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.
downing is not worth 19 million,for that price Mata would be better and not all players are looking form just champions league football liverpool can offer regular game time.
Finally an intelligent piece on this subject. Kudos to you. Some of the comments on this matter have been ridiculous in the extreme. He’s a quality player. No maverick but very very effective and that’s exactly what we’ve needed for years. Players who can turn possession to points not prima Donnas who slap in a transfer request after 3 months
I would like both Mata and Downing but the truth is that Mata rarely crosses the ball and with an assest like Andy Carroll someone who can put the ball on his head is a priority.
Mata gets regular game time and champions league football. I would love him wearing red this season, but I don’t see it happening now. Downing is not worth anything more than 12million, but we dug our own grave by spending 16mil on hendo (who I think is a quality player who plays a more continental style game than a traditional English game…as the U21 competition proved)…and with young at united I don’t see Villa selling their other prized asset on the cheap
I would like to wait and see how the Di Maria rumours at Madrid pan out, even then weprobably wont get him but he is a top drawer player.
I agree with the writer. Downing is proven and is an out and out winger so we should buy him. Matta is good but he very small and not proven in the prem. He’d be good we can not afford to take a risk. With regard to Di Maria-that is fantasy football and we need to get realistic here and not belive every made up rumour.
Downing is too light weight..
This situation reminds me of when Man-ure bought kean and we bought clough…
We didn’t get it right that time either..
Please let’s not make the same mistake twice..
£8m and I’d say it’s worth a punt.. but 19!
No chance!
And to think we let babel go without a run int the team!!
For Me Downing only worth from 9-10Mil, as he only have one proven good season & he is injury prone before this. Mata have 3 good season at La-Liga & he is proven good player & much more stronger then Downing. If we go 19mil for Downing then i would hope Liverpool pay 1 more mil for Mata…
This article can be summarised as “better buy any squad player quick in case we cant get anyone”. Liverpool have been brought to their knees by only buying squad players to fill holes in the squad for the last 3 years. Let us not continue doing it!! We must try for top quality players and, if we fail, then turn to our youngsters rather than paying exhorbinate sums for stop gap light weights. It is incorrect and defeatist to say we cannot attract top class players – wonder how we got Suarez??????
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…
I agree that he would improve us, but it’s a lot of money. If we could get Mata (big if), then obviously we should as he would be worth the money at circa 25M.
An alternative to Downing is N’Zogbia, who I think is actually a better and more skilful player. He scored and created lots of goals for a much poorer team in Wigan. Importantly, he could be much cheaper. Why pay the English player premium when you can get a similar but arguably better player for less?
Incidentally, I am still of the belief that we should be aiming for the likes of Mata, Hazard etc if they are available. The trouble will of course be if they are not interested in joining us.
i dont see how he is less of a risk compared to Keane…Robbie came to us after one his best ever seasons at spurs…he had loads of premiership experience (certainly more than downing) and was fully fit…if Keane didnt work out how can u be so sure the same wont happen to Downing?
Now it’s very clear…..WE WANT JUAN MATA.He have many experiance international and euro games.LFC please listen to your fans.He can plays for right or left winger and back up midfield/striker.He is versatile player….So,what else we want?powerfull,skill and drible the the ball.Only 23year.Comon LFC grab him fastest.This player will not dissapointed us.
£16 Million i can mabe part with but £19 Mill?? with that amount of money I’d rather N’Zogbia who at the minute seems to be on a consistent streak we couild probably negotiate a deal for Jeffren who has had a decent U21’s Tournament with Spain. Turan is gaging to come and play for the club he supports and Payet doesnt mind follwing uncle Damien over to Liverpool.
Mata, Great player but is not type of winger KK is looking for.
If we pay this, We litterally have been bent over!
10 mn for downing, 9 mn for being english (Would have been 10mn, had he been 23.
Equivalence: Mata 25mn (Offered 15 mn for not being English)
thank you all for your comments on my first article
@old timer – I am not defeatist all Im saying is that if KK thinks he is worth it then I am all for it and we should get him sooner than later. I would love to see the likes of Mata,Hazard, Aguero at the club but it would be tough to get them dont you think.
@Andy- good points mate..Mata and Hazard I agree would be great for us but Payet? Whats to say he wont be another Babel-great potential and good in another league but couldnt step up for us – would you rather spend a reported 13.5mill on him or get Downing for a bit more?
“We play with unconventional wingers like Kuyt and Maxi,” Isn’t this the reason that we need out and out wingers in the first place?
Suarez was a blessing for us. I love him the tenacity and drive, just hope he doesnt bite anyone.
Spanish players esp. wingers don’t come to the EPL and those that do often don’t settle.. Riera comes to mind..off the top of my head only David Silva sticks out but he is world class.. can anyone give me examples of others who have made the journey from success in la liga to the EPL and done well?? not challenging your view that Mata would be good for us ( I think he would and if we have the cash Id like to see both Mata and Downing in red soon) but would like to know how many there have been beacuse I cant recall them.
Reports today are now suggesting that Manchester City are after Mata. If it comes down to a bidding war we may just lose out to City. Thus we should have tried signing Mata much earlier.
I have some preferences in who I want us to sign, but whoever we do get I’ll support them regardless! If that’s Downing then good luck to him and I hope he does well and proves the doubters wrong!
Raman- I see your scepticism about Payet and his willingness to step up, but when has Downing ever stepped up? I would gladly pay the money for Payet because he has youth on his side, but also we have a fantastic man manager in charge in Kenny and I feel he will get the best out of him.
I’m torn about what type of Winger we need, but if you look at the amount of goals we’ve scored without the need of proper wingers, I think we could easily use our width from our Fullbacks. The problem we have had is that we struggle to break teams down because of the lack of Creativity and technique we have when we come up against a team that closes down the space. Downing doesn’t have that ability. His feet aren’t quick enough and his technique isn’t of the same level required. Mata, Payet and Hazard are all clever players with that added extra something.
Not many Wingers have come from abroad really, Not from La Liga. Riera was Benitez’ fault. During the second season he rarely played 2 games in a row and injuries didnt help his form. Under Kenny he would of been much better. Look at Valencia, Ronaldo ( now more of a forward) and now eventually Nani (bit of a jeckle and hyde sort of player mind but he has improved alot) N’zogbia and Malouda. all have come from Foreign leagues and have been better than Downing and all cost less than the reported £20 million. Then you look at Pennant (was the most expensive teen at the time) Shaun Wright Phillips, Bentley ect
To me its a no Brainer, we have to look at players abroad. Bryan Ruiz from Fc Twente is a very good prospect, as is Lucas From Sao Paolo and the forgotten man Arda Turan. All, I feel would be a much better gamble for the price.
my word!…19mil for Downing.The England team has only 2 world class players in it, Gerrard of course and Rooney(it pains me to say it as a Liverpool fan).The rest are just average or good players.I’m still recovering from the shock of 35 mil Carrol and now this please.If kk badly needs someone 2 get d ball across 2 carrol and be shrewd in spending he should buy n’zogbia and clichy for a combo of 14 mil and put 20+ for Mata, i mean if there is anything we lack its creativity.Teams like chelsea and manu we could beat on any given day but teams like stoke,sunderland,villa etc that always put five in the middle of d park we struggle against because of lack of creativity.