Summer Transfer Window 2013 Pt.III

RedOranje wrote:First and foremost, I'd like to apologise to something-red, as I feel my response was unduly aggressive and biting. Just tired of the constant negativity... when we aren't in for a target its the wrong choice, when we DO pursue a target its the wrong choice, if we sign a player we've overpaid, if we don't we should have offered more... every single move is met with complaints and criticism by someone and it gets damned old. But that doesn't excuse my response, so sorry about that.



That said:
I know most LFC fans love to move to the default complaint that the owners won't allow cash to be spent and/or Ayre screwed up, but I think if you look at the move as a whole a different picture emerges. I'd say the evidence points at our bid for Willian being an opportunistic move on a player we hadn't expected to be available. As such a value that we felt was acceptable for a player that hadn't been an initial part of our summer plans (not one of the three options lined up for the role/position) and when Spurs went over that we didn't get involved in a bidding war. Spurs have a £90+m budget they've been playing with this summer from the coming Bale sale alone, plus whatever Levy is willing to put in and the money they didn't spend last summer (when, if memory serves, they actually broke even). As such it's not a matter of LFC not being able/willing to spend, but of the club not being able/willing to spend as much as a club going on a Chelsea-esque spree at the moment. We clearly have a minimum of £25-30m available to spend, it's simply a matter of being up against the CL runners-up, 3rd party ownership, CL footy and settled lifestyles, and a free-spending club. Unfortunate, but not the end of the world and not the end of our summer. We've done solid business so far and again, have a solid bit of money available to yet spend, should Rodgers and his committee decide there is a player worth it.

Much as Barrett's reports are generally accurate, I think he's being rather simplistic in his analysis there. He's not taking into account the 3rd party ownership or fact that Dortmund where our competition for Mkhitaryan, nor is he mentioning that it wasn't the bid for Diego Costa that was the issue... it was the players' desire to stay where he was settled. While Willian does appear to be down to money, I've already stated why I don't think that's necessarily representative of our real financial position already. It was an opportunistic move that didn't pan out... so we weren't interested in pushing the boat out for a player that hadn't even originally been considered as part of the summer plans. Clearly though, that is my own interpretation of the situation with the information that is available, so there's certainly the possibility that it's inaccurate to some degree. Jovetic wanted CL football and ended up signing for Man City... I'm not sure what fans/Barrett expected from FSG but they were never likely to be offering the type of wages necessary to sway a player in that position unless you took their words absolutely, to-the-letter literally. I think it's a bit telling that many Roma fans seem to think that Lamela isn't worth the £30m being quoted as well... though only time will tell how that pans out.



All of that said, I rather doubt our transfer window is over. As we entered the summer Rodgers stated that he wanted three viable options for each position he wanted to address and so far we've tried for Mkhitaryan and Costa (with Willian being an unplanned opportunistic move, by my reasoning) so I expect there will be at least one more option they'll look to sign before they're out of targets. It could be Eriksen, it could be Turan, it could be some player no-one's even considered yet. But I do think they have at least one more they'll consider going after for that attacking place. Being third choice, though, they may value him at a lower price than the others... which could be the stumbling block.

Also, with Coates's injury I wouldn't be at all surprised if we moved for a young CB again (Ilori or another). Ilori is still refusing to sign a new deal or renew on his expiring contract, so his club may be forced to lower his price.

Fahim89 wrote:The full article. . . of Barrett

RedOranje wrote:That's a rather random change of subject, McAgger.

something-red wrote:Perisic was sold by Dortmund in January. We were targeting in getting Coutinho / Sturridge at the time and showed nothing to suggest we were interested in Mickey at the time.

We only really wanted him in the summer.

Chris Bascombe wrote: As Brazilian midfielder Willian underwent his Tottenham Hotspur medical, he became the latest in a series of former Anfield targets who had taken a detour to north London.

Liverpool were also interested in Roma’s Erik Lamela, but he too appears to be heading into the arms of Andre Villas-Boas.

On deadline day a year ago it was Clint Dempsey, Liverpool’s summer long chase ending at the 11th hour when the American international left Fulham. A few weeks earlier Gylfi Sigurddson opted for a more lucrative contract at Spurs, much to the despair of Brendan Rodgers who had managed the Icelandic international at Swansea.

Go back another 12 months and even Liverpool’s efforts to sign Brad Friedel as back-up to Pepe Reina were undone when Harry Redknapp convinced the American he would get more first-team action at Tottenham.

It was even suggested Liverpool had to fight off Spurs late move for Daniel Sturridge last December.

The gag on Merseyside is Melwood is currently being swept for bugging devices marked with a cockerel crest, although when they are discovered Rodgers will simply whisper the names of numerous duff targets in the hope Villas-Boas blows the rest of the Gareth Bale cash on less coveted players.

The reality, of course, is less to do with Spurs discreetly shadowing Liverpool’s every move and more a consequence of two clubs operating in the same market, for similar calibre stars, with the same ambitions of breaking the Champions League stranglehold the two Manchester clubs, Chelsea and Arsenal currently hold.

For Liverpool to be overlooked for top four teams is understandable, that Spurs are now perceived as a more likely Champions League participant next season is more galling.

It’s an uncomfortable truth which has been creeping up on Liverpool for the past few years – a fact John W. Henry recently acknowledged – that reputation alone is not enough and Liverpool must get back into Europe to win the off-field as much as on-field scraps.

Henrikh Mkhitaryan delivered the first major blow of the summer, joining the Champions League runners-up Borussia Dortmund.

Two weeks ago, Diego Costa and his representatives expertly exploited serious Liverpool interest to secure a new deal at Atletico Madrid.

Steven Jovetic also met Liverpool representatives prior to accepting a move to Manchester City.

There is a tendency to look beyond the most obvious reason for why this has happened, but the fact is joining Liverpool is not the summit of the ambitions of every top footballer. Spurs, even if their current European participation is of the less glamorous variety, are currently a bigger draw.

It’s not simply about finances and it is certainly not about the ambition of the owners who are eager to spend but will not compromise on their refusal to repeat past mistakes of overpaying for underperformance.

In all these summer deals, Liverpool are not just paying the price for finishing 7th, 6th, 8th and 7th in successive seasons, but also for all those high-profile transfer failures which Henry has scrutinised in detail.

He is adamant that, while more time consuming, the current approach of standing firm on valuations will yield longer term stability and success. In both the Willian and Mkhitaryan cases Liverpool thought a deal was in place but were then asked for more money when a rival entered the bidding. That said, both players would have been at Anfield if that’s what they really wanted.

Now the club is assessing other targets, prepared to shrug off dissent at losing Willian.

“A year ago we were getting slaughtered for not signing Dempsey. Would anyone suggest walking away was not the correct move now?” was how one Liverpool official put it.

Indeed, Henry felt compelled to write a letter of explanation following that withdrawal.

Liverpool bought Coutinho and Daniel Sturridge instead of Dempsey and Sigurdsson. If their scouts deliver similarly sound alternatives the blow of losing another target to Tottenham will be softened.

Liverpool centre-half Sebastian Coates could miss most of this season with a cruciate knee injury.

The Uruguayan, who Liverpool were hoping to sell to raise further funds, has undergone tests for the injury which, if confirmed, would wreck his chances of senior football for the foreseeable future.

It’s believed he suffered the knock on international duty last week.

McAgger wrote:

something-red wrote:Perisic was sold by Dortmund in January. We were targeting in getting Coutinho / Sturridge at the time and showed nothing to suggest we were interested in Mickey at the time.

We only really wanted him in the summer.

Dude I don't think you understood the point I was making in that post at all.

McAgger wrote:Red the biggest problem here is, though, how do you climb the table and get into Europe to attract players, if everyone around you is improving while you are stagnant (or in our case not improving as much as our rivals who even from the start were better than us)?

RedOranje wrote:I think Bascombe hit the nail on the head with this article:

McAgger wrote:Red the biggest problem here is, though, how do you climb the table and get into Europe to attract players, if everyone around you is improving while you are stagnant (or in our case not improving as much as our rivals who even from the start were better than us)?

something-red wrote:We had a bid accepted meaning we could therefore had the right to speak to Willian.

Willian just simply chose Tottenham over us.

something-red wrote:What are everyone's thoughts on Gylfi Siggurdson? Can see us being linked to him in the next couple of weeks, but don't think Spurs will sell to us. :X