Sakho Signing Shows Progress

When you’re not in the Champions League, Champions League level players are pretty tough to acquire. Liverpool have learnt that the hard way this summer. Several ambitious targets have slipped through their net during the transfer window but eventually they have landed a prized catch. His signing may have been overshadowed by the deadline day deals involving Gareth Bale and Mesut Ozil, but Mamadou Sakho’s transfer to Liverpool feels pretty significant for a couple of reasons.

First of all, Liverpool have brought in a potentially world class player and that is never to be sniffed at. Sakho has been regarded as one of the most promising centre halves in Europe for years. His early career was extremely impressive and before PSG went out and bought their Brazilian trio of centre backs (Thiago Silva, Alex and Marquinhos), Sakho was undoubtedly their main man. Carlo Ancelotti and now Laurent Blanc may have preferred to marginalise their former captain in favour of those big signings from South America but Sakho remains a quality player with exceptional promise and many PSG fans disagreed with his relegation to the bench, and indeed his sale.

Sakho signs on at Anfield 

He’s young, quick, extremely physical and very experienced at the top level both internationally and in club football. If you’d said to a PSG fan 18 months ago that they would let their home grown captain leave in the near future they’d have thought you were crazy. Sakho was an icon for their club like Steven Gerrard is on Merseyside. Paris’ loss should be Liverpool’s gain. He’s had some difficult times of late at his hometown club but he is moving to Liverpool with the intention of participating in next summer’s World Cup for France. He should be motivated and if he’s on top of his game you’d imagine he establish himself as Liverpool’s first choice centre back pretty soon, such is his quality.

Aside from bringing in a potentially world class defender, the way Liverpool concluded this transfer was a little surprising and rather encouraging also.

The deal was concluded in good time and with little fuss which isn’t what many expected when the initial links to the player were made in the press. Make no mistake, lots of other clubs will have been looking at Sakho (he’s long been linked with AC Milan, for example) and he would have been a good a signing most top clubs. This wasn’t a situation like the transfers of Luis Alberto or Iago Aspas where Liverpool nipped in early in the summer and signed a player who was slightly under the radar with little competition. They went out and got a Champions League quality player in pretty decisive fashion. Given how that mid summer lull of activity at Anfield went, this deal was somewhat of a contrast to what had gone before.

After that initial spurt of four signings early in the summer, Liverpool failed persuade Henrikh Mkhitaryan to join them instead of Borussia Dortmund. That was understandable given Dortmund’s performance in the Champions League last season and their current standing in general. The Reds then failed to prize Diego Costa from Atletico Madrid, another Champions League club. Again, you can’t really blame Costa for sticking with a club in Europe’s elite competition. Finally, Liverpool refused to pay over their valuation for Anzhi Makhachkala's winger Willian and subsequently missed out on Brendan Rodgers’ remaining ‘marquee’ attacking target.

Willian got away from Liverpool this summer

That Willian deal nearly broke Twitter. Plenty of people were questioning why Liverpool hadn’t gone the extra mile to ensure that they obtained the Brazilian. Willian’s addition would have been exciting and he’d have potentially rounded off a mouth watering attacking quartet alongside Coutinho, Suarez and Sturridge. Ultimately though, the transfer committee at Anfield decided against paying over the odds for Willian and Liverpool fans understandably weren’t too happy about it. Many thought that it showed a lack of ambition not to pay top dollar for a top target and frustration was everywhere as Liverpool missed out again.

When you consider all that went on with that Willian deal and the stance that the club ultimately stuck by, it highlights just how differently Liverpool have acted in signing Sakho. They have brought in a very good player but you could easily make the argument that they have overpaid on Sakho’s market value to secure his signature. The circumstances that Sakho was in at PSG certainly suggest that.

First of all, he only had a year left on his deal at PSG, thus obviously decreasing his value significantly. Secondly, he was desperate to leave the French capital to regain his place in his national side. Thirdly, PSG already had three players in his position that they rate higher. Basically, all the cards seemed to be in Liverpool’s hands when it came to negotiating a deal and yet they still paid a pretty large fee of £15m for the player.

This may sound like I’m criticising Liverpool’s approach to the deal but it is quite the opposite. It was refreshing to see Liverpool identify an ambitious target, pay what was needed and get the deal done before we entered Jim White territory.

Too often Liverpool have dithered in the transfer market and it has cost them. We’ve seen it this summer too, much to everyone’s chagrin. Perhaps the club have finally realised that sometimes you have to pay a little extra to acquire your top targets and ensure that no other clubs can hijack a deal as negotiations drag on. It is to be hoped that Sakho’s arrival is evidence of Liverpool learning some lessons and revising their strategy slightly. It’s a shame that this didn’t happen with attacking targets like Willian but at least the club finally got the experienced centre back that Brendan Rodgers’ has craved all summer long.

£15m for Mamadou Sakho looks like a lot of money, but it could prove to be a steal. Hopefully he succeeds and proves to Liverpool’s transfer committee that sometimes in football, you simply get what you pay for.

Spurs show Reds the way forward

'The more things change, the more they stay the same'. A famous saying but one that does not apply to Liverpool Football Club these days. In fact, turning the phrase on it's head offers more accuracy. At Anfield, the more things stay the same, the more they appear to change.

On the face of it, little at Liverpool has changed since their encouraging opening day win against Stoke but the early sense of euphoria garnered from their deserved victory last weekend has already worn off. Focus has quickly shifted from the positives of that first opening day win since 2008 to the negatives of their transfer dealings this summer.

Willian, their main target for the past couple of weeks, has joined rivals Spurs. The Brazilian becomes the third big name player to reject Liverpool’s overtures this summer, following in the footsteps of his former team mate Henrikh Mkhitaryan and his countryman Diego Costa. Make no mistake; Willian’s deferral to Spurs is a huge concern for Liverpool.

The London club, who missed out on Champions League football by a solitary point last term, have added Etienne Capoue (£9.7m), Paulinho (£17m), Nacer Chadli (£7m), Willian (£30m) and Roberto Soldado (£26m) to a squad that finished 11 points ahead of Liverpool. They are also in the running to add the fantastically talented Erik Lamela to their squad. On paper at least, they appear to be leaving Liverpool behind.

Willian has disappointed Liverpool by moving to Spurs

A top four finish is Liverpool’s target this season and realistically, they are not going to catch Manchester United, Manchester City or Chelsea. That leaves Spurs, Arsenal and Everton for Liverpool to overcome in their desperate race to get into the Champions League places. Arsenal are currently in disarray and Liverpool will fancy their chances of overtaking their neighbours but Spurs could now be over the hill and far away. They are amassing a squad capable of challenging for the title off the back of Gareth Bale’s imminent world record transfer to Real Madrid.

Of course, football is never won solely by who has the deepest or strongest squad on paper, but the quality added at White Hart Lane this summer is disconcerting for Liverpool supporters. So too are the conflicting reports on the failings of the club’s business this summer. The Liverpool Echo would have it’s readers believe that Willian had simply chosen Spurs over Liverpool due to his preference for living in the nation's capital after both clubs had made offers for the player. Conversely, Tony Barrett of the Times and various other journalists have suggested that Liverpool refused to match Spurs’ offer of around £30m for the Brazil international. If that scenario is true (and many believe it is) then Liverpool and owners FSG have some answers to give.

Henry and Werner have questions to answer

If FSG decided that Willian wasn’t worth the money required to prize him from Russia then who advised them on this? Why bother to publicly pursue a player of that profile in the first place when other top European clubs with financial clout were certain to be in the running as well? Why, with Liverpool’s net spend this summer in the minus column, could the club not dare to pay slightly above their valuation for a player who could potentially transform their already impressive attack into a top class outfit? Questions, questions, questions.

What we do know is that Liverpool have failed again to complete a significant piece of business and in doing so, they have allowed a rival to strengthen and further increase a gap between the clubs that was already going to be difficult to bridge. Liverpool have conducted some decent business themselves this summer (not least keeping hold of Luis Suarez) but there has been no real statement of intent to suggest that the Anfield outfit believe they can blast their way back into the Champions League this season. They haven’t captured a signing to excite their fans and demonstrate true ambition. They will claim that they have tried, but have they tried hard enough?

Two weeks remain in the transfer window and the Reds are yet to purchase a player for over £10m. Considering how desperate Brendan Rodgers has been to add a top class centre half and another match winner at the top of the field that just isn’t good enough. The Reds are an exciting side with bags of potential but to seriously mount an assault on Spurs and the rest of the sides above them in the pecking order this season, a statement is required. At least one top quality player is still required to take them on to the next level.

The way the summer has gone so far that player seems unlikely to arrive. 

Rodgers evokes the Spirit of Shankly

Well, we know what Brendan Rodgers has been reading recently, don’t we. Red or Dead by David Peace is the hagiography of Bill Shankly and it is flying off the shelves as we speak. It charts the life and times of the great man from his arrival at Liverpool Football Club to the end of his days. It is a book centred around his fierce determination, passion, honesty and devotion to his life as Liverpool manager. It is a labour of love that celebrates his socialistic views, his desire for everyone at Liverpool (and indeed, the wider world) to work for each other. Every fan, tea lady and cleaner was every bit as important in Shanks’ mind as the superstars that he moulded into the great Liverpool teams of the 60s and 70s. Moments of triumph and despair were to be shared and commitment to the cause was not celebrated, but a pre requisite. How times change.

One can only guess how Shankly would have dealt with modern football and it’s spoilt, millionaire players. He’d probably have Luis Suarez doing laps of Melwood for the next three years for turning his back on the club and it’s people this week. Of course, in modern football that is not an option and lamentably we have no Shanklys left. Society and football have changed almost beyond recognition but when Brendan Rodgers faced the media to discuss that interview from Luis Suarez, the current incumbent of the Liverpool managerial position sent out messages that fans of any era would have approved of. The origins of those messages were easy to determine.

Rodgers can’t talk like Shankly, few can, but he gave it his best shot and relied on the principles of the great man to get him through a tricky moment.

The easy option would have been for Rodgers to give ‘no comment’ on his want away forward. Instead, he laid things out clearly. With honesty. With passion.

“Obviously the remarks I've read are bitterly disappointing - but my job is bigger than that. My job is to fight and protect the club. I will take strong, decisive action, absolutely. There has been total disrespect of the club - this is a lack of respect for a club that has given him everything. Absolutely everything.”

Rodgers is no Shankly. No manager today is. But his words evoked the great man. His words were music to the ears of Liverpool’s supporters. How Arsenal fans would have loved Arsene Wenger to say the same sort of things last year instead of selling Robin van Persie to Manchester United.

Rodgers poses next to Shanks' portrait at Melwood

The messages from Rodgers were not ambiguous. Yes, Suarez was bang out of order. Yes, he would be punished. Yes he has betrayed the club. The only surprising thing was that Rodgers didn’t repeat himself again and again during his answers to mirror Peace’s writing style in Red or Dead. 

Rodgers appealed to the emotion of fans and spoke of Suarez’s betrayal of them. It was almost textbook Shankly if, understandably, lacking in some of the gravitas that the Scot carried.

“I really, really feel sorry for the supporters, people that have sung his name. We have travelled the world over the course of this pre-season. 85,000 fans were singing Luis' name in Jakarta. It was the same in Australia, in Thailand and at Steven Gerrard's testimonial.”

Shankly’s holy trinity of manager, players and supporters were used in Rodgers’ condemnation of the Uruguayan also. When quizzed on whether Suarez could wear the red shirt again, the manager showed how deeply Suarez had cut the club.

“There's a few bridges to cross before that can happen (play for Liverpool again). It's about the respect, that's the only thing we look for. This is one of the most iconic football clubs in the world, you can't disrespect it. That's something I will ensure (an apology) before anything happens in the future.”

The great man in front of his adoring Kop

Of course, this could all be grandstanding but Liverpool’s resistance to sell to Arsenal seems sincere. How would Rodgers look if Suarez was sold for £40m after claiming that his value is far in excess of that all summer long? How would John W. Henry look after that famous tweet if Suarez made his way to the Emirates? Liverpool have backed themselves into a corner but it was the correct thing to do both from a moral viewpoint and as business decision. Selling Suarez to a rival at a low price shouldn’t even be an option.

The recent developments in the case suggest that Suarez has no legal grounds to demand a transfer at £40m. He is a rebel without a clause. Liverpool remain in the difficult position of having their best player being unhappy and determined to move but with no offer on the table that matches his value. It’s easy to see that there are many miles left in this saga but Liverpool and in particular Brendan Rodgers have dealt perfectly with it thus far. One hopes that FSG have the courage of their convictions and prevent Suarez from moving to the club that Liverpool need to overtake.

Rodgers’ press conference was a timely reminder that, even after all this time, the spirit of the man who built Liverpool and his ethos still reside somewhere within the corridors of Anfield.

Suarez interview - Football is a lie

‘Football is a lie’ - Rafael Benitez

Liverpool’s former manager has come up with some interesting quotes down the years. Priests on mountains of sugar, white liquid in bottles etc but his notion that the beautiful game is fictitious might just be his best. It certainly rings true during these arduous summer breaks. These hot, tedious months where the focus shifts from the football pitch to Jim White, agents and Twitter.

No doubt everyone has seen Luis Suarez’s interview with Sid Lowe by now.  In it, the want away striker essentially laid his cards on the table for all to see, inviting criticism and scorn in doing so. In isolation this interview makes little difference, but as Benitez’s quote suggests, in football perception means more than reality.

The Uruguayan has more or less begged Liverpool to release his shackles and allow him to scamper down to London to fulfil his dreams. It’s angered Liverpool fans, naturally. It’s given hope to Arsenal fans. But what else has it done? Precious little. What he said to Sid Lowe he will have undoubtedly said to Brendan Rodgers and Ian Ayre already. For every ‘extraordinary’ interview like this one, you must look past the headline grabbing quotes and try to discern what the reality of the situation is.

Let me go: Suarez is desperate to leave Liverpool 

People seem keen to push the notion that because Suarez has publicly slammed Liverpool and revealed his intention to vacate the north west that there has been some seismic shift in the landscape of this transfer fiasco. There hasn’t been. What this interview shows is desperation.

Early in the summer Suarez made passes at Real Madrid as regularly as he sipped mate from his omnipresent flask. Unfortunately for Suarez, as things stand Madrid have their eyes locked on a more attractive target and are paying him little attention. If Suarez wants to leave Liverpool this summer then right now his only option is to move to a team who are not yet guaranteed Champions League football and whose potential for winning that competition or the Premier League are remote at best.

He has cited his desire for Champions League football as his motivating factor for wanting to leave Liverpool and says people should accept this. The truth is, Liverpool’s supporters do accept this. They yearn for the same thing. Had Madrid rocked up and tabled an acceptable bid for the player, fans would have waved him off with regret but also understanding. The problem is that Arsenal, while not a local rival as Suarez correctly points out in his interview, are the team that Liverpool must catch this season and their offer undersells Suarez by a long way in today’s ridiculous market.

So why now? Why alienate the supporters who, as recently as this weekend, still had his back and chanted his name? Why threaten to take the club that have supported him so often to court? Why bring all this on himself? Again, we arrive back at desperation.

At war: Brendan Rodgers and Arsene Wenger 

Arsenal’s farcical £40m plus £1 bid came a long time ago now. It was rejected out of hand by Liverpool. It isn’t Suarez’s value and that apart, it was downright antagonistic. Arsene Wenger wants this saga to be completed ‘amicably’ but it was that childish bid that started a war of words between the two clubs and probably strengthened Liverpool's resolve to keep the player from the Gunners' clutches. If this transfer does end up in a court, one wonders what would be made of Arsenal’s extraordinarily specific bid. But I digress, back to Suarez. He claims he has a £40m release clause. He claims to have the PFA’s backing. He claims that he will hand in a transfer request. Once more, football is a lie.

Either that clause is fictional or his ‘super agent’ Pere Guardiola is, well, a little bit silly. If that clause is set in stone then Liverpool had no right to reject Arsenal’s bid. Guardiola, being a ‘super agent’ and all that jazz, presumably would know this. He’d have threatened Liverpool with legal action the moment he got wind of that offer being rejected. Liverpool insist no such clause exists and reading between the lines, it seems they are correct. If they weren’t then this transfer would have either been completed or would be being played out in a court room by now.

Suarez and Guardiola are obviously frustrated with Liverpool's resistance to the transfer (though, not frustrated enough to wave a ‘loyalty' bonus by submitting a transfer request just yet) and making the player’s position at Liverpool untenable by burning his bridges on the pages of the Guardian newspaper seems like a desperate roll of the dice to apply additional pressure to FSG and Liverpool Football Club. Moaning, whining and telling the world how you are a slave to a club that have gone back on their word are not the actions of people in control of a situation like this.

Assuming no clause exists then Suarez can conduct as many Twitter crashing interviews as he wants but his situation changes little. Liverpool value the player in excess of £50m and don’t want to sell him to the team they have in their crosshairs. Stalemate. If FSG stick to their plan and refuse to send Suarez down south then Suarez must hope that a team from abroad make a bid for his services or prepare his next move. That would be threatening to strike, ala Carlos Tevez. To do that in World Cup year, aged 26 would take some real bottle and stupidity but nothing can be ruled out. Words mean little anymore. Football is just a lie.

LFC adding steel to their style

Too often last season Liverpool were somewhat of a soft touch. Looking bad it’s hardly surprising. For the first half of the season the club had to play a lot of young players far more often than they would have liked and there was a shortage of experience. When the going got tough, Liverpool often seemed to wilt a little mentally.

Brendan Rodgers acknowledged as much and was quoted as saying he needed to add more ‘men’ to the squad. In a recent interview he also said 'last season we played with style but not enough steel' You could interpret that as Liverpool needing more experience (no doubting that they did require that) but you can just as easily make the case that the manager wanted more players who would stand up and be counted. Aside for Gerrard, Suarez, Carragher and Reina, Liverpool were a little thin on the ground when it came to leaders last term. As two of those players have now left the club it is little wonder that Rodgers has fixed his eye on players with a certain type of mentality this summer.

Suso and Sterling: Plenty of talent, little in the way of experiemce

Kolo Toure has come on and as well as his vast knowledge of the Premier League, he adds vocal presence to a defence that often seemed mute last season. He is undoubtedly a leader of men and his transfer makes a lot of sense.

Iago Aspas has drawn many comparisons with Luis Suarez already and not just for his busy style of play. By all accounts he was a little pest in Spain. He has a little bit of swagger and a temper too. That sort of thing can occasionally be a team’s downfall (his red card for head butting an opponent last season didn’t go down well at Celta Vigo as his suspension nearly facilitated their relegation) but it again shows that, like Suarez, he is a player who won’t shy away from a tough situation. In short, he’s a narky little fighter.

Kyriakos Papadopoulos has been a target all summer long for the Reds and it only takes ten seconds of YouTube viewing to see that he is no shrinking violet either. Personally I haven’t seen enough of the player to say whether he would be a good signing or not but you can see that his character appeals to Rodgers. He seems loud, in your face and aggressive. He doesn’t seem like the kind of lad who would accept being bullied by Christian Benteke and Kenwyne Jones in the way that Martin Skrtel did last term.

You wouldn't mess, would you?

Diego Costa is the latest player heavily linked to Liverpool and he could be on Merseyside pretty soon if reports are to be believed. Anyone who knows about Costa seems to jump to his temperament when describing him rather than talking about his actual ability. That’s because he’s, how shall I phrase this, a little controversial.              

You kind find footage of some very unsavoury things when you Google the Brazilian’s name and it is to be hoped that he can curb the wilder side of his character if he makes his way through the Shankly gates. Seek out opinions from people who have watched him regularly though and again it becomes clear that his mental toughness would appeal to Rodgers.

He’s a loud mouth, more than a little dirty, he works himself into the ground and he won’t back away from anyone. Go and look at his run-ins with Pepe and Ramos in the Madrid derby of last season and you will see some startling images. He has quality, naturally, but I would bet that his attitude impressed Liverpool’s scouts as much as his ability. 

'The most hated man in La Liga'

Described as ‘The most hated man in La Liga’ you can bet that Costa’s arrival would see Luis Suarez with a real rival for his current status as public enemy number one in this country. Some may feel that Liverpool could do without more bad publicity but there can be little doubt that Liverpool lack steel at the moment and it is encouraging that their scouting department have set about rectifying that.

And who wants a team full of angels anyway? As the saying goes: Nice guys finish last.