FOLLOWING the 3-1 defeat to Southampton on Saturday it became abundantly clear that there are certain areas of the squad that require some serious strengthening in the summer.
We need some genuinely top players to join the first team but also some experience and quality capable of coming off the bench too.
When Liverpool went in at the break at St.Mary’s, having scored shortly before the half-time whistle, the game was very delicately balanced. Lucas certainly made a difference (he always does) but the Brazilian aside, we had little on the bench that would’ve offered quality and experience.
Wisdom, Shelvey, Ibe and Suso are all very promising young players but as we’ve seen with young Raheem Sterling you can’t rely on that promise and quality at crucial times. This is no fault of these young players of course, but the days of having players like Garcia, Maxi, Kuyt, Benayoun and so on to bring on have long gone.
Which is why I think that, despite intensely hating international breaks, this one could be used wisely by the club. With a large portion of our players away on international duty, there should be a lot of work going on behind the scenes planning for the summer.
Since the last summer window, there’s been much criticism of the signings made by Brendan Rodgers. Many see the money spent on Borini and Allen as a huge waste of almost £30 million. Given the contributions of both this season, it’s a fair point. I’m almost loathe to agree, as I think that both could prove useful in years to come but we can’t keep on splurging fortunes on ‘ones for the future’.
This summer any list of targets should be whittled down to ‘only the best’. We’ve spent too many windows squandering money on squad players. We desperately need players who are going to come in and make an immediate difference, even if that means forgoing signing a few players, just to bring in one.
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For example, for every Borini (£12 million) and Allen (£15 million), we could bring in a Suarez (£22.5 million). It may seem fairly obvious, but some managers and clubs appear to feel that bringing in a few solid squad players is worth more than bringing in one great player.
There has been a few names bandied around in the past couple of months that, much like those mentioned before the January window, don’t really feel like players that can make a difference.
However, the name Xabi Alonso just won’t go away and that’s the kind of player that we should be looking for. When he joined Liverpool he was a great young player and by the time he left he was the finished article, and at barely over 31 we’d be getting a player that doesn’t rely on pace or speed that could have 4-5 years left in him. We’d be getting a bonifide world class international.
A player like Alonso wouldn’t come cheap, even with his contract wearing down but he’s the type of player Liverpool need to be targeting if we’re to make the jump back into the top 4 of the Premier League.
Many might look at Alonso and see him as a pipe dream, but if you don’t ask you don’t get. Rather than scraping around the mid-tier of transfer targets this summer, it would be far better for Liverpool to set their sights higher and just see what happens.
I don’t know about you, but I’d much rather come back to the Premier League in August having had our fingers burnt trying for players like Alonso, and perhaps getting lucky once or twice, than playing it safe and starting off another season with a ‘solid, if unspectacular’ set of new signings.
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FFs get over it!!!! Legend he is. Great memories etc. but why move backwards. Surely it’s better to be looking for an Alonso of 5-6 years ago like the one who originally joined Liverpool. STOP LIVING IN THE PAST!!!! Move forward!!!!!!
He is way better than what we gave ..so why not bring him back?
But..it won’t happen. FSG wont pay for a player of his age
And he wouldn’t sign for a manager like Rodgers..he is better than that
A manager like Rodgers? Steven Gerrard and Luis Suarez think he’s an excellent manager-I guess they don’t know what they’re talking about and “Kev” does…
Really? They are senior players and aren’t going to say a bad thing about an existing manager. Stevie said the same about every manager we’ve had. He isn’t a top class manager at the moment, and whether he’ll ever be us open to debate. I’m sure Stevie was shaking his head when he was in a midfield 2 with Allen, or wondering about Assaidi. We spent £30m in summer on players who’ve gad zero positive impact on the side all season – could’ve bought a world class Player fir that money.
Yeah right . Gerrard and co really like playing for a useless waffler who has done nothing and won nothing.
Suarez is HOPING his style n philosophy works next season. Thats different from an endorsement. Gerrard we all know is an ass-kisser, after all he claimed Joe Cole is as good as Messi 😀
alonso best season champions league 05.. after that went off the boil second best season his last one when he new he was leaving and started playing well again…we want the new alonso(equivalent) not the old one..
Harsh.
Harsh but correct. The summer before his last season started he was up for sale and best offer was £9m from Juve!
He was world class in his first and last seasons…. In between he was just good (but still loads better than your joe Allens or Charlie Adams)!
Class is permanent. Xabi showed in his first season that he was an exceptional footballer. He was still good to very good prior to his penultimate season. Rafa’s mistake was that having seen his second to last season (which I agree was not stellar but was nevertheless still consistent) thought he was going downhill so decided to replace him. Xabi recovered his form in his final season but by then the damage was done and we lost a player who every season since has been at an even higher world class level. I’d take Xabi back instantly.
Plz if u dnt knw wat to talk plz shut ur mouth nd stop sayin rubbish period
Good shout but even for Alonso – BR wouldn’t drop his pet rat allen
Well then . Lets get rid of Brenda and maybe we will attract top players again
FFS move on????
Alonso would be great .get him back ASAP
20 years had passed scince lfc is preparing for the future. A team prepares for future when it is winning what it wants. NOW lfc needs immediate results… winning the premier league. So stop joking and buy us quality players.
… a decent manager first
True talk about Alonso. HE gave us only 2.5 over 5 seasons.
that is so not fair . Alonso had 1 average season , the rest of the time he was class
Wow, you ‘fans’ talk some rubbish. I don’t think you realise how frail things have been at Liverpool the past 2-3 years and easily things could have turned bad, very bad. As it is we’ve got a good young manager who has things to learn but is def moving in the right direction. A good first team and a host of promising youngsters. Add some CBs in the summer and we move further fwd. League next year? No, not yet. Top four? Possibly.
I agree. To many Liverpool fans want to spend big and instantly expect us to win the league with great players. This is not true. When do you draw the line. I think Rodgers will do it for Liverpool. I think Allen will come good. He is still young. Remember how the same Liverpool fans who expect a magic checkbook to come along and solve all the problems, heckled and berated a young Brazilian namely Lucas. Players need time and Alonso great as he was, should be remembered for what he did not as the saviour to solve the mess. Look at Suarez, he had two average seasons and now he the best ever. How people called him a waste when he missed the goal so many times?
You obviously don’t watch football kid. Just about as clueless a comment as I’ve ever seen
“Suarez had two average seasons” hahaha hahaha
hahaha
Firstly he scored 8 goals in 24appearances in 2011. That’s 1 in 3 l. In 2011 he had the worst ratio of goals to shots. 12.12% He scored 11 goals in 2011-12 season. And ya I know he missed games through suspension. I’m not denying that Suarez is class. I’ve been supporting Liverpool for 36 years. And yiu missed my point. Suarez for his first season and a half did struggle to put the ball in the net for all the shots he took at goal. I was saying players need time to adjust Allen included.
Allen is sh*t. End of
Anyone who thinks allen will come good is dumb . so you and rodgers have something in common
Good one.? Did that take long to think off. Plastic Liverpool fans who don’t know what it is show support and give it time.
It’s the plastic fools who want to give Rodgers more time. You probably have never been to anfield
Amazing how my comments can offend people into making snide remarks. Sure why not boycott Anfield to get your point across. Or give back you season ticket. I’m assuming you have one. Fickle football supporters.
Rodgers is not a good manager . Haven’t you been watching ? He was sacked by reading FFS .
Yes he was, but he also put together a team like Swansea who if I’m not mistaken did well last season for a championship team newly promoted. That season arsenal manager said Swansea played the best football in the league. So give it time. Just him at the end of next season. If he had bought sturridge at the start of the season it would be a different story in the league position
He didn’t put the Swansea team together .Martinez did.
Stop with the ifs. It’s embarrassing
Liam, are you following me?
You and Stevie G should meet up
The thing is Alonso was a great player for us but there is no need for the club to go backwards, Alonso will always be a liverpool great and be a fans favourite but in all Honesty. The likes Of Gerrard and Alonso, have one or two years of top quality class football left in them. And OUR TIGHT dimwit owners need to dip in their pockets deep and back B Rodgers well with £100-£120M to invest in the squad heavily.
We have not been in champions league for 5 years now and that is because we have had pathetically weak squads over the last five years and we keep selling or class, world class players and replacing them with Average Hard working players instead.
Arsenal, Chelsea, Everton, Man City, Man United, Newcastle and Tottenham all have bigger, better and more depth in their squads than us.
And in the summer all them teams will strengthen again, B Rodgers has shipped out 12 players since he joined ( Adams, Aquilani, Aurelio, Bellamy, Carroll, Cole, Doni, Kuyt, Ngoo, Rodriguez, Spearing and Wilson). 4 are loanees though.
But Rodgers has only replaced 5 players: Allen, Assaidi, Borini, Coutinho and Sturridge.
There is still 3-5 players who should have been brought in to cover the whole the other 7 players who were shipped out have left.
But B Rodgers needs to ship out 6 more dead wood average players in summer:
1: GK : B Jones 2: CB: Coates 3: RB: Flanagan
4: DM: Spearing 5: FD: Borini 6: FD: Carroll
Then in the summer the owners should give B Rodgers £90-£110M to bring in Ten players to change whole dimension of squad and get club back competing against the elite. 9 Good class quality players and one Marquee world class signing.
And Here are the 10 players:
1: GK: M Vorm(29) Of Swansea For £2-£4M to compete and Cover Reina
2: CB: A Williams(28) Of Swansea for £7-£9M to compete with Skrtel
3: CB: A Pearce(24) Of Reading on Free Transfer to compete with Agger
4: LB: A Cissokho(25) Of Valencia for £4-£7M to compete with Enrique
5: DM: E Capoue(24) Of Toulouse for £7-£10M to compete and Cover LUCAS
Five Attacking players:
6: RW / RWF: J Montero(23) Of Monarcas Morelia in Mexico for £3-£6M to compete with Assaidi and Sterling next season
7: LW / LWF: D Capel(25) Of Sporting Clube De Portugal should be brought for £4-£6M to compete with Downing.
8: LWF /LW: B Arfa(25) Of Newcastle should brought in swap deal with A Carroll(23) and £10M to compte with Capel and Downing, then club would have three quick left footed pacey wingers competing with one another.
9: AM: MARQUEE SIGNING: Isco(20) Of Malaga for £14-£18M to compete with Coutinho and Suso in free role of Striker in side.
10: FD: C Benteke(22) Of A Villa for £15-£18M to compete with Sturridge and Suarez, to bring club/squad different option in attack a Plan B when Plan A may not be working out for us.
These 10 players would get club back amongst elite and competing for top 4 every year, it will also keep every player on their toes and at their best level week in week out and the incomplacency our club/players have had over last five years would be eradicated because of the quality competition waiting to get their chance to get in team and stay in team. No Player would be safe for benching and the INCOMPLACENCY Within side would no longer happen.
These 10 players would cost less than what Chelsea spent on these 4 players: Torres, Mata, Hazard and Oscar. Than What United spent on these 5 players: Rooney, Van Persie, Nani, Young and Valencia. Than what Man City spent on these 4 players: Tevez, Aguero, Nasri and Silva.
Those ten players would strengthen squad dramatically and would bring 2/3 class, quality players competing and battling for one position and it would bring our club back to the top. And our club do not have do a chelsea, Psg, Man City , Bayern Munich and spend over £250m+ over two seasons to get back to top. Our club just needs owners to dip in their pockets huge once but the right players need to be brought to club.
With those ten players we could field two strong sides in the 4 competitions:
P League and Fa Cup Team:
Reina
Johnson Williams Agger Enrique
Capoue Gerrard
Isco
Montero Arfa
Suarez
Carling Cup and Europa League team:
Vorm
Kelly Skrtel Pearce Cissokho
LUCAS HENDERSON
COUTINHO
Sterling Capel
Benteke/Sturridge
Those ten players would all bring something different to club and take the club back to the top where we belong.
If only football was as easy as it is in fantasy land. Great comment but I don’t think it’s as easy as that.
denis . Williams is a below average lump . and although Ben Arfa is excellent – he is injury prone , it would be stupid to go for him
Peter, How many points have Our club been off united in last five years? In every season? And them and us are the two biggest clubs in England? The only difference is we are living in past, while they are still being succesful NOW. We have not won league in 21 years , shows how far off United we are and saying that kills me and most true liverpool fans. For our club to get back amongst the best sides in world , we need huge whole sale clear out and those 10 players need to be brought in, 10 players. 9 Good class quality players and 1 marquee/world class signing. And then after those players are brought to club, squad would be stronger and better equipped to compete and contest with United in League and cup Pursuits. But we are nowhere near them at moment, we are behind Man City, Man United, Arsenal, Chelsea, Newcastle, Tottenham and Everton in squad class, depth and Quality.
And in the last few years the influx of players Man City, Chelsea, Tottenham and Newcastle have got them where they are today.
The likes of B Jones GK, J Flanagan RB, Coates CB, Wilson CB, J Spearing DM, F Borini FD and A Carroll are average hard working players and offer the club very little. So these players need to be shipped out
And the Ten players i mentioned should be brought to club:
The Five Defensive players would bring more competition mobility pace speed class quality and some quality competition all over back line. And in defensive midfield position.
The Five attacking players would bring more creativity, class, experience, mobility, pace, speed, quality and goals to squad.
And Peter its not FANTASY Football, its FACT WE ARE MILES BEHIND UNITED, CITY, CHELSEA and they will all strengthen in summer. so some huge surgery is needed to squad asap.
I agree with every point you make. But surely it is harder than to just name alot of quality players and for them to gel. But you write your responses fantastically and you obviously want the best for Liverpool as I do.
You are right . It is needed, but dream on cos FSG are not going to spend what is needed
Stevie G: A Williams is a very good powerful quick mobile centre back who is very vocal and a talker and singled handly kept Van Persie and Rooney both quiet this season.
He is a leader, him alongside Agger would be awesome. And he has at least three years of good football in him left.
B Arfa is world class, he may be injury prone now at Newcastle but with our new medical team at club, Look at Agger he was injury prone yet has played more games this season than he has played in 5 years prior to that being at club.
Our club bring in B Arfa(25) from Newcastle in swap deal with A Carroll and £10M LWF/RWF, D Capel(25) Of Sporting Clube De Portugal for £4-£7M LW/LWF, J Montero(23) Of Monarcas Morelia in Mexico for £3-£6M RW /RWF, Isco(20) Of Malaga FOR £14-£19M and C Benteke(22) Of A Villa for £15-£19M. Those five players would cost club £50M.
less than what we spent on Downing and Carroll nearly two years ago. Yet in Arfa, Benteke, Capel, Montero and Isco we would have some class, quality players who would cause damage and problems to any side in world football.
Dave, we should all be dreaming either FSG Start backing Rodgers well and get the club back to where we belong or they sell the club to some arab buyers and then the club will get back to the top that way. As we are currently in the third group of league, there are the top two Man United and City in the top group, a class above everyone , then theres Chelsea, Arsenal and Tottenham in the second class, then theres us Newcastle, Everton, West Brom and Southampton in group 3. And the others fall in group 4 – 6.
We need to get back in group one and compete with our greatest rivals : Manchester United.
And FSG need to put some serious investment in side in summer, £20M wouldn’t get us a Van Persie, A Oscar, A Mata , A Silva . And the owners think £20M will be enough to get us back up challenging united, when their GK De Gea cost just under that alone.
They won’t invest big and Rodgers is no good. So we are many years away from competing at top
Denis: The owners need to invest big and huge to get our club back amongst the elite, even QPR and Sunderland spend more than £20M on players and they are both relegation candidates.
The owners need to back Rodgers well or they need to sell the club to some serious people who can take the club forward as huge investment in the playing staff and squad is needed as soon as possible.
Rodgers is a good manager, just he needs to shut his mouth more and let his team do the talking on pitch as every time he talks team up, our next game our team does not turn up and we lose and get turned over.
Rodgers has done well, he has shipped out 12 players off wage bill( Adams, Aquilani, Aurelio, Bellamy, Carroll, Cole, Doni, Kuyt, Ngoo,Rodriguez, Spearing and Wilson). 4 Were loan players though and will be back in summer, but should be sold.
And only brought in 5 players to replace the 12 he had to ship out due to owners, thats 4-7 places we still have to fill. And owners need to open their pockets.
The stick Allen receives is not fair, he is descent player but his cost has given him added pressure, he is neat tidy on ball, good in possession, mobile , quick over ground and gets stuck in when he can. he is light weight and is not worth £15M noq but he is a good squad member.
The only player rogers has brought to club who looks a shambles and a pathetic buys is and was borini and he should be shipped out in the summer. As he is pony to say the least