Philby

Have we signed Hugo Lloris?

Yep. In terms of replacing him I think we'll have follow a key aspect of the moneyball approach. No one player (…certainly that we have a hope of signing) can deliver the all-round impact that Suarez does. He's just a whirlwind of activity. I think we'll be better served finding a selection of players who can replace the stats he gave us. Maybe Lallana goes some way of the way there in terms of creativity & work-rate. I'd feel decidedly nervous goal-wide if we found ourselves relying on Sturridge (injury prone), Lambert (a good squad player but never was/will be an elite player) & Borini (ditto) up top. A roaming attacker like Sanchez (didn't realise he was only 25 either, looks older!) may help fill the gap. Otherwise I think we need a flexible, proven, mobile PL-level goalscorer. Chicarito anyone?

Good point Earl. Last night I was reading a blog (drafted in April) on golden boot betting and they flagged Benzema as their choice outside of the more obvious strikers at the top 5/6 elite teams. What odds did you get on him? I think he was in the 40/1 region at the time. EDIT: I see he's in to 25/1 on Betfair now. At those odds I'd be more tempted by Fred (22/1) or Higuain (19/1)

Incredibly so. He's a hugely talented player but arguably there are 5+ teams which are clearly better than France & all it will take is for one imagination-capturing performance out of "nowhere" (e.g. Owen in '98) and those odds will lengthen dramatically. I wouldn't touch the young player of the year market with a bargepole personally. It's interesting to see how many past top scorers have largely been flat-track bullys (e.g. Salenko, Klose) who largely relied on racked up the majority of their goals in a single game. If you can spot a combo of a likely whipping boy & a non-superstar striker coming in to form there could be serious value to be had.

While I think Spain may well make the final if I was going to back a Spanish player for top scorer it would be Costa or Villa (...likely to be a bit tastier odds-wise). I can't see Torres playing that many minutes and in the form he's been in for the last 2 years he could play 14 games and not trouble the top scorers...

Brazil/Fred (winner/top scorer double) @ 43/1 Higuain (top scorer) @ 19/1 A CONMEBOL nation to win @ 10/11 Spain to reach the final @ 100/30 Urugual to beat Costa Rica @ 4/9

Where did you get that offer Dan?

Winning is clearly the overriding factor for all of us. But if we can do it with style & tough (but fair) football along the way, all the better. What I like is we didn't pick up a single red all season for petulant acts where our player has seen the red mist. It shows good discipline & focus within the squad. Given it was a pretty compact squad we'd have started to feel the pinch if we were racking up suspensions left, right & centre. Hendo's tackle was dangerous admittedly but it was IMHO not intended to be so and was a product of poor control & tiredness as much as anything else.

I see Liverpool FC topped the PL Fair Play rankings. If their fellow English teams had been a little better behaved then it would've opened up an opportunity for local minnows Manchester United* to compete in the Europa League. Shame ;-) http://www.uefa.com/uefaeuropaleague/news/newsid=2102556.html * - not to be confused with FC United of Manchester, who finished 2nd in their league

He may well not quite have enough in his game (pace mainly) to be a regular in a side with CL 1/4-onwards ambitions.. ..but as a utility defender who would run through brick walls for the club I'm delighted he's in the mix and wouldn't dream of moving him on anytime soon.

The bricks are real, the poster is a photoshop overlay mate :-)

On Aspas: 5 starts and 9 sub appearances in the league admittedly isn't much but his return in those games (no goals, 2 shots on target and a nothing assist for Sturridge on the opening day) is as bad as it could possibly get tbh. Other than not kicking up a fuss about his lack of games (…which would take some cheek given his poor outings) he has made zero contribution to what was very nearly a title-winning side. Shocking.

Afraid not, I've only recently started dabbling in LFC-themed graphic designs .....and have perhaps put the depths of the Souness era to a part of my brain that's largely left untouched ;-) Samples of my handywork: Many more here ----> photoandgraphics.etsy.com

Here's something that you guys may like. It's my latest Liverpool-themed graphic design prints. An epic season which surpassed all of our expectations, hopefully we can go one better next season! https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/189168876/liverpool-fc-201314-season-infographic

Hi Rory, do you know of any sources for regular high-resolution LFC photos like those great ones above? Cheers.

On this topic...

Definitely not in my living memory. I'm struggling to even recall a season where the top 2 scorers in the top tier English league were from the same club? In 97/98 for Blackburn were close...Sutton was joint top (18 goals - 3 way tie) & Gallacher was part of a second trio on 1 goals. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1997%E2%80%9398_FA_Premier_League#Top_goal_scorers

Looks like this site below has also picked up on those numbers. Non-PL team: $165m = £100m PL team: $215m = £130m http://latinosports.com/luis-suarez-winwin-situation/?fb_action_ids=10152143299571171&fb_action_types=og.likes&fb_source=other_multiline&action_object_map=%5B515757371872948%5D&action_type_map=%5B%22og.likes%22%5D&action_ref_map=%5B%5D I've also seen Rushie quoted as saying it's £120m (VERY dodgy source site though) http://www.tribalfootball.com/articles/rushie-lets-slip-suarez-has-120m-liverpool-buyout-clause-3999840#.UsaRHPRdV_x Encouraging numbers if true and a better reflection of the kind of cash it would take to remould our side in his absence.

Hopefully just lazy reporting. He seems a bit of a fighter so would be surprised if he's thrown in the towel already. After a very promising pre-season he clearly didn't impress once the season got going. Our slightly more direct, counter-attacking focus definitely didn't suit him but there may still be a place for him as our 3rd striker if we blend back in more of a passing/pressing game. "Liverpool striker Iago Aspas lining up January move away from Anfield" http://www.dailystar.co.uk/sport/football/348423/Liverpool-striker-Iago-Aspas-lining-up-January-move-away-from-Anfield

Robinson put in a good shift against Lithuania (5-0 with 10 mins to go). Surged forward well to win the penalty for the 5th goal...always struck me as a slick player but didn't think he was that pacey, proved me wrong.

Although both Sterling and Ibe have made their Liverpool first team debuts at 17 (...and Sinclair at 16!) it's still no mean feat that Rossiter is comfortable playing u21 football when he's still ~5 months shy of his 17th birthday. IMHO positionally it's a lot harder for a youngster to compete at premier league level in centre-mid than it is to get a run-out on the wing (...where keeping it simple/neat and showing a few bursts of pace is enough to earn you a 6/10). If he can continue his rapid progress (NextGen to u21 in half a season) then it's not unrealistic to think he may be part of the first-team squad (albeit at the fringes) come pre-season next year. Clearly he has a huge amount of filling out to do but it would be great to see him become a central midfield option for the first team in 12-18 months time...and may save us a packet in the process.

Camera angle giving an illusion of space?

I think it's more accurate translation to say that whether we finish in the top 4 or 6 he loves the club as his family... i.e. he's not going to walk out on the club due to our league position, rather than he's genuinely indifferent to where we finish in the league Top red.

On Jones - A serious presence in both boxes, good attitude...but not convinced about his pace and ball-playing ability.

Exactly. Clearly we don't know the fine detail of the contract but I don't get the logic of setting the buy-out clause in our around the market value for a player. Take the Spanish approach and set the buy-out clause at a level you'd be delighted to take (...even if it was the Mancs stumping up the cash)