Liverpool Banter Archive July 16 2014

16 Jul 2014 21:55:06
So this Taxi Driver I was talking to this morning told me he seen Ian Ayre in his Nissan Micra on Edge Lane pulling out of McDonalds Drive thru. He had 2 Strawberry Milkshakes and a cheese burger on the Dash. Might be a coincidence but that's 'exactly' what Swansea are asking for Wilfred Bony. Pretty sure it's a done deal fellow reds, I tipped him £2.

Sorry eds, sometimes I miss the old crazy banter posts lol

Some of the old ones were great and well thought out I think my favourite was the my mate cleans the windows at anfield and seen a aguerro screen saver on the managers pc or the babel copter another great one there's been way to many over the years shame we don't get many of the fanrastic dodgy rumours no more

16 Jul 2014 23:46:53
The best one I heard was about a security guard goldfish who assured his owner that Aguero would sign.

17 Jul 2014 09:31:34
Unlikely rumour as Bony is lactose intolerant and wouldn't go for cheese on his burger.

Sounds like Chico Flores order to me.

Probably need a Sundae to clinch the deal for him though?

16 Jul 2014 21:53:23
Watching all goals scored on LFC TV and one thing you notice is how clinical Daniel Sturridge is. There is no doubt about it, he is a world class goal scorer. Let's not forget he came 2nd last season in the premier league goal scoring charts only behind Suarez.

Obviously, there can be no like for like replacement for Luis, as he is out of this world. However, what is clear is that we need either a centre forward or an attacking midfielder who can score goals. Sturridge won't always be in position to score and who else do we have who will get in and around the penalty area and have the quality to finish?

Coutinho, is a playmaker. He specialises in providing goals. I think Sterling will chip in with a fair amount of goals, but he is more of a wide player. Lallana and Henderson are grafters. They will chip in with a few goals, but there is much more to their game than to restrict them to a forward role. We were always going to bring in a winger and Markovic looks a good prospect, but may or may not hit the ground running. Therefore, I would say that bringing in a centre forward or an attacking midfielder is essential this summer.

Another position that needs addressing is defensive midfield. I've been banging on about this for a while now, but Gerrard doesn't provide adequate protection for our defence. Play him further forward to allow room for a powerful defensive midfielder. Emre Can looks like a promising player, but he's only 20 and has a lot to work on if he is going to make the defensive midfield position his own. Particularly, his discipline and positional awareness. Lucas, as we know hasn't been the same since his injuries, and looks likely to be on his way out. A top defensive midfielder is essential this summer.

The two other obvious positions that need strengthening are left back and right central defence. I think Agger and Sakho need to stay at the club. Sakho is the future, but I feel much more confident with Agger at the back for now and Lovren would make a good partner for him. Skrtel would be decent backup to Lovren, but I would be equally happy with Ilori as backup.

Even though it isn't essential, I would like Johnson to be replaced. I would also have no problem with Reina and Jones leaving to bring in Begovic. He and Mignolet would provide good competition for each other.

That would be 4-6 players to come in that would ensure we are ready for the challenges ahead. They don't have to be world beaters, they just need to possess the attributes needed to do a decent job in their position.

Red Rum

We have Gerrard, Can and Lucas for DM and is not a priority in my eyes. LB and CB I agree with although Ilori will be interesting to see. Hopefully the injury isn't serious. As for the additional striker, we have Borini back and Lambert, although I get that he is not an out and out striker, and I believe that Markovic can also play in the middle. I would not be expecting anymore than the LB and CB and would suggest that we may not want to make too many more changes for financial and disruptive reasons. We may work with with what we have now so maybe temper your expectations a little to avoid disappointment.

Red rum, whilst I agree with some of your calls. Namely we need to strengthen our defence. Please do not call Sturridge finishing world class. I watched a number of games last season when he was mostly very wasteful, greedy, lacking vision. He masked these by us winning or scoring a great goal. I have a dvd of us winning the treble under houllier when heskey looks 'world class'. Let's not burden our players with tags they don't yet deserve and wait and see if they fulfill our hopes and dreams?

Heskey was unplayable, world class for about 12 games. Sturridge is better though and will prove it the year oh and look out for Jordon Ibe. He is the next homegrown Liverpool Star.

Sturridge's non-penalty conversion rate compares very favorably amongst the 'big name' strikers in world football and has pretty much his entire career. Compare to that other guy who just a few years back had a dreadful conversion rate of 11 goals in 138 shots, as an example.

Greedy and selfish are simply stupid labels when it comes to Danny, he is very clinical even when compared to the greats.

Well get ready to be disappointed red-rum. Even though you think a top class defensive midfielder is essential its not, and it's not going to happen

17 Jul 2014 09:24:29
sturridge,clinical lol.he couldn't hit a barn door during the world cup

Just like lamela eh word?

16 Jul 2014 17:55:42
Hi eds,
just wondering,
Having bought markovic, there are still reports of Griezmann. Now i'm not saying I believe these reports, but do you see us STILL buying another winger such as Griezmann, Shaqiri & co.
Also what's the situation on strikers? any more incomings on that front.
Do you see us making a move for a keeper, and also do you personally think we will get Lovren.

Thankyou very much and please do reply.

{Ed002's Note - What is wrong with reading the posts? If Sterling leaves Liverpool will perhaps look to another winger.}

16 Jul 2014 17:02:16
Hi eds, regarding Kolo, with Tranzobspor interested, do you think we would ask for a small fee or would we allow him to leave for free? Thanks

{Ed002's Note - We don't discuss money - it only upsets Liverpool fans.}

16 Jul 2014 15:06:37
Hi edds,
Has any other club apart from newcastle shown an interest in Emmanuel Riviere? Just after hearing he passed a medical at Newcastle, could be a very good player for them.

{Ed002's Note - Not Liverpool.}

16 Jul 2014 13:30:33
hello eds,
can lacazette be a possible transfer target?

{Ed002's Note - USTSF.}

Ed have we got an acronym page because that one when I checked the web takes me to the us table soccer federation!

Or should I rtfp?

16 Jul 2014 20:23:12
We should get Cavani.

Man City- Already have strikers and would need to offload with the financial fair-play and agreeing a fee with Porto for Mangala.

Chelsea- They have already got Costa and have an additional 2 strikers at the club ( Lukaku, Torres).Although they have alrwady sold Ba.

Arsenal-They are concentrating on other targets, have already gor Sanchez and are closing in on Khedira.

Man Utd- They have RVP and Rooney as strikers already and need to improve other areas of the squad.

Tottenham- Why would Cavani go there, amd they don't have the funds.

I am saying this because Cavani has told his agent that he wants him to find an EPL side, we have money and need to replace Suarez so it's a perfect opportunity!

Why are you posting this again? Are you a masochist? Because you're just going to get abuse.

Cavani won't be joining us buddy.

Do we really have the money?

Over priced and simply not that good

Cavani looked amazing when he played at Napoli. Looked pretty average last season and at the world cup

I will bow to superior knowledge but I have watched a few PSG and Uruguay matches now and have never seen Cavani do anything that has made me think "WOW! He is special!". I just don't think he is as good as is being made out.

WBA need a striker.

That's his level

I would rather get Negredo instead

16 Jul 2014 19:55:26
Didnt see the friendly, anyone know if Iloris injury serious?

I don't think it was a pulled hamstring by the way he walked off angry but comfortably. I would guess it was just a tightness/slight strain. we'll have to wait and see obviously but I think it was precautionary

Didn't seem to be very serious, but hard to tell. He walked off the pitch and down the tunnel.

Cheers guys

16 Jul 2014 19:45:09
I have been a regular reader for a while now but never posted! So hi all!
I know you say you can't answer questions with 'most likely' in eds, but, who is the number one target or most viable option for left back next season?
Thanks.

Changing likely to viable doesn't usually trick the eds I'm afraid :/ we've all tried though haha

16 Jul 2014 19:27:15
Just saw the Brondby Liverpool game. Coutinho, was good, and Suso was okay overall, although his poor clearance led to their first goal. Ibe will be a wonderful player if he learns how to keep his cool in front of goal.

Brondby's goalkeeper was good too, and the second goal scorer Ferhan Hasani looked half decent.

It wasn't susos clearance? It was the new Tottenham lad?

I agree though suso coutinho ibe and perhaps Kelly were the most impressive!

Stewart maybe could've done a little better with his header, but it was Suso who fluffed his clearance.

16 Jul 2014 18:40:09
Where'd yer man Arigi go? The big Belgium fella? Are we still buying him?

Clubs are agreed. Player is probably on his hols

16 Jul 2014 17:36:31
hi all

i hope we don't forget the need for our defence to be added to with better defenders, we need lovren, we should just pay what southampton want then he can start gelling with his new team mates, it seems all we are looking at is attackers, I think we have enough, we have the under 21s and some from the youth who can step up, as it proved with sterling and flanno, we need to get our defence sorted out and made better, so its harder for teams to score against us, because a better defence will help mingolet concede less goals, unless we have skertal scoring own goals, I've said it before, if we don't let any goals in then we only have to score 1 goal, but i'm getting a bit worried now that there is no movement in the defensive department, we all know we need a centre back or 2, a left back and a right back, we are carrying GJ and enrique, sell them for as little as possible and then we can save on theirn wages, kevin keegans newcastle proved you can't win the prem by out scoring teams, last season we scored over a 100 goals but let too many goals in, we even helped other teams out by scoring so many own goals, our own goal tally must be high or the highest when viewed with the other top teams, let's hope we get defenders in

Why would we sell our first choice full backs for as little as possible?

I'm in favour of ridding the club of Johnson, in order to get his wages off and make room for Flano, Kelly, Wisdom and the number of right backs on our books that I feel could replace him.

16 Jul 2014 17:29:19
We should get Cavani.

Man City- Already have strikers and would need to offload with the financial fair-play and agreeing a fee with Porto for Mangala.

Chelsea- They have already got Costa and have an additional 2 strikers at the club ( Lukaku, Torres).Although they have alrwady sold Ba.

Arsenal-They are concentrating on other targets, have already gor Sanchez and are closing in on Khedira.

Man Utd- They have RVP and Rooney as strikers already and need to improve other areas of the squad.

Tottenham- Why would Cavani go there, amd they don't have the funds.

I am saying this because Cavani has told his agent that he wants him to find an EPL side, we have money and need to replace Suarez so it's a perfect opportunity!

Stopped reading at Cavani. He is awful mate.

Red Rum

Money from where exactly

We don't have the funds!

Dont have the funds? Wheres suarez 75 mill gone then? On baseball?

Less than 60 mill spent so far and that's about average budget before player sales

Maybe I'm missing something but I never thought Cavani was that special, pretty good with Napoli but from what I saw on the champions league when it comes to the big games he just doesn't contribute enough, and it was a similar story in the world cup. Admittedly I don't watch him every week so I'm open to criticism about this post but I've never seen anything to warrant the ridiculous transfer fee that gets talked about every window

Maradonakebab. the money doesn't just magically go from there account to ours in one go. I would highly doubt we even got 40 million up front. add to that we need to be saving for the stadium and are already making losses. Well we don't have the funds quite simply. especially for a player as overrated as cavani!

He is isn't awful he just doesn't fit our style.

16 Jul 2014 17:17:54
I haven't posted in quite a while but seeing my son sport the new home jersey, images of the squad in preseason and a friendly match imminent, I am very excited for the new season

Big love to our global family
We still believe

16 Jul 2014 16:06:38
Looking forward to watching Ilori, Suso and Teixeira tonight. Will be good to see Ibe get a run out as well, he looked good last time out.

Red Rum

Agreed. We have a lot of talent in our squad that people are not currently aware of. Sure everyone has heard of Ibe and Teixeira but I don't think anybody seriously knows quite how good they are.

16 Jul 2014 14:13:49
Hey Ed,
There seems to be nothing in this window regarding Ricardo Rodriguez. We are looking at a LB and have been linked with him in the past. What's up with that?

He has an asking price of £30million which we won't pay for a left back

I would say Jetro Willems if he wasn't injured.

16 Jul 2014 15:16:02
Any ideas why Emre Can didn't travel with the squad to Brondby? Started pre season at the same time as the rest. Not really too important though I suppose! Look forward to seeing some of the youngsters play.

He's injured mate.

Red Rum

16 Jul 2014 16:31:19
Ankle

Cheers lads.

16 Jul 2014 14:59:57
Does Tello moving to Porto mean they have dropped their interest in Suso?

I'm not too sure, Porto's new coach is the old Spanish U19, 20 and 21's coach. Julen Lopetegui, a journey man leg-end keeper back in his day.

I'd imagine he'd like to assemble a few more players he's worked with before, Suso is apparently a player Lopetegui really thinks highly of, so, I guess if we don't use him, Porto may come back in. But i'm just drawing the lines between the dots.

16 Jul 2014 14:15:14
For all the Amricans out there, CBS sports are showing the Liverpool game online so we can all watch it in work. Also every premier League game next season. God bless them!

16 Jul 2014 16:34:28
Yes, but only on CSN Washington, CSN California, CSN Chicago.

16 Jul 2014 13:59:14
Has anyone got any idea when the stadium work will begin and how will it affect the season when it does?

At the moment the houses directly behind the main stand on Lothair Road are beginning to come down, or well maybe not beginning, more like 'in the middle of'. A lot more ground work is being done on the surrounding area I would assume in preparation for the renovation. If you go on Twitter and search for 'Anfield Redevelopment' then you will find some pictures to take a look at. i'm not sure when work on the actual stadium will begin, but I think I remember reading a few weeks ago that it may be as soon as Christmas? But i'm not 100% sure on that.

16 Jul 2014 13:35:40
Squad travelling to tonights game is:

Jones, Agger, Coutinho, Lucas, Allen, Ilori, Borini, Suso, Ibe, Kelly, Coady, Skrtel, Flanagan, Adorjan, Smith, Phillips, Rossiter, Wisdom, Jones, Ward, Teixeira, Peterson, Stewart.

I'm assuming all others are either still on holiday, just got back or still getting over injury, but that one that I'm confused isn't there is Robinson. Hadn't heard he'd been sold or was injured - anyone know where he is/why he won't be in the squad?

A few good players there! Will be interesting to watch! Everyone get on Liverpool -1 at 2/1 also guaranteed winner ;)

16 Jul 2014 15:33:21
Guys , help me out , memory loss , who is Phillips?

{Ed007's Note - Adam Phillips the youth player.}

Was hoping to see Can in action. Hopefully next game hey.

Guarenteed winner? Eh Shane! Remind me never to listen to you advise again. I will only be able to have lobster once this week now!

16 Jul 2014 12:39:39
Sturridge is underated IMO, he.is a top class striker already at only 24 and will continue to.excel. Heres a statistic. 31 goals in 43 appearances. A potent goalscorer that Provides assists, is technically very good and creates a lot from outside the box. Some of his passes are top drawer. One hell of a player and the best no 9 in the.league IMO

Can't believe this, but I agree with you.

16 Jul 2014 14:07:51
With Suarez gone, perhaps he will take up more responsibility and get even better.

Bang on mate. If Sturridge stays fit he'll win the golden boot IMO. Clinical deadly finisher. Nice guy too with a decent head on his shoulders you can see that in interviews. 1 word he mentions a lot is "team". I like that about Danny

16 Jul 2014 12:11:17
Do you know of any lfc players that are in talks for a new contract?
i remember hearing flanno is due to sign one but are there any others you know of

{Ed002's Note - See previous answers from Ed001.}

The most hated phrases on this website:

"a smokescreen"

"marque signing"

16 Jul 2014 13:49:06
So ed shall we meet up when I am in Menton next month?

{Ed002's Note - I still have a place in Cap D'Ail but only visit occasionally. Menton harbour is pretty nice with a few cool little bars and restaurants - the rest, not for me.}

16 Jul 2014 12:02:43
Hi Ed's

I was just wondering what your opinion was on remaining transfers. Assuming we have no one major going out. How many players and of what position do you think we still will bring in?

{Ed002's Note - I am sorry but RTFP.}

In my opinion (which is based on what the Eds say) I expect Bertrand and Lovren to sign, with possibly Divock Origi (who will then go back to Lille on loan) as well. Then we may turn to a keeper (Vorm or Darlow) and if there is still time/money another forward such as Huntelaar or Lacazette.

Would you say that is reasonable Ed?

It's impossible to know 100% know because we don't even know who is leaving yet!

Talks of a Moura, Isco, Vidal, Reus, Lukaku etc are just irresponsible and boring. We don't have the money and need to comply with FFP this season. So unless you want to sell Sterling or Sturridge, give over people. We've already spent £51m on forwards/wingers and also have Borini, Suso and Assaidi back from loan with only Assaidi looking certain to leave. Not to mention Ibe, Dunn, Peterson, Sinclair, Wislon and Ojo who all have either made their first team debut or signed pro contracts. How many attackers do you want?

We need a left back and a centre back and anything else is a luxury.

16 Jul 2014 11:45:35
With Conte leaving Juventus could there be players leaving there? I for one would love to have Carlos Tevez. He will be a great replacemnet for Suarez.
Wish we had someone like Conte. Very few of his signings turn out to be flops. Moreover they don't seem to cost over the odds either.

{Ed002's Note - One or both of Pogba and Vidal will be leaving.}

Start a campaign to force Rodgers out then mate :)

16 Jul 2014 14:05:03
Rodgers nearly won us the league I want him to say for another 10 years.

Looking at this guy's previous replies
I found this
@Wassa, I bet you said these sort of good things about Aspas, Alberto & Ilori last summer. Brendan's summer transfers have been nothing short of blunders. Allen, Borini, Alberto, Aspas, Ilori, Kolo. The only reason he had two good seasons is becaus noe of Suarez. Now, he's gone. How does Brendan replace him? By bringing in a 33 year old washed up hasbeen. We'll go back to 7th place at the end of next season. The players we've brought in and those who we are actually being linked cannot tie Suarez's laces. We're doomed next season which will likely be BR's last. MARK MY WORDS!SUMON VAI "

He is hardly the optimist

RED RAJ I would say cost us the league
RODGERS was found wanting when it
really matters and I if the same thing
happens again he will use the same
tactics because the man is obsessed
with his attacking approach.

16 Jul 2014 10:53:04
I know not really Liverpool related but Ince said about his move to Hull "I've come here to be educated. Anyone can go to a status club and pick up five or six times more money than you could do in the UK but I'm a footballing person." So best of luck to him because there's not many that would not move for a lot more money these days

I just think it's funny as he left Liverpool because he wanted too much money if I remember right.

Well I hope he has matured and I wish him well!

16 Jul 2014 11:39:31
If the interest from Inter was really there then Ince's ambition would have taken him there and he would have decided that he was good enought to fight for a place in the Starting XI.
I get and respect that he will play week in week out for Hull and get more experience, but; without offending Hull, he would have learnt more training and playing with a better standard of player at Inter.
The fact English players don't move to Europe is an issue, because there they would learn a lot more technically, although the English system is starting to produce technically gifted players as opposed to athletes. Arsenal and Southampton are particularly adept at it.

All the same, good luck Tom Ince, he once wore the Bird and moved on after being snubbed and had the balls to tell us where to go when we realised our mistake and tried to buy him back. Besides, we've got Sterling and Ibe now. haha

Respect to Ince.
The lad seems to have matured a lot over the last couple of years. Not many young players would choose Hull over Inter with all the money being thrown around by clubs in european competitions, so good and mature decision by the lad.

Without trying to upset anybody hull is a perfect fit for him, its about his level at the moment and to be honest he could improve but he will never be a 1st pick at Liverpool .

Never is harsh on the lad. He may surprise you. Hull is a good fit, and he's still quite young. He wouldn't get on the pitch right now at LFC or Inter, and he knows that, but he's no slouch himself. IMO, he will be bought at a substantial profit by a bigger club within two years

I can't see what he'd learn from bruce and his coaching staff that he wouldn't at Inter. In fact i'm pretty sure their only winger is Schelotto who doesn't really have the faith of the staff. I get the feeling he didn't want to move away from the UK

16 Jul 2014 10:21:26
Eds do you know if we still hold an interest in Rojo or are we thrashing out a deal for Bertrand still over the fee?

{Ed002's Note - I have no idea what you are talking about.}

16 Jul 2014 10:03:17
Out of all the signings of all the top 7 so far I have to say that Aresnal have made the most impressive ones on paper.
It looks like Kheidra is agreed according to sky.

Of course, utd are going to spend massively too. Chelsea with Fabregas and Costa have done really well too, although they probably will bore the crap out of everyone again.

In my opinion City are the ones who could slip if Toure goes - but that's a gigantic IF.

Liverpool have at least two major signings to come in I imagine. I think we have gambled a little with Markovic and Can. Rodgers has got a 50/50 rate with signings which is great if the gems keep coming I.e coutinho, sturridge etc the jury is still out on a few of them though eh?

What a season ahead.

16 Jul 2014 13:32:51
Arsenal could sign the entire World XI on top of their current squad and it wouldn't matter.

Until they can stop acting and playing like they are already champions every time they win, and boo their manager and tell him he doesn't know what he's doing after every little hiccup, they will not progress significantly and will remain at risk of slipping. A mindset change could make them the most dangerous team in England, but judging from their reaction to signing Sanchez it's not happening this year

You think City are 1, going to let go of any player they don't want to? And 2, with the squad and spending ability they have, they're going to suffer if they lose 1 player?

Good as Toure is, (which is excellent!) if he goes I'd be more scared of just who they'd be in the market for!

I do agree with Spudgun to some extent.
There is a difference between buying Experienced players and Buying future stars.

I personally believed BR would buy Quality/Experience over Future stars.

I still think we go and break the bank for Turan/Shaqiri/Reus.

The quality which Chelsea/Arsenal/Man Utd/Man City have will be tough to match now that Suarez is gone.

Markovic/Can may as well take 1 whole season to shine.

BR still has our backing but I see us competing for 4th place this season and an early Champions league exit.

16 Jul 2014 09:13:17
No doubt Brendan Rodgers is a great manager and promoting youth is a huge plus but surely his scouting team and transfer dealings need to be looked at from previous transfers.
Alberto? Aspas? Toure 50/50 Mignoley (better than reina?) Illore? Borini? Assaidi? Allen 50/50 Sahko? Sturidge and coutinho 2 good signings out of 11 in my opinion. I know we wasn't in a good position to attract players but this window will be definitive, more optimistic so far.

You can certainly add sakho to the list of good. illori and Alberto we certainly can't say are bad.

Toure mignolet and Allen are all good signings imo not the best but they've all done well.

Borini well this is his season to prove himself!

Assaidi and aspas not the best but we should recoup our money back on them anyway.

I would Say that we've done fairly well with signings. I mean they were part of a squad that got us from seventh to second and are for the most part still young!

Toure was free, and his impact in the early part of last season was good enough that some of us (myself included) were talking about him being the best free transfer we ever made. He slipped in form and Skrtel returned to form, Agger was injury prone and we bought Sakho, who had to get acclimated to an entirely new league and country.

Assaidi was bought cheap and will be sold at a marginal profit. His foot skills were great but footballing sense lacking for Rodgers. Aspas looks like a waste of money, but we had the best two strikers in the league last season, so I can't blame him for not making much of an impact. Borini would have struggled w/ so little game time, instead he ended up the hero of a struggling side and seems to be back in the running for a regular berth.

Mignolet will be here a long time. Allen has returned to form, he's just not the "Welsh Xavi", he's Joe Allen, intelligent, tidy midfielder. His game is not flashy in the slightest, and fans will look at Henderson bombing forward and agree that the latter is the better of the two. I still believe Allen's role in the team is very important to our success.

Ilori and Alberto have time, but I think the latter has one foot out the door. Actually looking forward to seeing the former in the game today.

Rodgers has made mistakes, and I think he tried too hard early on bringing in disciples of his that we didn't necessarily need, but the two obvious ones will be important to us now, so I can't complain. Only thing I disliked was the way Reina went to Napoli (yes, partly his own fault) and the loan signing of Cissokho. Moses should have done well, but Sterling presented himself as the better player, potentially the best attacker we've had here in a long time, and gametime for Moses often meant giving away experience Sterling could have been getting.

I give Rodgers an 8 out of 10 w/ transfers, and a 9 out of 10 for the rest. The outlay looks like a lot, but the improvement in the team was well worth the funds, and CL football has helped us recruit two of the most highly rated midfielders in Europe, and two proven, hungry attackers in Lallana and Lambo. Now its time to assess the team and see what may be missing -- which ain't much. I'm very excited about the upcoming season.

16 Jul 2014 18:54:39
Is it Liverpool fans in general or just this site that seem to have huge blinkers for how things are fed to them in the media?

I'd definiely not say that Rodgers is a great promoter of youth. His hand was pretty forced with both Sterling and Flannagan who have both proved their worth this past season but Ibe especially, also Suso and Alberto were the stand outs of pre season and never got a sniff of first team action even when 2, 3, or 4 goals up! There were also times we were crying out for something fresh in the last 20-30 minutes of a game to break down stubborn resilient busses of teams and any of those options would have been markedly better than Victor Moses but they were shackled to that bench!

To discuss your transfers:

Alberto: In the fleeting glimpses we have seen of him looks assured, composed, gifted and like the very best players to have more time on the ball than is realistically reasonable. Should have been used more.

Aspas, had all the ingredients but a young striker who knows he probably has to score a hat trick in the 9 minutes he's brought on for in order to force a starting position next week is under immense pressure. he didn't cope well. maybe in a team that doesn't have 2 of the best attackers in the league he'd have flourished.

Toure: Looked a great free transfer at the start of the season. Somehow deteriorated into one of the most laughably uncoodinated mishmash of cockups in the PL.

Mignolet: First action for club earns us 2 points. As good a shot stopper we've had for a long time, better than Reina at his best on his line but susceptible to errors from crosses. Notable improvement towards end of the season. Not sure if that was coaching or a better understanding with a slightly more settled CB pairing but remember the guy is incredibly young for a top class keeper and has shown the ability to improve quickly already.

Illori. How the hell can you bash a kid that hasn't played yet?

Borini: I really liked the look of him from his first europa cup displays, hunger, willingness to fight for every ball but just wasnt clinical enough when given the chances. Seemed to improve at sunderland and wants to fight for his place. I'd rather have him than say Chelseas third choice striker Demba Ba or Tottenham's Harry Kane.

Allen,, I can't understand how people haven't taken to him? Did nobody else think that a midfield 3 of him Henderson and Lucas was by far and away the most effective team we played in the middle of the season. You don't remember displays like this then

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/25287554

Sakho. I'll agree he hasn't looked the classiest ball playing centre half in the mold of Agger and he worries me more often than not but he's also a beast in the air which we have certainly lacked for many years. jury still out and for the money yes i'd say that he's not at the level required for a £17m central defender.

Sturridge and Coutinho? Speak for themselves.

16 Jul 2014 08:06:35
I must admit I think i'm in the minority when I say we don't need new defenders. The way we play and how fast we break would leave the greatest defenders in history exposed. What we need is solid players on set pieces and Ilori back who is lightening quick should we lose the ball when having a speedy attack.
I hope this season we see even more of the younguns getting a run out. So much promise from the likes of Suso, Coady (who I think has gone), Rossiter and whoever else we have. let's give them game time and build on it

I totally agree, its not as if we have bad defenders, its a thing where they think we can outscore you so we don't really need to defend properly. Remember when we beat the Mancs 1-0, we defended well then.

I agree though I think we will sell a couple and bring in Lovren. I think we tried to cater for Suarez and Sturridge to play together last season.

Which meant loads of attacking threat but less of a defensive cohesion. Big word.

Anyway. This is where we got found out and Johnson in particular(not slating him), but if we attack like last season the defenders need to be rock solid in a positional sense and that is what will be addressed

Well Johnson is certainly awful! Just lacks effort which really pisses me off. I agree that we could get away with signing no more defenders even no more players this window but it is easy to see loveren would strengthen our chances as would a top left back.

I agree though if we can't get Moreno or player of similar quality I wouldn't bother spending money on what in my opinion would be a stop gap in Bertrand or Davis.

ShaneK, I agree 100%.

Dont agree!

We need a better defence for sure!
Outscoring your opponents is a well tested method that just does not work in the long run. unless your brazil in the 70s and we are not!

We need to defend better as a team for sure and a solid central player like lovren would be an excellent way to help settle the problems we have

Madness to think we don't need a better defence

Gareth, if we can't get the top quality additions then sign nobody is basically his point for defence.

We have plenty of numbers so I would only like to see defenders coming in if they are clear improvements to the 1st 11, like Lovren.

16 Jul 2014 07:55:54
Liverpool have managed to offload Iago Aspas following his one miserable year on Merseyside.

Aspas has joined Sevilla, initially on a year's loan, but the deal is guaranteed to be made permanent next summer. Aspas will not be returning to Liverpool, and the Merseyside club believe they will recoup most of the £7  million they paid Celta Vigo thanks to the terms of his La Liga return.

BigD, how is it guaranteed? Do they have to buy him for a set fee if he plays a certain number of games or what?

Just passing on what I read on the daily express newspaper.

{Ed002's Note - There is no guarantee.}

I really hate when we use terms like offload, dead wood, etc is incredibly disrespectful. And not one of the players who are often termed this way have shown disrespect to the club or fans so I think we should stop using phrases like this.

16 Jul 2014 07:31:33
Ed002, you said Chelsea did not take up the option on Markovic because in their eyes he's not quite ready for the prem. Is this the only reason that you was referring to in the earlier post or is there more to it? Thanks.

{Ed002's Note - And they had no immediate need for the player. They have their four wide players and if there is a change in the attacking midfield role it wouldn't be LM.}

Chelsea didn't need him mate. They already have Hazard, Schurrle, Willian and Salah for the wide places, with Thorgan and Piazon out on loan. The player himself would not be stupid enough to even consider Chelsea even if they had made an acceptable offer. They would just farm him out on loan, and sell him for a huge profit to fund the next flavor of the season.

{Ed002's Note - Nonsense - where do you get all of this rubbish from?}

I wouldn't say he was stupid if he went to Chelsea, although he certainly wouldn't see gametime unless he went on loan. Chelsea doesn't recruit these players just to sell -- anyone would see through that and say "no thanks, I'd prefer to stay at a club that actually wants to play me one day". Sure, they might sell one or two at a profit, but the purpose of getting Lukaku, Thorgan and the like is to actually improve the team over the long run. Courtois, for example, played BIG minutes at Atletico and comes back to Chelsea ready to take Cech's position from him. Kakuta and Atsu will improve while loaned and possibly play for Chelsea in the next 2 years. It's not just a system of 1. buy, 2. loan, 3. sell, 4. profit. 5. buy world class player they really wanted.

16 Jul 2014 17:58:20
Agree with Indian Buzzer.
Kevin De Bruyne is one such player.
Atsu will likely be one of the next.

16 Jul 2014 07:26:03
markovic officially done, loveren hopefully next

16 Jul 2014 07:07:58
Heres a bit of conjecture.
Stick with Enrique (given lack of decent and attainable left backs around in this window). Enrique didn't really play much last season in our leaky defence so perhaps he might actually help shore it up some.
Give the returning young defensive loan players a shot. Ilori; Kelly; Wisdom.
Avoid doing a 'Spurs'.
No more buying.
Let's see how we fare.
There'll be more windows.

16 Jul 2014 07:47:34
No more buying because another team a year ago didn't buy well? Good plan.

We aren't Spurs. We aren't set up to play like Spurs. We aren't buying players in the same way that Spurs did, or the same type of players. Everything that happened to Spurs is nothing to do with us. But for the record, if we have a similar season to Spurs (i.e. 3 points less than we did last season), I think we can call that a job fairly well done

Spurs only gained 3 less points last season than the one before.

I am all for giving Enrique a chance next season. If he can actually listen to BR and his team mates rather than just trying something spectacular or running into no man's land, he would be a valuable asset for the squad. Brad Smith imo has also done enough to be given a shot at LB. So I would rather stick with these two, rather than throw money at Davies or Bertrand when neither would be an improvement on what we already have.
The club really does need to stop spending for the sake of it, we have enough talent in the academy to fill spaces in the squad.

16 Jul 2014 09:22:41
No disrespect but putting Enrique in place of Flanagan will not sure up the defence. He relies heavily on his pace and strength when he is out of position. He also lacks the quality to do anything beyond the halfway line

Flanagan is a better left-back option.

I agree that giving the young players a chance is necessary (and with the increase in games I am sure it will happen). I still think Lovren is an essential signing. He would become our best defender upon signing, is a good defensive leader and is still relatively young (especially by defender standards). I think we could/should sign him, let Toure go and let Skrtel go. That'd give us Sakho, Agger, Lovren and Ilori (and possibly Kelly if proves fitness and form). I think that is stronger than what we have now and with more depth. If we only signed Lovren and nobody else I would be ok with it, I really feel out of all the players we have bought that, if we got Lovren, he would be the most significant.

"He relies heavily on his pace and strength when he is out of position"

Ironically, the same could be said for Alberto Moreno and, particularly, Brad Smith. Ilori is also becoming known amongst fans (who know nothing) as a "speedy CB who can quickly get back if he's out of position").

16 Jul 2014 18:33:51
Fair enough Seano. you make a good case for Lovren. I'd take him and no more signings.
'Hijkle' I disagree with you. Spurs quite obviously thought they were buying good players - they didn't set out to buy bad players. Nevertheless, they got carried away and bought too many footballers - too quickly. For example, we apparently offered Sigurdson 30k a week; Spurs offered 60k. That was crazy. Therefore the point is this; its not just the buying - its the continued paying of wages that can hamper you for the future. If a signing doesn't work out then you're lumbered with him for years.
I'm saying we have bought enough - and unless something 'special' comes along then we should wait it out.
There will be more windows. we have time.
Did you ever hear the oul saying,
'spend in haste. repent at leisure.

16 Jul 2014 03:06:00
Just thought I'd post my opinions on our transfer activity this time towards us not addressing the defence and concentrating on the attack, we needed both adding to as bad as each other!

We have an 11 to go against anyone but that's it look at bench last year (Jones, Toure, Agger, Lucas, Allen, Moses, Aspas) as great as Sterling, Studge, Coutinho are they could not do another 38bpl & 6cl + 7/8 cup games on there tod!

Ibe is promising but still has no prem experoence (same as markovic but he's win titles and played in CL), so the additions we have made are vital, sterlings having and odd couple of games, bring on markovic, coutinho is injured there's Lallana, hendo gets banned, there can, studge injured as at least once per season then we have Borini and Lambo which hopefully will prove enough but that's the only sticking point!

We will get a cb but I think there going to let Enrique prove himself and I only see us going for a top top left back and since moreno has gone the alternative aren't really that much better than what we have (betrand+Davies vs Enrique+Smith/flanahan/jonno/sakho can do a job if needed) the skys red, we go again YNWA!

16 Jul 2014 07:51:03
I also don't understand how bringing in Can, who is an energetic midfielder but usually plays a defensive role and occasionally fits in to LB and CB at need, isn't a defensive signing

Agger, Lucas and Allen are good squad players to have. I suspect that Gerrard will become a squad player next season as well. Jones is a back-up goalie and as such is good enough for the place he occupies within the squad. I think we have bought wisely and our squad is no doubt looking stronger (at least in attacking area's). I think a CB and LB are essential. Enrique is problematic for me as I think he squanders possession, is not a good passer of the ball and is positionally very suspect. The game intelligence that Rodgers seems to demand is somewhat lacking in Enrique - he might improve but I think his signing was, in itself, a stop gap for a better LB. If we kept him so be it but he is guaranteed to give teams chances and will cost us goals next season - that worries me.

Also I would be concerned about his fitness. Just back after practically all season out and there were murmurings that he would never make it back to full fitness again.
What will we do if he breaks down in the first couple of games? Or has lost a yard of pace?
I think we really need to address the left back situation,
but I'm sure Brendan will use pre-season to evaluate Enriques situation and make his decision then.

16 Jul 2014 00:47:08
I have heard that the interest in jay Rodriguez is serious and that we are going to persue a deal for Ben Davies now as well as putting another offer in for Dejan lovren in the coming days

Thanks
Nabeal

16 Jul 2014 00:12:51
Hi,

Markovic deal is done. Just wanted to be clear of his player rights. Sky reports "The Portuguese club, who had just half of his playing rights, will receive 12.5million Euros." Who has the other half of his rights chelsea? So didn't chelsea want Markovic? How does something like this work?

Thanks for your time.
Red-NinJa

{Ed002's Note - I have explained that Chelsea had the option at a much lower price and decided against it. I gave the reasons and explained the ownership situation. RTFP.}

@Eds, maybe ye could look into adding a third button to go with Agree & Disagree. My suggestion would be to add a "So Flipping Annoying" button so that people can vote for this on the repetitive posts.

15 Jul 2014 23:54:40
Edd002 spot on, our spending on players has been extremely poor for the last decade. players who were poor, made little impact and heavily priced.

16 Jul 2014 07:31:51
The club seemingly do a lot of financial boo boo's, would that be a correct statement Ed002?

{Ed002's Note - Is Yogi Bear rhyming slang for something?}

Cant be that bad we finished 2nd!

I disagree slightly as I think we have signed a lot of good players for reasonable prices as well. I think were we have went wrong is the sheer volume of smaller transfers that haven't worked out. For every Agger (£5.5million?) there has been several poor transfers (N'gog, Aspas, Marc Gonzalez, Josemi, Kromkamp, etcetera). I think we need a higher success rate with our transfers. This summer is, on the surface, one of the best transfer windows I can remember. We obviously can't predict how Can and Markovic will settle at the club but they do seem to be the right "type" of player. Repeating this formula in successive transfer windows is the real challenge - if we manage it we will be much better off.