KopTalk.com Forums Football Liverpool FC Forum Transfer Strategy - The Summer Window - Title Challenge?

The strategy is passed down to the manager from FSG and Rogers has stated what many of us said as soon as the summer window was finished with.

They want a championship side built from the classic Moneyball ethos it hasn't changed one iota.

It wouldn't be so bad if we even had a couple of WC players blended in but that looked slim anyway. Add no top4 for next season and realistically no chance at all of signing any players of that ilk.

They will then role out a great rehash of the old excuse about not being in the CL and not therefore having any hope of signing the best.

The great baseball delusion continues in the mind of the Yanks.

Nothing new here move along.

I guess we'll soon be told that the stadium upgrade is being put on ice as well.

Why go ahead with that when we don't have any CL football?

[fantasy]

If we can replace..

Mignolet > Cech (Unlikely, I know. Loan maybe so he can't play against Chelsea)
Jones > Ryan
Gerrard > Pjanic
Balotelli > Lacazette

We'd have to spend min. £50 which is a tall order, but I reckon we'd have a very good chance at the league. Keep Toure and Lucas, give Borini until then end of the season and see if he can prove he's with another shot, but he'd have to be happy with 4th choice striker.

GK - Cech, Jones
RB - Flanagan, Manquillo
LB - Moreno, Enrique
CB - Sakho, Skrtel, (Can) Toure, Lovren
CM - Henderson, Pjanic, Lucas, Can, Allen
AM - Sterling, Coutinho, Lallana
RW/LW - Sterling, Markovic, Ibe
ST - Sturridge, Lacazette, Origi, Borini

[/fantasy]

Yeah that pretty much sums it up as I see it too. Rodgers is just doing his masters bidding and trying to manage expectations for now, and then come next season there'll be another excuse. The issue here is plain are we going to pay the wages to attract proven top quality, or are we going to continue the moneyball approach with more potential? The answer to that question will determine whether we can challenge for anything next season or not. Rodgers can run off at the mouth all he likes, but without top quality reinforcements, it's all hot air and he knows it.

Even if we achieve top 4, I don't think a title challenge is a realistic target next year. Our squad is miles behind Chelsea's and City's. And the likelihood is that Man United are gonna spend big in the summer and become more of a force. Top 4 will be the target for the next couple of years I'm guessing a long with Tottenham, Arsenal and perhaps even Southampton.

I want a proper go at 4th next season and a good run in the europa if we qualify - not even gonna delude myself with dreams of a league title no matter what anyone says.

As for Utd, they look awful given the money they've spent (and I'm not just saying that) Van Gaal doesn't quite understand the Prem - too old to adapt perhaps???

United are considering whether to even renew RVP's contract...he is not the same player he was a few years back. The talk is they will not proceed with the Falcao purchase either. I am sure they will get a decent striker though.

They finished 8th(?) I think last year, and spent something around the 150m(?) mark, and are now currently in the top 4 in a new managers first season with a terrible defense and a lot of new players.

We finished 2nd last year, and spent something around the 120m mark, and are now currently 8th, with a manager who has been buying his players for 3 seasons-ish with a lot of new players.

They had more to do as their team last year was lacking a lot, we could have recruited a few genuinely good players and also improved/balanced. I'd agree with some of their names you'd have to say you'd think they'd be playing better. But so far everything's on track for them results and league standing wise. And unlike us, they can spend big again next season, where as we only had one shot to sp!nk a load of cash and wasted it on a bunch of below the required level players. Whatever you think about Van Gaal, or their expensive 'stars', they're doing the business in the table and we are not, currently.

In all fairness, Liverpool, arsenal & Tottenham have been so dire this season that the table flatters them.. they've spent a lot of money on some very lazy players, may actually cause them more problems in the long run. That formation they're playing doesn't look like it'll take them forward either.

I agree with all of the above, but only time will tell if this continues as others get better, or if their quality players step up, they recruit more and thus use a different system. All that matters is where they are in the table and thats in the top 4 while we are 8th, having spent similar (quite a large gap tbf) amounts of money.