Liverpool Football Club Thread

[DeNeo]

At this rate we'll have signed all our targets before the transfer window is even open!

[Azrael]

Firmino can play as striker can't he?

I'm purely basing that off playing FIFA. He's good in that so happy with this signing. That's how I judge signings, how good they are in FIFA.

[dogsout]

I'll be amazed if we sign a striker after getting Firmino. I think the links to Bacca and Rondon were just smokescreens to take the focus away from the Firmino deal. This signing has reinforced my suspicion that we wouldn't be going for another striker. He's versatile but his best position is undoubtedly as a #10. He's exactly the type of player we'd want for this position, too. He makes tons of interceptions and tackles, and has that lovely blend of European directness and Brazilian flair. So unless we're going to spend all this money on a #10 and then lump him on the wing (again) then that's where he'll play. This means the manager has to choose one of the following options:

- Leave out one of Coutinho, Lallana, Henderson and Milner, in order to make space for another striker.

- Leave out Sturridge (once he's available).

As I said before, Sturridge earns too much to sit on the bench at LFC. We're not City or Chelsea; it won't happen. The same applies to Milner. I believe he rates the other three too highly to essentially allow one of them to become a squad player, and let's not forget he'll still need to find games for the rest of the midfielders in the squad.

We'll see who's right in due course but I reckon Clyne will be the last high profile target.

[glb]

A bit more about Firmino

In December 2010 the Hoffenheim sporting director, Ernst Tanner, travelled to the east coast of Brazil to check out a player at the second division side Figueirense. The reports had been promising but Tanner did not know what to expect as he turned up for training to watch the young Roberto Firmino Barbosa de Oliveira.

Afterwards, Tanner was not much the wiser. “It was strange because during some exercises he would just, without any apparent reason, just fold … but instead of making a big meal out of it and getting angry, he listened carefully to his coach and learned from what he had done wrong. That impressed me.”

It is perhaps not the most glowing reference ever heard from a scouting mission but Tanner convinced Hoffenheim that the 19-year-old, whose move to Liverpool was announced on Wednesday, was worth a gamble. In January 2011 the Bundesliga club signed the player for €4m without much fanfare. At the low-key unveiling Tanner explained the club’s plans for the unknown Brazilian.

“We are delighted to have been able to strengthen our squad with a top talent from Brazil, in which several international clubs were interested,” he said. “We will give him enough time to settle in here at our club. He has already shown his qualities with eight goals in 36 games and was recently voted the best player in the Brazilian second division.”

In hindsight, Firmino could hardly have chosen a better club to start his European adventure. Hoffenheim is a tiny town south of Frankfurt with only around 3,000 inhabitants. The young Brazilian was allowed to settle without the pressure of being at a big club, or even in a big city.

Hoffenheim are only in the Bundesliga because of Dietmar Hopp’s huge financial support but they have also been extremely successful with their South American imports. In the month Firmino arrived at Hoffenheim, the club sold Luiz Gustavo to Bayern Munich for €17m. He had arrived from Corinthians Alagoano in 2008 for an even smaller fee than Firmino did three years later.

Firmino, in fact, was looking forward to moving to Europe so much that he got himself a tattoo in German before he boarded the flight. There was only one slight problem: he had used an internet translation tool, which did not use the umlaut on the ö in the phrase Familie unaufhorlich Liebe, which roughly translates as “unremitting love for the family”.

Undeterred, the Brazilian made his Bundesliga debut a month after arriving in Germany and played in 11 league games that season, mainly as a substitute, scoring three goals; and this is the thing about Firmino, he is not an out-and-out goalscorer. He is a forward who averages roughly a goal every three games, and he has done that throughout his career.

What he does provide, though, is an unrelenting work ethic. In that respect, he is similar to Luis Suárez and Alexis Sánchez. He will harry and press the opponents until he drops. In one match report in Germany he was described as the “clever, first stealer of balls in Hoffenheim’s pressing system”.

Holger Stanislawski, his first manager at Hoffenheim, immediately described him as being “unbelievably good tactically”, which will be music to Brendan Rodgers’ ears after a season of having to teach Mario Balotelli, among other things, how to defend at corners.

In fact he has been showered with praise for most of his time in Germany, the papers describing him as one of few players “who stay focused for the entire 90 minutes” and a “master of moving around without anyone noticing him, to provide goals or score them himself”.

There have been some disciplinary issues and he was once suspended briefly by Hoffenheim for turning up late for training but that was early on in his career and he has not done it since.

The 23-year-old was born in Maceió – as was Pepe and Mario Zagallo – which is one of Brazil’s most dangerous cities. His father sold water bottles to commuters waiting in the queues in and out of the city and he had to move to Figueirense on his own when he was 16. “It was not an easy time,” he has said, “I was completely on my own.” But that experience will have prepared him for moving to Germany, and now to England.

The 2013-14 season was arguably Firmino’s best to date with the manager Markus Gisdol getting the best out of him. Gisdol not only made him a better attacking player but also instilled the workrate ethic that was surely a big reason for Liverpool paying as much as £29m for him.

That season he scored 16 goals in 33 Bundesliga games, finishing third behind Marco Reus (30) and Robert Lewandowski (31) in the goalscoring charts. He also provided 12 assists in that campaign and is, in fact, the player who has created most chances in the Bundesliga (138) over the past two seasons. Firmino also had the joint-third most assists last season (10) with Thomas Müller. Not bad for someone playing for a mid-table club.

Currently with Brazil at the Copa América, Firmino has coped well with the pressure of leading the line now that Neymar is suspended and he has already scored four goals in nine appearances for the national team. Dunga’s side play Paraguay in the quarter-finals on Saturday.

Behind the scenes, he is a bubbly, fun character but in front of the cameras he comes across as incredibly shy. On Tuesday, at a Copa press conference before his move was confirmed, he managed to answer 18 questions without saying anything of note. It got to a point where the Brazilian journalists could only smile.

Most importantly for Liverpool, though, is that they seem to have learned from last summer’s travails in the transfer market. Then, a deal for Loïc Rémy collapsed in late July and the club were forced into what can only be described as a panic buy with Balotelli in August. This time they have already signed James Milner, Adam Bogdan, Danny Ings and now Firmino.

The fee is eye-watering considering it is almost as much as Chelsea paid for Diego Costa and more (with add-ons) than Arsenal paid for Sánchez. But there is no doubt that he is an extremely talented young player who is still improving. There will be few defences in the Premier League looking forward to an afternoon battling Philippe Coutinho, Firmino and Daniel Sturridge – if fit.

And while £29m does seem a lot, if Raheem Sterling joins Manchester City for a fee of around £45-50m then Liverpool will have got a more consistent performer and made a hefty profit in the process. They will settle for that, and if Sterling stays, then opposing defences will be in even more trouble next season.

http://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2015/jun/24/roberto-firmino-liverpool-thiever-of-balls

[Chewylegs]

I'll be amazed if we sign a striker after getting Firmino. I think the links to Bacca and Rondon were just smokescreens to take the focus away from the Firmino deal. This signing has reinforced my suspicion that we wouldn't be going for another striker. He's versatile but his best position is undoubtedly as a #10. He's exactly the type of player we'd want for this position, too. He makes tons of interceptions and tackles, and has that lovely blend of European directness and Brazilian flair. So unless we're going to spend all this money on a #10 and then lump him on the wing (again) then that's where he'll play. This means the manager has to choose one of the following options:

- Leave out one of Coutinho, Lallana, Henderson and Milner, in order to make space for another striker.

- Leave out Sturridge (once he's available).

As I said before, Sturridge earns too much to sit on the bench at LFC. We're not City or Chelsea; it won't happen. The same applies to Milner. I believe he rates the other three too highly to essentially allow one of them to become a squad player, and let's not forget he'll still need to find games for the rest of the midfielders in the squad.

We'll see who's right in due course but I reckon Clyne will be the last high profile target.

My thinking would be Lallana would be left put IF we bought another striker.

If we don't get a striker though I'm worried we will struggle to score goals again as relying on Sturridge is currently like playing roulette.

My worry is what will happen to Markovic and Ibe. Both have bags of potential and one of them cost us £20m! We seem to disregard the ridiculous amount of money spent on our players season after season, like it never happened or something.

[Istanbul]

I'll be amazed if we sign a striker after getting Firmino. I think the links to Bacca and Rondon were just smokescreens to take the focus away from the Firmino deal. This signing has reinforced my suspicion that we wouldn't be going for another striker. He's versatile but his best position is undoubtedly as a #10. He's exactly the type of player we'd want for this position, too. He makes tons of interceptions and tackles, and has that lovely blend of European directness and Brazilian flair. So unless we're going to spend all this money on a #10 and then lump him on the wing (again) then that's where he'll play. This means the manager has to choose one of the following options:

- Leave out one of Coutinho, Lallana, Henderson and Milner, in order to make space for another striker.

- Leave out Sturridge (once he's available).

As I said before, Sturridge earns too much to sit on the bench at LFC. We're not City or Chelsea; it won't happen. The same applies to Milner. I believe he rates the other three too highly to essentially allow one of them to become a squad player, and let's not forget he'll still need to find games for the rest of the midfielders in the squad.

We'll see who's right in due course but I reckon Clyne will be the last high profile target.

Yeah, it seems to make sense. I really hope we do though. Assuming we want two players for every position, going with a 4-3-3, not including players we obviously don't want, are a bit young, or have a questionable future:

GK: Mignolet, Bogdan

LB: Moreno

CB: Sakho, Lovren

CB: Skrtel, Toure

RB: Flanagan

DM: Can, Lucas

CM: Henderson, Allen

CM: Milner

AT: Coutinho, Lallana, Origi

AT: Firmino, Ibe, Markovic

ST: Sturridge, Ings

So yeah, we already seem quite overloaded at the top. Wouldn't be surprised with one of those 'AT' players were sold or loaned out. Which would be a shame as it would be Ibe or Markovic. Personally wouldn't even count Sturridge due to his injury record. There's flexibility there for others to play up top...Firmino, Origi, even Ibe. As is the case in Midfield, any of those 5 could do a job in the role I suspect they'll be playing. Coutinho and Lallana could maybe come back into the midfield too. It's obvious we need a RB and probably another LB. Flanno is another huge injury worry and can't really be counted on at this point.

So...would like to see a 1st team RB...a LB who will compete with the defensively dodgy (at times) Moreno, and of course would like another main striker in...cos we all love strikers.

Then time to get rid of the waste...Enrique, Balotelli, Borini, Lambert etc.

[tenrou]

I expect us to have a good go at all trophies this year given how much was made of no trophy in his first 3 seasons Rogers will know he needs some silverware.

Given that would be over 60 games a season I would expect a lot of the forward players to still get 30 plus games a season.

[DeNeo]

As I've said previously, we leak *everything* to the papers. Even though the Firmino deal was quick, it was still reported a couple of days before we signed him. The fact the Echo ran this yesterday, after we signed Firmino, is pretty much confirmation we're still after a striker:

http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/liverpool-fc-press-ahead-plans-9520731

The Bacca links might be a smokescreen though - to get Villa to drop the Benteke price...

[Istanbul]

Clyne to Liverpool done. Good signing I think.

[Kelthink]

Flipping hell. What did Rodgers say to the owners to get all this cash? Gift of the gab.

If he doesn't get at least 4th with all these players, well, shit. One last chance!

[gospvg]

Just pray we get off to a good start.

[Istanbul]

Flipping hell. What did Rodgers say to the owners to get all this cash? Gift of the gab.

[Azrael]

Our striker options at the moment are: Sturridge, Balotelli, Lambert, Borini, Ings, Origi and Sterling (also Firmino and Markovic)

Sterling is almost definitely gone.

Borini is likely gone

Lambert and Mario will probably go

Origi, Firmino and Markovic are best suited in other positions

Sturridge is out until October and injury risk.

So that would only leave Ings really.

Can definitely still see us getting at least one new striker in. Or keeping Balotelli/Lambert.

On a side note when did Aspas get sold? Missed that bit of news.

[SMD]

May

[Timmo]

I'll forever treasure that corner kick against Chelsea. One of my favourite moments in football.

[gospvg]

On a side note when did Aspas get sold? Missed that bit of news.

Iago Aspas (Sevilla, £3.6m)

[Azrael]

Farewell sweet prince.

[SMD]

Aspas and Moses in the same team...

[JamesTW]

need a striker that's good that cost over 20m so it's not just sort of accepted we have no strikers and is ok to not play any because everyone up front is shit or didn't cost anything or are mad (Balotelli) like last season when we couldn't score, I don't trust Rodgers to start Ings and sacrifice one of his precious 5 or 6 attacking midfielders (he'll probably try them in central defence aswell), I hope whoever is in charge assumes Sturridge will be injured all season

[Istanbul]

Aspas, what a hero...follows me on Twitter, haha.

Glad we've got Cylne wrapped up though. Hopefully not another Southampton failure.

[SaintM]

I think you'll find they are technically Liverpool failures.

[gooner4life]

Why would Clyne want to go to Liverpool? i thought he was a top player, talk about lacking ambition, as Ramon Calderon said when Robinho left Madrid to join Man City "If a player is willing to leave a club like Madrid to play for Man City then we do not want that type of player at Madrid anyway"

[JamesTW]

Couldn't you say the same about Ozil & Sanchez, what are they doing signing for Arsenal?

[reef]

Yes, was going to say the same. Barcelona or Madrid to Arsenal is a massive backwards step for any first team player, and reeks of a lack of ambition.

[PaB]

Yes, was going to say the same. Barcelona or Madrid to Arsenal is a massive backwards step for any first team player, and reeks of a lack of ambition.

I don't think there is a comparison to be made in a player going from Southampton to Liverpool versus Barcelona/Real to Arsenal. Southampton are a selling club. Barca/Real are not. If they sell a player it's because they don't see them as essential.

Has there ever been another example of 4 players from one prem club going to another within 12 months?

[gooner4life]

Couldn't you say the same about Ozil & Sanchez, what are they doing signing for Arsenal?

You could, but you'd be wrong.

[bear]

I don't think there is a comparison to be made in a player going from Southampton to Liverpool versus Barcelona/Real to Arsenal. Southampton are a selling club. Barca/Real are not. If they sell a player it's because they don't see them as essential.

Has there ever been another example of 4 players from one prem club going to another within 12 months?

Redknapp signed a lot of his Portsmouth squad when he went to Spurs didn't he?

[JamesTW]

You could, but you'd be wrong.

you said why would a top player want to sign for Liverpool, must have no ambition so I said why are top players signing for Arsenal who just win domestic cups and don't even challenge for anything else

[Takizawa]

Quoting Ramon Calderon as sense is stage 2 of admitting there is a problem, well done gooner.

[rgraves]

Yeah, why would you go to Liverpool. It's not like they've been closer than Southampton to winning the league or any of the cups in the last few seasons. Oh....

Liverpool are not a "big" club in the league of a Barca or Real Madrid right now, but they are still bigger than Southampton and I know who my money would be on if you forced me to pick which one was most likely to win something before the other.