We have to buy Pierre Emerick.... why? Because the man wears crystal cleats!! please log in to view this image
He is shockingly greedy plus I still don't get how our front 3 system will suit him (unless he's played through the middle as an out and out striker). He struggles from wide positions. He doesn't enjoy it either obviously. It's all very well saying "he can play there" but is he really the best fit for a wide forward position for the money? As I said before I think those wide roles require players with a good footballing brain. Sturridges only asset I can see is pace. All well and good to have pace, its something we've missed for years. Does it really suit the way we play under BR though? How often has Sterling managed to stretch his legs this year? How often do we even play the ball in front of him? Not often. As I've said before playing thirty passes to go twenty yards forward doesn't suit pacey players at all.
Sterling is only 18 and is still growing. He cannot play ever game. Suso always comes off after an hour. Push them to hard and over play them and they will have terrible injuries in the future. Also, even though they are playing well, Sterling and Suso are not quite getting the numbers of goals and assists we need from those positions to push us up towards 4th place. Only Suarez has more than one league goal for us this season. He has 10, 10 times the amount that any other player has scorer. We need goals all over the team.
og is doing well, but get your point lol others need to chip in, haven't made my mind up yet on Borinni. is he due back soon any one know?
I can understand the argument that these two players can only improve us so much i.e. they will improve the squad but not by much. However, it extremely difficult to jump levels in a short amount of time. If these two players can improve us by helping us climb the table and get into the top 4, then great. Mission accomplished. That's when we can target the better players who can help us mount a serious title challenge. And so forth. I think these two players fit the philosophy that Rodgers is adopting although Sturridge's attitude and work rate could be questioned, however I'm sure Rodgers is the man to get the best out of him.
All that is true. It has nothing to do with my arguments re Sturridge not being the answer to any of our problems though other than that he'll be an extra squad number. So let's say Ince and Sturridge in and Cole, and Downing out. How much stronger are we? A bit but not enough to justify £18 million bloody quid which will probably come from sales (Cole, Downing and Mandy in the summer) .I've never suggested Sterling and Suso play every game btw. It was one of my biggest arguments when people were saying we'd be fine after the summer blunders. We'd have to rely on our young players way too much. I don't want them playing every game...I want us signing "top class" players and having the kids as options for some games. I want us bringing in better quality than Sturridge. Simple as that.
What makes you say he fits? Work rate = ****e, attitude = ****e, passing = ****e, team play = ****e, brainpower = soft as ****e, team play = ****e, ability to get into Chelseas first eleven....etc etc...anyone see where I'm coming from here?? Let's hope BR gets more out of him than Borini
that's my feeling on it as well, how much will we have really improved by spending £18 mill odd? and not enough to really justify it for me. not likely to happen, but be nice to get Cole off the wage bill in Jan,(performances of late have been good never know lol) and then maybe we could attract a decent striker and offer wages that they will be interested by, think we are trying to do things too cheaply and doesn't always pay as we lose out on players, although i accept wage bill was a joke, don't think it is now is it?
Bill - don't get me wrong, Sturridge isn't my top target or even on my list of targets but the transfer looks like it is very likely to be going through so I'm trying to see the reasons why Rodgers is willing to spend a large chunk of our budget on him. Why is Rodger choosing to buy Sturridge now when he had the chance to do so in the summer? Well, at least it looks like we'll be saving £3m! As I've said before, Sturridge's workrate and attitude are questionable but I do see a technically sound and fast player. The game intelligence will come with good training and experience, and Rodgers has a knack of getting the best out of under-achieving wingers in Routledge, Sinclair and Dyer. Last seasons stats: Sturridge/Luis Suarez Tackle Success: 87.5% / 74.29% (I don't have the number of tackles attempted) Interceptions: 18 / 13 Dribbled Past: 13 / 8 Pass Completion: 82% / 75% Conversion Rate: 34% / 22% Goals: 11 / 11 Assists: 3 / 3 Sturridge under AVB was pretty good and I think Rodgers can get the best out of him. Minutes played: 2268 / 2557
