LIVERPOOL legend Jan Molby has claimed that the Reds’ £15 million acquisition of centre-back Mamadou Sakho is boring and is was not what the club needed to go forward, according to The Metro.
Sakho arrived at Anfield along with fellow defender Tiago Ilori, of Sporting Lisbon, on the transfer deadline day, however Molby believes that manager Brendan Rodgers should have pursued a more ‘marquee’ signing to get the Anfield faithful more optimistic for their campaign.
Molby said:
“When you kick off the season with three successive clean sheets, it’s a little bit surprising to see two centre-backs added to the squad on transfer deadline day, Sakho might have cost £15m but he isn’t the marquee signing we’ve chased all summer.
“With all due respect, there weren’t any queues outside the club shop on Tuesday morning to buy shirts with his name on the back. A marquee signing is someone who gets you out of your seat like Mesut Ozil, Willian or Henrikh Mkhitaryan.”
Molby then went on to highlight how the 23 year old’s progress has slowed down since he was appointed captain of his former club, Ligue 1 outfit Paris Saint-Germain:
“Something obviously went wrong when you look at where he was at the age of 17. But he is still only 23 and if he can recapture that early form will flourish. He is big, strong, quick – all the attributes needed to succeed in the Premier League.”
Live4Liverpool is recruiting columnists. For further info contact the site editor at live4liverpool@snack-media.com
Follow us on Twitter here: @live4Liverpool and ‘Like’ us on Facebook
With all due respect to Mr Molby, who was a super talented footballer, he’s missing the point. Liverpool missed out on signing any more creative midfielders in Mkhitaryan and Willian as they would have been upgrades on what we had. Coutinho is better than anything else that was “available” in the market for what Liverpool could pay. Sakho will give Liverpool what we’ve lacked, a presence in defence akin to what Man City have with Vincent Kompany. That’s what is needed to get into and compete as a top four side in the Premier League.
Exactly! Of these so called “marquee” players that would have improved LFC and were available, they have openly spoken about the fact they rejected Liverpool’s overtures. So it isn’t for the lack of trying that we hadn’t ended up with the exciting type of players.
Agree with you in every respect but would further your comment by pointing out the we also bought Ilori, O.K. he’s a bit younger but I can see a prospect of a Hanson / Laurenson pairing there with Sahko being the solid one and Ilori being the quick one. Agger could be on his way in a couple of seasons and we (LFC that is) are building for the future.
Mr Molby is right…Liverpool were needing another midfielder because Coutinho is good only against lesser teams.
Also…we need another good striker because Sturridge is always injured and Aspas is a mediocre player.
I agree with Hebert but I do think Sakho was a good signing, maybe we should try playing him as an holding Midfielder kind of like a Yaya Toure figure… He is strong, powerful and good on the ball so why not try him in midfield?? I do think we need another attacker, either a winger or Playmaker. Di Maria or Mata would have done nicely! FSG should have offered Chelsea £30mil for Mata or 30mil for Di maria.. Both players are worth every penny.. I’d like us to try and sign EdiN DZHEKO in january and sell Borini please!!! Fsg need to stand up!
Captain at seventeen?! Can you guys remember what u were like at 17?! I know I can! I reckon it was obviously too much too soon for a 17yr old KID. But like Sturridge and Moses, Sakho is another one who’s got a point to prove. After losing his spot at his old Club. Those are the type of players that can do well because of their motivation to prove themselves. He Obviously has the skill, physique, pace and experience to do brilliantly for us. It’s down to him now. He’s got all the tools, as Brendan would say!
As for Molby, he definately has a point. In my lowly opinion.
will u kill someone who dont want to come, sako may not be d signing everybody likes, but i am sure he will give us more dan what ozil will give to arsanal. rodgers hv tried to get a big name player like willian, costa & shacters gerald but it wznt walk out. lets put hope in courtinho, if he stays injury free, we will hv no problem in d midfild,,he is even better dan ozil & willian.
Molby has prove a point, bcos lfc should have get sakho wit only 9 to 10million pounds and should have balance on willian wit d remaining money bt however dats gone and i think sakho is a good player to prove himself and be a veteran like jamie.
About sakho saga, individua player will prove him self, like sturridge and some other players has done. So is ealy to write eny player off.
Spot on!!! Not one big name 2 get me off my seat!!! All the top 5 teams bought in a marquee signing!!! Evens arsenal bought a world class player in!!
we all shld rmba dat mkhitaryan,willian nd even diego costa wr all marquee signing dat br went 4 but dey all turned down d offer.Will u blame rodgers 4 bringing in a talented defender dat really want 2 prove himself?
Molby doesn’t have a clue what he’s on about Sahko is a brilliant signing, he is one of the best centre backs in Europe. He’s the best signing we made over summer, we look solid at the back now, maybe even have the best defence in the league. And all this talk of we need a ‘Marquee’ signing is a load of *. The system we play doesn’t require a ‘Marquee’ signing for it to work, just players with good technical abilities. In fact a ‘Marquee’ signing would have a negative affect on our system because the system only works when the team works together, ‘Marquee’ signings tend to hunt for glory for themselves and not the team. This is shown in the statistic of we’ve won more games without Suraez in the team than we have with him in it.
i think most people misunderstand what molby is trying to say here. the way i see it, he thinks sahko is a good addition to the squad but not the maquee signing iyre tried to portray him as cos of his prize tag.
Andy Carroll was a marque signing at 35 million! We do need another winger/forward but we have more options that this time last year!
Lets get real, we all want “great” “big name players” or that’s what we’re told, what we need however is players who care, who have a point to make, and are hungry, just like the supporters and the club as a whole. Players might not be fighting for the badge, but as long as they understand the importance of the team, and give 100% on the pitch well be in a good position come may. BR is showing some real class. We are playing much more like a LFC team should, and with such a young side there is plenty room for improvement. …and no need, right now, for a superstar bullshitter to upset the team. Saurez is tony get more goals this year anyway. Those stats about us losing more with him, is just a cinch quench of how poorly the team played in the first half of the season. If we can maintain our current form while adding him, then we really could hit the ground running!
So Molby, just stop falling in to the trap of big names. We need team work and ability, and so far I see that we have plenty… For now. YNWA
Marquee or not, if Sakho plays well and Liverpool wins that is more than enough. If Liverpool qualify for CL than every player in the team will be a marquee player themselves. I respect a player that works hard to improve the team and club and brings honour to LFC more than somone who choose to play only for teams in the CL. Personaly i think they are similar to parasites. They group up and suck their host dry and move on.
you flags of rodgers if sakho was that good how come no other team went for him even mancity & barca short of option didn’t go for him i fear the worst this season cos only migno and toure has proved worthy of playing 4 dis club,aspas is afraid.BR and fsg think they have deceived us only time will tell,br thinks he knows more than he know.arsenal has two quality playmakers but rodgers heaps 38 games on the young shoulders of coutinho “GREAT SHAME” should have brought firmino instead of lazy aspas