once. same as atletico in spain. maybe we will again but only when their oil doping causes issues like when RA sacks tuchel or when city self harm.
It looks like the club have taken the view that it’s far more important to tie down key players this summer. Who knows the finer details of our finances but it seems we can’t afford to dish out new contracts (which comes with increase wages, signing on fees, bonuses, agent fees) and go and buy more players (especially as we only juat got rid of Shaq and still haven’t moved on Origi). We currently have 1 foreign slot available. In theory next summer I’d imagine that will be at least 2 with origi gone, maybe 3 with Adrian (is karius taking up another slot?) If we don’t strengthen next season then he’s something is very wrong. We haven’t spent big big money for 4 years, there are no urgent contracts that need sorting so there should be no excuses not to invest. If we just look though, Tsimikas should provide more cover at LB this season. CB is now sorted. Gini hasn’t been replaced externally but clearly klopp thinks Elliott will do more than just a job in that role so why replace him. Jones is another year older now so you’d like to think he’ll be involved and you’d hope Thiago doesn’t miss half the season through injury. Saidd before we have 8 central midfielder for 3 positions. Unless some moved on how can you justify signing another one? And that case who are you moving on? Hendo Milner ox are home grown so if move on the other 2, you need to buy a home grown midfielder to replace. Keita, not sure would find a buyer atm. Fab, Thiago, Elliott, jones aren’t going anywhere. So logically what do you want the club to do? Think the one place we all want strengthening is up top and Chelsea game showed we lack something different, but finding someone to come in who is good enough to compete that front 4 but knows they may be on the bench for 1/3 of the season could be a struggle.
We got 90+ points two years straight, won CL and PL. If we invested in a 4th centre back last season, we would have won the title IMO. We're in a fantastic position where we have a good group of players but we just need to supplement with a couple more players to improve the level of competition (and also for succession planning). This does not require significant spend. We just need to keep topping up the squad every now and again, and we will compete with the oil boys. I have no doubt about it.
I see the argument for not signing a midfielder, and we definitely need an attacker. For midfield - Naby, Ox, Hendo, Milner are all injury prone (there's a case to add Thiago to that list as well). Fabinho also picks up niggles whilst Elliot and Jones are still youngsters. We have the numbers but I'm not sure that the quality is there. Now we have to look at the composition of those midfielders - we have an abundance of ability for that right role (Elliot, Thiago and Hendo). But we only really have Naby who can play the left side (now that Gini is gone). I don't want to see Hendo there again but perhaps Jones or Thiago can play there? We have outgrown Ox and he needs to go IMO. Milner is becoming more unreliable (physically) and will play less games but he's painfully slow. He is good to come off the bench but he really shouldn't be starting games anymore. My question on contracts is why have we waited to do them all in one go? It screams poor planning in my opinion.
Is spending your solution to everything? We've known all along that we weren't going to splash out a load of dosh so why get so angry about it now? It's not happening - it never looked like it was. Time to forget about fantasy football and get behind the team we do have.
You do realise our recent success has come from buying quality players like Allison, VVD, Fabinho, Mane, Salah and Bobby? The biggest fantasy is that some fans genuinely believe that Klopp inherited this squad of players for free and just magically started winning. It's just a shame that the lack of ambition from our owners seems to have transcended down to the fans it seems.
There may just be hopes of bringing young Kaide Gordon through this season. He offers the something different up top we are looking for. It isn't the ideal situation but we know Klopp would rather develop what he has than spend big, Virgil and Alisson aside.
If you moved ox and Milner on, (first you have to find people wanting them, but say you did) who are you buying to replace given they count as 2 home grown players for both PL and CL?
Saint - the reason I'm 'angry' is because we're constantly fed excuses every year for the lack of spending. - Can't buy because we have too many non HG. We then sold Gruijic and Shaqiri - Can't spend because of Covid - we were told that the RedBird investment would help LFC mitigate against the losses and operate at normal levels - Can't compete with City and PSG. But literally every club in the league has outspent us, including some Championship teams Now please don't confused with me wanting to buy players .. with ... me wanting to do a City and spend £100m on a single player, or me wanting to do what Arsenal did and spend £120m on crap. We simply need 2-3 players each year to refreshen up the squad. That's not asking for the world is it, and if it is, did you have a problem when the old LFC teams used to do this after winning titles? Didn't we buy the likes of Barnes, Aldrige and co after won a a league in 87?
I don't know pal - but given how smart our recruitment / operation has been, surely they would have an idea on how to go about this.
I agree you’d hope so. But I’m trying to think of a home grown midfielder that we could get to replace them. Rice Phillips Bellingham JWP Maddison they’re pretty much only ones I can think off that are current first team regulars. Bellingham I’d take, but Dortmund arent gonna sell him this summer and would cost 100m. Maddison maybe but last year and but he is forms massively dipped. The other 3 are average players IMO and would still cost 80m for rice and prob 50m for other 2.
But that's different to what you said before. Competing isn't dominating. We expect to compete this season as well. Will we win? Maybe, maybe not. But in a horrific year last season we still finished third, above Chelsea and only a couple of points behind Man U. And we have supplemented with players: Konate, Tsimikas, Jota, Thiago and Minamino. We can argue whether they're all good enough, but that's what, £120 million in the last year and a half? Net spend is low but it's not like we've not bought anyone and with the possible exception of Wiji, I don't think many of us were lamenting the departures of Lovren, Lallana or Shaqiri too much. We're doing exactly what your post says. Would I personally like more? Of course. But only if the club feels that the player is worth it and viable. The two most-linked names for forwards were probably Raphinha and Sarr. Are they good enough? Do they want to move? No idea. Last season the club obviously felt Jota was the better option, and would appear to have been justified.
I think home grown will either be academy (Trent), young to be developed (Gomez, Elliot) or end-of-contract (Milner, Ox), otherwise we won't get the value we're looking for, unless it's someone we feel is absolutely key and pay over-the-odds a la Virgil or Allison.
And we still have them. We still have more or less the team that won the PL and CL. Perhaps an incremental improvement from judicious signings and younger players maturing will be enough to maintain that level. Or perhaps it won't and we'll be found wanting, but the point is that this is what we have, and raging against it won't change that. The fantasy is in believing the world has to work the way we decide it should. Do that and you'll be forever disappointed. We've known for a long time what FSG are like, and in Klopp they have the ideal manager to get the best out of what they'll give him - someone who doesn't want or expect to be regaled with new signings all the time. Expecting it to change is like waking up to your missus every morning and expecting her to have transmogrified into [insert fantasy figure here]. Not going to happen, so just best to get used to it.
I would love Bellingham but I fear we'll be priced out of any move. I suppose Elliot could take a HG spot in the squad (although he is u21 and doesn't;t need to be registered). I think Harvey Barnes could be a realistic shout for us (for the front 3).
Barnes has looked decent. Wonder how he’ll get on this season or if last year was a one off but one to keep an eye on sure.
Is dominating the right word? Probably not - but our manager and this club deserve to be winning more than just 1 PL and 1 CL. This squad was absolutely incredible from 2018-2020. We got CL qualification via the skin of our teeth last season - imagine if we hadn't? We can just about buy anyone now lol! We now sold Shaqiri and Gini has gone - that's two experienced players gone without replacement. Now I hope the likes of Taki, Origi and Elliot can fill those boots - we're now in position relying on two attackers who have barely made any impact for us to start scoring goals (and to provide cover when Mane and Salah are at AFCON), and a 17 year old to step up in midfield. We're leaving a lot to chance IMO. There are players out there. We're kidding ourselves if we think there is no value out there.
