Liverpool FC Team Talk, Gossip, Rumours 2020/2021

noodler wrote: »

A different model to all of them it seems!

I think the Werner reaction was completely understandable given the flirting that went on before Chelsea swooped and the fact 50m for the Bundesliga top scorer looked a bit of a bargain.

More widely, we have spent big money on squad players with 40m on the Ox and I think some of the cover we need may need up being a bit more expensive than some envisage.

Can people stop strawmanning with "just cos we aren't spending £100m on Sancho" etc though, please? Spending half that on the Bundesliga top scorer who would have ticked off one of our long-standing requirements and who seemed genuinely keen was the only complaint I've seen.

If the Werner thing was happening at just about any other time, we might have bought (or at least bid the release clause - it's hard to see him not having taken double the wages at Chelsea anyway...). But it happened in the midst of a pandemic, and recession, with no fans at stadiums, and general uncertainty over what the future holds. Feels like the actual severity of conditions somehow gets forgotten every so often in here... a trillion dollars disappeared worldwide, and the UK market returns went to minus 25% Of course that will stop a business from investing in a non-essential backup - sure the plan would have been for him to be a starter long term, but that obviously means it was not an essential need right now. There are a lot of players out there for another day as the need grows larger down the road. For Chelsea meanwhile he's a nailed on starter, and key to their rebuild, which is why they're paying him double what we would have in wages.

A year or two ago there was a reasonably prevalent view on here that you don't buy people to sit on the bench and you should be trying to buy better than you have and force the incumbents to raise their game but it seems to have dispelled a touch.

Stands to reason though, right?... Like, when your starting options are only alright, then your policy should be to try to improve upon them and relegate the only alright guys to backup. But when your starting options are pretty much world class in every position, to improve upon them costs an awful lot more. Is there a single position in the first team that we could confidently improve upon for less than 75 million? I'm not sure to be honest. So obviously when your starting 11 is so good, your policy shifts to ensuring the backups are of a quality that won't lower the teams output by too much.

In both cases, circumstances change decision making policy.

~Rebel~ wrote: »

If the Werner thing was happening at just about any other time, we might have bought (or at least bid the release clause - it's hard to see him not having taken double the wages at Chelsea anyway...). But it happened in the midst of a pandemic, and recession, with no fans at stadiums, and general uncertainty over what the future holds. Feels like the actual severity of conditions somehow gets forgotten every so often in here... a trillion dollars disappeared worldwide, and the UK market returns went to minus 25% Of course that will stop a business from investing in a non-essential backup - sure the plan would have been for him to be a starter long term, but that obviously means it was not an essential need right now. There are a lot of players out there for another day as the need grows larger down the road. For Chelsea meanwhile he's a nailed on starter, and key to their rebuild, which is why they're paying him double what we would have in wages.



Stands to reason though, right?... Like, when your starting options are only alright, then your policy should be to try to improve upon them and relegate the only alright guys to backup. But when your starting options are pretty much world class in every position, to improve upon them costs an awful lot more. Is there a single position in the first team that we could confidently improve upon for less than 75 million? I'm not sure to be honest. So obviously when your starting 11 is so good, your policy shifts to ensuring the backups are of a quality that won't lower the teams output by too much.

In both cases, circumstances change decision making policy.

Settling for players that wont push on the first XI shouldn't really be the policy.

Maybe we go again exactly like the last two years with the same XI but I think we already underutilise much of our squad as it is because the gap in quality is too large.

noodler wrote: »

Settling for players that wont push on the first XI shouldn't really be the policy.

Maybe we go again exactly like the last two years with the same XI but I think we already underutilise much of our squad as it is because the gap in quality is too large.

Obviously you should try to buy players that can push - but that's a different thing to buying "better than you have" as you said.

If you want to buy better than we have you're very limited in the players you can go for, and they're all very expensive. What they're doing is exactly right I think, buying players who are good, but who they think have high ceilings to move into.

Salah and Mane and Bobby and Coutinho and Suarez and Robertson and Gini etc etc all joined and improved upon where they were as players. It's the next versions of those guys pre-liverpool we should be (and im sure are) looking for - players who become the level we need them to be at Liverpool, rather than buying them fully formed at 3 times the price.

The exceptions have been Alisson and VVD - they're the only players we've bought that were the finished article already, since they were the final pieces of the puzzle in key positions.

So, more of the same is what I want anyway. More astute judgement of talent before it's universally recognized (in the 10 - 45m range), rather than trying to get players already established at the same world class level of our own guys. From this point, 70m+ moves should only really be to replace a starter who is leaving - and with a bit of luck and good work, it won't come to that as the replacement will already be at the club in that event.

Arsenal just let 55 staff members go in the middle of a global pandemic, while signing new players and throwing around big contracts. If we had to choose I think I'd rather normal people keep their jobs.

There will be plenty of online Liverpool fan accountants who have seen Liverpool's accounts that will continue to say FSG are just cheap skating no matter what.

Osmosis Jones wrote: »

I'm not throwing stones, I called Liverpool out with the furlough shìte too, I'm saying it's mad for people to be complaining about the club not spending as much money as they want on new signings in times like these.

No I wasn't accusing you of anything just meant we might be doing the same shortly.

Osmosis Jones wrote: »

I'm not throwing stones, I called Liverpool out with the furlough shìte too, I'm saying it's mad for people to be complaining about the club not spending as much money as they want on new signings in times like these.

Indeed.. .Liverpool are one of the very few privilaged clubs who can actually afford to largely stand still while all this is going on. We don't need progress, we just need to maintain. As much as we don't want to think about it, the world is still very much in flux, especially when it comes to money.

Bobby did an interview in English for Fox Sports Asia where he talked up Minamino and has taken him under his wing and they speak German together.

Bobby is the best.

Why are Liverpool leaking transfer info to the usual itk journos again

Osmosis Jones wrote: »

I'll always be upset that this goal from that season doesn't get more recognition, and it's entirely because the game ended 2-2 thanks to Spurs getting 2 fraudulent penalties in the last 5 minutes.

Truly is a superb goal, he goes through three defenders beating one of them twice. Id say it looks an even better goal from a pitchside camera angle

@Osmosis any chance you could make a gif out of Klopps celebrations after the trophy lift. Starts about 1.10 on this video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BqGuMNAp4DU

Roberto Firmino believes Liverpool fans will see the best of Takumi Minamino next season.

The Japan international joined Liverpool from Red Bull Salzburg in January and has taken time to settle at Anfield.

Firmino said: “Minamino is a very, very good person. I like his quality and his personality.

“It’s good because I can speak with him in German. He can speak good German and me too. We talk in German.

“He’s a very good player and I think he will be very good for us, for the team.”

NB could not do this

https://twitter.com/Lakers/status/1291094047419797504?s=19

Koulibaly has been linked to every big club now for about 4 seasons and none of them have gone near him. You would have to wonder why no went near him before now really he is nearly 30 now and throwing that kind of money on him now seems strange when the same amount would have gotten him 2/3/4 seasons ago.

Agent Coulson wrote: »

Koulibaly has been linked to every big club now for about 4 seasons and none of them have gone near him. You would have to wonder why no went near him before now really he is nearly 30 now and throwing that kind of money on him now seems strange when the same amount would have gotten him 2/3/4 seasons ago.

City had Kompany or didn't really have any competition 2/3/4 years ago.

Koulibaly got schooled by Lukaku last week.

He hasnt had his greatest season in Serie A by all accounts.