellegrini took the decision because he had a quality keeper to replace Hart with. Brad is a sound keeper but he's not really Premiership quality. In fact he would be lucky to get a starting place in a championship team.
ReplyDeletecash
ReplyDeleteIf he's gonna play more seasons that's the only place he could fit in the team.
ReplyDeletehindsight is always 20/20
ReplyDeleteGuzan came sliding in but the ball was on the other side of Suarez so what were Guzan's intentions?
ReplyDeleteIf Guzan was coming in to put Suarez off then he had intent to unsettle the striker psychologically by implying I will take you out or he was going to physically do it since he had little chance of getting the ball before Suarez. This may mean he came in with intent to possibly foul before he decided to move his hands away but had already lost control of his body because he kept sliding in but was never near the ball.
It was a soft penalty but a penalty all the same and Guzan confirmed as much after the match by saying some are given some are not so he knew he risked conceding a penalty.
Why not swoop johnson for gerrard ?
ReplyDeleteColeman was 20 at the time and we, apparently, needed a right back right away. Johnson was the league's best right back at that time. For once we actually signed someone to go straight into the first team and improve it so I won't complain. And anyway, Coleman is alright but like many Everton players, punching above his weight and massively overrated.
ReplyDeleteExactly...
ReplyDeleteIts a clear penalty for me. If I was travelling at that speed and the keeper came out at my legs like that, he is certainly going to destablise me causing me to hit the deck. Correct decision for me. I honestly think if it wasn't Suarez there would hardly be a debate about this decision.
ReplyDeleteat least lucas can do all the dirty work
ReplyDeletegerrard cant resist the pace of the opposing team
Exactly. We can't have it both ways.
ReplyDeleteIt seems as though every week Aldo is revealing something negative about Liverpool. I'm tired of him. Great player for us but seemingly endless negativity.
ReplyDeletebut most of if LFC wan to sign a player, the price will be doubled up.
ReplyDeleteDont get me wrong that 17m is justify for GJ
What a stupid post. What's the difference between a good player and a player regularly punching above their weight? You claim Johnson was the best RB in the prem,yet Coleman, who has been the best full-back in the prem for 12 months now, is overrated? I thought it was the Evertonians that were known as the bitters?
ReplyDeleteI think he went down easily, just like Sterling. But I think it looks like there was slight contact with Guzans knee and Suarez right foot. It looked minimal, and probably not enough to knock you over, but I do think there was contact.
ReplyDeleteI do find it funny that this has been happening quite a lot this season, by other players, but as soon as Suarez 'does it' every one is talking about it. Januzaj has been booked 4(?) times for diving this season I think, but where are all the article about him, Sterlings was just as much a dive as this one, but where are the articles about him?
FYI I don't mean on this site, I mean in general.
Lets face it, the press love to jump on the Suarez band wagon.
I'm all for punishing divers, but you cant deny that Suarez gets it so much worse than everyone else.
At the end of the day this was given, do i believe Suarez made the most of it....yes was there contact i believe there was, it was perfect. Now JK i actually like your site but to say that Suarez deceived the ref is just silly, when Tiote scored against Man City and the players all called for offside what do you think they were doing... trying to influence the refs decision. This will continue forever it is the way of the world, some will say yes and some will say no, we got this decision but we never got the one when Sterling was clearly onside the other week and the goal was disallowed.
ReplyDeleteI thought the answer was within the word itself. Punching-above-weight, meaning that he is performing beyond what he can normally achieve most of the time. A good player is someone with a higher standard of performance on a more consistent basis. How is it a stupid post? Isn't his argument logical? Why sign a 20 year old with potential, instead of a proven player that was arguably the best player going around in his position? We're not talking about from 12 months ago till now. We're talking about 2009 when Johnson first came in.
ReplyDeleteYeah that's alright but he also said most Everton players are punching above their weight and overrated. Baines and Coleman are top fullbacks, Lukaku belongs to Chelsea but is a good striker and Barkley has potential. Other than that you don't hear about many other Everton players so I don't see how they are overrated.
ReplyDeleteIf anything, Johnson is massively overrated. The situation speaks for itself, the club isn't going to give him a new deal and most fans on here want him sold. Johnson has looked lazy all season and meanwhile Coleman turns into Mcmanaman when he gets the ball.
I wasn't actually saying Everton players are overrated. I was simply explaining the difference between overrated and good. I do otherwise agree with what you say. But Johnson was a lot better pre-Liverpool, and he's still had his great moments here. Unfortunately they are few and far in between these days.
ReplyDeleteCome on. Expecting to be top 4 is not exactly unrealistic.
ReplyDeleteOn Match of the Day, they were saying that Guzan's rushing for the ball a stupid move that in many cases lead to a penalty. A striker will always try to steer clear from a rushing goalkeeper as there would be gud chance of getting round him and scoring. Maybe Suarez took advantage of Guzan rushing out. I don't know!
ReplyDeleteIt's a conspiracy
ReplyDeleteIvan Rakitić has said that he will not be moving to another club now.
ReplyDeleteClearly signngs are not going to be as easy as some fans make them out to be...
He's passionate,local and calling it as he sees it.What do you want,a spotty trainee hack who toes the party line? These are the type who tell you of a 'sensation' from an exotic location but upon arrival it's clear they don't know their ass from their elbow but it's 'cooler' to sign somebody from Spain than Sligo and trendier to have the name of said exotic player on your back rather than Joe Bloggs Coleman.But always remember Utd sol damn all Irwin shtirts but was he not one of the most important players of their history.
ReplyDelete4-4-2 against villa isnt gonna work ... who was available ?
ReplyDeletemigno
glen . skrtel .. kolo .. aly
....... gerrard ... lucas ....
..... hendo or coutinho ...
sterling or stu ... stu or suarez ... suarez or coutinho
you cant play 442 with gerrard and hendo
then why he changed it in the 2nd half ! because it was wrong and everybody notice that before the start of the game
they were better than us in mid we couldnt build a single attack movement
there is no need to gamble when we could play 4-3-3 .. its shame really when he used gerrard in that way
you said we dont have quality
then why you would gamble ?
The point I'm making is diving and time wasting are both forms of cheating, yet one is acceptable while the other isn't, time wasting seems to be acceptable gamesmanship
ReplyDeleteThere's a whole soap opera going on here all in a split second! ;-)
ReplyDeleteIf it was a dive you have to admire his skill. Others would have ended up looking silly and getting booked.
ReplyDeleteBad news,I had my hopes raised last night when I saw Seville's kit was Warrior.
ReplyDeleteApparently they both were here. But from mere optics for the game overall, which one is more urgently needed to be dealt with to make the game better?
ReplyDeleteThey did enough to score one more goal. All of these games against lesser teams are absolutely must win games...especially at home. AV did not do enough...especially in the second half to deserve a point...we had this game won if we just play with the necessary sense of urgency. We didn't.
ReplyDeleteBest full back in the prem for the last 12 months only in the eyes of Everton supporters. I think he's alright and absolutely better than anything we have running around right now but best in the league?
ReplyDeleteIf a player does not win the ball before they make contact with a player, when a player is running at speed in a dangerous area, then it is a foul. Graeme Poll, Dermott Gallagher, A Shearer, G Linekar, D Murphy have all said it was stone wall penalty.
ReplyDeleteSuarez is an attacker, did he play for penalty? Yes? Did Guzan have to take the bait? NO, Suarez saw the challenge come in and just needed to get to the ball first before Guzan made contact on him and he did, so it was a foul and a penalty all day long.
Its called having good football brain, If Guzan had got to ball first then there would be no penalty. Suarez did what any world class attacker would do, he reeled his bait in and got to the ball before he was taken out simple.
Could have got lost in Liverpools Academy / Reserve side like so many promising youngsters. It's the one thing that annoys me about our club. We have so many youngsters and yet only one of them has come through and made a name. Where are all the others? Why arent players like Texiera, Ngoo, Coady getting into our first team? Reason? They arent good enough
ReplyDeletePrevious posts would suggest otherwise Jamie. It was handball by Sterling prior to the penalty decision (of which I think was a correct decision although a bit soft). No fuss was made about this but when Suarez got away with it against Mansfield it was major news and you hilariously thought the game should be replayed. Get my point?
ReplyDeleteSource, ???????
ReplyDeleteAgree Karim, they are not good enough, I wish some of the contributors here would learn to live with that, the difference between U21s strolling around the park and EPL is enormous.
ReplyDeleteSignings are definitely not going to be easy.........Unless of course, we sign a player to loan back out...That seems to be a signing we are beginning to get notoriously good at doing.....!
ReplyDeletewe score goals and create chances. there you go, things we do well. ship easy goals, there you go, another.
ReplyDeleteAnd claiming Coleman is punching above his weight is in the eyes of a bitter red. How long does a player have to play well for before he's classed as a good player? You think he's alright? He's bagged 5 goals already this season. Everton have the best full-backs in the Prem,and you know it.
ReplyDeleteI knew what he meant,I wanted to know what the time frame is before a player is classed as good? Coleman was brilliant last year, so I take it 18 months isn't long enough to judge someone? Is Coutinho punching above his weight?
ReplyDeleteBoth need dealing with, but to answer your question, time wasting is much more common place than diving and so I would start there ;)
ReplyDeleteEvery one of them are past their best.
ReplyDeleteI think it is clear that we have been at our best this season with Gerrard out injured and Henderson in a central role.
ReplyDeleteBut Jamie, you were therefore, wrong to praise such a rash approach ?
ReplyDeleteIt's both. A dive, and a penalty.
ReplyDeleteAnd with the view the referee had from behind, it was a stone wall penalty.
ReplyDelete