Unfortunately, have to hope the scouts are giving Rodgers the right information. I was thrilled with Coutinho signing... unsure what to think of Sturridge, and Assaidi... I hadn't heard of Aspas- but research on him made me scratch my head as he didn't look too good. I think basically though... any player in that price range is going to be a big gamble. If they were guarenteed to be successful, as you say, everyone else would see it too. We're playing the player lottery... putting little £notes into a big pot, hoping that our numbers are the winning numbers.
I suppose it's identifying them at the right time and getting business done quickly, the Suarez deal and the Costa deal stand out as does Alonso. The worry is that surely we have targets identified so what is stopping us going in for them now?
Rafa once compared players to furniture- so this is my own player/furniture comparison. You save money in the long run by buying a good solid piece of furniture that will last for life. The cheap stuff may be half the price, but it's never as good, and because it's cheap won't last long before you need to replace it again... you'll spend more on the cheap stuff because you need to keep replacing it. Every once in a while- you'll get some cheap item that lasts... but usually it just needs replacing sooner than later.
But, as the article states, what happens if you get in there with the intention of doing your business quickly, but the player's agent stalls and hawks his man to other teams saying "LFC have offered this, he's yours for more". We're relying on agents displaying some scruples, something we see little evidence of these days, or the player himself really, really wanting to come to us for some reason.
So you identify the bit of furniture you want, but there's only a couple left and the rich bastards in the bigger houses up the hill come and double your offer.
It is difficult, we seem to be good at it or at least have been in the past but as you say maybe agents are now making it more difficult.
I get what you are saying but if true that the Salah deal was going on for two months, two months, you can't be mad when they have had enough and jump to the better/same offer. Maybe some of the other targets were different but this one feels like we stalled too long and let another team come in. Dempsey was like that as well, Willian was different as he was coming to us, then spurs, then chelsea and was just a big money grabber by Anzhi to get money back.
This is exactly the point. It's a market. There's a certain demand and a limited supply. In any market like this, in any industry, anywhere in the world, there is only one outcome. The best products will attain the highest price. You don't need a degree in economics or an MBA to figure it out. Question is, are we willing to buy the best at the higher price brackets? Are we even capable is probably a more apt question? If not, let's stop dreaming of top four because last seasons top four (and possibly spurs) have figured it out. This will be our best chance in years. Fact.
Seems like we're arguing in circles. We know it's how the market works, but if we simply don't have the money ( I don't know how much we have available, obviously) we can't magic it up out of nowhere. Spurs managed to get some choice players because they had made top 4 and they had the money from the Chimp. Hard as it may seem, we may have to somehow fight our way there and then consolidate that position rather than trying to buy it. Whether we can do that remains to be seen. I agree totally that this is our best chance in years and we're definitely running the risk of losing it, but I'm sure our owners and management can see that obvious fact as well.
It stinks it really does and something should be done Maybe with FFP Chelsea wont just be able to buy up all the players, its ruining the game, its not competitive THey have a squads worth of players out on loan
Questions I'd ask the committee are: At what point does 'overspending' become penny pinching? How can you be sure £11m to Chelsea couldn't turn up a little gem worth double that to us (a la Sturridge) when do we take our foot off the brakes and pay a decent fee. I'm not panicking because, using my business head I know to spend randomly would throw us into the panic realms of United, Rodgers seems to know what he needs and which player/s would fill those roles. It's simply the fact that nothing seems to be happening or at least if it is, it's at a very slow snail pace. I love the fact we are secretive in pursuit of our targets but when those targets are 'leaked' we pull away saying we're not really interested...However prudent our committee is, we need to strengthen and we need to do it in this window! Just my opinion of course
There are 3 solutions, maybe more, none totally attractive for differing reasons: (1) Create a bold vision, sell the vision, pay market price for top players, get top four, push on, manage the debt. In theory FFP should even the playing field a little, however, Chelsea and City are so 'asset rich' that it's hardly level and won't be for some time. Utd's revenue are in a totally different league. Arsenal have benefited from a solid vision laid out 15 years ago.... (2) Sell the club to somebody who is cash rich (3) Carry on as we are, lower expectations....until you decide/realise (1) or (2) is a better option (which, at some point it will be) Very occasionally, there will be enough upheaval to give others a chance. They have to be ready to take it. We are witnessing one of those occasions.
It is a viscous circle. No fan wants to admit that we are no longer top tier and haven't been since the days of Rafa. No CEO will admit that or try to dampen down expectations as it'll impact future revenue. Right now, it appears that expectations are far greater than reality. I am finding it a very painful process!
It's already been mentioned in this thread but the fear I have is that Sturridge and Coutinho are now the blueprint for our transfer dealings in the future. Problem is, finding young and talented players like these two for the prices we got them for is extremely rare and difficult to find in this day and age. We simply got in at the right time. IMO - the £15m mark is now the 'bargain' value for good quality players e.g.Sakho. Any less, and you increase the risk of buying youngsters with potential or players who are simply not good enough.
And the longer we're out of the CL, it will be another year where our history, something that used to attract the best players, becomes less meaningful.
