The 2017 Summer Transfer Window Review and Rating

 

I'd like this to be a thread where people can post a real review of their thoughts and opinions on the summer transfer dealings. Break down why they think it and overall come to a conclusion and a rating of the business. I'm going to break my review down into what our goals should have been going in, and if we have achieved them or not. I'm also going to try and rank them in terms of importance.

MAIN GOALS:
For me it was clear that we had 3 main goals going into this window and they were as follows:
* Under no circumstances do we sell Phil Coutinho
* Buy Virgil Van Djik
* Buy Naby Keita

As of right now, we have not sold Phil. People are talking about how we are going to sell him next summer already which is pathetic, please don't post in hypotheticals when reviewing. Fact is, a main target was to keep him and the rest of our best players. target achieved

VvD was an absolute shambles. The tapping up, the rubbish job by the journalists who are 'in the know' reporting this and the sheer amount of time dedicated to this man all factored into frustration. It looks like Saints have just done what we have with Phil and said he's not for sale. Nevertheless target failed

Naby Keita is a Liverpool player. Yes people NABY KEITA IS A LIVERPOOL PLAYER. Seems many forget that. We managed to do the best deal possible for him. We didn't get him this year, because it was impossible to do so, so we got the next best thing and have him wrapped up for next season. Now I think some will argue that this shouldn't count in the review of this window because we won't sign him until next year but that's a silly argument as we did the deal in this window AND I know those same people next season will say that 'you can't count the Keita deal because it was done the season before' just to have a go at FSG for no F***ing reason. We wanted to sign Keita. We signed Keita. Target achieved

SECONDARY GOALS:
This could be an endless list but I'll try and keep it limited to transfers and squad building for the sake of this thread, apologies if I've missed any:

* Strengthen the left back position
* Strengthen squad depth due to increase in games, this done by:
      * Giving youth a chance
      * Shave off 'deadwood'

The left back role was filled well by James Milner last season, he played nearly every game and it got us back into the top 4. I think saying that he was good isn't too much of a stretch. He wasn't setting the world on fire, but at the same time he was a very safe pair of hands in that role. Robertson looks like an attacking threat and we've yet to really see if he's an improvement. Moreno has been given a new lease on life which has hampered Robertson slightly. Chamberlin can play there, but I wouldn't expect to see him in that role. Too early to tell with this one, not a failure but we cannot say it's a success either. Inconclusive

The squad now is better than it was, simple as that. The signing of Salah has been a revelation and Chamberlin will be a very good addition in my eyes, especially because of the broad spectrum of positions he can play. We look like giving youth a good chance too, players like Gomez, Grujic, Solanke and Woodburn have featured to some extent and TAA looks like he will be a star. As they develop the need to strengthen the positions they play will decrease. We've also managed to trim the fat so to speak. Lucas, Sahko, Fulton, Stewart and Hart never had a long term future here and we got around the £40million mark for them, good business. Also loans to people like Origi and Kent may just be what they need, however I think if you're having to go out on loan, there is little chance you'll make it at your parent club, but we'll see. Overall, this squad > last years. Target achieved

I'm not happy we didn't sign VvD or any other centre back for that matter. If we did we would have had an A+ window for sure. I'm not prepared to call this window a complete failure because of that one missed target but I will have to drop my overall rating quite substantially to a: B

The only target we missed out on was VVD, so it must be deemed a good window.

I was not going to get a Liverpool shirt because of the Western Union logo, but now I know Markovic is staying I changed my mind and get myself Markovic on the back.

I was not going to get a Liverpool shirt because of the Western Union logo, but now I know Markovic is staying I changed my mind and get myself Markovic on the back.

I completely forgot Markovic was a person I'm going to be honest.

I'll play. 

In my opinion, our priorities entering the summer were, in this order:

Wide Forward:  A player to add competition and depth for Mane.  We were desperately short of quality width when Sadio was at ACON and during his injury.  Salah looks like one of the steals of the summer.  Rating:  10/10

Center Back:  We needed a commanding CB who can organize the defense as we have lacked leadership at the back since Carra retired.  Not only did we not sign the player who was seemingly Klopp's #1 target (VVD), we failed to sign an alternative and sold off one of the experienced players who helped fill that position last season when we had our injury problems (Lucas).  Rating:  0/10

Left Back:  The intent should have been to sign a player to slot straight into the 1st choice role.  Theoretically, it should have been an easy task as last season we had a 30 year old RM playing at LB.  Instead, we signed a young lad with potential who seemingly isn't succeeding at ousting Moreno from the 1st choice spot.  Berto is playing better this season and Andy may well still turn out to be a very good signing, but the initial feeling is that we failed to do what needed to be done and this should have been an easy fix.  Rating:  5/10

Striker:  Solanke looks like a potential steal, but the key word here is "potential"...  He probably isn't anywhere close to being ready to lead the line on a consistent basis for a title challenging team.  It won't surprise anyone to see Studge only fit for 50% of the season, we loaned out Origi, and Ings hasn't played at top level in almost 2 years.  We could be 1 injury to Bobby away from having a 20 year old as our main striker.  I'm very excited about Solanke and happy to have him, but we look vulnerable at this position.  Rating:  5/10

Attacking Midfield / Winger:  We needed additional quality depth in the CAM / RW / LW positions.  The Ox seems like a very good option to provide competition and depth in those roles.  Also, the fact he pissed off both Arsenal and Chelsea while signing for us just makes this signing even sweeter.  Rating:  10/10

So, a total score of 30/50, or an average score of 6/10.  I will throw in a bonus point for getting the Keita deal done, even though it doesn't help us this term -- final score of 7/10.  Not exactly a stellar window, especially when you consider that we were supposed to have a "war chest" to spend after having a net gain last summer, the new tv money, and CL funds to work with.

That aside, I still think Klopp has the necessary tools for us to compete in both the league and CL, but some of the same issues we faced last year are still present -- lack of quality depth at CB and potentially at ST.  A few injuries could put us right in the sh*t.  However, if we are as fortunate with injuries this term as Chelsea were last year, then we may end up with a few trophies.  Crazy how thin the margins can be. 

I'll play. 

In my opinion, our priorities entering the summer were, in this order:

Wide Forward:  A player to add competition and depth for Mane.  We were desperately short of quality width when Sadio was at ACON and during his injury.  Salah looks like one of the steals of the summer.  Rating:  10/10

Center Back:  We needed a commanding CB who can organize the defense as we have lacked leadership at the back since Carra retired.  Not only did we not sign the player who was seemingly Klopp's #1 target (VVD), we failed to sign an alternative and sold off one of the experienced players who helped fill that position last season when we had our injury problems (Lucas).  Rating:  0/10

Left Back:  The intent should have been to sign a player to slot straight into the 1st choice role.  Theoretically, it should have been an easy task as last season we had a 30 year old RM playing at LB.  Instead, we signed a young lad with potential who seemingly isn't succeeding at ousting Moreno from the 1st choice spot.  Berto is playing better this season and Andy may well still turn out to be a very good signing, but the initial feeling is that we failed to do what needed to be done and this should have been an easy fix.  Rating:  5/10

Striker:  Solanke looks like a potential steal, but the key word here is "potential"...  He probably isn't anywhere close to being ready to lead the line on a consistent basis for a title challenging team.  It won't surprise anyone to see Studge only fit for 50% of the season, we loaned out Origi, and Ings hasn't played at top level in almost 2 years.  We could be 1 injury to Bobby away from having a 20 year old as our main striker.  I'm very excited about Solanke and happy to have him, but we look vulnerable at this position.  Rating:  5/10

Attacking Midfield / Winger:  We needed additional quality depth in the CAM / RW / LW positions.  The Ox seems like a very good option to provide competition and depth in those roles.  Also, the fact he pissed off both Arsenal and Chelsea while signing for us just makes this signing even sweeter.  Rating:  10/10

So, a total score of 30/50, or an average score of 6/10.  I will throw in a bonus point for getting the Keita deal done, even though it doesn't help us this term -- final score of 7/10.  Not exactly a stellar window, especially when you consider that we were supposed to have a "war chest" to spend after having a net gain last summer, the new tv money, and CL funds to work with.

That aside, I still think Klopp has the necessary tools for us to compete in both the league and CL, but some of the same issues we faced last year are still present -- lack of quality depth at CB and potentially at ST.  A few injuries could put us right in the sh*t.  However, if we are as fortunate with injuries this term as Chelsea were last year, then we may end up with a few trophies.  Crazy how thin the margins can be. 

Bout right Harry

Had we signed VVD or any centre half of the required quality it was a window that  would have me thinking well come close here.

Left back sorted. Centre mid added to. Salah a foil for Mane Solanke something different up front. All good bar that one position.

I just cant believe we had one option to run with and if we did i cant believe we cocked it up early on.

Saying that look at the champions, look at Arsenal. Its not a bad window by any stretch. Just feel we didnt do the one thing that was a must and fear itll be the difference in May.

Agree with most posted above.
Not a bad window
Cleared out a few
Signed one certain starter, a couple of premier league proven squad players and a youngster I have high hopes for
BUT still haven't signed a world class CB.
All in all, not a bad window. Could have been better but certainly could have been a lot worse.
Give it a 7/10 rating

We're one injury/suspension away from Ragnar Klavan at centre back. Let that sink in and tell me we're a club that is set up to win trophies

We're one injury/suspension away from Ragnar Klavan at centre back. Let that sink in and tell me we're a club that is set up to win trophies

Don't worry Phil can fill in at CB if needed.

We're one injury/suspension away from Ragnar Klavan at centre back. Let that sink in and tell me we're a club that is set up to win trophies

It's like an echo chamber in here..people throwing 7s 8s B+ B- for a window in which we failed to adress the biggest problem we have and more important before most of the transfers even kicked a ball for more than 5 games.
The exact same thing happened last year..a window in which we failed to adress the biggest problems in the squad..a failure masked by a strong start of the season; we'll see by Christmas if this was a good window.

And by the way if you would've said back in April that we would've ended with Salah,Aoc and Robertson you would've been mocked by a lot of people..people that now give them 10/10 grades

Don't worry Phil can fill in at CB if needed.

Last year Man Utd at one point had Jones,Smalling,Rojo,Bailly all injured. I can't even think who played for them Blind and another. That's 4 injuries. If we get one it's Klavan. If we get 2 it's Joe Gomez. If we get three I don't have a clue who it would be and yet we can ship an international class defender out on deadline day for £20M+ I think it's a completely unnecessary risk I can't understand it. I don't think he's anything special but I'd be much happier with Mustafi than AOC from Arsenal. Klopp better pray Lovern and Matip stay fit until the New Year but you're pushing 25 games between now any then they hardly played that whole of last season

Last year Man Utd at one point had Jones,Smalling,Rojo,Bailly all injured. I can't even think who played for them Blind and another. That's 4 injuries. If we get one it's Klavan. If we get 2 it's Joe Gomez. If we get three I don't have a clue who it would be and yet we can ship an international class defender out on deadline day for £20M+ I think it's a completely unnecessary risk I can't understand it. I don't think he's anything special but I'd be much happier with Mustafi than AOC from Arsenal. Klopp better pray Lovern and Matip stay fit until the New Year

Who was the international class defender we shipped out?

Who was the international class defender we shipped out?

Sakho before the drug ban wasn't just in the French squad for Euro 16 he was in the first 11. If that's not int class, ahead of Varane in the eyes of Deshamps who has won a WC then I don't know what is

Salah - an ace signing, who's up to the premier speed already
Robertson - Looks good, natural left footer, great crosses, good shots as highlighted by his goal for Scotland
Solanke - I like what I have seen so far, seems to read the game well
The OX - Good addition, Klopp wanted him and I believe will make him a better player
Keita - Awesome player, shame we have to wait, will boss the midfield

Missing out on VVD is a glaring own goal, surely there was someone else out there who could do equally as good a job, a lot more games this season, hope this area doesn't cost us, perhaps this coming January any holes will be plugged unlike last season.

Overall 7.5/10

Last year Man Utd at one point had Jones,Smalling,Rojo,Bailly all injured. I can't even think who played for them Blind and another. That's 4 injuries. If we get one it's Klavan. If we get 2 it's Joe Gomez. If we get three I don't have a clue who it would be and yet we can ship an international class defender out on deadline day for £20M+ I think it's a completely unnecessary risk I can't understand it. I don't think he's anything special but I'd be much happier with Mustafi than AOC from Arsenal. Klopp better pray Lovern and Matip stay fit until the New Year but you're pushing 25 games between now any then they hardly played that whole of last season

So you'd rather we forced Klopp to keep and play a player who disrespected him and his team mates.

So you'd rather we forced Klopp to keep and play a player who disrespected him and his team mates.

Yes unless he's prepared to replace him. Someone a week ago should have had the gumption to say to Klopp - Jürgen VVD is not happening and we're not going into a season with 3 centre backs (one of whom is Ragnar Klavan) so pick someone from this list or one will be picked for you

Sakho before the drug ban wasn't just in the French squad for Euro 16 he was in the first 11. If that's not int class, ahead of Varane in the eyes of Deshamps who has won a WC then I don't know what is

meh 4 meaninglessly friendly matches for France in the past 2 years...he's more of a world class goofball than a world class defender now a days....Should be banned just for his wardrobe choices.

PSG fu**ed him off...we fu**ed him off...evidently two of the larger clubs in the world wanted no part of him...hence Crystal Palace..I'd say he was on a downward trajectory.

Balotelli is an Italian national ...maybe we should have kept him too 

They share the same haircut and wardrobe...might have been cheaper having him an Mama bunking together over at the palatial estate.

meh 4 meaninglessly friendly matches for France in the past 2 years...he's more of a world class goofball than a world class defender now a days....Should be banned just for his wardrobe choices.

PSG fu**ed him off...we fu**ed him off...evidently two of the larger clubs in the world wanted no part of him...hence Crystal Palace..I'd say he was on a downward trajectory.

He's better than f***in Ragnar Klavan. Jürgen obviously wants a squad of dandys that think he's superman and want for nothing more than their after match hug and high five
Just wait until Klavan gets torn to bits this season because I guarantee it'll happen he's bang average at very best

He's better than f***in Ragnar Klavan. Jürgen obviously wants a squad of dandys that think he's superman and want for nothing more than their after match hug and high five

Ah...In your opinion he is better than Ragnar Klavan....obviously some disagree with you.

Ah...In your opinion he is better than Ragnar Klavan....obviously some disagree with you.

Who?

Who?

Let me see.....Hmm Jürgen Klopp disagrees with you.

Hence Ragnar wears a Liverpool Jersey and Sakho wears a Crystal Palace kit.

Simples

Let me see.....Hmm Jürgen Klopp disagrees with you.

Hence Ragnar wears a Liverpool Jersey and Sakho wears a Crystal Palace kit.

Simples

I think it is apparent that Sakho's exclusion at Liverpool was nothing to do with his ability or lack of. If you want to tell me Klavan is a better player than him let's agree to disagree and let's await the next time we concede 3s and 4s at your Watfords and Bournemouths of the PL, can't wait.
Sakho for his failings was one of the most aerially dominant defenders we've had in many years. We can't defend set pieces for the life of us, but let's get rid of him all the same

I think it is apparent that Sakho's exclusion at Liverpool was nothing to do with his ability or lack of. If you want to tell me Klavan is a better player than him let's agree to disagree and let's await the next time we concede 3s and 4s at your Watfords and Bournemouths of the PL, can't wait.

I believe that the Liverpool manager thinks that Ragnar Klavan is better for the club than Sakho...I can't deal with suppositions, innuendos..only facts.

The fact that one is at LFC and the other is not is the only fact that has any relevance.

Sakho played in 56 league matches out of a total of 114 possible matches over a 3 year period making him unavailable for one reason or another more than 50% of the time.

Brendan benched him for insubordination, just like the manager at PSG did...Jürgen gave him a chance and he rewarded the manager and the club with a drug suspension (not even telling the medical staff he was taking) missing team meetings, goofing off, storming out of matches and Instagram/tweeting discontent at all odd hours of the morning.

Is he a better defender than Klavan?...potentially if he could play more than 50% of the matches available while at the same time not being a cancer in the locker room.

I have a pretty strong suspicion that the gaffer saw Mama leaving as addition by subtraction.

Oh and by the way go check out the matches when Mama played and we conceded 3-4 ...you might be surprised to find he's not the superman you think he is.

Mama is kind of like his buddy Mario...might have bags of talent...ain't got a brain cell in the ole noggin.

If you want to tell me Klavan is a better player than him let's agree to disagree and let's await the next time we concede 3s and 4s at your Watfords and Bournemouths of the PL

2013  Liverpool 1  West Ham 3   Sakho starts
         Crystal Pal 3  Liverpool 1  Sakho starts
         Hull City 3  Liverpool 1     Sakho starts
       
There are plenty more examples when Sakho started if you need them...its a team sport and if your not going to be part of the team then out ya go.

I believe that the Liverpool manager thinks that Ragnar Klavan is better for the club than Sakho...I can't deal with suppositions, innuendos..only facts.

The fact that one is at LFC and the other is not is the only fact that has any relevance.

Sakho played in 56 league matches out of a total of 114 possible matches over a 3 year period making him unavailable for one reason or another more than 50% of the time.

Brendan benched him for insubordination, just like the manager at PSG did...Jürgen gave him a chance and he rewarded the manager and the club with a drug suspension (not even telling the medical staff he was taking) missing team meetings, goofing off, storming out of matches and Instagram/tweeting discontent at all odd hours of the morning.

Is he a better defender than Klavan?...potentially if he could play more than 50% of the matches available while at the same time not being a cancer in the locker room.

I have a pretty strong suspicion that the gaffer saw Mama leaving as addition by subtraction.

Oh and by the way go check out the matches when Mama played and we conceded 3-4 ...you might be surprised to find he's not the superman you think he is.

Mama is kind of like his buddy Mario...might have bags of talent...ain't got a brain cell in the ole noggin.

I'm not for a minute saying he's a superstar. I'd have Matip ahead of him all day and I'd flick a coin between him and Lovern. I'd take him over Klavan and Joe Gomez (just now anyways) all day long.
If Jürgen wants to replace him for this or that his call but he's cutting his nose to spite his face.
On a wider point I see shades of Wenger in Klopp (he said before the Arsenal match it was crazy to him people were talking about Wenger leaving ) in that there seems to be a hesitancy with him in the transfer market, but also he seems to favour a player profile that pretty much will shut up and get on with it. Nice guys, blank pages so to speak. Whilst I understand this approach from Klopp who wants to coach and educate players, you can go too far with it where you get a team of sheep that can't think for themselves or be willing to mix it up a bit, on the pitch and in the changing room.
I can imagaine Sakho being a nightmare and I was enraged with the drugs fiasco he brought on himself. But at the same time I can imagine him saying to Klopp - "why the f**k are the full backs playing in the final third of the pitch ten minutes into an away game?" I can imagine him telling Jordan Henderson in front of him to get his finger out and protect the defence rather than following the play all the time. I can imagine him going through Gini for not heading that ball at Watford. How many of those types does this squad have?

Jürgen obviously wants a squad of dandys that think he's superman and want for nothing more than their after match hug and high five

Reckon that quote will come back to haunt you.
Bizarre at least, downright disrespectful and ignorant at worst
Just don't get at all the love in that sakho gets from many
I thought he was good at times, average generally and a liability far too often....and that's just on the field
Off the field, PSG and Liverpool managements have both deemed him surplus to requirements for off the field issues primarily.
Why would you want to force Klopp, who is showing that he and his staff demand players of personal and collective responsibility, to keep a player who has shown that he doesn't adhere to this work ethic?

I would say this window has to be viewed overall as a success. The only thing that irritates me is being dead set on a player who in the end was not for sale. However, we kept Phil, brought in talented depth guys who can one day join the first 11 in time, and brought in the steal of the window in Salah. We also bought Keita for next year, so we won't have to worry about letting Phil go and not replacing him. Throw in the fact that Milner is like a new signing and I'd say we had a pretty successful window. B for me

Depth was needed more so than a CB and we got good quality in that department in this window IMO

Was a good transfer window for us, but it could have been great if we signed a quality CB, rather than AOC.

It's like you know you have a flat tyre, but you go and fill the tank.

The only target we missed out on was VVD, so it must be deemed a good window.

We missed out on our target for arguably the position we most required strengthening. We failed to sign anyone for that position, sold 3 players that have played for us in that position and that's classed as a success?

We look stronger at full back, midfield and up front which will bode well for us in the league and CL. I'm not sure how many youngsters are left to play in the domestic cup comps, looks less than last year but let's see what the u23 or gerrards u18 pop up. Would of liked to have strengthend CB but we didn't so let's get on with it now. Maybe Klopp wanted VVD and no one else and thought if it's not him then I'll develop Gomez. I'm hoping Gomez can show us exactly what he's made of this season, well not hope I think he's going to have to cos it's going to be a busy season, one in which we have to get top 4 again and show the rest of the CL teams that we are a force to be rekoned with.

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p.S.2 sorry for my English

Nice gesture.

Ok ... il keep it short.

Klopp wanted 3 players by the start of the season or very latest end of august.

Salah - job done
Vvd - job failed
Keita - job failed ( great for next summer)

Squad depth

Robertson - not the world class straight in the team Lb we have been wanting for years ... but a promising start.

Solanke - same as above really. A promising start and Origi pushed out.

Chamberlain - good signing in my opinion. Can play various positions on the pitch and we should get his best years.

So overall ... 1 of 3 main targets hit. A quality player to improve squad depth and a couple of kids for the future.

But leaving us exposed at centre half is a big mistake in my opinion ... to not even put 1 bid in was a shambles. To not have a plan b was almost as bad. But i put my trust in klopp. He knows what he is doing.

As for keeping Coutinho ... no brownie points there. 5 years on his deal and no release clause. No decision to make.

Im happy with the window ... but far from overjoyed with it. It was a decent window overall.

6/10 for me.

And with keita on the way next summers window is off to a great start.

That got abit longwinded in the end :-)

Didn't improve our defence in the window.

Didn't improve our midfield in the window.

Improved our attack.

Didn't sell off all our dead wood.

5/10.

We didn't strengthen the spine of the team, and Keita IS NOT a Liverpool player. We have an agreement to make him a Liverpool player next July but until then he's no more a Liverpool player than I am.

The signings we did make all look like they will (or already have) contribute so that part is a plus. But there simply weren't enough first team signings made in light of what job we have in front of us for this season.

The only way you can sensibly rate the transfer window is whether we are now more or less likely to win enough football matches in order to win trophies. That also obviously depends upon what everyone else has done, if Arsenal signed Messi and Ronaldo we can sensibly assume they would be harder to finish in front of, fortunately they didn't.

Given that, I'd be neutral on the whole thing. We finished fourth last season rather than higher principally for four main reasons IMHO.

1. Our goalkeeper isn't good enough.
2. We don't possess a predatory striker who a) we are prepared to pick, b) can stay fit and c) scores heavily and regularly.
3. We have an inherent weakness in central defense, principally from set pieces.
4. Our squad isn't deep enough in terms of quality.

Now despite improving the squad overall IMHO, we haven't really addressed any of those issues above. We have to hope that Lovren and/or Mignolet suddenly improve dramatically, Firmino becomes the heavy scoring forward we are missing and we get very few injuries.

It's quite possible that some or all of the above will come to pass, but we could have negated the need for luck by buying better. 

Didn't improve our defence in the window.

Didn't improve our midfield in the window.

Improved our attack.

Didn't sell off all our dead wood.

5/10.

Pretty much bang on that. Could even argue the defence is weaker now we don't have Lucas.

The only way you can sensibly rate the transfer window is whether we are now more or less likely to win enough football matches in order to win trophies. That also obviously depends upon what everyone else has done, if Arsenal signed Messi and Ronaldo we can sensibly assume they would be harder to finish in front of, fortunately they didn't.

Given that, I'd be neutral on the whole thing. We finished fourth last season rather than higher principally for four main reasons IMHO.

1. Our goalkeeper isn't good enough.
2. We don't possess a predatory striker who a) we are prepared to pick, b) can stay fit and c) scores heavily and regularly.
3. We have an inherent weakness in central defense, principally from set pieces.
4. Our squad isn't deep enough in terms of quality.

Now despite improving the squad overall IMHO, we haven't really addressed any of those issues above. We have to hope that Lovren and/or Mignolet suddenly improve dramatically, Firmino becomes the heavy scoring forward we are missing and we get very few injuries.

It's quite possible that some or all of the above will come to pass, but we could have negated the need for luck by buying better.

I think your wrong with the striker point there Mick. I think we now have 3 players who can score 15+ each this season (Bobby, Mane and Salah)

i agree with the GK front, and the CB option, however I feel we will get VVD in Jan

Didn't improve our defence in the window.

Didn't improve our midfield in the window.

Improved our attack.

Didn't sell off all our dead wood.

5/10.

Didn't improve our defence? FFS give Robertson a chance will you, I think he'll be an excellent defender for us and addresses a key weakness in recent years
Didn't improve Midfield, written Chamberlain off already as well, not a foreign enough name perhaps
At least you rate Salah so our attack is better, phew.

We didn't strengthen the spine of the team, and Keita IS NOT a Liverpool player. We have an agreement to make him a Liverpool player next July but until then he's no more a Liverpool player than I am.

The signings we did make all look like they will (or already have) contribute so that part is a plus. But there simply weren't enough first team signings made in light of what job we have in front of us for this season.

What other signings, apart from CB, do you think we needed?

Pretty much bang on that. Could even argue the defence is weaker now we don't have Lucas.

What utter f**king nonsense, how often did Lucas play as CB for us? the times he did he wasn't exactly staking a claim for a permanent starter was he. Ask yourself this, if he was so important to the squad why did Klopp let him leave when he could easily have convinced him to stay?

We now have Robertson and a reinvented Moreno on LB with Milner as cover, on the other flank we have TAA and Gomez in addition to Clyne. In CB we can also deploy Gomez although I wish we would have strengthened, its my only real gripe of the window.

So i cannot understand the argument that we are weaker defensively but I'd love for someone to explain to me how they think we are.

What utter f**king nonsense, how often did Lucas play as CB for us? the times he did he wasn't exactly staking a claim for a permanent starter was he. Ask yourself this, if he was so important to the squad why did Klopp let him leave when he could easily have convinced him to stay?

We now have Robertson and a reinvented Moreno on LB with Milner as cover, on the other flank we have TAA and Gomez in addition to Clyne. In CB we can also deploy Gomez although I wish we would have strengthened, its my only real gripe of the window.

So i cannot understand the argument that we are weaker defensively but I'd love for someone to explain to me how they think we are.

We're not weaker defensively.

But we should be stronger.

What other signings, apart from CB, do you think we needed?

It doesn't matter what I think we need because I'm sure you will just tell me why I'm wrong. That seems to be the bulk of how you spend your time on the forum so I'm not too interested in "debating" with you.

Didn't improve our defence in the window.

Didn't improve our midfield in the window.

Improved our attack.

Didn't sell off all our dead wood.

5/10.

We didn't strengthen the spine of the team, and Keita IS NOT a Liverpool player. We have an agreement to make him a Liverpool player next July but until then he's no more a Liverpool player than I am.

The signings we did make all look like they will (or already have) contribute so that part is a plus. But there simply weren't enough first team signings made in light of what job we have in front of us for this season.

Will be a damn bloody good season if we're challenging on all fronts at the end of the season with this sort of transfer window. Unless someone tells me to stop hoping because we've not done fantastic in this window. Anyone?

Will be a damn bloody good season if we're challenging on all fronts at the end of the season with this sort of transfer window. Unless someone tells me to stop hoping because we've not done fantastic in this window. Anyone?

The league is that bad that i don't think our poor defence will stop us from being at the top of the ladder.

And the two-legged system of the UCL will give us a chance against almost anybody.

We'll have a good year, still.

Didn't improve our defence? FFS give Robertson a chance will you, I think he'll be an excellent defender for us and addresses a key weakness in recent years
Didn't improve Midfield, written Chamberlain off already as well, not a foreign enough name perhaps
At least you rate Salah so our attack is better, phew.

I still consider Alex an attacker.

And if Robertson isn't ahead of Moreno at the moment, I cannot consider him an improvement. He's just another option at the moment.

Not writing him off, but that's how it is at the moment for mine.

If things are looking dodgy, we can't be shy in January like we were last season.

WITH CLYNE OUT, WE ARE AT THE BARE BONES DEFENSIVELY. CANT AFFORD ANY DEFENSIVE INJURIES.

TAA, Gomez and potentially Milner could all play RB while clyne is out

i think our window has been a disappointment.

we have not strengthened our defence enough. we had to back off VVD due to our own foolishness

we chased Kieta all summer and have to pre pay for next summer

Can still not tied down to a new contract

Courtinho wanted out

we did not appear to have much of a plan for this summer other than VVD Kieta and Salah.

i think our window has been a disappointment.

we have not strengthened our defence enough. we had to back off VVD due to our own foolishness

we chased Kieta all summer and have to pre pay for next summer

Can still not tied down to a new contract

Courtinho wanted out

we did not appear to have much of a plan for this summer other than VVD Kieta and Salah.

Ox in and Origi out, major **** up.

i think our window has been a disappointment.

we have not strengthened our defence enough. we had to back off VVD due to our own foolishness

we chased Kieta all summer and have to pre pay for next summer

Can still not tied down to a new contract

Courtinho wanted out

we did not appear to have much of a plan for this summer other than VVD Kieta and Salah.

I agree with a lot of what you said but I just want to clarify something that appears to be being lost regarding Kieta. We paid a premium over what was his release clause in order to ensure he would be a Liverpool player come July 2018. That premium was less than it would have cost us to secure his services this season had they been willing to sell to us. However, they were not willing to sell to us this season, therefore paying somewhere between the two values was a very good peice of business and in this, they should be congratulated.

I agree with a lot of what you said but I just want to clarify something that appears to be being lost regarding Kieta. We paid a premium over what was his release clause in order to ensure he would be a Liverpool player come July 2018. That premium was less than it would have cost us to secure his services this season had they been willing to sell to us. However, they were not willing to sell to us this season, therefore paying somewhere between the two values was a very good peice of business and in this, they should be congratulated.

Let me get one thing straight here, Keita has not officially signed for Liverpool yet, this so called deal doesn't look legally binding to me. What happens if Buyern Munich offer more than us next year? Simple, they return our money if already paid and take a further profit. What can LFC do? Nothing... If you ask me, this Keita deal was just a VERY clever PR thing. If Leipzig really were going to sell him, why not just sell him and Liverpool loan him back for a year like we did to get Origi?

Is Keita a Liverpool player? Not in any way
Will he be next year, maybe.
Is it definite? Nothing legally binding.

I am doubting it is legally binding since I never seen this happen before without it being done like it was with Origi.

Let me get one thing straight here, Keita has not officially signed for Liverpool yet, this so called deal doesn't look legally binding to me. What happens if Buyern Munich offer more than us next year? Simple, they return our money if already paid and take a further profit. What can LFC do? Nothing... If you ask me, this Keita deal was just a VERY clever PR thing. If Leipzig really were going to sell him, why not just sell him and Liverpool loan him back for a year like we did to get Origi?

Is Keita a Liverpool player? Not in any way
Will he be next year, maybe.
Is it definite? Nothing legally binding.

I am doubting it is legally binding since I never seen this happen before without it being done like it was with Origi.

Rubbish.

They will have signed a legal binding deal

He may not be able to play until next year but a legally binding deal will have been signed and we have paid part of a fee up front. You did see him at Melwood right? Where he had a medical?
Can you imagine  the legal ramifications if they just return the up front fee and sold him elsewhere?

Do yourself a favour rib,  stop talking bollocks then people might take you seriously. 👍

Rubbish.

They will have signed a legal binding deal

He may not be able to play until next year but a legally binding deal will have been signed and we have paid part of a fee up front. You did see him at Melwood right? Where he had a medical?
Can you imagine  the legal ramifications if they just return the up front fee and sold him elsewhere?

Do yourself a favour rib,  stop talking bollocks then people might take you seriously. 👍

Boy that lad spouts some sh*te!

Let me get one thing straight here, Keita has not officially signed for Liverpool yet, this so called deal doesn't look legally binding to me. What happens if Buyern Munich offer more than us next year? Simple, they return our money if already paid and take a further profit. What can LFC do? Nothing... If you ask me, this Keita deal was just a VERY clever PR thing. If Leipzig really were going to sell him, why not just sell him and Liverpool loan him back for a year like we did to get Origi?

Is Keita a Liverpool player? Not in any way
Will he be next year, maybe.
Is it definite? Nothing legally binding.

I am doubting it is legally binding since I never seen this happen before without it being done like it was with Origi.

You bored and looking to wind people up? You've overshot the mark here, people can clearly see it's just a wind up. Need to skirt the edges of reality Riba, nobody is as stupid as that comment, not even you.

Not legally binding nice try, you need a hobby mate.

Legally binding, written in blood, a spit and a handshake....my question is, if Keita has some sort of season ending/career threatening injury before he's officially a Liverpool player, do we have any recourse?

Legally binding, written in blood, a spit and a handshake....my question is, if Keita has some sort of season ending/career threatening injury before he's officially a Liverpool player, do we have any recourse?

Insurance?

Legally binding, written in blood, a spit and a handshake....my question is, if Keita has some sort of season ending/career threatening injury before he's officially a Liverpool player, do we have any recourse?

Not in great spirits, are you, FL? Irma too shall pass

You bored and looking to wind people up? You've overshot the mark here, people can clearly see it's just a wind up. Need to skirt the edges of reality Riba, nobody is as stupid as that comment, not even you.

Not legally binding nice try, you need a hobby mate.

Why do the websites reporting the deal use the term not officially joined until 2018 then? how can he unofficially sign? unofficially doesn't sound very concrete to me, if it was he has officially signed for 2018, that would be more confident, but every paper uses the term unofficial.
Perhaps it is my grasp of the English language making me pick up on this, but the Oxford dictionary says: Not officially authorized or confirmed.
Now he won't officially join us until 2018, so I am not sure what transfer rules under UEFA have been used here.
I might be being a bit sceptical for 2 reasons

1) The normal thing to do is sign and loan back, aka Origi deal.
2) FSG have a history of fudging transfers.

Somewhere in this is probably a clause that allows Leipzig to back out.

Call me a troll or wind up merchant... etc I don't really care.. it's my opinion.
Until he is officially signed I am not counting my chickens.

If he was 100% definitely going to be a Liverpool player, all parties would have done the same thing as Origi.
This arrangement seems too suspicious.

http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/naby-keita-undergoes-liverpool-medical-13540947

Liverpool have agreed a club record deal to sign Naby Keita - but he won't move from RB Leipzig until next summer.

Now I can name a whole list of clubs that agreed deals that broke down at the last minute.

Why do the websites reporting the deal use the term not officially joined until 2018 then? how can he unofficially sign? unofficially doesn't sound very concrete to me, if it was he has officially signed for 2018, that would be more confident, but every paper uses the term unofficial.
Perhaps it is my grasp of the English language making me pick up on this, but the Oxford dictionary says: Not officially authorized or confirmed.
Now he won't officially join us until 2018, so I am not sure what transfer rules under UEFA have been used here.
I might be being a bit sceptical for 2 reasons

1) The normal thing to do is sign and loan back, aka Origi deal.
2) FSG have a history of fudging transfers.

Somewhere in this is probably a clause that allows Leipzig to back out.

Call me a troll or wind up merchant... etc I don't really care.. it's my opinion.
Until he is officially signed I am not counting my chickens.

If he was 100% definitely going to be a Liverpool player, all parties would have done the same thing as Origi.
This arrangement seems too suspicious.

http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/naby-keita-undergoes-liverpool-medical-13540947

Liverpool have agreed a club record deal to sign Naby Keita - but he won't move from RB Leipzig until next summer.

Now I can name a whole list of clubs that agreed deals that broke down at the last minute.

They change the 2017 to a 2018 on the official joining date.

It's done all the time, mostly with younger players or those who need work permits.

You're just a F***ing idiot, that's fine though, you're like the forum dunce now, you're our bi*ch. We won't let the smart kids take advantage of you don't you worry your little head petal.

There isn't one way to do a deal.  The Origi is one method not the only way.  Next season he is our player.  It was a fantastic deal.  Because if he has a good season it was going to be very very difficult for us to get him.   To be officially be our player he has to be available for us to play and that will happen next season.

They change the 2017 to a 2018 on the official joining date.

It's done all the time, mostly with younger players or those who need work permits.

You're just a f**king idiot, that's fine though, you're like the forum dunce now, you're our bi*ch. We won't let the smart kids take advantage of you don't you worry your little head petal.

If it's done all the time then it is fine, I just never known about it and don't have a lot of confidence in transfer committee at the moment.

don't have a lot of confidence in transfer committee at the moment.

Klopp runs it...sure hope he knows what he is doing huh?

I think the Keita deal is unique in that his release clause doesn't kick in until next summer and Liverpool have pre-empted that by agreeing a premium on top of the fee to secure the player.  This is the first time such a deal has been struck as far as I'm aware, so the terminology "he doesn't officially become a Liverpool player until the start of the 2018/19 season" would be true.  This does not mean that the agreement in place is invalidated in any way.

The one good thing i'll give the hierarchy these days is the moneyball computermobot they use looks well and truly packed away.

The story goes Klopp gave them a list of Virgil Van Dijk, Naby Keita, Mo Salah and he carried an admiration for Oxlaide-Chamberlain.

There was the signing of Solankie which perhaps could be a bit left field (unsure whos buy he was tbh) but other than that theres been a refreshing lack of spread buying and moneyball punting which can only be a good thing in all honesty.

Lovely.

The one good thing i'll give the hierarchy these days is the moneyball computermobot they use looks well and truly packed away.

The story goes Klopp gave them a list of Virgil Van Dijk, Naby Keita, Mo Salah and he carried an admiration for Oxlaide-Chamberlain.

There was the signing of Solankie which perhaps could be a bit left field (unsure whos buy he was tbh) but other than that theres been a refreshing lack of spread buying and moneyball punting which can only be a good thing in all honesty.

Lovely.

That's how I see it too mate and I agree it's a good thing. Only two committee signings this time (Solanke and Robertson) while Jürgen got two of his (Salah and Ox). The mistake I think Jürgen DID make was in not having a viable alternative to VVD once it became obvious that wasn't going to happen. The simple fact of the matter is that NONE of our centre backs are overly good, and finding one or two who are better really oughtn't to be that difficult.

Put it this way, Johnny Evans at West Brom walks into our team at the moment without even having to sweat on the team sheet going up on the wall. We're not talking a superstar, just somebody who can defend a bit. As a punt I also like that kid at Swansea (Rawson or something isn't it?), and I do think that in Michael Keane Everton will eventually have a good player too.

That's how I see it too mate and I agree it's a good thing. Only two committee signings this time (Solanke and Robertson) while Jürgen got two of his (Salah and Ox). The mistake I think Jürgen DID make was in not having a viable alternative to VVD once it became obvious that wasn't going to happen. The simple fact of the matter is that NONE of our centre backs are overly good, and finding one or two who are better really oughtn't to be that difficult.

Put it this way, Johnny Evans at West Brom walks into our team at the moment without even having to sweat on the team sheet going up on the wall. We're not talking a superstar, just somebody who can defend a bit. As a punt I also like that kid at Swansea (Rawson or something isn't it?), and I do think that in Michael Keane Everton will eventually have a good player too.

How about "the future captain Mick" or has now lost that mantle?

Johnny Evans, sorry mate but you're having a total F***ing laugh there, he's a joke and no matter how poor you think our CBs are they are better than that piece of sh*te Manc, all day long.

How about "the future captain Mick" or has now lost that mantle?

Johnny Evans, sorry mate but you're having a total f**king laugh there, he's a joke and no matter how poor you think our CBs are they are better than that piece of sh*te Manc, all day long.

It's all opinions mate and you're as entitled to yours as I am mine. The future captain HAS lost that mantle in my eyes unfortunately. Although he appears to be the best equipped member of the squad to take on the role, he is seemingly incapable of sorting his own head out first and playing to his obvious potential.

It's a real shame with Dejan, and I don't think I can remember seeing a Liverpool player whose best game and worst game are so massively far apart. At his best he's obviously up there with the best around, at his worst I'm better myself. For that reason, I've got him down along with Klavan, the massively overrated (on here only) Matip and Gomez as "not overly good".

And I maintain, Johnny Evans would be in our team every week. IMHO obviously.

It's all opinions mate and you're as entitled to yours as I am mine. The future captain HAS lost that mantle in my eyes unfortunately. Although he appears to be the best equipped member of the squad to take on the role, he is seemingly incapable of sorting his own head out first and playing to his obvious potential.

It's a real shame with Dejan, and I don't think I can remember seeing a Liverpool player whose best game and worst game are so massively far apart. At his best he's obviously up there with the best around, at his worst I'm better myself. For that reason, I've got him down along with Klavan, the massively overrated (on here only) Matip and Gomez as "not overly good".

And I maintain, Johnny Evans would be in our team every week. IMHO obviously.

Fair enough Mick, I just think he's not good at all and the being an ex-Manc obviously has a huge bearing on my opinion of him. In terms of Dejan, I agree one day he can look really good, another he can be useless and it's frustrating because I actually think we've got  a few players like that (Gini/Can/Klavan).

On Matip the massively overrated thing I think is just coming to play this season and part of his drop in form, imo, is that he's playing with a new RB who has looked shaky in defence and whenever you're getting tonked, as we were against City, then your confidence is going to be hit anyway. He's a top quality player imo who just needs players of similar quality around him and at LCB/Goalie, we struggle to get someone at his level and that will, unfortunately, be a point that is touched on over and over until we do.

Surprised to see you include Gomez in the "not overly good" I suppose your reply would be 'yet' because I see him being a top CB in time, as long as the injuries stay away for him now then he's got a lot of the things we need in a CB and I've very hopeful he can become a top player for us.

Overall though the CB position is without question the one that will bite us in the arse time and time again this season and I disagree with Jürgen's approach in just waiting for VvD. I respect his loyalty to the deal they obviously agreed in person and the fact he waited for him but I think the simple thing to do would just be get 2,  upgrade on Klavan or Lovren, whichever you personally rate lower and just give us that depth in quality there. Losing Lucas, who I actually think was a better CB than was really given credit and not bringing in someone else back there was the mistake that countless numbers of us highlighted and Jürgen's just going to have to take that criticism on the chin because whether you think Johnny Evans or someone else (everyone name their favourite), there most definitely is going to be someone out there who's better than what we have who could have come in and helped us out.

My hope now is that we can get VvD in January, that our 'hands off' stance can change in a new window and we can make that transfer happen, because by then I think there will be a few who've lost their sh*t over the decision not to bring in a CB this summer.

+Left beck seems better  | Impact high
+Solanke | Impact medium
+Salah | impact medium

-Origi loaned out  | Impact low
-Have to wait for Keita | Impact very high
-No competent centre backs added. | Impact very high
-Oxlade Chamberlain is a worthless signing and a waste of money | Medium
-Lucas sold | very low

To work this out mathematically I would have to assign numbers to ratings.

Very Low=0
Low=10
Medium=20
High=30
Very high=40

- total = 110
+ total =  70

Result, -40 efficiency.

+Left beck seems better  | Impact high
+Solanke | Impact medium
+Salah | impact medium

-Origi loaned out  | Impact low
-Have to wait for Keita | Impact very high
-No competent centre backs added. | Impact very high
-Oxlade Chamberlain is a worthless signing and a waste of money | Medium
-Lucas sold | very low

To work this out mathematically I would have to assign numbers to ratings.

Very Low=0
Low=10
Medium=20
High=30
Very high=40

- total = 110
+ total =  70

Result, -40 efficiency.

You're giving us -40 for not signing a player impossible to sign this season. -40 for securing one of the best young talents in world football. -40 for spending the 2nd most anyone has ever spent on a centre midfielder.

Brain dead.

That's how I see it too mate and I agree it's a good thing. Only two committee signings this time (Solanke and Robertson) while Jürgen got two of his (Salah and Ox). The mistake I think Jürgen DID make was in not having a viable alternative to VVD once it became obvious that wasn't going to happen. The simple fact of the matter is that NONE of our centre backs are overly good, and finding one or two who are better really oughtn't to be that difficult.

Put it this way, Johnny Evans at West Brom walks into our team at the moment without even having to sweat on the team sheet going up on the wall. We're not talking a superstar, just somebody who can defend a bit. As a punt I also like that kid at Swansea (Rawson or something isn't it?), and I do think that in Michael Keane Everton will eventually have a good player too.

Yeah Alfie Mawson looks good to me, so does Maguire who moved from Hull to Leicester.

Lots of lads better than Klavan anyway. Caulker on loan perhaps .

Crazy decision to leave us with them centre halves for sure, and now here comes the 2 games a week.

If history repeats itself this will go unsolved in January too.

You're giving us -40 for not signing a player impossible to sign this season. -40 for securing one of the best young talents in world football. -40 for spending the 2nd most anyone has ever spent on a centre midfielder.

Brain dead.

Plenty of options that would have joined this year.

Plenty of options that would have joined this year.

Oh yea.

Prove it.

Pfft say AOC is a worthless signing and then scoring him the same as Salah. And rating Robertson higher than both. I didn't really need to read on to the scores you're not gonna convince many people you're right with that sort of logic

Pfft say AOC is a worthless signing and then scoring him the same as Salah. And rating Robertson higher than both. I didn't really need to read on to the scores you're not gonna convince many people you're right with that sort of logic

Can't believe anyone is taking that sh*te seriously!!

Pfft say AOC is a worthless signing and then scoring him the same as Salah. And rating Robertson higher than both. I didn't really need to read on to the scores you're not gonna convince many people you're right with that sort of logic

Team impact is not based on the player quality alone. A midfielder was needed more than a striker and the impact here is a financial one.

meh 4 meaninglessly friendly matches for France in the past 2 years...he's more of a world class goofball than a world class defender now a days....Should be banned just for his wardrobe choices.

PSG fu**ed him off...we fu**ed him off...evidently two of the larger clubs in the world wanted no part of him...hence Crystal Palace..I'd say he was on a downward trajectory.

Balotelli is an Italian national ...maybe we should have kept him too 

They share the same haircut and wardrobe...might have been cheaper having him an Mama bunking together over at the palatial estate.

Useless.  Embarrassment.   Glad to finally got shot of Sakho.