OUR friend Neil Atkinson was quite scathing about the League Cup today. He essentially can’t be bothered with anything until we get the big one. I don’t think he has quite got over not winning the league to be honest. Have any of us? Have some of the players? Has Brendan?
The League Cup, of course, has many points. Not least the big shiny one at the end. But it also allows a manager to try new things. Or in some cases go back to old ones. Brendan Rodgers could have used the opportunity to give a few squad players to go. Instead he used the opportunity to be a bit more Brendan Rodgers.
Brendan, you may have read, isn’t great with defenders. He also doesn’t look great with strikers who aren’t Daniel Sturridge or Luis Suarez either. And he plain old pretends that defensive midfielders don’t exist. But he’s great at people who want the ball, who want to use it, and who want to break. He loves them. He improves them. He allows them to play.
One of the many frustrating things about this season has been watching our demise into a bad cover version of something else. A team who wants to be sensible but isn’t sure how. Formations that the manager doesn’t really seem to want to pick, but perhaps feels he should. Watching him play footballers who he, rightly or wrongly, doesn’t appear to like. Players looking confused instead of liberated.
Today he picked seven midfielders who are good at football, in most cases very good at football, and lashed three lads he didn’t mind at the back. He filled it as much as he could with Rodgers’ lads. He appeared to tell them to pass and probe and hit at the right time. He told them not to lash any blind crosses in ’cause its a bit shit. He told them to trust they were better than the opposition. He told them to win the passing in the way even the snides on the internet couldn’t mock.
Liverpool Football Club are generally at its best when they do what others don’t. In fact that’s the case for the city as a whole, but lets not get into that or we’ll be here all day. Never is this more the case than for Brendan Rodgers’s Liverpool. The man who in the summer of 2013 was told, by idiots like The Anfield Wrap, he needed to add more steel and instead decided to score loads of goals instead. Brendan was under a huge amount of pressure tonight. Some forums speculated he may lose his job in the next 24 hours. He picked a team that would have seen him slaughtered had we lost. In the face of accusations of playing politics with team selections he could have been safe, but instead he was bold. He decided to laugh in the face of ‘you have to win the battle first in these cup ties’ and just pass them off the park. You have to admire him for that. It felt very Rodgers at his best, as well as very Liverpool.
Of course there are negatives too. Firstly I will say right now that I hate the expression ‘he’s a Championship player’ to describe our players. Its a daft exaggeration for effect to describe anyone who was usually doing quite alright in the Premier League before we bought him and, for one reason or other, it didn’t work out. With this in mind, if I was somehow put in charge of a League Two club and we needed to buy a goalkeeper, I wouldn’t touch Brad Jones with a barge pole. For long periods of the game Bournemouth had only had one shot on target and it was THAT ONE and it went in. Just like for long periods of the game on Sunday the home side managed two shots on target and scored twice. If that is happening you have to wonder what was the point of putting your gloves on at all. For all the outrage over the summer transfer business, the fact that Brad Jones is keeping goal for Liverpool is the biggest disgrace of all.
We, surprisingly enough, didn’t look great at the back on a few occasions and whilst the injury to Lovren, just like the Johnson injury on Sunday, may have been celebrated by many, it still seems to leave us with just three proper defenders for a busy period at a time when we want to play three at the back. It was also ‘only’ against a Championship team who rested six (although I suspect in the funny way we football fans are, we’d be happier with a win at top of the Championship Leeds than we would Bournemouth). It would have been nice to see Gerrard get a bit more than one minute’s rest ahead of a likely start against Arsenal too.
Arsenal, yeah. That is next. Part 100 in the ‘biggest game of the season yet’. What do you do if you are Brendan? Continue to balls it, or something more conventional like pick a left wing back who can tackle? It’s tough isn’t it? If you play the same and lose you are called naive. If you change to something with less than seven midfielders and lose people ask why you change a winning formula. It’s not easy managing at the top end, where everyone is an expert and hindsight is king.
But I enjoyed seeing a bit more of our much maligned manager tonight. I enjoyed the return of the smug ‘finger in the air’ celebration instead of the ‘thank christ for that’ fist pump. It had all got a bit ‘where do we go from here?’ after Basel, even for the most optimistic. Tonight was a glimpse that it might not be all doom and gloom. Tonight showed something we can get behind. Something no-one else would have done. Tonight the manager rolled the dice and won.
And when Liverpool win we all win.
Amen
Good performance AND result, havnt been able to say that for a while.
I don’t mind this 3 at the back lark as long as they’re all actual centrebacks (prefer Sakho to Lovren to be honest) but I’m not sure about the 4 in the middle. I fear if we persist with that against Arsenal we’ll be torn apart. Perhaps a slight change to a 3-5-2 to add that extra man in the middle.
Thought Sterling was very good tonight and showing that he can actually finish hopefully putting right some of the Twitter idiots. Markovic too impressed, seems to be finding himself now and knows who to pass to and where. Thought Lallana was good again too, really nice with the ball at his feet and running with it although occasionally takes too many touches. Would like to see him strengthen up as I believe he gets muscled off the ball too easily. Looks like he’s growing into the team with each passing game. Sakho, for a man who hasn’t played much competitive football recently, looked really good. I know his movement can look awkward and gangly at times but I really believe given a run of games he can become a rock for us at the back. With Lovren out perhaps we’ll see more of him.
One loss in seven, we take what we can get on Sunday and then we’ve got Burnley, Swansea, Leicester, Sunderland, Villa and West Ham before the Goodison Derby, all of which are winnable by our squad with the greatest of respect to the sides involved. This time next month, with some luck, some Sturridge, some new-found confidence and some well-spent cash, we could be looking a lot healthier.
Great cup win. Sod Neil, I want to win the lot. As does Mourinho. So let’s stop him in January.
Interesting keeping by Brad Jones for the Bournemouth goal. By interesting, I mean possibly the most unprofessional bit of keeping I have ever seen. Diving over the ball is the kind of nonsense only seen in 5 a side
Oh and hopefullly Lovren’s injury tonight is one of those curious season enders. The ones that seem innocuous but allow us to claim sufficient wherewithal to buy a centre back who can tackle, run, read a game or at least be semi-competent
Jones has to go, he’s beyond shit. Mignolet should be nicely refreshed by now…
Indefinitely is definitely over, surely.
Jones makes Mignolet look like Ray Clamence who, incidentally, signed my copy of the Beano Christmas album in 1978…..
I’d drop/rest/rotate the landlord against Arsenal. He had a decent game last night but gets overrun against top opponents. Happy with three at the back now Lovren’s injured, but I’m sure Brendan will revert to a four: anything to avoid playing Sakho. Great to see Markovic and Lallana finding their feet.
Good to see us playing decent football again, though unlike some others, I didn’t mind us being solid while we regained some confidence. Basel was the one black spot for me. Brendan needs to give Markovic and Lallana a decent run now. He also needs to explain to Coutinho that it’s ok to pass in the penally area. His decision making was very poor last night, not for the first time either. Lallana was far more incisive.
I think what I’d take from last night is how much more relaxed I felt with Sakho in for Lovren. Ok, my heart beat rises close to 200 when he goes for a tackle in the box but overall I thought he was good on the ball and had an air of confidence that Lovren certainly doesn’t have. I don’t want to get on Lovren’s back but he looked so nervous last night.
The other thing was, it just proves to me that we are /will be a different team with strikers. As John says, hindsight is a wonderful thing but I think Brendan’s missed a trick this season. That attack should have been tried months ago. Lallana should have been given more of a run, he’s looked good in spells all season.
I don’t understand some of the criticism levelled at Sterling recently. Even last night I saw a post on FB from, someone who’s views I respect (or used to), Does anyone else think Sterling is over rated? I don’t like to be a troll, haha, but I went fuckin mental and made sure anyone commenting crawled back into their shells. Jesus, we’re an odd set of fans. I’m seeing it more and more recently. There was even an article on here that questioned him. Ok, he needs to work on his finishing but he’s 20, had very little rest from playing in the past 18 months, not to mention how much shagging he does, and we’re asking him to lead the line against teams like Utd or tough Championship sides, yet he still creates 100’s of chances. Do people realise how agents work (if that’s at the heart of their issue)? They independently try and get the best deal for their clients. Negotiations on a new contract are not between Sterling and the club but Sterling’s agent and the club. Anyway, the philosophy was not to over pay for useless players but at the same time reward those who are worth it. Sterling is.
I felt a bit sorry for Jones last night. He was definitely unsighted for their goal. That may or may not have been his fault. It looked appalling goal keeping again but I’m gonna give him the benefit of the doubt.
I was pleased for Markovic, it’s been a mixed couple of weeks for him but it’s starting to look like he can offer something. I liked his mentality from the kick off. Very early on Skrtel played an appalling cross field pass into the stands and Lazar applauded to say ‘great idea’. There’s been too much moaning in the side for me recently. It was nice to see someone thinking of the team spirit. Bournemouth are doing really well this season and are no worse than the bottom few in the Prem, so I’m putting this down as a good win even if there’s still room for improvement.
I make no secret that the League cup means little to me but whereas I thought it might be a hindrance I now think we need it / and can use it to build confidence and momentum. If we can just go on a little 5 game winning run then it’s not too late to get something out of this season. I think this run up to the Sunderland game on Jan 10th and Sturridge’s return is vital if we’re gonna get anything. Almost our last big chance. Let’s hope Rodgers puts our best foot forward. It’s much clearer how to do that.
Yep, agree with that. I loved the comment about your heart rate racing to 200bpm whenever Sakho goes for a tackle in the area. It’s like when Batty walked up for that penalty for England, or when Mignolet tries to kick a ball. Any ball.
Markovic should be a shoe-in from here. His confidence is rising all the time and the goal will also help with that, obviously. I loved the fact he tried that flick later in the game that didn’t come off and nearly got us in trouble; it’s more important that we’ve got a player who’s prepared to try that stuff and occasionally fail than it is anything else. I still think there are times he gets rid of the ball when he should be taking people on. I don’t think he’s realized yet how slow your average EPL full-back is.
Lallana’s lack of physicality is still a problem for me, but I agree with Paul we should be persisting for now. He still looks more capable of making something happen than Coutinho.
Can looks to me like he’s lost a little bit of weight, which feeds my suspicion that Rodgers has been loath to use him until now because he’s still getting fit.
And yes, this next two or three weeks really will shape our season. I realize we say that about every two or three week period, but this time it’s true :-) Beat Arsenal after the result last night and confidence should back to where it needs to be, then a run of eminently winnable games that could take us to the brink of top4. Newcastle and Southampton are already slipping back and West Ham will follow eventually. I don’t buy that the Mancs are nailed on for top4 but I still expect them to make it, so it’s still going to be between Arsenal, us and Spurs for that last spot. I don’t look at either of those sides and tremble with fear, as good as both can be on their day. There should be no inferiority complex at Anfield.
I thought Markovic was asked to stay fairly deep last night. I noticed he wouldn’t get down the wing but slotted back into position. I think with having 3 defenders he was asked to hold his position a bit. Can clearly hasn’t been fit enough so far. I don’t understand why all these people are screaming for him to play. When I’ve watched him I’ve only had an eye on what he may bring in the future. He clearly doesn’t merit a first team place just yet. Lallana is lightweight but his control is so good I don’t think it matters that much. He can unlock defences and win free kicks around the box. I’d be playing him every game till the New Year. Seems our type of player from last season.
Yeah mate, agree, another case of these next few games are make or break. I’m sure we’ll be saying that on a monthly basis but if we’re not gonna leave it too late then we really need to start now. My confidence is returning a bit.
What about Sakho’s rabona?!?
That was funny.
Good post Robin, Sterling’s still a young boy, he has bags of potential and has been carrying the side for much of this season. Too much pressure on a young man finding his way in the game. We need to get behind him.
B’mouth changed out 6 of their regulars. And yet they still could have scored 3 quite easily. I really don’t see how anyone can take reassurance from that game. So unrepresentative.
All it says is that we can beat teams like Leicester and B’mouth because they don’t have the quality to finish. Arsenal are going to threaten to tear us a new one with their pace and movement. we couldn’t deal with B’mouth’s few attempts.
Full of Christmas cheer, aren’t ya mate. Thing is, we won. The knives were out waiting for us to slip up regardless of performance.
This wasn’t so much about Bournemouth, it was more about us and the way we tried to play.
Mate, I don’t like us losing and occasionally I have a tantrum but I’m not at the stage where I look to criticise a win.
Good one John. This left wing back that can tackle that you speak of …..good luck with that.
While I like having seven midfielders I think Rodgers needs to give suso a go upfront. He almost has to better than our current options. Doesn’t he?
Still injured.
The performance last night was a bit of fresh air after what we have been putting up with. We built well on the performance from Sunday.
It was good to see Raheem put a few away, I said last week we would have to be patient with him if we use him as a striker as he is not as natural a finisher as Studge. More than half a dozen great chances to score in two games, I will take that all the time, go for it Raheem.
Lallana is a 7 out of 10 player and looks the part everytime I see him and has great feet he will shine for us. For the first time I was properly impressed with Markovic, years ago my instant dislike of Ronnie Wheelan taught me I knew nothing about football and that with some players it just takes time for you to appreciate what they can bring to your team. I now don’t judge on the first half dozen games you need at least a season to pass proper comment and Lazar looks like he is stepping up, very composed and a quality finnish.
I would put Mingolet back in Jones is just not good enough at all. Don’t think Gerrard and Lucas will work against Arsenal so perhaps Lucas and Can with Stevie coming off the bench to seal the deal after 60 mins.
Top 4 is nowhere near dead but we need to keep this mini run going and it would be extra special to put a spanner in that twat Mourinhios works come the semi. Onwards and upwards Redmen.
How could you dislike Ronnie Whelan?!? Was it because he replaced Ray Kennedy? That’s the only logical explanation, and one I can relate to. Ray was an all time great.
Kennedy us a classic example of the thinking of the likes of Paisley and astute managers. Ray was a goskscoring inside left in the old parlance and we turned him into a brilliant left half, as we did to a lesser extent with Geoff Strong. It takes a football brain to see that sort of possibility in an established player.
Good piece John,
Agree with most of the comments and the Sahko point esp,
The difference on the left side when he slotted in was night & day,
Aside from all his defensive lapses this season, it’s how poor Lovren is on the ball and how slow he is on the turn that is most worrying, the positioning brainfarts can be coached out of him I reckon,
Seems almost unreal that the scouting dept can watch him & Migs for a period of time and come to the conclusion that they will suit us,
Kolo & Sahko need to become our main men at the back imo,
The last two performances have given me a lift and we are a decent striker and keeper away from being a real good side again,
Don’t really understand all the hysterical Rodgers out brigade personally, I believe any manager would have struggled with what he has to had to cope with this season but each to their own I suppose.
I don’t like it myself, the answer to losing a few games isn’t to sack the boss. That said, I had a wobble myself recently and I put it down to a lot of things. Somewhere along the line our transfer policy is lacking, seeing Jones in goal compounds that. Also, he hasn’t been listening to us fans, haha. I think it’s clear he could have done a lot of things better, on the pitch, recently and that has been a worry. Worst of all has been what some would perceive as appearing to lack confidence in himself. That’s always worrying. Then there’s the feeling he’s not necessarily picking the best team for the job but doing what’s best for his interests. So, although I want us to build with Rodgers I don’t think it’s been unreasonable that some have questioned him.
Agree the keeper and striker should be priorty in Jan but we defo need another midfielder soon. We may get away with not getting one in Jan. Gerrard can no longer play all the time and next season his games will need to be managed further, I can’t see Lucas lasting longer than the summer and if given the choice I’d sell Allen too. He’s an ok player but we need better than ok. That leaves Henderson and the young inexperienced Can. We will need midfielders in and soon.
Allen’s a good squad player, if nothing else. No need to sell him. It’s hard to find players of his quality who are prepared to sit on the bench
When you spend £15mil on a player I expect more than “a good squad player”. We can’t afford to be spending £15mil on squad players especially squad players who don’t score, assist, protect the defence and gets bullied of the ball. I just don’t think he offers us enough.
The price is irrelevant now. He’s only worth what we could get for him which isn’t £15m so I don’t see how that comes into anything. We have to work in the present, not the past.
The price is far from irrelevant!! We only have a finite amount of money to spend so we can’t be spending it on ineffective squad players.
In the present he’s not good enough so in the future we should sell him.
I think you missed Robin’s point. The only relevant price now is the difference between what you would sell him for and what the replacement you are looking for will cost (who do you consider to be a realistic improvement by the way?). No point crying over spilt milk.
Personally, I would say he is worth 15 mil easy, especially in the current market, and you would be crazy to sell him.
Song would be a realistic improvement, either as a regular starter or off the bench.
Yeah but that money’s been and gone now, and Robin’s right. He is a very good squad player.
Spot on about Song, I was advocating buying him in the summer. He was available for as little as 8m then, I fear we’ve missed the boat again re value.
Keeper and striker were priorities in July, never mind January.
That’s the point, we don’t have to spend any money to have Allen in the squad so the £15m is irrelevant now. What would we get if we sold him anyway? £5m? Buy a £5m replacement? How does that help? Besides he was an important part of the first team last season. I think he’s a good player but not necessarily a defensive midfielder. I’m pretty harsh on players, for example, I don’t understand why Liverpool fans rate Kuyt so highly. For me, he only turned up in the big games, I hate that. I respect that he worked hard blah, blah, blah but he lacked quality. Point was gonna be, with Allen I never have that disappointment like when I see Shelvey, Spearing, Kelly, Adam et al on the teamsheet. He’s just steady mate and I think that attribute can add to a team. I think it helped us last year in the second half of the season. We were playing well and Allen was keeping his place. Either you or Rodgers is wrong about him. What do you reckon?
Agree that Allen is a valuable squad player. He’s mobile, intelligent and makes good use of the ball. Sadly £15m is probably cheap for a league winning squad player these days, especially in light of Paul Tomkins article
I’ll be honest mate, I’m gutted I didn’t make that point myself. Brilliant point!
But he gets far more games than he merits. He played well for a brief recent spell but he brings little more than industry to the team, active but unproductive. Good squad player at best, tbh.
Good result and some decent football played. I don’t rate Allen but neither do I understand the Henderson love in. Great header back for the first goal and a pleasure to see a midfield player in the box for once. However he must play the ball back more times than the rest of the team put together. It’s as though he’s a wall that simply bounces passes back. Still he runs around a lot so that’s all right.
If he goes back a lot it’s because there’s nowhere to go forward. There’s a reason why our midfielders aren’t creating this season. Look at Henderson in the second half of last season when he had good players in front of him. This debate amazes me. Just saying about Allen too, I appreciate he’s not a stand out player but I think he adds to the squad. A team’s about having a balance. You wouldn’t want 11 Suarez’s making up your team would you? Sorry, bad example, I definitely would.
I really rate Henderson as I’ve said tons of times and I was arguing for patience with him when he first came because I have a lot of Sunderland fans in the family who told me what a good player he was. But I do know what Frankie is getting at with the passing sideways/backwards thing. Even when a forward pass is on, Henderson tends not to play it. He’s too good a player for me to believe he doesn’t see it, so I can only surmise it’s either a confidence thing or he’s just a naturally conservative player most of the time. If I were Rodgers, not only would my teeth be whiter but I’d be telling Henderson to look forward as the default and only if nothing was on to go back. I’m willing to bet that Henderson’s pass completion rate is better than our other midfielders, but I would say that is mostly down to his ‘safety first’ approach. And before anyone else says it: no, it’s not Gerrard’s fault.
I said in an earlier thread that I’m waiting for Henderson to take the next step and become the complete midfielder I’m certain is hiding in there somewhere. He’s not 21 anymore although at 24 he’s still got his best years ahead of him in that position. I think he’s got the potential to be one of Europe’s elite midfielders, I’m just not certain he sees it that way.
I’m sorry, but if people don’t rate Allen and don’t get Henderson, what is it people expect from our midfielders?!
Neither player has been at their best most of this season, but they played a big part in some of our best performances last season. A midfield of Lucas, Allen and Henderson completely dominated a (big, skillful) Spurs midfield of Dembele, Sandro and Paulinho to kick start our season this time last year.
Henderson has a great passing range, When Liverpool are playing well and there is movement in front of him he is very capable of playing the killer pass for the runners. It is just symptomatic of our overall performance and style of play for most of this season, that the movement hasn’t been there ahead of the deeper players. (In fact, we have seen this rendered Gerrard’s quarter-back roll completely redundant, leaving him exposed as a deep lying play maker with no opportunity to make the play.)
I like Henderson but when our midfield consists of an aging Gerrard, Henderson, Allen and Lucas then I worry. I think Allen is an alright player but we need better than “alright” players. He frequently gets bullied in what is a physical league, doesn’t score, doesn’t assist, can’t really protect the back 4. The little he does isn’t enough. He needs to be doing a lot more.
It’s simple then isn’t it, replace Lucas. Yeah, he’s a good player and a nice bloke but we need better.
Well Lucas will probably be gone in the summer if not before. That leaves us with an aging Gerrard, an ineffective Allen, an inexperienced Can and Henderson. Somehow I think we’re gonna need ALOT more than that.
Best midfield I’ve seen in recent decades was Masch, Alonso and Gerrard. Individually fantastic but also blended well as a midfield too. Currently we are miiiiiileeeeesss away from anything close to that!
It’s all about confidence with Henderson. He wasn’t doing that towards the end of last season, he did it far too much the season before.
I would be flogging a lot of other players before Allen,
But he has been woeful in his last two starts, bullied, running into his own players on occasion, sloppy in possession,
But he was excellent at times last season and I thought the lads worded it correctly in the podcast by calling him an enabler (Ronnie Whelan lite),
To early to judge Can but from what little I have seen his lack of mobility is a worry,
Hendo looks lost out wide but stills puts in a shift,
I fancy us against the gunners this weekend as I think we are finding a bit of form and the players look to be getting some understanding upfront,
With all the new players coming in and Lallana & Markovic starting from injury setbacks it was always going to take a while and the only one who looks a total disaster is Lovren,
Ballo should be 3/4 choice striker come next season with a fit Studge and some decent signings,
I can understand your wobble Robin and no doubt you were in good company and that’s fair enough because bad results we can handle but when they are accompanied by awful performances it gives you sleepless nights,
This time last year I was floating into work/pub/5 a side as we were just about to go top for the Chrimbo (couldn’t wait for City game on St Stephans day),
Not so much this year but I still think we will catch the Mancs.
I’d sell Balotelli. Never gonna fit into our team game where everyone must press and work hard as one. Too much of an individual never mind his poor goal scoring/assist record.
Borini & Lambert are ahead of him that que for me,
For some reason there is a part of me that doesn’t wanna give up on Balo yet,
I get what you mean regarding his work ethic but you can see he is genuinly trying harder at this side of his game than ever before which admittedly is coming from a low base,
Sitters missed, woodwork hit a few times and some wonder stops, injuries and now a ban!!!
But he constantly seems to get into positions to score and surely to God at some stage he is going to hit a streak,
Now having said all that I wouldt bat a fuc*in eyelid if he was off in Jan,
Oddest player ever.
Haha, sorry mate but I think he’s ok too. Needs Sturridge with him though. No good as a lone striker.
I’m effin fuming over that ban. Education course? Cheeky bastards!
Yes, I’m sure that black adopted son of a Jewish mother is totally ignorant about racism having never encountered it before in his personal and professional life, so this FA recommended course will really come in handy.
Wankers.
Hear, Hear. Fucking wankers. How John Terry can get 4 matches for calling someone a “fucking black cunt” on the field and Balotelli gets one for a twitter post, which given his intimate experience with racism he actually considered to be anti-racist and about himself anyway. The irony dripping off those crusty old white men is unbelievable.
Spot on, both of you. The words wood and trees come to mind as do jobs and worth.
I’m not drawing up a list of who goes first. Balotelli, Borini nor Lambert are good enough strikers to be at a club that wants to challenge for top honours. City realised this and got rid, we should be doing the same and using the transfer fee and wages elsewhere. None of them suit our style of play. We need players who can put the ball regularly in the back of the net, players that are quick with good movement, players that get in behind defences, players that are prepared to work for the team.
I would have no problem if all three were moved on in January.
It was a pretty good performance last night but I had to just watch it on the telly.Doesn’t’t Alan Smith just grate on you?He’s like a lot of players who hardly got a kick against us when they were playing but can now talk up the opposition in the hope that they will somehow pay us back.
Oh! I know that another shot roughly on target would have had poor old Brad scrambling in the opposite direction but that’s what you get with “MONEYBALL”.
Some people don’t seem to get MONEYBALL because we signed players for £20/25 Million.
Well,here’s the real world.£20/25 Million gets you a player who is very fit and runs a lot.He will pass the ball pretty close to a team mate more often than not.He will have an acceptable % of accuracy in his passing.And he will win not less than 50% of his tackles.He will also probably be under the age of 24 and his wage demands will be modest and he will run about 5 to 6 miles every game.
But if you want a player to just play passes that lead to goals and score with most of his shots but wants more money for doing that.We’ll the chances are that he won’t fit a MONEYBALL profile.You’ll have to pay £50/80 million for that kind of player nowadays.Shall we have a look in TK Maxx?
Haha! You seem to have no clue about analytics, but yet are perfectly confident while criticising the field. Not unlike the bashing TAW contributors gave to statistical analysis on the previous podcast while making it amply clear they had no idea about how it is used.
It’s not just the purchase price that FSG balk at, it’s the salary. They’ve spent their entire time clearing out all the high earners. We are down to SG on £140,000/week, and he’ll probably be gone soon (with a bit of luck). They are ensuring the books look good with fixed outgoings a percentage of incomings, that means salaries have to be reduced.
A number of high profile quality players sell for £20-30 million, but they also come with a £200-300,000/week payroll hit, and it is this that FSG will not sanction. They made a song and dance about Suarez’s new deal, but we all knew he’d be off at the end of the season before the £200k/week wages kicked in.
You’ll see FSG “bid” for some big names, but their agents will soon let them know how much they’ll have to pay when it comes to wages, and you’ll see another club come in and snap them up while FSG pretend they were in the mix.
Agreed, it does seem to me that many of our public bids are little more than pr exercises.
I don’t think they baulk at the cost price. We’ve paid good money for a lot of players. Agree though, it’s the wages where we lose out. Maybe we should have just pushed the boat out and got Falcao on £350k a week, lol. I think the Falcao case is interesting. People are saying Utd have made sure they get top 4 by spending whatever is necessary to get it. There’s a few differences between us and Utd though. Firstly, their revenue is over double what we generate so, bearing in mind a clubs wage bill can’t exceed 70% of revenue earned, then they have a lot more to play with. The other thing is, Utd are on the NYSE. Investors want a return on their investment and Utd slipping down the league loses them all millions so, it’s in their interests to speculate to accumulate. If it goes tits up it’ll be brilliant.
We have to keep more of an eye on wages. As fans it doesn’t help any of us (as a side note, it annoys me seeing players like Joe Cole or Jovanovic on £110k a week) but we have to lose this belief that football is not a business and we can just pay what we want. We can’t because we don’t have it.
I think people forget how injury prone Agger was throughout his career or how poor Reina had gone towards the end. 2 things I don’t like – 1) when players are injured and we have to play a 2nd choice and 2) opening the paper to see one of our players courting Barca or Real. Oh, and hindsight.
I’m aware we’ve made mistakes in the transfer market but one thing’s for sure, we can’t afford a Falcao style mistake. Admittedly, we need a balance though. The only way we can attract the very top players is to blow the others out of the water but we all have bank accounts ourselves and know you can’t just do as you please. It’s a catch 22, we need to raise our profile by being in the CL every year but we also need the world class players to get us in it.
Do you recall how pathetically grateful we were when we found out that Cole and Jovanovic had agreed to lower themselves play for us? Jesus…
i’m amazed people don’t realise bournemouth were playing a second string side . 6 changes from the regular 11 . they didn’t press on the ball so we can do what we wanted .
the few times they really tried to get forward they could easily have scored , we were hopeless defensively .
lallana will disappear when the going gets tough , this game is perfect for him to do all his pretty stuff but he had all the time in the world to do it .
people who are seeing this as a turn in our form are away with the fairies .
the lack of strikers has shown how poor brendan is at organising the defence and midfield .
he has been found out . 3 at the back arsenal will love that , and playing jones in goal is pure madness .
That sort of objective analysis is not welcome here right now; a win is a win is a win!!! When the adjectives start at ‘magnificent’ you have to wonder what accolades will gush when we beat somebody really good. Nevertheless, Bournemouth were favourites as in fact are Arsenal at Anfield on Sunday, and they are flying in the Championship so the win had merit.
how does the win have merit when B’mouth swapped out 6 of their regulars and still nearly scored 3 goals?
Because it was a win. No more merit needed than that, seemingly. But it IS a Cardboard Cup comp., and winning it did nothing for KD, certainly would not have saved his job if it followed a string of very poor performances with baffling selections. But onward and upward. Arsenal are brittle and may be the start of our season.
Spot on. As I’ve said elsewhere, not discounting United should minus about a thousand Brownie points from Reina’s balance but… would be handy now,
Didn’t mean you btw Brownie, sorry, meant … brownies.