Mo Salah - Grade A
He has made a cracking start to his LFC career following an excellent pre-season with a few goals and some strong performances in both the League and Europe thus far. He is incredibly quick and with Mane on the other side it has enabled us to really stretch the pitch and I'd say we are the most dangerous tea,minnthe league in the counter with these two in the side, even more so once Phil stops crying and gets his arse back into gear.given some of the crazy transfer fees this summer he also looks pretty good value for money. He is quick and direct and has goals in his game, I'd anticipate he will get more than 15 this season and if Mane can match it on the other side we are a good season. Most importantly for me, he improves our first 11.
Dominic Solanke - Grade B-
I don't think anyone was particularly excited when he came, Chelsea reject was the overriding feeling but he had a good tournament with the England Under 20s and followed that up with a strong pre-season. He looks good in the air, he strikes a ball nicely and I like the way he drops off and links play. The fact Origi has been allowed to go out on loan I think is in large part down to Solanke. It's still early days but he looks like he can be a real player. Important he grabs the opportunity when called upon in the League Cup in a couple of weeks.
Andy Robertson - Grade B-
Could well turn out to be a B+ but we've only got the one game to go on thus far and I hadn't seen too much of him last season. Early evidence sugggests he has got a sweet left foot as shown by several delicious crosses in the Palace game. I also like the fact he doesn't just bomb on past his winger like a kamikaze pilot (Moreno anyone) instead preferring at times to simply drop, received the ball, one touch and deliver. Some more of that please Andy. I think he will eventually be the starter and he will improve our first 11.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain - Grade B
I like Ox, was happy enough to have been linked with him right from the start. Is he an out and out starter? Possibly not but he will push for a starting place in our best 11. He has had quite a few niggling injuries in his career Andy I think that this has stunted his development. If he can stay fit I think he can be a very important player. Not sure it will be in the middle of the park and reckon he will more likely be pushing Salah for game time but we've got a ton of footy to play this season so he'll get plenty of opportunities. Needs to find a bit more end product but he is quick, skilful and strong. Deffo the sort of player you need to help break down the bus parkers.
Navy Keita Grade A
Such a shame our most exciting signing won't be playing for LFC unti next season. Never the less I am chuffed to bits he will be coming. A dynamic box to box midfielder and don't we all miss having one of those. I have to commend the club for signing him in this way, that was thinking outside of the box and I suspect we might have struggled to get him next summer had we not got the deal done.
Players Out
Lucas - Gutted because I've always loved Lucas, we don't have another player like him and there will be games this season where we will be wishing he could come on and shore things up in front of our leaky back four.
Origi - he went backwards last season so it doesn't surprise me that he has gone out on loan. With Ox coming in he has dropped down the pec,in game order in a wide role and Solanke has jumped ahead of him as a centre forward. Would have preferred him to go to an English club as a last row of the dice to prove he has it. Suspect he will be sold next summer.
Sakho - give our defensive frailties I think it is short sighted of Jürgen not to take another look at him but it isn't what it is and at least they got a decent fee for him. I'd be less bothered if we'd replaced him.
Overall Transfer Window - Grade D
Would have been an E but I'm so excited to be getting Keita so I've upped the grade. The players we have brought in should all contribute and Salah has already made a big difference. But there simply aren't enough of them, were three players short of where we should have been at the end of this window. We haven't addressed the centre half issue. A lot are pointing he finger at FSG but I think Klopp must also have had a say in the matter, the fact we weren't even linked properly to another centre half was strange. I think we also needed another centre forward, when studge gets gets injured again we are down to Firmino and Solanke and zings still seems to be a way off and had questionable quality even before he suffered two serious injuries that may have effected his pace and mobility. Like wise another centre mid although Ox may get some opportunities to show he can play there, I personally think Coutinho will play there when he stops sulking. And finally keeping Coutinho. I'm gladness we did, am sick of selling our best players and was good to stick two fingers up at Barca. Only issue is how will it affect the lads performances and are we going to see a slightly stroppy and disinterest player for the rest of the season, I suspect that might be the case. Factor in injuries, four competitions, fixture congestion over Christmas and fatigue from playing Klopps pressing game and the squad is simply too small.
Overall feeling is one of opportunity missed to really strengthen and make a push for the title and at least a quarter final spot in the Europe. My worry is that we will hit the wall in January once again and be during the failure to bring in another 2-3 players to ensure there is depth and fresh legs over Christmas and new year periods.
« Last Edit: Sep 01, 2017 10:22:22 pm by Scottbot »
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