I hate international breaks with every fibre of my being. The only team that matters to me is Liverpool FC. Anfield is my home country, the team is my army and the joy of watching them play is my currency. We have our own King and even our own God. With no match this weekend though, I risk going insane with boredom.
So this week, I am without a game to preview, so I will give my views on the transfer window....
Over 600 million pounds spent! Am I the only person who finds this sum of money ridiculous? There are far too many teams who spend recklessly and ruin the game for everyone.
I dream of a world in which there are salary caps and transfer caps. I think each team gets given a maximum amount of money to spend on transfers and a maximum amount that they can be spent on wages. This will level the field for all teams. The teams can choose to spend 100% of the allocated amount or a percentage. The choice is theirs. They can choose to spend it all on one player or spread it evenly through-out the squad. What this will do is a) Prevent unscrupulous Agents from manipulating and blackmailing teams b) Teams like Chelsea, United, City and now Tottenham from buying and trying to buy success and c) keeps the market and future of the EPL secured.
BUT more importantly, it will be a true reflection on who is the better team, better manager and better club. With a level playing field, the emphasis will be on the better managers to get the best out of the squad. Let’s be honest, Jose Mourinho has won the league in Portugal, England, Italy and Spain. He has who the Champions League title with two different teams…but does this make him a great manager? Porto, Chelsea, Inter and Real Madrid are not exactly teams who were shopping in the bargain bin for players, now are they? Is Mourinho with BILLIONS at his disposal a better manager than a Championship manager who takes a mid table team with a tight budget to the premier league? Like Nigel Adkins for example, who led Southampton to back to back promotions into the premier league, only to be sacked because he struggled with the flood of money in the Premier League. Is Roberto DiMatteo a better manager than Adkins when he struggled with West Brom who have a small budget but won the Champions League with Chelsea’s billions? I do not believe so.
But let me move on and try to focus on the most recent of transfer windows. Should we be happy with the result of our activity this window? I believe very much so, not only because of the players we bought, but because of the players our competitors did not buy.
In terms of our purchases, we have bought eight players, five of whom (Mignolet, Toure, Cissokho, Sakho and Ilori) are defensive. Perhaps I am biased towards defenders being a former Left-Back myself, but I believe a good team has to be built on the foundation of a solid backline. We have kept 3 clean sheets this season and we have shown that we can defend a slender lead. Along with this muscle in defence, we have the creativity and beauty of players in attack like Aspas, Coutinho, Sturridge, Sterling, Ibe and now Moses. And we have the heart and passion of players like Gerrard, Lucas and Henderson who will run themselves into a coma for the sake of the team. Then add our most important piece of business this transfer window to the team. A certain Luis Suarez. As much as I am still trying to get rid of the bitter taste he left in my mouth (and he trying to get the taste of Ivanovic from his), one fact cannot be denied - he is one of the top five footballers in the world. And thankfully for Liverpool, three of them are in Spain and the other is in Germany. By keeping Suarez, I believe we have the best player in the Premier League. Should we keep our 100% record going and score wins against both Swansea and Southampton, I will be battling to control my ambition this season when El Pistolero becomes available again. We add the Uruguayan to the mix, and who can stop us?
In regards to our competitors, I think we did much better business than they did. Here is why:
Arsenal and Man United only made one major signing this season. United made a panic buy in Fellaini. I think the Belgian is a good player, but is he world class? I do not believe so. But I am more thrilled by the implications of this deal. Man United were linked with a list of world class players, and somehow they failed to pull any of those deals off. Their fans are unhappy with Moyes, the media are attacking him and I am certain he is feeling the pressure. Should United draw another blank against Crystal Palace (although I doubt they will), then I believe officially, United will be in a crises. As for Arsene Wenger and the purchase of Mesut Ozil. Absolutely brilliant player, but is he enough to turn their fortunes around? I don’t think so. Arsenal lack muscle. They brought in Flamini to offer some midfield steel, but be honest, was he ever the definition of midfield steel during his first spell in London? No, he wasn’t. Defensively, they are vulnerable. Gibbs and Jenkinson are the only cover they have in the full back position, and they are not good enough to be in a top 4 team. At least not yet. As for Koscielny, I smile when I see him play because he is very mistake prone. Attacking, Arsenal will be a threat, but defensively they are weak and vulnerable.
Chelsea appear not to believe in strikers any more. They have let Lukaku go and have kept only Torres and Ba. After the team they put out against Man United, I thought the first position they would strengthen would be their striking options considering the “Happy One” has shown no faith in the pair. But no. Mourinho looks as if he wants to build a team of attacking midfielders. Which is great for us, because they will then find it challenging should they come up against a team with a packed midfield of robust players. The Gerrards, Nzonzis, Tiotes, Parkers of the premier league.
Tottenham have bought almost a new team and have spent over 100 million on players. BUT, does that make them a stronger team? I do not believe so. In my opinion, bringing in too many players too soon into the premier league will do more damage that good. Just look at QPR and Newcastle to see the result of too many changes in too little time. And to be honest, from what I have seen of Tottenham, the players do not seems to have too much of an appetite for the physicality of the premier league. Also, the rumour is that AVB struggled at Chelsea because he could not deal with the big personalities. If this is true, then this will be an interesting year for him. Not to mention the added pressure of spending so much money and losing the player you built everything around last year.
And lastly, there is Manchester City. Spent big, and too be honest, brought in some good players in Nagredo and Jesus Navas. They were my favourites for the league…until that performance against Cardiff. It looks like they have a team of Prima Donnas who are not willing to do the dirty, ugly work needed in the premier league. They were not that convincing against Hull either so I have spotted a weak underbelly. Also, their defence look unrecognisable without Kompany. They bought Demichelis in the end to offer some defensive muscle, so we need to sit back and see how quickly the Argentinian can adapt to life in Manchester.
So if you ask me about where I see Liverpool finishing this season, I cannot confidently say. But if things continue going this way for us and our competitors, I believe we will all be happy people when the final whistle of the season goes.
Latest Forum Discussion