SINCE the change in ownership at Liverpool FC, there has been continued discussion about player recruitment ranging from the transfer committee and sabremetrics to player age and resale value.
With reams of data pored over and discussions stretching as to how best to gain a competitive advantage over rivals, there is one approach from which LFC have already reaped substantial benefit.
Philippe Coutinho, Daniel Sturridge, Victor Moses and Mamadou Sakho all share a common path in their football career. All were struggling for success at big teams and needed to find a place to nurture and revitalise their careers. Liverpool have become the orphanage for football waifs and it is paying dividends.
The club is able to provide young talent not just an opportunity to play football but to play for a big club with ambitions to play at a higher level. Liverpool are in the unique position of having one of the most recognisable and respected crests but find themselves out of Europe and under pressure.
The club cannot attract elite players without paying sums it cannot afford to invest but finds itself in a perfect position to attract young players who have not quite made the grade at the top of football. Liverpool can offer these players the prospect of representing a prestige club and the challenge of proving their credentials to play at the next level. If they get it right, they can once again be at the top table but this time, instead of looking on forlornly, they can be the players out on the pitch winning the trophies and the medals.
Liverpool benefit from bringing in quality, young and hungry players without having to pay the extortionate fees more established counter-parts would command. Of course, there is the risk that the players are not cut out for the top and that their previous clubs were right to discard them. But so far, these players have looked capable and it was not without good reason that they were coveted before.
Coutinho was probably the least known of the four mentioned to be brought in. But he was held in high regard across Europe before making the transition from Brazil like so many of his compatriots have done before. His first year at Internazionale was not the dream opportunity he had hoped. Having seen a reasonable amount of first team football under Rafa Benitez, Coutinho found his role seriously reduced after the Spaniard’s dismissal. Inter remained unconvinced the following year and although he enjoyed a fruitful spell on loan at Espanyol, his return to Milan did nothing to reignite his career. Liverpool saw an opening to bring in a talent who had seen his career stall. The £8.5m move now seems like a master stroke by the Reds.
[ad_pod id=”unruly-video” align=”center”]
Sturridge and Moses were both lured in by the money and the glory at Chelsea, Moses joined the European Champions while Sturridge moved to a team that would go on to win the Premier League the following year. Neither would experience the game time that they had hoped.
Sturridge had been a rising star at Man City and had destroyed Liverpool in youth tournaments. His rise in the first team coincided with Man City’s fund injection from Sheikh Mohammed and first team opportunities were likely to be reduced. One tribunal wrangle later, he had become a Chelsea player but things were no better for the striker. A successful loan spell at Bolton did not help to cement Sturridge in Chelsea’s plans and after a couple of seasons flitting between the bench and the pitch, Liverpool having held a long term interest, finally got their man. 11 goals in his last 11 games demonstrates how well that £12m was spent.
Likewise Victor Moses was a player tracked by Liverpool before he moved to Chelsea. His development at Wigan saw him rise from a potential talent to a key player in Roberto Martinez’s side. His pace, eye for goal and ability to pick out a pass made him hot property in 2012. Moses managed over 40 games for Chelsea and scored 10 goals. Sadly for him, those appearances were limited mainly to substitutions and Europa League games. Seeing Chelsea again invest in his position by adding Willian and Schurrle, Liverpool looked like an excellent option for Moses.
Sakho is a different story from the others. While PSG were trying to build themselves into a powerhouse, Sakho was gaining valuable experience seeing his teammates quickly replaced by ever more skilled footballers. This would seem to be a great breeding ground for a young home-grown centre-half, sadly for the Frenchman the continuing demand to push PSG into the group of Elite European teams saw his place under threat. As the Qatari oil money was again pumped into the Parisian club’s transfer funds this summer it became clear that Sakho would no longer be afforded the opportunity to hone his talent in the first team. Marquinhos’ £30m transfer proved enough for Sakho to weigh up his potential playing time. PSG’s loss was Liverpool’s gain.
It was therefore no surprise to hear Liverpool recently linked with another PSG player, Javier Pastore. The Argentinean shot to prominence with Palermo where he wreaked mayhem upon Serie A defences creating and scoring goals. After a solid debut season in the French capital, Pastore endured a lacklustre second season. Paris is not the place where time will be afforded to players and should Pastore fail to summon up the talent that made his so sought after, his future is likely to lie away from PSG.
Whether Liverpool could ensnare a player of Pastore’s reputation and quality is another matter. But this is precisely the type of player that should be targeted given the success of similar signings.
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
Pastore is hardly a lost talent and won’t be cheap. Waste of money
please ….. Pastore move to LFC, sign with price 34 MP
Forget players and their special abilities. Rodgers promised us ticka taka and a forth place, neither of which materialized. Bayern Munich were able to transform their style to tica taka within 12 games, whilst Rodgers keeps experimenting trying to accomodate certain players. Can Rodgers deliver a team that can keep the ball rather than parking the bus? I am seriously beginning to doubt this.
Tiki taka, spa!
Are you mad mate! Look at the wealth of talent that Guardiola has walked into! That Bayern team had just won everything including the Champions League! Brendan walked in on a team that had just finished mid table and was lacking main key players and any depth! Now if your a real Liverpool supporter you will be patient and realise that great teams are not build over night! My personal view is that the team now has a real spirit and is moving in the right direction! So quit your moaning especially when for the first time in i dont know how long we are above both Everton and Man Untd! P.S just for the record, tica taka isnt the be all and end all! Barcelona got hammered by a Bayern team that was playing kick rush football!
Yea. It was working so much more effectively when Kenny was in charge….
Pretty hard lot to please. Without Suarez for the majority of the season, Johnson for the last 5 games, Coutinho for the last 4 or 5, we are equal on top having knocked off MU.
A win this week and the mandatory 2 – 3 points which are dropped by at least a couple of the big 6 or 7 clubs each week and it actually starts to look a bit scary for other teams…. And no doubt look scary for all the whinning dribblers in here that are desperate for Rogers to fail. Funny how Tommy’s gone AWOL. Dennis D bobbed up for a week and after a couple of wins on the trot he’s back in his shell.
FSG Out will always be around but every single point he makes is so irrelevent that he doesn’t matter.
Happy days for Liverpool. YNWA.
Ozred, you are one of the dumbest people i have ever met. B Rodgers is a good manager, but he talks too much and has wasted millions on average players: Assaidi, Alberto, Aspas, Loan signing of Sahin and Borini.
And we have too many dead wood average players at the club who are not even Europa league class and quality, let alone Champions league class and quality:
B Jones GK J Flanagan RB Wisdom RB Kelly RB S Coates CB Alberto CM Allen CM
Henderson CM Assaidi RW/RWF Sterling RW/RWF IBE LW/LWF Aspas FD Borini FD
Thats Thirteen players: Out of 25 man squad: Luckily two players have been loaned out
The class players at the club are as follows: Mignolet, Coutinho, Cissokho, Enrique, Llori, Toure, Lucas, Skrtel, Sturridge. That is Nine players
And the world class players we have at club are as follows: Agger, Gerrard, Johnson and Suarez.
I am not looking for Rodgers to fail at all, i like most fans wants him to suceed and be a success at club, but i am no fool to think that the squad we have now is champions league class or quality.
What do you think the average players in our squad would do when they come up against world class opposition, they would crumble and get anielated against world class talent.
In January 2014: These five players would make us a top 3 side, let alone top 4 side:
1: GK: A Mccarthy(23) Of Reading for £4-£7m to compete and cover Mignolet for the next 5 – 8 years , so no complacency creeps in with either.
2: DM: M’Vila(23) Of Rubin Kazan for £10-£14M to compete and cover Lucas Leiva for the next 3- 5 years.
3: RW / RWF: Mohamed Salah Ghaly (21) Of Basel needs to be brought to club for £12-£15m to show Sterling how to cause fullbacks problems all game long.
4: LW / LWF: B Arfa(26) Of Newcastle should be brought club for £12-£15M to compete with Moses and IBE.
5: FD: A Hernandez(23) Of Palermo should be brought to club for £5-£8m to compete with Aspas, sturridge and Suarez
B Arfa(26), M Salah(21) would bring more class, creativity, Goals, pace, speed and width to attack: Both wingers would cause any full back in world football problems if they are fully fit and injury free. Yet both these players would cost less than What chelsea spent on E Hazard alone. But they would both have a similar impact coutinho and sturridge had last year when they joined us in January, because they would bring more class, pace,quality and speed to attack. ( Two assets the best wingers in world football have pace/speed and skills) Two things these wingers both are blessed with
He promised us 4 place and we’re in second now so what’s the problem…..clown!!
‘sabremetrics’? What’s that, how ro measure the curve of your sword?
Or did you mean sabermetrics? FAIL!
Utter tosh, these players were only signed because FSG wont put big money bids in, its not like they decided to find ‘lost’ talent they just wont spend on big name playets.
Don’t forget FSG gave us 100 mil. and we have wasted it. How could you blame them for that? If you invest your money and did not get return do you still invest in that? I don’t think so, or you will take cautious approach. I think that’s what FSG is doing.
Right. So your disappointed that we got 2 x superstars for a combined 20m…. How dare u liverpool…
Fsg out u r a bigger moron than Dennis d which is saying something. Go drown in your dribble u piece of toe jam.
Players
Nice article Brendan. There’s always a risk in these situations, but Arsene Wenger won titles on the backs of such players (Bergkamp, Henry & Viera) who didn’t cut it at their previous clubs.
We desperately need ‘Top Class’ midfielders..regular internationals..Lucas was never in same league as Alonso.. Mascherano and Gerrard,still isn’t and never will be! Nor will Hendo or Allen.
If its young with potential the likes of Will Hughes.. Oliver Torres(Atletico) and Allan(Udinese) would be ideal..more experienced maybe Ivan Rakitic.. Axel Witsel.. Inan..
Dynamic Central midfielders with ability to pass,tackle,shoot,go past a player and we would dominate teams..we have the strikers and defence…bearing in mind Stevie G getting on and affordability…
I’ve too often seen Lucas,Allen outmuscled twisted and turned by average players like Diame,Schneiderlin,Wanyama,Moussa Sissoko…no competition for youe Carricks,Yaya Toure’s, Wilsheres etc…
Midfield is and should be the engine room but u need Guile,Craft and endeavour not players who sit back and ‘pass the buck’ as quick as they can!
Back on top. At couple of of world class midfielders away from being genuine contenders
Ozred, your a *comedian.
You think you know about football when you know jack *?
Because most of us true fans, see that yeah we need to strengthen side in the key departments you waffle that because we are currently top of the league all is ROSY.
We are in October, the league finishes in May 2014.
Our squad is still lacks class and quality and quality competition for places: There are still too many dead wood average players at club:
In January:
We need A second GK to compete and Cover Mignolet for the next 5-8 years: A Mccarthy(23) Of Reading for 4-7M as in Summer, P Reina(30) should be sold to Barcelona for 9-12m
We need a better DM than Lucas at club, someone who can compete and cover him as no one else at club does his role or is Defensive Enforcer: M’Vila(24) Of Rubin Kazan needs to be brought for 10-14m
RW / RWF: Mohamed Salah Ghaly(21) Of Basel should be brought for 10-14m to compete with Sterling for next 4-5 years
LW / LWF: B Arfa(26) Of Newcastle should be brought in for 12-16M to compete with Moses and IBE for the left wing position
FD: A Hernandez(23) Of Palermo should be brought to club for 5-8M to compete with Sturridge and Suarez
Ozred, these five players are all class, quality players, players who will improve the team drastcially. In Arfa, Hernandez and Salah club would have class, creativity, goals, width, quality competition for places. B Arfa and Salah are both better wingers than E Lamela, yet both would cost club what spurs spent on Lamela.
And in world football, its your attacking players that win all the plaudits and are the most expensive players around. And god forbid Sturridge and Suarez are out of team together due to suspension or Injury, where else will the goals come from in squad if they are both out of starting 11?