KopTalk.com Forums Football Liverpool FC Forum Top 4, Suarez and Agger

I always find it really annoying when I see people discussing Liverpools chances of a top 4 finish this season. Most people seem to think it's way out of our reach and will take a few seasons before we are challenging again. I think this is rubbish. We fell from the top 4 really quickly, in my opinion due to the selling of our best players, so I don't see why we can't return just as quick. If we make the right signings in the next few weeks and they gel well then top 4 is well within our reach.

Now Suarez, While I think he is an awesome player I can't help but think that if an offer came in close to 30 million we should take it. For a long time we have relied on one or two players, leaving us unbalanced. With this money we could buy some good attacking players like ramirez and walcott, making us a much stronger team.

Agger, I feel that he is far more important to keep hold of than Suarez. I just can't think of anyone who we could go and buy that is as good and could slot easily into our defence. I think it's vital to keep our back four as it is if we are to really challenge. We should bring in some back up though to keep them on their toes.

Anyway I just thought I'd share my thoughts with you all

So if you think we fell out of the top 4 because of selling our star players, why are you suggesting to sell our best player and replace him with another british flop and an unknown? Does not make since to me at all.

suarez is way more important than dan. him staying gives me hope that we are actually going to buy players. up to now it looks like fsg are doing a randy lerner on it. still time but our squad, atm, compared to top 4 rivals means they are not even rivals.

In my opinion Walcott would fit in well and This club could get the best out of him. To be honest they were just examples, players I would like to see at Liverpool. There's a lot of talent out there and I think we could get 2 amazing players with the cash. Hopefully that will be the case anyway.

I don't think we can, if you look at how we spend money it really isn't worth it selling Luis for 40 then buying 2 british players for inflated prices. We always overpay so we may get 2 players but they will be no where near Suarez's quality so no thanks.

Walcott would only be worth it if we could get him at a reasonable rate. I agree that the britsh players are way overpriced. I really like Suarez as a player. It was just something I was thinking about today. We don't have much to spend and I thought maybe we would be better making our 1st team more balanced. It's embarrassing the amount of money that was spent last year. Even more so when you look at what teams like Everton and Swansea achieved at a fraction of the cost.

Suarez's new contract must have a release clause of some sort, I would imagine it would be along the lines of if we fail to achieve champions league he can be sold for X.

£30 million for Suarez who has a 4 year contract, Your having a laugh mate. He is worth much more than that!

For better or for worse, what happened last year will never happen again unless we get bought out by some Qatari billionaire. I would say it's for better, because you're right - it was embarrassing watching £100 million of "talent" score about 3 goals between them all season, and frustrating watching clubs like Newcastle strike gold again and again.

You're right that something certainly needs to be done about it. We have a lot of issues with our squad that need to be addressed that haven't been dealt with this summer. That concerns me. But we also need to stop being taken to the cleaners with every transfer. Even with our financial stability, that just isn't sustainable. If that means spending a bit less, looking at the loan market, etc., then so be it. There is a way forward, but it is not, as you said, through selling our best player and only genuine star in Suarez.

I'd play Sterling over Walcott pretty much any day.

Suarez is staying, Agger will leave if the price is right (and hopefully only if we have a replacement already lined up), and Bellamy is gone. The loss of Agger will hurt for the half of the season he usually plays, unless his replacement is also a decent player (we hope!).

As for top 4 - Stability first. Glory second. During the last few seasons there has been too much focus on a quick fix for the players lost, and THAT has cost us both time and money. Hopefully Rodgers will focus on building the squad and teaching his system than worrying about where the talent is coming from - we're only 2 or 3 players short of a very strong side provided those 2 or 3 players make it gel.

Arsenal really is the benchmark - sell your players before they lose value, build the squad from the youth. In this environment we should be looking to move Agger as long as we have someone who can begin to take his place, because the long term benefits far outweigh the short term loss. Arsenal sold 2 almost irreplaceable players last season (and made a ton of money), but still finished 3rd. If they sell RvP this season the effect will not be as great as people think. This is because their system is established. Dalglish was supposed to establish that system from 1 Jan 2011, but he didn't, instead going after the glory. He's gone now and we've wasted 18 months. Rodgers now needs to do this properly, which is why I still feel we shouldn't be looking for 12m+ pound players, because that's just more of the same.

You're living in cloud cuckoo land if you think we have any chance of the top4. The manchester clubs are a million miles ahead of us. And even before chelsea and arsenal started vastly improving their squads this summer we were way behind them. The gap has increased. What are we doing to close the gap?
We've shipped out more players than we have brought in and those that have arrived (or are arriving) look pretty mediocre, but at the kind of prices you'd expect top quality from. Sound familiar?