KopTalk.com Forums Football Liverpool FC Forum Commolli did the dough!

Well I agree with that post, but think you missed Downing there!

Last year player of the season for Villa (ahead of players like Ashley Young). This season an underachieving player at LFC.

What the hell is it that we do to our signings? Who could have foreseen the different outcomes between Young going to Manure and be a success and Downing going to LFC and be a total flop?

Is that a managerial issue or is it simply the heavy Shankly spirit that lands on their shoulders and makes it so hard for them to keep their self confidence?

I don't think he does play well consistently enough.

He often goes missing for an entire game or at least big parts of it.

But it is that final ball that annoys me the most too!

We're worrying about last year's transfer windows because it has resulted in some of the most ineffective players we've seen in our squad in quite some time. A winger with no league goals or assists, a striker who can't score and doesn't contribute anything else, a midfielder with supposedly £1 million set pieces who blasts every free kick into the fullback's shins, and some other bloke who no one can figure out what he actually does or what position he should play (Henderson). I'm not saying they're the worst players I've seen, but they've regressed so greatly since they've left their former clubs, it's like someone has created a huge black hole at Anfield sucking the talent out of people. As a result, we're worse off than we were last season, and basically back to square 1 of our re-building process.

And it's not just that we overpaid. It's that we overpaid on just about everyone we signed, with the exception of Enrique, who was a steal, and Coates, who could turn out to be very good, by about 200%. That kind of financial profligacy is just not sustainable, and I would be genuinely shocked if Kenny or whoever the manager is gets even £50 million.

Top post mate, but I don't think we overpaid for Bellamy though!

If you honestly believe this... I don't want to insult you, but your standards of what is and isn't brilliant are so far removed from mine... You're right about there being no end product though, that's for sure.

Typical Downing play: Receive ball. Jog forward cautiously for about 10 yards. Look around a few times. Pass backward to the full-back or someone more creative. Repeat as necessary.

That's pretty much it. He does that just about every time. It's embarrassing.

This did make me laugh. One, don't take it for granted just cause Dunk said it (no disrespect to him, big fan of this forum, but it doesn't mean anything). Even more importantly, it was still Kenny who chose the players, that is the biggest failing, not just the money spent.

I'm sorry, was the point of selling Torres to make money then, or was the point in selling Torres to insure that whatever money we made was ploughed straight back into the squad? Cos if the club is making money off transfers then that means they're not investing in the squad. You're making a great deal over nothing. FSG simply made sure their expenses were covered, they could get rid of a want-away player, and could get one of the best prospects in the league at the time as a replacement. You're also forgetting this all happened on the last day of the transfer window, surely?

If you're looking at it from a "business" perspective, then Carroll should never have been bought. Period. It's okay to pay over the odds, but not by that much.

All FSG tried to ensure was that Chelsea paid for our transfer business, and that Torres was out the door. At 60m there is no guarantee Abramovich would have bought him, at 40m but with no replacement we're a "selling club". Which would you rather have?

Tricky one thundyr, at the time I said I'd rather have not bought Carroll and waited till summer and taken the 'selling club' tag from other fans for a few months then showed them our buying power in the summer.

I do however understand that the owners might want to prevent that tag from being leveled at us, plus there was the effect selling more than we bought had on our morale in rafa's last season. But I think a truly big club, with owners that have a definitive long term plan should not feel that pressure to act so rashly.

It's called 'accountability' and is essential in any walk of life.

I take a slightly different take on things from me. How come we have played some of the most exciting football in years this season yet drew so many and now losing?. The players mentioned have contributed significantly in bringing this edge of the seat stuff to Anfield so not as bad as we think.
We battered Arsenal only a few weeks ago and even the dead rubbers of Norwich, Swansea, Blackburn were outplayed and dominated - QPR - What happened there?. Remember Hart and De Gea were both mom's at Anfield. So we have been doing alot more right than we think.whats missing

It is easy to say we are crap and results would certainly show this, no longer can we say the draws were freak as there is definitly an underlying problem. Each game recently seems to have a turning point which we don't seem to get the benefit of. At Newcastle the lad clearly handled the ball on the line and should have been sent off - game changer.

My theory is we have bought creaters and not takers and players are not taking responsibility - Hendersons LFC career so far is full of good moments to finish a move only for him to then to look for a pass. It's this not taking responsibility which is killing us. Carroll was a perfect example of this on Sunday when he dove. He decided a penalty was better than a shot one on one- jees! That mentality has to change if we are to progress.

I also notice that games pfizzle out for us which indicates a lack of leadership on the pitch. Where are our 90min winners or equalisers? none in my mind. Too many points dropped from winning positions as we relax too much failing to kill games off. Too many points lost because nobody drives the team on till the end. Gerrard IS a shadow of the man he was and we miss urgency and drive from the other players(mascherano a great example).

Like you all I have my view on who is or isn't good enough but I would apportion more to player mentality than ability. We have reached a crossroads and they will have to step up or move on. Maybe some tough love from Kenny and the management might be in order.