Liverpool FC Forum

[Redman in wales]

So how did our summer transfer window shape up then?

Players in:
Luis Alberto - £6,800,000
Iago Aspas - £7,000,000
Kolo Toure - Free
Simon Mignolet - £10,000,000
Tiago Ilori - £7,000,000
Mamadou Sakho - £14,000,000
Aly Cissokho - Loan
Victor Moses - Loan

Players Out:
Andy Carroll - £15,500,000
Jamie Carragher – Retired
Jonjo Shelvey - £5,000,000
Stewart Downing - £6,000,000
Jay Spearing - £1,750,000
Dani Pacheco – Free
Fabio Borini - Loan
Assaidi - loan

So as far as I can tell squad “replacements” go like this:
Reina -> Mignolet
Skrtel -> Sakho
Carra -> Toure
Coates -> Ilori (As Coates is out for the season)
Noone -> Cissoko
Shelvey -> Alberto
Downing -> Moses (loan)
Borini (loan) -> Aspas
Assaidi (loan) -> Ibe (promoted to 1st team)

Plus Sturridge and Coutinho in from the last January transfer window. You could argue that every single transfer above is an upgrade and our squad is certainly better than this time last year.

As to who will shine and who will flop... well we will have to wait and find out, but I’m relatively happy.

I think Red Beergoggles summed it up nicely in the rumour thread, so I’m going to quote him here:

Aspas - he's had one game were the intensity of the match had him chasing shadows ,but prior to that
performance he has acquitted himself well ,especially given the role Rodgers has utilised him in ,and when you take into account
the lads prime role was striker for Celta .

Mignolet's performances have been exemplary ,and he's already done exactly what top keepers do in being the difference between
garnering three points as opposed to one.

Toure has been positively immense at the back ,and has made the departure of Carragher seem far less painful.

Luis Alberto looks a real find ,and I love the lads composure on the ball ,and his sublime goal against Valerenga bodes well for the
future . I'm surmising Rodgers is letting him watch a few games from the bench before he gives him a start ,but I'm sure the lads
time will come.

Cissokho before his injury looked pacy and strong ,and a player who would have afforded us his vast experience in playing high
tempo football in La Liga.

Moses is a direct player who runs at defenders for fun ,his skill and trickery was an essential part of Rafa finishing in the Champions
league with Chelsea .

Tiago Ilori is a player that was coveted by some top names in European football his calmness and composure on the ball will be perfectly
suited to the style of football Rodgers wishes his defenders to play .....High hopes for this kid ,and its the signing that excites me the
most from all our dips into the transfer market.

Mamadou Sakho has been an immovable rock in the PSG team ,and it was only when in a monetary sense they could choose from the cream
of Europe's top players he was deemed a squad player. He has an engine on him that would make Henderson green with envy ,and his
leadership qualities are well renowned across Europe.

Interested in hearing peoples general opinions on the window as a whole.

I’m relatively happy as I said I would have loved a top class LFW  - Our first choice turned us down to go to the champions league finalists and our second choice turned us down to stay on at a champions league club on an improved contract. I think it makes sense to get a player (Moses) in on loan - who is an upgrade on what we had last season anyway - and then see who's available in January / next summer.

[devaney]

Totally agree with your comments and RBG's refreshingly positive outlook.

Not every transfer will be a success but in overall terms I think we have had a very sensible and successful window. Keeping Suarez was for me one of the highlights of the window and the management/owners should be congratulated for the way they handled an extremely frustrating situation. They have had enough flack from certain posters and maybe just maybe it is time for these posters to give them the credit they rightly deserve.

I honestly believe the club is going in the right direction and I said that before our first three results. Time will tell but downright hard work and attitude is certainly there for all to see.

[Benny The Noon]

Defensively we have improved - in terms of the back 4 the window has been good once we got Sakho in - Ilori looks a good buy for the future. Cissohko looked decent until his injury , Toure has had some moments but has done ok. Mignolet has saved us in a couple of games so far with great shot stopping. Hopefully the purchase of Sakho will solve a big problem at set pieces

Midfield - don't think it's a good window at all - didnt look at a major problem for us in terms of strength in the middle. We lost Shelvey who was a bit feisty in there and sent Suso out on loan and brought in Alberto who against Notts County looked totally out of depth - dont think he will be able to handle it in the prem in the middle. Think we really should have looked to improve the midfield and it appears to be a weak link at the moment

Forward line - we have improved in that area from 12 months ago because of the addition of Coutinho and Sturridge. If we keep those two fit and on form and Suarez plays well then we will be fine. But the signings that have arrived I don't think have improved us significantly at all - Aspas just looks like another Borini - can't handle the physical nature of the prem - could see the warning signs against Celtic and has been invisible since - needs to adapt or will just get blown away by big prem defenders. Moses - just doesn't have that extra something to move us forward - can't see him having much impact. Would have liked to have seen a real inspiring player arriving in the forward line and quite disappointing that we didnt.

Just my opinion off course.

[jacdaniel]

I think its been a very successful 9 months for the club in terms of transfers.
Coutinho and Sturridge in January was absolutely superb business considering how they've turned out so far.  Steal of the century getting them both for under 25M. 

I really wasn't so sure about Mignolet but so far he has been a monster in goal and I hope it will continue. 
Toure has been very good so far.  Feels like he's been at the club for years already.
CB was the area we all agreed needed sorting the most and we've also brought in a very established CB in sakho and a kid with bags and bags of potential in Llori. (I don't even know how to spell his name yet  )

Aspas has looked ok although I don't think he is anything special.
Cissokho will provide competition at LB and LW possibly. 
Jury is obviously still out on Alberto and Moses and I can't comment much for now. 

Think the squad is much improved though.  Still feel we might need to improve up front a bit and in CM but we were never going to achieve it all in one window.
You have to build from the back though and the GK and defence is better.

[supersub]

personally I think we have done the best summer transfer dealings for a long time...very positive outlook on things...2013 has been a good year for transfers

[tubby]

I think it's been a good summer although I would have liked another striker. Sturridge as good as he is can be injury prone and with no Suarez yet we could be in a bit of a tight spot if we to lose him.

[Raoul]

I think Redman and Benny both make a lot of sense. Overall, I am quietly happy. I wished for a little more, but I'm not complaining.

I'm happily surprised with our strength in depth in defence - for a little while there it seemed like lots of talk and no action. So that is a real fillip.

I think Moses on loan, while not what we wanted, is a very good move, as I said in his thread.

I agree with Benny that a little more in the midfield would be nice. I am concerned that Suso will become another Pacheco. Surprised we sent him to Spain on loan, rather than to a PL team. I hope to see him back in the club and staking a claim after a good season of football under his belt. If so, he'd be like a new signing next year.

In the meantime I'm looking forward with a bit of hope to this season.

[Redman in wales]

I think it's been a good summer although I would have liked another striker. Sturridge as good as he is can be injury prone and with no Suarez yet we could be in a bit of a tight spot if we to lose him.

I thought that as well - and a loan for Demba Ba would have been my choice here. Someone to come off the bench when Sturridge is tiring, or to start when he's injured, but who would not cost big bucks as he's not first choice.

I suppose the thinking is that when Suarez comes back in and with the addition of Moses, maybe Aspas plays that roll - he was the central striker for Celta - so if he adapts then that might be a possibility. I agree that he hasn't set the world alight yet, but he may just be one of those signings that takes a while to adjust.

[mkingdom]

For a net spend of around £20m, and what looks like a lower wage bill, you have to say this has been good business.

I think we lack physical presence still, especially in CM, but we seem to be more resilient than last year already.

We have options, a younger squad and with what we spent this window you'd like to think we have some in reserve for Jan should we need it.  Compared to others in the league we have done well.  As good as Ozil is (for example), he is one player and for half that (net) we have improved our team and squad throughout.

Happy and optimistic.

[red till i die!!]

So how did our summer transfer window shape up then?

Players in:
Luis Alberto - £6,800,000
Iago Aspas - £7,000,000
Kolo Toure - Free
Simon Mignolet - £10,000,000
Tiago Ilori - £7,000,000
Mamadou Sakho - £14,000,000
Aly Cissokho - Loan
Victor Moses - Loan

Players Out:
Andy Carroll - £15,500,000
Jamie Carragher – Retired
Jonjo Shelvey - £5,000,000
Stewart Downing - £6,000,000
Jay Spearing - £1,750,000
Dani Pacheco – Free
Fabio Borini - Loan
Assaidi - loan

the players that have come in have been an upgrade on most that left. whether or not they will be fantastic is too early to tell but im not as depressed over our business as i thought i would be.
alberto looks more composed than shelvey but hard to know if he is better unless he gets a run of games. shelvey might just kick on this year due to being played regular. not a bad swap for the money though.
aspas, i really liked his energy during preseason and thought he looked clever but since the celtic game i have gotten more concerned about the physical end of his game. hopefully he adapts quicker because it isnt for the want of trying.
toure has been a fantastic signing and has been worth more im sure than what we are paying him. a massive upgrade on carra and just what we needed to bolster the defense.
mingy without a doubt is a fantastic shot stopper and has been fantastic for us, even though i am a pepe fan i do think that mingy will turn out to be a better servant for us in the long run.
Ilori, sakho and cissokho i know nothing about so will wait till i have seen enough to form an opinion but i dont see how they would fail to do anything other than strenghten the side.
moses will be a decent addition for us, not the big name i would have hope for but he is more than capable of having a great season with us.

overall we are better squad wise although at the moment it might seem marginal, combine that with the tactical changes rodgers has added and we could have a great season ahead of us.
very early still but we have shown great charachter and togetherness as a side, and to be top with 3 wins from 3 is a great achievement and long may it continue.
there is another international break in early october and we have 12 points up for grabs before then. if we can take all 12 or 9 by that stage then we will be the  team to beat 

[lakes10]

I think we have had a great window, there was not last min rush this means the club was in control of everything and not pushed into silly prices, I also feel like most of you that each player is a upgrade.


the only downside is we did not get another striker and I hope that don't come back and bite us..........but I still have a soft spot for Andy Carroll  and think he going to be great at West Ham this season.

[Redrider]

Players in:                                          Verdict
Luis Alberto - £6,800,000                    Poor will not succeed.
Iago Aspas - £7,000,000                      Unlikely to more than a bench warmer
Kolo Toure - Free                               Great business, looks like the steal of the window.
Simon Mignolet - £10,000,000             Well woth the money, vast improvement on Reina.
Tiago Ilori - £7,000,000                      Looks like a good prospect.

Mamadou Sakho - £14,000,000            Good pedigree, should be a useful addiotion.
Aly Cissokho - Loan                            Send him back asap.
Victor Moses - Loan                            Destined to Bench warmer, possible impact player sub.

Players Out:
Andy Carroll - £15,500,000                 Sorry to see the lad go without being given a chance, but looks injury prone.
Jamie Carragher – Retired                  Great Judgement, retired with the crowd calling for more. Should be on the coaching staff.
Jonjo Shelvey - £5,000,000                Had a go but will not be missed.
Stewart Downing - £6,000,000            Always destined to fail.
Jay Spearing - £1,750,000                  God loves a trier.
Dani Pacheco – Free                           Bit of a nearly man.
Fabio Borini - Loan                             Frees up some space in the car park, hope he never returns.
Assaidi - loan                                      Who is he ?

[LFC1990]

Why the feck are you sending Cissohko back ASAP

[redno7]

redrider - this is a wind up isn't it?

[woof woof !]

Why the feck are you sending Cissohko back ASAP

I guess after playing all of 32 minutes spread over two games for us he's done enough (for some) to suggest he's not good enough ?

Christ sake ! I don't know if he was total sh'ite at his last club ? but lets give the fella a bit more than 32 minutes before we hang him.