KopTalk.com Forums Football Liverpool FC Forum A Team in Transition?

Take nothing away from yesterdays result. It was a fantastic performance and hopefully we can continue to play as well as that against the lesser who tend to sit back.

However, there are some concerns recently and I would like to make a few points and see what your thoughts are.

January
Failure to sign any players seems to have left the squad a little light. You only have to look at our bench yesterday to see there's a lack of quality and depth within the side. Sakho was bombed out on loan and not replaced, for me him and Matip had the potential to become an exceptional partnership at centre half, one of the best in the league.

Lucas for me, as much as I love his attitude and the way he come back from the dead at Liverpool to become a real talent at one stage, just doesn't fit the squad anymore. He would be my 4th choice at DM and my 5th choice at centre back. The squad has evolved too far for him to have a place in the side any more.

We also lack any real pace from the bench, which is something we've been crying out for when Mane is unavailable.

The Summer
Potentially there is a case to be said that Liverpool could be looking to add a whole new spine to the side in the summer.

GK - Still questions over both goalkeepers in the team
DC - Sakho replacement needed
MC - We lack creativity when Lallana isn't fit or played out wide
ST - Question marks over Sturridge and potentially a loan or sale of Ings


Then there's some more positions that also require attention
LB - Moreno just isn't good enough
AML/R - A player like Brandt or Promes would add some much needed quality

Looking at all those positions, we could be looking at a team in transition once again after a very busy window in the summer. This for me is concerning, especially if Barcelona come in for Coutinho. It could be like losing Suarez all over again with the scatter gun approach we took last time round, towarss the end of Rodgers reign.

Does anybody else find this concerning?

The Manager, The Owners & Accountability
If we do fall short next season and take far too long to gel as a unit, who is to blame?

Although I Love Klopp, as the manager he has to be held accountable for bombing out Sakho without a replacement lined up surely? Was it his arrogance or over confidence that meant we failed to bring anyone in or do you believe we couldn't find the right players?

As for the owners, are they failing to back their man with the cash? There are rumours that we couldn't secure the right names at the right price. But is this the problem? We've seen time and time again in the Premier League that every player has his price when it comes to transfers, is their prudence in the transfer market putting a concerning strain on the club?

Or do you think everything is fine and I'm being paranoid?

Given all the positions listed above, we're talking upwards of £120m if we pursue signings in all these area's.

Can we realistically see the owners backing Klopp with that sort of money?

How much did United spend on the bloke with the funny haircut ?

was it £80m or £90m? I can't remember :s

comparing us to united doesn't quite match up, they've spent big on "big talent". We on the other hand are trying to unearth gems and young players when in reality we lack any real strength and depth.

either way we're talking mega money, is it time for the owners to prove themselves?

If we want to be better than united we are least need to match their investment if that's not possible then fine we accept our current status as for gems United have a pretty good scouting system too unless we get new owners I can't see anything changing radically

The owners do need to dig deep and fund buying 4-5 first team players, but they have shown in the past they will spend large amounts for players like
Mane/Carroll/Suarez/Lovren/Wijnaldum/Henderson/Firminho/Sakho

But we are not going to buy £50+ million players, so I expect we will be buying around the level we did in the summer at £20-35million levels for first teamers, if we bring in 4-5 of them you are talking £100million plus.

We don't have much we can afford to sell, so players like Sakho/Sturridge/Moreno/Levia/Mignolet maybe sold, but your looking at £30-40million tops for all them, if we can sell them, which I doubt.

Klopp has already stated that we need to reinforce in the summer and he struggled to get the players he wanted in January, which means he had funds in January, so hopefully we have a decent transfer budget lined up, I think we need £100million minimum, but whoever buys Griezmann will pay near that for 1 quality player.

FSG must have detected the grumblings around the fans/clubs and seen our lack of quality depth in January, we also have the increased income from the Main Stand now, they said that was towards raising the income of the club, so now all Klopp has to do is find the players he wants !!!

I don't agree about creative players, as well as Lallana we have Coutinho, Firminio, Mane, even Henderson can be creative on his day, plus attacking full backs who also create. In my opinion it's the one thing we do have in abundance. For me what we lack is an out an out goalscorer who's going to score goals and take chances against packed defences and obviously we need defensive players. I think we desperately need a goalkeeper, left back, centreback and striker. Signing a defensive midfielder and another pacey winger would be good too but it's the other positions we need as a priority.

I hope we look back on January in a few years and think that it was not as big a deal as most seem to think it was. Truth is you rarely fix problems immediately with signings, there is a chance, similarly a chance it will cause unrest.

I posted my own version of your position by position analysis. I don't agree that those are necessarily the definite positions or that we would be spending big on all of those positions. Suggestions its a probable £120m turnaround aren't far from the case, even considering we aren't exactly looking at our first XI and looking that unbalanced. We need competition, and a few players capable of competing for places in the first team. Variety is important.

Klopp is not going to spend big on a keeper when he doesn't feel its a huge issue. Left back might not be on his agenda either unless Moreno shows signs he wants to leave. He will spend big on game-changers. Thats a winger, a combative midfielder and a striker based on general press coverage. There are suggestions his prime targets are Brandt, Lacazette and Keita. That is probably about £90m for the trio. But with Sturridge likely to depart, Sakho and Markovic likely to make at least £20m for the pair, and the rather under-reported Can possibly sacrificed for the right offer if his contract stalling continues, that could be nearly £70m alone in outgoings.

We could easily spend £10-15m on three other positions, but expect departures at the same time. Manninger replaced with another experienced keeper? Lucas replaced with an actual centre-half, and a young attacking midfielder seem the likeliest to me.

Do I think that means the owners will dip into their own pockets? Not. A. Chance. They have said as much previously. This is money that we've had to spend for a while, just not had the players Klopp wants available as his prime targets. No need to sacrifice when he has the power to demand the club pursue what he wants at any price. I don't think the summer is a real issue, unless we don't make the Champions League.

IMO there are 4 key positions we need to strengthen: CB, LB, CM/DM and striker, so that's probably 100m already gone.

Then we could also use a pacy left winger, so the 120m mentioned above is probably accurate. Offloading Moreno, Sakho, Markovic, Lucas and Sturridge should bring in around 50m in today's inflated markets (each is worth atleast 10m except Lucas).

So a net spend of 70m or there abouts to get the starting 11 sorted, which would also strengthen the bench by pushing some players out of the starting 11

I would be surprised if we had more than 70m to spend on players in the summer and not more than 40m if we do not qualify for CL.