Player Snubs Indicative of Liverpool’s Current Stature
With confirmation coming in that the Brazilian, who quickly told the press how happy he is at the Vicente Calderón following news of Liverpool’s interest, will be signing a contract extension with Los Rojiblancos, it appears that Brendan Rodgers and company are back to square one – a place that is becoming all too familiar. It’s hardly a surprise that a team that placed 7th in their domestic league, put in no real challenge for silverware, without European football to look forward to and is unwilling to offer astronomical wages is having a hard time securing top drawer talent; who, exactly, did we expect to attract?
World Class players are no longer mystified when Liverpool comes knocking. Outside of the Champions League and looking in longingly since 2009, the Merseyside outfit has been relying on prestige, history and money for far too long; now, with the sting of the latest big name player to snub our advances still smarting, it would seem that we’re going to need a better plan.
The pursuit of former Shakhtar Donetsk midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan looks set to mirror our approach for Diego Costa with only one detail adding insult to injury. While the Armenian, who according to reports was our top summer transfer target, ended up signing with en-vogue Champions League runners-up Borussia Dortmund, Costa, on the other hand, appears to be staying put in Spain with no irresistible offer from a fashionable side coming in to snatch away the services of the bad-boy Brazilian from our eager hands.
Although the matter has supposedly been settled, Luis Suarez remains the most poignant example – this year that is — of a wandering eye gone wrong. Principal owner John W. Henry has moved to quash any talk of the Uruguayan being sold this summer with an unequivocal denial of a move to Arsenal – or any other side – being sanctioned no matter how much money is on the table. The talented striker, who is being forced to train alone until he’s ready to “rejoin the group”, has seemingly failed where so many in the past few years have succeeded; the names of Fernando Torres and Javier Macherano quickly come to mind with both enjoying Champions League success with their respective clubs since moving from Merseyside.
The strange news that Steven Gerrard turned down a move to eventual Champions League winners Bayern Munich last summer came as somewhat of a surprise and though few expected the Captain to leave his hometown club so late in his career, the same can’t be said of newly appointed vice-captain Daniel Agger with Spanish champions Barcelona reportedly keen to secure the Dane’s services. A bid of £14.6mil from the Catalan giants has already been rejected by Liverpool and with a similar offer for Chelsea defender David Luiz also being met with the cold shoulder, it’s anyone’s guess which player they’ll be coming back for.
After moving quickly to secure four players at the beginning of the transfer window, Brendan Rodgers promised more “quality” signings to supplement what have been mostly seen as squad players. With the exception of Simon Mignolet, a replacement between the sticks for the rapidly declining Pepe Reina, the new arrivals at Anfield show promise – especially the highly rated Luis Alberto – but lack not only the pedigree and experience needed for a sustained push this campaign, but the wow factor that comes along with a marquee signing. World class players want to play with other world class players; football is a team sport and an individual, with only a few exceptions, is only as good as the ten players surrounding them. If the Reds have any chance of attracting top caliber talent in the near future, they’re going to need to hang onto the ones they have and help those with the potential to be along the way.
Finicky supporters are quick to blast the Reds hierarchy for every perceived failing and, to an extent, the perceived success in the market of other clubs. While the likes of Swansea, Norwich and Sunderland snap up middling players and mega-rich Manchester City decimate everything in their path, Liverpool have been picking their spots and have made moves for players based on statistical and tactical analysis that would fit their particular brand of football. Brendan Rodgers has begun to instill a certain style of play at Anfield, and regardless of your views on it, this has only naturally filtered to the recruitment department — square pegs for round holes are no longer acceptable and we can see this in the departures of Andy Carroll, Jonjo Shelvey, Jay Spearing and, and most recently, Stewart Downing.
Through all the doom and gloom, there is promise; despite the speculation surrounding the futures of both Agger and Suarez, the likes of Daniel Sturridge, Philippe Coutinho, Raheem Sterling, Martin Kelly and Jordan Henderson continue to impress and if, as expected, improve with age, the Reds may have a core group of world class players already on their books to supplement their focused, sustainable recruitment strategy. The only problem is that as they become the kind of players we know they can be, they too will be looking to fulfill their potential with silverware on the biggest stages – and so the question remains whether they will be doing that in the famous Red shirt of Liverpool, or if we’ll be losing them to Europe’s best as we, once again, sing songs about history instead of writing it.
–steven.
Now that you’ve made it to the end of this, am I off the mark or right on the money? Go ahead and let me know in the comments; don’t forget to give us a follow on Twitter and like us on Facebook. That’s like gold to your everyday, small time, friendly neighbourhood blogger.
change strategy. To roll the bank for acquiring fashionable spanish and brazilian tiki taki stars, it’s not the only way to get a World Class Player. You can develop your own world class talents, with the academy and an extensive scouts team network amongst the UK. A brilliant gem like Will Hughes it’s a no non sense start for example. Younger players are more attracted from LFC pedigree than the money merchants established so called “stars”. But We live in a World where modern fans wants everything here & now, as an istant coffee espresso. But for our stubborn manager, being snubbed from money grabbers Who will never come to LFC, it appears the best (and unique) strategy.
If coutinho has a good season he’s off,I’ve just heard Rodgers want Scott Sinclair to be Downings successor ( That is truely SHAMBOLIC ) AND Rodgers needs SACKING ASAP ;-( £26.5 million for two jokes back pass Allen & Borini,neither bring anything to are club.But because Rodgers bought them,he won’t drop them ;-( WHERE OUTSIDE THE TOP 10 THIS SEASON,WITH THIS IDIOT WHO HASN’T A CLUE ( OH AND SO MUCH FOR THE FIRST TEAM PLAYERS USE PROMISED LFC…
Some of us fans have been waiting 20 years patiently but it seems to be the same year in year out
this guy is a dope who slags Liverpool wherever and whenever he can…ignore
i’m not sure about you, but this feels like the first time we’ve had a real plan since Rafa. we came close with him and i believe we’ll go all the way with Rodgers / FSG. it’s going to take more time and patience though, which like you, i’m continually running short of.
if Financial Fair Play has the impact it should, and we can get the re-development of Anfield rolling, then we’ll be ahead of the pack in the market and development sectors which can only be a good thing.
yawn.
we need to continue to target players that are going to fit our style of play; if we can supplement the squad players with a handful of “superstars”, good things can and will happen. look at the Manchester United squads of previous years — they were hardly filled to the gills with marquee players, but they knew the system and how to play together as a cohesive unit. hard to underestimate that…
if nothing else, he’s good for a laugh.
I thought Totterham has done quite well in transfers, whether it’s getting quality players, or not be on the losing end when they eventually sold their star players. They are not in the Champions League too. I guess we should learn from them.
Tottenham have had some sort of transfer market voodoo, the deals they make astound me sometimes…
they’re definitely a club to look to for transfer strategy.