Earlier this year, Liverpool and Manchester United were linked with a move for Lazio attacker Antonio Candreva, who produced a scintillating display during Italy's weekend victory over England in the World Cup.
During the January transfer window, the Daily Express claimed that Brendan Rodgers 'is an admirer' of the 27-year old winger.
According to The Mirror today, Liverpool are back on Candreva's trail, and Lazio are willing to sell for £20m.
Candreva - nicknamed 'Il Timida' (The Shy one) on account of his cautious style of play - clearly wants a move away this summer, and when asked about his future last week, he told reporters:
“The ambitions of a player is to always do better and to play the Champions League. I hope to have a great World Cup campaign, then we’ll see what arrives after that.”
Some info about Candreva:
* Current deal expires in 2018.
* Can play as a winger, or a midfield playmaker.
* 5 different loan spells over the last 6 years.
* 18 appearances for Italy.
Candreva's stats over the last five years:
* 2009-10: 2 goals/6 assists in 39 apps.
* 2010-11: 3 goals/0 assists in 31 apps.
* 2011-12: 6 goals/4 assists in 37 apps.
* 2012-13: 7 goals/7 assists in 48 apps.
* 2013-14: 12 goals/6 assists in 24 apps (so far)
* TOTALS: 30 goals/23 assists in 198 apps.
* Goal ever 6.6 games | Assist every 8.6 games
* Goal/Assist every 3.7 games.
* Goal/Assist every 4.1 games.
Clearly, when it comes to consistent creative output, Candreva is not prolific enough. He's 27 now, and last season is the first year he managed to reach double-figures for goals. On that basis, LFC should steer clear (IMO). Yes, I put a lot of stock in goals/assist stats, but an attacking midfielder's primary role is to create and score goals, so end product is massively important.
One good game in the World Cup does not make Candreva a world-beater, and he's certainly not worth the ridiculous £20m fee being bandied about. Plus, there's the Serie A connection to consider; it's becoming a bit of a cliche now, but there's no escaping the fact that players from the Italian league never seem to settle at Anfield.
Luckily, the chances of Candreva signing for LFC seem slim. PSG are also interested, but Lazio president Claudio Lotito claims that the Italian is not going anywhere this summer. When asked last night about transfer interest, he told Italian radio station Radio Due:
"Candreva is not for sale. We have not spoken to anyone from PSG and we have not received any offers."
LFC are linked with a number of attacking midfielders at the moment, and the common denominator for all of them is the grossly overpriced transfer fee. Lallana £25m; Markovic £25m; Candreva £20m; At €18m, Xherdan Shaqiri is reasonably priced, but when it comes to risk vs. reward, Roberto Firmino for £20m is (arguably) the best option, and blows the other four out of the water with his creative stats (37 goals/assists in 37 games last season).
Author: Jaimie K
During the January transfer window, the Daily Express claimed that Brendan Rodgers 'is an admirer' of the 27-year old winger.
According to The Mirror today, Liverpool are back on Candreva's trail, and Lazio are willing to sell for £20m.
Candreva - nicknamed 'Il Timida' (The Shy one) on account of his cautious style of play - clearly wants a move away this summer, and when asked about his future last week, he told reporters:
“The ambitions of a player is to always do better and to play the Champions League. I hope to have a great World Cup campaign, then we’ll see what arrives after that.”
Some info about Candreva:
* Current deal expires in 2018.
* Can play as a winger, or a midfield playmaker.
* 5 different loan spells over the last 6 years.
* 18 appearances for Italy.
Candreva's stats over the last five years:
* 2009-10: 2 goals/6 assists in 39 apps.
* 2010-11: 3 goals/0 assists in 31 apps.
* 2011-12: 6 goals/4 assists in 37 apps.
* 2012-13: 7 goals/7 assists in 48 apps.
* 2013-14: 12 goals/6 assists in 24 apps (so far)
* TOTALS: 30 goals/23 assists in 198 apps.
* Goal ever 6.6 games | Assist every 8.6 games
* Goal/Assist every 3.7 games.
* Goal/Assist every 4.1 games.
Clearly, when it comes to consistent creative output, Candreva is not prolific enough. He's 27 now, and last season is the first year he managed to reach double-figures for goals. On that basis, LFC should steer clear (IMO). Yes, I put a lot of stock in goals/assist stats, but an attacking midfielder's primary role is to create and score goals, so end product is massively important.
One good game in the World Cup does not make Candreva a world-beater, and he's certainly not worth the ridiculous £20m fee being bandied about. Plus, there's the Serie A connection to consider; it's becoming a bit of a cliche now, but there's no escaping the fact that players from the Italian league never seem to settle at Anfield.
Luckily, the chances of Candreva signing for LFC seem slim. PSG are also interested, but Lazio president Claudio Lotito claims that the Italian is not going anywhere this summer. When asked last night about transfer interest, he told Italian radio station Radio Due:
"Candreva is not for sale. We have not spoken to anyone from PSG and we have not received any offers."
LFC are linked with a number of attacking midfielders at the moment, and the common denominator for all of them is the grossly overpriced transfer fee. Lallana £25m; Markovic £25m; Candreva £20m; At €18m, Xherdan Shaqiri is reasonably priced, but when it comes to risk vs. reward, Roberto Firmino for £20m is (arguably) the best option, and blows the other four out of the water with his creative stats (37 goals/assists in 37 games last season).
Author: Jaimie K
Come on admit it you're making up these nicknames now just to annoy me.....:-)
ReplyDeleteI have a son that is 12. He no longer plays football, but he can run all day. When he did play his nickname was "the timid one". Never liked getting stuck in. I still love him though and if "the shy one" is worth 20 mil, can I get 10 mil for "the timid one"? He really does have quite the engine.
ReplyDelete"I think he [Suarez] will only be at that [world class] level when he shows it on this particular stage"- Roy Hodgson. Please. Surely Suarez has already proven it on the international stage?
ReplyDeleteswap deal? heheee
ReplyDeleteJust look at Hodgson's team selection for England?!?!
ReplyDeleteSome people say it best when they say nothing at all :-)
Lazar Markovic is much better than his stats show. Seen him a lot since I live in country next to his. For example he played in Partizan(WWOULD GET RELEGATED from league 2) at the age of 17 or so and they played against Inter. He was absolutely great, made some driblings, passes and runs that were awesome, even hit the bar,but just couldn't score. Whenever I watched him at Benfica overall impression was that he is great- stats don't show it but he was. And everybody in Benfica think so, he was always in the first team or near- and they know thing or two about talents..
ReplyDeleteRH is right, Messi became a world class player yesterday when he scored vs BiH...
ReplyDeleteNot at a WC he hasn't. But he has produced some pretty good performances in internationals.
ReplyDeleteSlightly off topic, but while Shaqiri turned in a distinctly average performance yesterday, Antoine Griezmann was utterly superb for the French against Honduras. Whoever snaps him up (please be us, please be us) will have some player on their hands.
ReplyDeleteSo is the Bosnia defender who scored the quickest Own Goal in WC History...
ReplyDeleteFirmino over them all too. After Rodriguez pulled of a great performance against Ecuador hope he is still high on the LB list.
ReplyDeleteItalians very rarely perform well outside Italy. I know there are exceptions but at this boy's age, stats and price make him a big no from me
ReplyDeleteYes but Griezmann has a team no disrespect infinitely better than what Shaqiri is playing in this World Cup.
ReplyDeleteI mean a midfield of Pogba and Matuidi compared to Behrami and Inler says it all really.
Of course he has. He scored 3 goals in the 2010 WC. The same number of goals as the entire England National Team.
ReplyDeleteAmazingly, Sharqiri got the man of the match award. Watch out for strange betting patterns.......
ReplyDeleteYeah what have the Italians ever done for us?
ReplyDeleteYou are so vindictive sometimes...
ReplyDeletei don't agree with you there is no way one player can win a world cup by himself , if his team mates are horrible
ReplyDeletelook at cristiano ronaldo and portugal almeida, nani ,meireles etc those players are not good enough for stoke city
milan baros and el hadj diouf are two former liverpool player that have dominated a tournament like you said
ReplyDeleteare they better then rush and daglish who have not achieved anything internationally?
Roy can chat bullshit sometimes. Done it many times as Liverpool manager.
ReplyDeleteClearly he digs himself ointo a hole by using his big mouth.
One player can certainly dominate a world cup. Typically a better team would win but its definitely possible for one single player of world class ability to change each game in their favour. Maradona in 86 is an example of this.
ReplyDeleteThis is just about the first time JK has ever deleted my comment. Finally broke the duck!!
ReplyDeleteWhat kind of counter-argument is that? instead of attacking the man himself, why don't you engage in proper discussion?
ReplyDeleteGet a grip. Neither of those players has dominated a tournament. By 'dominate', I mean play a defining role in pushing their team to glory in an international tournament.
ReplyDeletePirlo in the same breath as Maradona and Zidane and better than Messi and Ronaldo i think not.
ReplyDeleteDont know if anyone is watching Portugal ATM but Ronaldos got no hope hes surrounded by fools.
This guy you must not know about Maradona. It is foolish of uncle Roy to be baiting a player like Suarez cause if he does have a good game against England they will be out!!
ReplyDeleteWhy will Roy wanna bait Suarez? Suarez has had a better international success than Messi and Ronaldo combine. So Roy has to be careful who he is playing mind games with.
ReplyDeleteWell one could say Ronaldo almost single handedly got Portugal to the world cup watching them tonight that must have been one hell of a feat.
ReplyDeleteDossena, Aquilani and there is a chance you can add Borini too :-)
ReplyDeleteI say no to any Italian players joining us especially from the Serie A.
Hodgson needs to concentrate on selecting the right team instead of having a chirp at one of the best players in the world. If Suarez does play then I foresee a massacre for the English defenders.
ReplyDeleteHodgson will select Rooney and Welbeck again. Bravo Roy. Bravo!
I have a hard time classifying someone as "Great of the Game" based on what they do in potentially as little as 3 games.
ReplyDeleteWe have a four year layoff before each World Cup tournament and the only guarantee once a team qualifies is those 3 games.
I place more value over what someone does in those four years than in those 3 games.
Yes, Messi feels nerves and the reason for that is this is the biggest sporting event in the world.
But if Messi went out and had an awful tournament, I wouldn't all of a sudden be saying that he's not that good.
Would anyone say that Benzema is closer to being a "Great of the Game" than Messi because he had more goals thus far in the World Cup? No.
There's no denying there's additional pressure. The whole world is watching. But I don't believe a player's legacy hinges on his performance at the World Cup.
What is wrong with the people who choose the music to the videos they compile? What happened to proper lyrics and guitar strings?
ReplyDeletei do not want any italian players
ReplyDeletemaradonna cheated so it does not count in my opinion
ReplyDeletebtw maradona never scored every argentina goal did he or make every cruical tackle or crucial save
So because Shaqiri turned in a distinctly unimpressive performance vs Ecuador must indicate that Christiano Ronaldo is also average and based on that why does anyone want to sign Fabio Coentrao?
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of cheating, here's Thomas Muller doing his best to keep up the great German tradition of diving and play-acting (doesn't excuse the reaction though).
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cl_DUuJWvVw
Quite concerned about raheem sterling
ReplyDeletepeople in work who have no interest in football but watched the match said sterling was just amazing englands best player
i think he will be like beckham soon in terms of fame
can he handle that?
WTF?
ReplyDeleteWho said anything about just three games? Taking a team to winning a word cup, or to the final through sheer force of talent is more than just three games.
ReplyDeletesterling is becoming famous in this country like beckham,rooney and neymar in brazil
ReplyDeletehe will become countries golden boy
Sterling is nowhere near the fame of Beckham or Neymar.
ReplyDeleteNot sure why you would suggest anything of the sort.
I felt pretty sorry for him watching that. Trying his damnedest to change the game but let down constantly by the tools around him. Nice pic by the way ;)
ReplyDeleteIt is sickening the way these footballers carry on. When Sergio Busquets pulled of his antics vs the Dutch i wanted to hit the roof.
ReplyDeleteIf only the powers that be will do something to stop the fiasco. Wishful thinking...
Would that be Victoria Beckham and Mickey Rooney?
ReplyDeleteIt's pretty shameful. Muller's punishment? His team go on to win 4-0 and he bags a hat-trick.
ReplyDeleteReports saying that Liverpool have made a bid for MK Dons starlet Dele Alli 18 year old attacking midfielder.
ReplyDeletePortugal were really sh*te so there are no excuses for them losing this match.
ReplyDeleteRoy is clueless - Suarez got 3 goals and the save of the tournament last time around. Plus he was man of the tourney and won the last Copa America.
ReplyDeleteJust one more piece of motivation. He'll eat your babies!
So Suarez winning the Copa America in a tournament composed of Brazil, Argentine and being voted the best player of the tournament is not consider a big feat it seems...
ReplyDeleteIf England had won the Euro 2012 i can't even imagine what Hodgson would have say.
Suarez lead Uruguay to the Coppa America (he was player of the tournament) and he had a fantastic 2010 WC making it to the Semis. Yes his no Diego or Pele but he has defiantly made a huge impact for his nation and proved his World class ability at the highest level.
ReplyDeleteI did.
ReplyDeleteAll any team who qualifies for the World Cup is guaranteed is three games. That's it.
It's up to the team to advance, obviously.
My point is that in order for a player to establish himself as a "Great of the Game" by the standards of performing well in the World Cup, he only has three games or he's out.
And let's say he advances to the final, that's still only 7 games total in a matter of 4 years.
Did anyone notice here that he got hit on the right side of his face, and when he's sitting on the ground, he's holding the left side.
ReplyDelete"The save of the tournament"... that made me smile hahaha
ReplyDeleteIt is a little early to be sure but I agree the signs are there that he could become famous beyond just his footballing life.
ReplyDeleteGeorgie Best.... bloody rubbish. couldn't do it on the big stage
ReplyDeleteI don't know how much I agree with this. No player can win tournaments on their own. Even if they are scoring bucket loads of goals they need someonebdoing the defending and vice versa. You look at any team that has won a major international tournament and you will either see a team consisting of a few truly great players or like Greece a team that works together as a whole. It will be interested to see how Shared does but Uruguay just don't have the midfield or defence to get close.Shared can't be everywhere. Same goes for Ronaldo and Messi.
ReplyDeleteI'm a Liverpool fan, I make no excuses for Suarez, some of his antics make me cringe and I'd happily get rid of him if he weren't so damn good, and he is ! Bad move by Roy winding him up.
ReplyDeleteAre you English Jamie k ? Rip into Liverpool and us fans all you like , but to say you hope England get torn apart ,the World Cup is on, be critical, rip into the players after a poor performance. But don't wish our national team gets torn apart before we've even played ! What's wrong with you ?
The team around him didn't help him make those clean, crisp, defense splitting passes out of nothing though did they? It was like watching Zidane. I've been on the fence about this guy all season because I tend not to buy into hype before I see a player play but based on last night's performance he looked everything people say he is and more. Now of course we wait and see if he can do it for a couple of games in a row.
ReplyDeleteWhy? He would be playing with better players than the Swiss team if he moved to Anfield as well so why do we care how he would play with lesser players?
ReplyDeleteHe's Scottish mate
ReplyDeleteFigures
ReplyDeleteVery much agree, Playing for Uruguay, a nation with less than half as many citizens as London, you can't expect Suarez to carry the team to glory single-handedly.
ReplyDeleteI'd argue that becoming your nation's all-time scorer (this is a World Cup winning country too), leading your team to its first Copa America title in 16 years and taking them to a semi-final (and being a key part of that run) is a very good return given his circumstances.
I still don't think Suarez can be talked about in the class of Pele or Maradona but his international achievements aren't enough to prevent him from being called world class. He needs to prove himself in Europe far more than he does on an international level.
It isn't necessarily a counter-argument, it could just be a point. Something to bare in mind. It may be blunt, but an assessment of Roy's ability to speak publicly is very much relevant to this particular discussion.
ReplyDeleteFoul any of those ladies? Foul? Does that mean...poo stuff?
ReplyDeleteAs I've said before JK, whilst I think your criteria for 'World Class' players is useful and an interesting distillation of some of your theories on the sport, it is overly simplistic as a judgement tool and only to be combined with common sense and a wider appreciation of the facts and the game at large if you want to get a clearer view of a player's quality.
ReplyDeleteThose problems are magnified if you make the World Cup an exalted proving ground. You have only to consider the case of Miroslav Klose to realise this. Klose has proven himself to be one of the World Cup's deadliest strikers ever and could very easily become the competition's leading marksman of all-time but has also shown at club level that he is a good player, not an outstanding one. At Bayern he was a constant source of frustration as he failed to replicate his form for the national side. I seem to remember hearing (not the best source! Hopefully someone else can back me up- I admit this point is a bit spurious) that he has actually scored more in World Cup finals matches than in qualifying. Amazing if true.
Poor Ronaldo. Team was going well until Pepe got himself sent off. And people still expected Ronaldo to carry them to a win or draw against GERMANY while having 10 players....
ReplyDeleteI thought Maradona won the world cup as single handed as it can be.
ReplyDeleteExcellent Monty Python reference.
ReplyDeleteMarkovic is stupefyingly talented, yes. Still a bit pricey, but I suppose that's a reflection of Benfica's need to sell.
ReplyDeleteTY good spot
ReplyDeleteNope but it might be a warning not to get too carried away too soon
ReplyDeleteAgree. No Italians. They just get homesick. This lesson gets learned over and over. Pass.
ReplyDeletePortugal had some quality players on the pitch it was just Germany who were awesome. But, Ronaldo couldn't overturn four goals and a red card so he's obviously not world class
ReplyDeleteI've never liked the term 'world class' but I've always felt that it was a reference of ability relative to that of others, rather than on what specific stage a player achieves something. So, I don't see the point in setting a criteria for players to satisfy. Plus, I would throw other things in there like professionalism and whether a player puts funny stuff up their nose - so sorry Maradona, you're out.
ReplyDeleteMessi's most recent goal encapsulates all that is great about the player himself. His goal was beautiful, with quick and sharp touches with such agility to stay at top speed with the ball, and he instinctively knew where the goal was. That's not 'potentially world class', that is world class.
Jamie you really are a fool some of the things you come up with border on insanity , you look forward to England getting beaten by some form of cheating from Suarez , first of all don't every lay claim to being a red fan and secondly you want the country of your birth to go out of the World Cup by being cheated and to top it off you want it to be liverpool player that does the cheating just so you can prove some sort of perverse point. Wow what a clown . Good job you don't have your real picture on show as you wouldn't be able to move in liverpool without getting hurt.
ReplyDelete