4 weeks to go, one wonders if the reality is we are looking to sell to buy or what... but it seems like we know the two deals already don't we. just a question of when.
I´d like to see 3 coming in, Joe Allen, Dempsey & Gaston R or a similar type player would be very, very handy additions if rumours are to be believed. Offloading Aqualani, Carroll & one of Charlie Adam, Jay Spearing, Shelvey or Joe Cole would go some way to compensating the outlay & improving the squad. Looking forward to it !
at the right prices (which it seems is all we'll do... maybe...). then potentially all three improve something. I think surely dempsey and ramirez vy for the same slot though.... to me allen > spearing but is allen and lucas going to play? who knows. If i were writing a midfield 6 it'd be gerrard lucas, adam then henderson spearing, shelvey right now so obviously that second three needs to improve. improvement can be byuying or by them developing. (note in my mind aquilani is gone) If i were writing my front 6 then i guess it would be suarez borini downing then cole carroll and sterling. I can see why we'd want to add one more here (we do have suso and pacheco too) If rodgers gets 3 in i'll be suprised, i think 2 is his lot and those are dempsey and allen... we've offloaded kuyt, and maxi and expect us to offload aquilani. not sure who else will go right now but feel if carroll goes we could be in bother for options as a no 9.
Who took this thread off topic? What Rodgers has said, or more importantly hasn't said proves that a few are blowing everything out of proportion. Hence my sarcastic 'between the lines' post. We have people having a go at Rodgers before they know any reasoning behind his decisions, what he really thinks about Carroll, his transfer targets, what he is allowed to do this transfer window etc.
I think we are getting far too midfield centric. We need competition for Jose, and possible replacements for Agger and/or Skrtel and maybe even Pepe. Until the window closes, I think we need to be thinking of positions we are lacking in, rather than having 24 midfield players to choose from.
I think we should have 6 midfielders, 3 starting, 3 back up. Then an extra 2 from youth level who can cover. Lucas, Henderson, Gerrard, Shelvey, Allen and Spearing will do me. I really do hope Adam goes, I know he's not the worst player in the world...but I would much rather be more comfortable knowing Allen, Hendo or Shelvey will play there. I have a feeling Rodgers would choose any of them over him anyway. The 3 man miefield doesn't need to be full of flair and skill. They just need to be good in possesion and able to get the ball back. Lucas and Allen would be key in this.
We REALLY need to keep Shelvey. He's one of the reasons I have faith i our younger players. Hopefully BR is not buying so he can fully understand and assess or squad. Buying before he knows exactly what we need would be foolish - besides he'll understand the mental strength / attitude of players well only after he sees them play in competitive matches. This is more important than people think - some players are amazing in training and friendlies but become anonymous in big / competitive matches. I'm expecting significantly more activity in the next transfer window, when BR knows the squad better and has a clearer idea of what he / we need.
who knows... I said in may 6 players were needed. two players i thought would go have gone as older guys and we still have bellamy gerrard and carra as old stagers now. we've bought one guy so far so are we improving or merely replacing those who go? who knows? IMO i've no issue with rodgers buying another midfielder as i think a midfield of henderson spearing and shelvy looks scary... they could improve due to their youth bu we lost the FA cup final due to not having the abiltiy to compete there. I do agree with noble about the back line and have said a CB and a LB are part of my 6 players i'd want to see.... (for the record i had said LB,CB, 2 strikers, 1 midfielder, 1 winger) I think we are looking at a process, 2 weeks ago i was saying still 6 weeks to go... nows its 4 weeks. we can only judge the process at the end honestly. 31st august we will know a lot. we can conclude a few things but not everything. if we come to aug 31 with 4 in and 4 out thats one thing but if its 1 in 4 out thats another.... if its 2 in 4 out and a net income not expenditure that's another.
i agree on shelvey. his positioning under rodgers is exactly what i like to see in a midfielder, effort levels? no so sure due it it being friendlies. the few games near then end of last year were very good in that regard. I think he can keep improving and is doing so... last august he looked weak and hollow legged, when he came back form balckpool he looked better but still not there. by may he looked much more able and now he is as good as anyone we have. Good for him is what i can say. Hopefully henderson within 6months will be really doing well and bedded into a position. (no more out of position argument) I think personally if we saw that 5-6 kids were actually given squad berths ala utd in 1995 and rodgers was using them cos he thinks they are good then fair enough.... henderson, shelvey, kelly, sterling suso, robinson, flanagan wisdom. if you add suarez, coates, borini to that we've a very young team with some potential for sure.
and it all started with Kenny Dalglish... I think we have promising youngsters but I do think we need to have experience and if we buy only 3 players but all 3 fit what we need and are Quality then I will be OK with that, even if we are rid of 6, as those 6 wouldn't play a part anyway.
I'd be happy with a Allen for the midfield 3, would sit well next to Lucas...and Ramirez for a bit of flair up front. If we got Dempsey, where would he fit in? Would he be used for rotation? Gerrard, Borini... anywhere in the front 6?
