Transfer Rumours Transfer Rumours thread

see i disagree with this as the club has bought a lot of very expensive players and at times often seeming to overpay . More to the point those very expensive players reduce the amount available to build the build squad depth imo .

 

I think that Klopp sees them as the pieces needed to complete the jigsaw puzzle. Sometimes they misfire, but it's a far, far better plan than the scattergun approach we had under previous managers.
I'm a damn sight happier with our policy now than the one we had under Rodgers.

 

Tbf Bobby's doing very well this season. The signs of regression aren't hastening, they are slowing down. If he keeps coming up with the goods then he deserves a good extension. If you listen to interviews or podcasts you will hear nearly every player say that Bobby is the most valued player in the team. Maybe Klopp and the players know more than us fans about getting the blend right.

 

oh agreed - i was just pointing out that under FSG we have splashed the cash on big ticket transfers which sometimes seems to be ignored .

 

who are the past mistakes you're thinking of?

 

2015/16 Squad to 22/23 Squad

Simon Mingolet - Alisson (big Fee)
Adam Bogdan - Adrian (free)
Danny Ward - Kelleher (youth)
Nathaniel Clyne - Trent (youth)
José Enrique - Robertson (8mil?)
Kolo Touré - Matip (free)
Dejan Lovren - VVD (big fee)
Joe Gomez - still here
Mamadou Sakho - Konate - (average feed, which is mad at 34mil)
Alberto Moreno - Tsimikas
Tiago Ilori - Phillips (free)
Martin Škrtel - Not replaced
Jon Flanagan - Ramsay (nominal fee)
James Milner - Still here
Philippe Coutinho - thaigo via wijnaludm.
Jordan Henderson - still here
Adam Lallana - OX (massive overpsend)
Lucas - Fabinho (large fee 45mil)
Emre Can - Keita (massive free 52mil)
Joe Allen - Elliott (nominal fee)
Kevin Stewart - Jones (youth)
Christian Benteke - Nunez via mane (massive fees)
Roberto Firmino - still here
Daniel Sturridge - Salah (going rate fee)
Divock Origi - Carvalho. (mall fee)
Danny Ings - Jota (large fee)
no forward - No forward v minaimno as option 6.

In general theres plenty of "squad depth" but the players we ought to be reliying on are failing, ox and keita and others are aging out and not getting replaced.

When i say make do i mean "milner and henderson" not "milner or Henderson" thats a decision that smacks of making do. we have two leaders but aging leaders there and one would do. maybe milner is on quite small money, i don't know.

We've worked smart with the cash available and rebuilt but we've not recreated that gap in the forward line we had before 5 not 6 into 3.

I don't think big fees are the problem. I honestly think not cutting our losses is the problem. ox and keita should have been out the door 2 years ago and accept we ****ed up but her we are seeing them run down to zero value which imo is doubling the loss for virtually no playing return.

eg.

Kieta. bought 52mil
should Sell 25mil after a nightmare 2 years.
actual? 0 fee at end of contract for about 10 games extra max

 

ill answer for jimmy

henderson and Milner.

 

giving Henderson massive contract innit

Theres no evidence that giving henderson 1 year and him walking would lead to us buying a top young player.

theres evidence that we want to buy cheap or develop with carvalho and elliott and jones (and you can't really lose on that)

but developing to sell and having a really good first team are kind of mutally exclusive. you have to have the players right now and be using the money form these developing and developed squad players to keep the first 11 strong.... through purchasing more.

 

Henderson still has his uses and is still important to the club. You can say the same for Milner, just not as a midfielder. Done a sterling job at full-back recently and arguably in the running for MotM.

 

It's just the midfield really isn't it. We got Diaz and Nunez to refresh the front. We got Konaté and Ramsay for defence. We really needed a new established name in midfield. Not going for 2nd best option was a mistake and by next summer we should be looking for another defender. That's why imo we need to keep Bobby for numbers up top. We're relying on Jota and Diaz to keep fit and Darwin not to nut anyone.

 

We're doomed then.
I love Nunez - I think he has a great future, but the guy has a short fuse and he has to get a grip on that.

 

Bobby's goals are masking his overall performance. Granted, he is scoring which is actually quite unusual for him. But his all round performances are still poor - he doesn't knit the play, he doesn't defend as well as he used, he doesn't create and scoring isn't his forte. He's been regressing since we won the CL - that was his peak season for us.

I'm not denying that Bobby is a good professional and good in the dressing room - but we can't keep onto players forever. There are clear signs of regression across the squad and we're in this position today because of the lack of ruthlessness with certain players.

 

Not sure what he offers.

He's been dreadful on the pitch, and supposedly his real value is his leadership yet the team look sh*t lol. It wasn't long ago that the media was telling us that Hendo (and Milner) wouldn't allow standards to drop lol.

 

It is largely the midfield yes.

The slippery slope is under Henderson and Milner and Thiago and now Fabiano. that's one half of the midfield portion of the squad.

when the other half of the squad is ox, keita, elliott and jones then theres nobody to take the slack up from the guys who are struggling and need more time between performances.

I have nohting against jones and elliott, thats good business to develop players.

I have said i think it should have been and OR not and AND with milner and henderson

But the real issue is keita and ox leaves us a massive hole in the squad that the young players can't fill and the old players just look even older trying to make up.

When we turn up to play Arsenal away and minute 1 thaigo runs up the park half pressing and gets passed round then trotts back and leaves the hole and henderson forgets to track what can you do.

when henderson is blown off the park by man utd and Eriksen its serious.

We have been run off the park this year, thats #realism and neither ox nor keita have been present to help one iota. they are take up squad slots and wages of two senior, in their prime players.

the defence has been rank at times, the forwards look weak as well but most of all its keeping the lines together and compact and being able to get to the press and then back in shape effectivey. We've scored enough to be competitive largely but then havejust looks so weak and throw in the odd goal here and there is games we should be breezing past.

fulham. 2-2 absolutely **** display under energetic press by fulham. battled back in this game
palace 1-1 battled for draw after losing goal on break stupidly.
Brighton 3-3. again same story. throwing in stupid goals not closing space and letting an lwb score 3. still battled back to get to 3-2 and threw it away again
Arsenal 2-3. it wasn't deserved but again battled back after throwing in poor goal.
Forest 0-1. absolutely **** performance thye had no game plan bar defend and we couldn't even leave shape to prevent a **** goal.
Leeds 1-2. absolutely threw in first goal and at 1-1 chasing threw in another. totally unnecessary

It all about closing the gaps in formation and getting into shape quickly. old men can run forward but trot back. thats 12 points absolutely throw on the ground rather than won IMO. Either but making it a struggle to get back at sides willing to defend or by just being **** and not having any urgency or life about us.

that would put us on 34 points. think on that. 3 points behind the run away leaders.

Even half it and we would be looking at being in 5th just close to spurs and not feeling as bad.

More legs = better shape and better results.

 

That's without even mentioning Melo.

If, as expected, Keita, Ox, Milner and Melo all leave in the summer, that's four spots and four players' worth of wages freed up. I don't really expect any of them to come, but add, say, Bellingham, Mount and Tielmanns to the squad for one fee (Bellingham), one medium fee (Mount, due to contract expiring in 2024) and a free transfer (Tielemanns) and it looks a lot better. But any half-decent and fit players would currently be an improvement on Keita, Ox and Melo.

Apart from RF the rest of the squad looks quite sorted for now.

 

I don’t disagree that we needed to replace some of the players who have peaked…..but, and it’s a huge but….under our current model, we simply cannot. Yes, I think we had budget for one quality player for midfield this season but they were not available or chose elsewhere. In any case, likelihood is that we need three!!

So, given (a) the players we wanted weren’t available or went elsewhere and (b) we needed three, we had money for one, I can understand the clubs approach. I do think that the demise of the entire midfield has caught the club….well, everyone, out tbh. The scale of the decline is astonishing and certainly not planned for imo.

 

Maybe he’s scoring more now because he’s focussed on getting into the box more and concentrating on that and conserving energy, rather than spending 90% of the game running around making tackles?

Without his goals this season we’d be in an even worse position.

He’s obviously not the future, but if getting him a new contract means we can focus on brining him 2 new midfielders then surely that’s a good option.

Keep front 5 of diaz Jota Nunez firm Salah and buy 2 world class midfielders.

or let Bobby leave on a free, have to spend £50m on another forward and only leave money for 1 more midfielder

Hes a question for you jimmy. Keep Bobby and get rid of milner and being in 2 midfielders.

or get rid of Bobby, keep Milner for another year and bring in 1 midfielder and 1 forward?

 

He said in a recent interview that Luis Suarez had told him that playing in the PL was different to anywhere else. Opponents will constantly try and unsettle you and (paraphrasing) trash talk you but you have to keep calm and not rise to it.

Easily said. I think he is setting more. I genuinely think the constant irritation of Anderson? took him by surprise. I like having a nasty so and so in the team providing they are the ones dishing it out (not injuring players I hasten to add) and not retaliating . He is on course to be a fan favourite. He needs to make sure it happens by earning respect and not letting the fans down.

 

You've put a lot of thought into that. One thing you haven't mentioned is the mental fatigue from the mammoth effort that went into last season. Mental fatigue can cause all sorts of physical problems from slowing the body down to being susceptible to injury and infections. We all know how pushing yourself to the limit physically can have longer lasting effects. I think the team needs to run (or walk ) through the 'pain' and out the other side. Better performances will come. A couple of transfer windows doing some great business will help as well.

 

That's all you need - Luis Suarez advising you on how to behave in the Premier League.