Official Summer Signings / Rumours / Information Thread

yeah, i am thinking that we just need to start working more on strategy here. I just think that i am seeing "clumps" of players in our squad rather than a broadly balanced one.

Sterling, ibe, itcu, similar? whats the strategy behind buying the porto guy? what was the strategy behind assaidi?

suso, teixteria, coutinho, alberto? all similar? all 20? whats the plan there.... throw stuff against a wall and hope something sticks?

you get my point? are we writing off players before they even get developed? we wrote off ince and silva and kaclinlic (s?) to bring on sterling and now two of those look like prem players already... are we now going to surplant stelring with a kid out of porto?

If we buy someone like coutinho i've no issue of course. it might be tough on teixteria that he's chances become limited and he's got to go but the one thing that would annoy me is if we bought alberto and he turns out to be an assaidi not a coutinho...

 

The echo has some interesting insights built into it's latest LFC headline concerning Alberto. As we all know the spanish babe in arms has arrived for his medical and no less than guillem ballague has said we should be happy with this, on the other the Echo report less good news on a number of fronts.

"Mkhitaryan flew to Vienna, Austria on Thursday. Shakhtar are currently at an Alpine training camp, and with no deal in place with Liverpool, the 24-year-old is now expected to join up with his teammates, with his representatives continuing negotiations on his behalf. He is understood to be keen to move to Merseyside, though there are likely to be rivals for his signature.

The Reds remain confident of completing a £9m deal for Sunderland goalkeeper Simon Mignolet and, as revealed in the ECHO on Thursday, are leading the race for FC Porto's Ghanaian winger Christian Atsu.

Their bid to sign Schalke defender Kyriakos Papadopoulos, however, is over. The Reds' interest in the Greek international has cooled after initial negotiations with the German club proved fruitless.

Liverpool rate Papadopoulos, and value him at around £12m, but Schalke's insistence on a deal worth around £20m means the deal is no longer an option, with Rodgers now set to pursue other central defensive targets. Ajax's Toby Alderweireld is a potential option."

It would seem my work to learn how to spell Mkhitaryan has not yet proved wise given the protracted negotiations still ongoing. The echo report we have given ip on Papadopoulos who i also seem to have wasted my time learning to spell, though in this case given the risk he is I am not too unhappy. I feel they are simply name dropping after this point.

Thought?

 

Fixed.

 

But how can we know?
I don't think anyone expected Coutinho to make the immediate impact that he has, and maybe we expected more from Assaidi.
As ever, we can only wait and see how they settle. If we need, say, three players and we buy three and two don't fit then we're in schtuck. Buying six might seem extravagant but it increases our chances of getting what we need.
If they can be brought in on a reasonable budget then maybe that's a better policy than throwing big money away on the likes of Carroll, Downing, Hendo etc.
(I think Hendo is a decent player,btw- just not worth what we paid for him.)

 

Thanks Zingy. What the **** is he playing at?

 

mito's just keeping you on your toes, he knows being unpredictable makes you more interesting.........

 

LFC transfer Strategy:

Are LFC greedily buying up young talent with the hope one works? I am thinking that we just need to start working more on strategy here. I am seeing "clumps" of players in our squad rather than a broadly balanced squad.

For instance Sterling, ibe and the new rumour Astu,the not all similar? If they are where is the strategy behind buying the Porto guy? What was the strategy behind assaidi? Even more lets look to the central area Suso, teixteria, coutinho and now alberto, again are they not all similar players? and are they all about 20? Where is the strategic planning here? I think its throw stuff against a wall and hope something sticks?

I hope you guys see my poin there as over the past 3 years we have written off players before they even get developed such ince and silva and kaclinlic (s?) in order to bring on sterling and now two of those explayers look like premiership standard players already... are we now going to supplant sterling with a kid out of porto? On the other hand if we buy someone like coutinho then of course i've no issue, it might be tough on others like teixteria that his chances become limited and he's got to go but the one thing that would annoy me is if we bought alberto and he turns out to be an assaidi not a coutinho.

All in all I just wonder when i see our first team full of attacking options of one type but no options for a striker to lead the line or a defensive midfielder to challenge lucas.


FIXED YOUR FIX

 

Ooooooooooooh! Touched a raw nerve has he?

 

I would certainly agree that knowing is the great imponderable. However if we have Sterling, Suso and teixteria not to mention Ibe and others we should already know where they are going, I also think that we do seem to be flooded in certain positions and sparse on others so i would be interested to see us bring in a 20 year old midfielder rather than another 20 year old winger/second line forward. On another point we still have Yesil to come back again so if we do buy a young striker what happens there, we have Coady as a DM and Spearing to come home so again what happens?

I am trying to write a senior squad listing with 2 players in each position and I just see gaps where we are not linked to anyone, has anyone else done this?

 

no, just playing.

 

I know. I was only playing too

 

I think that we could potentially sell the ones that don't work out at a profit. So I'm not too concerned.

 

I agree that there are gaps. It's early days however and we don't know what the club is revving up for over the next few weeks.
It's surely inconceivable that we can see the holes in the squad and the powers-that-be can't?

The one thing that concerns me is that we bring in too many new players and lose any continuity that we may have. It could work out ok but seems very risky to me.

 

I've been thinking what positions I'd like us to sign players for. Our back up keeper is Brad jones, Our back up left back is our right back, our centre backs are mostly useless and we dont have a proper defensive midfielder at all.

 

Reading defender Alex Pearce, 24, signs a new contract at Madejski Stadium

 

Good.

 

.

 

re: the above plus answers...

WHOOOO HOOOO!!!!!!

we were told it was completely untrue in May but hearing it adds confidence.

 

the senior 22 i was thinking on is based on a 4-2-3-1 to 4-3-3 type flexibility, here are the names and positions i wrote out; please do note I am totally against false 9 type positions as I feel more goals come from being in the box than running away from it and hoping someone gets there, especially with gerrard's delivery of early ball.

GK: Reina and jones; I do not see a single youth capable of being a no 3.

RB: Johnson and kelly. Wisdom to be loaned leaving Flanagan and mclaughlin as emergency cover.

LB: Enrique, GAP. I see Robinson developing but injury set him back so I need a look in preseason to see if his spell in a relegation fight taught him defensive positioning.

RCB: Skertl, Toure - We should be selling skertl so this will be a gap. Kelly to cover

LCB: Agger. GAP. I see coates as a flop so i am reticent to include. Rodgers would not play him in a 4 and oldham showed why.

DCM: Lucas, GAP. I don't see any youths really capable here nor spearing really. Coady is marginal to my mind, he'll miss preseason with england so i think he'll miss his one chance to prove himself.

CM: Gerrard, allen, Henderson. Again, is there a youth in this slot? the difference between gerrard and the other two is stark

ACM: Coutinho, Alberto, Suarez. youths include textiera and suso

RW/RF: Aspas, Downing, suarez. (i hope we sell downing)

LW/LF, Borini, sterling, suarez. Ibe is the youth here.

ST: Sturridge, GAP, suarez. I see yesil coming back next year.

Over all You can see that is suarez goes we lose our most flexible asset. Mkhitaryan should just go left or right. We are linked with CBs and a keeper but no LB, DCM or ST. I think we can live with some issues like the LB one but the option of a striker is something i think we really need to deliver.

 

Wilson deal OFF

http://sport.stv.tv/football/clubs/...l-to-take-danny-wilson-from-liverpool-is-off/