I agree with that. I would love an established talent to sign for us. You put in the poll the word 'realistic' and that's probably why I alter my expectations as to who we sign. As a club we aren't known for big name signings and that coupled with the FSG / Rodger's policy of signing young, gifted, flexible potentials informs my opinion.
He was considered marquee. There was huge buzz in the lead up to his signing and I was thrilled. Can't say the same about lallana
It takes courage from the management of a club which has already overachieved to splash 20 to 35m on established talent with the intention of fielding them in the starting 11. And it takes wisdom for that fit to work. We mustn't be afraid as a club to make those decisions, but we have to be smart about them too. Imo, we need to make a statement commensurate with our growing ambition. We can't continue on stringing it. We've gone three years without making a high-profile signing in the market, while Chelsea, City and even Arsenal have made several. United wanted to be smart about it and where did it get them...?
I agree with that and that's the way we like to do it, but I also see Livtor's point about being taken seriously, if you like, about intent and status and saying this is where we are now. As well as being seen as being attractive to a big name - if paper talk has even a slight truth in it - this hasn't happened in the recent [?] past.
I didn't include any blinding stars such as Di Maria, Benzema, Kompany in the poll, did I? I was realistic and the players mentioned can all be "made" further. We've done very well in the "making" department with Sterling, Flanagan, Hendo, Coutinho, Sturridge and Suarez. But I think bar Sterling, we may have reached peak this season with what the others can shoulder. And Sterling imo is a very rare athletic occurrence, that is not "made" as much as it is "harvested". I really hope that Ilori is a similar specimen. It would be risky not to make a statement signing imo. Lallana would just about be it, while Barkley, Bender or Shaqiri would be 'it'. I'm just concerned Lallana's too small and similar to Coutinho, therefore I voted Firmino for CAM who's taller. In defence, we don't need to go for a 'star' - Benatia, Royo or even Lovren would do. In central midfield however, I rather we went for a Barkley or Bender. If we do get Lallana, I would love for Rodgers to experiment with him as a box to box CM alongside Coutinho.
I don't care about "big name" signings...the club is bigger than the player, the aim should be the fact a player has been chosen by LFC is news not the player chose to come to Liverpool or we threw 50 million to get him. That's what we need to build again and only results do that. The Transfer team and managers job is to create a league winning side, ideally while playing attractive football; I don't care if that team is found in the academy, teams below us or yes by throwing money at established talent as long as its the best fit for the team. Buying a guy simply as a statement in itself is a luxury we cannot afford...that's for the oil rich or league champions....look at Arsenals statement last year, United's? Spurs.....all finished below us....our league position at the end is the only statement I want to hear.
Well, without the contributions Suarez, a big name signing for sure, and Sturridge (a big player otherwise mishandled by Chelsea) - you wouldn't be here having the hypocritical nerve of stating what you just stated.
Agree with others, why do we need to make a 'statement'? I'm perfectly fine being under rated as a team and not seen as a threat. If we continue buying equally under rated players with ability but no opportunity, we can keep on growing. Like I said on another thread, a big no to the likes of Fabregas for 30m+, I think he'd flop anyway, but I'd be more than happy to get the likes of Lallana, Sanchez (who I think has under performed at Barca, but has bags of talent) and Lovren and let Rodgers push them on another level. Sanchez may be considered 'marquee', but I see him as a player who the big team doesn't want, who's lost his way a bit and not performed to his best and is looking to reignite his career elsewhere. If the price is alright, we should look for him. Marquee players are more so those who are at their peak already imo - like Ozil was. It's a bit fairytale to say we'll make stars rather than buying them, but that's not far off what we're doing so far with Henderson, Sterling, Sturridge and Coutinho. Most were laughed at when we signed them or considered wastes of money - they're not laughing too much now.
I completely agree with your counter argument. You've changed my mind. Suarez wasn't a marquee signing. He was a player who'd made a name for himself in a smaller league but who wasn't rated by the big teams, nor was he at his peak. That's not a marquee signing. A marquee signing would be going out and spunking 30million on Bender and hoping he fits in right away because he's sure as hell not going to get better.
What are you're talking about? Suarez was a big f*cking name signing by our standards at a time we we were not in UCL and not looking like it any time soon. If you don't think so, then please adjust your definitions and come back with a proper point of view.
