NEEJ Posted January 5, 2021 Share Posted January 5, 2021 We need to faze away from players like Almiron and dogs like Ritchie who are designed to just work and play on the counter, going forward if we are ever going to get away from this style and be a more attacking and easy on the eye team then we have to sign players who are comfortable on the ball and can keep it but also have the energy to press and get about the pitch. I cant think of many players we have who currently have all them attributes. Players like Ndombele should be our aim as he can do the lot. I'm guessing you're working on the assumption the takeover is going ahead? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dokko Posted January 5, 2021 Share Posted January 5, 2021 Almiron is certainly not deadwood, but do agree there wouldn't a big queue for him, especially at the price we paid. He's probably worth half that going on what he's shown so far and where his place is in the team. Hopefully he sees out this shit period and is reunited with Rafa at the end of the season. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
CalmintheChaos Posted January 5, 2021 Share Posted January 5, 2021 We need to faze away from players like Almiron and dogs like Ritchie who are designed to just work and play on the counter, going forward if we are ever going to get away from this style and be a more attacking and easy on the eye team then we have to sign players who are comfortable on the ball and can keep it but also have the energy to press and get about the pitch. I cant think of many players we have who currently have all them attributes. Players like Ndombele should be our aim as he can do the lot. I'm guessing you're working on the assumption the takeover is going ahead? I mean in that mould just obviously a lot lot cheaper . Must be good young players like that out there just we probably cant be bothered enough to look. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Collage Posted January 5, 2021 Share Posted January 5, 2021 Almiron deadwood The Longstaffs aren’t deadwood either, still very young and have showed at least some potential Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
CalmintheChaos Posted January 5, 2021 Share Posted January 5, 2021 Almiron is certainly not deadwood, but do agree there wouldn't a big queue for him, especially at the price we paid. He's probably worth half that going on what he's shown so far and where his place is in the team. Hopefully he sees out this s*** period and is reunited with Rafa at the end of the season. Aye that's fair, maybe a bit harsh labelling him deadwood but I was planning hypothetically for a club that wanted to establish itself in the top 10 in the next 2/3 years. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Infinitely Content Posted January 5, 2021 Share Posted January 5, 2021 Plenty of managers with half a clue would absolutely love to have a player like Almiron to work with. He's a dream for a coach with his stamina, attitude and teamwork. Football isn't as individualistic as it used to be, it's all about systems these days and managers are likely more than ever looking at the attitude and work rate of potential signings as something key. He wouldn't have a shortage of suitors. He's still one of the best players at the club for me, despite the poor form. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shearergol Posted January 5, 2021 Share Posted January 5, 2021 Almiron is certainly not deadwood, but do agree there wouldn't a big queue for him, especially at the price we paid. He's probably worth half that going on what he's shown so far and where his place is in the team. Hopefully he sees out this s*** period and is reunited with Rafa at the end of the season. Aye that's fair, maybe a bit harsh labelling him deadwood but I was planning hypothetically for a club that wanted to establish itself in the top 10 in the next 2/3 years. So Rafa identified him as a player for a top 10 club, but you know better than him. Basically. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
CalmintheChaos Posted January 5, 2021 Share Posted January 5, 2021 As much as I love Rafa he has a dodgy reputation i nthe transfer market to be fair, the Barry/Alonso sage for example. Also signed a lot of deadwood here too alongside some excellent signings. Hit and miss record of 50/50 I would say. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Collage Posted January 5, 2021 Share Posted January 5, 2021 Plenty of managers with half a clue would absolutely love to have a player like Almiron to work with. He's a dream for a coach with his stamina, attitude and teamwork. Football isn't as individualistic as it used to be, it's all about systems these days and managers are likely more than ever looking at the attitude and work rate of potential signings as something key. He wouldn't have a shortage of suitors. He's still one of the best players at the club for me, despite the poor form. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abra Dubravka Posted January 5, 2021 Share Posted January 5, 2021 Had a look over state of contracts on nufc.com, and it is depressing viewing. Just as alarming as lack of quantity/quality we have been bringing in. There are players that we actually should be renewing, players that have shown to be good enough and holding this side together atm - that will doubtless walk on frees. We've got cloggers' contracts up, that half will no doubt be renewed just so the club retains squad numbers. All while we've got untold dross tied down for years and years. 7 contracts up in the summer, so potentially 7 bodies we'll have to replace in the squad. The thought of this club and Bruce being in charge of signing another 7 players is frightening, that's not even considering the glaring deficiencies already existing. Worrying/problematic contract situations for me; Schar, Fernandez - 2021 - our best defenders, going to walk on free Murphy, Carroll - 2021 - unerring feeling both are going to be given extensions, if not just to keep squad numbers up Ritchie, Shelvey, Krath - 2023 Hendrick, Manquillo - 2024 Joelinton - 2025 We've had an awful track record of moving players on for ages now, so going to be stuck with those cloggers for years to come. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
CalmintheChaos Posted January 5, 2021 Share Posted January 5, 2021 Ritchie and Shelvey until 2023 is minging. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shearergol Posted January 5, 2021 Share Posted January 5, 2021 As much as I love Rafa he has a dodgy reputation i nthe transfer market to be fair, the Barry/Alonso sage for example. Also signed a lot of deadwood here too alongside some excellent signings. Hit and miss record of 50/50 I would say. You watched Almiron when he played under Rafa, yeah? You know, when we were good. But no, you're right. We should sign players like Salah and Ronaldo. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr.Spaceman Posted January 5, 2021 Share Posted January 5, 2021 As much as I love Rafa he has a dodgy reputation i nthe transfer market to be fair, the Barry/Alonso sage for example. Also signed a lot of deadwood here too alongside some excellent signings. Hit and miss record of 50/50 I would say. 53 cap, league and cup winner Gareth Barry? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shays Given Tim Flowers Posted January 5, 2021 Share Posted January 5, 2021 Who signed Alonso? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Prophet Posted January 5, 2021 Share Posted January 5, 2021 Barry couldn't lace Alonso'a boots. It isn't even a discussion. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abra Dubravka Posted January 5, 2021 Share Posted January 5, 2021 Think Rafa's track record at Liverpool for signings is just as good/bad as any other manager of that era really. Wenger, Ferguson, Mourinho all brought in their fair share of rubbish outweighed by obvious quality. Rafa and transfers here was just so frustrating. Limited budget, but relatively decent money spent into the likes of Murphy, Muto, Ki that didn't further our cause at all. Who's actually in charge of any recruitment department at the club now anyway? Unrelated point, but always get the impression that we have minimal connections to agents wise. Any talent of note is always heading to other clubs, especially from Europe. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shays Given Tim Flowers Posted January 5, 2021 Share Posted January 5, 2021 Ki was free so not sure he should be included. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shearergol Posted January 5, 2021 Share Posted January 5, 2021 Think Rafa's track record at Liverpool for signings is just as good/bad as any other manager of that era really. Wenger, Ferguson, Mourinho all brought in their fair share of rubbish outweighed by obvious quality. Rafa and transfers here was just so frustrating. Limited budget, but relatively decent money spent into the likes of Murphy, Muto, Ki that didn't further our cause at all. Who's actually in charge of any recruitment department at the club now anyway? Unrelated point, but always get the impression that we have minimal connections to agents wise. Any talent of note is always heading to other clubs, especially from Europe. Ahh yes, the schools are closed aren't they. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ponsaelius Posted January 5, 2021 Share Posted January 5, 2021 Rafa is good at signing players but probably needs a decent scouting network, a reasonable budget and maybe some degree of support/control. I always think his best transfer business was done at Napoli. Mertens €9.5 Million Callejon €9.5 Million Raúl Albiol €12 million Higuain €37 million Reina free Duvan Zapata €7.5 million Jorginho €5.5 million Ghoulam €5.5 million And in second season Koulibaly for €7.5 million. While there has obviously been inflation since that was an incredible haul of players in 12 months bought for basically what they received for Cavani. Most either went on to become club legends or be sold for big transfer fees. At the very worst they were well worth their money. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abra Dubravka Posted January 5, 2021 Share Posted January 5, 2021 Think Rafa's track record at Liverpool for signings is just as good/bad as any other manager of that era really. Wenger, Ferguson, Mourinho all brought in their fair share of rubbish outweighed by obvious quality. Rafa and transfers here was just so frustrating. Limited budget, but relatively decent money spent into the likes of Murphy, Muto, Ki that didn't further our cause at all. Who's actually in charge of any recruitment department at the club now anyway? Unrelated point, but always get the impression that we have minimal connections to agents wise. Any talent of note is always heading to other clubs, especially from Europe. Ahh yes, the schools are closed aren't they. Wasn't saying Rafa was to blame for these signings, far from it - just that it's frustrating that what money we did have wasn't fully utilised. Ki not so much, albeit probably big contract, but £10M on Muto, £10M+ on Murphy, didn't turn out great when we had nothing to spend at the time. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
joeyt Posted January 5, 2021 Share Posted January 5, 2021 On the other hand he bought the best group of centre backs we've had in years for a pittance. Not every transfer is going to come off. I'm not sure which other strikers we could have signed for as cheap as Muto Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Infinitely Content Posted January 5, 2021 Share Posted January 5, 2021 Mikel Merino was a solid signing that we probably wouldn't have made without the influence of Rafa. Every chance he becomes a mainstay in the Spanish national team and gets a move to one of the historically top clubs. Every club gets signings wrong, I think for the most part we do quite well in the transfer window when we actually decide to take part. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minhosa Posted January 5, 2021 Share Posted January 5, 2021 Mikel Merino was a solid signing that we probably wouldn't have made without the influence of Rafa. Every chance he becomes a mainstay in the Spanish national team and gets a move to one of the historically top clubs. Every club gets signings wrong. Rafa was mates with his Dad, possibly ex-teammates, I believe. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Infinitely Content Posted January 5, 2021 Share Posted January 5, 2021 Didn't know that Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rafalove Posted January 5, 2021 Share Posted January 5, 2021 So we’re after Brandon Williams? I’d rather we signed Jetro or not bother at all than develop other clubs players for them. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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