Liverpool FC Forum

[Reg]

Liverpool want to win the league but believe they can do so buying 20 million value players to outplay the top drawer signings at Citeh, Chelsea and United and see off challenges from Arsenal and Spurs. It's a dream. It might work for a few games a season but we can't avoid the fact we sold Suarez and have a very fragile Sturridge whilst other teams bought in Costa, Di Maria, Fabergas, Falcao etc..

United said they would buy one Suarez player a year to get them back on top. Chelsea don't need to reassure the fans in public, they just do it. City fans don't even notice these things these days.

Our owners have done a grand job so far but I honestly believe we need to employ the same strategy as United and bring in 3x Suarez players on the next 3 years. Gerrard is finished, there are a 'few' midfield and back 4 players who shouldn't be with us any more and Ricky Lambert is not the next Messiah.

LFC: to win big, you have to think big.

Discuss.

[SouthCoastShankly]

I agree that that strategy would create a title contender out of us.

My contention is that I do not see our immediate goal being a title charge. I see that coming in a few seasons. Currently I believe our goal is to establish a squad and team capable of a consistent top 4 finish. Once this is established I see the title charge and associated transfer activity to achieve it happening.

[jacdaniel]

United have 3 strikers all in or approaching their 30's.  What then?  Spend another 100M on strikers? 
They are absolutely rubbish IMO and a 4 nil win over the worst side in the league won't change that. 
They've had the easiest start imaginable and have 5 points.

Chelsea have also had an easy start.  Lets wait and see how they cope with a real opponent before we sh.it ourselves. 

City are awesome but even they have dropped points.  And Arsenal are still Arsenal. 

We've had a tough start.  2 home games that we dropped points in last season and 2 very tough away games.  On top of that, Suarez has left and Sturridge is injured.  And we're still 2 points up on the corresponding fixtures from last season. 

People are just sh.itting themselves because we haven't gotten off to a fantastic start.

[woof woof !]

Given the money we had available in the summer I think many of us were hoping we'd have brought in at least one player equal to the calibre of those signed by some of our rivals, for a variety of reasons it didn't happen and with Suarez having moved on we're still miles away from being real contenders for the title. I think the powers that be recognise this and as SCS says our current goal must surely be to build a team that will (like Arsenal) consistently qualify for the Champions league.

Must admit as a first step towards achieving this aim I'm far from convinced that we got it right in this last window and a top four finish this term is far from nailed on.   

[kazza]

I agree that that strategy would create a title contender out of us.

My contention is that I do not see our immediate goal being a title charge. I see that coming in a few seasons. Currently I believe our goal is to establish a squad and team capable of a consistent top 4 finish. Once this is established I see the title charge and associated transfer activity to achieve it happening.

This

[Reg]

Ok so we can look at the holy grail but don't touch. So we have to get used to a higher level of mediocrity.

Jac, I don't know if some people are pooping themselves but I'm not after 4 games however you don't have to be a genius to see we still have gaps, flaws and liabilities within the squad and first team. What I am saying however is if we bought 3 class players over the next 3 seasons it might be the spring board we need to see the cup back in our boardroom again after 25 years? It's amusing really, we don't win the bl..dy thing for 25 years then folks suggest that's not really the gameplan!  (...'that you Baldrick?)

[jacdaniel]

Given the money we had available in the summer I think many of us were hoping we'd have brought in at least one player equal to the calibre of those signed by some of our rivals, for a variety of reasons it didn't happen and with Suarez having moved on we're still miles away from being real contenders for the title. I think the powers that be recognise this and as SCS says our current goal must surely be to build a team that will (like Arsenal) consistently qualify for the Champions league.

Must admit as a first step towards achieving this aim I'm far from convinced that we got it right in this last window and a top four finish this term is far from nailed on.   :(

The frustration for me is that we seem like we are going to play 2 strikers. 
We wanted to sell Borini. 
That would have left us with 3 strikers. 

Sturridge is injury prone and Lambert should be nothing more than a 4th choice.

[jacdaniel]

Ok so we can look at the holy grail but don't touch. So we have to get used to a higher level of mediocrity.

Jac, I don't know if some people are pooping themselves but I'm not after 4 games however you don't have to be a genius to see we still have gaps, flaws and liabilities within the squad and first team. What I am saying however is if we bought 3 class players over the next 3 seasons it might be the spring board we need to see the cup back in our boardroom again after 25 years? It's amusing really, we don't win the bl..dy thing for 25 years then folks suggest that's not really the gameplan!  (...'that you Baldrick?)

As long as we are owned by FSG i don't see us ever signing "star" players. 
I see us continuing to sign young potential players that could possibly become stars. 

Of course it would be easier and better for the club if we could sign top players but we just don't do it. 

Young players on lower salaries is our strategy. 

To be fair to FSG, its kind of working so far.  Whether that approach will allow us to compete at the very top remains to be seen.

[ycsatbjywtbiastkamb]

I think we have got a very good squad ourselves, certainly good enough to put us in the mix again. What's more we have bought with the future in mind where as the likes of United have just pressed the panic button.
Because we have brought in so many new players though it is going to take a bit of time to find out what formations and combinations work best for this particular group of players, what suited Suarez may not necessarily suit Mario or Markovic.
We may even need to play in a slightly different way but once we iron out all the problems it will put us in good stead for years to come given the average age of our squad.
In the short term though I'd like to see Brendan do 3 things, first I'd like to see him recall Thiago Ilorri from his loan spell at Bordeaux, given the way the defence is playing that lad deserves his chance in the first team, secondly I'd like to see if we could do the same with Ogiri from Lille, that lad is impressing me more and more each time I see him and the third is that he has got to start rotating Gerrard, we are never going to be able to fully develop a playing style for the future while Brendan insists on playing a 34 year old for 90 minutes week in week out.

[Reg]

And we're developing Anfield, that in itself is a major financial investment and constraint on other activity.

Yakka, the Gerrard question is the tipping point really, we need to bring in a 60 million replacement today, not tomorrow, we have to stop being sentimental.

[Kash_Mountain]

We also need to stay within the confines of FFP, and as i understand it it, we are very close to the mark. We can't afford to be paying £250k - £300k to players like the Mwanckers.  We definitely required squad depth, which we have now.  Had we just bought in a couple of 'marquee' signings, that would not help in the slightest to build the squad, because injuries happen during the course of the season and then we'd be thin on the ground again. Look, I know we've had a bumpy start, however I  still believe will suprise everyone again , like last season, by getting right to the top. 

I do believe the Mwancks have hit the panic stations, and as I've said elsewhere on the forum, I just get this odd/funny feeling they will be relegated, no matter who they have bought in. Btw, QPR are absolutely awful.

[red till i die!!]

we have spent more than enough money to kick on this season but unfortunately we didnt spend it that well and secure at least one player who makes a difference. we have opted for numbers instead to build a bench that should have been sorted in the previous windows.
the prices we are paying for some of the players is ridiculous. allen, sakho, lovren and lallana being the worst.
rodgers refused to work with van gaal when offered the job and now look at the players he has attracted to the scum, with no european football either. the difference being that by the time van gaal spends the same as brendan did he could probably win the league despite us having a 2 year head start on him.
we wont challenge for the league this year and we are going to have our work cut out for top 4.
i cant help but feel that had our management been better in the market, then this season we could have been walking the walk rather than 3 years later still talking the talk.

[maguskwt]

we have spent more than enough money to kick on this season but unfortunately we didnt spend it that well and secure at least one player who makes a difference. we have opted for numbers instead to build a bench that should have been sorted in the previous windows.
the prices we are paying for some of the players is ridiculous. allen, sakho, lovren and lallana being the worst.
rodgers refused to work with van gaal when offered the job and now look at the players he has attracted to the scum, with no european football either. the difference being that by the time van gaal spends the same as brendan did he could probably win the league despite us having a 2 year head start on him.
we wont challenge for the league this year and we are going to have our work cut out for top 4.
i cant help but feel that had our management been better in the market, then this season we could have been walking the walk rather than 3 years later still talking the talk.

With what money were we gonna build a squad in the previous windows? The reason we could spend so much this season was 1. We are back in the champions league and 2. We sold Suarez for 75 million. With this opportunity we need to use it wisely and I believe we did. Like what yakka said, we  just need to get the new players all playing as a team. You don't need to spend the way man u, Chelsea and man City are spending to win the league, and we can't afford to anyway. It won't be sustainable for us. But there are recent examples of teams winning the league with managers who has clear vision, like atletico Madrid and borrussia dortmund.

[C-R]

excellent post maguskwt 

[eds]

I do believe the Mwancks have hit the panic stations, and as I've said elsewhere on the forum, I just get this odd/funny feeling they will be relegated, no matter who they have bought in.

Manure Relegated?

What f**king weed are you smoking mate, that is some good s**t.