Although £19million is a lot to pay for Downing, with the position we are in I feel that he could become a good buy for us. A lot of fans are asking for marquee signings but without European football it will be hard to tempt quality players like Mata and Hazard to come to us when they have the chance to play in the Champions League with the club they are at now and are settled there. So rather than take a £13.5million risk on untested players that we have been linked to recently like Payet. I feel Downing would be a better gamble. A lot of the fans of LFC seem to think just because we have money we can buy anyone, but this is not football manager and a lot of other things also factor into a players decision to move. And also we do not have an unlimited bank roll like Man City to lure top quality mercenaries by waving bundles of cash in their faces.
While we had a great 2nd half last season I feel many of us are getting ahead of ourselves and talk like we are back on top when in fact we are just getting started. People are demanding top quality signings when what we need are good team players. Here are a few reasons why I think Downing would be a good signing for us:
1) Has EPL experience: less of a gamble than a foreigner and he has international experience with England, tho that doesnt count for much nowadays does it?
2) Is an old school winger, can play both sides, on the left he likes to get a yard on the defender and put good crosses in instead of trying to run circles around them and score. Our strikers (mainly Andy and Suarez) would benefit from this (It’s so frustrating seeing wingers take that extra touch an ruin a great chance when the strikers and midfielders are busting a gut to make good runs in the box. Well except when Nani does it..then its just funny).
When playing on the right, tho his crossing with the right foot is only decent, he is intelligent enough also to cut back onto his left and set the ball for the likes of Stevie and Raul who we all know can blast them from just outside the box. And with Andy in the team pulling defenders with him they are more likely to get this space.
3) Mentality: Downing seems a level headed bloke with a solid mentality unlike most wingers nowadays who are temperamental at the least like the zog or whiny cry babies… No awards for guessing Nani.
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five reasons why it would be a bad idea 1/ he is not worth over 11 million. 2/ he made 7 assists in 38 games last season. 3/ he came on as sub for england and made no impression whatsoever. 4/ young raheem stirling will be ready before the season is over. 5/ he is overated. but i hope im wrong if we do buy him.
STAN…YOU DA MAN!!!
Agreed fully! For me going to youth games and reserve games on a regular basis, I DON’T WANT ANYTHING TO COME IN THE WAY OF Raheem Sterling’s inclusion into the first team sqaud, and to be honest, 1 more year in the reserves and he’s ready…WHO CARES if he’d only be 18 at that point! Just look at Cesc, A.Lennon, Bojan etc…I think we should sign Andrés Guardado for less or Malouda for less…by then Sterling is ready!. And stop all the Mata talk, when I recommended him 3 years ago, MOST FANS were goo goo ga ga over David Silva! and he took the money instead of becoming a true legend at LFC! Thats why I always say I love Pepe! because all the stupid rumours fly and he comes out and say LFC is his true love! We need players who crave to be here! Look at our beloved Xabi, Luis Garcia…Theyre imports and when they have the chance they love coming back to Anfield!
Liverpool will not win the Premier League and will struggle to get back into the top four with average British players like Downing. The only reason why Kenny is interested in signing Downing is because he is British. Downing is clearly overrated and overpriced and offers way too little for the reported 19m fee. Liverpool should stop wasting their time and money in pursuing an average Downing who is not even good enough for a poor England team. Signing this guy will not make us any better and Kenny and Comolli should focus on attracting top foreign talent instead. If Kenny wants a proven Premier League winger then he should take a look at N’Zogbia instead who is available for half that price. The obsession with overrated and overpriced British players is getting over the top now and if Liverpool are serious about challenging at the top then they should forget about Downing.
One question mate….if N’Zogbia is as good as people say he is, why aren’t any big clubs really after him?? Why is it only the likes of Sunderland or Aston Villa(no disrespect to these clubs) who are after him?? Clearly if he was value for money top clubs would be after him right?? I’m not slating you or anything but I’m just curious to know. I rate N’Zogbia quite highly but surely there is something about him that is putting off the big clubs from Europe. Even Wigan aren’t as desperate to keep hold of him as they were with McCarthy.
Excellent post by both Stan & Eric. Downing is enjoying his hay season; but with his limited talent & skill, he ‘ll fade away soon.
Also, he excelled in a mid table club, where the expectation was to confirm EPL next season; performing weekend-week out for 2/3 titles is a different level of challenge.
I think Raheem ‘ll be a good backup for 2/3 years, but at 17, he ‘ll not be able to carry the burden. If an English is to bought, we should target Adam Johnson; otherwise with this sort of money, we can get a much better winger from east of English channel
mata would be better but we have not made a move and clichy needs buying for 8m now
believe in king kenny
I BELIEVE IN KENNY REVOLUTION………LONG LIVE THE KING. HE KNOW THE BEST FOR LFC.
Just one reason why buying Stewart Downing would be a bad idea… he is simply not good enough.
For 19 million mata is twice good as him and can play in variety of positions
Some guys in here just dont get it. We are not going to get high quality players to win us the league. And thats not even the goal. The goal is to get back into top 4. Players like Downing, Adam, Lennon all contribute that. Once we are in the top 4 we can attract bigger names with a few signings we would have an excellent first XI and bench.
Ya so we’ll have to wait for another decade for that to happen!!! lol what your talking is a gamble mr.mike. if liverpool dont get in the top 4 next season we may even see more players leaving us next summer! thats y we need quality now to reach the top 4! look at chelsea,city,united,arsenal..?? they will get much stronger next season by signing quality players! our aim is not to reach the top 4 but to win the league which united has beaten us which is an insult for us coz we couldnt win the league in the last 20 years!!! with average players like downing and henderson i really doubt we would reach up there were we belong..i know people say we haveto belive in kenny but i think everyone is talking about the same thing what i hv just said..
Wake up. Winning the league is an unrealistic target. Look at Chelsea and United. They have so much quality in depth. Thats why they are able to win the league. We are a few seasons away from having such a good squad.
We might get 1 real quality player. But dont expect us to sign Coentrao, Aguero, Mata and Adam Johnson. I would be thrilled if we get Lennon, Downing, Clichy and a decent quality back up striker.
We have a really poor squad. Kenny disguished it by raising performances for a few months but there is no way the current squad can keep that up for an entire season. And also bear in mind that some of the players we might buy this season fail to produce. Meaning it will take another season to bring in replacements for them. And once we think we get there we might need to bring in replacements for Reina, Carragher, Kuyt, Agger..
Really, stay realistic. This aint FIFA.
well i agree with u. if your talking about being realistic, this is our best chance to win the league since man.u,chelsaes,arsenal,city and spurs have all european competitions next season..we have a massive break compared to our rivals..i m not sayig we dont have a good team but we need atleast 3 or 4 quality players..what i am saying is that if we are willing to spend 20 million for downing,henderson we might as well spend on proven players..now i know we are only fans and we know only king and commolli know better than us but why spend so much for british players??? we already have enough british players in our squad – gerrard,johnson,martin kelly,carra,carroll,spearing,shelvey,joe cole??? where else look at suarez? proven quality player the fans wanted since a long time! now we want Mata and few more!
Thats because the aim is to get back into the top 4. And you have the best chance signing EPL established players as they do not need time to adapt. Any foreign player comes with a risk. Suarez is brilliant but we have seen way to many foreign players fail to produce
To all those who are telling that, since we are not in champions league we can’t attract top names and that is the reason why we are buying the likes of Downing,……
If we get to the champions league next season, we can attract big names again and we will buy them. And then what do we do with these buys like Downing? Who is going to buy him for 19 million which we pay for him? Or are you saying that we will keep this 19 million player on bench or in reserves next season once we have the likes of Mata or Hazard..?
Look at man utd where they keep rotating their squad. If you bring in quality players next year they will sit on the bench sometimes. But thats how it works at a big team with loads of quality. So yeah, signings like Downing will sit on the bench if you, for example, buy Adam Johnson for the left wing next year. But they will rotate which keeps both players happy and fresh for EPL and CL games.
Our main target this season will be top 4, that doesn’t mean the title is out of the question, if were in touching distance with the top 2 come end of the season we will be going for that aswell. I don’t agree with you when you say top players wont come to us, Suarez did knowing that were not going to be in the CL this season, players like Mata, Turan, Xerdan Shequiri, Jeffren Suarez, Diego, Lavezzi have all would love to and spoke well about LFC, but that all depends if KK wants them and is willing to spend money on them targets.
Yes, but as of next year new UEFA restrictions come in to place so how can you qouality players we dream off?
I just think Mata and Hazard should be top priority and Downing a becup option as I dont see any danger someone alse bidding 19 mil. to get him.
PS Adam Johnson might not be so impossible to get.
Of course when the oppurtunity arrives that we can go for the title we will. But I doubt that it is going to happen.
at 19 million its a big fee ,but you have to admit his quality of crossing is exceptional and when playing at liverpool ,under the influence of kenny he will be an even better player ,just look what kenny did with black burn and the confidence he instilled in that side to go on and win the league ,we only finished second to man united on points after xmas with a very avergae side ,with young players ,at aston villa downing wouldny have seen the ball half as much as he will see it at liverpool he wil be brought in to the game alot more and swinging crosses in all day ,we all have to face the facts ,from bad decisions over the last couple of years ,we are going to struggle to get top quality players ,but who cares look at man city last year we made them look like school boys at anfield ,kenny wil make players like henderson ,adams ,downing and if we get clichy twice the players they were in the past by getting in their heads and making them believ in their abilities ,look at lucas look at flanagan look at the whole team since he arrived ,seriously have faith ,we dont need mata let him go to man city ,where he will just turn into a glory hunter for money ,and remember its a team game ,we can go out and buy all the best talent we can get our hands on and stil not win a thing look at real madrid or we can be a team like barcelona and play with a togetherness,we were succesful by having british talent in our teans of the past so have man united ,we have tried so many foreighners in the past and come away with yes a champions league and a fa cup but i think i speak for us all we want the league thats our baby ynwa
If the argument is that we can’t attract the cream of European football with no CL I can follow that but it still doesn’t explain why we are spending extortionate prices for average players 55million for Carrol and Henderson is ridiculous the pair shouldn’t have cost more then 30 at most.
Dont forget that Kenny and Comolli are judging alot of their decissions based on statistics. Alot of people might not seem to rate Downing but his statistics are excellent. A bit of the same with Kuyt. He doesnt get appreciated as much as he deserves.
And the fact that they are english and young really increases the price. With the homegrown rule coming into play we really need to get some homegrown players.
1. Yes he is a Proven Premier League player, but that does not mean he is a £20 million Premier league player. Average at best and there are better options abroad.
2. Old school winger he may be, but he lacks the pace and close control to be an affective one. Most of his crosses tend to come from deep and he is very predictable.
Most ‘flops’ from abroad are normally players that come in to this country cheap. It is normally the players from abroad with the higher prices and higher Reputations that turn out to be the better players. Players like Hazard, Mata and Payet are better players than Downing in nearly every aspect. Payet would cost half the price, he is atleast 4 years younger and he now also plays International Football. Him, Mata (who apparently would listen to an offer from us) and Hazard are all worth the deal, when you consider how average Downing actually is.
Infact throughout the season he has been constantly moved into a more central role at Villa because Young and Agbonlahor have been occupying the spaces outwide.
I don’t care how ‘small’ a player is and Mata would fit the bill at Liverpool in the way we play. We play with unconventional wingers like Kuyt and Maxi, who get into the box aswell as cross. He will give us that variety and much more. Wingers don’t need to be big anyway. They only rarely have to win headers or mark a player, so I dont see the problem.
just remember, we got Suarez when Ajax was gunning for and in the end Won the Dutch Title, which has guaranteed Champs league football. yet he signed for us…
He isn’t a youngster anymore at 26 years old and I still haven’t seen anything from him to suggest that he is even as good as what Riera was in his first season. He rarely plays for England because he isn’t good enough and if he is worht £19 million then why did Ashley young go for less? you cannnot say that Downing is even as good as he is.
We have enough home grown talent coming through and it’s about time the likes of Robinson and Flanagan get a proper chance next season. We have just signed the very overated Henderson to go alongside Johnson, Gerrard, Carragher and Carrol and along with blooding in a few youngsters we won’t have a problem. Players like Arda Turan, Bryan Ruiz, Boudabouz (sochaux I think), Hazard, Mata and Payet ect would all be better aquisitions and also Cheaper. Just like Javi Martinez from Bilbao instead of Henderson, but thats a different argument.
Yeah but players like Payet need to adept. And thats priority one for KK and DC. They want players who dont have to adapt!
Downing may not need time to adapt, but he is still average at best. Would you want to spend £19 million on an average player who will not get any better, Or spend less on a fantastic but younger player who will develope?
There is always a gamble as they might flop, but whats to say Downing won’t? Look at Shaun Wright Phillips who cost Chelsea close to £25 million. He spent most of the time warming the bench and even when given the chance never performed. Same goes to Pennant where ever he has been and also the likes of Bentley.
I would rather us sign a young winger with pace, creativity and technical ability, that can develope at a cheaper price than rely on a player basically because he is English and plays outwide who has done nothing at any level.
Why is evereyone so afraid of spending a few million. We wont turn into the next Chelsea or Man City. Relax.
We are not spending just “A Few Million” are we? £20 million on Henderson and £19 million on Downing. The chances are, Downing will be as average for us as he has been at Middlesborough and Villa and at £19 million I would want alot more from the money being spent. If it doesn’t work out we will be selling at massive losses and Our new American owners won’t back us if the money isnt being spent on players worthy of the price tag.
Juan Sebastian Veron?? Anderson?? Andrei Shevchenko?? Our own Aquilani?? Aleksander Kolarov?? These were pretty expensive signings from abroad but they’ve not been value for money now have they?? The success rate of a player is not dependent on his price tag. It depends on ability. Kompany cost City about 6 million where as Lescott cost them 22 million. As it turns out, Kompany is now up there with the best CB’s in the world whereas Lescott is a makeshift player for City and England.
“The success rate of a player is not dependent on his price tag. It depends on ability.”
If the success rate depends on ability, then Downing is definitely not worth £20 million. Aquilani was a gamble, but as he showed when he was fit he was definitely worth it up until Roy Hodgeson got hold of him. Veron had the ability, as did Shevchenko, as they shown in Italy. It was just that they couldn’t adjust to the Prem. There is no guarantee spending money on someone from abroad will turn out to be great. But I would rather spend the money on a Talented, young player from abroad with technical ability, creativity and Pace who can make it as a fantastic player, than spend £19 million who is now 26 and is yet to do anything of note and is Distinctly average in every aspect.
The chances are, we could easily go and spend less money on a player from abroad and have the deal become a huge success, than see Downing sing for £19 million and turn into a superstar over night.
If we are going to sign the better players, then why spend it on overprice, Overated, British players, when we could get better deals from abroad. Like Pedro said, Lescott is average and English and cost £22 million, yet Kompany cost far less ans is the better player by far.
Lescott cost more than Kompany, Hyypia, Agger and Kolo Toure put together.
The quality of British players have declined while Foreign players are getting better. Kenny needs to realise this as he We will not be able to break the lesser teams down with players who dont have the ability, but cost twice as much as their foreign counterparts
Every expensive signing from abroad is pretty much a gamble. Veron and Shevchenko couldn’t hack it cause their playing styles didn’t suit the Prem and Sheva was also heading on the decline. It was an ill judged transfer to begin with. There are a lot of factors to consider when it comes to a transfer. A players mental toughness also plays a part.
Btw, who are these players from abroad we could sign for less than 19 million with a chance of being an instant success?? Turan?? Quality player but he’s coming on the back of a injury plagued season. Could go either way with him. Who else?? Payet?? Looks decent but he could turn out to be as catastrophic as Diouf, Diao, Cheyrou and those other players we bought from Ligue 1. Who else?? Player names would be appreciated.
As it stands, Downing is a low risk option for us who could immediately help us get back into the CL. He may be overpriced at 19 million but with him we know what to expect. He’ll give us the width we’ve been longing for ages.
How is signing an distinctly average player for £19 million low risk? The width we will recieve only counts if he can get beyond the fulback ofwhich he rarely does as he has no pace or technical ability what so ever.
I would rather us get our width from our fulbacks and use the system we are now with two other players other than Maxi and Kuyt in the wider forward positions. We have created alot of opportunities using this system under Kenny and scored quite alot of goals from different players. Its against the teams who give us less space that gives us more problems, as our build up play becomes predictable and slow as we havent got any real pace or creativity. Little dinked balls over the top of defenders, sneaky through balls, close control dribbling in and around the box to carve openings. Something Yossi used to do really well when given the opportunity. Downing has none of these skills and has never attempted to think out of the ordinary and is very predictable. Crosses from deep will be picked off and he isnt the sort of Winger who has the pace for a counter attack either.
As for players, Bryan Ruiz from FC Twente. Strong, fairly quick, tall and can score goals.
Lavezzi, May cost abit more than £19 million, but is now a full international and has the same sort of work ethic as Tevez, without the complaining off the pitch. Scores goals and has created alot of chances for his strike partner, Cavani.
Turan – May have had an injury nightmare, but look at Aquilani. Yes he didnt get the chance of a second season but at Juventus he was very good. Turan has the ability and is a strong character. Has captained his country and also Galatasaray.
Keisuke Honda- Can play upfront, outwide and also in Midfield as proven in Holland, Russia and for his country. Capable of creating things inside a short space or even a 30 yard screamer.
Boudebouz – Again, young, hungry, tricky and has alot of enthusiasm in his game. Can also play as a forward or outwide.
Axel Witsel- Very good prospect and can also play on either side. Not seen too much of him but From what ive seen has been quite impressive
Even N’Zogbia would be a better option at a fraction of the price.
We know what we are getting with Downing. Average performances with the odd good ball for an average player. £19 million for an average player? no thanks. He hasn’t done anything of note to suggest he is good enough and at 26 will not be getting any better as a footballer and he won’t be getting any pace over night, something we have also been missing alot of.
Some of these players might want to play for a team in the Champions league, yet Suarez signed when Ajax was fighting for the Championship and eventually won it after he left for us. All we could do is enquire and see what happens, but to say Downing could help us get into the champions league? we need someone more than distinctly average to help us do that. He might be “prem proven” and in that aspect is lower risk, but for someone so average, I would rather us look elsewhere who can not only play for the first team now, but also develope further into a fantastic player.
19 mil. You know how many cans of dog food it can buy?