January transfer thread

[RP]

Mindless speculation in here ... if you must

 

[Swan Red]

Labour will win the most seats in the general election

[Murphman]

I think the next 4 weeks could be crucial in where we are going as a club and how Brendan is now perceived by the owners, if we don't get in a proper mobile goal scorer and at least one new keeper I think Brendan is for the off (He may be anyway of course even if we do), if we don't then I also hope FSG are for the off too. They're too smart for their own good and Ayre is a reflection of that.

[Candystore]

I wouldn't trust BR with any more money.

 

Yes, we need a striker but after signing Borini, Aspas, Lambert and Mario I don't have any faith in him signing someone decent.

 

As for the keeper, he got rid of Reina and signed Mingolet. Yes, he's not great but if the defence in front of him was setup well I think he'd do ok.

[Swan Red]

I wouldn't trust BR with any more money.

 

As a fan, rather than some hypothetical where you control his access to cash, would you prefer we sign a forward this January or not?

 

he also signed Sturridge fwiw which warrants some faith at least

[Cisse]

The team is of desperate need of 4-5 players , where a forward and goalie is critical for top 6. I don't get this " don't give him more cash"

[David Hodgson]

You either sack a manager or if you back him you keep recruiting .

[Cam]

Sterling & Sturridge could be dynamite together. We need to be buying a midfield to support them (or to support Lallana/Coutinho in supporting them).

 

Oh, and lots of defenders and goalkeepers.

[Bogman]

Funnily enough, we still need the exact type of players we have for many a year.

 

Can't see the owners shelling out big bucks again, which will be a shame.

[yellow jumper]

shaquiri who we've been linked with looking like joining juve on loan.

[kop205]

You either sack a manager or if you back him you keep recruiting .

 

I think so, yeah.

 

So whilst I do have serious reservations about Rodgers' judgements in the transfer market, as has been said repeatedly, without some major changes to the recruitment strategy, especially the willingness to pay top wages, then long-term it isn't going to make too much difference whoever is in charge.

 

Even those managers who have had successful windows for us - and I'm thinking notably Benitez and Houllier, but also Rodgers' first Jan window - have always been operating on a knife edge compared to their competitors and in the end have toppled off.

 

Someone else might do better than Rodgers working under the same restrictions (I suspect a few would, actually) but it would still only be a sticking plaster.

 

Whether it is Rodgers in charge or someone else is in some ways ultimately less important than changing the way we operate and the manner in which look to 'compete'.

 

Until we do that then I think there is a case for not giving Rodgers more money to spend, because his track record under the current system is abysmal. If we aren't going to do that then yeah, he might as well be sacked. Just don't anyone expect it to have massive, long-term impact.

 

My preference would probably be to back him properly and go after some of those who could more be considered dead-certs - which of course means paying top wages.

[Tommok]

Linked with Ings - bit underwhelming.

[Cisse]

ings would make a good 3-4th option.

[Earl Hafler]

 

As a fan, rather than some hypothetical where you control his access to cash, would you prefer we sign a forward this January or not?

 

he also signed Sturridge fwiw which warrants some faith at least

 

Interesting sentence. I think that many hypothetical formations / potential signings and targets are a mixture of what the fan wants and what he thinks the manager will do. Formation threads were always 4-2-3-1 under Rafa, mostly 4-3-3 or diamond these days. Many might want Gerrard dropped but accept he's going to start so he's always in the team selections.

 

I think my ideal formation for this league at present would be a 4-1-3-2, with the 1 able to play slightly higher within the 3 and go 4-3-1-2 against weaker teams.

 

So we have a midfield of

 

--------------------Milner---------------------

--Henderson---Coutinho / Gerrard---Lallana-------

----------Sturridge-----Sterling--------------

 

this quickly becomes Coutinho for another forward and a more attacking system.

 

Milner's versatile. He's not known for playing as a defensive mid but his tactical awareness and ability to play on both flanks bode well for the position - he's comfortable anywhere across that midfield and has the engine and mobility to cope with the role. Henderson and Lallana also putting a shift in and you have three versatile midfielders, allowing someone like Coutinho do his thing without worrying too much about him tracking back.

 

My January targets would be Cech and Milner and although both are more likely in the summer, i'd get Cech in now, sign a centre forward and go after Milner as a main summer signing.

Cech improves us defensively, the striker ideally increases the goal tally and we pinch fourth and / or win the Europa.

 

This January should be about investing a good sum of money in the belief it will be repaid by retaining our CL place. Obviously the issue for FSG is how that money has been spent recently, with a few of the big signings dropped shortly after we signed them.

 

 

Cech, striker, Milner.

[yellow jumper]

ings? one for the manager then. and perrin? one for the scouts/algorithm. who brad jones'll replace after he doesn't settle. this is the nonsense cycle we appear to be in at the moment.

[Swan Red]

 

Interesting sentence. I think that many hypothetical formations / potential signings and targets are a mixture of what the fan wants and what he thinks the manager will do. Formation threads were always 4-2-3-1 under Rafa, mostly 4-3-3 or diamond these days. Many might want Gerrard dropped but accept he's going to start so he's always in the team selections.

 

 

I'm curious whether he as a fan wants us to sign a striker. I understand that most formation / signings posts / threads are more often about what the poster wants which is fine if not always particularly interesting but he's posting from the perspective of the board which is less interesting again.

[Jiggy Hates Jazz]

Just go and lash whatever it takes to get Lloris

 

Easy

[Bogman]

ings would make a good 3-4th option.

 

 

Just what we need.........

[lfc003]

Ings is a good player just not one we need with Origi to come in, We need an experienced top level striker like a Higuaín to complete with, partner and replace Studge when injured

Edited December 28, 2014 by lfc003

[Leo No.8]

If we are looking at a player the prem who might kick on in a better side, would Bolasie not be worth a shot? He certainly has the pace we need. Plus he won't be able to play against us anymore! He's tormented us every time we've played them. Realise he's potentially a bit hit and miss but most flair players are. He'd certainly help us get it forward more quickly like we did last year.

Edited December 28, 2014 by Leo No.8

[yellow jumper]

think it's pretty hard to get players in january who are playing week in week out at clubs competing for big targets. isn't to say you can't sign quality, as we know, but seems unlikely many really big names will be moving. best bets are likes of sturridge, coutinho, agger, mascherano, talent identified down the leagues, or totally out of the picture at big clubs.

[Tommok]

Ings is a good player just not one we need with Origi to come in, We need an experienced top level striker like a Higuaín to complete with, partner and replace Studge when injured

Yep.

 

I'm reasonably happy with our options for 3rd and 4th striker - it's the first/second choice partner/replacement for Sturridge we desperately need.

[Cam]

I think so, yeah.

 

So whilst I do have serious reservations about Rodgers' judgements in the transfer market, as has been said repeatedly, without some major changes to the recruitment strategy, especially the willingness to pay top wages, then long-term it isn't going to make too much difference whoever is in charge.

 

Even those managers who have had successful windows for us - and I'm thinking notably Benitez and Houllier, but also Rodgers' first Jan window - have always been operating on a knife edge compared to their competitors and in the end have toppled off.

 

Someone else might do better than Rodgers working under the same restrictions (I suspect a few would, actually) but it would still only be a sticking plaster.

 

Whether it is Rodgers in charge or someone else is in some ways ultimately less important than changing the way we operate and the manner in which look to 'compete'.

 

Until we do that then I think there is a case for not giving Rodgers more money to spend, because his track record under the current system is abysmal. If we aren't going to do that then yeah, he might as well be sacked. Just don't anyone expect it to have massive, long-term impact.

 

My preference would probably be to back him properly and go after some of those who could more be considered dead-certs - which of course means paying top wages.

FSG's mission statement is to find 'the next big thing' and pay them £50k a week for a few years before selling them at a profit. Which is fine as a business model, albeit not necessarily very Liverpool Football Club. However, you'd like to think they would see it isn't working as these players either can't get into the team or are out on loan.

 

I think we would all rather see six players earning £200k a week than a dozen on £50k but not playing. The shortfall would be made up by CL qualification and longer stays in cup competitions.

[Gunga Din]

Keep saying it but a proper striker and a top keeper solves most of our current problems. As an absolute minimum that's what we need in January, the earlier the better too.

[Earl Hafler]

 

I'm curious whether he as a fan wants us to sign a striker. I understand that most formation / signings posts / threads are more often about what the poster wants which is fine if not always particularly interesting but he's posting from the perspective of the board which is less interesting again.

 

That's my point though. It's what we seem to do as fans : factor in what the manager wants, peer pressure etc and then come up with a result.