I've never thought Hamsik is that impressive. He's never been brilliant whenever I've watched him, and I'd say I've watched him in about 20-30 games at the very least for Slovakia & Napoli. I'd take Higuain though, he is the type of striker we are crying out for. Shame we won't spend on anyone that's high profile, 27 years old, wanting big wages & little re-sale value. We'll sign Saido Berahino and Ings instead and then wonder why we aren't scoring as much goals as we should.
I was a fan of Hamsik a few years when he formed the Holy Trinity of - Hamsik, LAvezzi and Cavani. SInce then, he has regressed and I'm not too keen on him. Same with Higuain - I'm not overly impressed with him either. I don't really want us to go for the big name - I want us to find the next best thing, and we've been relatively successful in doing so.
I feel this summer we might have to go for at least one big name, if only to convince the current players that the club is a serious competitor. Or we could see more agent agitation telling their players they can do better else where (pay wise) and stand a chance of winning titles.
I dunno about big names. I think they come with huge wage tag. I think the guy who's performed and is ready ofr a big move is the guy we want. it like this... we cannot afford paul pogba. but clubs will be queuing up for him. We seem to sse pedro wanting go for free money at inter... inter have another coutinho available as a result.. we've already been linked. One big name won't necessarally make a difference.. falcao link for example... god no
Didn't mean a big name like Pogba, he's miles out of our league and price range, but a name players recognise, has done stuff and the squad would want to play long side. You mention Pedro, thats the sort I was meaning or a Shaqiri (before he went to Inter). We can't just keep buying 'the next big thing' cause all that will happen is we'll wait till they reach their best and then end up selling to Barca or Real and then we'll have to wait till the next big thing comes along again, whilst the team you build decides to try their luck elsewhere cause they are tired of waiting to win things.
Adam Lallana: I haven't lived up to my price tag at Liverpool FC Midfielder wants to banish injury frustration with FA Cup triumph Adam Lallana admits he hasn’t lived up to his £24million price tag – but the Liverpool midfielder is determined to finish the season with a flourish by lifting the FA Cup. The England international faces a battle to be fit for Sunday’s semi-final with Aston Villa at Wembley as he continues his recovery from a groin injury. It’s the latest setback to hamper Lallana during his first campaign with the Reds. He missed pre-season with knee ligament damage and has struggled to reproduce the form which secured him his dream move to Anfield from Southampton. He has scored just five goals in 35 appearances. “It’s not gone great,” Lallana said. “It started off with injury and I’ve had another over the last few weeks with a few more in between. “It’s been quite frustrating if I’m being honest and I haven’t been out on the pitch as much as I’d have liked. “Getting injured and missing pre-season I feel played a big part in my recurring injuries. It’s a very important part for a footballer to get the basis of the fitness in. “But I want to be fully fit for the run-in, we’ve still got an outside chance of making the top four, and that’s something I want to be a part of. And obviously the last game of the season is the FA Cup final. “I’m looking to come back in next season, get a good basis in with my fitness and kick on from there.“ Liverpool’s campaign has been full of ups and downs. Brendan Rodgers’ side transformed their fortunes after enduring a miserable opening few months of the season. Switching to a 3-4-2-1 formation kick-started their revival but in the past two wins over Blackburn and Newcastle the manager has reverted to 4-3-3. “We knew it wasn’t going to be easy with the amount of new recruits that came in. But I think we have proved to everyone and ourselves that we are a good team,” Lallana told the theFA.com “We’ve put in some great performances over the second half of the season and we’ll be looking to build on that over the next couple of years. It would be the icing on the cake to win on Sunday and get to the final. “It’s been exciting playing in the new formation, but I feel we can utilise a number of different formations which is always handy to have. The last couple of games we have reverted back to the old system, but it gives us the opportunity to change and switch back if that’s what the manager wants to do.” Tim Sherwood has improved Villa since his appointment in February and Lallana says the Midlanders command respect. However, he insists that if Liverpool perform how they can then they will march on to the final. “They’ve picked up and had a great result at Tottenham last week. That shows they are definitely in good form,” he said, “(Christian) Benteke is finding the net again so we have to keep our eye on him, but we’ll be concentrating on ourselves and playing well. We have enough in our team to win. “We said at the beginning of the season our aim was to get to the final of a competition and win some silverware. We are still in that position at the moment. Liverpool is known for winning lots of silverware and I think it’s important that we continue that this year.” theliverpoolecho please log in to view this image
Ah right then I completely agree! These are the types of players we should and CAN attract. The players at big clubs who have fallen out of favour. So frsutrating that we could have got Shaqiri but ended up with Lallana. And when I say 'the next big thing' - I'm specifically targeting 22-24 years olds who are consistently performing at a decent level. Players like Suarez and Torres are perfect examples of talented young players who moved to Liverpool to take the next step. Re. your point on players leaving for Real/Barca - that is the sad reality of our situation. We're not the club we once we were - therefore, I rather target these players because a) it shows ambition which implies they are confident to perform for a club like Barca let alone Liverpool. We've seen players come to Liverpool and not deliver because they're not used to the pressure of performing week in week out, b) players who end up at Barca/Real are quality. I rather have a player like Suarez who stays at the club for 4-5 years, then someone who is average but stays for 10 years.
My view is I don't mind them moving on if we can pull in big profit on them but the club still has to pay the going rate for them to come The wages seem to be at issue Anyway..... The club is still crawling not walking or running. It's a huge ask to basically displace arsenal in top 4 year on year on lot of transfer money but not the same wages we have to do that to then go to next step which is respectable cl performances I feel the club isn't there and needs 1/2 years in Europa collecting good coefficient points and kicking on up the rankings in all aspects I would contend that if you made Utd, city, Chelsea or arsenal 4th seeds in cl they too would struggle
Lallana is on more than Coutinho and Can combined. Quality players at teams like Dortmund and At Madrid are on affordable wages also. Wages are not the issues for these types of players - it's the appeal of the club and manager which is what ultimately attracts them. Rodgers is not an attraction. We offered the same package as Arsenal for Sanchez. Whilst the club want to release reports that Sanchez's wife prefers London, I personally believe it's because Arsenal are a more stable club and have one of the top managers in the game. (Not forgetting that Wenger chased Sanchez for a couple of years, and personally met up with Sanchez at the WC).
Spoke to my mate last night. 1. Sterling is almost certainly gone. He wants London, but he wouldn't rule out a move to city or.......UNITED Get him ****ed off. 2. Hendo's going nowhere 3. The 3 main targets in the summer will be a striker, midfield and goalie. He only mentioned one name, for the striker. I can't remember it, but he's an Italian and my mate says he's very good indeed. We'll be splashing respectable money.
Disappointing - would like to have kept Raheem but never mind - get £40-50m and we can seriously improve 2-3 positions with that money alone. Hendo - I don't care if he stays or go. Hope we don't pay him £80-100k because he's not worth that. Welcome news on Midfield but I hope it's a DM. But then again, I wouldn't be surprised if we end up with Milner or Delph!
I see it a little differently Jimmy....at least we have the likes of Ibe and Sinclair in the wings to replace Sterling. I don't think we will get £50m for him but something approaching £40m maybe. Useful cash to re-invest,yes. On Hendo,I see him as important to us (more so than Sterling) so glad on that news.
Ibe will be better than Sterling IMO but that's later on in the future. We need quality for the here and now, and losing one of our strongest players is a sign of weakness - especially if we only replace him with another youngster from the academy. £40-50m is what it will take to get Sterling. We have the leverage since his contract doesn't expire for another 2 years, and there are suitors. It's kind of a win IMO - keep one our better players. Or get loads of money and strengthen 2-3 players to a high level (of course, this one is very risky!). If we do sell him, then we need to bring in Memphis Depay or Roberto Firmino - both are already more refined than Sterling and have a higher ceiling of potential. Either can be got for around £20-25m, which means we'll have plenty left over for a DM. Re. Hendo - don't get me wrong, I'd like to keep him but he's merely a squad player at any other big club in Europe. He can be easily replaced, as Sterling can.
Ah, never mind. Was going to say Dyabala originally but he's argentinian as well... trying to to think of some Italians? RHC is he playing in Italy and is Italian oritslian but playing elsewhere? Pelle from saints
