Replacing Suarez's Goals
He's finally gone. Weeks of negotiations have seen the third best player in the world move to Barcelona for £75m. Many have said this is too cheap, especially when you consider the 'less good' Gareth Bale, moved for £80m just last season. However, Bale has never bitten anyone, nor (supposedly) racially abused someone and wasn't serving a four month ban. So £75m is probably the best we could hope for, and Barcelona got a £100m player at a discount (for …
Bony.... Um? | A look at Liverpool's latest transfer target
It's official, Suarez has left Liverpool Football Club for the Catalonian sunshine, to join Messi, Neymar and become one of the "new Galacticos". Good for him, but where does that leave Brendan Rodgers and LFC? €90m richer, but seeking to replace 31 league goals, 12 assists and a whole lot of work rate.
Rickie Lambert, Adam Lallana and Emre Can have all put pen to paper on Liverpool contracts so far, and Lazar Markovic may well have completed his move …
Replacing Luis Suarez | A Tactical Affair
Replacing Luis Suarez, like-for-like, is impossible. The Uruguayan brought an array of unique qualities, and equally unique flaws, which can’t be replenished by the simple act of buying another footballer.
Suarez will leave a void when it comes to many aspects of the Liverpool experience, including the tactical set-up, and what follows is an assessment of what he brought to the system, and how the system could help to replace him.
Liverpool flirted with numerous tactical systems during the 2013/14 season, …
The Cost Of Adam Lallana
After a prolonged pursuit, St Albans-born Adam Lallana finally signed for Liverpool Football Club. Initially, there was a standoff between the two clubs regarding the fee, with Bournemouth being an added complication into what is always a difficult time.
Eventually (after a holiday to Brazil) Lallana signed, but how did the deal come about after Bournemouth were rumoured to be due 25% of any subsequent transfer; meaning that the fee that Southampton wanted was prohibitive?
Firstly, the 25% sell on …
Adam Lallana - A Guide to Liverpool’s Latest Signing
Whilst the World Cup continues to enthral and delight us all with its late goals and tight penalty shootouts, the transfer window has finally opened up and clubs are now rapidly tying up their new stars, with contracts finally able to be signed. Adam Lallana was finally confirmed as a Liverpool player on the 1st July and he is now the name on everyone’s lips. Liverpool’s new man will be well known to many of us who have watched the …
To Sell or not to Sell? The Suarez Saga Continues
The family man, the player, the genius, the maestro, the hero. The scared little boy, the street-fighter, the biter, the cannibal, the liability, the villain. Choose any of these nouns to label Liverpool's number seven (Uruguay's number nine) and you may think you are on the right track, however even if you choose all of them, you're still only likely to have half an idea about what drives arguably the most naturally gifted, inventive and enigmatic footballer to come out …
Fixating on Liverpool's Fixtures
All eyes are now, and have been for the last ten days or so, on events unfolding at the World Cup in Brazil. Thirty two nations, a fantastic location, some enthralling encounters and hitherto unrivalled coverage of all the action, have helped to shift focus away from matters domestic, for the short term at least.
Meanwhile, back in Blighty, the home front has come grinding to halt (after Luis Suarez all but sealed England's somewhat inevitable fate over in Rio), …
Liverpool Perspective: England Vs Italy Preview
The time is nearly upon us. At 11pm on Saturday night Steven Gerrard will lead Roy Hodgson’s England side out of the tunnel at the Arena Amazonia for their opening Group D game against Italy. The last time these two sides met in an international tournament the game ended 0-0 with Italy winning on penalties. It will all be different this time though right? I mean there could be as many as 6 Liverpool players starting, however ,with Roy in …
Transfers, Transfers, Everywhere!
Or so everybody with a Twitter account will have you believe. The difficulty, as we know, is getting the right deals done.
It's fair to say, however, that Liverpool have moved relatively quickly in the transfer market and have secured two very different types of players. One in Emre Can who fits the profile of FSG and Brendan Rodgers. The other is Rickie Lambert, who quite frankly does not.
I say that because ever since Fenway Sports Group bought Liverpool …
Simon Mignolet - Is he still good enough? A comparison to rivals
Earlier in the season, following Liverpool's 2-1 defeat at Manchester City, I wrote an article looking at Simon Mignolet's first season up to that point as the Reds' first choice goalkeeper following his summer move from Sunderland.
At the time he had just made himself public enemy number one to a group of fans (oh how there have been many in that position this season), and questions were being asked. Since that article was published, have his performances improved? Have …