Liverpool legend Alan Hansen believes the Reds still can attract the calibre of stars required to get them back where they belong next season. The former defender told Radio City that although it was a massive summer for the Reds, two or three good additions to the squad maybe all that is needed:
“Liverpool are still Liverpool – they’re still massive and they still have the greatest support in the world. Liverpool have got to forget what’s gone before and concentrate on what’s ahead of them. It’s going to be difficult but I’d look at 1986-87 when Everton won the league and we came second. I knew we were a long way short. Kenny Dalglish knew that too and he brought in Barnes, Beardsley, Aldridge, Spackman and Houghton. That turned it around like you’d never believe. We went from not being nearly good enough to being a great side. Hopefully that can happen to this Liverpool side because they’ve got some great players. If they can just get two or three more in who can do a job. Next season we’ve got to do better – there’s no doubt about it. Every summer is important but if you look around, Chelsea and Manchester United also need revamping and Arsenal also need players.”
Alan, there is no doubting that LFC can turn it around. But how are we going to get these 2-3 quality players? If people have any doubts about our spending power then look at how we are having problems signing a player for £2.5 million. There are also issues regarding the signing of a player on a free transfer. We have to face that LFC right now has less money for players than many teams at the bottom of the PL. As for Broughton ( a chelsea fan) hinting that Torres may be sold, I don’t know what is left for this club?
Never mind new players. What we as a club need is some stability. With countless rumours about the playing staff leaving/staying, Benitez coming or going and the ownership of the club up in the air I think we need to get our house in order before speculating on future team. Who in their right mind is going to sign for a club with this much uncertainty? Nobody of any note, that’s what. Getting the debt down is a priority with new owners. With the new UEFA rules coming into force if we can do this then we will be one of the most powerful clubs in world football with our world-wide fanbase. Fingers crossed anyway.
i consider myself a massive liverpool fan and go to 20+ games a season. EVEN I WOULDN’T SIGN FOR THE CLUB IN ITS CURRENT SITUATION. sort it out tom and george.
If you look at Yossi Beneyoun at both West Ham and Liverpool he’s probably only really been good for 2 seasons! 1 1/2 at West Ham and 1/2 a season a Liverpool!
Very inconsistent and a bit of a mercenary!
Non of the fees quoted below are excessive or inflated to boost the pot! Well all except Itadje…LOL
We need to get rid and replace;
San Jose: 2.5m
Yossi Beneyoun: 6m
Albert Riera: 6m
Cavalieri: 4m
Fabio Aurelio: FREE
Emiliano Insua: 3m
Damien Plessis: 2.5m
Itadje: 1m
El Zhar: 2m
Stephen Darby: 500k
Philip Degan: 2m
Javier Mascherano: swap with YaYa Toure – Barcelona: +10m
Total: 39.5m
Bring in;
Jonjo Shelvey – Charlton: 1.7m
Danny Wilson – Rangers: 2.5m
Milan Jovanovic – Standard Liege: FREE
Joe Cole – Chelsea: FREE
Royston Drenthe – Real Madrid: £6.5m
YaYa Toure – Barcelona: see above
ArdaTuran – Galatasary: £12m
Ever Banega: Valencia: £8m
Oscar Cordoza: Benfica: £12m
Total: 42.7m
GK Jose Reina, Peter Galaksi
RB Glenn Johnson, Martin Kelly
LB Royston Drenthe, Danny Wilson
CB Jamie Carragher, Sotirios Kyrgiakos , Daniel Agger, Martin Skrtel, Daniel Ayala
RM Maxi Rodríguez, Joe Cole
LM Arda Turan, Milan Jovanovic, Ryan Babel
CM Stephen Gerrard, YaYa Toure, Ever Banega, Alberto Aquilani, Lucas Lieva,
CF Fernando Torres, Oscar Cordoza, David Ngog, Dani Pacheco, Dirk Kuyt
Total spend 3.2m
So you see 15m is a great figure but not the main issue! Giving Rafa the permission to invest any cash generated from player sales is the real news!
All the above was also achieved without selling Babel, Lucas an Kuyt as well which if we did could generate a further 20m.
This is good news and should fill you with hope!
Rafa the Red,
I can honestly say this is one of the best replies to a Liverpool forum, I have seen. Have you thought of applying for the job yourself if we could afford to get rid? I think a few of the estimations may be a bit awry, but your thinking is spot on. Why has Rafa not done what you have and gone through the team…positions…players like this. Not rocket science. Every Liverpool fan could see at the start of the season when Torres got injured we were knackered. Dirk is a good lad, but not 30 a season.
How weak are we in Goal? Thank God Pepe is such a star. Can you name a better more consistent Pool Keeper? Keep the faith. YNWA
unfortunately we’ve wasted the opportunity to improve our team the last few years while the rest of the Big 4 has been passive in the transfer market, even while we’ve picked up 3 ~£20m players. Now everybody else wants to revamp their squads, so combined with the World Cup this will see a “shortened” transfer window and inflated prices. Add our financial situation and this is a terrible market for Liverpool 🙁
We just need Rafa to move on asap and remove the uncertainty around the managerial position, so a new manager can come in and try to create the squad that he wants, instead of being bogged down with Rafa’s incoming hard workers…
RafaTheRed – why would you want to bring in Toure AND Banega? Unless Lucas or Aquilani are moving on we’d have too many senior central midfielders again, as well as an additional new striker that expects to play. Unfortunately we’ve missed out on Yaya anyway.
I agree with your sentiment and have been pushing for the exchange since last summer when the rumors initially picked up, but Rafa somehow decided it was best to reject an offer of £30m + out of favor Yaya for wantaway Masch last season and that offer obviously won’t be coming again. However, now that we’re out of the Champions League we’re probably of no interest to Toure anymore either. He’s interesting Chelsea and Man U now (as well as Man City who are obviously looking at EVERYBODY) so is not likely to choose us over one of those clubs now, and will instead be strengthening our competition next season 🙁
Drenthe would be a liability as a left-back from the little I’ve seen of him, and Cardozo would cost a lot more than £12m. We’d be better off looking at the likes of Carlton Cole as our physical presence to support/backup Torres upfront as he’s probably the best we can get in that bracket.
One more guy that isn’t getting mentioned that could do a good job for us short-term would be Martin Petrov who is also available on a free and an upgrade over any of our wingers. Either him or Quaresma who is probably available for cheap and would be happy for the opportunity to prove himself again now that his career has pretty much hit the rocks in spite of his undoubted ability
Hey Jay you ever wonder why Rafa went for players in the £5-8 million bracket? He had a net spend of less than £0 over the last 2 seasons. You want 2-3 £20 million players? This is real life at Liverpool Football Club not Real Madrid in a PC game.
Hey Jack; have you forgotten about Keane, Aquilani and Johnson already? Three ~£20m transfers from the last two seasons… In real life… For Liverpool FC…
Forget just focusing on net spend for one second – money WAS being spent (and wasted) at our club
Meanwhile, Arsenal, Chelsea and even Man U have all been pretty relatively passive with big money signings to strengthen their first teams over the same time-frame.
Now they (along with Spurs and City) are finally hitting the market in a big way again and will not be interested in the likes of Keane, Aquilani & Johnson (for that kind of money at least), but will instead be interested in the same players that we should/would have been interested in, only with more money and a more stable club situation to entice those players.
Do you watch football Jay. How can you say Johnson was wasted. As for Aquilani, its his first season. Look at Nani at Man U. It has taken him over 3 years to come good. Aquilani showed near the end of the season some of the things he is capable of. Injuries was just bad luck. Guess what it happens. BTW he cost less than £14 million up till now. An argument on transfer dealings means nothing without speaking about Net spend. I know you would like to simplify it. When I said 2-3 £20 million players I was refering to your comment on rafas so called hard workers. They cost on average less than 8 million each. LFC in their history have spent above £20 million on 1 player. That player being a certain Torres. We all now how wasted he has been don’t we? Wake up or better still put that playstation controller down and smell the coffee.
A team in ownership transition doesn’t have the luxury to splurge in the transfer market – if anything they will do little to add to the already growing problem that is forcing them to sell to begin with.
Transfers make some sense, in a normal situation. This isn’t a normal situation though – far from it.
Teams like Man City, Tottenham (who has CL this season) and the other big spenders will be vultures flying over and raiding anything a weak financial rival is trying to do. It’s how you keep a weak team down.
where did I say that Johnson was wasted Jack?? I’m not saying that those players aren’t good players; I’m saying that they were wasteful transfers as they were not what we needed at the time.
THREE ~£20m signings in the last two years yet we STILL have little to no quality on the wings and a reserve as our second striker. You can argue about what you meant as much as you want but you clearly stated that only in a video game could we dream of 2-3 £20m players, when in fact Rafa has just had the opportunity to do just that! He could’ve chosen to spend that money however he wanted but decided to ignore the glaring deficiencies in the squad and strengthen other areas
Knock the synthetic Rafa cock out of your mouth and join the rest of us in the real world mate
I agree… what he said.
Liverpool is basicly the same team that came secund last season, fighting to the very end for the title.
Some big games have been won without Alonso and with Lucas in the team, or at least one – against United-, so you can not blame Lucas for the terrible season as people do.
In fackt Liverpool needs more young players steping up and geting recognized playing for Liverpool.
Players who make name for themselfs in other
teams cost money.
Liverpool just need to bring a left back and a realy good winger, someone who creates chances and gives opponents defence a real headace, like Mata, Arda Turan or Jovetic.
It can be done with Rafa’s tranfer budget and the money from Riera’s and Yossi’s sale.
They desperately need 4 to 5 young players because they may have to sell players they need, to buy the quality they are lacking.
Jay(is that JK?), your stupidity is astounding. So we did not need to replace Alonso? Rafa was told that he would be given money during the summer to replace Keane, a player he did not want. Once he replaced Alonso and bought Johnson he was told swiftly that there was no more money. What, he is to buy strikers with thin air? As for your last comment. Well at least you have shown your class or lack of it.