I hope you enjoy my analysis but by all means feel free to comment and tell me off. Here goes nothing…..
Liverpool’s transfer policies this off season have been extremely different than in past seasons. Brendan Rogers has stated that the glamorous, big money deals are a thing of the past. Rogers also admits that John Henry and Fenway Sports Group are not willing to pump massive amounts of cash into transfers because most of the players brought in recently have been severely over-valued. Because of this Rogers is looking for steals and has stated he might want to tap into the loan market if he can find the right player: "I have also looked at one or two loan deals from abroad. There are some quality players in that market that I have enquired about." Rogers is taking a very different approach to the transfer market and I applaud him.
This new and frugal reign started with the signing of Fabio Borini from AS Roma. For 11 million pounds Liverpool signed a striker that Brendan Rogers had been involved with from his days at Chelsea and Swansea. Borini started 20 Serie A matches for Roma last season scoring nine goals. Yes, Borini is extremely unproven but for a player Brendan Rogers saw mature first-hand he is a worthwhile buy at 11 million pounds.
This serves as a sharp contrast to when Liverpool signed Andy Carroll from Newcastle for 35 million pounds. Let’s face it, Carroll was signed for all the wrong reasons. In January 2011 Liverpool were a mid-table team just coming off of the horrid Roy Hodgson era. The team was desperate to make a splash. They were desperate to win again. So they decided to shake it up. They sold Fernando Torres for 50 million pounds and instead of buying a group of players to change the culture at Anfield they bought an injured Andy Carroll who would not make his debut until that March.
Liverpool were hoping Carroll would develop into an experienced player who would eventually replace Fernando Torres. With a season and a half under his belt Carroll has not proven to be the man Liverpool thought they were buying. But how could he be? When Carroll was 21 he played very well in the Championship for Newcastle. During that 2009/2010 season Carroll started 33 games and scored 17 goals. A very good tally for a rising young player. However compared to Fernando Torres at that age Carroll’s numbers are laughable. At 20 years of age Fernando Torres started 35 games and scored 19 league goals for Atletico Madrid in La Liga. La Liga is the Spanish top flight. Carroll’s goals were in the English second division. The fact that anyone would think Carroll could replace Fernando Torres is simply ludicrous. Many argue Luis Suarez was brought in to replace El Nino during that same transfer market but at 35 million pounds if Carroll was not brought in to replace Torres what was he brought in for?
Back to the current season. It is great to see Brendan Rogers not vastly overpaying for players. Not signing Gylfi Sigurdsson because of wage demands and refusing to pay 15 million pounds for Clint Dempsey is extremely encouraging. With Rogers at the helm, Liverpool will not get swindled like they have time and time again in the past. Of course Rogers will miss on some transfers but by not paying ridiculous fees for players he can get away with it. Massive deals are fun and exciting but they do not guarantee wins. 20 million pound Stewart Downing and of course 35 million pound Andy Carroll aren’t the ones who win Liverpool games. In past seasons it’s been the 6 million pound Luis Garcias’, the 10 million pound Raul Meireles’, and the Craig Bellamys’ (Free transfer). These guys are the difference makers. Fabio Borini won’t put up Torres like numbers but hopefully he will work hard and score some crucial goals.
On that difference maker point, headlines today read that Liverpool are trying to sign two more, Nuri Sahin from Real Madrid and Tello from Barcelona. These deals almost make too much sense. These players are available on the cheap and come from top clubs. They fit the mold of a Brendan Rogers signing perfectly. Both can play in the 4-3-3 and are capable of playing possession football. Both are young. Both are technically gifted. Both possess a lot of flair. Now the question is why are they so cheap if they‘re as good as I‘m making them out to be? It’s simple, they’re quality players they just suffer from having way too many players in front of them. At massive clubs like Barcelona and Madrid that can happen.
Sahin impressed at Borussia Dortmund, so much so that Real paid 10 million euros for his services in the summer of 2011. Between injuries and other players stepping up Sahin did not see much of the field for Madrid. We cannot forget how instrumental Sahin was when Dortmund won the Bundesliga in 2010/2011. He could play in my Liverpool squad any day.
After shining for Barcelona B in the first half of last season Tello was called up for the second half of the season to the Barcelona senior squad. He played in the final El Clasico of the season and despite the 2-1 loss to Real Madrid he played well. He is still very young at 21 and has revealed he would not love to go abroad. It appears if Tello was going to sign it would be on a season long loan and if he decided he liked Liverpool and Rogers wanted him back he would be available for 7 million pounds. Any player who has come up through the famed Barcelona youth academy is a worthwhile addition. In the past Liverpool have missed on attackers (Ryan Babel, David Ngog, Stewart Downing). Why not take a chance?
Finally a signing I have yet to mention is the capture of Joe Allen. As much as I love the Borini deal and will love the Sahin and Tello deals (please God let them happen), the Allen deal makes little sense to me. I thought we already had our central midfielders of the future in Jonjo Shelvey and Jordan Henderson. We all know Charlie Adam doesn’t fit what Brendan Rogers wants to do in the midfield but before Allen was signed I would have loved to have seen either Shelvey or Henderson get a chance. If they didn’t work out Allen always could have been purchased in January. Rogers wanted a possessor and he got one but I thought the 15 million pounds paid for him was a tad too much. It’s still much too early to judge however, time will tell.
This new way of business certainly adds to the excitement of the new season. I know I sure am excited. Hopefully the boys will be able to pick-up a win at the Hawthorns. YNWA
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