The BigFooty Liverpool Army

[Gosha]

Maybe I'm wrong, but was Salah a failure at Chelsea or just one of a number of unnecessary purchases Mou made just to stop other teams strengthening?

My two cents...

I rated Salah at Chelsea and preferred him over both Willian and Schurrle (was never a fan of either though). Mourinho just didn't like him for whatever reason but keep in mind Mourinho didn't rate de Bruyne.

I don't think we bought him to prevent Liverpool from signing him because we signed him just after he destroyed us twice in the CL when he was at Basel. We bought Willian under similar circumstances when he did the same at Shaktar.

But anyway, I originally felt that he would be perfect in a counter-attacking side because his first touch, pace and dribbling is exceptional. When he gets into space he is deadly. His finishing is what let him down here but I've read that it has improved significantly since he left, hence his goal scoring record in Serie A.

I'm now starting to think that he would be a very good signing for Liverpool and I really hope it doesn't go through (sorry). He has the hallmarks of being a Mane type signing and Klopp will love his intense work rate in a press. I'm gonna keep a close eye on him if he does come across and it will be interesting to see how he goes, but this one has me worried.

And when/if he does join expect an influx of Arabs flooding Liverpool's social media pages hailing the great "Egyptian Messi".

 

[gaskin]

Im worried about this Salah deal. Serie A isnt the greatest league going about and he's already had one crack in England and failed to impress.

Hmm...

He never got a look in at Chelsea which is something people seem to forget when they bring that up.

Scoff at Serie A all you like (I do) but being directly involved in 28 of Roma's 90 goals this season is nothing to scoff at.

 

[SM]

Have read this. Got a feeling if it happens we'll loan him back out straight away.

Yeah he's very raw.

 

[Joker91]

One things for sure if we can sign a few of the people we are interested in... we will be very good to watch next year

 

[danzan22]

Im worried about this Salah deal. Serie A isnt the greatest league going about and he's already had one crack in England and failed to impress.

Hmm...

When looking at today's market, for the money we are spending it's not a huge risk.

The team wasn't really setup for Salah's style of football under Mou, i think (hope) he will thrive under Klopp.

 

[Balony_pony16]

Im worried about this Salah deal. Serie A isnt the greatest league going about and he's already had one crack in England and failed to impress.

Hmm...

I get the concerns, although he was only what 21yrs old when he last played in the EPL and had to crack into the Chelsea team

 

[ADL9798]

I wonder if all this heat on Salah was because we couldnt get our first two options in Pulisic and Brandt.

I'd say Salah is currently arguably a better player than Brandt, and is without doubt a better player than Pulisic. I doubt that Pulisic was ever rated ahead of those 2 by the club.

There are some fantastic sides and very talented footballers in the Serie A, and looking at performances over the last 2 seasons, he's been among the best of them.

I wouldn't blacklist the league entirely, sure some players may struggle moving from 1 league to another but I think Salah is about as good a fit as we're likely to find for that wing position.

He didn't click at Chelsea but as has been pointed out, he was just 21 when he signed for the Blues, and we know Mourinho has a history of poor judgement when it comes to letting quality players walk out the door. If anything I'd view his prior experience in this league as a huge positive rather than a negative.

 

[Cooldude]

Salah's left footed, which is nice since we don't have enough in our squad. Very two footed just like Mane though, it's very handy to have two wide players who are adapt at either feet

Much better player on the right side though, would switch Mane to the left

 

[Milenko]

I wonder if all this heat on Salah was because we couldnt get our first two options in Pulisic and Brandt.

100% fact. Salah was only ever our 3rd choice.

 

[gaskin]

100% fact. Salah was only ever our 3rd choice.

According to who? Who did you speak to that told you that is a 100% fact?

 

[Cooldude]

Mane was 2nd choice behind Gotze, Wijnaldum behind Zielinski. Means nothing

 

[Zidane98]

Bullet dodged with Gotze.

 

[jod23]

funny how you think the epl is such a great league yet seria a is poor

Why is it funny? Serie A is widely known to be a much slower league. It's why older footballer can still get by there. Pirlo, Totti for example. The Premier League is must faster, much less time on the ball, more physical. It's why it worries me when buying player who have excelled in Italy.

 

[Cooldude]

Would still sign Gotze at a cut price deal, worth a punt

Yes I'm just very fond of his wife

 

[jod23]

I'd say Salah is currently arguably a better player than Brandt, and is without doubt a better player than Pulisic. I doubt that Pulisic was ever rated ahead of those 2 by the club.

There are some fantastic sides and very talented footballers in the Serie A, and looking at performances over the last 2 seasons, he's been among the best of them.

I wouldn't blacklist the league entirely, sure some players may struggle moving from 1 league to another but I think Salah is about as good a fit as we're likely to find for that wing position.

He didn't click at Chelsea but as has been pointed out, he was just 21 when he signed for the Blues, and we know Mourinho has a history of poor judgement when it comes to letting quality players walk out the door. If anything I'd view his prior experience in this league as a huge positive rather than a negative.

Oh dont get me wrong, I'm not against the signing but just wary of it. He has been on fire for Roma for a couple of seasons now and their were certainly a lot of circumstances involved as to why he failed at his first chance in the PL.

 

[jod23]

Would still sign Gotze at a cut price deal, worth a punt

Yes I'm just very fond of his wife

Would have to be very, very cheap as his personal problems make him a real risk.

 

[Cooldude]

Barca would let Rafinha leave

Would love us to have a crack

 

[jod23]

Oh and if these comments are anything to go by then we can rule out VVD and Salah and start to look in the bargain bin. Clichy is available for free!

Our new CEO Peter Moore ladies and gentlemen!!

"You can expect the team to be strengthened, but we won't be spending £100 million just because Manchester City has spent £100 million."

"We will not be spending money just to keep up with the neighbours," declared Moore. "We might spend £100m, who knows, but it will not be because one or more of our competitors has done so. We want to invest sensibly and securely, because that is how businesses grow."

"Everyone wants to see massive money but my business background is buying talent at the right price," says Moore. "We have a kid called Philippe Coutinho who cost £8m, and he is as good as other guys around the league who cost four or five times as much. What I am about, and what I believe this club is about, is making good business decisions."

"I trust [sporting director] Michael Edwards implicitly to do a value proposition of a particular player and say, based on the data analytics we have on them and the comparables we have on other players, that this is what we go for. I'm yet to see the process of how it works, but I hear nothing but good things the way we do it and in particular about Michael -- and his process of this."

****ing hell. I feel for Klopp.

I swear to god if we dont spend big this summer imma lose my shit and get on the FSG out bandwagon.

 

[jod23]

Seriously everything he says above sounds like getting excuses ready.

Coutinho was a fantastic buy for 8 million but they are few and far between. And even if we did manage to buy a player of Coutinho's quality for 8 million this summer, that player wont hit Cout's levels for years like it has taken Cout years to go grow into the player he is now.

That doesnt help us now. We need ready made excellent footballers to help us compete on all four fronts.

All Moore seems to be saying is excuses and to expect "smart business decisions" that bodes ****ing awfully for this summer.

Brace yourself lads.

 

[gaskin]

To me that is him saying we will spend the money if it makes sense. We aren't going to go out and buy someone just to stop another team buying them like Chelsea and City do. Ultimately it is up to FSG, not him.

 

[ADL9798]

Seriously everything he says above sounds like getting excuses ready.

Coutinho was a fantastic buy for 8 million but they are few and far between. And even if we did manage to buy a player of Coutinho's quality for 8 million this summer, that player wont hit Cout's levels for years like it has taken Cout years to go grow into the player he is now.

That doesnt help us now. We need ready made excellent footballers to help us compete on all four fronts.

All Moore seems to be saying is excuses and to expect "smart business decisions" that bodes ******* awfully for this summer.

Brace yourself lads.

Should also be considered in the context of sending a message to clubs that we're negotiating to buy players from.

You can imagine a selling club saying to us "well Man City paid x for this CB, and we believe our CB is superior therefore you should pay us more than x for our player". I'd hope our response is along the lines of "that's City's problem, not ours".

Similarly I'm sure clubs outside the PL negotiating for players will have similar discussions along the lines of "just because a Premier League club is willing to pay this amount for this type and calibre of player, doesn't make that the universal market rate for this type and calibre of player".

Many clubs will be looking to place a cap on a market where more and more it seems as though transfer fees are being grossly inflated and are not necessarily indicative of player quality. It's definitely trending towards a 'pay whatever it takes to get them in the door' type of situation at present which whatever way you look at it, isn't sustainable long term for any club.

I'm not all that concerned about our capacity to pay big fees for the players we want. ~£50m for VVD, sure, and it sounds like we're right in that ball park. But if someone is stupid enough to push his fee up to £60m+ then I hope we do pull out.

 

[Cooldude]

As long as these bloody empty suits get outta Jurg's way and let him do his thing then fine. Too many bad experiences at this club with these bastards thinking they know anything about football and start meddling

 

[jod23]

To me that is him saying we will spend the money if it makes sense. We aren't going to go out and buy someone just to stop another team buying them like Chelsea and City do. Ultimately it is up to FSG, not him.

Should also be considered in the context of sending a message to clubs that we're negotiating to buy players from.

You can imagine a selling club saying to us "well Man City paid x for this CB, and we believe our CB is superior therefore you should pay us more than x for our player". I'd hope our response is along the lines of "that's City's problem, not ours".

Similarly I'm sure clubs outside the PL negotiating for players will have similar discussions along the lines of "just because a Premier League club is willing to pay this amount for this type and calibre of player, doesn't make that the universal market rate for this type and calibre of player".

Many clubs will be looking to place a cap on a market where more and more it seems as though transfer fees are being grossly inflated and are not necessarily indicative of player quality. It's definitely trending towards a 'pay whatever it takes to get them in the door' type of situation at present which whatever way you look at it, isn't sustainable long term for any club.

I'm not all that concerned about our capacity to pay big fees for the players we want. ~£50m for VVD, sure, and it sounds like we're right in that ball park. But if someone is stupid enough to push his fee up to £60m+ then I hope we do pull out.

I dont know boys, sounds like excuses. Those comments are pretty damning.

I guess we will see as the summer rolls on.

 

[Cooldude]

He sounds just like Ian Ayre but looks more like a Bond villain

 

[Will.B.Worth.Da.Waite]

I'm excited about Salah, think he's exactly that 'other' Mane we all want - he has raw pace and delivers goals/assists. If not him, then who (realistically)?

I think the concern over Serie A players is fair, history shows it is, but Salah seems to deliver the traits we are after, I'll back Klopp to ensure he's the right fit and to get the most out of him.