Liverpool FC Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread 2013/2014

Kirby

prettyboy81 wrote: »

My starting XI for Saturday v Stoke

Mignolet

Johnson Toure Agger Enrique

Gerrard Lucas

Borini Coutinho Sterling

Sturridge

It was a hard choice between Lucas & Allen plus the same with Borini & Aspas. My reasoning for picking Borini, he has a season behind him not many games I know but a season of experience in the PL.

Playing Borini on the wing is a waste. He's a striker. He is nowhere near as effective out wide. I'd go 4-3-3 myself with Coutinho and sterling out wide with a midfield 3 of Allen, Gerrard and Lucas.

whatawaster

Turtyturd wrote: »

Which time?

Either time.

Today it's "one-or-two" new faces

Last weeks it's "one-or-two" cover players and "one-or-two" for the attacking positions.

He's a wee bit fond of little phrases like that.

Kirby

Francie Barrett wrote: »

Ah come on now! After Harry left, Spurs were probably in the best financial shape of any club in the top 6! Their wages were far lower than ours and Arsenal's and their transfer spending was pretty modest. Also, for a guy who is a rubbish coach, he did a pretty good job in converting a struggling left back into a £80M star....

djPSB wrote: »

AVB was very fortunate last season, with Bale winning them alot of games all by himself.

There's no denying that he has bought impressively this summer though.

Harry's philosophy didn't focus much on the long term. He signed players like Friedel and Parker. AVB signings will set them up fairly well for the seasons ahead.

Interesting stat I stole from another thread.

Tottenham's total of 72 points is the highest ever total for a top-flight team finishing outside the top four in a 38-game season. Spurs' points total would have been enough to finish in second place two seasons ago.

Interesting, no?

Dickerty

prettyboy81 wrote: »

My starting XI for Saturday v Stoke

Mignolet

Johnson Toure Agger Enrique

Gerrard Lucas

Borini Coutinho Sterling

Sturridge

It was a hard choice between Lucas & Allen plus the same with Borini & Aspas. My reasoning for picking Borini, he has a season behind him not many games I know but a season of experience in the PL.

Aspas is sure to start in the absence of Luis, he's shown far more in pre-season than Borini.

And I would start Allen ahead of Sterling. We need to control the game, put ourselves about. Allen is not a big guy, but he's a battler. I'd feel better with him in CM than Coutinho. Sterling, Borini and Ibe are all game-changing types, great from the bench.

Mignolet

Johnson Toure Agger Enrique

Gerrard Lucas Allen

Aspas Sturridge Coutinho

Subs: Jones, Wisdom, Kelly, Henderson, Borini, Sterling, Ibe
(That means Alberto, Skrtel (inj), Assaidi all miss out...

El Inho

Kirby wrote: »

Playing Borini on the wing is a waste. He's a striker. He is nowhere near as effective out wide. I'd go 4-3-3 myself with Coutinho and sterling out wide with a midfield 3 of Allen, Gerrard and Lucas.

My thank button is goosed!

In short. I agree.

Nuri Sahin

LuckyLloyd wrote: »

You were never getting him at either juncture. Wasn't going to leave Porto half way through that season and we weren't going to beat Chelsea for him at that stage.

He may very well have been gettable last summer though.

I got the date of Kenny being hired as Liverpool temporary manager and Villas Boas being sacked at Chelsea wrong firstly.

In response, in all my many, many Villas Boas comments be it here, Twitter or elsewhere going back to his early months at Porto praising him, I never ever said said Liverpool should and could get him during his season with Porto. Never it once crossed my mind he'd leave them at that time. He was my preferred choice however and has been since around December of 2011.

As for getting him before Chelsea. Derp. Make a move early, earlier than Chelsea and who knows! As a fan of football, I was always of the opinion for his sake that he should have stayed at Porto for at least another year or two anyway. If Liverpool could have got him, I'd have been delighted obviously.

And yes, we should have got him last summer. However, I'm certainly not going to cry, whinge, moan and complain constantly, repeating my thoughts on Villas Boas to Liverpool unlike others near daily going on about having Rafa back, Kenny staying or undermining Rodgers at every given opportunity. I don't get some kick of saying look at me I'm right in proving fellow supporters wrong. We all want the same ****ing thing after all. Last few hours aside, I've kept fairly schtum on my thoughts on this topic.. probably since last summer.

There's no secret I do get some enjoyment as a football fan and Villas Boas fan in seeing him do well, just a ****ing shame it's with Spurs.

flanzer wrote: »

With the latest news about Suarez coming through, I'll just leave this here

Curious to see how long this lasts.

5starpool

Kirby wrote: »

Interesting stat I stole from another thread.

Interesting, no?

It's hard to imagine now, but we finished in the top 4 with less than 60 points a couple of times I believe. the league is getting stretched out more and more it seems. About 10-12 seasons ago 80 points would have had an excellent shot of winning the league a lot of the time.

The teams at the top are getting noticeably stronger now it seems, and while there will be blips and upsets, it is unlikely that 4th will be lower than high 60's at least. It'd be great though if this was a proper competitive season with a proper title race, proper CL places race, and proper relegation scrap, with the winner getting 80 points, 4th 65 and 18th 41 or so. Probably won't work out that way but would be nice.

5starpool

Nuri Sahin wrote: »

I got the date of Kenny being hired as Liverpool temporary manager and Villas Boas being sacked at Chelsea wrong firstly.

In response, in all my many, many Villas Boas comments be it here, Twitter or elsewhere going back to his early months at Porto praising him, I never ever said said Liverpool should and could get him during his season with Porto. Never it once crossed my mind he'd leave them at that time. He was my preferred choice however and has been since around December of 2011.

As for getting him before Chelsea. Derp. Make a move early, earlier than Chelsea and who knows! As a fan of football, I was always of the opinion for his sake that he should have stayed at Porto for at least another year or two anyway. If Liverpool could have got him, I'd have been delighted obviously.

And yes, we should have got him last summer. However, I'm certainly not going to cry, whinge, moan and complain constantly, repeating my thoughts on Villas Boas to Liverpool unlike others near daily going on about having Rafa back, Kenny staying or undermining Rodgers at every given opportunity. I don't get some kick of saying look at me I'm right in proving fellow supporters wrong. We all want the same ****ing thing after all. Last few hours aside, I've kept fairly schtum on my thoughts on this topic.. probably since last summer.

There's no secret I do get some enjoyment as a football fan and Villas Boas fan in seeing him do well, just a ****ing shame it's with Spurs.




Curious to see how long this lasts.

Considering how much Chelsea apparently paid to get him from Porto (more than 20m in compensation I believe?) we would never have realistically have looked to get him in I'd imagine.

daithijjj

whatawaster wrote: »

I'm not sure what your point is?

Coutinho and Sturridge have been almost unqualified successes to date and it is far too early to judge the other 4.

I don't care who we have upstairs or what their clout is - I want more of the same as what we got last January.

Our new recruitment team have a 100% record so far.

Does it need to be put in neon lights?

See Spurs, See us.

100% at what?

whatawaster

daithijjj wrote: »

Does it need to be put in neon lights?

See Spurs, See us.

100% at what?

They've signed 2 players who have played competitive football for us so far.

Both have been resounding successes and who would honestly swap either Coutinho or Sturridge for any signing Spurs have made, this season or last?

Nuri Sahin

5starpool wrote: »

Considering how much Chelsea apparently paid to get him from Porto (more than 20m in compensation I believe?) we would never have realistically have looked to get him in I'd imagine.

£13.3M.

Money was there given all the money we spent that summer.

billy2012

whatawaster wrote: »

They've signed 2 players who have played competitive football for us so far.

Both have been resounding successes and who would honestly swap either Coutinho or Sturridge for any signing Spurs have made, this season or last?

I would have Dembele all day long. Serious player!!

Ardent

Francie Barrett wrote: »

Ah come on now! After Harry left, Spurs were probably in the best financial shape of any club in the top 6! Their wages were far lower than ours and Arsenal's and their transfer spending was pretty modest. Also, for a guy who is a rubbish coach, he did a pretty good job in converting a struggling left back into a £80M star....

Also you have to remember where Spurs were at under Juande Ramos before Redknapp took over - just above the relegation zone!

whatawaster

billy2012 wrote: »

I would have Dembele all day long. Serious player!!

I would love Dembele here too. But no way would I swap Coutinho for him.

sweetie

What channel are we on saturday morning?

Vicxas

sweetie wrote: »

What channel are we on saturday morning?

BT sport have it I believe

cson

T-K-O wrote: »

I have always maintained he just wasn't right for what ever reason. The fact remains, he wasn't good enough to start. Such a shame because I thought we signed a star.

Im not hating on the guy but I won't make excuses for him.

Going to pull you up on this.

Sahin was rode, for want of a better word, by Rodgers. Everything Kess said above is correct.

Watch him this season for BVB and come back to me in May and see if you think the same. The guy is quality.

daithijjj

Bowlardo wrote: »

1. Spurs are still in the uefa cup and spurs are going to get close to 100 Million for bale which is covering all this spending
2. Spurs are a london club. easier to attract players
3. We are not selling suares (no major funds coming in) and not in any european competition.
4. We are still paying for the splurge that was carroll and co. In case you had not noticed we took a major hit on all those transfers
5. We don't need a big squad for this season only a tight quality group and we are getting there.

1. Spurs havent sold Bale. They may, they may not. They were in the CL league 2 years ago, they are making better signings now than when they could offer CL..........have a think why. Clue, already referred to today.

2. Spurs have always been in London.

3. We arent selling Suarez because he has become that pivotal to the club. If he wasnt that pivotal he would have been fked out on his arse for his behaviour. The money is irrelevant, we have money, we have a profit of how much so far this summer plus a tide of cash arriving soon form TV rights.

4. Nonsense.

5. Have you read the managers comments at all over the last 6 weeks?

murpho999

daithijjj wrote: »

1. Spurs havent sold Bale. They may, they may not. They were in the CL league 2 years ago, they are making better signings now than when they could offer CL..........have a think why. Clue, already referred to today.

2. Spurs have always been in London.

3. We arent selling Suarez because he has become that pivotal to the club. If he wasnt that pivotal he would have been fked out on his arse for his behaviour. The money is irrelevant, we have money, we have a profit of how much so far this summer plus a tide of cash arriving soon form TV rights.

4. Nonsense.

5. Have you read the managers comments at all over the last 6 weeks?

That bit made me LOL, well done Daithijjj.

This London thing is a load of sh1te, Never stoped both Manchester clubs making signings. Sure RVP left London to go there!

djPSB

Starting Borini ahead of Aspas would be an odd decision.

Ardent

cson wrote: »

Going to pull you up on this.

Sahin was rode, for want of a better word, by Rodgers. Everything Kess said above is correct.

Watch him this season for BVB and come back to me in May and see if you think the same. The guy is quality.

Well, he was rubbish in a red jersey.

billymitchell

gafferino wrote: »

Whatever Kess......we all know you trolled Paulegend.

So are we saying now that Kess isnt Paulegend :eek:

djPSB wrote: »

Starting Borini ahead of Aspas would be an odd decision.

My take on starting Borini

Dickerty

djPSB wrote: »

Starting Borini ahead of Aspas would be an odd decision.

I would nearly put money * on Aspas to score on Sat. He's very busy, gets in good positions, and with all the focus that Sturridge will get (assuming he starts), I think he could sneak one...

* In fact, I just have...

Raif Severance

cson wrote: »

Going to pull you up on this.

Sahin was rode, for want of a better word, by Rodgers. Everything Kess said above is correct.

Watch him this season for BVB and come back to me in May and see if you think the same. The guy is quality.

Nobody is doubting his Quality. Due to Injuries and a Long Layoff, he just wasn't Fit enough to Play.

Liverpool simply cannot afford to give him Time, when we have our own to tend to (Lucas). Getting 1 Player upto speed is already a Huge Risk, Playing 2 of them is just downright Idiocy.

The Fact that Dortmund didn't start him Immediately but rather eased him to the Side, is all that you need to know.

Not to mention, he wasn't even ours to begin with, probably played into the Equation as well.

Dont be at yourself

See Spurs:

They've lost Huddlestone, Dempsey, Caulker, Gallas and Bentley, are about to lose Parker, and as a result their squad is looking quite thin.

Though we were envious at the time, much of their business last year (Sigurdson, Dempsey and Adebayour, Holtby) was pretty poor.

This year, they've signed Soldado, Chadli, Paulinho and Capoue for a total of £60 million. Soldado looks like he'll be a very good signing (though at 28, he's only once scored 20+ league goals), but none of the others are guaranteed home-runs, and none of them have experience in top leagues. Chadli is 24, and Paulinho and Capoue are both 25, so they're not exactly bright young things bursting onto the scene. Of course, they could all work out brilliantly, but equally they could all flop, and I'd be very surprised if all 3 were able to make the step-up and hit the ground running immediately.

Then there's the Bale question. He won't be playing at the weekend, and you have to think he's more likely to join Madrid than stay at Spurs. Levy being Levy, he'll probably bring Madrid right up to deadline day to complete the move, giving Spurs no chance to re-invest (that's if the £60m spent so far wasn't hedged against the Bale money coming in in the first place).

rhonin

I'm actually very concerned about out CB positions. Agger had a poor season by his standards and we need him at his best.
Skertel has fallen out of favour with Rodgers and Toure was supposed to come mainly as an experienced backup. If that is it then it's quite worrying.
Also, as has already been mentioned, not having a proper backup for Lucas isn't good either.
Obviously we need to wait until the windows closes but don't be surprised if next week the line "no signings immenient" is still being quoted and then turn into "we didn't find the right quality of players we wanted" when the window closes.

Courtesy Flush

I would agree our defensive frailties both in midfield and defence were fairly obvious last season and I am not sure we have done a lot to sort that out

Nuri Sahin

Ardent wrote: »

Well, he was rubbish in a red jersey.

Yup, rubbish in the only couple of games he started consecutively.

NEDDURC

Dont be at yourself wrote: »

See Spurs:

They've lost Huddlestone, Dempsey, Caulker, Gallas and Bentley, are about to lose Parker, and as a result their squad is looking quite thin.

Though we were envious at the time, much of their business last year (Sigurdson, Dempsey and Adebayour, Holtby) was pretty poor.

This year, they've signed Soldado, Chadli, Paulinho and Capoue for a total of £60 million. Soldado looks like he'll be a very good signing (though at 28, he's only once scored 20+ league goals), but none of the others are guaranteed home-runs, and none of them have experience in top leagues. Chadli is 24, and Paulinho and Capoue are both 25, so they're not exactly bright young things bursting onto the scene. Of course, they could all work out brilliantly, but equally they could all flop, and I'd be very surprised if all 3 were able to make the step-up and hit the ground running immediately.

Then there's the Bale question. He won't be playing at the weekend, and you have to think he's more likely to join Madrid than stay at Spurs. Levy being Levy, he'll probably bring Madrid right up to deadline day to complete the move, giving Spurs no chance to re-invest (that's if the £60m spent so far wasn't hedged against the Bale money coming in in the first place).

I agree with most of this. I've also said before that even if Bale was staying they needed to sign a top striker (which they've done with Soldado). However, I think they are still short of firepower. They are buying some good players but it's not clear how they'll fit into a good team yet. Seems abit unbalanced in terms of having way too many mid fielders and very few scoring forwards.

I think they'll be hit and miss abit this season and may take a January window to sort of the squad more.

The agonising thing for Liverpool is that we all agree that we are getting closer to a decent squad now. Apart from left back cover we need another top attacking player and more steel in defence or centre mid-field. Would love a dominant centre half who takes no prisoners and contributes a few goals from corners.

daithijjj

whatawaster wrote: »

They've signed 2 players who have played competitive football for us so far.

Both have been resounding successes and who would honestly swap either Coutinho or Sturridge for any signing Spurs have made, this season or last?

Id take Dembele over Aspas. I'd take Soldado over Sturridge. I'd have taken Vertonghen over Toure, id take Capoue over Allen etc.

How many of our signings get in Spurs first team today?

In any case, it was never my intended point to compare players. My intended point was about what is in place above the manager.

Grayditch

I wouldn't be blaming Sahin on Sahin not working out.

Nuri Sahin

Raif Severance wrote: »

Nobody is doubting his Quality. Due to Injuries and a Long Layoff, he just wasn't Fit enough to Play.

Liverpool simply cannot afford to give him Time, when we have our own to tend to (Lucas). Getting 1 Player upto speed is already a Huge Risk, Playing 2 of them is just downright Idiocy.

The Fact that Dortmund didn't start him Immediately but rather eased him to the Side, is all that you need to know.

Not to mention, he wasn't even ours to begin with, probably played into the Equation as well.

Not really, at least for many here anyway. Dortmund have one of the best midfield duo's in world football. He was hardly going to just stroll in and replace them, namely Gündogan. Fitness did play it's part too of course.

Grayditch

Nuri Sahin wrote: »

He was hardly going to just stroll in and replace them, namely Gündogan.

Can you ask your people if we can have him on loan, instead?

Sappy404

daithijjj wrote: »

It was a very simple fix to not overpay in general. Clubs will overpay, its the nature of the game from time to time.

The question people need to put to themselves, and its a simple one, what are we doing wrong that Spurs appear to be doing right. When you strip it all away its obvious.

Spending the Bale money. This summer or next they'll be getting £80m+ for Gareth Bale. They're buying a new team off the back of it.

daithijjj wrote: »

To put it some kind of perspective, of our last 6 signings, 2 were not playing for the first team or sporadic selections, another was not wanted and let go for free, another was playing in the Spanish version of the Championship, and the other 2 were playing in teams who almost got relegated. Im not even discussing the individuals themselves as players. Im talking about what this club has upstairs in terms of clout and know how to get deals done that will actually improve the first team.

The irony that Bale was an unproven young player bought from the Championship seems lost on many.

daithijjj wrote: »

Case in point, how long was Levy chasing Damiao?, basically it seemed like 2 years. He changed things in June, what did he do?. He greased the wheels and its paying dividends imo. LFC appears to run into brick wall after brick wall. I dont think people can deny this.

Correct. He was after Damiao for years. Then he realised he would be getting money comparable to the CL windfall for a single player and spent ~£26m on a more mature, more established, goal-scoring striker.

The main difference between what Liverpool can do and what Tottenham can do this summer is that sooner rather than later Spurs will make a f*cking fortune selling their best player, whereas Liverpool's best player is attracting little interest. They're spending the money now. We, so far, are not spending any potential Suarez money until we have it. We're also not spending the money from the new TV deal it seems.

whatawaster

daithijjj wrote: »

Id take Dembele over Aspas. I'd take Soldado over Sturridge. I'd have taken Vertonghen over Toure, id take Capoue over Allen etc.

How many of our signings get in Spurs first team today?

In any case, it was never my intended point to compare players. My intended point was about what is in place above the manager.

What's in place above our manager has only been in place for one complete transfer window, and it was a very successful one.

Judge them at the end of this window, or better yet, at the end of this season when we can properly appraise their work.

Dickerty

daithijjj wrote: »

Id take Dembele over Aspas. I'd take Soldado over Sturridge. I'd have taken Vertonghen over Toure, id take Capoue over Allen etc.

Toure was a free, so not a fair comparison.
Soldado cost more than twice what Sturridge cost.
Dembele and Aspas are completely different positions, as are Capoue and Allen.

I get the point you are trying to make, but it sounds like you'd prefer to be a Spurs fan...

daithijjj

Dont be at yourself wrote: »

See Spurs:

They've lost Huddlestone, Dempsey, Caulker, Gallas and Bentley, are about to lose Parker, and as a result their squad is looking quite thin.

Though we were envious at the time, much of their business last year (Sigurdson, Dempsey and Adebayour, Holtby) was pretty poor.

This year, they've signed Soldado, Chadli, Paulinho and Capoue for a total of £60 million. Soldado looks like he'll be a very good signing (though at 28, he's only once scored 20+ league goals), but none of the others are guaranteed home-runs, and none of them have experience in top leagues. Chadli is 24, and Paulinho and Capoue are both 25, so they're not exactly bright young things bursting onto the scene. Of course, they could all work out brilliantly, but equally they could all flop, and I'd be very surprised if all 3 were able to make the step-up and hit the ground running immediately.

Then there's the Bale question. He won't be playing at the weekend, and you have to think he's more likely to join Madrid than stay at Spurs. Levy being Levy, he'll probably bring Madrid right up to deadline day to complete the move, giving Spurs no chance to re-invest (that's if the £60m spent so far wasn't hedged against the Bale money coming in in the first place).

Spurs had 14 midfielders on first team status, they still have 14 mids. Swapping Parker for Capoue is a definite upgrade. Thin squad?

5starpool

Dickerty wrote: »

Toure was a free, so not a fair comparison.
Soldado cost more than twice what Sturridge cost.
Dembele and Aspas are completely different positions, as are Capoue and Allen.

I get the point you are trying to make, but it sounds like you'd prefer to be a Spurs fan...

No, sounds like he'd prefer their signings to ours, and hard to argue at this point. Time will tell though.

Dickerty

Sappy404 wrote: »

The irony that Bale was an unproven young player bought from the Championship seems lost on many.

What's the irony? He was bought for £5M (with add ons coming to £7M) as a 17 year old. What 17 year olds do you know that you could consider "proven"??

Sappy404

Dickerty wrote: »

What's the irony? He was bought for £5M (with add ons coming to £7M) as a 17 year old. What 17 year olds do you know that you could consider "proven"??

The irony is that many people are decrying our policy of buying young/unproven players when Spurs are buying more mature/established players. Spurs are able to do this precisely because they bought a 17yo from the Championship who they are now selling for a small fortune.

Dickerty

5starpool wrote: »

No, sounds like he'd prefer their signings to ours, and hard to argue at this point. Time will tell though.

But he's not comparing like for like. We already had Lucas and Gerrard, so didn't need to sign 3 CMs like Spurs have done. We signed Allen cause we were planning on a quicker, possession & passing game.
We have a point striker in Sturridge, so Soldado was considered not the right type of attacker.
And we were planning with Johnson, Skrtel and Agger last summer, so weren't in the market for Vertonghen.

Yes, they have made some good signings on paper, but let's see how the seasons goes before making judgment.

Kess73

T-K-O wrote: »

So the latest excuse for Sahin, We should not have signed him on loan in the first place.

A guy coming back from injury can at the very least look interested. Sahin did not. It drove mad when the opposition midfield jogged past him and he was strolling around looking at the sky.

I have always maintained he just wasn't right for what ever reason. The fact remains, he wasn't good enough to start. Such a shame because I thought we signed a star.

Im not hating on the guy but I won't make excuses for him.

Not directing the next comment at you, but plenty of excuses were made for Gerrard when he was poor during the same period, plenty were made for Lucas when he looked miles off the pace, and so on.

As for opposition jogging past midfielders, well we still saw plenty of that even after Sahin was got rid of.

I agree that a player has to take the lionshare of the responsibility for how he performs, but a manager also plays a part in that performance through how he uses the player. Rodgers cocked up with Sahin, imo of course, and brought in a player that he either did not know enough about in terms of the player's injuries and where the player made his name positionwise, or he was of the thinking he could change the player's style of play in a very short span of time.

Funny thing about Sahin was when he slipped back into his better role for two or three games in a row, it saw him notch 3 goals and three assists. Not a bad return from 12 games of which a number were appearances from the bench.

Just thought it amusing that the player who was regarded as a misfit for us was then able to go back to the Bundesliga and stand out in both domestic games and in Champions league games when used in the role he made his name in.


He is gone now and for the most part his term with us has to be reagrded as a failure, but I cannot help but think that we missed a trick in not keeping him and that in many ways both the player and us were unlucky with the timing of the loan as I think he would have thrived in the team post January as the set up of the team from that point on was quite different compared to that of the first half of the season.

Dickerty

Sappy404 wrote: »

The irony is that many people are decrying our policy of buying young/unproven players when Spurs are buying more mature/established players. Spurs are able to do this precisely because they bought a 17yo from the Championship who they are now selling for a small fortune.

Well hopefully that's not our plan for Coutinho, Sterling, Suso or Ibe...

shamrock55

Id have sturridge anyday over soldado he proved in the little time he had last year he knows where the goal is, if he had played from the start he could have got close to 30 goals,as someone said soldado is 28 and has only scored 20+ once in la liga its a no brainer for me

5starpool

Dickerty wrote: »

But he's not comparing like for like. We already had Lucas and Gerrard, so didn't need to sign 3 CMs like Spurs have done. We signed Allen cause we were planning on a quicker, possession & passing game.
We have a point striker in Sturridge, so Soldado was considered not the right type of attacker.
And we were planning with Johnson, Skrtel and Agger last summer, so weren't in the market for Vertonghen.

Yes, they have made some good signings on paper, but let's see how the seasons goes before making judgment.

They also had midfielders who many considered good (Huddlestone, Parker, Sandro) but decided to upgrade. I hope I'm wrong, but I don't think Allen will prove to be a success at Liverpool.

ike

Almost 2 days to the minute to kick off...Does anyone think that not being in the Europa League can play to our advantage this season?

Sappy404

Dickerty wrote: »

Well hopefully that's not our plan for Coutinho, Sterling, Suso or Ibe...

Agreed. But if Real Madrid's president spent months talking up signing one of them, saying that the player was worth a world record fee, that 'you would give your life' to sign him and that no price we quoted would be too high, you can understand why the club would consider themselves in a comfortable position to spend quite a bit of money on the team before selling him.

I don't think Levy is a genius, just a very canny, tough negotiator. But you don't need to be either when Real Madrid are making comments like those. They're so blatantly desperate for Bale that Levy could spend £80m now to get a CL-worthy squad, keep Bale for a year longer and then sell him. They'd likely have Champions League football to show for it as well as a fantastic team. They might even convince Bale to stay at that point.

daithijjj

Dickerty wrote: »

Toure was a free, so not a fair comparison.
Soldado cost more than twice what Sturridge cost.
Dembele and Aspas are completely different positions, as are Capoue and Allen.

I get the point you are trying to make, but it sounds like you'd prefer to be a Spurs fan...

You arent getting the point at all tbh. My intention is not to belittle the players we have signed before playing a competitive game, my intention is to bring up the reasons why we cant seal deals on the level Spurs currently are doing.

mike65

ike wrote: »

Almost 2 days to the minute to kick off...Does anyone think that not being in the Europa League can play to our advantage this season?

Of course, no epic journeys to the eastern bloc, no Sunday games unless Sky are demanding it. Fewer chances to pick up knocks. Just need to make the "higher fresh index" count.

gafferino

ike wrote: »

Almost 2 days to the minute to kick off...Does anyone think that not being in the Europa League can play to our advantage this season?

Yes in terms of the league but I would still rather be playing in a european cup competition.