Liverpool Worth it?

Having a terrible season this year in the league, my question is have Liverpool justified their transfer market deals? Are the players they brought worth the penny compared to other players in the league?

•Luis Suarez (£22.8m)
•Andy Carroll (£35m)
•Jordan Henderson (£16m)
•Charlie Adam (£8m)
•Stewart Downing (£20m)
•Doni (Free)
•Jose Enrique (£5m)
•Sebastian Coates (£6m)
•Craig Bellamy (Free)
•Total: £112.8m

Dowing - No Justified - 20M? No way.
Suarez - justified - Great player all be it a bit of a nightmare attitude wise
Carroll - No justfied - Aweful run of form, not the player he used to be at NUFC
Henderson - No justified - 16M? No.
Adam - Justified - Not a great player, but for the 8m price tag, good business
Doni - Justified - Free
Enrique - Justified - For the 5m price tag, absolute bargain, best player
Coates - Justified - 6m seems good for a high talent
Bellamy - Justified - Free


For the money you would expect them to be higher. Players i would have brought instead who would be more effective:

Carrol out - Demba Ba in - 10million - 1/3 of the price - 10 times the player
Henderson out - Jarvis in - Would cost about 10m - Better player all round
Downing Out - Lennon in - Cost around the same - Lennon better all round


New Squad:

Reina
Johnson
Skrtel
Agger
Enrique

Jarvis
Gerrard
Adam/Lucas
Lennon

Demba Ba
Suarez


Now that is a top 5 side without question.


Thoughts please?

The big issue with Demba Ba is his knees, it was enough to put Stoke off, and presumably other clubs as well, and there is no guarantee that he could have been successful as he has been at Newcastle. Carroll was a success at Newcastle but struggled at Liverpool, it could easily be the same for Ba.

The big positive for Henderson is the fact that he is young, he's only 21, where as Jarvis is 25 with his only experience being at Wolves. Henderson has time to develop and while he has appeared on the right side of the midfield I assume he was bought with the centre of midfield in mind and when he is played there he has looked decent. Henderson can still come good.

I think Lennon is overrated to be honest, he's got a lot of pace but not much else, as much as Downing is a flop, I honestly can't see Lennon being much better and since he plays at what would have been a top four rival, I doubt we'd have got him cheaper than what he paid for Downing to be honest. Neither are worth the money.

Can't quite work out what you're saying re transfers?

If you mean what you would have bought instead, well Ba was free no £10m. If you mean who you would bring in, no chance you'll get him for as little as £10m now.

Again with Downing/Lennon. Would you have got Lennon for £20m at the time you spent that on Downing? Probably not, need another few million. Would Spurs sell him now for that? Maybe, but again I think they'd hold out for £22-23m.

Don't think that's a top5 side without question either, agree it's a marked improvement and would expect it to break into the top 6 but it's not nailed on.

You've also forgotten the most important change - the manager. You've changed 2 players that's all, Kenny hasn't been able to get the best out of the other 9 all this season and has shown no likelihood of being able to do any better with 2 new signings.

TopHat24/7 wrote:Can't quite work out what you're saying re transfers?

If you mean what you would have bought instead, well Ba was free no £10m. If you mean who you would bring in, no chance you'll get him for as little as £10m now.

Again with Downing/Lennon. Would you have got Lennon for £20m at the time you spent that on Downing? Probably not, need another few million. Would Spurs sell him now for that? Maybe, but again I think they'd hold out for £22-23m.

Don't think that's a top5 side without question either, agree it's a marked improvement and would expect it to break into the top 6 but it's not nailed on.

You've also forgotten the most important change - the manager. You've changed 2 players that's all, Kenny hasn't been able to get the best out of the other 9 all this season and has shown no likelihood of being able to do any better with 2 new signings.

Demba Ba has a 10million buy out clause in his contract.

Forgot about the manager, but who would you bring in? It wont be long before they look for " another " Gerrard with his injuries and age etc but who fits the bill?

I agree most of the players Liverpool have bought have not been worth the money. Ba was a risk with the knees Liverpool with the money they got for Torres had to make a big signing. Lennon is the same level as Downing and would Spurs sell to a rival (At that time) Henderson does have potential to become a very good player and I hope he turns out to become good I hardly think Jarvis is a better option.

The most important thing I think you missed out is not the first 11 but the depth of a squad, Liverpool could have an excellent first 11 but if the other players are not up to scratch they would not be challenging for the title.

d260005p wrote:

TopHat24/7 wrote:Can't quite work out what you're saying re transfers?

If you mean what you would have bought instead, well Ba was free no £10m. If you mean who you would bring in, no chance you'll get him for as little as £10m now.

Again with Downing/Lennon. Would you have got Lennon for £20m at the time you spent that on Downing? Probably not, need another few million. Would Spurs sell him now for that? Maybe, but again I think they'd hold out for £22-23m.

Don't think that's a top5 side without question either, agree it's a marked improvement and would expect it to break into the top 6 but it's not nailed on.

You've also forgotten the most important change - the manager. You've changed 2 players that's all, Kenny hasn't been able to get the best out of the other 9 all this season and has shown no likelihood of being able to do any better with 2 new signings.

Demba Ba has a 10million buy out clause in his contract.

Forgot about the manager, but who would you bring in? It wont be long before they look for " another " Gerrard with his injuries and age etc but who fits the bill?

Now that IS a question!

Probably even harder than replacing Scholes at United. Would be tempted to say he's simply irreplacable, although that's a thoroughly unhelpful answer! He's been a huge player for Liverpool over the years, on top of being simply wonderfully talented footballer also. Still think he sprays around too many hollywood passes he cannot deliver but equally I think in a better side he wouldn't.

Very true. Irreplaceable would be a good term to describe Scholes and Gerrard.

Why would Ba want to leave Newcastle when they are sniffing around the Champions League place with his country man Cisse banging in goals all over the place!?

the question of who would we bring in next season is tough, there are a few areas where we need improvements, and i dont really think we have the necessary budget to get them all, i think the biggest need is a new no.9, we play a few different formations, but the common link is a figurehead on the front line, the ideal player would be cavani, but hes gonna cost 40m+ and even if we did get a bid of that sort of region accepted, then id have thought city and a couple of other teams would be in for him and we wouldnt be able to compete in terms of wages and currently no champions league football.

getting a true no9 in who can guarantee 20+ goals a season could potentially paper over the cracks, as it would free up suarez to either play just off a main striker, or even a 4-3-3 with suarez plalying slightly wider.

if we cant afford to get another top striker in, and we do seem to want to get rid of kuyt and maxi, then a goalscoring winger is a must, if we can find a younger bellamy then that would also be a good idea, potentially, a fairly low price option there would be hoilett, as all we would need to pay would be compensation, which shouldnt be higher than 10m, but another potential problem there would be competition, as im sure spurs would be in for him, along with perhaps a couple of other teams.

going across the squad , where i think we needs reinforcements are

Keepers: if doni does go, then another backup on a free should be all we need, as hopefully reina will stay

Right backs: we are fine there, only potential problem could be with kellys injury problems

Left backs: fabio will be gone in the summer, and with robinson maybe not quite ready to step up, we may need another backup in there, although johnson can step in there, so it isnt a priority

Centre backs: on paper we should be alright, and with coates having a season over here under his belt and hopefully stepping up to be the no3 cb over the course of the season, im not expecting anyone major to be brought in, if wilson is sold on (as it looks like he isnt making the progress to step up) then i wouldnt be surprised to see another youngun brought in

Centre Mids: assuming Lucas is back for the start of the season, we should be ok in this region, as we have plenty of options in this area,

Wingers: if kuyt and maxi are going, that leaves downing and bellars as our only out and out wingers, with hendo, gerrard and to a lesser extent suarez who can all fill in there, which isnt enough, there seems to be a strong link with isla, but even if he is brought in, there still looks to be a lack of goals coming from the wingers, so a goalscroing winger ala hoilett is needed

Strikers: gone over that, cant help feeling wed need to sell to buy, so if carroll stays, then we may only see a cheap backup option is brought in, if he is sold, that would certainly get my hopes up on a big name replacement coming in

I don't know why I did it. I knew what I was doing - yet I still did it.

What I am talking about is reading this article. It's another 'if we had Jarvis for this price and they had Carroll' fantasy football load of rubbish.

Liverpool have done what any other club does. Liverpool bought players who looked good prospects. Some turned out that way, others didn't.

Firstly I will play to your fantasy football fetish and give you an alternative 11 that would have cost the same amount of money:



Reina
Johnson
Ashley Williams
Phil Jagielka
Agger
James McLean
Gerrard
Lucas
Javi Martinez
Cavani
Suarez


Now that you've had your stomach tickled in that sense, I will move on to assessing the transfers before and after:


Dowing - No Justified - 20M? No way.
Suarez - justified - Great player
Carroll - Not justfied - AWFUL run of form, not the player he used to be at NUFC, BUT THEN AGAIN ANYONE WOULD HAVE BOUGHT HIM ON THAT FORM. However we did SIGNIFCANTLY overpay and that was a terrible error.
Henderson - No justified - 16M? No. Terrible.
Adam - Not Justified - The most frustrating, dull player, who is just inept like he was in the SPL
Doni - Justified - Free
Enrique - Not Justified - Awful on the ball and his rock solid defemce has slipped a few times recently. Johnson is a better left back.
Coates - Justified - Who knows?
Bellamy - Justified - Free

JacoFourie2012 wrote:I don't know why I did it. I knew what I was doing - yet I still did it.

What I am talking about is reading this article. It's another 'if we had Jarvis for this price and they had Carroll' fantasy football load of rubbish.

Liverpool have done what any other club does. Liverpool bought players who looked good prospects. Some turned out that way, others didn't.

Firstly I will play to your fantasy football fetish and give you an alternative 11 that would have cost the same amount of money:



Reina
Johnson
Ashley Williams
Phil Jagielka
Agger
James McLean
Gerrard
Lucas
Javi Martinez
Cavani
Suarez


Now that you've had your stomach tickled in that sense, I will move on to assessing the transfers before and after:


Dowing - No Justified - 20M? No way.
Suarez - justified - Great player
Carroll - Not justfied - AWFUL run of form, not the player he used to be at NUFC, BUT THEN AGAIN ANYONE WOULD HAVE BOUGHT HIM ON THAT FORM. However we did SIGNIFCANTLY overpay and that was a terrible error.
Henderson - No justified - 16M? No. Terrible.
Adam - Not Justified - The most frustrating, dull player, who is just inept like he was in the SPL
Doni - Justified - Free
Enrique - Not Justified - Awful on the ball and his rock solid defemce has slipped a few times recently. Johnson is a better left back.
Coates - Justified - Who knows?
Bellamy - Justified - Free

Firstly this article was based on Liverpools performances this season in regards to who that i have brought in. Its that simple. I put down who they brought, whether it was justified (IMO) and then who i think would do a better job.

Secondly, the team you lines up looked very good. Not sure about Williams though. Also not sure where the funding would come from for players like Javi Martine or Cavani as they would cost a combined total of around £60-£70 million.


Thirdly, do you really think Enrique has had a poor season? He has been rated as Liverpools best player by ALOT of experts in the game, and his on pitch performances have been a lot better then the majority of flops at Anfield at this time.

I was getting the 70 million from before we bought Henderson, Downing and Carroll. Who I WOULD have bought. Yes Enrique on the ball is useless. Experts? Alan Shearer, Alan Hansen and Paddy Barclay?

Enrique has been Liverpool's best player by a long long way this season, top 4-5 left-back in the league, and their only signing to have come remotely good!

Carroll would have been a great purchase if Liverpool had signed Kevin Nolan as well. Nolan used to get the best out of Carroll.

Downing is a very good player as well so worth the money

Suarez is the biggest gamble as far as i am concerned, definitely a good player but is worth too many yellow cards. If Kenny can control him then i can see him being a very good player for Liverpool.

TopHat24/7 wrote:Enrique has been Liverpool's best player by a long long way this season, top 4-5 left-back in the league, and their only signing to have come remotely good!

Couldnt agree more

Craig Bellamy?

Henderson was forced out of Sunderland and is a ManU fan. Carroll is Newcastle
through and through. It's hard to play your best when you never wanted to join in the first place..

Another home game, another defeat Liverpool 0 Fulham 1

Home record P18 W5 D9 L4

You have to go down to Aston Villa in 15th place to find another team with less than 6 home wins. Even Blackburn and QPR have more home wins than Liverpool.

Wouldn't read a lot in to last nights game, 9 changes were made to the starting line up so players could rest ahead of Saturday. Still not good enough mind.

I felt sorry for Andy Carroll, he seemed to be the only player on the pitch giving 100%, but the support around him wasn't good enough and it's likely to have cost him the chance to start the FA Cup final.

The owners of Liverpool will find it easy to replace Kenny if needs be. John Barnes could've done better in the league than Kenny.