Could Liverpool be this year's Spurs ? Sold top player – lot of new ones to bed in. It's at least a valid question.
— Ian Darke (@IanDarke) July 21, 2014
https://twitter.com/jackson1509/status/491841208919281664
Liverpool doing what Spurs did last season. Selling an iPhone and buying a pager, a phone, a fax machine, a camera and a pen to replace it.
— Dave (@Dave797) July 20, 2014
LIVERPOOL are going to Do A Spurs, aren’t they? In a word: no. Well, not in the way the people above (and plenty more besides) mean, anyway.
I say that with all the certainty you can have in July when a ball hasn’t been kicked (jogging around in friendlies means f*** all), and when buying (and selling) is yet to be finalised. But just as there are plenty of people that have convinced themselves of impending doom in the surrounds of L4, I just don’t see the evidence that Liverpool will fall off a cliff in the Premier League next season. Others apparently do though… and repeatedly shout about it to the point of tedium.
“Doing A Spurs” – as the implication from this lot goes – is selling your best player; the fulcrum, the gem, the man that makes your team tick – and blowing all the cash on duds. Slipping down the table, sacking your manager, appointing a ‘top geezer’ from within who salutes people on football pitches, sacking him and appointing another ‘bloody foreigner’ (after undermining and sacking a ‘bloody foreigner’ in the first place) then preparing for a new campaign in the Europa League.
So, OK, like Spurs, Liverpool have sold their most talented player for a record fee to a club in Spain. Them Bale for £85m to Real Madrid, us Suarez to Barcelona for £75m. Granted, you can have that bit. In that respect, the Reds have Done A Spurs. But what did Spurs ‘do’? Did they Do A Manchester United? After all, they sold Ronaldo to Real Madrid for £80m. Or what about Doing An Arsenal? They sold Henry, Nasri, Van Persie…. It happens, and clubs survive and prosper.
Before examining Liverpool a bit more, let’s look at Doing A Spurs. The season before last (with Gareth Bale) Tottenham finished fifth in the Premier League on 72 points, scoring 66 goals.
Last season (without Gareth Bale) they finished sixth in the Premier League on 69 points, scoring 55 goals; three less points and 11 less goals. An early season slump – the highlight of which was the 5-0 White Hart Lane drubbing administered by the Reds – cost Andre Villas Boas his job and fingers are still being pointed about the use of the transfer kitty generated by Bale and the success of the buys, which included Roberto Soldado, Erik Lamela, Christian Erikssen and Etienne Capoue. Couldn’t they still come good? As could AVB for that matter, had he not made so many enemies within the club.
(As an aside – 5-0 at home? Is that part of ‘Doing A Spurs?’ Because the last time Liverpool lost by five at Anfield was 1937…)
Liverpool won 84 points in the Premier League last season, scoring 101 goals in the process. Like Spurs, the key man has left. Like Spurs, new signings have come in. Like, Spurs, Liverpool can turn in a similar league performance without their big star. Unlike Spurs, perhaps Liverpool can produce an even better one.
Rodgers – as far as we know – is not battling away with his staff like AVB was. If anything – reading between the lines – he appears to have improved his powerbase at Melwood and Anfield. Just as AVB did not see eye to eye with Franco Baldini over Tottenham signings, it’s pretty nailed on that Rodgers has experienced similar clashes with the other members of the infamous transfer committee and his paymasters in Boston.
Rumours persist around Rodgers’ involvement (or lack of) in the signings of Nuri Şahin, Oussama Assaidi, Aly Cissokho and more. And equally it seems clear his wants have been vetoed on more than one occasion during his tenure.
But looking at this summer’s signings, would the £4.5m purchase of 32-year-old Rickie Lambert – and the awarding of a two-year contract to the Kirkby-born striker – have previously been sanctioned by FSG? The Clint Dempsey situation suggests not. Short-term solutions and players with little resale value were resisted by the boss man in Boston. Now they’re not. Rodgers has earned the trust of those around him, it seems. AVB did not enjoy that backing at White Hart Lane.
Modern football being modern football, a poor start to the season for Liverpool wouldn’t go down well of course, but Rodgers has earned himself some wriggle room with last season’s performance – from the fans, from the owners, from the staff and from the players. The club feels together – not an organisation dogged by infighting, cliques and negative briefing to the media. The same couldn’t be said for Spurs under AVB.
It’s more than that though. Even without Suarez in the side last season, Liverpool looked different. The players were playing with belief, with confidence, with a swagger. Jordan Henderson’s game jumped a level, Raheem Sterling was a player transformed, Jon Flanagan stepped up and even Martin Skrtel briefly silenced his doubters. Suarez maybe played a role in that. But so did Rodgers. So did the coaching team. And so did the players themselves.
Whatever state Manchester United were in under David Moyes, to go to Old Trafford and boss the game like that and to, at the very least, compete and be within a chance of a result away to Man City and Chelsea represented progress; a huge shift in the mindset of Liverpool Football Club. Too often in the not so distant past, we’ve witnessed talented teams wear the red but lack the balls to get results when it mattered. The club almost felt like it felt sorry itself. Like it was doomed to failure for eternity. This group is different – the manager and the players looked to have cracked things mentally last season. The team played with freedom, with confidence, and Rodgers has emphasised the importance of bringing in players who complement that state of mind. It’s why we’re hearing new signings talk of challenging for the title and competing well in Europe. Sights are being set high again – and rightly so.
All that said, it would be churlish to suggest Luis Suarez won’t be missed on the pitch – 31 goals in 33 games is not easily replaced; not to mention his role in creating chances for others. He’s essentially the third best player in the world, despite the baggage and the circus that comes with. But while we’ve lost the Premier League’s top scorer – and would have until November regardless of the lure of Camp Nou – we’ve already got the division’s second most prolific striker within the ranks, bedded in and raring to go. Daniel Sturridge is still only 24. He scored 28 goals in 42 games in all competitions last season, even managing three goals in teams managed by Roy Hodgson. Not bad going.
He’s on course to be the fastest player to 50 league goals for Liverpool and when Suarez was sitting out games for biting Branislav Ivanovic, Sturridge scored 11 goals. He stepped up and revelled in the role of match-winner – even when not fully fit at the start of last season. Why can’t Sturridge do that again? Why can’t he score even more goals? And why can’t the team be set up to get the best out of him as it was set up to get the best out of Suarez? Sturridge has proved his worth in front of goal and Rodgers has proved his in getting the best of goalscorers. You get the sense the striker always wanted to be the No.1 man. Now he is.
In the coming season, unlike last, Rodgers will also have options – a squad with depth – potential match-winners on the bench as well as on the pitch. We saw many times last season that Suarez was blowing for tugs; he’d given it his all and the tank was empty way before the final whistle. Sturridge was the same at times. Yet when Rodgers looked over his shoulder to see Victor Moses, Iago Aspas, Luis Alberto and the like behind him there was only one possible response to Uruguayan gasps for breath or a Brummie plea for a rest: “Carry on, lads.”
Now, while Suarez’s fitness is not our concern, Sturridge could be replaced by, or rotated with, Rickie Lambert; a Scouser who is straining at the leash to go and fulfil a childhood ambition and a player who was basically one in two for Southampton and scored 17 goals in all competitions last season. In all likelihood, Rodgers will also be able to turn to Loic Remy – a player who scored 14 goals for an inferior side in the Premier League last season. Adam Lallana, who is two footed and scored 10 last season, earning him a place on the PFA Team of the Year, will be another option and a flexible one at that.
All three players are Premier League proven – and that could and should be four when they are joined by Dejan Lovren from Southampton. While that doesn’t negate the risk that comes with *any* transfer, it could help to guard against the lack of early-season impact made by Spurs’ not-so-magnificent seven in the last campaign, who all came from foreign leagues.
All this, without a mention for the exciting-looking talent of the jet-heeled Lazar Markovic, the Henderson-on-steds attributes of Emre Can or the fact that money – a lot of money – is still available for yet more reinforcements (even the much-fawned after ‘marquee’ signing).
Liverpool don’t look ready to crack, fall or collapse any time soon. They’re too good for that; the manager’s too good for that and the players are too good for that. There’s too much character already at the club and – by all accounts – that is being shown in bucketloads by the new recruits, too.
The new signings might not be whetting the appetite of the armies of Football Manager experts that roam online, but Rodgers insistence on ‘types’ of player breed confidence that he is a man with a plan, evidenced in his recent quotes:
“The types of players we bring in have the profile we want so the transition should be smooth. Of course it is strange for them coming into a new team, but you see it with Adam [Lallana] straight away, he presses for the ball when he does not have it and he has beautiful balance.
“He can score goals and create goals. He is a wonderful footballer. I have been impressed by his mentality and character. The character is important. It is not just about the player, but the right type of person.
“I want players that are committed to the cause to make Liverpool the best we can be. I want players resting when they should be resting, training hard and working hard and focusing on their life as footballers. We have brought in those types.”
That’s why Liverpool won’t Do A Spurs.
Pics: Propaganda.
brilliant article gaz. I shall quote your article when bitter evertonians/mancs/chelsea/arsenal fans every utter such words
I think the point you have forgotten to factor in is the massive demands the champions league will have on Liverpool both in terms of the travel and the wear and tear on the squad. i honestly believe that the (relative) success of both Liverpool and Everton last year was massively influenced with having no European matches to participate in. The honest fact is that Liverpool’s squad last year would simply not have had enough bodies to cope.
Absolutely Liverpool wouldn’t have enough players to cope in the Champions League last season. They weren’t in it so the squad wasn’t composed in preparation for it. This is why you see Rodger’s buying several very talented new players. The depth is there now and the transfer window isn’t close to being over. Furthermore you talk about the Champions League as if it’s another 38 game season. It’s not. It will be between 6 and 12 games (preferably 12). Are you trying to claim that 6-12 extra games is going to completely negate the threat of this Liverpool team? Dream on. Liverpool were raring to go in the second half of last season. These players thrive on the opportunity to play in the Champions League and Rodgers is building a squad very much cable of handling the extra games and the added pressure of the competition. They will absolutely see it as a motivation-not something to hold them back.
calm down dude, I was not having a go at anyone, just pointing out what i thought was a fairly major omission when this article was being written. You are however making a few assumptions yourself – how do you know the new signings ‘thrive’ on playing in the champions league? How do you know they will handle the pressure? How do you know the new signings will see it as a motivation. What you surely mean is you hope that this will be the case. I do think that Wenger’s prophetic words about Spurs last year will also be applicable this time round – It is very very difficult to integrate so many new players into a team/squad in one go. But good luck to liverpool – I wish them well
Well said,all our detractors will have mud on their faces,another thing,go comment on your own sites!
Another big thing with Spurs’ signings last season is that a lot of their major signings came between the first game of the season and the end of the transfer window, so as to cut prices. That gave the team little time to play together before they were coming up against some of the better teams in the league and falling short. So far, there has been a big difference as Liverpool have been busy signing players well before the start of the season.
That is in fact not true. At this stage last season Spurs had signed 4 of the 7. Lamela, Chiriches and Eriksen were the late arrivals. The later 2 were arguably the first to integrate and adapt.
As has been pointed out before, even if we “do a Spurs” and finish 3 points and one place behind, that would leave 3rd place at 81 points. Not too shabby, especially since the excuse of “no CL” can’t be used this year.
Liverpool were going to find it difficult anyway.
Last year they had it easy with no European football. They just had to concentrate on the League.
To compete now with 60 games in a season, a serious addition of players was needed.
However, unlike Spurs the majority of the squad remain, only Suarez not.
At Spurs, we sold a lot of other players too, to make room for the new additions. Think on Huddlestone and Parker as just two.
Liverpool made do with a limited, yet a quality squad last season. There is no reason to throw all your new additions in from the start, like Spurs had to.
As a Spurs fan, I look on with a certain amount of envy.
Your development has been handled with a great deal of care. You have exceeded your expectations, and you have a manager that has a clear and clever solution to his early success.
Good Luck next season boys.
Class. Thanks mate, your lads too!
Lallana scored 9 goals last season.
Lovren, Remy and Lambert are all mediocre, Lallana is decent and nothing more.
Rodgers has squandered a huge amount of money of poor signings.
Rodgers drivel and bluster with regards Lallana and his constant need to try and defend the transfer speaks volumes.
Liverpool won’t do a Spurs because Spurs signed better players.
Don’t think Rodgers is safe though, new contract or no new contract. FSG won’t stand for it if we collapse next season.
So much stupid in that post. Where to begin?
He scored 9 in the league and one in the FA Cup.
Lallana decent…decent enough to be in the PFA team of the season and player of the year at Southampton. I hope all the players on your team think he’s just decent too. They do so at their own peril.
Stop playing too much Manager mode on FIFA lad! It’s affecting your real life.
Even if Liverpool “do a Spurs” (by that I mean replicate Spurs’ post-Bale season: 4 per cent drop in points and a 17 per cent drop in goals scored), we’ll still be challenging for the title with 81 points and 84 goals scored.
“Liverpool won’t do a Spurs because Spurs signed better players.”
That’s a breath-takingly moronic statement/prediction, right there.
Well done, “Paul”.
The media seems to have this need to build a narrative, the easier it is to craft the better, be it La Liga is better than the Prem or in this case, Liverpool doing a Spurs.
It should be pretty obvious that Spurs and Liverpool are going about their business in a completely different manner than Spurs. Beyond the director of football angle, Spurs let the transfer Saga linger all summer finally resolving it in the dying hours of the window. 5 of the fabled 7 signings came in August with 3 of them in the last throws of the window. In contrast, Liverpool appear to have conducted the majority of their business prior to August and have the new players bedding in throughout the pre-season.
Beyond that, it was pretty obvious last year that there was a lack of class on the bench, something that would not fly this year, so the majority of these signings were going to happen anyways with or without Suarez.
Ultimately some of these signings may fail and as all the teams around us improve as well there may be a bit of a struggle to reach the heights we did last season. But it would still be a lazy narrative to compare it to Spurs.
How many goals from each of these next season :-STURRIDGE,
STERLING,
LAMBERT
MARKOVIC,
LALLANA,
CAN,
REMY,
GERRARD,
HENDERSON,
COUTINHO,
IBE,
ALLEN,
BORINI or his replacement ?, and a few at the right end from SKRTEL.
U liverpool fans are sick. U are happy to spend over over £100 million and finish 2nd, 3rd or 4th. Why spend over £100 million to finish 3rd. What does that say about the transfers brendon rogers has made. It states that he has bought quantity over quality. It states he has bought average duds instead of replacing quality with quality. Brendon is the master of mediocrity and u fans are his apologists. Lfc have already lost to Roma and i reckon this is just the start of a long slide
Wow. Citing a pre-season game as the start of a supposed decline.
You really can’t get more idiotic than that.
Its You not U you thick twat you are not sending a text. Oh and the rest of your post is shite as well.
Dear Taz, this slide has been a long time coming , suppose it’s all relative to where you started.
The money is there to b spent, what’s the problem ? Have a nice season.
look at the state of Paul there….did you actually read this beyond the first line? because you have completely missed the point.
I think it’s fairly obvious it’s mentality Rodgers values very highly. You can coach the rest. Talent plus attitude plus Rodgers works. He’s proven it already as far as I’m concerned.
Think you are doing rafa a bit of a disservice there mate. The constant quest for perfection flowed from him To the team at his peak and I still think that 09 /10 team was the best of the last ten years even including last season. We were bloody awesome at times that year, defence and attack with lesser players.
Point I’m making is rafa not the hair dryer type from what ive read. Perfectionist yes. Shouter and lambaster not so sure. Just saying like.
Illogical nonsense from our spurs man there. Lambert , lallana and remy were all demonstrably better than the spurs players in the same league during last season . Don’t know many people , even spurs fans that would disagree. Think before you blog !
Usually when you ask people like our moron spurs man who he thinks we should have bought it draws a blank.
Liverpool have bought proven premier league players . Spurs bought overseas players . Significant difference.
To me, the Liverpool players bought in so far are over priced and just decent players. Nothing particularly special. That would have been okay last season with Suarez in the team but without him I would have expected Rogers to understand the need for greater quality. I don’t believe people realise just how much Suarez did for Liverpool last season , both tangible and intangible.
If Rogers manages totake Liverpool in to the top 4 next season he will have done an incredible job. Top 5 a very good job. Even top 6 will be tough.
Time will tell how this pans out but I will be very surprised if the loss of Suarez doesn’t hit you far harder than you expect.
When we lost Bale we lost an individual that we relied on far too much. Losing Suarez, you lose the player himself and the impact he had on the whole team and opposition. Signing Lallana, Can, Lambert and Remy won’t strike fear in to anyone. You have lost the fear factor you had.
To take a step back and look at the picture as a whole . You’re at the same level as Tottenham but to make the top 4 on a regular basis is a massive step up. Well done on taking advantage of all the stars being in alignment last season but one swallow does not a porn star make .
6th next season after a fight to the finish for 5th.
The issue is not with how many ‘average’ or better signings you make. R. Madrid have had many Galaticos but have fallen short for a number of reasons, on many occasions.
The issue is entirely with how you bed them in. Some don’t need to be tucked in at the end of the night, others do.
Benitez was a hard task manager. Gerrard would score a worldy, in the middle of some sublime hat-trick, helping us to a 4-3 victory and would be told by RB ‘that’s great, thanks, however, that pass to Carragher was three yards short, you must work harder, double training for you’. With new players they would be afforded more time and have less pressure bestowed upon them, until they ‘acclimatised’.
My sense with Rodgers is that he is the opposite of RB and other ‘hair-dryer’ style managers. Sure he can be tough and with the correct application of power, players themselves receive that same message, of e manager being tough, but in a much more measured fashion.
Be under no illusion, Rodgers will not be folding the bed sheets of the new bunch, especially our new Premier League experienced players. He knows they have experience and will push for an almost instant impact, in such a way as to not evoke fear.
He will also add them in gently as we already have the crux of a very good team, the squad quality has always been the issue. Now we have that squad, like cooking, he (in my opinion) will look to add gently, because everyone knows, once an ingredient is added, even the best chef can’t take it away.
So, as opposed to Spurs, we are not overhauling the team from the sale of 1x excellent player, we are gently adding to the team but and at the same time, hugely overhauling the potential of the squad.
Either way, In Rodgers I Trust..
@CraigGrant, no logical LFC fan is denying that losing Suraez is going to affect us. And that’s why the message from the Liverpool camp is they are not trying to replace the irreplaceable but build a balance team — which was not what Spurs did. Whether the players Rodgers signed are merely “decent” and and not quality remains to be seen; especially in how he shapes and turns them to massive players. You asserted that “time will tell how it pans out” yet hastily concluded that Rodger will fail big time.
Go, tell Rodgers. He needs you the wise sage to enlighten him that he is myopic and has not realized the crucial 4 competitions (including Champions League) that LFC has to play in.
Come back May 2015 and tell us exactly the same thing you’ve written above. And possibly, you’ll realized — too late — that the mucus you’ve spit into the air has landed smack on your face.
Was thinking of writing something on exactly the same topic. Beat me to it.
(Nailed it btw)
“Doing a Spurs” Lets just wait and see,I’m expecting lots from our “useless”signings this year now that they actually have a manager who has the coaching and tactical ability to show them direction.The players Tottenham bought were all good players,some were not needed and they’ll get the push.Like most Tottenham fans I know,we are all quietly optimistic.
Without getting into a who got the biggest cock scenario….sod it I will,we’re hung like a donkey this year!
Yeah well…you guys said the same thing last year no? I happen to agree that some of your players will be much better this year with a good manager. Lamela and Eriksen come to mind.Hung like a donkey? Not so sure…maybe hung like medium size cat.
Thanks Roberts! This is what most “LFC is doing a Spurs” trolls need to read.
Rose tinted idiot. Other opinions can be listened to . Not every opinion that differs from your own is that of a troll.
I haven’t said that Rogers will fail big time. Fail is your word and is based on your unrealistic expectations I would imagine. 6th, for Liverpool, at this stage in your redevelopment wouldn’t necessarily be failure.
Woah… chill it. No need for words like “idiot”. “Troll” is a generic term, you don’t have to confess being one. Indeed different opinions could offer constructive and friendly dialogues. But I was responding to your post.
Do take note that I didn’t disagree with you when you surmised that LFC is at the same level as Spurs. It seems I wasn’t the one who couldn’t accept different opinions. Anyhow, let’s enjoy football because we love the game.
The squad has improved but I maintain there is still a need for a player to “worry” the opposition. The majority of the current Liverpool squad have not had the experience of games every 2-3 days. We have seen it with other clubs struggling in the league post European matches. Our manager to my mind as well as he has done so far, has not managed in the Champions league with the attendant squad rotation required, everyone seems to have forgotten the Europa League campaign that suffered from lack of rotation.
We should all have hope as fans but lets not lie to each other that all is rosy in the LFC garden, Reina is being frozen out when he is better suited to the sweeper-keeper role and is a better keeper than Mignolet. Agger and Lucas some of our most experienced players are seemingly up for sale and the players being linked are not clear upgrades on what we have.
I would love nothing more than for Rodgers to prove me wrong but we need to be realistic and honest with ourselves as fans
Mweni, to b fair Rogers hasn’t let us down so far. Last season was not entirely predicated on Suarez but was a team effort. There are handful of world stars and it is unlikely that they are coming to the UK. So why not build on players who know the league and also promising high quality from abroad. By my maths we have hardly touched the Suarez money so it’s there if we need it. Without him we also got off to a good start. Sturridge was excellent last year, no reason he won’t be this year. We have always moved on after selling a star player, it’s not new, collective over the individual .
Hi Murray, to be fair to the man Rodgers has overperformed,but its like Rafa used to say its not about a single player scoring 20-30 goals its about spreading the goals out so youre not dependent on one player. As well as they played last season Henderson, Lucas and Allen didnt contribute in the goal scoring department as they should have of the current signings Markovic is a young player, Lallana and Lambert havent played in the champions league before. I just think we need to sign a midfield goal-scoring threat with Champions League experience. I know they are difficult to come upon but this is what Rodgers and Co. get paid the big bucks for. I’m still looking forward to the season though. The second round of the Champions League, a cup and a top four place once more would be a brilliant season.
Go watch the second Man City game last season and pick out a player that the opposition should fear. It starts with an S for sure, but definitely doesn’t end with an uarez. Sterling is going to run rampant this season, along with Hendo and Sturridge.
Hi Jacob, I’m not trolling but I did watch that match (at Anfield) and if we’re being honest Man City could have won that game easily if the ball had rolled their way. It wasnt a dominant performance by any means, football is very much a confidence game. BR is brilliant at giving his players confidence in their ability, but if you dont think that having a player of the calibre of Suarez didnt de-moralise the opposition and put a spring in the step of some of our less experienced players then you are entitled to your thoughts. Since the article is talking about Spurs they had some other issues going on with some of their signings being hit and miss but on a pure talent basis Lamella has the potential to be a superstar and had played a key role for Roma in the previous season. Suarez despite his faults is a leader in terms of his effort and the demands he placed on his teammates to be better. If Agger, Reina and Lucas also leave these are senior players who have played a prominent role in the club. All I’m asking is that its fine signing potential (Markovic), proven players in the league (Lallana, Lambert, Remy [if it ever goes through]) but we are in the Champions League this season and are likely to get a tough draw given our poor coefficient and we need signings who can at least help push us past the group stage at least.
I want to believe what’s been said here and I do think we’ve made some good buys – Markovic in particular.
I’m still crapping it though.
Great article!
Suarez represented psychological warfare. I can’t see teams filling their keks at the sight of these new signings no matter how good they are. They are not one of the best three players in the world. Some teams came to Anfield in pure damage limitation and that worth at least quite a few points and plenty of confidence. I recognize that selling Suarez was a deal that had to be done. Success brings expectation and although plenty around L4 will understand and back Rodgers the poison laptops of London and Manchester media will pile on pressure at any dip. If we end up with 9 new players then any reasonable fan would expect some to be in the Aspas/Alberto category rather than the Courtinho/Sturridge one. So the question is correct as it is a cautionary tale. Another story here is that Rodgers diluted his style for Suarez IMO so this season will see a return to the purity of his vision.
I wish I was as confident about BR and his transfer dealings as most of you on here!
He’s got a 20% hit rate, that’s 1 in 5, so why everybody all of a sudden is so confident in his TM abilities I don’t know!
Yes, he did a remarkable job last season getting more from players all ready at the club, but most of his signings were duds who contributed fuck all…..
Fingers crossed he’s getting better this year!
If people think that Suarez can be replaced or that we can compete on 4 fronts buying average players and not sign proven CL world class talent I think you are sadly mistaken! We need Isco/Reus/Pogba/Vidal quality players…
And if we end up with Bertrand as our left back I will be lost for words…. Get R.Rodriguez or A.Moreno and pay the going rate!
The point made above about Reina is dead right, why we bought Mignolet, a keeper who won’t leave his line, command the box or knows how to distribute is beyond me when we play the system we do!
Fingers crossed we make top 4, we’re certainly not going for the league unless something surprising happens late in the transfer window!
Good to be back in Europe and I love the attacking football that BR has brought!
Slightly disappointed at us not going for the players we were linked with a while ago like Iturbe, Muriel, Kovacic aso as they seemed to fit our way of playing!
I think spurs fans should do a Liverpool and make some T-shirts with premier league champions on them LOL.
It’s interesting that Liverpool fans are happy to write Spurs off next season – even when some mention Spurs had just a 4% drop in points – even with having a manager having a mental breakdown and another who had no qualifications. Does it not concern some of you? Should Pochettino actually have a successful season?
Think only an idiot would write spurs off, think you have appointed a very good manager and with the squad all bedded in now, think you could have a real crack at top 4. Of course you still have Levy and well that dude is a freaking moron!
As for Liverpool, i have been echoing this article for a few weeks now. Guess time will tell but I am buzzing for this season to begin, its going to be exciting! But people have to realise that both Rodgers and FSG are working to a long term plan and just because we challenged for the title last year does not mean those long term goals and plans have changed. Some saying we have squandered our money need to check the facts, pretty much all the signings we have made were coming regardless of suarez staying or leaving, the squad needed it and that was the priority this transfer window.
I can’t buy the quantity over quality argument. Looking at it on paper, we’ve replaced Alberto, Aspas and Moses with Lallana, Lambert (Remy) and Markovic. That’s quantity and most importantly a step up in quality no one can argue the opposite. We’ve also added depth to our midfield in Emre Can who looks like a proper player, giving us a physical stature in midfield which we’ve lacked in certain games.
We also looking to strengthen at leftback and bringing in a leader type centerback.
It’s a double edged sword, you want quality but you also need quantity to keep the team fresh with the extra demand of European football. So far i think we’ve done good and i believe if the right player is available we’ll go for him if he is that world class marquee signing, no doubt about that.
Of course every none LFC supporter is saying (and hoping) for a “Spurs”, because what would happend if we were to kick on from last year and improve? We’ve been one of – if not the in form team for the better part of 18 months and there’s nothing suggesting a drop off in performances.
You mean apart from selling the best player in the league and possibly the world last season?
People seem to forget that Liverpool played excellent football also without Suarez last season. No question about it, he is a superb player who will have an impact on every team he plays for… but, for me, the main-man here is Brendan Rodgers. The football we played against Arsenal and Tottenham was simply a team on full throttle, with a great plan and will to attack like I haven`t seen the last 20 years. That is not lost, and will be inforced by the players we bought this far.
For me, Brendan is the most important “player” we got. He did some mistakes last season…in particular with some line-ups, but also did great corrections when needed. In regard to hit or miss with buying players it hasn`t been exceptionally impressive this far when you look at the success-ratio. But, I don`t think Brendan will ever become a big-name-man. He has stated he wants the right mentality first and foremost. In the end…Liverpool made Suarez a superstar, and I see new ones up coming. Sturridge, Sterling , Coutinho… Can, Markovic and Lallana…all proven on a high level…even in CL. To even name them in the same bracket as Tottenhams 20-mill gambling-prospect is insane!
Liverpool will be fine. Different than we were with Suarez yes, but we have a great mix of experience and youngsters coming up. I believe Anfield will be a place teams truly hate to visit. I see waves of attack. Beautiful football, and good things to come.
Take away Suarez and LFC still scored 70 + goals. Before new signings you would expect Henderson Coutinho and Sterling to score more than last year, a lot of young players grew in confidence during the year and you would only expect them to improve. Ibe and some of the young kids look exciting.
When Spurs sold Bale they did not have an established manager and a proven way of playing. Brendon has bought young players he wants to coach to play his way all of whom will run through brick walls for him. For Remy Lallana and Lambert it is the chance to shine on the big stage, all have scored goals, but none of them have been surrounded by so many quality players before, you would expect them to grab the chance at the end of long journeys and to give 100% and if they don’t they will be replaced because for the first time probably ever LFC have quality on the bench.
Doing a Spurs ! lazy cliched journalism, building on the strong foundation of a good youth policy and a team built on speed with good technical ability and a manager with belief.
We go again
Team game. Always has been and Brendan Rodgers knows how to mold a group to fight for their lives for each other as he says himself .
He knows what he needs and I for one am gonna back the man to the hilt. Brilliant brilliant manager at the helm. The players will bust their bollix under him and that’s enough for many a small team to succeed let alone a club with the quality we have.
Gonna be a belter of a season. These lads fear no one and they are dead right. It’s on. Match us for intensity or you dead in the water and I don’t think there are many who will. Can’t wait.
It defies belief that BR is getting all these accolades from LFC fans with no brains. They forget that it takes time for a good manager to develop; anyone can point to exceptions like Kenny Dalglish. BR record has been far from perfect he was a failure at Reading resulting in him getting the sack.
At Swansea he only managed to get them into the premier league via the Football League Championship Play-Off Final. In the 2011-12 he guided them to a lowly 11th place in the premier league. In the 2012-13 season he guided Liverpool to a 7th place finish which is one of the worst premier league position for Liverpool in a long time (with the exception of the 2011-12 season). BR has been hyped up by the media and the brainless fans to the extent that even BR has convinced himself that he is in the top echelons of English management.
A great many fans attribute Sterling’s and Coutinho’s great form to BR. While BR may have motivated them it does not mean that he was the one who instilled them with their talents. It does not matter how great a coach/manager you are if the player has no talent then you cannot create it. A good manager will motivate his players so that they play to their maximum potential. A good manager will also know which position on the field the player is most suited to. That does not mean that you can buy an average player and make him into an excellent player; an average player is by definition an average player. Some of the idiotic Liverpool fans think that you can buy an average player and turn him into an excellent player.
Lets face it if you buy 5-20 million pounds worth of talent you are not really buying top players unless they are defenders. BR has bought a bunch of average duds who he thinks are going to win the premier league title. He has paid over the odds for English mediocre talent like Adam Lallana and 32 year old Rickie Lambert. What kind of manager pays £4 million for a 32 year old striker? BR is delusional and God knows what he is smoking; he has got his head buried in the sand like the majority of Liverpool fans who have an IQ of about 10.
Dear Taz,
please come home, your dinners ready son
hugs and kisses
mum
Oh yes they are LMFAO
BR has been mouthing off since the end of last season. Does he really think that Suarez wasn’t the only reason Liverpool did so well last season (like Bale and Spurs the previous season)? Does he really think it was down to his managerial ability? In a word….. Gobshite!
Lols and kisses from everybody here at Spurs