He obviously wasn't seen as being as good as he is now but he was known world wide so therefore could have been considered a world star (not to be confused with world class). His handball for Uruguay against Ghana made sure he was known world wide. Only reason clubs weren't fighting for him was because of his temperament having already taken part in his first biting.
they did spend silly wags but what people seem to forget is that they did this on more than just the star players people remember. they also chucked money at Santa Cruz, Robinho, Bellamy, Adebayor, De Jong, etc
I think we are pretty much agreeing. Yes he was known but not deemed world class and buying players from the Dutch league is a gamble. For every Suarez there is a Kezman. Liverpool took the punt and it paid off big time, much like when we got Robben.
We have really struggled in recent years actually without Champs league. Coutinho and Sturridge were both risk buys and were not playing regularly for their respective clubs. We were regularly pipped by the likes of yourselves and even Spurs!I Suarez was just a good buy when people hadn't cottoned on to how good he was. I think you'll be okay providing its only 1 year - but I wouldn't use us as a precedent.
Haha, i did some very selective player naming there! i checked your team on wikipedia and there were some shockers... Competing with Andy Carroll for a starting berth was not going to make Luis lose any sleep
The risky signings is a good point, I see other posters have agreed with that as well. I don't know how clearly your average player thinks about his future, but I would think that if you are planning for a career after your playing days then playing for a well known club like United and Liverpool would certainly be a big draw card. It's all about boosting your profile so playing CL certainly helps, but I would think that playing for a club with a massive worldwide following would do your future media career a world of good, even if you aren't playing CL for a season or two. I think that is a big benefit for clubs such as United and Liverpool, that history and fanbase is a big drawcard even if you are going through a few bad seasons (or managers that don't seem to work out too well initially)...
I don't know if Ramsey is such a good idea. Personally i think he'll be distracted playing alongside Fellaini. Fellaini's afro looks just like a big woolly sheep, and he's Welsh so...
Younger players may be more patient to play for a club with no CL for a season or two than older players. Quality older players who are used to CL may not want to take a step down (continentally speaking) and be out of the top European tournament. Players who have time on their side will more likely be content to earn their way back into Europe's elite.
Good point about history and fan base. A good example is Spurs, **** all history (or limited) and got robbed for paying well over the odds for medicare players that joined simply for the cash (slippery agents). Loldado and Lamela for example. Most far away lands that have huge Liverpool and Manchester Utd fan bases couldn't give a **** about Spurs and probably only see them play when our clubs play them. So your point about boosting your profile etc, is a good one as the exposure you get from playing for Liverpool or Utd is huge worldwide.
With Mata in front of them to make up the trio or out wide in a flat four midfield, who's doing the tackling?
The real problem (for Moyes or anyone else) is that the reported transfer kitty of £120m won't actually take us very much further forward. When you look at who is leaving of their own accord, they aren't the deadwood - Vidic, Evra and Giggs - they have been club greats and just replacing them with similar quality players will cost something like £60m. The truth then, is that we have only £60m to invest in new players, with perhaps three or four more key positions to fill. With Kroos being priced anywhere between £25 - £30m depending on wehat paper you read, then I can see us only getting one other key position filled from the budget. Yes that will mean five new signings - great PR, but it doesn't solve all of the problems in the squad.
Unless you signed up and coming players rather than already established ones. Rather paying through the nose for a current star, buy the next big thing instead. sure, it may take a bit of time to see the best of them but it will be worth it in the long term. Obviously, I'd prefer you to blow £120m+ on more Felliani's
Saw this on the match thread on Wednesday night and while it's not precisely on topic I thought it was spot on in reply to those who are suggesting, not necessarily on this thread, that Moyes "can't be trusted" to spend the budget we allegedly have. It's this that makes me more relaxed about him staying on for the start of next season, at least the targets are absolutely what we need. Whether we sign all or non or one or two, at least the players we are (supposedly) after are of the required quality. I'd be more concerned if Moyes was rumoured to be after middling ****e to tide us over. This is after all what Fergie had to do when he started a rebuild. If Moyes buys the right players and still ****'s up at least his replacement will have the players to work with. Yes, Moyes bought Fellaini. But this was only after the players he actually wanted weren't snapped by a new man in charge of these things, Ed Woodward. It was he who failed to deliver so Moyes went back to his old club for someone who he knew would sign and clearly thought we needed. He's failed but all his other target so far have been very, very good players, now it's down to him and the board to secure some of them.
