19 May 2025 08:47:27
If Liverpool are about to sign Kerkez, Frimpong and Wirtz, that is good business and highlights how difficult it is for other teams to catch a club who are practicing good forward planning.
If they do sign the above players they probably only need to sign a CF and that's there buying business done.
19 May 2025 09:23:36
Are you saying our SD's are not doing the same tom?
19 May 2025 09:45:51
No, I am saying that teams who do reasonably well on forward planning stay at the top for a long time and make it difficult for other teams.
United under Ferguson were very good at upgrading there squad every year. City did it for a while and obviously we did it for many years under Roman. although I would say, as a club we seemed to be losing focus on quality recruitment in the final RA years.
I certainly not having a pop at anyone or anything at Chelsea.
19 May 2025 09:55:49
Precisely the issue tom. For 3 years now our recruitment has been poor and this is why after spending 1.3 billion pounds we are further away from the top of the epl than we were before the investment.
19 May 2025 10:08:59
Except not so with CFC women's team where the planning seems to have been far better than with our men's team?
19 May 2025 11:10:22
I repeat, I am not using Liverpools player planning as a way of criticising our current owners, SD’s or manager. My point is other clubs are not going to stand still and wait for us to catch up.
The current owners admitted making initial mistakes and I think it was Ed002 who said they had taken poor advice. So that waisted a period of time and transfer windows.
I’m only guessing but from the outside it now looks as if the owners are happy with the structure within the club. So I’m hoping with a settled management team we can keep moving forward.
The club also seem to have settled on an approach to signing young talent. Obviously it remains to be seen if that plan works.
I haven’t got a clue to the exact date the current Liverpool owners took over but I’m sure it has taken them a while to get a structure in place that they are happy with.
19 May 2025 11:55:49
Having a settled management team isn’t of any use if they not very good at their jobs.
19 May 2025 12:35:28
I’m really not sure how giving an example of how to manage a football club well has turned into an opportunity to have a pop at Chelsea but hey ho!
It isn’t the norm for new owners to take over a club and have instant success. We got spoilt.
It’s also not guaranteed that investing money in players will work out well, just look at the basket case that is Utd and see how many of there signings have worked out well?
There are more examples of new owners having to wait for success than there owners who have been successful quickly.
19 May 2025 12:38:02
I think this coming transfer window will be very telling in terms of the club's immediate ambitions. It seems as though the 2030 Vision has been about trying to sign the best young players avalable and goes back to the late Abromovich era when seen as long term strategy of trying to buy best young talent around to boost the academy development of players the best of whom could be integrated into the first team in time.
It seems that under the new owners - and after those early 'mistakes' in buying supposedly quality experienced players but in retrospect at inflated prices and wages - eg Aubemayang, Sterling, Koulibaly - the change of direction was to start buying largely younger players at lower prices and on lower wages on longer contracts.
I'd think the way forward is to combine Vision 2030 with some compromise in buying a few 'ready proven/ made' players for key positions like - most obviously - striker.
But I suppose you could argue that at least some of our current first teamers are no longer that young or inexpoerienced after two seasons or more under Poch then Maresca so we are moving gradually anyway towards a mix of still considerable youth and (greater) experience with -beyond ex academy player James - 25 yrs and older Cucurella, Neto, Sanchez and Tosin plus still young (23 or younger) but now relatively experienced Enzo F, Caicedo, Colwill, Madueke, Palmer, Jackson and (still only 21 but game time been hugely restricted by injury) Lavia. So likes of academy product George become the youngsters being added perhaps along with the obverseas wunderkids like Santos, Estevan Willian and Kendry Paez (and the swathe of GKs) .
The challenge facing SDs and manager - if allowed a say - is to now get far more right than wrong in determining ins and outs, and petrhaps particularly to look at striker, one of CB positions, and GK question - ie are current ones good enough? - without being too restricted by age and wage considerations if real proven world class player avialable to us for these positions and to help us become challengers for trophies (beyond Conference league! ) next season. not just in few years time (or 2030?! ) .
19 May 2025 13:59:17
JBS, you are correct in my opinion. The challenge of getting the vast majority of signings right over the next few windows is massive and I repeat, other clubs are not going to standby and wait for us to catch up.
The initial mistakes hurt us in so many ways but personally believe the owners have learned their lessons.
19 May 2025 14:21:26
I’m sorry I meant to add that a scouser supporting mate told me that the present owners of Liverpool have been in place for about fifteen years and in there first 8/ 9 years of ownership the club won one league cup. He also told me that the majority of fans were initially very critical of their owners.
19 May 2025 15:05:28
Tom
That's fair enough and as it's early in the ownership, a number of fans, not just on here are critical of our transfers just like the early days of the Liverpool owners.
19 May 2025 15:26:17
It may be that in our owners first 8 yrs or so in charge ie (Vision) 2030 the same will be true of our owners though we all hope for better.
19 May 2025 15:33:31
Bill, the majority of early signings were a mistake and although the owners were poorly advised that doesn’t divorce them entirely from criticism. After all they were not obligated to take that advice. As I’ve also said many times they could have taken far more time to spend there fortunes.
I think generally they and the SD’s since those early mistakes have invested reasonably well but like all clubs they are not going to get all of there signings correct.
As I’ve said before we got spoiled with the instant success under the RA ownership but that is generally a rarity. As fans we all rush to judge players, managers, SD’s and owners, maybe we should all just try and be a little less hasty with those judgments.
19 May 2025 15:37:05
Is Wirtz not going to Man City?
19 May 2025 15:48:38
We are a striker and maybe a centre back away from challenging for the title next season subject to injuries of course so I wouldn't worry too much about Liverpool or anyone else Tom. Petrovic, Santos, Estevao Willian, Essugo all coming in. Keeping James, Fofana and Lavia fit will be key or else replace them, Essugo is a beast of a midfielder so could replace Lavia, Achempong is developing nicely who could replace James. Fofana and Colwill work really well as a centre back partnership but with Fofana's injury record I guess we will see another right sided centre back. I have also heard we are strongly looking at a right footed left winger to add more attacking threat. What will be interesting is how many leave? I think it could be as many as 15!
19 May 2025 16:25:43
RBD, if we want to carry on improving we have recruit carefully in my opinion. I have said many times that I am not convinced we will sign a new GK but I do expect us to sign a CH, winger and CF.
My first choice of CH looks to be going to RM and I how we don’t sign the CH from Ajax who I’m not convinced about. I think we will sign Gittens and I’m hoping Sesko.
I also think that at least 15 players will be sold or go out on loan in this window.
Just one last comment on transfer sales. I have this horrible feeling we will sell at least one of my favourite players.
19 May 2025 17:31:05
I think you are right Tom about recruiting wisely and that of course goes for all clubs from steps 6 and 7 upwards! Petrovic has had a fantastic season on loan and Mike Pender is highly rated and Sanchez has 10 or 11 clean sheets in the premier league and is certainly improving so I don't see any recruitment in that department. Colwill and Fofana as a pair were starting to look really good and Trev and Tosin are good back ups but with Fofana being injury prone I'm sure the club will bring a right sided centre back in. I think we will sign 2 centre forwards, one being Delap and the other being David on a free transfer. The club regard Moises and Palmer untouchable and unless Saudi came in with some sort of crazy £250 million bid for Moises we can expect the team to be built around those 2. Throw in Colwill, the ever improving Cucu (what a signing he has proved to be), Lavia, Enzo, James, Estevao Willian and with that centre half and striker signing you have one heck of a starting 11 with the likes of Gusto, Tosin, Achempong, Santos, Essugo, maybe Trev, Fofana, Neto, Jackson, George, Noni and the keepers and that is some squad! Maybe cover at left back?
19 May 2025 19:20:49
RBD, we have a young kid, I think called Samuel’s-Smith who is a LB and very highly rated. To me it would be madness to block his path off from the 1st team. Of course if they do sign the lad from Ajax he can also play LB as well as CH.