Liverpool FC Forum

[The Ace1983]

Don't you just love the British press? Various quarters of the writen press bemoaned Rafa's stance on English talent and it's costs after his purchase of Danny Agger. Some said he was just talking nonsense and that Agger was too expensive as well, which made about as much sense as striped paint seeing as, If one wanted to purchase a young English centre half who played at an international level we would be talking something like £10 miilion for Ledley King. And then came the whole Walcott thing. £12 million for an unexperienced teenager who hasn't played at the top level. He's good, but is he that good. What happens after he has his first big injury? I'm sure I need not remind those here of how one major changed a young Michael Owen, and though he was still good, he wasn't quite the player he was. Wayne Rooney hasn't gone through this yet and he may be a shell of the player he is now afterwards. So was Walcott sensible?

This raises the question: Is it wise to invest in young, lower league talent? We have a fine squad of youngsters at Liverpool, many of which have come from lower leagues and some from inferior foreign divisions. So how about we place some bets? How many of them will play regular first team football for Liverpool? 1? 2? Will Theo Walcott make a good transition into Arsenal's first team?

I watch a fair bit of Championship football and though Walcott is an undoubted talent, I can't help but think there are several players in that league with more talent and less hype. For one example, Ashley Young of Watford has been by far one of the most impressive players in that league. He is fast, confident and full of ideas as well as assists and goals. He's young (in name and nature) but he plays like an experienced pro and has bags of talent which could really be brought out in a top club. So why not? Look at the stats and compare him with young Theo and you can see a difference in class and only a small difference in years. But would it be a sensible purchase? And if not, why not? He probably wouldn't command more than a couple of million?

Should Liverpool look into the championship for future English stars, or continue to spend big on established talent?

[dawson99]

they should buy the best player available. be he english, spanish or martian.

simple as... anything else is just bigoted rubbish

[HacksawJimDuggin]

dawson99 - I disagree with your comments.

Buying the best players in the world doesn't always work. Look at Real Madrid for example...they go out and buy "Galacticos" every season. Players regarded as the best in the world and they haven't won anything for years.

Clubs/Teams require an identity of home grown players...look at the likes of Barca, Chelsea, Milan, Liverpool....all have exceptionally talented players from all round the globe but have a core home-grown youth/talent underpinning the team. No matter what country/league the club play in I believe they must retain their own identity rather than go out and buy the best players in the world!

I am pretty sure that most would agree with me on this.

[redmikey]

only narrow sighted people want massive names every signing just like chelski and real mad fans.

rafa is building a team where he looks for certain qualities looks at crouch. he certainly wasn't a big name but he had a big price because he was english. rafa went for him because he had seen the fact that he could hold the ball up and bring our impressive midfield into play.

We have already signed alot of young talent from lower leagues home and abroad but i would love to see our academy keep producing talent and now GH has fecked off they might start again he took alot of credit for stevie g and mike owen but the french git didn't bring anyone up from that level .

will rafa, only time will tell but he seem more likely to give young player a chance and has the brains to bring anyone along. young players at LFC couldn't be in better hands at the mom imho

[drummerphil]

To be honest West Ham have just made the best January window buy in Dean Ashton.....wish we had him.

[CanadasLiverpool]

We should sign Osbourne from Watford

[ivor_the_injun]

Stu and others have been banging the drum for Ashton relentlessly, and it'll be interesting to see how he gets on. He's certainly been the pick of English strikers outside the Prem this season, and it'll be interesting to see how he makes the transition now that he's in a mid-table team with pretty much no pressure on them other than to consolidate their position. When he signed for Norwich, they were a pretty desperate team, and he was unlucky not to keep them up. They're an outside bet for a UEFA Cup spot looking at the current table, but to be honest I think their fans would be delighted if they finished 14th or 15th this season.

Basically, there's a pattern at the moment that means whenever one of the teams from Spurs upwards are linked with a player, immediately us, Chelsea, Arsenal and Man U are suddenly linked. This then turns into a bidding war, and the general outcome is that - like Walcott - the player goes for silly money.

I do like Rafa's way of looking at lower league clubs' reserve and youth teams and picking up young players from there. As a result of this approach, Paul Anderson looks like he's going to be pushing for a first team place before too long, and I hope he's not alone.

[Poolinc.]

I think Kevin Doyle with Reading is pure class. He signed from my local team Cork City and always showed he was head and shoulders above the standard over here! Great first touch, great in the air, very fast.... defo worth a look..Oh and Reading got him for 50 grand due to a clause in his contract, so....

[7_Kewell]

I think we'll start to see some of these English players start to come through into the senior squad next season.  I reacon we could have 1 or 2 potential stars on our hands.

[columbia]

Its a tricky one. English players are over priced no doubt so you can say that we should look elsewhere for foreign players of a similar ability that are cheaper. However it is improtant to have yound english players, particularly scousers, as they will no what our clubs traditions are and feel as passionate about them as we do. Refering to the ongoing carragher thread many of us feel that carragher isnt as naturally gifted as some other central defenders but we wouldnt swap him for anyone as what he lacks in ability he more than makes up for grit, determination and the way he is prepared to die for our cause.

My opinion is you need a balance. I dont beleive its necesary to spend way over the odds for english players just for the sake of buying an english player. However if an englishman is talented and would suit our system then i think we should seriously consider buying them as long as the price isnt too extortionate. However because there are a lot of talented players elsewher you need foreigner as it would be impossible to have a team of just englishman. It annoys me when people say players are too expensive before they have played. Surely they are only expensive if they arent a success. Many people beleive dean ashtons recent transfer was expensive but in my opinion those people will be eating their words come the end of the season. £8 million could be a snip. Some people said rooney was too expensive when he was signed, you dont need me to tell you how wrong they were. Yes the fee was high but you get what you pay for.

I dont think that its a problem to decide whether or not a player can make the step up from the championship. In my opinion when a plyer has the ability to be a success in the premiership he sticks out like a saw thumb. Ultimately it is up to the managers to decide who is worth what. There the people that must take responsibility for the transfer if its a flop because there the people that misjudged the player, the market is not to blame. The reason english players transfers can be too high is because managers have paid over the odds previously. If managers were able to judge who is worth what then the prices clubs demand would be at a more correct level. If one englishman is paid over the odds for, another team will notice it and demand more for their englishman. This will continue untill managers start getting a little more sensible.

[ivor_the_injun]

Basically, we signed pretty much all of our reserve team squad for around half of the money that we forked out for Salif Diao. That for me tells its own story.

It's perfectly sensible to bring in promising players for token amounts of money from lower leagues. If a player you've spent less than £50,000 comes to nothing, it really doesn't matter. If you were spending £3.5m, £5m, etc on them, it's another matter entirely.

£12m for Walcott is a serious investment in a player that may not mature into a Premiership player. £2m for Pennant aged 15 was similarly serious money, and that signing didn't pan out for Arsenal. Better to catch them before they've caught everyone else's eye, and that's exactly the road Rafa and co are going down. Full credit to them.

[115-1073096938]

English players are to expensive?

Thats garbage. Players go for there value to a team. Why would anyone wants to sell a player for his correct value if you can get more for him? I mean Crouch is probably worth 3-4million, yet we payed 7million, the reasons being is we wanted him badly, Southampton didn't want to let him go.

Danny Murphy went for 3million, thats not expensive. Its down to demand and price. Are you telling me Alonso wouldn't be expensive? Are you telling me Henry wouldn't be expensive?

I'm sorry but a players nationality doesn't define their value at all.

[Scottbot]

English players are to expensive?

Thats garbage.

I'm sorry but a players nationality doesn't define their value at all.

Rafa says thay are. Stu says there not.

Who's right? 

[115-1073096938]

English players are to expensive?

Thats garbage.

I'm sorry but a players nationality doesn't define their value at all.

Rafa says thay are. Stu says there not.

Who's right? 

They aren't though, players prices are not based on there nationality. They're based on the demand, quality and circumstances, its as simple as that.

[A.B.]

English players are to expensive?

Thats garbage.

I'm sorry but a players nationality doesn't define their value at all.

Rafa says thay are. Stu says there not.

Who's right? 

They aren't though, players prices are not based on there nationality. They're based on the demand, quality and circumstances, its as simple as that.

Explain Birmingham's evaluation of Matthew Upson @ 10 million pounds.

-He's not quality
-He's not in demand
-He's not particularly playing well for Birmingham that they need him, he makes a mistake or two in every game. Has lapses in concentration as well.

Why the inflated price then?