Why LFC’s Recent Transfer Policy Should Be Viewed As Shrewd!
WELL deadline day for us Liverpool fans was the biggest disappointment since the Gobbledy Gooker (and if you get that reference I will be impressed)!
What should have been a good and productive transfer window has left a sour taste.
I want to discuss more positive matters but first I want to raise the 3 main concerns I have following deadline day so I am not blindly labelled a FSG sycophant, although you may be surprised to hear Clint Dempsey isn’t one of these specifically.
First off surrounds Andy Carroll. I am a big fan of Carroll so understandably I am sad to see him leave the club on loan (although over the moon it’s not to Newcastle), but realistically I can see why it happened. He wasn’t first or second choice, rightly or wrongly, and we are not City or Chelsea and cannot be paying £80k a week to a third choice striker, yet what puzzles me is why he was allowed to leave without the absolute guarantee of a replacement coming in. You don’t sell your house before you buy another!
If the stories are true about a deal with Sturridge being in place only after Chelsea signed another, then why did we not have a similar deal with West Ham? My second problem centres on Jordan Henderson. If the stories about him being offered to Fulham in exchange for Dempsey what does this do to his confidence? What does this say about how the club view him? Personally, I am a fan of his and thought he played very well against Hearts and can certainly perform a role in the middle or the forward three, no problem. He is a young player with a great attitude and bags of potential that we seemingly pimped.
The final concern is the decision making process, as already discussed somewhat. The stories I hear are that the price Fulham wanted us to pay for Dempsey was far different than Spurs actually paid, and that is of course their prerogative and likewise, we were quite right not to pay. But why oh why going into the last day of the transfer window did we not have any backup options, especially following Carroll’s departure? I believe all three of these points need to be addressed by the owners and they certainly need to deliver some positive PR in the coming weeks (other than John Henry’s letter), whether that be contracts for the likes of Agger, Sterling and Suso or developments in the stadium plans.
Despite my concerns I fail to fully buy into the complete doom and gloom that seems to be hanging over Liverpool heads. First and foremost the players that we did bring in are high quality and players that Rodgers has specifically identified rather than selected from a list.
Joe Allen already seems a bargain at £15m and his performances have got all connected with the club – from the stands to the pitch – waxing lyrical about his ability. He will control games and allow us to institute Rodgers’ philosophy in a way our previous midfield could not. Nuri Sahin has a quality we all know is at a level above where we currently are. I’m sure if you asked Ferguson, Wenger, Mancini and the like they would love to have him in their team. His skill, creativity and dynamism will suit us and help create chances, once he adapts to Premier League life. Fabio Borini is a player known well to Rodgers and seems at this stage to provide the legs and work rate that Kuyt has previously offered at a fraction of the weekly cost. I’m confident that as he settles we will see the best of him, although I’m sure some have written him off already! Shock!
The likes of Yesil and Assaidi are unknowns to us but carry a huge amount of promise. What seems to have been overlooked is that we have brought in young players. We have drastically reduced the average age of the squad clearly following the notion of ‘year zero’ (funnily enough I wrote an article about this so please check it out!). Had Carroll stayed I think we would have been overjoyed at our business.
Two of our most important, if not crucial signings this summer have been without doubt Skrtel and Suarez. I don’t care what anybody says, but there were clear signs last season of a turnaround and a quality returning to a play which was spoiled by low confidence and form. Suarez and Skrtel, arguably our best performers last year were clearly in demand but whereas Arsenal lost RVP and Song, and Spurs lost RVDV and Modric, we tied down our ‘players of the year’ to long term deals. As the North London clubs will be aware, trying to fill the holes left by such huge players is a tough task, and in the likes of Podolski and Dembele for example, they may have taken the first steps in doing so, but they also need some fortune, whereas our focus was able to fall on improving the squad – which on the whole I think we did (although I think we remain light up top, and could use more faces for the squad) – their starting point was on having to replace. The big names we lost in Kuyt and Maxi were older players whose wages ruled out any chance of squad player status unfortunately, but that is the reality, rather than established week in week out starters. This aspect is crucial as we have retained the players crucial to our strongest XI, as well as bringing in improvements on the existing playing staff. The issue that now presents itself to Rodgers is something which the likes of Everton have suffered in previous years, is that when injuries and suspensions take their toll the depth of our squad does not hold the same qualities of some of our rivals, yet this may work in our favour somewhat as this year we should certainly see more and more of Sterling as well as the first team emergence of the likes of Morgan, Suso, Yesil amongst others.
In terms of our play, we only really have the need for one recognised striker in the front three as the other two slots can easily be filled with either wingers (like we have seen with both Sterling and Downing deployed there) or attacking midfielders (such as Shelvey and Henderson). I will also give an early shout for Stevie (I will be writing a piece on this in the near future!) as the infamous ‘false 9’. Why not? He has it all in his locker and could thrive in a role centred purely on his attacking abilities.
All in all I think we have seen a successful summer in terms of signings, reducing a wage bill hugely unsuitable for our current climate, and retaining key members of the squad that has been slightly tainted over the last couple of days. Should we see this first half of the season with pinch of luck in terms of injury, the lack of established forwards may never be a serious issue. Yes, some very serious questions need to be asked of the owners but this should not overshadow the good the club has done. We bossed the champions without Agger, Sahin, Lucas, Assaidi and for the most part Carroll last week, and the ideals behind that performance more than the personnel are what we have to carry forward.
Let’s all please remember that a whole world of patience is required as this is a long term project and the club needs our SUPPORT. Of course questions need to be put to FSG as we do not know what goes on behind the scenes, but Rodgers and the players need and deserve our support, our noise, our contribution and the atmosphere only Anfield can create.
YNWA, please come find me on twitter @timdibs
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September 5th, 2012
I had maintaind time and again our biggest problem never was the players but having the wrong owners and subsequently manager. Now lets see :
FSG:
Its never easy to compete in the BPL and we could see hundres of millions even billions are spent to challenge for the title. Now even the likes of Sunderland had outspend us just to improve their squad. Is FSG that naive to think spending 100 mill (albeit by the wring manager who overpays) in a little more than one season would turn us into world beaters. They also tend to say we need time. Well its has been more than 20 years since we last won the league. We do not have much time. Our rivals are dissapearing ionto the horizon fast. Oh and what happen to that Stadium? FSG tends to c**k up when it comes to managerial appointments, first it was a has been and then a rookie with no winning track record. In short FSG had no idea how to make an institution like LFC work. Why bid for us in the first place? FSG most notable skills these days is to offer great sounding PR statements, much like those cowboys.
BR:
It’s great to have a philosophy but if do you have to implement it at once and be inflexible about it even if its clear your players either can’t play that way or takes a long time to adapt. Is it any wonder we have our worse start in 50 years? Forget about CL candidates. We are now relegation candidates and its all down to BR.
The solution is clear, relace the owners and managers with the right ones, LFC would prosper.
September 5th, 2012
replace the manager after 3 league games? wow! not a lot really to say to that is there.
September 5th, 2012
maybe we should have let BR go after the pre-season itself? Yeah, perfect way to move forward.
September 5th, 2012
hahaha in fact I heard Rodgers lost a 5-a-side game at Melwood on his 2nd day in charge! it was clear then he wasnt up to it!
September 8th, 2012
Wait for all the Rodgers(not lfc fans but rodgers fans) to come out and defend their man vehemently..even though the results so far speak for themselves.
September 5th, 2012
All these new signings are fine but the need for a finisher was evident since last season and it has percolated to this season as well, and i believe this was not fully addressed at all.A good finisher will not have come cheap but to ensure the progress it is a much needed signing and we just haven’t done that. That is more or less why most Liverpool fans like myself feel disappointed.
September 5th, 2012
completely agree with you, we needed an established and recognised goalscorer. lets hope FSG have learnt from this
September 5th, 2012
Respond to me too Tim !
Just kidding, good to see how you care about the response your articles generate.
September 5th, 2012
hahahah here you go!
it shows a passion I am apparently lacking! Dont think Bob likes me!
I liked your post before, and agree, as much fun as it seems to be spending your sugar daddys money on a hazard or a tevez I would rather we ran the club correctly and retained our identity. Its no surprise that Skrtel and Suarez resigned for us becuase of who we are. Can you imagine Torres/hazard/tevez/aguero etc resigning if they finished 8th?
September 5th, 2012
Everyone is entitled to their opinions, and you are no exception.
Your opinions are very much rooted on reality and make sense, you should and must keep writing!
The previous ownership has left such a stigma that for a good number of fans it is difficult to judge ‘yank’ owners objectively, but absolutely in not doing so we only hinder the progress of the club. Again people will question whether this is ‘progress’ or not, I hold that till now it has definitely been progress and have not lost the trust in owners.
Sure what happened last Friday was not right and was not done right, but anyone looking objectively will know that work is going on for the betterment of the club, without doubt.
September 5th, 2012
just one quick point about FSG . they ‘ stole ‘ liverpool from the other cowboys for 300m , probably about a third of the proper price . so they have nearly a billion pound asset which they got for less than half price and since then have not spent damn all net , im not going to even get started on the stadium issue .
i do like you tim , i like the way you reply to your critics and sycophants equally and dont hide when criticised , however i dont think you should be writing articles for the reasons i have stated . apathy is not a commodity that should be spread .
by not answering my inquiry i presume i was correct in you not being from merseyside ? again there is nothing wrong with that , i just feel you might not understand the vibe , feeling and perception of the majority of the fans in liverpool right now.
September 5th, 2012
I dont really care how they acquired the club the main point is that they took it away from H&G and removed the debt from the club. None of us know what state the club was in when they took over and since, but a by selling Kuyt, Maxi and Aquilani alone this summer they have saved around the £300k mark per week which is a frightening amount for any club on 2 fringe players and a chap who barely played for the club. There has had to be actions taken on and off the pitch to stabilise the club before we can move forward and i would suggest that we are at that point now. the average age of the squad is 25.7, the third lowest in the league with a wage bill more appropriate to that and when we are.
I dont particularly want to comment on the stadium issue as with everyone else I know nothing. I would suggest that nothing will be announced until it is set in stone and to date I dont believe FSG have deceived us in any particular way to warrant the levels of mistrust they are receiving. As i have said i will reserve my comments on this matter until this time next year, as if we havent herad anything by then, then questions truly need to be asked.
Well I am glad you like me Bob, I am a lovely guy! haha but I still dont understand how I am being apathetic at all? I may be biased but judging by other comments attached to this article and those I have received on twitter, this is actually a realistic piece with a positive vibe congratulating FSG where they deserve it in terms of Allen, Sahin, Borini, Yesil and Assaidi as well as renewing the contracts of Suarez and Skrtel and calling them to question on aspects they have blundered at. as I have said credit where credit is due. Unfortunately FSG find themselves in a situation that the fanbase is deeply untrusting in any ownership and an increasingly knee jerk reaction to the slightest fault. I would appreciate it if you could let me know why you think I have been apathetic rather than realistic in that its not all doom and gloom I will happily take it on board for future pieces.
I simply forgot when replying to your last response where to be fair you had a couple of unwarranted digs! Im not hiding where I am from its in my bio! Im originally from Shropshire just down the road and my employment has taken me to Leeds. As I dont live in Liverpool right then perhaps you are right and I dont get the vibe happening on the streets of Liverpool at this moment, but then i dont claim to, I am merely putting my thoughts on the matter.
I have supported Liverpool football club all my life and personally speaking have a lot to be thankful to the club for. throughout my life I have attended as many games as possible which in the last few years have been regretebly less and less as I have a young family who quite rightly take my time and money. To question my passion is to hit a nerve particularly when we have never met. Writing these pieces is something I do in my spare time as I love wirting/talking about Liverpool football club and football as a whole but unfortunately you dont like my stylings, but thats your choice, so i will politely decline your offer to stop writing thank you.
September 5th, 2012
in that case ill look forward to your next piece , try and swallow a bite of reality before you write it please .
i could talk or moan for hours about FSG , but i know you will respond to each point with diplomatic nonsense straight from the FSG propeganda machine ( because you actually believe it ) . anyway ill make it brief – new manager i can live with , not giving him proper money to compete with the top 5 – disgraceful .
12m net spent ( probably way less with the fees for the likes of silva , loan money for spearing , carroll etc ) , so we finish 8th , a long way from top 4 , they get a new manager in and all the other clubs spend more , and they expect to get into the top 4 . explain that one ? nonsense absalute nonsense .
they say the funds are there to compete with the best , but thats a blatant lie .dempsey sigurdsson and probably many others who we dont know about are proof enough . they made a big song about spending 100m last year , thats untrue more like 20m net .
apart from the lack of funding , there is the incompetence , hiring comolli , overpaying for players ( not just a litttle , probably double in carroll henderson and downings case ) still no plans for stadium ( blatant stalling tactics ) , sacking dalglish having paid all that money for HIS type of player , hiring new manager with totally different style ( which means getting rid of half the players just bought ) , not backing the new manager and leaving the squad in a pathetic state going into a season expecting them to come top 4 . its a bad joke ! but not funny , you and i both know every other club is laughing at us now .
im not going to go into individuals but anyone who thinks the team and squad is anywhere close to last years is mad . either that or not very knowledgeable .
ive supported LFC since 1990 and im not one for over reacting , have supported all managers and had patience while they build new teams . but im totally disillusioned and depressed like never before because i know things wont be ok til FSG are gone and that could take years .
ive read FSGs recent statements and your articles so you dont need to repeat your blind faith and chirpy optimism in responding to each point .
September 8th, 2012
The fact the people at the club can’t see the points you have just highlighted is the reason I and many other fans are totally disillusioned with the whole club at this moment.Great knowledge you have of the club,well done
September 6th, 2012
i pretty much agree with bob on nearly all his points , this is a stupid piece
September 6th, 2012
Please do explain, while I Bob and I disagree on much we chat about it. I would love to see your opinions on why this is a ‘stupid’ piece. Am I overly optimistic and apparently apathetic as Bob suggests or am I trying to present a non knee-jerk rational response in what can at times be choppy pessimistic waters. I challenge what I think needs challenging such as the striking options but also give credit where it is us in the likes of Allen and sahin. For me FSG have levelled out this summer and gave a big year, this time next year of we have not seen squad investment and progress on the stadium it is a different story. As fans we need to pick our fights to maximise their effectiveness.
December 3rd, 2012
Apple now has Rhapsody as an app, which is a great start, but it is currently hepamred by the inability to store locally on your iPod, and has a dismal 64kbps bit rate. If this changes, then it will somewhat negate this advantage for the Zune, but the 10 songs per month will still be a big plus in Zune Pass’ favor.