03 Dec 2017 22:35:32
eds - convo between mates about lfc and our place in the world. my feeling is that we attract players like torres, suarez, coutinho etc who are potential "world class" players at the time, but that the culture of the club and the city isn't quite a fit for them when they catapult into the echelon of the world's best players. I'm not wanting to get too specific about this and I am not trying to speak on this like it is a negative thing, just an observation - but I feel like there are certain clubs and cities that are just a better appeal and fit for the personality / attitude / arrogance of the world's best players. you know what I mean?

Is it just money? Would we really keep our top players if we could just pay more to more of our players? I feel like there is more to it.

{Ed002's Note - players want to be playing and challenging at the highest level. Liverpool can’t offer that on a regular basis.}


1.) 04 Dec 2017
04 Dec 2017 01:29:56
Ed002 said it best. If a player has the ambition to be the best and challenge for trophies on a regular basis then obviously they will be attracted to the Barcas and Madrids. Unless we can offer this on a regular basis I don't see any suprise in such issues. Its the same when we buy a player from a lower team e. g Southampton, its a chance for said player to move up.


2.) 04 Dec 2017
04 Dec 2017 03:34:41
Ed002 nailed it. LFC as a club has provided a platform to potential world class players to take the next step in the development to reach the very top. Unfortunately, this is when the problems start. The best we can do is challenge for a top4 place (even that is a rare occurrence) while the likes of Suarez, Torres, Alonso, Mascherano, Sterling all wanted to win league titles and the UCL.
LFC need to start building a world class team to convince the likes of Salah to stay. A team that can compete with the best in England and Europe as well.
There is also this misconception that all players want to move to Barcelona and Real the moment they start sniffing around them. I beg to differ. Aguero, Silva, KDB still at Man city inspite of interest from the La Liga giants. Hazard is still at Chelsea even though Zidane keeps making eyes at him. De Gea still at Utd and they signed Pogba over Real. Its all about challenging at the very top. Once we do that, players will want to stay.

{Ed001's Note - it is not all about challenging, sometimes it is about money, sometimes it is about Real or Barca not making a genuine attempt to sign them, sometimes it is that they were only wanted as back ups there. There is a lot more to it than simply being challengers.}


3.) 04 Dec 2017
04 Dec 2017 04:11:19
You need to win trophies to keep our best players at the club unlike top 4 Arsenal trophy! Why is it even a surprise? Raise your ambition from “ Futurr looking bright “ and “ Next year is our year “ to “ let's win the league and nothing else “. If you are satisfied with 4th and 5th place finishes then you ll loose the best players!


4.) 04 Dec 2017
04 Dec 2017 04:46:35
Ed1 - to your point about money, is that an area that would "bridge the gap" for us? I guess that is the crux of my thinking - if we had equivalent money to spend, are we the kind of club in the kind of location where the worlds best players want to play?

{Ed001's Note - it really depends on the player. That is my point, there is no 'this is what a player wants', everyone is different, whether they play football or work in a bank, everyone has different wants and needs. Some players, such as Matt Le Tissier and Totti can go anywhere in the world but choose to stay with a team that is mostly winning nothing instead. It is not a lack of ambition that saw both stay, it was a different kind of ambition. Alexis Sanchez did not choose Arsenal because of trophies, for instance, he chose them because of location. Nainggolan stays with Roma because he wants to be in Rome. Other players just go where the money is. Still others, such as Milner leaving the title-challenging City to join us instead, leave for regular first team football. There is no one size fits all in any situation in life.}


5.) 04 Dec 2017
04 Dec 2017 05:10:43
But this situation has become a norm especially with any quality player that joins LFC and then chooses to leave. So many factors but players like Torres, Sterling left purely to challenge for trophies. The situation where your best players can be mitigated to a certain extent by challenging at the highest level. It will not stop a player leaving 100% but it makes it easier to keep hold of our best players as they are unlikely to throw a strop and justify their actions over the club's lack of ambition.


6.) 04 Dec 2017
04 Dec 2017 07:36:15
Some great comments above. We are a strange one because we look so close to being a challenging team but are yet so far away from it on other days. I think every man and his dog know where our weakness's are and if Klopp can get the next 2 windows right then next season there should be no excuse not for us to proper early challenge for the title or win it. If we fail to put in a realistic challenge and Salah, Mane and Firmino continue this form then would you blame them for having their head turned if a Real, Barca, PSG, Bayern or I hate to say it even city came In for them.


7.) 04 Dec 2017
04 Dec 2017 17:40:00
Spot on jayden23.