14 Feb 2016

Redknapp raves: 'Sensational' £48k-a-week powerhouse is 'one of the best' transfers 'ever' in the Prem

Last week, Anfield legend Alan Hansen hailed Leicester defender Robert Huth as a 'revelation', and argued that his defensive partnership with Wes Morgan is a 'model for Liverpool' to follow. For some Reds fans, Huth will always be the cynical oaf who stamped on Luis Suarez's chest, but ex-Red Jamie Redknapp appears to agree with Hansen's assessment.

In his column for the Daily Mail this week, Redknapp enthused:

"Robert Huth has been sensational for Leicester, and [is] one of the best [transfers] we’ve ever seen in the Premier League. He helped them escape relegation and could add to the two title medals he won at Chelsea".

At a cost of just £3m, Huth is clearly superb value for money, and the fact that Leicester are challenging for the title is a clear testament to his defensive impact at the club.

As a comparison, Liverpool paid a combined £38m for Dejan Lovren and Mamadou Sakho, and neither has yet proven to be value for money.

Players like Huth (reportedly on £48k-a-week) and Ryan Shawcross are regularly maligned by fans, but I'd take both at Liverpool in a heartbeat.

On a related note: it's instructive to make a comparison between Claudio Ranieri and Jurgen Klopp.

* Like Klopp, Ranieri inherited a failing team, but when he took over, Leicester were in a far worse than Liverpool, and had just narrowly avoided relegation.

* Klopp walked into a funhouse by comparison, and inherited a team of expensive, highly-paid internationals, yet Leicester are top of the table, and Liverpool are 11th (!)

* Ranieri did *not* buy the likes of Vardy, Mahrez, Drinkwater, Huth, Morgan, Schmeichel etc, i.e. the players driving Leicester to the title. All those players were scrapping relegation last season, but Ranieri came in and got the best out of them, which is what Klopp should be doing at LFC.

* Leicester are not top of the table because of Ranieri's summer transfers; they're top because Ranieri got the best out of the existing squad, something Klopp has failed to so at Liverpool so far.

This is what makes a mockery of the constant excuses for Klopp's inability to get *more* out of this squad than Rodgers.

When all the lame rationalisations are exhausted, a simple fact remains: Liverpool have regressed in the league under Klopp, but Ranieri has taken a team of comparative paupers to the brink of winning the Premier League.

If Ranieri can do that at Leicester, why hasn't Klopp achieved a similar uptick in performances/results at LFC?

Author: Jaimie K


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