The deal for Mignolet is close to completion pending a medical at Melwood. £11 mil for an international stopper is pretty decent. Interesting to see who gets the nod in our season opener as rumours of Pepe going to Barca have cooled.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2013/ju...alberto-sevilla?

Suso is receiving accolades for his performance during Spain's FIFA U-20 World Cup opener against the US. He started off the season as a regular but did not feature at all after. Looked average to me but he's still a young bloke.

http://www.liverpoolfc.com/news/latest-new...-spain-beat-usa?

Nowadays contracts come with a slew of clauses, one of which is the buyout clause. This basically means that contracts are no longer binding just so long as the purchasing club is willing to shell out a little more quid. If the club refuses the offer, players can always sulk and refuse to train or play

Like most of you I watched Suso play last season but maybe I'm missing something because while he was consistent, he wasn't doing anything to warrant an automatic first team place. I can see why Downing was ever present in his place as much as he has his detractors.

YouTube any player and you'll see the good bits. We don't get to see Suso in training day in, day out though do we? Anyone remember Freddie Adu? Well if you don't it just comes to show how YouTube vids aren't reliable. He was the next big thing and his vids were amazing. Whilst he is still relatively young, he hasn't reached the heights that were expected of him.

The step up from U-20 level to the top flight is a big one. Many have flattered to deceive. Suso is a promising lad but he isn't yet a game changer. After losing his first team place, he was used sparingly as a sub but made little impact after coming on. One for the future. Still has much to learn does this young Padawan.

Same as yours, Chelsea?

You're contradicting yourself. On one hand you say young players need exposure and on the other you're saying someone like Sterling has been overplayed. I'm sorry but how many games has Suso played in the U-20 World Cup again? How many did he play for the first team last season? Do you remember even 1 standout game? No one is saying he's a bad player, it's just that currently he's but a squad player. Seems to me you're basing your whole opinion on him standout games he's had at U-20 level, which I think you'd agree is a few rungs down from senior competitive football. Again, Freddie Adu anyone?

Ibe we payed because we had nothing to play for. Like you've said, it was our last game. Morgan was also given a runout as well as was Coady during the season. In fact, I think all the young lads were given fair opportunity to stake a claim in the starting 11. Didnt we ask for this? That we wanted to see the young lads being given a chance? You make it sound as though Suso never got a fair shot. He did and if memory serves me he was only, alright. What did he do to warrant more opportunities?

You mention some young blokes there but for everyone one, there is a David Thompson, John Welsh, Stephen Darby, Neil Mellor, Florent Sinama Pongolle, Anthony La Tallec, Zak Whitbread, Ritchie Partridge, Mark Gonzalez, Jack Hobbs, Paul Anderson and so on, and these are just Liverpool lads I have at the top of my head. Point is that young protégés aren't common and Suso has not made the sort of impact Rooney, Fowler or Owen did when they burst onto the scene.

Again, Suso is on course to being a good player but he's far from it at the moment and to suggest he's ready for regular first team football is to me, premature.

This post has been edited by Duke Red: Jun 23 2013, 07:03 PM

Err yes you did wor



Point is just because someone plays well at youth level, it doesn't necessarily mean he'll cut it. Morgan was scoring for fun and won 2 FA Cups with the youth team. Last season, he was largely anonymous whenever he was on the field. This leads to the question I've asked twice. Has Suso really stood out in the matches he played last season because I've seen little to suggest he should be thrust into the first team.

This post has been edited by Duke Red: Jun 23 2013, 07:53 PM

I want Suso to succeed as much as the next guy and I can see promise in him. I'm just wondering what you've seen based on his performances for the first team so far to justify demanding that Rodgers plays him more?

Fight? Sure, over beers

I don't think Rodgers is oblivious to the fact that Suso has talent else he would not have thrust him into the first team early in the season. If anything it was probably a combination of a resurgent Stewart Downing and the breakthrough of Raheem Sterling that relegated him back to the bench. The additions of Sturridge and Coutinho in the summer did him no favours either. Wasn't that he wasn't playing decent football, it's just that some players were in better form. With Borini having returned from injury coupled with the signings of Aspas and Alberto, his task of securing first team action has become that much harder.

Neil Mellor didn't just not cut it in Rafa's squad, he didnt really cut it anywhere. Didnt expect big things from him as I always thought he was a little too sluggish for Premier League football. Like I said, big difference playing youth football compared to the more continental approach adopted by most Premier League sides now, where mobility is increasingly important. If you compare him to big forwards like Benteke or Lukaku, he is as agile as a bull in a glassware store.

Ngoo I do like. Tall, quick and good on the ball. Then again that's what I thought of David Ngog who has the physicality but not the footballing brain to go along with it.

Paul Anderson scored less goals than Jonjo Shelvey last season despite being a regular in League Two. He's 24 now and I doubt there will be any respite for him. Has only managed 4 caps at youth level for England.

Yes Rafa was instrumental in redeveloping the academy and he'll always have a special place in the hearts of Liverpool fans. Sadly he may move out of Merseyside now that he's found a job in Italy.

I agree but it isn't the first time the media have done this. They have a bad habit of talking up our chances every season. It's damaging because they raise expectations of fans who then turn on the team when they don't scale the heights the media predicted the team to. We should stop reading headlines and taking them as the truth without first forming our own opinion.

It is highly optimistic. It isn't like we've signed Edison Cavani, Matts Hummel or Christiano Ronaldo. In Aspas, Alberto and Toure we have what I think are squad players at the moment. Aspas is a bit of an unknown quantity. He's come off a good season but it remains to be seen if he can a) continue where he left off and prove he can be consistent and b) settle to life on and off the pitch in England. Luis Alberto has limited exposure at international and top flight level and will not likely be thrust right away into the first team. Toure is as we know, here for his experience. If anything, I think we've improved our squad depth, something we needed to do last season. I do not think we're top 4 material at this point.

I am optimistic... of a top 6 assault. Optimism needs to come with dosages of realism or one could easily be labeled as being delusional.

I think you'd be hard pressed to find a poster who tells you that I've been pessimistic throughout. I've been supportive of FSG and Brendan Rodgers all this while. It is important at the same time to realise that the transition process from a club in debt to a profitable one is a long one. Success will come in stages. Also, we've signed promising players but hardly world beaters. We've got a good squad capable of competing against the big boys but we also need to reel in our expectations and embrace reality. I am optimistic of our chances on the long term and fully support the vision laid forth by our owners and gaffer. Like them, I do not think it will happen quite so soon as much as I hope it will.

We will undoubtedly have a potent forwardline should Suarez stay and Mkhitaryan finally put pen to paper but I don't think any of us can offer anything more than assumptions and speculate at the moment. I try not to dream of "what ifs", preferring to focus on "what is". I don't see how we'll keep Aspas, Alberto, Coutinho, Sturridge, Suarez, Sterling and perhaps Suso happy all season, having them fight for only 3 spots. Didn't mention Mkhitaryan because he can always drop back into a midfield role. Something has got to give and someone will move.

Even so, I still think we need strengthening in the other half of the park. We scored goals last season but we conceded a fair bit as well. Toure will feature on a rotation basis and we still need someone permanent to partner Agger. My bet is on Kelly should we fail to land a new signing. Johnson will likely be leaving next season and Wisdom may go out on loan so we need to look ahead and groom a successor. If Johnson leaves it will also leave us short of options on the left. There is also the question of who comes in should Lucas be injured or suspended? We don't have a defensive midfielder worth mentioning.

This post has been edited by Duke Red: Jun 24 2013, 12:47 PM

Unlike the top sides you've mentioned however, we don't have that many games to offer them. We aren't even in Europe and unless we go on a deep run in both or either domestic cup competition, we will only have 40 odd games to play over the course of the season. With the World Cup looming and players looking to book themselves a ticket to Brazil, it remains to be seen if they will be content with bench roles. One thing we do have in our favour is that Suso, Alberto, and Sterling are young whilst Aspas was never in the Spanish squad anyway so they may be content with being rotated.

Yes it's good to have attacking options which is why I said earlier that if anything, these signings will improve our squad depth. I also commented on the article you posted earlier, stating that I do not believe any of the players we've signed so far will be first team regulars (not in their first season anyway, bar Mkhitaryan should we sign him), hence why I'm apprehensive we'll finish in the top four next season. I do however believe that we are not far away from challenging though.

This post has been edited by Duke Red: Jun 24 2013, 02:18 PM

Despite making early signings and being linked to more players, I do not see any drastic changes to the first team. Of the signing we made so far, I can't say for certain any of them will be regular first teamers. Even if they do make the first team I don't see them all being fielded at the same time.

I can't for the life of me figure out how Reina and Mignolet are going to co-exist. The latter is said to be a medical away from signing and he cited that coming to Liverpool will boost his chances of being the Belgian no.1 in Brazil ahead of Curtois. Thing is with Reina having cemented his place in between the sticks at Anfield, Mignolet will at the very best, share playing time with him. Needs to be noted that Reina is also contending for the no.1 spot with Valdez. Goalkeepers aren't rotated so it will be interesting to see how this pans out and how both keepers will be kept happy with so few games next season.

Not sure how much truth there is in this but I remember seeing Elia play in the last World Cup. Looked average to me plus, do we really need another winger?

Thing is Friedel is in the twilight years of his career and would therefore be more accommodating to the idea of being replaced. Lindergaard was signed from Norway and should expect to have to earn his passage into the top flight. Also, with Denmark 2nd from bottom in their World Cup qualifying group, he may not have much to fight for. Both Pepe and Mignolet are established no.1's and both are currently no.2's in their respective national setups vying for the no.1 jersey.

I'm all for having two strong keepers. My concern is keeping both of them happy. I have this niggling feeling that the Pepe Reina transfer saga is far from over.

I'm not seen much of Mignolet bar youtube videos but I can say that Pepe is the sort of keeper who will thrive under our current system of play. His form was patchy early last season but he raised his game towards the end. I think Pepe is best playing behind a high defensive line. He isn't the biggest of keepers so he's likely to get swamped in a crowded penalty box. He is good with his feet and loves coming off his line so having acres of real estate in front of him is something he relishes I feel.

I'm still waiting for news of us being linked to a defensive midfielder. I think this is a key position for us more so under Rodgers where when the team pushes forward, the defensive midfielder takes up a central defensive slot, with both centrebacks pushing up wide. We were porous at the back last season and one reason for that was our inability to drop back fast enough whenever we lost possession. A Mascherano would be perfect given his experience playing in a back four with Barca.

So Mignolet is now officially our most expensive goalkeeper.



http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/sport/footb...started-4711714?

We signed Ray Clemence from Scunthorpe in 1967 for $18,000 pounds. How much is that today ?

Some quick facts on Simon Mignolet :-

1) He is now the 2nd most expensive keeper in Premier League history, half the price of David De Gea.
2) Despite Sunderland finishing fourth from bottom, Mignolet managed to keep 11 clean sheets, a feat bettered by only 4 Premier League keepers.
3) He speaks 5 languages
4) He is currently studying for a masters degree.

Girlfriend experience.