Transfer Spending &* Squad Costs

[Craig_H]

morning.

alright, we can agree on moving forward, concentration has to be on top quality.

say we we lost pennant, crouch and kuyt, we'd get what, 15mill-20mill? more or less what we paid - a loss of 5million across all 3 roughy. well thats not bad. but it means a total budget of 35-40 mill. this means replacing and upgrading is possible in one season.

rafa's problem to date tho, and why he has spent his 20 million on squad players, was because he inherited worthless players. what did we get back for any of houllier's signings? nobody would buy the jokers. this meant he had only that 20 mill.

the squad has to be built.

as for youth, the same thing applies. when he arrived, we had little quality there. he tried a couple but haven't yet cut it. basically guthrie but he's still not worth a place in our squad against the 5 CMs we have now. the point is, its taken time to get even the youth players quality up the standard we can consider having them in the first team.

so the youth system has been rebuilt.

this is why its flawed to dismiss rafa's buys for us thus far as if the man doesnt know anything else. 'he'll only buy squad players' is nonsense. he has had to purely because of the state of the squad he inherited and the lack of money (either injected from owners or recouped from sales).

so you're not wrong in saying we need to concentrate on top talent going forward but your massively wrong comparing the squad today with that of GH which your 'buy only impact players' approach requires.

I'm talking about now though, not when he arrived. He needed to build the squad, he's built it now. Some people seem to still think we need more Pennants, which i find strange.

[Guest]

I'm talking about now though, not when he arrived. He needed to build the squad, he's built it now. Some people seem to still think we need more Pennants, which i find strange.

The sum of it's parts Syd ... The sum of it's parts.

[bobbyfallon]

sid in est arguement shocker

for what its worth i agree with you - stop buying squad players and lets start getting the torres of the world

[Craig_H]

sid in est arguement shocker

for what its worth i agree with you - stop buying squad players and lets start getting the torres of the world

I didnt think i was being particularly radical with that train of thought, to be honest

[bobbyfallon]

seems pretty straight forward to me too.

we have the squad and its decent to be fair

buy first team players now. if good players cost 20m so be it. if we dont buy them other top clubs will, therefore leaving us falling further behind

[Finnish_Red]

2 days ago...

Doesn't seem to me that Rafa is after squadies...

[kemm1]

Unfortunately a lot of fans today don't realise that Rome wasn't built in a day, and that it actually takes time to build a consistently successful team. Unless you have the money of Chelsea of course.

[kemm1]

If he's not good enough to be Aurelio's understudy, i very much doubt rafa would be starting to involve him with the 1st team.

OK we shall see

[kemm1]

AFII

To be fair, I'd like to see him given more of a chance now in the first team, hopefully for the last two games.

Oh dear

[twistnkuyt]

I didnt think i was being particularly radical with that train of thought, to be honest

Yes, but you started your input with "how does the spending compare since the start of the PL" (or something similar). Which to me and possibly a few others seemed to to say that you don't consider the points other posters have gone to great lengths to explain re squad building in Rafa's first 4 seasons as valid.

Now you're just saying see you all agree told you I was right.

IMO the spend since the prem began is irrelevant to rafa's reign, which should be the only 1 we all care about.

[Kronenburg1892]

Didn't Rafa just spend £37million on two players this season?

[pezzzer]

i agree generally with sydney here, our squad 22 now needs quality like torres etc to bring no.19 home, he just needs the money......

[Manofthebog]

Here ya go girls, looks like the same old, same old.

No serious wedge = usual transfer dealings.

I'll say no more.



Rafa Benitez plans summer of change at Liverpool FC
May 2 2008
SORUCE LIVERPOOL DAILY POST

http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/liverpool-fc/liverpool-fc-news/2008/05/02/rafa-benitez-plans-summer-of-change-at-liverpool-fc-64375-20855425/

Rafael Benitez has given the green light to a summer of change at Anfield.

The Liverpool boss, who has tabled a £10m bid for Aston Villa’s Gareth Barry, has made it clear that there will be new arrivals and key departures from his squad.

Sunday’s final home league game with Manchester City could be a farewell to Anfield for several players, with the Spaniard clearly declining to distance himself from a host of summer moves.

Fourth place in the league and a Champions League semi-final exit has only served to underline Liverpool’s deficiencies.

But Benitez has opened the door to a string of exits, with the belief that he has been told he must sell as well as buy if he wants to bolster his squad for next season.

Significantly he said: "Being in the top four in England and Europe means we have good players, and maybe some clubs will be interested in our players.

"Now is the time for thinking about the future. Thinking about next season.

"Every year you must improve. This squad is much better than my first squad at the club, but if we can improve we will do so.

"I read a lot of names linked with this club, different players. And I also see the same about my own players. But we do not want to comment, we will just keep on working and wait and see what happens."

Barry could just be the first of several new faces. But it could well be a long-drawn out chase with Villa boss Martin O’Neill being dismissive today of being offered a "mish-mash of un-named players" in exchange.

But it will depend on whether Barry is keen on the move to link-up with his friend and England colleague Steven Gerrard.

Peter Crouch, Jermaine Pennant and Xabi Alonso could be on their way out, although Benitez was guarded about Crouch’s situation.

He said: "We have offered Peter Crouch a new contract, he knows our ideas and we want to keep him. Everything else is just speculation."

However, Villa are believed to want Crouch and the tall striker is unlikely to find another season on the bench acceptable.

Benitez could well have Fernando Torres and Martin Skrtel back after injuries suffered at Stamford Bridge against City, but his eyes are set firmly on the future, saying: "There are a lot of names being mentioned, some who will arrive and some who will leave. But we will try to work on the future."

On the season as a whole, Benitez was quick to point out just how tough it is to compete against the very best all the time.

He said: "To be in the top four in Europe is a massive achievement. To be in the top four in England likewise. It is a tremendous achievement when you consider that the top two sides in Europe and also the top two sides in England, Manchester United and Chelsea.

"That is not bad for us. Always you want to win silverware, but the top four at home and abroad is very good. It is not a fantastic season, but certainly it is not a bad season.

"Every year you must improve. This squad is much better than my first squad at the club, but if we can improve we will do so.

"I am still in contact with the owners, we are working together and we will progress."

Benitez’s determination to boost his squad is being carried out against a back-drop of the continued boardroom problems at the club, and a perceived lack of cash.

Failing to reach Moscow has been a financial blow, but it is also believed that co-owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett are being confronted with a severe problem over funding for the new stadium.

Sources suggest that they have been told by bankers on both sides of the Atlantic, that cash for the new stadium is out of the question in the current climate.

That leaves the Americans facing problems not only with the building start-date but with the re-generation of the Anfield area.

The community venture was a fundamental part of the planning application, and work and funding has to be secured soon.

Any further delay could cause problems over council, government and EU funding.

The local council could soon be pressing the American owners for a start date for the stadium so re-generation work can also commence.

So Benitez is now working in a difficult transfer market with growing cash problems hanging over the club and he can only hope for a decent performance in front of the Kop on Sunday.

He said: "It is important to win in front of our own supporters in the last home game. Those fans have been magnificent so we want to play well, score goals and give them a good final game."

[Manofthebog]

Dude, we still on for Dungeons and Dragons tonight? I'll pick up some Appletiser as promised.

****ing hell Ket, I said Babysham.

[Fiddy]

You're being a bit arbitrary there picking £20m out of the air as a figure. Clearly we'll have more than that to spend...as I said earlier IMO we need 3 players in the £10-15m bracket, so obviously I'm not gonna advocate 3 pennant type £7m signings am I

But for argument's sake we've only got £20m to spend - tell me a) which position you'd buy and b) exactly who you'd buy.

How did this start anyway, because no matter what you say you're not convincing me that this one £20m player wins us the league, we've got too many needs.

Maybe we could buy Messi's left peg for that though

Hmm far as I can see this still hasn't been answered yet...