Anfield Index

After the FA Youth Cup drubbing of Southend & Raheem Sterling’s 5 star performance it was back to league action for the Under-18’s with 3 games in the space of 8 days. However, with the likes of Jack Robinson, John Flanagan & Suso now training increasingly at Melwood with the reserve squad and only playing for the U18’s in the FA Youth Cup, Academy League games offer an opportunity for some of our other up and coming players to make a name for themselves.

It’s always hard to calculate transfer costs. Transfer fees can be undisclosed, and additional costs such as agents fees and wages etc are even harder to guess. But despite these obstacles, guesstimates can be made. Looking at the stats we do have, the last four Liverpool FC managers, Gerard Houllier, Rafa Benitez, Roy Hodgson and now Kenny Dalglish, have between them laid out nearly £440 million in transfers, on 172 players. By my count, in total the four of them have laid out £10 million or more on a single player 13 times:

Whenever I see Kyrgiakos, I always think he should be in the film ‘300’ screaming at the top of his voice ‘This is Sparta!!’ rather than being a footballer. So probably playing Centre Half is very suited to him. His strength and aerial ability has been a useful asset in recent years.

Right, so recently Liverpool have signed Andy Carroll to replace the outgoing Fernando Torres. But what do we really know about the big number nine? Well be looking at his performances for Newcastle this season we can gain a real insight into his game and where he affects play the most on the pitch. Now you might be tempted to jump straight in and say that he is most effective in and around the opposition penalty area, but that is not necessarily the case.

Whether Roy Hodgson came to Liverpool with Raul Meireles in his little black book of decent midfielders or whether he was merely the grateful recipient of some good scouting from the Anfield backroom staff is a moot point. What is clear is that he has certainly been the most successful of the departed’s recruits.