Liverpool FC have been linked, in the past few weeks, with what seems like an endless list of players. From Juan Mata to Joey Barton, it feels as though every half decent player’s name has appeared in the press linked with the club since the season ended in May.
It is obvious that we do not need all these players otherwise we run the risk of having an unmanageable squad size that would rival that of Manchester City.
Fans and followers alike have a pretty accurate and concise idea of the sort of players and the sort of positions that we believe King Kenny should target this summer. Of course, the final say rests on the shoulders of the manager, but we all like to think we can predict what Dalglish will look for.
So far, there has been no messing about in regards Liverpool’s summer transfer ‘spree’, as it has been branded. Jordan Henderson has became the first player through the doors of Melwood, costing the owners in the region of £16 million to purchase the 20-year old England international from Sunderland, if reports are to believed. It was thought that French striker David Ngog would be off to ply his trade at the Stadium of Light as part of the Henderson deal, however it is now being suggested that Ngog will stay at Liverpool for now.
For me, the Henderson signing was a strange one. £16 million is a significant amount of money. Especially considering the youngster is primarily a central midfielder, a position in which Liverpool are currently well stocked. Although he can work out wide, the general consensus is that Kenny will look to ploy him down the middle, utilising his creativity and guile.
The question is what players do Messrs Dalglish and Comolli look for now? Well, if the expected exit of Ngog eventually comes to fruition, effectively our third choice striker, there is room for a young, exciting forward to fill his boots. Did somebody say Connor Wickham? The ‘next Alan Shearer’ has been strongly linked with a move to the Reds recently and it would seem like a perfect fit. The move would also fall nicely in with FSG’s policy of signing young, preferably English players with a healthy resale value.
If we do tie up a deal for Wickham, you would have to believe that a winger would be next on the horizon. The majority of Liverpool fans would love to see two quality wingers come in over the summer rather than one and with a few names being linked; it could be a distinct possibility. One player who looks nailed on to be wearing the red of Liverpool next season is Aston Villa winger Stewart Downing. The left-sided midfielder would provide the width that is sorely needed to complement the aerial prowess of Andy Carroll.
We will not end up like MCFC because the ‘deadwood’ will be shipped out. And i’m sure most of us would take where MCFC right now – FA cup winners, CL football next season and a good chance of a crack at the PL Title!
Its good to have total trust in the manager but I do not think blind faith could be dangerous.Well, It has been said countless times that we are buying for the future but I think some of the purchases have been suspect and I am not sure if we need to have more premiership greensticks on the shopping list than proven and seasoned perfomers.I stand to be corrected and time will tell but my gut feeling is that 5 years from now Carroll would be not worth anything closer to 5m pounds.What is dissappointing is that despite consistent poor perfomances from him Kenny is willing to give him more game time.I know his backers will be quick to point to his 2 goals against city as pointers of things to come but an honest assement should be able to reveal that by and large(besides the 2 lucky moments)Carrol was and is a liability to the team.Anyway its fairly obvious Carrol is not worth more than Suarez.From another angle add 5m ponds more to the money wasted on him you can buy Aguero or Neymar who are miles ahead of Carrol.Now let no one tell me that that’s the price for British talent because there is no need to waste money on British rubbish when there are bett er players of the same age. I hope he is not going to play these simply because he paid a lot of money for them..like he does with Carrol.Anyway he will only have himself should he fail.By the way, I am sure everyone now knows the destructive consequences of the model the new Liverpool owners admire and are trying to implement.Arsenal have failed this season mainly because of this so called youth with a resale value policy.I hope the long term objective is not to turn the club into a development centre which Arsenal has become now.
far, i couldn’t agree more. Your comment is by far the best i’ve seen on the forum today.
@far 35 million for an unproven player is sheer lunacy and that goes on to show the footballing world is now a business venture. Henderson to say was not the best player at a mid table club and will only be average at best for a liverpool side trying trying to redeem its image by going back into contention for titles, i’m disappointed at how we waste money on supposed english talents when the talent simply isn’t there
@far: its petty, n unfair to criticize Carroll after less than half a dozen starts not ignorin d fact that he came with an injury. nobody said he is world class, we saw a young, strong, striker who is very good in d air n has a good left foot. i know a lot of Lfc fans including myself believe we overpaid for him, still we have no reason to criticize him. wait for d season to kick off, then monitor his fitness n performances, then say wot u like. If u’re a Lfc fan, then stop whining about d past like a baby and have faith as we move into d future. Also attackin a player bcos the club overpaid for him doesnt make any sense.
wats done is done!!
For me the best signing LFC could make is Scott Dann – build from the back is always the best philosophy and ideally have a good scattering of Liverpool/English/British players up the spine of the team: Man U have Ferdinand and until recently Scholes in the middle ( or fletcher with Rooney up top – Chelsea obviously have Terry and Lampard and we’ll forget up top. Arsenal don’t have this especially at the back which is probably whey they can’t close in on a title.
For me Dann gives you leadership from the back – all those idiots moaning because he hasn’t come from PSG or Lyon or Hamburg or wherever are quiet simply idiots!! He has worked his way up in the game; climbing every ladder from Non leader to 2nd/1st Divisions to Championship/U21s and then by 22yrs old to Premier League – let me repeat every level to get to Premier League by 22yrs old – name another player you know to have achieved that. He is 100% the reason BCFC went down with his injury (which for the other moaners is his First significant injury in his career) – he is excellent on the ball, at 6ft 5in ( don’t believe the BCFC site saying 6ft 2in – ask around he’s a giant and maybe more than 6ft 5in) is excellent in the air; and most importantly he’s a winner, a leader, and a man – Carroll great; Henderson; hope so but to say creative is a massive exaggeration – but Dann is the real deal – better for LFC than Jones, Cahill and all the usual suspects from France!!
Come on see the light; bring the new backbone to a side back home
i really think that buying english players is not the way forward.and i think kenny knows this he is going to balance the squad,this might upset some people but english players are far too over rated just look at the national team their really not half as good as the british press make them out to be. you need a balance just look at united. but saying that i think kenny is building a squad and i can see 5 or 6 more players coming in but we have to move on the deadwood we have a massive wage bill and a lot of the players costing us money wouldn’t be good enough for the championship.rafa went mad spending money i know he had some great buys but if you buy 90 players you will get 10 or 15 good 1s. roy hodgsons signings arnt much better (with 1 exception merills) and are still on the books ship them out and just hope we dont go back down that road again. but i dont think we will i do trust kenny and damian but we really have a long way to go.
liverpool now a blend of the scots n english?