Liverpool FC are ready to renew their interest in Southampton full-back Nathaniel Clyne. The Reds had a £10m bid rejected by Saints last month, but are now preparing an improved offer as they look to bring the England international to Anfield. Southampton value Clyne at £15m, despite the fact that the 24-year-old has just one year remaining on his contract at St Mary’s. The South Coast club have offered an extension to that deal, but are privately resigned to losing the former Crystal Palace man, and will now seek to extract the maximum possible price this summer. Liverpool see Clyne as a key signing, with their need for a new right-back amplified by the departure of Glen Johnson on a free transfer. Clyne has made 104 appearances since joining Southampton in 2012, and has worked his way into the senior England squad during that time. He picked up his fifth full cap as a substitute during the Euro 2016 qualifying win in Slovenia on Sunday.
So with Suarez leaving, that meant we had one spot in the first XI available. If Lallana wasn't the first choice, then you're implying that we spent £25m on a merely a squad player who would rotate with Coutinho? Judging by how Rodgers set up for most of this season, and throughout his career, he likes 4-2-3-1. Sturridge was fit at the start of the season and we played with just 1 up front. So I have my reasons for thinking Lallana was the number 1 replacement for Suarez, not Mario. IMO, it's not simply the case of Suarez was a striker so we tried to replace him with another striker. Rodgers wanted to the change the style of the team.
You must be naive if you thought Suarez was staying. Sanchez was only a target once we started dealing with Barca re. Suarez. Then that failed, and tried for Bony, Remy etc etc. Like I said in my previous post - Suarez was sold, which meant we were left with one position to fill in the starting line up. Now are you telling me that we spent £25m on Lallana to be a squad player, and that Rodgers was not hell bent on making the 4-5-1 work? Rodgers rarely uses 2 up front and you can check that throughout his managerial career.
The time to buy him was last season when he came off a hot season, still relatively unknown and wasn't involved in the national team.
Lallana was bought as a first team player. Just because you view him as a squad player does not make him one. He has played whenever fit. My biggest concern with him is his fitness record and not game play. Just as he starts picking form he gets injured. Lallana did not request to be sold for 25M. His transfer figure was inflated due to one of his former clubs getting a cut of the sell on fee. Likewise you will see we are trying to get 50M on sterling since QPR is entitled to some dosh. All transfers are a risk and I am willing to be patient with Lallana after finally settling in. I will not write him off as I believe in a settled team he will do much better than his first season. Out of interest Jimmy if we do sign Kovacic, is that a Rodgers signing or committee signing?
So taking the same team from 13/14, who was he going to replace in the starting line up? And Kovacic would be a commitee signing because a) he's not British, b) he's a quality player, c) would represent good value, and d) Rodgers won't have seen him on MOTD, which forms the basis of his opinion on targets.
It's cool, I said yesterday that a deal was done on Friday and talks between agent and the club were over the weekend. Have faith Media are always slow, or wrong.
Nope. He's a palatable gamble at 3.5 and represents better VALUE than paying twice that. Your argument would suggest that at 20 million he would still be worth signing... Which tbh is something I still wouldn't put past us to go and do
I personally do not think Rodgers wants to play 4231. I think Rodgers prefers one versatile holding player. I think 433 is his preference. I also think Lallana was signed as a reverse winger. I am judging this on the other players we targeted before we signed him. Konoplyanka, Salah, Moses (signed on loan), Willian and Costa (who was playing as a reverse winger for Athletico at the time). The previous summer Rodgers said his priorities were 2 wingers, suggesting 2 wingers were important to his plan at the time, but only got Moses on loan. We then failed to sign Salah and Konoplyanka in January. Reverse wingers were also key to his game at Swansea, with Dyer and Sinclair playing those roles. In Rodgers first season he would not shut up about reverse wingers and became a bit of a laughig stock for it. Rodgers changed his game play to suit SAS. But when SAS broke he would surely naturally revert to his original plan. 2 reverse wingers. Lallana and Markovic.
Reverse wingers seems a plausible idea with all the targets you have been going for. One thing i would say is Dyer is a right footed winger on the right wing. Ergo he isn't a reverse winger
Think he means chucking a right footed player on the left wing and a left footed player on the right wing so they will always cut inside
