Liverpool FC Forum

[tubby]

It doesn't really matter who of the 2 finished 4th, the bottom line for us is we didn't and unless there is a shift in ownership we will not get back into the top 4.

you see bav, this is why the whole 'anti-rafa' argument kicks off every 5 mins here. yeah, the owners are to blame, but so's the manager.

After 6 years and 200+ million and 100 players, things should be better on and off the pitch.

No one is denying Rafa could have bought better but if we had the funds there we could go out and get someone else in for 25Mil and the flops would be forgotten. Utd and Chelsea are able to do that. It's that financial muscle that is lacking. Even our own players say we need to be competing for top players more often. I see that as a dig at the owners.

[Redman in wales]

I agree that city may not be able to attract the same calibre of players now than if they finished 4th.

I also agree to a certain extent that spurs over-achieved this past season, and will not do that well in the champions league next season.

What I am concerned about is the "poaching" (for want of a better word) of our main targets. Turan, Kjaer, Joe Cole, etc who all want to play champions league football could well be heading to WHite Hart Lane instead of Anfield simply on the back of being in the champions league qualifying stages and we're not.

edit: just to continue on that point - There are two types of signings that could improve our starting 11:

- World class players who will nearly always cost big money (which we cant afford, but city can)

- good / young / out of contract players such as those listed above, which we can afford, but now face competition from spurs who can offer them champions league football (at least for the start of the season anyway)

At the moment, with no new investment, there is no reason that we can guarenttee any potential player champions league the following season more than man city or arsenal

Another problem I have is why you seem to take internet/newspaper rumours as gospel?

I have not seen or heard anything near credible about Liverpool's attempts to sign Turan, Kjaer, Joe Cole, etc. All I have seen is dubious rumouring on here and occasional gossip column comments, let alone these players being our "main targets".

Sorry. I concede on that one. I should have said  "rumoured targets" - I have seen us and spurs linked to all three of those players, albeit some back in the January transfer window. If I have the time I'll dig out all the articles.

The point is its not those exact players, but its players like that. There was quite a strong rumour about a babel - Turan switch in the January transfer window but it came to nothing, now he could be signing for spurs. That sort of thing

[Sir Roger]

Crouch is sh'ite

[SouthCoastShankly]

Crouch is sh'ite

But better than Ngog, Kuyt, Babel.

[Madmax]

Spurs going into the champions league would be a little too much for them. I can't see them challenging against the a champ league spot and doing well in the champs league.

[lakes10]

I dont think Man city not getting unto the CL is going to hold them back in the money they spend anway, i also dont feel that its going to hurt them that much in getting big names to the club......money can do that for them.

Spurs will only buy small amount of players, Harry has a very clear mind in what type of players he would take to his club.

[Emerald Red]

that's exactly it about spurs - they have become a good team. and without mega bucks too. say what you like about harry redknapp and is various misdemeanours but he's done a great job there, he's bought some good players, has a nice balanced squad, and generated a sense of unity. you could see from the video of his players chucking the tub of water over him and his reaction to it how much of a bond there is between them all. i think they will carry on doing well and will probably attract a couple of good players over the summer. i'm not sure they'll attract the younger more ambitious players just yet but maybe some of the late twenties or early thirties players that want a new contract and some (more) CL footie would be well tempted. enough to give them some solid ground to keep building at least.

city still don't worry me too much as of yet as they always have an air of instability about them and have done for years. its a club without a great history or prestige, they keep changing managers and they keep upsetting and changing players. its the kind of club that despite throwing a billion pounds at might not ever achieve the stability and cache necessary to attract the best and to keep the project on the up. if they don't make top 4 next season - and i don't think they will - i think the big identity crisis might just kick in and it might start to wobble again.

Haven't Spurs been one of the top spenders in the league, outspending us last summer by far?

[Emerald Red]

Let's be honest about Spurs here - they are big spenders and they are bottlers year after year. It's only in the season of absolute nightmares for us that they get the chance to actually get in the top four, because if we don't have a bad season, then they have no hope of a top four spot. Simple as that, really.

[lakes10]

Let's be honest about Spurs here - they are big spenders and they are bottlers year after year. It's only in the season of absolute nightmares for us that they get the chance to actually get in the top four, because if we don't have a bad season, then they have no hope of a top four spot. Simple as that, really.

if things dont change at the club mate i can not see how we can have a good season.

[Emerald Red]

Let's be honest about Spurs here - they are big spenders and they are bottlers year after year. It's only in the season of absolute nightmares for us that they get the chance to actually get in the top four, because if we don't have a bad season, then they have no hope of a top four spot. Simple as that, really.

if things dont change at the club mate i can not see how we can have a good season.

Who's fault is that?

[LFC2007]

Zola said before he left West Ham that Spurs were now on the same sort of level as the top three sides. I didn't agree him but I think he's closer to the truth than those who think they'll simply fall away because they've a history of failing to establish themselves in the top group of teams. They've a squad of solid performers with a good balance and depth to it throughout and barring the unforeseen, I fully expect them to be up there again near to the top four next season, as I do with Man City. If we don't pull our finger out and Arsenal lose Fabregas then perhaps we're nearing a Bundesliga situation where several teams (when you think of Bremen, Hamburg, Stuttgart, Leverkusen, Dortmund, Schalke etc..) are capable of breaking into the top four.

[fivecups]

Haven't Spurs been one of the top spenders in the league, outspending us last summer by far?

They've outspent us over the past six years.

[andy_g]

i'm not so sure they have, you know

according to http://transferleague.co.uk/ its like this;

1992 - 2010
                Purchased  Sold           Nett  Per Season 
           
Liverpool          £416,855,000  £216,120,000  £200,735,000  £11,151,944 
Tottenham £376,850,000 £200,717,500 £176,132,500 £9,785,139


Net Spend 04 - 09  Purchased  Sold           Nett         Per Season 

Liverpool             £249,230,000  £140,480,000  £108,750,000  £18,125,000 
Tottenham    £259,000,000 £162,250,000 £96,750,000 £16,125,000


so in the 6 years that really matter they have spent gross 10 million more than us but have had to sell more to achieve that. whichever way you want to interpret the figures there isn't much in it.

[Reg]

Well neither Man Ure, Chelsea, Citeh nor Spurs got David Villa.     Neither did we.....
++

Striker David Villa moves to Barcelona from Valencia 

David Villa will be unveiled as a Barcelona player on Friday after completing a £34.2m move from Valencia.

The Spain international has signed a four-year deal and is the first summer capture for the Catalan club, with Cesc Fabregas also said to be a target.

Villa, 28, is due in Barcelona on Thursday and is booked for a medical.
The top scorer at Euro 2008 despite missing the final through injury, he had reportedly attracted interest from Manchester United and Chelsea.
The man from Asturias, in the north of Spain, is a regular in his country's first team and will be highly fancied to make a big impact at the World Cup.

His arrival at Barcelona is likely to lead to increased speculation over the futures of strikers Thierry Henry and Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
He was one player that was constantly linked with Manchester United last year and this as well. It will be interesting to hear from him this week considering he wanted to join us
After a board meeting at Valencia on Wednesday morning, Manuel Llorente, the president of the club known as "Los Che", said they had accepted Barca's offer.

"We have sold David Villa to Barcelona for 40 million euros," he told a news conference at the Mestalla.
"As everyone knows we could have done this deal last year but we thought at that moment it was best to keep our squad together to try and get into the Champions League.
"We have achieved that aim and finished third in the league, and he has contributed a lot towards this. We think it is a good sale and necessary for the economic situation of the club."

Barcelona's outgoing president Joan Laporta claimed on Tuesday the club were "satisfied" with the 21-goal contribution of Ibrahimovic in his first season since arriving from Inter Milan.
Henry appears to be on the verge of a move to Major League Soccer, with Laporta revealing there was "a lot of interest" in the 32-year-old French forward from the United States.

[Sir Roger]

Crouch is sh'ite

But better than Ngog, Kuyt, Babel.

Haha
Would Rafa have got rid if that was true?