Long before the season started,when we were rumoured to be paying huge amounts for the likes of Downing,Henderson & Adam,having already paid around 35m quids for a certain Andy Carroll,i was very concerned with how the transfer dealings were panning out to be for us..I wrote an article ‘Why go English?’,where i emphasized the fact of having a mix of both English and Foreign players to have that right combination of players in attack and defence in order for us to succeed and finish in that Top 4..Taking in the performances of the current squad,id say its only Suarez,Enrique & Bellamy who’re proving their worth right now,so i wouldn’t say i was speaking nonsense at the time.
This may well be a premature judgement and i may well get butchered for it,but id be lying if i said that the signs of having a world class attack in the near future are looking very promising right now.
King Kenny thought of reforming the crux of the squad with homegrown british players,just like in our golden days..Not a bad plan,but it was something that i was very sceptic about from the very start.
Dont get me wrong,i have nothing but utmost respect for English players,but at that point of time,when we did have the resources to buy the necessary personnel,i think not only did we overpay for certain players but we also made a couple of wrong choices.
For Instance,Downing..A decent winger,but he still lacks that electric pace and vigour to perform..Heck we paid a staggering 20m for him,while Ashley Young,who’s obviously in the world class category was bought by Utd for just 16m!
With Carroll & Hendo,we splashed out 55m for the future,and i never expected them to make a huge impact from the offset anyway..Splashing cash for the future is actually a pretty sensible thing to do,but id rather think about the future after getting the present squad to the level of the other top sides..Take Chelsea,they had already got Drogba,Torres,Anelka & Sturridge up top,only then did they go out and pursue the 18 yr old Lukaku,who’s obviously not expected to play and chip in for the next couple of years,not until he gets to the level of the other strikers theyve got.
In the same context,it will take a couple of years for Carroll & Henderson to really shine for the team,but i don’t think we can afford another couple of years,or else players like Suarez will certainly leave us for higher ambitions.
All im saying is,when the team’s in need of recruitments,you’d want to think more about the present needs than the future..At that time,our present needs were much greater,i would’ve wanted us to go for established players than the players who are more likely to make an impact in the future,because of obvious reasons that we really needed immediate results to finish in the Top 4 this season.
What’s done is done,though..& ill still support and back these players to perform as long as they’re donning the Liverpool crest on their chest week in week out..Kenny has my full support,and i sure hope the team starts to gel now,just like the latter stages of last season.
But yea,if i were John Henry,i wouldn’t be too impressed right now.
I think we play good football to watch but we need a finisher to pair with Suarez, Andy Carroll is a bang average player, I can’t see any part of his game that is good. Suarez misses a lot of chances but he is amazing creatively, I think we are very good to watch………..!!!!
So true about henderson, cant disagree.
I have seen better players in the blue square division
henderson is really that bad,comolli f….d up with him
kenny should pick the players,and if carroll gets sold
comolli should be sacked!
so much nonsense. henderson will have a long career at anfield as a top player, and stop repeating this bullshit about 20 million. he cost 13m upfront and a possible 3.5 in add-ons.
The way kenny took Carroll under his wing seems to suggest it was him who wanted Carroll signed as well as the way he personally attended to Adam And Downing.
Commolli’s buys seem to have been Suarez,Henderson and Enrique because there were negotiations for Suarez before kenny was appointed and the other 2 did not receive the personal touch kenny seemed to shower on the others.
Commolli was also interested in the likes of Matuidi and he spoke openly about it but it figures Kenny wanted Adam instead hence that Matuidi link was abandoned. I am not a big fan of Commolli but I feel he is in a no win situation. If Liverpool win it will be because of kenny’s great buys but if the present performances persist then its likely Commolli will continue to be blamed for the bad buys.
There’s a reason England don’t do well internationally. Majority of their players are mediocre at best. Still can’t believe we went for Downing when we had a shot at Mata. Comolli must be kicking himself every time Mata scores or assists.
And I don’t care about the argument for wages or potential. We need to get back in the top 4 asap, not in 5 years by which time we’ll be left lagging behind.
I unfortunately agree. Henderson has just not been good enough yet, the same goes for Downing and Carroll. Buying British is expensive and not very good value of money. I would have rather seen us keeping Meireles in the squad and pursuing Mata in the summer. Mata is a better and more all round player than Downing. Meireles is a lot better than Henderson at this point, heck, Meireles is even better than Adam. Seeing a squad with Meireles and Mata in it is a lot more scary than seeing the names of Henderson and Downing.
I still have, for now, huge amount of respect and faith in what Kenny are trying to build. But if it doesn’t work out in the spring. I’m not so sure Kenny is the guy to manage Liverpool. Not after all the cash he has spent so far.
But don’t get me wrong, I really, really want Kenny to succeed here at Liverpool.
YNWA.
You cant judge Henderson already. He has been played out of position! In midfield he looks good.
You really cant,in fact he does show a lot of potential for me..But as i said,he’ll need time.
@karam-Time is what we don’t have dude!!!
@mike-A good player must be versatile,look at suarez and bellamy or fabregas,he play at the center and right before and yet still not his best position,so where would you suggest???
mike your talking through your a..e mate!
henderson is a big girls blouse,not ever going to be good enough for liverpool,and i am very worried about
carroll,and downing needs to grow a pair of balls and
start creating and scoring.
comment from a big girls blouse who clearly has no understanding of football
I think you’re judging a team too soon.
I think every manager should be sacked after 1 year if not successful just like Man Utd sacked Fergie after 1 year..you don’t build anything after a couple of month. For the fans who want ASAP, go support Man city..do people know LFC didn’t try for Mata or whoever they fancy.
@ niaz- The truth is if kenny had spent and choose wisely then we wouldn’t have being so frustrated each and every game,he had the money and player to choose from and yet he prefer adam more than meriles,the money we spend on all those flops i don’t think we gonna be up there challenging on the league,a very costly mistake,even though i support liverpool for the last 33 year because of kenny but you gotta admit his plan had backfire,fact is fact.
backfired after 8 games?? You’re a joke mate! I bet you were one of those fans who once slated Lucas and now love him!! The fact is apart from Spurs we have deserved to win all our games, kenny has sent his teams out to win, I do think we need another striker to play up along Suarez, but to say we should have got Mata is silly I doubt he would have signed for a team not competing in Europe!
idiotic ‘shopping list’ fans who think they know more than Dalglish. what a waste of space.
And even man city took mo’ than a yr 2 get Champions League Football & a trouphy.
How can you say if we’re not there or there about by spring kenny is not the man for the job? I go and watch Liverpool week in week out home away good or bad through thick and thin, and trust me under kenny we a million times better then previous seasons!!!! Don’t know what all the fuss is about we didn’t play well yday Norwich got what the deserved, I can say twice we’ve played bad this season, players like Carroll Henderson downing Adam. We’d OUR FANS behind them not one there backs, if this time last year any fan would of swapped for the postion we are in now league owners and financial positions have all improved, so let’s get off there backs and support them, don’t get me wrong I wasn’t happy with drawing at home with Norwich, but coming to anfield, is a big game for so called smaller clubs and it’s always gonna be tough for us!
Need not we’d :)
@redman 2185-You fool,We as a fan just give our comment doesn’t mean we’re not gonna support our team and manager,do you dig dude.
Be quite ya tit, if you opinion counted you’d be a manager, and u got that right fan, coz supporters go to the game to support the team
Do you honestly not know why we paid more for Downing than the mancs paid for Young? Downing had another year on his contract and the mancs had already bought Young. Villa therefore didn’t want to sell Downing and held out for more dosh… simple mate!
Fair enough bud but 20m is still a lot for a player like Downing,dont you think? Maybe the whole comparison with Ashley young’s transfer was irrelevant and needless but my whole point was how we overpaid for Downing.
IMO downing is the only suspect buy so far. 20m for a player who is turning 28 years old who at best will be a consistent squad player. He will always create chances but the numbers speak for themselves so far. (zero goals, zero assists)I hope I’m proven wrong and am behind him 100%. After all he didn’t set his price tag… we saw value in paying the amount villa wanted. (still think we shouldve been in for mata, nasri and even made a cheecky offer for a johnson)
‘assists’ is very misleading. Downing created many chances that we missed !! is that his fault ???
Unless they want da lad to create a chance & score @ da same time.
Naah m8 slight overeaction IMO. Henry has said more than one time that were building a tema and that would be an ongoing endeavour. I doubt he is worried.
The team will come good dude, all they are not doing right is converting chances.
This season Man City for instance have had about 20 shots on goal less than us yet are converting 18% of them.
We on the other hand only convert 8% of ours.
That for me is biggest factor. If we could match City’s percentage we would have more goals than them right now and probably on top of the log.
I reckon focus on fitness and finishing this week and well do well this weekend.
I hope the team does come good like you say Jevon,but its simply frustrating at the time.
karam ur writ up was gr8 KD shld akcept dat he has made mistake.every 1 culd c yestaday dat we needed a clinical finisher like torres,benz,higuain or any top strika to finish up dis game in d 1st half.KD shld plz pair agger nd carra.dnt mind my spellin.KOP TIL END
Yeah I do mind your spelling. It is horrible.
But we do need a good finisher. If only we had Suarez and Torres up front right now :(
What a poor article. You can not compare Young’s transfer with Downing’s for starters. On top of that, last season we lacked creativity all over the pitch. We have now created as many chances as city and united have. The only difference is not being able to finish those chances. Thats where it goes wrong. And that is not solely to blame to the news signings. For example, Kuyt has missed great opportunities in the last few games. We either need our players to start putting our chances away, get carroll up and firing or bring in a quality finisher in January.
Thats what im talking about Mike! Carroll is not gonna fire right away,he’ll need time,which sadly,we dont have any..we need to finish in the top 4 this year! Thats why i wanted us to sign a clinical finisher,a proven striker in the summer itself,we couldve hit the ground running..but sadly,Carroll is the one for the future,not the present..In a time where we needed immediate results,Carroll wasnt the ideal player to go for.
Sorry to let you know but building squads takes time, not a few months..it’s taken Man City 3 years to get we’re they are..in 08/09 season they spent 127million and still finished only 10th..its not like science or magic where you just add water here and Kabooom…
I like your experiment!! KABOUM! well i guess we were hoping with kenny at the helm, and a good system our experiment would come to fruitition faster then cities… but anyway…some things really just need time… who is to say that come December all the team gels and then we get the KABOUM we wanted!
Head in the sand hey?
I disagree 100%.
Still early days, give Kenny a chance. Talk to be after a couple of years.
We didn’t lose yesterday, Norwich is not a mediocre team both United & Chelsea struggled to beat them.
Im willing to give Kenny a couple of years myself,im not asking for him to be sacked or anything,not even close!
But this shows that we’re far from being a top side,coz top sides tend to get past the likes of norwich in the end. That’s all im saying.
Yes Karam we are, no one said we weren’t. Man Utd have had 25 years to build the squad while City & Chelsea spent millions.
Exactly. It will take a few years before a mentaility is build in in which every player always gives his best and you can win ugly games. We are getting there but it will take time.
Last season we had such an average 1st half of the season. Much worse than this years. We were really close to that 4th spot in the end. What I am trying to say is that we will start playing better and better and get compete for 4th spot
Yeah thats the thing. Both Chelsea and Man Utd beat them. and we didnt. At home too.. So it goes to show how far behind we are. Top 4 this year… we can forget that… With Downing, Adam and players of that ilk we are destined for a top 6th at best… Suarez will leave, Gerrard will retire and then what.. 100m well spent… I think not!
I bet you couldn’t be more negative even if you tried.
looks like he tried, but you’re spot-on !
I agree with Mike. This is a massive over-reaction to a poor result. The chances are being created but not converted. If we continue to play as we are, sooner or later a team are going to get a real hiding (hopefully Hodgson’s WBA). Remember that yesterday we hit the woodwork 3 times and Ruddy pulled off a world class save at the end.
Although Downing didn’t have his best day yesterday, I can think of at least 2 occasions he completed a successful cross, as he did against United. Had those 4 gone in, we’d be raving about him. For the last couple of years we’ve been crying out for players who can cross and Downing has so far not let us down on that front.
As for Henderson, I personally think he’s shown some good touches and is a great first time passer. Of course, he needs more time to settle but I’m sure he will and I see him as a long term investment. Maybe even replacing Gerrard.
Carroll, overpriced? Yes. His fault? No. I don’t have much of a problem with him, though his touch lets him down a bit too often. I have more of a problem with how we play when he’s in the side. If we’re 1-0 down with 10 to go then I don’t mind if we’re playing in long sometimes but for 90 minutes? No
Enrique is class and I don’t know of anyone who would disagree. Adam I see more as a squad player but Kenny seems to disagree and who am I to argue?
Bear in mind that no manager has ever or will ever have a flawless transfer record.
Agree
Great post!!!
Henderson replacing gerrard?????? ha!ha! are you on
drugs mate? some fans of this club dont have a clue!
comolli needs sacking for buying henderson.
the fans who don’t have a clue write like you
i.m watching a.c v lecce. Kk says we could not find a place where he can play he is pure class. We still being link we more english players and maxi gets a game with the reserves. Henderson can not play in the wing. I though keegan is suppose to help kk. Pacheco is better than carrol where is he?
utter nonsense
king should should go he wasnt managing any team 15 years.absolutly no tactics at all.bring back rafa
Sack rafa, bring bak rafa, carrol is overpriced & a very average playa bt sum fans clamourd dat carrol shud av startd against Norwich. Others say Hodgson wud av bn better… Hey av sum patience wit’ diz lad. Ope 2 get better next match.
When you look at the player ratings on the LFC.tv forum everyone is being so negative. If we would have won yesterday everyone would be raving about our team. Some people really need to see things in perspective. We are much better than last year. Last year we were close to 4th with a much worser squad. 4th place is reachable.
absolutely spot-on comment. if these people supported the team with as much noise as they whinge, we would do much better
City have just slaughtered manure………………..what a lovely Sunday 1-6 at Old Trafford is a laugh, I think!!!!!………..we should have beat them last week………average i would say!!!!!
Was on here to say the same thing you beat me!!! we should have really beat them! with man city’s victory I forgot about our draw!!! SIX _ ONE!!!!! I hope SAF does not sleep at night!!!!! DE GEA really saved them last week!!!!!!! WE SHOULD HAVE WON…
Then how on Earth that KK is refusing to play Craig Bellamy all the time??? It’s his only ‘positive’ so far
what was the purpose of buying
english? so they could settle
immediately. adam morgan, coady, sterling, suso, pacheco, would hav
needed time to settle. lfc fans would
hav bin very patient with them.
u r asking people to give time
players who wer playing top flight b4.
fact is we bought decent players. lfc
is not a decent club. its a world class
club. we need world class players.
we let aqua n merieles go.
i hope come jan kk n comoli dont compromise. eriksen/ gortze. hazard/ johnson/ marko marin.khedira/ m villa/ siccoko. damiao /higuan. sell of cole, lucas, maxi, skrtel, kuyt.
if this doesnt happen spurs willbeat
us to 4 th spot.
another stupid ‘shopping list’. sell Lucas ? the lad will probably and deservedly be our next captain.
Are modern football fans nuts?
We are only TEN games into the season and fans are already writing the season off,players off and King Kenny off when was the league or European places won in October?
Man City have a high number of English players in their
squad Richards and Hart paying over the top for Barry,Lescott,Milner and Adam Johnson.
no,modern fans like modern people lost patience and we want immediate success, we want information at our tips, we want fast cars and we want fast connection, and we want immediate success just like everything in life is… we want to see results fast and at finger tips… this is the down side of “the modern world”… sad…
Hey dudes the topic is not about just building a team it’s also about the lagre sum of transfer we spent on average player,emample if a mazda gonna cost you a million would you go for it or would you go for a farari???
yes I agree… however the response i get every time I ask is “top players will not come if we dont have Champ League” i dont know how much of it is true?! Suarez came and we did not promise anything… but i agree this is a question I always ask myself…
I agree to a certain extent with the article, its about time the management owned up to the fact and be answerable to the money spend and the result or lack of it we are getting so far with 30% of the season down. We are a team that always plays well in a match against top 5 clubs somehow seems to loose the footing when we play the bottom half of the table. Also keeping in mind we spend quite a bundle to draw against teams like Norwitch is very disheartening for any fans wjo wants to see the team lift the cup not just looking at the top 4 finish, the way things are going so far i am not so sure anymore, esp with arsenal and totnham playing their games n collecting all the points. Hope we are able to claw back to top 4 finish.
an article that defeats its own argument ! you argued that the team should be a mix of english and foreign, but thats exactly what it is, or have reina, skrtel, agger, enrique, lucas, kuyt, suarez etc suddenly become english. its time for an end to these stupid comments about the price of players. firstly so many keep quoting inaccurate figures. secondly, the price is usually more a reflection of the state of a contract that a ratio of quality. the same idiots that slaughtered lucas now doing the same to henderson and carroll. are they really liverpool fans ? if they are they are disproving the old claim that we had knowlegeable fans. knee-jerk reactions from childish onlookers.
If you can read clearly i meant the transfers,not the WHOLE current crop of players that we have,the majority of the players that youve mentioned were already in the squad when the summer transfer window opened.
& again,if u can read clearly,im NOWHERE criticizing the duo,in fact im supporting them that they would need more time to shine,thats all i said..Dont twist my words into something i dont mean.