Stewart Downing is simply not worth £20m, though. There’s no other way around it. He lacks the pace to truly trouble a top quality full-back and his delivery can range from the fantastic to the feeble. Liverpool have certainly overpaid with him, but to be fair, Villa’s price estimation was driven up largely because of the earlier departure of Ashley Young in the same transfer window – a player Liverpool are said to have prioritised over Downing and subsequently missed out on.
Jordan Henderson remains a player that divides the opinion of not only Liverpool fans but even those with just a casual interest in football. He’s cost £16m up front with potential add-ons of £4m. For a 21 year-old that’s versatile, pacy and intelligent, that doesn’t appear to be too far off the mark.
Henderson is hampered not by his price tag, but of other people’s preconceptions about him. He’s a subtle player with great vision and decent distribution. When you factor in the English premium, the price, while obviously over the top considering his relative inexperience, isn’t as far as, say, Downing’s is for me personally. He’s simply not the match-winning mini-Gerrard the media have often made him out to be, but that shouldn’t detract from the player he currently is and could be.
Carroll is the truly troubling one, though. Admittedly, he has been hampered by injuries since his arrival, but the side are in danger of leaving him behind. In his absence, Luis Suarez has struck up a good understanding with the rest of his new team mates and they appear to operate best in a fluid 4-5-1 formation without the Geordie front man.
While it is still far too early to label Carroll a flop, considering the circumstances, he does look to be rather leggy and a lot easier to bully off the ball than he did in his Newcastle pomp. He represents a pressing concern, particularly given the huge outlay on him, but there is still plenty of time for him to come good.
Sebastien Coates arrives with a burgeoning reputation within the game following his exploits with Uruguay in their successful bid to win the Copa America. He will take time to settle and adjust to the pace of the league, but so long as people are patient with him, at £6m, his potential is enormous.
Craig Bellamy could just prove to be the bargain of the entire transfer window. Adaptable to several different roles and formations, his spirit and pace are a great asset to have in the armoury.
John Henry is indeed correct, it is strange for a club to be criticised for over-spending. No other club in the Premier League would ever be accused of something so cynical. When you analyse the team’s squad since the FSG came into ownership of the club, then it has without question improved significantly.
On the issue of whether the club has overpaid, purely on a transfer by transfer basis, like any club, they have for some players and haven’t for others. Carroll and Downing remain the two players that I’d personally be keeping an eye on although others will contest Henderson should be in there too.
Buying players based on solely on potential is an inherently risky business. With the new rules coming into force about the number of home-grown and English players eligible for each Premier League club’s 25-man squad, the change in emphasis is understandable.
FSG have a long-term ambition for the club, which includes speculating on potential. Not every transfer will come off and they will overpay for some in the process, just like they have done so already. But as with every rebuilding process, mistakes will be made, but what is most important is patience and the belief that they’ll get more things right than wrong. So far, Comolli and Dalglish appear to have subscribed to this view.
The article was written by James McManus for FootballFancast.com. Make sure to check out the latest news, blogs and podcasts at FFC – ed.
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To me this sounds more like a case of semantics that JWH “admitting” to overspending.
What he actually said according to the quote in this article is “It is ironic to be ACCUSED of overspending”
Doesn’t sound like a confession to me, doesn’t even allude to an admission of culpability to me.
Glad you are a writer and not a Lawyer otherwise you would be on the bones of your a-r-s-e by now.