which is pretty shocking - was hoping that Edwards and co. had turned the corner over the last few windows. But apparently not.
so ... he's still their best player and has said "move me or I'll stop trying" which is what hinted Phil ended up doing. players hold almost all the cards these days, whether we like ti or not.
No plan??? We knew Phil was leaving as soon as he could and signed Salah and Keita and Ox. That looks like planning to me.
I don't believe that. I think we wanted those players and hoped to convince Phil that he can be apart of something great here
Salah was signed before Coutinho was chirping. And Keita we tried all summer. The only one that popped up late was OX.
Believe what you want, but I don't believe for a second that last August was the first time they had an inkling that Cout wanted to go to Barca. Sure they wanted him to stay, but they also knew they couldn't stop him from moving and they had to plan accordingly.
Again, Cout to Barca they knew about prior to August, IMO. The lose and react syndrome of the past has been replace by a forward thinking manager who is not about to overly depend on one player and will not be caught short when that player leaves. We are finally being run competently...don't be afraid to believe it.
FFS will people stop banging on and on about how the club effs up every fukking incoming or outgoing transfer?!? like the posters are some kind of fukking experts ffs. they're experts only in assuming that everything involved in these deals is easy and straightforward.
It’s a discussion board - people are going to discuss what they perceive and comment on it. Will it all be exactly right? Of course not - what’s the purpose of even having a transfer thread at all otherwise? It would just be boring rumors if people couldn’t discuss. I’d even say some of the posters have better theories and articulation than some of the clown pundits that are paid to talk about transfers. (Different than FSG are awful, everything they do is bad, they screw up everything etc etc.)
we just had our best result / game of the season and all some ppl want to do is pis and moan over transfers. bloody ridiculous, like a bunch of little girls.
If you don't think there is a plan in place I don't think you have been paying attention. Klopp has now fully assessed the team and given everyone a chance to prove they can play his tactics and live up to his standards. Klopp is now systematically fixing all of the gaps in the team. He is also only focusing on players who meet his requirements. Eg no mercenaries, team players, high work rate and required skills for the relevant positions. We needed better CDs, we signed Matip, Klaven (for cover) and bought VvD. All our CD who are good with the ball at their feet and VvD should be the vocal organiser we have lacked. We needed someone who could control the tempo in the MF we bought Wijnaldum We needed an upgrade to GK and we bought Karius, which also forced Migs to lift his game We needed to improve LB and we bought Robertson We needed more pace and depth up front we bought Mane and then Salah We needed more energy, work rate and skill in MF and we have Keita For me Ox was purchased for both depth, flexibility and the possible loss of Coutinho. The current success rate of Klopp's signings is crazy.
I think the "no plan in place" was related to this part of the winter window with no incoming player to help replace Coutinho (i.e. all of a sudden negotiating with RB for Keita, 90m for Lemar, We are, we aren't, we are, we aren't in for Mahrez etc.). I would also hope most fans can see since Klopp has come in he has gotten the transfers almost spot on.
The no plan in place referred specifically to allowing Coutinho to leave without another move lined up. It’s still a kick in the gut to lose that caliber of player in the middle of the season without any replacement. I was very hopeful it would be Naby Keita, but that doesn’t look like it will happen. There is still time left in the window, but now it’s clear that we had nothing lined up before letting him go. Obviously I’m on board with Klopp’s long term plan for the club and trust all his decisions. I’m still very optimistic about this season. If Ox puts in more performances like he did today that will go a long way to filling the void in the team left by Phil.
Considering you are complaining about a perceived lack of a plan, how can you be on board with Klopp's long term plan? My point is that Klopp has an overall plan and he sticks to it. He doesn't knee jerk like most supporters. Eg we have to desperately buy a player because one was sold (eg Carroll) or we have to fill a gap in the team immediately with anyone new irrespective of whether they fit the team or not (eg Balotelli). Oxlade-Chamberlain was the understudy for Coutinho in case he left, thus the replacement was already in place. Other players who can play in Coutinho's AM position include Lallana, Wijnaldum, Woodburn, Grujic and Wilson. In the Left forward/winger role Firmino, Mane, Salah, Lallana and Woodburn. How much depth do we need? We don't need to go out and buy anyone just for the sake of it.
If Keita had come in over the summer, who knows if Coutinhio would have stayed. Besides, the fact that we don’t sign someone in the same mould this month doesn’t mean that there is no plan in place for the summer.
This is how I see it...or choose to see it. I think the decision to let Cout leave was based on the fact that they didn't want him to become a cancer, like Alexis has at Arse. We all hated to see him go, but he was determined. We'll miss him, but baed on yesterday's result, maybe not as much as we fear? Anyway, onward.
I definitely am in the camp that there is a plan for the summer - the plan for right now in January doesn't seem to be there - or hasn't been successful in bringing in a high caliber/high ceiling player. As I noted previously the majority of Klopp's signings (with Edwards) have been either excellent or at least useful. Sam: - Woodburn, Grujic, Wilson - have played about 90 minutes of PL football this season - they aren't realistic candidates to play and/or even make an impact. - Lallana - he's 29 and coming off another injury and still isn't up to speed. Coutinho going will definitely mean he has to play more and get back up to his best. We need him. - Wij - not even close to the same player as Coutinho. Won't score the goal, make the key passes, or dribbles. He's a glue guy who does a lot of other good things, but to say he can play an AM role when we haven't seen it in 18months here is not fair. We have 3 competitions that we are active in and need the squad depth and rotation. We saw last year that the squad was out on its feet in January and early February when Klopp didn't strengthen when he had the chance. Getting VvD in now is a big deal as it will ease the pressure (hopefully) on the back line. I think the hope was to get someone in the Mid/Attack to help there as well (being serious Ings and Sturridge aren't going to do it).
We were desperate for Phil to stay. We even offered him a massive increase in wages for the rest of this season (despite him already having a contract) to do so. We then immediately went to Leipzig and offered them a ton of money (despite already agreeing to pay them a ton of money) to have Naby Keita. There is no way you can say that the plan all along was for Oxlade Chamberlain to replace Coutinho. Reports are that we are still searching the transfer market for a possible move this January. My only point was that I wish we had known that it was possible that we could make something happen before we allowed Phil to leave. That takes nothing away from what Klopp has done to build this club, and I think he is correct to wait for the right player in the summer instead of getting the wrong one in January. Even Klopp himself will be disappointed if we don’t get another player in this month, but that won’t stop him from getting on with the job, achieving top 4, and making a run at the Champions League.
Using the word best so liberally may get you points in rhetoric but not in substance. The money being used to bring in these players are from Phil's transfer fee. Had these been net outflows, then maybe you'd have a valid point. It's great that Salah's playing so well but his performance is irrelevant to the subject matter. As I mentioned, wait and see the club's ability to retain Keita in a few years. A challenge LFC has historically faced is retaining top talent. The ability to retain him should give you a clue as to whether/how things may have changed. You conveniently switch goal posts to Liverpool being a destination club in the PL. Limiting the geography can do wonders for you but the reality is that the transfer market is a global market. To claim that: "LFC is a "destination" club at least on par with City Utd and Chelsea", implies that at minimum we are on the same level but likely even higher. That is a hyperbole of the highest order. It's just not true. Unfortunately we are not on par with the destination clubs in other leagues or in the PL. I do agree that we're catching up to Arsenal but if Spurs is your measuring stick, I don't know what to say. It's good that you're optimistic and in all fairness, thing have been improving since the arrival of Klopp, at least on the field, but you need to ground yourself in reality.
and until the football money genie arrives and hands Klopp a few City/Chelsea/PSG/Manure-sized blank cheques, just wtf do you expect?
I hope there is something to this, but it could simply be Can trying to pusj Juve to up their salary offer ....... https://www.theguardian.com/footbal...uld-sign-new-deal-liverpool-juventus-interest Emre Can has claimed he may sign a new contract with Liverpool despite Juventus’s belief they will land the midfielder on a free transfer this summer. The Germany international is out of contract at the end of this season having resisted several attempts by Liverpool to extend his four-season stay. Juventus have been repeatedly linked with the 24-year-old and are confident he will move to Turin on a proposed five-year deal. But Can, who could sign a pre-contract agreement with the Italian champions this month, maintains his future is undecided and that negotiations are ongoing with his current employers among others. “My agent is looking after everything but I am here until the summer,” he said. “I haven’t signed anything with anyone. I am talking with everyone. Of course I am talking with Liverpool. Why not? I still have a contract here. It is an amazing club. “What can I say? My agent does the rest. I just concentrate on the scene, on my performance and the football. I will give everything for this team.” Can produced a commanding performance on Sunday when Liverpool ended Manchester City’s 30-game unbeaten run in the Premier League with a thrilling 4-3 victory. The midfielder, who had to be withdrawn in the second half because of illness, insists it was one of the finest displays of Jürgen Klopp’s reign. He said: “It was unbelievable. I think it was the best game in terms of how I saw it. Look at how we pressed. We played against Manchester City, you can’t forget that. “We were always on the front foot, everyone pressing and everyone did a brilliant job. We have played a lot of games that are very good but this one? I don’t know how many kilometres we ran. Look at how we pressed. It was one of the best we have done, for sure.” Liverpool remain 15 points behind Pep Guardiola’s leaders in the Premier League but Can believes Sunday’s performance can be a statement of intent towards their rivals in the Champions League. Klopp’s side face Porto in the last 16 next month and are on an 18-game unbeaten run – their last defeat was against Tottenham, 4-1 at Wembley on 22 October. “Against Manchester City we played brilliant,” Can said. “If teams saw us playing like that they will give us a lot of respect and we will take a lot of confidence from it. “We didn’t have to pick one player out against Manchester City. Every single player performed and did an amazing job. Sadio Mané, Roberto Firmino, Mo Salah scored the goals but Andrew Robertson, Joël Matip, Joe Gomez, they all did an amazing job. If teams watch this performance they will think: ‘Oh wow!’ They will see we are a strong side. But this is just one game, just three points and we have to keep going.”
I think he's still just winding his contract down , Sam . If he was going to resign with us he'd have already done it .
Supposedly the release clause is the issue and he wants it very low (think I read 25m?). Are Juventus willing to have that clause? If so, what's the point for Juventus as surely within a year someone will activate the clause??? If not, why not just sign a new deal with us?
the whole thing could be agent manipulation to squeeze out every salary $$ possible, I guess we'll know soon.