Liverpool Thread

[Lamb of BOD]

Luis Enrique is changing things in Barca, so a move for Mascherano might not be totally out of the question. Not forgetting they see him as a central defender whereas he'd fit perfectly well for us as a defensive midfielder - the position Busquests plays at the Nou Camp.

Alexis gone to Arsenal. http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/football/28177987

That's a bit of a kick in the teeth, as that player should have been made part of the Suarez transfer. I guess the reports of the player preferring a move to London were accurate. The Suarez deal will be straight cash now - although there seems to be some disagreement as to how the deal will be structured (although I believe both parties have agreed a figure). In this day and age there's very little a club can do if a player wants to move, but there's a part of me that would love for Rodgers/Ayers to now tell Barca to sod off and hold Suarez to his contract. They have better brains than me, though, and will doubtless realise that getting +- £80 mill for a guy who wants to leave and sulks like a little child when things don't go his way (and is banned for ages) is a decent bit of business. I just hope we can now get someone worthy as a replacement. I;ve only the World Cup to go on, but Huntelaar doesn't look like he's up to much, nor does Edison Cavani. I've always liked Higuain as a player - but haven't seen him since he left Madrid, and he has looked not much better than average during the World Cup.

[Peg Leg]

If I was Rodgers, I'd be putting an offer on Fred right now. He'll cost a fiver and I'd say he'd be delighted to get out of Brazil for the rest of his life.

[Avenger]

Luis Enrique is changing things in Barca, so a move for Mascherano might not be totally out of the question.

Well given he used the "my wife hates England" angle to force his way out of Liverpool, I'd be surprised to see him back.
He also refused to play in a match. The club was a mess at the time and I don't really blame him as he had been told he could go if he gave them one more season and then Hodgeson tried to say that was nothing to do with him but he still left on bad terms. The management and owners may have changed but I'd still say there's people at the club who wouldn't like to see him back.

That's a bit of a kick in the teeth, as that player should have been made part of the Suarez transfer. I guess the reports of the player preferring a move to London were accurate.

You can't make him come. It doesn't work like that. He said his family would prefer London. Apparently he didn't want to leave at all (why would he) but his first preference was to go back to Italy but Juventus couldn't afford him and he then picked Arsenal over us due to London.

The fee for Suarez is £75 million. Media in Spain have been saying its a lot less than that but Ben Smith (BBC), Tony Barrett (The Times) and Jonathan Pearce (The Echo) are usually spot on with LFC news and they all say £75 million and its been agreed and the only thing holding up is payment structure. The clubs were talking well before the bite (number 3) and LFC are apparently happy enough to let him go now as the feeling is that another indiscretion and he'd be looking at a 12 month ban.

[AwayTheWell]

Based on World Cup performances - would you go for Ron Vlaar. Only a year left on his contract at the Seals, sorry I mean Villa. I'd tend to agree with Peg Leg's approach of looking to target players who could well be undervalued due to their World Cup Performances.

[Avenger]

Didn't Vlaar have an outstanding World Cup? Can't imagine he'll be under valued. I read somewhere that Villa were trying to get him a new deal.

LFC seem to be interested in Lovern so I doubt they'll go for more than one CB unless they sell two of the ones they already have.

[JB1973]

Rodgers appears to be scouting mainly in Southampton and Swansea!!. If you sign Bony your getting a guy who scores goals (lots of them) but gives you next to nothing outside of the box and he can only play as a central striker so not sure if sturridge will enjoy being played out on the wing.

Him and Lambert are good players but they would mean a total change of style from the way Liverpool are playing right now

[Avenger]

Rodgers appears to be scouting mainly in Southampton and Swansea!!. If you sign Bony your getting a guy who scores goals (lots of them) but gives you next to nothing outside of the box and he can only play as a central striker so not sure if sturridge will enjoy being played out on the wing.

Him and Lambert are good players but they would mean a total change of style from the way Liverpool are playing right now

Rodgers changed his preference of a central striker in a front 3 to play both Suarez and Sturridge so I'd say (based on the type of player he's going for) that he wants to go back to that.
I don't know a huge amount of Bony as I haven't see a lot of him but saw some interesting comparisons with other strikers and he seems to perform very well.





Considering that Benzema would cost you basically twice what Bony would, they are surprising statistics (and I know stats can be used to pretty much prove anything).

Sturridge has only been fit for 51% of the games since he's come to Liverpool so I'd say thats the main reason behind why they are looking for another striker. There's also the media knowing they have money to spend and are just linking them with everyone.

[JB1973]

Bony is a beast of a bloke, good finisher and is great in the air. He took time to get into the pace of the premiership but once he got going he started scoring against every 1 including the big guns (got goals vs city Liverpool and united)

However he doesn't have a great work rate, his touch can be a bit suspect and for his size he does lack a bit of aggression, in saying that if he can score 20 plus goals for Swansea he should get a lot more for Liverpool as you will create a lot more chances and for £19million he is a bargain (only in prem league football is someone who costs £19 million a bargain!) .

Looks like youll have Ben Davies as well, hell do really for Liverpool and would be a fixture in your first team for the next 10 years.

[Avenger]

However he doesn't have a great work rate, his touch can be a bit suspect and for his size he does lack a bit of aggression, in saying that if he can score 20 plus goals for Swansea he should get a lot more for Liverpool as you will create a lot more chances and for £19million he is a bargain (only in prem league football is someone who costs £19 million a bargain!) .

Liverpool press very high up the pitch so I can't see him getting much game time if he's not prepared to do that.

[JB1973]

However he doesn't have a great work rate, his touch can be a bit suspect and for his size he does lack a bit of aggression, in saying that if he can score 20 plus goals for Swansea he should get a lot more for Liverpool as you will create a lot more chances and for £19million he is a bargain (only in prem league football is someone who costs £19 million a bargain!) .

Liverpool press very high up the pitch so I can't see him getting much game time if he's not prepared to do that.

I'm not sure if either he or Lambert are mobile enough to play that way. Swansea play a possession based slower tempo keep ball game rather than the pacy counter attack style Liverpool have, but I'm sure Rodgers has done his scouting on both men and he knows far more about football than I ever will

[Avenger]

I'm not sure if either he or Lambert are mobile enough to play that way. Swansea play a possession based slower tempo keep ball game rather than the pacy counter attack style Liverpool have, but I'm sure Rodgers has done his scouting on both men and he knows far more about football than I ever will

For me, Lambert is very much a plan B player and a horse for courses player.
I'm not sure what Bony would bring if his work rate wasn't up to it.

[offshorerules]

Finding it hard to watch sky sports ATM. Need something to cheer me up. Not sure bony is the man to do that.

[Avenger]

Markovic official

[Lamb of BOD]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YT6pXuQJFlk

I know a highlights reel will only show the good stuff, but he looks like a good player. I particularly enjoyed the pass he delivers on 2:12. Could be a decent pickup at 20 mill

[offshorerules]

I was thoroughly underwhelmed by his highlight reel which is a worry.

[Donny B.]

I see the James deal has gone through to Madrid.

Could this push Benzema towards the exit and if so, should Liverpool get on that?

[Lamb of BOD]

I see the James deal has gone through to Madrid.

Could this push Benzema towards the exit and if so, should Liverpool get on that?

I'd love to see Liverpool making a bid for Benzema. Wasn't there a rumour that Madrid were trying to bring Falcao back to Spain? That would have left Benzema out in the cold anyway. He plays further forward than Rodriguez, so that deal probably won't affect the Frenchman. Liverpool have been linked with Isco, which would be another nice signing - if not another advanced midfielder - on the back of the Madrid signing not only of James, but also of Kroos.

[suisse]

Unrelated to Liverpool, but does anyone here ever read Jamie Jackson's gibberish in the Guardian?

When I saw this headline: "Louis van Gaal can break world transfer record for Manchester United" I knew only "JJ" could have penned the piece.

This is also the main sports story on their website. I found Jackson's propaganda last summer very unwanted, and after all the criticism the paper took in the comments section, I thought they'd shackle him up a bit. But it seems they won't be just yet.

Who exactly are United going to buy this summer, costing more than Gareth Bale? The paper then goes on to mention that " Van Gaal (is) chasing Hummels, Blind and Vermaelen" - none of them are worth 90 million. WTF is Jackson talking about?

[Avenger]

Unrelated to Liverpool, but does anyone here ever read Jamie Jackson's gibberish in the Guardian?

When I saw this headline: "Louis van Gaal can break world transfer record for Manchester United" I knew only "JJ" could have penned the piece.

This is also the main sports story on their website. I found Jackson's propaganda last summer very unwanted, and after all the criticism the paper took in the comments section, I thought they'd shackle him up a bit. But it seems they won't be just yet.

Who exactly are United going to buy this summer, costing more than Gareth Bale? The paper then goes on to mention that " Van Gaal (is) chasing Hummels, Blind and Vermaelen" - none of them are worth 90 million. WTF is Jackson talking about?

Maybe he means for transfer window spending? They've already forked out close to £30 million for an 18 year old left back and £25 million for a Spanish midfielder. I believe that City spent approx £160 million in one of the windows just after the were taken over by the oil money so United would have over £100 million more to go.

As for the named players, they won't be getting Hummels as Klopp said the other day that him and Reus were committed to Dortmund and not going anywhere this summer.
Also they are not in the Champions League so I can't see the top level players going there this summer when they can just wait a year to see how they recover or they are being offered stupid wages like Rooney and RVP.

[suisse]

Nah, pretty sure he means on an individual player. These are the first two paragraphs...

Louis van Gaal has been told he is free to break the world transfer record to bring the right player to Manchester United.

Last year Real Madrid set the record by signing Gareth Bale from Tottenham Hotspur for £86m, eclipsing the £80m they had paid United four years earlier for Cristiano Ronaldo.