aCe' wrote:metalhead wrote:Do we really need Tiote when Lucas comes back from injury? I know he is a very good player, but I would rather spend money on buying a midfielder in Luca Modric or Fabregas mold, someone who is creative. James McCarthy of Wigan?
As much as I admire Lucas for the way he turned around his Liverpool career and the excellent performances he's put in over the past 12 months or so, he's not -and never will be- as good a player as Tiote is.
I do see your point about strengthening elsewhere since we really need to sort out the forward positions urgently and perhaps consider defensive acquisitions in the near future, but for me the spine of the side needs to be strengthened and I see Tiote as a player who can come in and add balance to the middle of the park.
Both Adam and Henderson have failed to impress so far and with Lucas out for the season and Gerrard struggling with injuries in recent times, we're likely to be left exposed in the department yet and again. Tiote for me would offer not only a shotr term solution, but also a long term one since have no doubt that a combination of him and Lucas would have more than enough between them to start play from the back and venture higher up occasionally to support the attacking play.
The problem -the way I see it- is that players like Ba, Hoilett, and Tiote to a lesser extent will all be snapped up by big clubs sooner or later. In the case of Hoilett and Ba, their asking price at the moment represents excellent value for money with Hoilett's contract expiring at the end of the season and Ba having a release clause of 5mill or so on his. Tiote would probably be a 15-20 million player but again, I dont see his price dropping anytime soon, and given the type of player he is, I'm sure many top sides (Utd and Chelsea) would be very interested in signing him at the end of the season.
Regarding your suggestion, Im afraid McCarthy is exactly the sort of player we SHOULDNT be signing. Young, expensive mainly because hes British, unproven, and inconsistent. To add to that, hes not specialized enough in any particular department and his goal-scoring record is poor. Funny enough, going by our signings so far hes probably the most likely to sign out of all the players mentioned.
If we are going to go down that route (and I'm not suggesting we do) then I'd rather we take more calculated risks in the future. Henderson for 20mill was bad business and I'd like to think it was a mistake that we learned from. From the young British talent out there that could potentially sign for us, the most impressive 2 players for me have to be Hoilett from Blackburn and McClean from Sunderland.
