2 Feb 2016

Aldo raves: Liverpool can 'save' a fortune' in transfer fees by signing 'excellent' attacker to new 'contract'

Against West Ham on Saturday, 'excellent' Reds forward Joao Carlos Teixeira delivered yet another promising performance, and Reds legend John Aldridge has called on Liverpool to start treating the Portuguese attacker with the respect he deserves.

After watching Teixeira's impressive display against the Hammers, Aldo enthused:

"Teixiera showed that he's got a real chance. I hope the club sort his contract out. With more experience, he could save [Liverpool] a fortune".

I've made the case for Teixeira countless times over the last eighteen months, and given the current game overload, and injury issues, now is the perfect time to give him (and one or two others) a run in the team. Teixeira by numbers:

* Total LFC Appearances: 5

* Total minutes: 398

* Goals/Assists: 2 (One every 199 mins/Dropped after each one).

* Total mins (Incl. Pre-Season): 553

* Goals/assists (incl. Pre-Season): 6 (One every 92 mins)

* Brighton: 9 goals/assists in 32 apps (27 starts).  64 chances created (One every 34 mins).

* 2014-15: Two x Player of the Year Awards (Young POTA at Brighton; Academy POTY at Liverpool).

I've included pre-season stats for this year to give a more rounded picture of Teixeira's ability to contribute. Just to clarify, though (as people constantly misrepresent my view on this issue):

* I've never argued that Teixeira is some kind of attacking saviour who'll transform the team with his amazing skills. I've only ever argued that - based on performances (in the Academy, for LFC and on loan), superb attitude, and inarguable potential - he deserves an extended chance in the team.

* The same principle applies to any Academy player who consistently displays the requisite talent, wins 'Player of the Year' awards, and performs well for the first-team. If, for example, Jordon Rossiter, or Jon Flanagan won two POTY awards in one season (like Teixeira last year), we'd never hear the end of it (especially from the notoriously biased Liverpool Echo).

* If given a run of 5-10 games, Teixeira may crash and burn, but we'll never know unless he's given that chance! That's all I've ever called for, and as Aldo notes, if that happens, he might just save the club millions in transfer fees.

Most players thrive when they have the confidence of the manager, and Teixeira has never had that at LFC. For whatever reason, he remains an outsider, but if Klopp shows the same faith in him he does in Ibe, Flanagan, Lallana etc, then that will (IMO) have a galvanising impact.

Will Teixeira start tonight? Doubtful, and the same goes for Brannagan. Both made a strong case against West Ham (as did Caulker), but Klopp will almost certainly revert to the usual failed suspects.

As for Teixeira's new contract, my view remains the same: if Klopp doesn't give him a run of games (in all competitions) over the next couple of months, he should quit Anfield in the summer for regular first-team football.

Author: Jaimie K


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