Will Liverpool 'do a Spurs'?

Lots of rumours that we are about to splash the cash we're supposed to be getting for Suarez... as we saw from Spurs last season, lots of new signings can be hard to integrate into a team.

I think we'll be fighting for 3rd/4th place. I think that Rogers has a system in place and that will continue to work without Suarez... but I think we'll miss the creative spark, which will cost us some points next term. I also think that Man U and Arsenal will do better than this year. And maybe Spurs  

The thing with Spurs' signings were that they were pointless and ill fitted. They lost any sort of identity as a club once Bale went. Why try and replace a hell of a lot of pace with slow players like Soldado and Chadli? Lamela obviously flopped for various reasons and the rest of the players they signed were nobodys anyway.

I don't think we'll make that mistake. The players we have signed so far were signed with the impression Suarez was staying anyway - Lambert was always signed to replace Aspas, Can was signed to replace Lucas and Lallana we know was always a target because he's a player that will fit our system nicely in theory. Rodgers seems to have a philosophy in place and isn't just signing players willy nilly - Lovren will probably be signed to replace Skrtel/Agger - again, that makes sense.

The Suarez thing has really changed the dynamics of our policy this summer - now we have an added 80 million to play around with but that doesn't mean we're going to spend it all or buy another 5 players like Spurs. Markovic and one other will come in to replace Suarez - obviously that would have been Sanchez but he's decided he wants to play for Arsenal instead.

Losing Suarez means there's a real possibility that we will be significantly weaker next season, we managed to cope without him at the start of last season but we were only winning games 1-0. Sturridge seems to go through little bursts of brilliant spells so when they dry up who is going to get the goals? That's why it's important that Sterling/Coutinho/new attacking player can really up their goals tally and chip in but that's still unrealistic to expect they can make up the sheer amount of assists, goals and ridiculous moments Suarez conjures up time after time.

If we get the right player in to replace Suarez and we sort the defence out then I don't see why we can't have another strong season but right now I'd guess at 3rd or 4th. City and Chelsea have those top 2 places wrapped up but I'm not that worried about United, Arsenal or Spurs at this current moment.

Few things to add

- Spurs didn't come second (and will never ever come second in the future)
- Spurs didn't have much of a support act around Bale, we do
- We weren't just winning matches, we were thrashing teams. The main difference next year will be more 2-1 wins instead of 5-1

All in all though I'm not overly impressed with how this money is seemingly being used (although still early days and Suarez is yet to depart).

Lallana - Good addition to the squad but could have got significantly better for this money from abroad
Lambert - If he is 3rd / 4th choice then great. Going into this season with him 2nd choice is a bit of a disaster waiting to happen
Can - Positive signing - should push Lucas out of the squad and hopefully share defensive mid duties with Gerrard
Markovic - Know bugger all about him, let's hope he makes up for losing out on someone as good as Sanchez
Lovren - Almost a sackable offence to spend 20m on him. No better than the 6 other centre backs we have.

With 70m in the bank I expect at least one marquee signing. We replaced Torres with Suarez (and Carroll) so something of a similar stature will be required for when Sturridge's hamstrings give way.

So to conclude, we will do a Spurs, but only in terms of losing a few league positions. We will just about scrape 4th ahead of United or Arsenal but continue to be the best team to watch in the league !!!

It's a fair question.

And I'm almost certainly self deluding but.......

I feel Liverpool coped better without Suarez last season than Spurs did without Bale the previous season.

What's probably more relevant is Tottenham gutted their squad while replacing them with new signings, wheras Liverpool's squad is/was small and the loss (so far) of Aspas, Alberto, Moses and Cissoko is unlikely to effect the cohesion as much as losing Parker, Gallas, Huddlestone, Livermore, Defoe, Dempsey etc in one foul swoop.

Hopefully Lallana and Lambert are already able to speak English, and they'll have worked with Flanaghan, Gerrard, Sterling, Henderson and Sturridge with England.

I'm almost certainly self deluding

A lot of Spurs dodgy signings were from outside the EPL, so although Liverpool pay more for the likes of lallana and lovren it's less of a risk also.

lallana  

COTR wrote:Lovren - Almost a sackable offence to spend 20m on him. No better than the 6 other centre backs we have.

I'm not sure he's worth 25m being touted but he's a v.good defender and I'd say better than any in your current squad from what I've seen.

I agree with most of the comments on here thought I'd get that in before Kimbo arrives with a Gerrard rant

2 key things for me:
1) I think that Suarez gave us a 'fear factor' for other teams - while he was on the pitch an attack could start from nothing. Having to keep him quiet gave other players more space. It'll be interesting to see how much of an impact that has.
2) Brendan has had (at best) a mixed track record in the transfer market up to now. It'll be a good test to see how he spends the money available.

debaser wrote:

COTR wrote:Lovren - Almost a sackable offence to spend 20m on him. No better than the 6 other centre backs we have.

I'm not sure he's worth 25m being touted but he's a v.good defender and I'd say better than any in your current squad from what I've seen.

Nah, the system was the issue last year, not the personnel (although I would like an upgrade on Mignolet). Lovren is no better than Agger, Skrtel or Sakho and if he is it is only marginal. Keep the £20m please.

You could argue without playing that system we wouldn't have reached the top 4 though; ultimately it may have cost us at the most important moment but you have to be bold sometimes and face the consequences.

I'm not arguing against it at all. Last year was wonderful. More of the same please, preferably without wasting £20m on Déjàn Lovren

I don't know how you can say spending 20 million on our main priority position is a waste. In an ideal world we'd be paying much less but Southampton signed him for 9 million. His price will obviously go up and already taking two of their best players probably won't make them inclined to bend over and let us have another one for cheap.

The fact is that Skrtel is a liability. He has occasional great games and he's a threat from set pieces but too many times he just isn't up to scratch. Agger doesn't get on with Rodgers from what I've heard so is likely out the door soon. I like Sakho but I'm not going to pretend he doesn't need a lot of work to get up to Premier League standard. Toure is a bit of a joke.

We need a centre back. Someone who is proven in this league, can tackle, can play out from the back and is good in the air. Lovren fits the bill and if it's 20 million we have to pay then so be it; I've seen similar defenders go for more.

Lovren is proven in the league but Skrtel and Agger aren't ?

Nah, never convincing me on this one. Hope the deal falls through.

Luis wrote:I don't know how you can say spending 20 million on our main priority position is a waste. In an ideal world we'd be paying much less but Southampton signed him for 9 million. His price will obviously go up and already taking two of their best players probably won't make them inclined to bend over and let us have another one for cheap.

The fact is that Skrtel is a liability. He has occasional great games and he's a threat from set pieces but too many times he just isn't up to scratch. Agger doesn't get on with Rodgers from what I've heard so is likely out the door soon. I like Sakho but I'm not going to pretend he doesn't need a lot of work to get up to Premier League standard. Toure is a bit of a joke.

We need a centre back. Someone who is proven in this league, can tackle, can play out from the back and is good in the air. Lovren fits the bill and if it's 20 million we have to pay then so be it; I've seen similar defenders go for more.

And a lot worse ones as well! I don't think 20m for Lovren is a bad deal tbh. For me he is better than Skrtel and Sakho. Agger is great but he never plays so what's the point. Don't know what is going on with Coates, I'm guessing he is not in the plans. Kolo? I guess the question for COTR is, if not Lovren, who (that is better and cheaper)? Look someone like Miranda from Atleti is gonna cost about 35m.

He spent £22m on centre backs last year on top of Skrtel and Agger. We don't need to add a 7th CB to the collection, and that's before you even consider Wisdom and Kelly who should have the attributes to be a success there, especially Wisdom.

Skrtel, Agger and Sakho first choice
Wisdom and Ilori as the Carling cup stars

Problem is the system, not the personnel as I said before. Adding another centre back to the squad won't make any difference at all.

I respectfully disagree. Let's not bother finding a better goalkeeper than Mignolet then if it's the system no?

We need to defend better as a team, sure - hopefully this Can fella is a lot better than Lucas if he's going to be our defensive midfielder. We desperately need to replace Johnson and Skrtel - regardless of what system we play these two are no way near good enough for a team wanting to win a title and compete in the cups.

Kelly is going to retire for this club having been one of the biggest myths since Aquilani. I liked him in the past but there's something up with him - Too many managers have ignored him for me to believe he's good enough.

And yeah we have a few kids with potential, Wisdom, Flanagan, Sama etc but we need players for the here and now. Lovren is far better than Skrtel. Agger is finished with us IMO. Sakho needs a good partner or we're going to have the same problems at the back that we had last season.

Liverpool weakest point was at CB if they strengthen it Gerrard plays better just a bit. Get a good CB partnership forming and your manage to finish high.

CB's not their weak point, protection for the defence is. Not that they will admit it.

Deluded F*ck™ wrote:CB's not their weak point, protection for the defence is. Not that they will admit it.

Well I did say Can has an important role to play if he's replacing Lucas. Our centre backs are a weak point though, I can't rely on any of them throughout a whole season besides Agger and he's not in the favour of the manager.

Guess what you're all right:
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2057216-liverpools-dodgy-defence-individual-errors-or-a-lack-of-midfield-cover

Basically it is the both the system and the players responsible for the high number of goals conceded. The system is "too attacking", and the defensive players also make more errors as they are overworked.

On a side note I would get rid of Agger anyway, he seems to be injured for a spell every season. Let barca give you some money for him.