v Sparta Post Match

[Exiled_red]

lol - my brain just kinda spewed out those ideas as I was typing the post

yeah i'd say minimum we need

1x top left back
1x quality winger with pace/finally delivery
1x solid centre mid

And we have to be prepared to spend £50m ish on those 3 players - say a left back and centre mid for around £15m each and a winger for £20m.

that's bare minimum barring no major player leaves (ie reina)

i feel we could recoup some of that.

Konk £3m
Jovanovic £5m
Poulsen £2m
El Zhar £2m
Spearing + Darby £2m
Aquilani £10m

I feel thats fairly low prices and reckon we should be able to get £25m selling of the squad ****e not required.

So if we do the above we should be stronger....but if we really want to compete and push on we have to be prepared to go the extra mile - right now, we are behind utd/chelsea/arsenal/city and spurs in terms of quality/strength - doing the above should hopefully move us closer.....but.....all of them will be looking to improve as well which would mean we would still be behind......if we really want to compete then we need to do the above as a bare minimum and also look to add

Another quality winger for the right side
another creating midfielder that could cover a couple of positions
improve on kyriakos/skrtel - being very picky, not as vital
improve on ngog - being very picky, not as vital

£15m on the winger, £15m on the creative midfielder, £10m on defender and £10m on the striker

So another £50m ish needed - which can be funded by selling

kuyt or maxi £5m
ngog - £6m
cole - £5m
skrtel - £8m

again nearly up to £25m


I think thats how far behind we are..... we do the all of the above we'd be left with

reina
jones
gulasci

johnson
kelly

agger
new cb
carra
kyriakos
wilson

new lb
aurelio

gerrard
new centre mid
lucas
meireles
shelvey

new left mid
maxi
youth

new right mid
maxi
youth

carroll
suarez
new striker or ngog if we wnat to save some cash until the season after

I think the prices in bold are very optimistic. although I agree with most of that.

I would like to see another good centre back either come in particularly if we are to stick with 3 at the back. Carragher and Kyriakos need replacing in the next couple of years, and I remain unconvinced by Skrtel. Someone who isn't as prone to hoofing as Carragher or Kyriakos would be good.

[RichC]

christ your brain is spewing a lot today!

I'd agree with the bare minimum that for me is the very least we need and I'd almost say a new CB is up there as well - not confident with Skrtel, Agger has injury issues and Carra isn't getting any younger - I know we have Wilson and Kelly but we need serious first team competition straight away.

Over the next couple of seasons we need to be moving players out and bringing in younger more mobile players but this all depends on funds I suppose, what we get for some we move on, what the club is generating in terms of revenue and what FSG will free up for us to use.

Still feeling pretty confident that we'll see some good movement in the transfer window this summer!

[PTP]

I think the prices in bold are very optimistic. although I agree with most of that.

I would like to see another good centre back either come in particularly if we are to stick with 3 at the back. Carragher and Kyriakos need replacing in the next couple of years, and I remain unconvinced by Skrtel. Someone who isn't as prone to hoofing as Carragher or Kyriakos would be good.

dya reckon? - i tried to be as 'realisitic' as i could....those players aren't going to sell for peanuts - and in todays market - a £1m to £2m transfer for someone under contract is basically just a free...

Konk £3m - **** for us granted, but i think he'd do a job for anyone outside the top ten and would go for a couple mill easily
Jovanovic £5m - reports were we had been offered between £5m and £6m in january but noone would match his wages
Poulsen £2m - again just because he is ****ing terrible for us, he offers experience and probably be quite a few teams interested in him, not just in england
El Zhar £2m - still young, played champions league and internationally again there would be clubs willing to pay.


Granted i may be a bit optimistic but i don't think i am being too far off - in todays terms - there is **** all between a transfer of £1m and £5m - i just see them all as as players we could bring in a few mill for whilst also freeing up the wage bill


I do agree with the centre back though as it stands...with carra agger skrtel kyriakos and wilson already in place - i could cope with that providing we get the other priorities sorted first....once they are sorted, once we have a top left back, a couple of top wingers and some much needed steel in midfield - then if we can, i do agree, it'd be time to sell skrtel and find a proper long term partner for agger with carra as the main cover/fighting for first team and kyriakos and wilson as adequate back up

[Mostar]

Wow if Roy had been in charge of a performance like that I would be fuming.
My only complaints though are why 90 mins for Maxi instead of giving Pacheco the last half an hour or so or move Kuyt up top earlier to bring Pacheco on.

I just think that with a lot of creative or attacking players missing that game was an excellent chance to give Dani some more minutes

Pacheco is not Kenny't type of player and I don't you will see him playing much for us this year.

By the way, what's wrong with Aurelio this time..

[Vermilion]

lol - my brain just kinda spewed out those ideas as I was typing the post

haha, that's a great excuse, blame the brain, nothing to do with me.

[The Birdman]

I think the idea of bringing Skrtel on was to go from a back 4 to a back 3 with the full backs playing as wing backs, so it wasn't as defensive a change as it sounds in saying bring on a defender for a striker.

It's not rocket science.

Wow I must have watching a different game, I thought we played a 3 at the back from the start with Wilson pushing on in possession like Agger does with Aurelio in front of him and Maxi outside him.
Lucas sitting, Johnson right with Meireles and Kuyt off Ngog.

I know it's a much more fluid system now under Kenny but no way was that a 4 at the back.
The change when Skrtel went on was Wilson to LWB, Max inside one and Cole to the right with Kuyt upfront

[Galb]

There must be something wrong with Pacheco that we dont see

Rafa, Roy and Kenny have ALL overlooked him

I dont think its fair to say Rafa overlooked him. He was very young at that point so you will always get less opportunities than he might expect now.

Plus Rafa turned to him in several big games when we needed a goal and were trailing. Now that's partly a reflection of the depth of the squad but it did also suggest that he had some faith in him as a player.

[Lecter]

Wow I must have watching a different game, I thought we played a 3 at the back from the start with Wilson pushing on in possession like Agger does with Aurelio in front of him and Maxi outside him.
Lucas sitting, Johnson right with Meireles and Kuyt off Ngog.

I know it's a much more fluid system now under Kenny but no way was that a 4 at the back.
The change when Skrtel went on was Wilson to LWB, Max inside one and Cole to the right with Kuyt upfront

Disagree

We started with a flat back 4 with Wilson at leftback

2 holding midfielders in front of them, then a 3 and finally N'Gog upfront

When Skrtl came on we played the 5 at the back (or 3-3-3-1 as Kenny calls it)

[Exiled_red]

dya reckon? - i tried to be as 'realisitic' as i could....those players aren't going to sell for peanuts - and in todays market - a £1m to £2m transfer for someone under contract is basically just a free...

Konk £3m - **** for us granted, but i think he'd do a job for anyone outside the top ten and would go for a couple mill easily
Jovanovic £5m - reports were we had been offered between £5m and £6m in january but noone would match his wages
Poulsen £2m - again just because he is ****ing terrible for us, he offers experience and probably be quite a few teams interested in him, not just in england
El Zhar £2m - still young, played champions league and internationally again there would be clubs willing to pay.


Granted i may be a bit optimistic but i don't think i am being too far off - in todays terms - there is **** all between a transfer of £1m and £5m - i just see them all as as players we could bring in a few mill for whilst also freeing up the wage bill


I do agree with the centre back though as it stands...with carra agger skrtel kyriakos and wilson already in place - i could cope with that providing we get the other priorities sorted first....once they are sorted, once we have a top left back, a couple of top wingers and some much needed steel in midfield - then if we can, i do agree, it'd be time to sell skrtel and find a proper long term partner for agger with carra as the main cover/fighting for first team and kyriakos and wilson as adequate back up

Sorry I probably shouldn't have included Poulsen I think that figure is about right.

Konchesky is a 'do a job' type player that some lower PL club would buy if they have money left over, but won't be a main target. Also our desperation to sell will drive the price down.

Jovanovic will have to go abroad to a B league of Europe or a struggling side in a decent league either way I can't see a side that buys he having much money.

El Zhar I think we'll be lucky to get a million for.

I'd expect us to get about £8-9m total for the players listed. I think the problem is as a big club we have to buy high and sell low.

[calvoboy]

We dont play counter attacking football under Kenny

He isnt Rafa or Houllier

We play a possession based game in a very short area (I the play is very condensed)

You dont need ALL your central defenders to be comfortable on the ball but you do need one capable of stepping out if need be

Last nights problem to me wasnt the centrebacks there were two problems

Up top the ball was never held up so we couldnt get people in and around the forward player to create any angles

Secondly there was a lack of movement, particularly when Cole came on

N'Gog offered nothing, he was incapable of holding onto the ball, gave it away when under no pressure....that was the biggest problem, but we had no-one on the bench who could change it.

The lack of movement was a problem, but in part it's because there wasn't a lot of space - even though they were at home they seemed content to sit back in their own half and try and hit us on the break. Difficult to break down - Agger bringing the ball forward from defence would have helped, as would Stevie's surging runs.

[Shaggy]

We dont play counter attacking football under Kenny

He isnt Rafa or Houllier

We didn't play counter-attacking football under Rafa either.

[Mattshark]

I think our problems attacking came from N'gog, Cole and Wilson.

N'gog I felt was too weak, he never held the ball up or showed enough movement through a very organised defence.
Cole couldn't control the ball and offered nothing to the team.
In a 4231 and a 541 fullbacks need to provide the width, Johnson did, Wilson didn't at all and that seriously limited our attacking options.

[Mattshark]

We didn't play counter-attacking football under Rafa either.

We played a controlled short passing game.

[Exiled_red]

I've mentioned this before but I think we have too many passive players i.e. players that can do well when there is someone in there who can make things happen but rarely take control of the game and make things happen. I feel we are lacking these players in the midfield and wide areas; Lucas and Kuyt certainly fall into that catagory as do Meireles and Maxi (to a lesser extent) IMO. Only really Gerrard can make things happen regularly.

Don't get me wrong I'm not critisising the players ability, passive players are fine and can do a job if the balance of the side is correct, and at the moment I don't think it is as we have too many passive players.

[Rudo]

Patecho is obviously very average in training and wont make it at LFC. The obsession over him on here is bizarre.

Not going to make it is he? Think that's becoming more and more clear.