Re: Summer of 2014: Part 2

by BeautifulGame Mon 7 Jul 2014 - 17:15

"@LFCZA: Tony Evans busy with a webchat,some #LFC snippets comng up...
@LFCZA: On the question of #Sanchez: Evans: "I wouldn't bet on him going to Anfield, Arsenal a bigger possibility" #LFC
@LFCZA: Tony Evans suggests Lucas #Leiva will leaving #LFC @LFCZA: Evans: #Moreno probably won't happen #LFC
@LFCZA: On the question whether #LFC will go after #Shaqiri if we don't get #Sanchez, Tony Evans says he can't see it happening. "
@LFCZA: Evans on #Sanchez: Doesn't want to leave Barca, if he does, prefers Juve, but if England, then prefers Arsenal. #LFC least likely.
@LFCZA: Evans expects Kolo #Toure to stay as he signed a 2 year deal at #LFC (so one year left basically)
@LFCZA: #Suarez replacement? Evans: "Think theyre happy with Sturridge as front-line striker. Rather than bring a megastar theyll get good players"
@LFCZA: On whether #LFC can reach the top 4, Evans: All about who they buy, how they set up. We'll learn a lot about a lot of people this season.1/2
@LFCZA: Evans (cont): "With a better back four they still have the players to reach top four" 2/2 #LFC
@LFCZA: Tony was asked whether #Bertrand was done and whether #LFC would go for another LB, reply "Think that would give them cover"
@LFCZA: Asked again, specifically whether #Agger was leaving, Evans says "Positive, tried twice before" #LFC
@LFCZA: Evans on #Reina: "Off to Napoli on a free (or close)" #LFC
@LFCZA: Evans again on #Agger - "I like Agger, but he's not physical enough." #LFC
@LFCZA: On #Huntelaar, Evans says "One veteran striker is enough" #LFC
@LFCZA: Whether #Markovic #Lovren, #Origi are only targets left & whether any marquee signings, Evans "There'll be a few signings & a few surprises"
@LFCZA: Evans again on #Sanchez "Apparently his wife would prefer Italy but he can sell her London" #LFC
@LFCZA: On whether a deal for #Bertrand is likely & what he can add to the team, Evans says "Well, Rodgers knos him well, that's a plus" #LFC
Evans: "when Suarez arrived he wasn't considered one of the best in world. They've got seriously high hopes for Markovic"

by Curtinho Mon 7 Jul 2014 - 18:08

Good to hear they really like Markovic. A little unsettling that they're not going to try and get a WC talent to replace Suarez based on that, but at the same time Coutinho, Sterling, Markovic and Sturridge all have that star power potential (or are already nearly there) and maybe depth is what we need so these guys have room to grow into their roles and claim that potential.

Not really happy at all about the fullback situation. They seem content to sit on their hands over it and maybe pray that Enrique comes back to full health and ability. So risky.

I'm ok with Lovren coming in to replace Agger if he has to leave. I don't like seeing Agger go but it is what it is and Lovren is better than people on here have been giving him credit for, as well as still young.

On another note I've read that Liverpool are still sniffing around Lacazette and he would be a decent cap off to the attack. Another versatile forward with goal scoring ability and still room to grow as he's young and improving. Sturridge, Sterling, Couthinho, Lallana, Markovic, Lacazette, Borini and Lambert would leave a lot of options for a 4-3-3.

by Helmer Mon 7 Jul 2014 - 18:09

After shipping 60 goals the previous season Southampton needed to add quality in central defence, and Dejan Lovren provided it in spades during 2013/14.

At 24, the athletic Croatian is blessed with good pace and this suited Pochettino’s desire to play pressing football with an occasional high line. If a mistake was made he could recover.

Lovren's all-round game was also an upgrade for Southampton. Able to man-mark aggressively (as he did so impressively against Daniel Sturridge in his side's 1-0 win at Anfield), or drop off and play a composed role distributing neatly from the back, the player bought from Lyon was a classy presence in the heart of defence no matter who they were up against.

Statistically the Croat was not exceptional when it came to tackling or aerial duels. However, he quickly became a leader of the back four proving particularly adept at reading the game and springing attacks with a wonderful range of long passing.

Lovren's key strengths
Interceptions 84 at 2.7 per game fourth-highest for BPL centre-backs
Accurate long passes 185 at 6.0 per game third highest for BPL centre-backs

from on old article... :coffee:

made me give him a little benefit of doubt in case he joins us.
@RA, not everyone said that Can is going to replace Gerrard, if you refer to previous thread's posts. But Can has what it takes to replace Gerrard.
Can as of now is
Hendo+little more flair with good ball control+a better vision than Hendo-no experience in EPL at all. But if Gerrard is injured, I would start

Can
Hendo Lallana/Coutinho

If with Gerrard

Gerrard
Hendo Can
Sterling Studge Lallana/Coutinho

the second option provides a very solid midfield to us.

by BeautifulGame Mon 7 Jul 2014 - 20:13

Ben Smith ‏@BenSmithBBC 3m
#LFC all but given up on Alexis Sanchez

by McAgger Mon 7 Jul 2014 - 20:34

@BenSmithBBC: Luis Suarez to Barcelona will, as expected, be a £75m cash deal. None of #LFC spending so far dependent on his sale

£75m is a little closer to the £80m we want so meh. Can't be happy irregardless of the price but good luck to him.

by Helmer Mon 7 Jul 2014 - 20:44

£75m

Haames is coming yes yes yes banana

not a coincidence that McY changed his name

by McAgger Mon 7 Jul 2014 - 20:48

So apparently none of our current spending is dependent on Suarez sale. Could actually mean a big marquee signing. Let's sit in a circle and pray to the football god.

Spoiler:

by Helmer Mon 7 Jul 2014 - 21:06

is he also on our transfer committee hmm

by Helmer Mon 7 Jul 2014 - 21:11

ExtremistEnigma wrote:Our transfer committee is trash. That is all.

no i think they are the biggest troll in world football Laughing

by RedOranje Tue 8 Jul 2014 - 2:15

Short version:

Markovic expected to be completed in the next 48 hours or so for £20-25m.
Barca are paying Suarez's release clause and likely would have regardless of what happened this summer (duh).
Talk of a "gentleman's agreement" between Lovren and Sotton over £20m bid to sign him, now being ignored by Sotton and he's threatening to boycott preseason to force a move (sound familiar?). Pearce does NOT expect LFC to increase their bid for Lovren. If the £20m bid doesn't work they'll look elsewhere.
Pearce expects LFC to pursue another striker (though other journos have said the opposite) who is a more proven goalscorer (were linked with Bony in the early parts of the summer).

Gotta say, I'm rather more on Southampton's side in their dispute with Lovren. He has a contract there and unless there's a written release clause he can't really have much of a complaint. "Gentleman's agreements" mean nothing and speaking so poorly about the club while you're still their player, nevermind threatening to boycott training, is unprofessional.

The only concern is who we may go after if we do move on from Lovren... will it be someone better... or worse?

by mr-r34 Tue 8 Jul 2014 - 2:47

Can someone tell me why we only put 75mil as the release clause for Suarez, don't all the Spanish clubs put unrealistic clauses so that they have all the power?

by mr-r34 Tue 8 Jul 2014 - 2:48

Any word on an actual Marquee signing?

by RedOranje Tue 8 Jul 2014 - 3:26

mr-r34 wrote:Can someone tell me why we only put 75mil as the release clause for Suarez, don't all the Spanish clubs put unrealistic clauses so that they have all the power?

Because it was what he and his agent wanted in the contract. He agreed to sign a new deal that would ensure LFC did get that much based on the inclusion of the clause that ensured he could leave for that price... that's how negotiating works.

by stevieg8 Tue 8 Jul 2014 - 6:45

I've seen a few reports now that the fee for Origi was agreed before the world cup. Seen a few people jumping to conclusions about our "scouting", but if these reports had come out a month ago instead of now, everyone would be very excited over this.

Just because it feels like a World Cup inspired signing, doesn't make it so.

by stevieg8 Tue 8 Jul 2014 - 7:01

On a separate topic - I know everyone likes to jump to conclusions as soon as possible, but I do find it a bit sad how the lack of one move is coloring people's opinions on this summer. It's not that I disagree with everything that's been said - it's just that I don't think we can judge the committee's level of "ambition" quite yet.

Right now, it looks as though we're not targeting a high enough level of player. Our best player - one of the best in the world - is leaving, and no combination of "good-but-not-great" players makes up for that loss. I understand all of this, and to be honest, it makes me a bit nervous as well.

But try not to let that color your opinion of the signings we've made so far/will be making in the next few days. I truly believe that the issue right now is a metaphorical depth chart of signings. If we add one top name - the marquee bill, so to speak - all of these other players slide down a slot and look much better.

By all reports, Lallana, Markovic and Can are going to be very good players and will be able to contribute positively. They might not all start every week - Can and Markovic at least will surely rotate - but I think it's a safe bet that they will all have major moments this year. That's not to mention the other names that have been circulated this summer (Lovren, Origi, Lambert).

The issue is that when Lallana is our number 1 signing, it becomes difficult to get excited about any of these names. But you slot in one name at the top of that list, and all of a sudden, players that will be in and around the starting 11 are in the 4th and 5th slots of our signings this summer. We'll have added depth AND quality at a number of positions.

Keep in mind that Sakho wasn't a name on our radar at this point last summer. Just because the only rumors we're hearing about regard Sanchez does not mean there won't be someone else coming in. And if a month from now, an exciting name pops up at the top of this list, everyone will be discussing how great of a summer we've had.

I'm sad Suarez is leaving too. And if in two months the squad looks like it does today, I'll join in the chorus with the rest of you. But lets try to keep our heads on straight in the meantime, if for no other reason than our own sanity.

by Red Alert Tue 8 Jul 2014 - 9:25

You're clutching at straws, stevie.

We needed a "top name" / marquee signing KEEPING Suarez at the club. Barcelona activated the release clause, so we can't do much about that. We could however put the release clause a lot higher up but that's for another thread.

We've only added depth right now in Lallana and Can (Markovic, too if he joins but I'd much rather just keep Suso*). And I guess Lambert too, but he's pretty much replacing Aspas' position on the bench... begs the question what "quality" have we brought in?

Rodgers has said the committee has been working for months long before the last season finished... why would we make our move towards the end of the window if prices are then inflated / chances these players are going to move to other clubs?

Sakho was only on our radar because the Papadapolous deal collapsed and Sakho told PSG he wanted to move clubs. We got lucky he suddenly became available, it's as simple as that.

You can try and defend the clubs transfer strategy, say "patience" and such, but it's been the same for years. And the worst part is nothing has changed after different managers, tried different sorts of transfer hierarchy's (Comolli, this committee etc), and the acquisition of new scouts. We've had all sorts of examples for it too. We had to overpay because we're not in Europe; we can't sign that player because we're not in Europe; we can't sign him because bigger clubs would want him; we had to overpay a little bit because deadline day; there's a lot more too. lol

*Just on Markovic, have we really dropped interest in Shaqiri for this guy? Laughing

by Red Alert Tue 8 Jul 2014 - 9:57

El Cujo wrote:

Why not playing along-side Henderson? Imagine having two Hendersons in midfield insulating Gerrard defensively while allowing him to 'control' the midfield tactically. I don't think this is a bad option at all if we're going to be playing an attacking style 4 - 3 - 3, or even better if we switch to a 4 - 2 - 3 - 1 when Gerrard isn't playing to make use of our strong young attacking talent + Lallana buy.

Gerrard/??? Allen?
Henderson/Allen/Can - Can/Coutinho/Allen
Sterling/Markovic/Lallana - Sturridge/Lambert - Markovic/Coutinho/Lallana

Or...

Henderson - Can
Sterling - Coutinho/Lallana - Markovic/Coutinho
Sturridge/Lambert

I'd really, really like to get another WC attacker that can either work with or back-up Sturridge for when he needs to miss games though. Lambert isn't that guy.

Not a guaranteed starter but when did you see him play? He mostly started in league, started all but one of their CL matches and split time in the Europa league. Markovic is young and will likely continue to improve, he's versatile and while he might not be a guaranteed starter here he definitely has that potential. If not he can be a super sub and imagine the pace and flair on the field if we are going into the final 30 mins of the game with Sterling, Coutinho, Markovic and Sturridge in a 3 - 1 formation.

Playing a midfield trio of Henderson, Can and Gerrard would be horrible and wouldn't work at all.

I only saw him in the Europa against Juventus (where he was okay but didn't really show anything spectacular) and AZ (where he came off the bench) off the top of my head. I saw a couple of games of Benfica last season though, they were fun to watch. Salvio was always the stand out for me, but that's probably from a biased pov.

I never said he wouldn't improve, again I said he had potential. But we're spending 20m for potential. We have a lot of "potential" at the club and I don't really want to get into this debate again, as I don't think you'll convince me otherwise. We need quality. And instead of signing quality, we're wasting our time on "for the future" and for depth when the present / what we do now actually determines where our future will be. We won't make top 4 the way we're going, I guarantee it. What's the future look like then when our best players become "mercenary's" for wanting to leave to fight for silverware?

by Helmer Tue 8 Jul 2014 - 10:12

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2683808/Inter-Milan-interested-Liverpools-Brazilian-midfielder-Lucas-Leiva.html

should we sell him hmm

by Red Alert Tue 8 Jul 2014 - 10:14

Fail's a bad source, but Di Marzio has stated Rafa is keen for him to sign for Napoli. On loan. Laughing

by Helmer Tue 8 Jul 2014 - 10:56

I know we just suck at this for a while, so I stopped bothering about it Laughing

all I care now is that we finish in top 4 in the coming season

I think if a good offer comes, we should genuinely think of selling Lucas

by iftikhar Tue 8 Jul 2014 - 10:56

£20-25m

I thought it was Euro Sad

by Helmer Tue 8 Jul 2014 - 10:57

btw, these cheap bastards from Napoli can f... off with these loan offers

by Helmer Tue 8 Jul 2014 - 11:11

Red Alert wrote:You're clutching at straws, stevie.

We needed a "top name" / marquee signing KEEPING Suarez at the club. Barcelona activated the release clause, so we can't do much about that. We could however put the release clause a lot higher up but that's for another thread.

hahaha....great....yeah because the window is over and we are midway through the season, isnt it!!!

@Stivie, people simply forget about Suarez's status before he joined us. Was he considered as top 3 player in the world back then? Now dont come with excuses that we saw his potential to be top 3 in Erdvisie, if you say so, that is bs. We also know how Suarez started his career at Liverpool.
So till now I know that all of the players we have signed in are young except Lallana who is experienced and that too in EPL. I am expecting him to perform better with better players around him and also because I believe BR will get best out of him. So we should wait for a while...

These are not the reasons that we should not sign that marquee player. There is no doubt that we need that top level quality and there are two months to go, so I am ready to wait and see how it unfolds.

So I am going for Haames cheers

choose your player

by Red Alert Tue 8 Jul 2014 - 12:49

HEIL MEIN REDS wrote:
Red Alert wrote:You're clutching at straws, stevie.

We needed a "top name" / marquee signing KEEPING Suarez at the club. Barcelona activated the release clause, so we can't do much about that. We could however put the release clause a lot higher up but that's for another thread.

hahaha....great....yeah because the window is over and we are midway through the season, isnt it!!!

@Stivie, people simply forget about Suarez's status before he joined us. Was he considered as top 3 player in the world back then? Now dont come with excuses that we saw his potential to be top 3 in Erdvisie, if you say so, that is bs. We also know how Suarez started his career at Liverpool.
So till now I know that all of the players we have signed in are young except Lallana who is experienced and that too in EPL. I am expecting him to perform better with better players around him and also because I believe BR will get best out of him. So we should wait for a while...

These are not the reasons that we should not sign that marquee player. There is no doubt that we need that top level quality and there are two months to go, so I am ready to wait and see how it unfolds.

So I am going for Haames choose your player

1. You're deluded if you think we were going to look for a "top name" if we kept Suarez.

2. Suarez status before us meant f*ck all. We were at a REBUILDING stage. That was FOUR YEARS AGO. Everyone that watched the Eredivisie knew he would be world class, maybe not top 3, but definitely world class.

What exactly do you mean by how he "started" his career at Liverpool?

3. We're not rebuilding anymore. We need to stop buying for the future. We're going to turn into Arsenal if we continue with this approach. We've bought for the future since FSG have come here, apart from Henderson, which signing under FSG has become a consistent first team choice player? Coutinho would be the only one, and he only got his chance due to the lack of quality in our starting XI.

4. We've heard this "he'll perform around better players" with Downing, Carroll, and every Tom, Dick and Harry we've signed. It's not an argument anymore. He's a good player to have in the squad, but he's not good enough to be a marquee / consistent first team player. He's not going to become twice the player just because he's moved.

5. Take it to the "ideal thread". This thread is used to PMS about how stupid we are in the market. Ta.

by Fahim89 Tue 8 Jul 2014 - 13:50

HEIL MEIN REDS wrote:

So I am going for Haames choose your player

I choose Reus!!! cheers

by Curtinho Tue 8 Jul 2014 - 14:53

Red Alert wrote:Playing a midfield trio of Henderson, Can and Gerrard would be horrible and wouldn't work at all.

Based on what?

Can and Henderson have similar qualities in that they both seem to have tireless engines, are great at pressing and can cover a ton of ground. Henderson is more economical with his passing and creates more scoring opportunities that way while Can likes to run with the ball a bit more and challenge the opposition. They would complement eachother well in midfield with the sheer amount of pressure they would put on the other team.

I never said he wouldn't improve, again I said he had potential. But we're spending 20m for potential. We have a lot of "potential" at the club and I don't really want to get into this debate again, as I don't think you'll convince me otherwise. We need quality. And instead of signing quality, we're wasting our time on "for the future" and for depth when the present / what we do now actually determines where our future will be. We won't make top 4 the way we're going, I guarantee it. What's the future look like then when our best players become "mercenary's" for wanting to leave to fight for silverware?

The thing is that we have quality. Sturridge, Coutinho, Sterling, Henderson, Allen are all still young, growing players. Sterling looks to be on the verge of becoming one of the next big stars of football with what he's shown at his age. Coutinho also has star potential and really Sturridge is already there if he can maintain consistency. Lallana is a guy who had a great season and if he can bring some of that with him to Liverpool is another quality player right now. I'm sure that more signings are on the way to help the team right now (still a lot of money left), but even with the team we have I would be confident of making top 4. The only thing that bothers me is that they are being too complacent about the fullback situation, especially with all the money they have to throw around they should be after someone like Rodriguez, but it is what it is.

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