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Liverpool owners must risk it all to win it all

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LFCIT feels like an eternity since the Champions League music last blasted out at Anfield.

Liverpool, by their previous lofty standards, have been in the doldrums for the last few years, consistently changing managers, spending large sums recklessly on players clearly not good value for money and finding themselves the second best team on Merseyside, having finished below Everton in the league in the last two seasons.

Whilst things are looking brighter and the Reds seem to be emerging from their long-term slump, the work is far from complete yet, even if they do sit in a Champions League spot still into December.

Strength in depth is vital more often than not. Liverpool’s starting XI can beat any team on its day and stay near the top of the tree for the entire season. However, it is almost a certainty that injuries and suspensions will play their part and so Brendan Rodgers and his team have to be ready come January time.

Firstly, before moving into January, the league position must show that Liverpool remain in the top four, which may sound fairly straightforward, seeing as they’ve occupied a top four spot for most of this season. On the other hand, they are only three points ahead of ninth-placed Tottenham. Furthermore, the fixture list over the festive period does not make for positive viewing.

Trips to Manchester City, Tottenham and Chelsea will all occur before the calendar year is out; trips where Liverpool only managed to pick up two points overall last season. Therefore, whilst avoiding defeat would ensure that these teams wouldn’t overtake the Reds, other teams such as Manchester United and Everton probably would, while Arsenal would pull away, dragging Liverpool’s title hopes with them.

Expecting to emerge from these fixtures with nine points is ridiculous and unrealistic, particularly given the awful record at White Hart lane in recent years. However, doubling the total we received compared to last season would represent a fantastic result, as Liverpool would have beaten one of their main rivals away from home and ensured another didn’t walk away with maximum points. City do look incredibly formidable at home this season but they were last season as well, while Liverpool ended Chelsea’s unbeaten home streak back in 2009, so why can’t they end Mourinho’s as well? As for Spurs, that record has to pick up again at some point.

These fixtures could make or break our season. It’s important that Rodgers’ men go into the winter transfer window having not suffered defeats in all of these, allowing rivals to pick up all the points while the Reds end up with none and a considerably lower league position.

Once in January and still firmly in the top four, then Liverpool are presented with another make or break opportunity. If Liverpool are in a good position, then it makes it far more likely that the American owners will take the risk that could determine whether Liverpool have the strength to go all the way and finish in the lucrative Champions League places.

This season the financial aspect has been raised to a new level with BT’s exclusive television rights deal worth around £900m, meaning that there will be tens of millions more at stake for just qualifying into the competition, let alone beyond that. Therefore, the owners across the pond have to realise that other teams around Liverpool will spend that little bit extra to bring in one or two more players with the star quality needed to get them into the top four.

Manchester City and Chelsea will not be able to rely for much longer on their vast spending powers due to the Financial Fair Play Rules and consequently making profit from a top four place and playing in Europe’s elite club competition will allow them to continue spending at a high level – they just need to make sure they get in first. Whilst some may say that’s a certainty for those two, the open and unpredictable nature of the Premier League this season will justify the spending that those two clubs will make.

Additionally, others will follow suit, with Manchester United looking to bolster their midfield after farcically missing out on Ander Herrera from Athletic Bilbao on August deadline day and Arsenal desperate for another striker not named Nicklas Bendtner to compete with Olivier Giroud. Therefore Liverpool have to follow suit, even if it means selling lesser players to generate funds (Joe Allen isn’t so popular at the moment). Big money has to be spent on top players if Liverpool want to taste even bigger money and prizes from being part of the elite in Europe.

There have been some rumours appearing already as we draw ever nearer to January 1st 2014. With Jose Enrique’s injury, left back is an area that could be addressed, with Martin Montoya and Ryan Bertrand again being linked with the Reds. Yann M’Vila is another who has sparked Anfield transfer rumours because of his appearance at the Merseyside derby last weekend (however he was there apparently visiting childhood friend Mamadou Sakho). Whether this is true or not, another defensive midfielder to compete with Lucas would be very welcome, arguably essential if the Brazilian was injured.

Glen Johnson hasn’t been at his best just recently but he is still coming back from injury. When he and Martin Kelly are both fit, together with the impressive Jon Flanagan, right back seems secure for now, while there is plenty of cover at the heart of the defence. Another attacking midfielder who can drift out wide wouldn’t go amiss to go along with the likes of Coutinho, Victor Moses and Raheem Sterling, while a cheap backup striker would be the biggest luxury out of them all. Overall, I personally would love to see Rodgers bring in a left back, defensive midfielder, attacking midfielder and a cheap striker for around £50m, with a large sum provided by the Americans with a few squad players sold off too. That sort of spending is needed if Liverpool want to keep realistic harbouring hope of a top four finish, as this year is more competitive than ever and all the other teams will spend, so therefore the Reds must set the standard.

It may end up as failure, or as the additional supply enabling Liverpool to fire their way to a top four finish. The season now really does start to get interesting.

Ignazio Abate, Yann M’Vila, Javier Pastore and Jordan Rhodes (risk but hopefully cheap, Jeremy Menez another alternative) are the players I would like to see arrive at Anfield in January, with Joe Allen, Iago Aspas and possibly some of the loaned players like Pepe Reina, Fabio Borini and Oussama Assaidi leaving the club.

Regardless, the Americans will have to spend big to help secure a money-spinning top four spot. There are many other players out there who could fit the bill for the Reds – comment below!

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29 comments

  • stan howard says:

    Texiera who actualy plays for lfc is being held back for no good reason and it is disgraceful. the lad is a fantastic tanent and he is ready NOW ! why is he not in the first team squad – I beleive it is because he was brought in by out of favour Frank Mcparland – it is wrong and the club are losing out.

    • TaintlessRed says:

      Great point. Teixeira is class. GE had an injury and his loan spell didn’t go well but he should be in the 1st team squad, like Suso or Wisdom gained valuable experience from it.

  • Dan says:

    I totally agree with all your points,Rodgers has bought some DROSS ;-( £45.000.000 Million pound for Allen Aspas Borini Assaidi & Alberto ;-( He said ” We aren’t going to buy just for the sake of it ” Then went and PANIC BOUGHT Sakho & Ilori for £25.000.000 Million Pound.Let SUSO go on loan & takes LAZY ASS Moses on loan,what was he thinking ;-(

  • Erin says:

    First, we are not going to be top 4 come January. We failed in every test so far. 3 points v Norwich are worth the same as hull just as 3 v southampton are worth the same as Man U. Without a top manager , this year we won’t capitalise on slip ups and a transitional year for most teams. City, Chelsea have put it together , spurs will soon enough and we havent played any if them yet..
    One win and people jump on the top 4 bandwagon . They forget aspas, Borrini, Allen, asaidi, sahin and co. it should have added depth to LFC , instead the manager says we need strength in depth. 26 million pounds in allen/borini seeathearts could have added a coulple of good mf players….
    How about we have more defenders than Chelsea, spurs, Man U out together but can’t keep a clean sheet and keep rotating?

  • YAS says:

    All the above posters..STFU!

  • YAS says:

    Apart from Stan.

  • pino pino says:

    It’s not entirely our defender’s fault but that I think Brendan doesn’t know a thing about defending.As for Br buys I think it is only Assiadi lazy,Moses lazy,Cissokho lazy is Brendan’s only bad buys,but the truth is that he overpayed 4 some.But I believe our greatest problem this season is our DM position and I will cont to say it Lucas is crap only good against non pressing teams cos even when we are playing well he still allows our opposition many shots on target.Doubt it CHECK IT OUT AND BALANCE UR OPINIONS.y.n.w.a

  • Michael says:

    i think we should sell Henderson and pepe for good

  • Denis D says:

    B Rodgers needs to be backed well in January by the owners, then he needs to spend it wisely on players who will come straight into first team and stake a claim: No more Alberto, Assaidi, Aspas, Borini or Moses type players. Players who are simply dead wood average at best and not good enough for the club

    The owners need to give B Rodgers 60-70M in January to bring in these five players:

    Two players to sort out our: diabolical, soft, lacking in creativity, lacking in scoring goals, unproductive, not mobile, sluggish, centre midfield:

    Two Good centre midfielders to bring class, creativity, fight, goals, mobility, power, strength and to control and dominate the centre of park:

    1: DM: M’Vila(23) Of Rubin Kazan for 10-15M to compete and Cover Lucas Leiva

    2: CM: Y Cabaye(27) Of Newcastle for 14-18M to compete and Cover Henderson

    Two class quality pacey quick creative goalscoring wingers on either wing: To provide good quality service to our attacking midfielder and strikers

    3: RW / RWF: M Salah(21) Of Basel for 12-16M to play on the right wing or right hand side of attack to compete and cover Sterling

    4: LW / LWF: D Capel(25) Of Sporting Clube De Portugal / Lisbon for 4-6M to play on the left wing or left hand side of attack to compete and cover IBE

    And a striker to compete and cover sturridge: No Aspas, No Borini’s:

    5: L Remy(26) Of QPR, one of these two strikers should be brought to club for 5-8M

    These 5 players would cost club 60-70m but would help us maintain our the top 4 pursuit all the way through to May.

    But with our current poor weak squad, We will struggle to keep the top 4 pursuit up come february and then we will end up in 6-10 position in league.

    Being blunt, honest and truthful, we still have too many dead wood average players at the club. And that is why we have now become a top 6-10 side for the last 5 and half seasons and it is the main reason why L Suarez wanted to jump ship in the summer.

    If the owners back B Rodgers well with some serious investment and he brings in Y M’Vila(23) DM, Y Cabaye(27) CM, D Capel(25) LW / LWF, M Salah(21) and L Remy(26) FD these five are players of the same calibre, class and Qulaity of Coutinho(21), Gerrard(33) Sturridge(24) and Suarez(26).

    Whereas the likes Lucas (26) DM, Henderson(23) CM , Allen (24) CM, IBE(17) LW / LWF, Aspas(26) LW / LWF, Moses(22) RW /RWF and Stering(18) RW / RWF are nowhere near the calibre,class or Quality of Coutinho(21) , Gerrard(33), Sturridge(24) Or Suarez(26).

    Ibe(17) and Sterling(18) are both young and should be loaned out for a season or two to Championship sides in order for them to develop.

  • ian says:

    Alberto was bought for the future and Rodgers said that all along so should be exempt from the dross list. Plus he has some nice touches. Allen may come good (may??)

    It does appear as tho he requires help signing players, as the above list demonstrates. I don’t want to see Moses anywhere near Anfield or any other football pitch, if wearing a LFC shirt!!! Cissokho, even if you score four better goals than Suarez, in one game, I still won’t believe you’re a footballer lad!

    Come on Brendan, you’re better than this!!!

    • Denis D says:

      Why was 7M spent on future when we had Shelvey and Suso at club?

      We need class, quality players of Coutinho, Gerrard, Sturridge and Suarez’s calibre to be brought to club.

      No more potential, we have reserve, academy there is enough class young players in there with potential. Rodgers needs to stop wasting millions on potential

      As so far most of his attacking signings have been waste, except for Coutinho and Sturridge the rest have been abyzmal.

      Alberto 7m we had suso and shelvey, who i feel and think both could do well for club in next few years, so that 7m could of been spent elsewhere.

      Assaidi 3m wasted, Borini 10.5M wasted, Aspas 7.7M wasted, Sahin ( Loan) was a waste, Cissokho(Loan) looks like a waste, Moses(Loan) Looks like a wast.

      J Allen(24) was never a 15M player, but he is a good player and just needs to be more confident, more creative, take more risks offensively and play with freedom. So J Allen i will say has not been a waste as he has and will prove hopefully that he is A Liverpool type player.

      But the 35M plus wasted on more dead wood average players is B Rodgers fault, no one else’s. He is not a Swansea. He is at Liverpool FC, he needs to start bringing Players of class, quality to Liverpool not Average Mediocre players.

      I have seen if enough Nunez, Jovanovic, Downing, Biscan, Josemi, Voronin type players at club, we do not need anymore. And these players are of same level: Aspas, Assaidi, Borini and Moses. Alberto has Potential, but we had Suso and Shelvey at club, so Alberto was not a priority.

      • CHUKWUEMEKA says:

        on joe allen: “… as he has and will prove hopefully that he is a liverpool kind of player…” really? i mean, do you honestly believe that? if yes then that shows how low our standards nd expectations have fallen, and further reveals how poor our team is in terms of class, quality, potential nd above all, liverpool type or class of players (e.g, jonjo shelvy). making do with what you have is not the same with what you have being what you need or the right thing. joe allen being an lfc icon is as good a joke as sturridge being injury free for a good calendar year. with due respect dennis, that statement keeps encouraging those who don’t try to see beyond whatever rodgers puts in front of them week in & out, as long as he says what they want to hear. i can go on and give you examples of what i mean but i know you wld understand better than most.

      • ian says:

        I agree. Better than 35m for one, step forward A. Carroll.

        Suso asked to go on loan (apparently) Shelvey wanted game time and to be first team, not rotated.

  • Jack says:

    We can’t achieve anything until we get a proper manager . Rodgers is championship level.

  • WOWREALLY says:

    U r joking right? STOP dissing Henderson. He’s been one of our most consistent players. Even though we love Gerrard, Henderson has played every minute of the season and has held his ground doing it. He has improved as time has gone on and he is slowly but surely giving respect back to Brendan as a thank you for all the match time. This may sound silly, but I think Henderson could develop into a Gareth Bale, if he stays consistent and continues to grow. People hated Bale, for seasons, then BOOM, a world class player. I think Henderson has the potential, I really do, he’ll show his star quality one day. I agree to release Allen. I think he is deadwood. I’ve never said he was talented, He’s not a top 4 midfielder, not even close. Sterling has too much pressure on him at such a young age, he’s only 18. Yes he had a few impressive displays, but Denis D, is right, he needs to go on loan and grow at a faster rate.

    My beef with January. If we do not put up a good fight this January, we are as good as out of even the, whatever that cup if you come 5th is. I’d expect a mid table finish from a heavy decline, if we don’t do a thing in January. I was like WTF when we bought Sakho and Illori. Sakho will need time to sink in, but he is a quality center back. Ilori has quality, but he has not had any time on the pitch, which worries me. Surely he deserves a 20 minute run around or something to get used to English football? I don’t spend 9 million on a 19-20 year old without giving them a shot. He deserves a shot. Honestly, I have a few suggestions as to who to buy come January. Im not gonna say that if we get these guys, they’ll save our season or whatever, im gonna say what I think could:

    *Get a winger that can actually use the wing. (Moses on loan, oh my goodness…. I cringed watching that horrid defeat to Hull. Moses and Sterling did not operate the wings hardly at all and that worried me, with the formation being a 4 3 3 . Moses is a good attacker, but a shite winger. Sterling is an exciting prospect but he is young and needs to grow more.) = I would suggest Marko Marin. It’s an unconventional choice, because he’s not the talk of the town, but I’ve been a fan of his for a good while. When he’s confident, the play is absolutely dazzling. He would slot right into our style of play and it would add more creativity to our midfield and WING, with him. If Suarez, god forbid, got injured, our creativity would disappear. His electricity is what adds to our sparkle. Players like him, Gerrard, Coutinho, give us that creative edge, I WANT MORE. Granted Chelsea would be reluctant to sell, I was gutted he was loaned from Chelsea. I wish we bought him the moment we were linked with him because if he had joined, it would have contributed to a very different Liverpool of today.
    I would also suggest going for A. Guardado. I have been a fan of the Mexican ‘bullet’ for a long time. Such a pacey winger and so skilful. He just brings life and light to his wing or place. A genuine winger.

    Either of these two in January would make me a very happy person.

    *I would also suggest another quality midfielder. Simply because, we haven’t found a good, not replacement, but a person who can take over for Gerrard, for when he will, unfortunately retire. Lucas has good days and bad days, Allen, is just shit. Coutinho is magic so he just needs to keep his chin up. And Henderson has improved a lot this season. I would ask for a forward thinking midfielder. I’d call upon, none other than one of my favourite midfielders of all time, Xabi Alonso. Now, there has ben a lot of talk of him returning, the fact we sold him was stupid and I won’t ever forgive Rafa rating Barry higher, idiot..o.o anyway, he would go for a decent price and he could be the missing piece to the exciting puzzle that is our future. He’s an amazing holder of the ball. Knows where to put it and no matter what, he is always looking to pass the ball to a team mate. He would be a buy of the season, easily.
    I saw a spark a few years back, in a player called Mathieu Coutadeur when I randomly caught French team football early in the morning one morning. He played for Le Mans and he scored this goal, it took my breath away. His passing was on point and it was amazing the kind of control he had over the ball. His passes were very good and I am surprised he isn’t an Arsenal player, I kept begging we’d sign him back then but thought Arsene being Arsene would go for him cause he was young and French. He spots amazing French talent. Anywho, the boy is worth a look. Granted I don’t know what his career is like right now, that spark made me a believer in his ability.

    Iturbe, quality from what I’ve seen, why not?

    Wing back position. Flannagan has potential. However, for right now, with Enrique and Johnson being the only viable ones, I’d suggest goin for Melgarejo or Rafinha. I’ve been a massive fan of Rafinha tbh. And I kept an eye on Melgarejo since we were linked with him. A position i’d consider spending on.

    Backup / Shadow striker. We need one. NO to Luis Alberto, or Aspas. Asas is *. Alberto needs tons of time. Time we don’t have this season. We need someone to slot in. I believe we have good up and coming striking talent. I wonder if we’ll see Samed Yesil get a crack. I’d suggest going after Kriztian Nemeth. We let him go, but I was a fan. He was a very clinical finisher and I know that if Rodgers was here when he was, he’d be on the pitch with Suarez for Saturday and not aspas.

    Fingers crossed we get top 4, and I hope we do. Winning will come, one day.

  • vicky says:

    i fully agree with last commenter @ ian, but To be in top 4 get me m’villa, salah, and mitrolugou. Top 4 is done.

  • nat liverpool says:

    i think br hve being failiure when it come to transfers why aspas/aiberto n loan out borini n suso wit de same strenth 13 mil can buy ivan rakitic ,ilore/sakho 25mil buy one buy jorjinho 10ml n anderly yamolenko 20mil n nicolas gaitan for 15 or 16 mil u miss out on cristian ericson for just 11.5 mil

  • misheal says:

    you all keep saying Rodgers is a failure @ the transfer windows as if i was the one that signed Sturridge, Coutinho, Mignolet, Toure, Sakho… you mention a young Alberto, Aspas, Borini, Assaidi in your so called dross list forgeting he bought those players aboove too

    • patrick says:

      He bought 2 players that have improved team . Coutinho + sturridge . The rest were wasted money . We didn’t need to spend 28 m on sakho or mignolet.

      BR has bought mostly rubbish

      • Diego 'Digger' Souness says:

        Agree, Sturridge and Coutinho are the only two who have improved the first team, the rest are either ok, average or very poor signings.

  • misheal says:

    it is easy to run your mouth here after playing football manager games and you think you are succesful but for your info, its not easy to be a manager its not… most of y’all think Rodgers is the worst but recently someone bought Carrol for 35m, bought Downing for 20m and he wasn’t crucified so what is all these fuss all about?

    • patrick says:

      Kenny was crucified for those signings . It’s why he was sacked . Rodgers has been even worse.

  • Lennon says:

    Evry single manager has made mistake during a transfer windos including benitez,kenny, roy(well he was a mistake all around) but we you look at sakho,mignolet,coutinho,toure, even allen was our best player during the first half of last season before he got injured, let me remind you something assaidi wasnt BR signing, that was done and dusted before him, borini,ilori are young talent that can only improve, BR got the BALLS to play the youngsters and we are second in the most dificult league in the world, sure there is rome for improvement still but we have made anfield a fortress once again thanks to him, give the man a chance, jesus if the internet was on during Shankly´s time he would have been sacked 152455 times

    • McCarthy says:

      Allen best player ?? LOL . You need to actually watch some games b4 commenting.

      You nneed to see the bigger picture , not being blinded by a decent run of games against weak teams

  • Lennon says:

    Evry single manager has made mistake during a transfer windos including benitez,kenny, roy(well he was a mistake all around) but we you look at sakho,mignolet,coutinho,toure, even allen was our best player during the first half of last season before he got injured, let me remind you something assaidi wasnt BR signing, that was done and dusted before him, borini,ilori are young talent that can only improve, BR got the BALLS to play the youngsters and we are second in the most dificult league in the world, sure there is room for improvement still but we have made anfield a fortress once again thanks to him, give the man a chance, jesus if the internet was on during Shankly´s time he would have been sacked 152455 times

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