This sounds encouraging -- all we need is to have a good story to tell (ie CL) the top targets .... http://forums.bigsoccer.com/threads...transfer-thread.2036091/page-12#post-35188563 Jürgen Klopp is ready to spend in the summer on up to six players to strengthen the Liverpool squad, even if competing with Chelsea and the Manchester clubs for transfer targets is likely to mean paying out more than ever before. Liverpool broke even on transfers last summer and did not take the opportunity to reinforce significantly in January, though Klopp denies he is being kept to a tight budget by the club’s American owners. “The club have never said to me that a certain figure is too expensive; that has not happened yet and I don’t expect it to happen,” the Liverpool manager said. “We all have the same plan, the sporting director, scouting department, owners, myself – we all want to make this club as successful as possible so we will spend money in the summer. Of course we have to improve the squad, that is clear.” Klopp feels there was not too much wrong with the performance against Tottenham in Liverpool’s last home match, though he is at a loss to explain why the intensity that so impressed Mauricio Pochettino had disappeared by the time his side arrived at Leicester last Monday. Whereas Liverpool at their best are a match for anyone in England – they have yet to lose to top six opponents – their best has not always been on display and compared with other leading sides their squad beyond the regular first team is thin. “We could have done with one or two players in January, when we had injury problems and the Africa Cup, but the transfer window didn’t give us any opportunity,” Klopp said. “We will be prepared for the summer window, for sure. We are working on it already – we might need between two and six players.” While that sounds a lot, Liverpool supporters will be more concerned about the calibre than the volume of incoming players. Without Champions League status –and qualification for next season is still in the balance – Liverpool in recent years have found it hard to compete with London and Manchester for top level transfer targets such as Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Diego Costa, Leroy Sané and Alexis Sánchez. “We need to make the right transfers,” Klopp said. “It is not about money – we can go for the players we want – but at the very top level you might be competing with Barcelona or someone. Some players would rather live in London or Manchester instead of Liverpool, so we have to make a decision and try and make it happen. It might not be possible to break even again; that just happened last season, it was not a target. There will be a few new faces in summer, that is how it is always.” Liverpool were so insipid in losing 3-1 at Leicester that Klopp was obliged to defend his players over suggestions they were physically intimidated and could not cope with the directness of their opponents. This is normally territory for Arsène Wenger, though Klopp found it easy enough to reject the idea that picking up only three bookings for foul play in the five games they have lost this season reflected a lack of commitment or aggression on Liverpool’s behalf. “We are always pretty fair in the way we play – we want to win the ball not break a leg,” he argued. “In my opinion giving away fouls is not the same as being physical anyway. Being physical to me means being ready to hurt yourself, not the other player. The reason we lost at Leicester was because too many of our players were not at the right level. “We had watched the Manchester City game [Leicester won 4-2 in December, the last convincing performance under Claudio Ranieri], we knew what to expect, but in the end it didn’t matter. We didn’t perform well enough to win at Leicester, that’s the truth.”
Agree. The issue is with the calibre of player not volume. And even then we need a system which works. During the Rodgers era we bought a lot of players (and got rid of even more) but seemingly had not a system to make the players effective.
Klopp says that he would like to see up to 6 new signings this summer. It's crucial to qualify for Europe first. I know everyone has criticized the club for not adding more depth before this season, but without Europe there would have been no opportunity for anyone to play. We used the same 11-13 players all the way up until the new year and were playing fantastic football. It wasn't until the busy Christmas period, injuries, and the African Cup of Nations that we had problems. Next year we will more prepared. The signings Klopp did make have been fantastic additions. A few more Mane's and Wijnaldum's would be excellent. I'm sure this time around he will be looking for players that will fix our issues against the bottom of the table clubs. Another option up front and a commanding center back who won't be bullied would be high on my list, along with a dominant midfield player. Its extremely disappointing that our title challenge has completely falling apart, but there is no arguing that major progress has been made.
Paris St-Germain want to sign Liverpool striker Daniel Sturridge on loan. West Ham and Stoke are also interested in signing the 27-year-old, who has made just 14 Premier League starts this season
Sturridge would flourish in France with PSG but a loan deal isn't ideal for Liverpool......and to find a striker (of his quality) to replace him is another problem considering the other areas that more importantly and desperately need attention
I'd actually say striker is a top priority for us. Origi is still developing, Ings is coming back from several major injuries and Sturridge is never fit (and should be sold).
I'd rather sign Begovic. But we have also have Danny Ward, Welsh international, who has been impressive in his last two loan spells and should be given his chance to beat out Mings and Karius - no need for a 20 year old behind him.
I think next season we'll see Karius appointed nbr 1 with it being his job to lose -- that's why Klopp brought him in and he won't dump him that fast.
Why? GK is one of our most inconsistent positions. Great one day, terrible the next. And everyone knows exactly what you have to do to cause problems. Just like our general team play really.
Not a fan of Karius one bit but think that he'll improve. I also think that the constant hate on Migs is generally unfounded. He's not a top, top keeper but he's one of the best in his skill level.
I think our defense overall is a bigger issue than the goalie. both Migs and Karius are far from perfect but they are both very good shot-stoppers adn their shortcomings can (hopefully) be addressed. often the back 4 are too porous.
agree, he can be very frustrating but a lot of the comment is OTT ... he doesn't get enough credit when he does well but gets crucified at each error.
Klopp needed 2 seasons to get the defense right @ Dortmund. Allowed around 40 goals in the first two seasons, then suddenly only 22. This was the first title win season. One of the measures was to transfer a striker Piszcek for free and move him to RB. Hummels, Subotic were give time to develop. I think every player in the current back line needs a major upgrade in order to constantly/easily finish top 4.
Hmm... I'd argue that Ming's biggest problem is that he does not come out for high crosses into the box. Yes he's a great shot-blocker, but a lot of the goals scored against us are due to his hanging back in the goal instead of coming out to make the stop. Same goes for the goal scored against us this last weekend by Arsenal. I'm not saying he was completely at fault, but other keepers would have been faster off the line and might have had a better chance of disrupting that goal. At the very least if we were one or two strides further out it'd have been a lot harder for Welbeck to chip him and score. Some of the issues with our CBs losing attackers on the break have to do with poor understanding of when/if Mings is going to come out or not. I can't begin to count the number of times I've seen Mings take a step out, only to stop and then quickly drop back into the goal. This can cause all sorts of confusion for his CBs, who have to decide whether to defend space or commit to going after the player with the ball. In the games where Karius was in there, he was much more decisive than Mings. The problem was that after committing to go to the ball he'd get knocked off it by physical play. That and his hands seem to be a lot weaker than Mings, and his reactions and shot-blocking wasn't as good. Six of one, half-a-dozen of the other... But I do think we've got to keep looking for a superb keeper given that we're set up to press and go forward. We're always going to be more exposed at the back, and I think we need that keeper who's going to clearly add to the defensive organization and have the ability to save a clear-cut chance occasionally. All this said, I don't disagree with burning247 in that sometimes Mings and Karius (and our CBs) are blamed for problems that, in part, are a consequence of our offensive-minded game plan.
if you watch again, Wellbeck had an option to pass to an open teammate at the centre of the goal so Migs had to cover off that pass till the last second. spot on - great analysis hubba.
Yeah, before I used this as an example i looked at it in the replays. I agree, in this case it was really hard to fault him. It really was a split second to decide to runout to get it, but I think it is indicative of the weakness in his play. He's almost always loathe to use his box to defend his goal. It's almost like he's too good at reaction saves, and so has decided he's best off waiting for the shot.
In such a scenario, Migs should deal with the immediate threat of wellbeck rather than think one move ahead
Clubs across Europe eyeing transfer of Liverpool's Emre Can with Reds playing hardball over new contract http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/clubs-across-europe-eyeing-transfer-9984290