Liverpool Football Club has been linked with many star players since January, especially after the flash Stg 50 million plus spending spree which, although were almost entirely generated from the sale of Torres and Babel, sent out a clear message that FSG was ready to splash-the-cash in order to take the Reds back up the pecking order and amongst the elite of domestic and world football.
In the past couple of weeks, and even more intensely in the last few days, the media is leading us to believe that the Dalglish/Comolli management team is looking to bring in predominantly British talent. The likes of Charlie Adam, James McCarthy, Phil Jones, Gary Cahill, Ashley Young, Stewart Downing, Jordan Hendersen, Lee Catermole and Connor Wickham have all been linked and it is rumoured that the Reds have already tabled one or two bids for a couple of them. Transfer targets from the European market are also being mentioned, yet three that had been hitting the headlines, namely Taiwo (signed for Milan), Coentrao (prefers Real) and Hazard (will probably stay at Lille) seem to have fallen by the wayside.
Last summer’s summer transfer policy was incredibly disastrous, and the Reds need to work very diligently to rectify these errors which have left a hole in the coffers and a shallow squad to show for. When you consider the likes of Joe Cole (9 PL starts) and Milan Jovanovic (5 PL starts) signed on a free but earning a hefty Stg 120,000 (+/- a pound here and there) a week, or Konchesky, Poulsen and Brad Jones that cost around Stg 12 million, there is no other perspective than a disastrous one. Apparently, even the likes of Degen, El Zhar and Insua, even though loaned out, remained on the Club’s payroll. That’s 8 would-be first team players who essentially gave nothing back, not to mention the brilliant idea of loaning out Alberto Aquilani to Juventus after we had spent a whole season curing his ankle and bringing him back to an acceptable level of fitness. It really looks bleak in hindsight doesn’t it?
Dalglish and Comolli will have to be wiser this time round. FSG want to drastically reduce what is considered to be the fourth highest wage bill in the PL at around Stg 120 million and which incidentally did not fruit any title or Champions League football for two seasons running. Having the fourth highest payroll and finishing 7th and 6th respectively does not sound right either does it?
It is common knowledge that Comolli works his magic around statistics. It is also a known fact that Dalglish works his magic around team spirit. The predicament here is that for us to get the players we need there are several parameters to consider: player’s Club willingness to sell, capital outlay, player’s wish to wear Liverpool’s Red, player’s personal terms! These four factors are paramount to any signing. The dilemma to sell then hangs on the following: a Club interested in the player’s services, the Reds’ asking price, the player’s willingness to move to that Club and his wage expectations. Not simple is it?
Do you think the Club is really looking to bring in predominantly young British talent to Anfield? Do you think we will still sign 1 or 2 star players? Are the likes of Young, Downing, Adam and Cahill considered stars in your book? Do you still think that the Reds command respect and attraction from international football stars?
PLEASE kenny stop looking at english shite and get quality like mata,carzola and diago having paid 35 mill for the white heskey is bad enough i just hope you and caroll prove me wrong.
Totallyyyy agree with you man…dunno why we linked withh all dem english shite..don’t dey think by the time we buy someone like Bastos it will encourage other quality players to wana come insted of henderson or whoever shite..forget downing buy mata forget…nowwww that we finally av money to spend we need to spend it. Noww..
the likes of Young etc has a world class skills but not a world class name, so they’re not stars..
we need to sign at least one player with big name, because it’ll increase others spirit & mentality.
and yes I think we are looking to bring lots of british talents as we want to build a team with same culture and have a strong character
By that I suppose you mean buy British and stay mediocre?
All the players mentioned Cahil, Young and Adam would have cost a total of 35 mill together…
why I get out of all of the news is that dalglish and comolli ate building a type of team. it means you don’t just bring in players who have good stats on football manager but specific type of players that can be developed into a specific mindset. think how Barcelona have a specific type of player they use, or even bolton who pick really physical and aggressive players.
I don’t think the owners are so much as trying to reduce the wage bill, as spend it more wisely. Then if it gets reduced great, but I don’t think they’re looking at a wage cap or anything. They just want to get rid of dead wood and only pay high wages for high quality players!
The bootroom at Liverpool is back. I believe Kenny is looking at the best players available to sign, all the names that are being thrown around, is the media specualting. Kenny stated earlier that he will only sign players to take Liverpool forward. I trust Kenny to sign only the best players regardless of nationality. When the business is done Kenny will reveal the players that he has signed. YNWA
Hate to nit pick but James McCarthy in football terms is not British. He declared for the Rep. of Ireland
You are right there mate. Apologies to James McCarthy!
I have to agree with the above comments. If you can convince Suarez to join Liverpool, I’m sure you can try to other world class quality players. Please no English mid-table team squad players.
Disagree re. needing to buy a big name, this is exactly the trap we have fallen into in the past (I.e. Joe Cole) and it hasn’t worked out. What we actually need is young, hungry, ambitious players who want to play for the club. I don’t read too much into the names we are being linked to either, as Kenny says when they have something to tell us we’ll be the first to hear.
Players from the UK and our neighbours tend to perform well when introduced to the Premier League (Belgium, France, Holland, Scandinavia). We are not going to win the league for a couple of years. Why not buy young, from this pool of countries and develop the players ourselves.
Liverpool has been living just for the next season for 25 years and it has broken our club. The new owners seem to have changed this.
It seems we are buying the solid foundations of a squad for the next 5 years and more. It is exactly what we need and exactly what has won United and Arsenal their titles.
We have to face up that we cannot win the league now and need to plan for the future.
Pete. My impression is that FSG, Comolli and Dalglish are planning long term. They want to start a winning cycle which does not mean winning titles from the word go.
Definitely. I agree with what you are writing, however I think we will buy more than British.
I think the press is just cashing in on linking us with every young British player. My guess is 50% transfers currently playing in UK, and 50% playing in North West Europe.
0% from Spain, Italy, South America or Africa. And 0% of players who have peaked/ will peak in less than 5 years.
I doubt we will see star players bought in unless we get them for a real bargain.
Arsenal? Where have you been these last few years on Pluto?
If you can’t learn from how Arsenal won their Premier League titles, then there is something wrong with you.
musnt buy too many players like b4,juz buy 1 or 2 playmaker like hazard,hamsik,young…its time to look in academy product like coady,sterling,flanno
Iz! The three players you have mentioned are fantastic, but I have feeling we are a bit down on their preferential pecking order. Dalglish has already given Kelly, Spearing, Flanno and Robinson a good run. Coady and Co.s time will come too, in due course….
I dont think the media knows half of what LFC is up to. Am now so confused myself and have resigned to waiting for official announcements as the deals get completed.However I trust Kenny & Comolli to sign quality as they promised.
Now guys what we need to understand is the long term strategies that FSG seem to have adopted to make LFC great once again. Firstly,bring back the tradition (the Liverpool way). This is already ongoing with Kenny at the top and old organization structure taking shape.even the bootroom is slowly coming back.We are keeping things pretty much to ourselves leaving the media guessing our affairs. Secondly, sort the management and financial aspects for future stability. this has gone down well so far.We have an MD capable of bringing in good business deals.
There has been recent promotions and appointments which can only be good for the future. The club is now seriously looking to expand its market share with America & Far east given priority. The stadium issue is receiving attention too. Thirdly, compose a playing staff capable of competing for honors. This is where we are right now. I think many fans,players and indeed the media too have very high expectations at this point in time and rightly so because this is an elite football club that should be receiving the accolades every now and then.We have waited for glory for way too long. We can justify our expectations but remember even Kenny warned us not to expect too much for now.The amount of work to be done in building a winning squad is massive right now.Kenny assured that lack of European football will not hinder the efforts.Well there is no way he would openly admit that fact.We have our club ego to protect. Kudos Kenny on that one.
Fact of life is that if we miss out on our marquee targets (whether British or foreign) this summer,the reason will be lack of champions league. What a bummer! Any player even Ronaldo & Messi would love the adoration of the kop but not today.We have not been firing on all cylinders to attract the world’s best have we?
So what options do we have this summer in our quest to build the winning squad? I believe Kenny will go after young British talent.Current media hype about Henderson,Jones,Adam,wickham etc appear real. Remember the Liverpool way is also having a core of best local talent within the squad sort of like Barcelona & Bayern Munic with a few top foreign talents to complement them. This can only be good for the national team as well. Our Academy is already a success story with about 8 youngsters featuring for England’s under 19.I am certain that in next 2 years, no less than 15 England internationals will be Liverpool players.
Should Kenny then buy the british targets? in my opinion I think he should go for them.They are quality for one,other big clubs want them badly and their wage bill will not be the six figures for now.plus they have over 10 years to bring returns.So lets grab them & develop them before manu,arsenal,mancity do.And while we are at it can we get Wilshire too since there appears to be an Exodus at the emirates. (JK!)
And to sum up we are heading nowhere without at least 2 additional marquee signing to supplement Suarez & Gerrard. Every great team needs a Messi or Ronaldo.Hazard/Sanchez are the MEN! If we miss out on glory hunter Ashley Young, then Juan Maya is a must get! Coaentrao appears to be Madrid bound.Too expensive for a full back if you ask me. If we could spend 35m on Carroll,then we should do everything to get Hazard & Mata. I believe everything is possible with KD,DC,JH&TW at the helm. The future is bright for LFC.
Hype is hype! No matter how you decide it the media is simply hypeing mediocre and old talent ( Adam at 26 for example). We have enough homegrown in the academy so go for top-class talent whatever the nationality.
If all these quoted English players are soooo good why then is there absolutely NO European club after them?
‘cos they are basically rubbish. That’s why.
Hey Chambers.
If all these quoted English players are soooo good why then is there absolutely NO European club after them?
‘cos they are basically rubbish. That’s why..
I beg to differ a little here mate. How many italian players play outside their league. Should we consider them to be rubbish too??? I am not saying the lads being mentioned are top-class, but then as we have said, it could all be media speculation. Unless Dalglish declares it or the Club posts it on the website, it’s all hypothetical!
JUAN MATA!!!
English players are crap
That is a very strong statement Pman! :-)
I don’t think English players are crap.But I have to say they lack that X factor that would genuinely make them world beaters. They have football brains and are great unselfish team players making foreign talent look really good in their teams. Gerrard Torres, Rooney ronaldo,lampard,Ashley drogba,Beckham van nistelroy etc. They just lack the skills set to be outstanding.
A Lot of common sense spoken by some of you guys, especially re Mata. Young though is a typical whiskeynose dumb purchase along the lines of Saha, Veron etc, leave him alone please Kenny, let him flash in their pan. Downing, too, is a complete spanner, as his appearance against the Swiss showed — he is the antithesis of the ‘impact player’, a man who goes through the motions. Did anyone notice Capello screaming at him and that other MCFC mutt to switch wings because they were both scratching their backside while the game went on around them begging for a player to grasp the nettle and force the issue the way Gerrard or Louie does. Capello threw his hands in the air and walked back to the bench in discussed, he shouldn’t have needed to tell them to innovate, which they didn’t incidentally, they should be doing it naturally if, that is, they were ‘impact players’.
The Article above is very insightful and I agree that, given the parlous state of our previous recruitment practices, Louie, Merailles and, yes, Carroll, (give him a chance to heal boys) aside, we need to stop taking on board deadwood and start ‘burning’ some of it. Kenny has a keen eye though and I’m sure he is conscious of it, as is Commolli. So ignore the media speculation and trust KK, July will reveal all. YNWA
One other point, he titters, ‘Marquee Players’ ??? They are what we know as ‘Circus People’ ie players who earn a living in a ‘marquee’ – a big tent. What LFC need are players of ‘Marque’, (French word meaning ‘badge/ symbol of excellence’), we have had enough of clowns and their like after Hicks/ Gillette and Hodgeson. Sorry for being the smart a@se lads — Kirkby lad lecturing you on your English, what is the world coming to???
Fitz7. Just in case you didn’t know Marquee also means an athlete with exceptional skills and popularity.what we need really.
the only english player i see good enough that mentioned so far to wear the liverpoolfc shirt is adam johnson all the the rest is average players and wat those kind do is keep in mid table we want to win trophies
am liverpool real fan but l hav 2 say true we ar not attractive to big names again but if u think we cn then get aguero kaka pato tevez
i read every1 moaning about this and that,,i,m a die hard lfc fan and i dont care what names or nationalities keeny decides to bring in aslong as they are the right ones for liverpool,,remember the old ways,,we never bought big names but they soon became worldwide names,,have faith in the king, has he ever done anything to lfc that wasnt in the best interest of the club..well then,,relax my fellow lfc fans coz kenny will let us all know when he has done some buisness,,my sources have told me kenny has had a sit down with diego,,he would fit in but remember,,rumours are just that,,lfc 4ever
YNWA
WOODSY,,BOOTLE BOY IN SKYE
king know very well about this club.. he knows liverpool’s trademark styleplay.. King already win 4 champions league, 9 league.. in kenny we trust.. whoever say kenny should buy this and that.. i think those people are better than dalglish.. why just dont replace him as manager??
I think the club have one eye on the new fifa/uefa rules coming into play in the near future which state that each 25 man squad must have at least 8 home grown players.Why wait until the year comes to implement the rule when every team will be trying to get their quotas up to start buying English players?
Kenny and Comolli are smart to get in early, get talented, young English players NOW rather than get caught up on the rush later.
Plus we can’t buy European players until July 1st so, gotta get English business done first?!
Kenny should think of picking players 4rm Africa,Spain,Italy and he should leave all those guys he is trying to pick. Because Liverpool need to grow. And not with all those England international in this team, he should try to sell some.