03 Jun 2023 15:30:30
On the most disappointing (as opposed to worst), there have been a massive amount since 1990 who were massively hyped (and seen as game-changer signings) but then were dreadful with us. Some of these names might surprise you (as ever being highly rated in the first place: Dean Saunders, Phil Babb,
Leonhardsen (! ), Paul Ince, Christian Ziege, Harry Kewell, Carroll (thInk he would have been fine if Kenny had remained) . I also expected more from Mark Wright, but he had his moments. Left back (after Staunton sold 1st time) and DM were huge problem positions for us throughout 90s onwards until we signed Didi - though I think Andy R the only excellent LB since Staunton.

1.) 03 Jun 2023
03 Jun 2023 16:08:53
Aurelio was class as was riise on his day.

2.) 03 Jun 2023
03 Jun 2023 16:23:04
I did think Aurelio would come up. Superb player, but injuries really confined him to such a bit part role. Riise and his compatriot Stig had some good moments early on, but became liabilities defensively. Rob Evans deserves a mention as Evans played him at left wing back, but his career was ultimately destroyed by injuries. I still think that Evans’ team could have been mustard if they hadn’t lost that dire FA Cup Final to Man U (people like to say we didn’t turn up on the day, but Man U were equally dreadful) .

3.) 03 Jun 2023
03 Jun 2023 16:45:28
Riise's over-rated imo. Great shot on him but otherwise nothing special. Particularly in his last couple of years when he seemed to bulk up too much (and he wasn't small to begin with) which slowed him down and made him a liability defensively.

Agree on Aurelio. He was class when fit.

4.) 03 Jun 2023
03 Jun 2023 16:54:40
Riise lived off that rocket against Man Utd for too long. He wasn't that good.

Aurelio was quality though. Just a shame he could never stay fit.

5.) 03 Jun 2023
03 Jun 2023 16:59:41
Aurelio was awesome when fit. Which wasn’t often. My abiding memory of him was that brilliant 4-1 win over Utd where we destroyed them.

6.) 03 Jun 2023
03 Jun 2023 17:07:45
Liverpool making blatantly awful signings in the transfer market is all I've ever known. Aquilani, Carroll, Balotelli and the like, everybody knew deep down they were a bad idea.

Robbie Keane possibly counts as a disappointment. I was too young to appraise him properly as a player, but having a second striker to play alongside Torres seemed like a surefire success. Too bad he was a muppet and sold 6 months later.

I think the biggest disappointment has to be Keita. I know we were warned by Ed002 that he wasn't good news, but it still seemed so promising. Everybody wanted him! I honestly thought he was going to be our David Silva.

Unfortunately he has been the biggest waste of space since El Hadji Diouf. Carroll was also a piece of work but he had something about him, whereas I'm not even sure Naby would have been good even without the self sabotage.

7.) 03 Jun 2023
03 Jun 2023 17:36:04
We've made significantly fewer blatantly awful signings in the last few years, tbf. We just made two expensive ones (Keita and Ox) in the same position.

8.) 03 Jun 2023
03 Jun 2023 17:38:59
Agreed that Riise bulked up way too much.

9.) 03 Jun 2023
03 Jun 2023 17:42:38
Tell ya who flies under the radar a bit: Abel Xavier.

What were we thinking? My main memories of him are of him being totally destroyed by Ze Roberto vs. Leverkusen in the CL and of grabbing players in headlocks when defending set pieces.

Really poor player. Wasn't even first choice at Everton.

10.) 03 Jun 2023
03 Jun 2023 17:48:58
I would agree on the Keita bit. Clearly the worst disappointment given the amount paid and the high expectations we all had. "The next Ngolo Kante" . Is there something worse than a wet firecracker?

If loans can be included, then I would add Sahin and Melo to the list. High amounts paid, high expectations and once again wet firecrackers. Loans are something this club has never been good with. I can't recall a single player who stands out and was worth keeping. In fact, you could probably say that "if you're loaned out by Liverpool you're not coming back, and if you're loaned into Liverpool you're not staying", LOL.

{Ed002's Note - Keira was always going to be a disaster.}

11.) 03 Jun 2023
03 Jun 2023 17:59:27
World Cup winner Bernard Diomede. He was a disappointment.

I believe Djimi Traore was dubbed the new Marcel Desailly by Ged (Lol) .

12.) 03 Jun 2023
03 Jun 2023 18:09:52
Joe Cole, Harry Kewell, Andy Carroll, Naby Keita, Lazar Markovic, Mario Balotelli, Jan Kromkamp, Rickie Lambert, Christian Poulson, Adam Lallana, Benteke, Keane, Paul Stewart, Nigel Clough, Charlie Adam, Caulker, Ziege, David James, the Scottish cb signed by Kenny, Mark gonzalez, Toure and Jay Spearing. I'm tired now. I know there's more!

13.) 03 Jun 2023
03 Jun 2023 18:30:34
Mark Wright was a quality player - the problem was those around him like Konchelsky.

14.) 03 Jun 2023
03 Jun 2023 18:32:22
Well they have the same number of Champions League medals, Ron. So maybe Ged was on to something.

Welcome back btw.

15.) 03 Jun 2023
03 Jun 2023 19:30:28
Ed 02 will murder me for this, but yes he was right on Keita; but didn’t he also say that Gini would be a nightmare in terms of attitude? Not a criticism - impossible to be 100% right all of the time, but possibly shows that some players might surprise us. Huge apologies if my memory is serving me badly here: old men forget etc.

16.) 03 Jun 2023
03 Jun 2023 19:38:45
In recent times, Lallana was the signing who excited me most. A silky baller, and a pressing monster - BR didn’t know how to use him, but Klopp did: was our best player under early Klopp, when fit.

17.) 03 Jun 2023
03 Jun 2023 19:44:23
Ron - traore was a hero v Milan, 2 offline clearances . We wouldn’t have won in 2005 without him. So I don’t think he deserves to be on any naughty list!

18.) 03 Jun 2023
03 Jun 2023 19:44:25
*Rob Jones.

19.) 03 Jun 2023
03 Jun 2023 20:07:27
1JJ - Wright played in the 90s, Konchelsky was like 2010-2011 and he was awful.

20.) 03 Jun 2023
03 Jun 2023 20:16:30
Did Konchesky play alongside Mark Wright?.

21.) 03 Jun 2023
03 Jun 2023 20:28:52
Monster hope you’re not putting Rob Jones on any “disappointments” list. He was a superb right back, could defend and attack. Remember his first game against Utd and he stood out. Shame his injuries cost him his career.

22.) 03 Jun 2023
03 Jun 2023 20:30:22
That free kick at OT for the 3-1 by Fab Aurelio will NEVER get old. One of the best left foots I have ever seen.

23.) 03 Jun 2023
03 Jun 2023 20:44:14
Got to agree with OP. All them left backs mentioned have been average fodder over the years.
It’s been a problem area for Liverpool along side goalkeeper.
Klopp sorted that.

24.) 03 Jun 2023
03 Jun 2023 21:25:17
For some odd reason i always liked david burrows.

25.) 03 Jun 2023
03 Jun 2023 21:33:45
Stig Inge Bjornebye did a decent job at left back for us. Setup a fair few goals for God.

Aurelio was the most naturally talented.

Riise was good for a couple of seasons but fell off a cliff after that. His edge of the box volley technique was the massively underrated btw.

Like many by Souey, Staunton shouldn’t have been sold. Wasn’t good on his return though.

Dossena, Traore, Moreno, Konchesky, Vignal, Robinson, Warnock - not good enough.

26.) 03 Jun 2023
03 Jun 2023 22:15:19
Going back to loans - Anelka came on loan and should have been kept in my opinion.

I didn’t put Djimi on a naughty list, the Burnley own goal goes down in folklore and should have won a Puskas award.

I just said he wasn’t on the same level as Desailly (LOL)

27.) 03 Jun 2023
03 Jun 2023 23:50:40
Smason888 I have a soft spot for Burrows too only because he played left back when I was at school and so did I.

28.) 04 Jun 2023
04 Jun 2023 00:17:40
Rob Jones was on his way to being a world class right back before the injuries. He was a much better right back then any playing the game today.

29.) 04 Jun 2023
04 Jun 2023 00:55:05
Sean Dundee.

30.) 04 Jun 2023
04 Jun 2023 08:07:35
Djimi Traore apparently had a bad confidence issue and was an absolute beast in training, but just couldn’t replicate that ability in a live game. Smashed it in the one big game that mattered most though.

31.) 04 Jun 2023
04 Jun 2023 09:11:01
Anonymous Woolback

How you can say it's all you've ever known that we've made awful signings, is beyond me. We've signed a lot of rubbish - as does every other team when money is an object and even when it isn't (Antony: Lukaku: Sanchez: Haller: Ndombele: Pogba: Torres: Morata: Pepe: Arizaballaga etc) .

We've also signed a lot of quality players in the last 20 years who have done wonderful things with us - Alonso: Torres: Salah: Mane: Robbo: VVD: Suarez: Mascherano: Hendo etc. Then there's the ones who we signed, who were World Beaters, but for injuries, bad managers, bad luck, wrong system/ inability to adapt etc. just didn't work out like Litmanen: Carrol: Aurelio: Anelka etc.

32.) 04 Jun 2023
04 Jun 2023 09:40:25
not sure where AW is going with that one, but going to assume what they mean is there have been more misses than hits.

Anyways, besides the obvious ones already names some others that stick out for me:

Anthony Le Tallec and Florent Simana Pongolle - I was sold on the dream of our very own Zidane and Henry lol. They both had their moments and unfortunately never fulfilled the promise!

Joao Teixeira - looked so good in the youth CL. Felt so sorry for him and his back injury

Balotelli - Just wish he took the chance he had with us, but probably wasn't the right player for Rodgers

Litmanen - awesome player and we only saw glimpses of that with us.

33.) 04 Jun 2023
04 Jun 2023 10:03:15
1-4, Oli.
Does anyone remember Julian Dicks?
He could take a penalty though.

34.) 04 Jun 2023
04 Jun 2023 10:40:30
And don't forget Glenn Hussein, and Kvarme. I remember Kvarmes debut against Man U - and thought wow - where did he come from - brill. And then he was pants after that.

35.) 04 Jun 2023
04 Jun 2023 11:52:18
Obviously I don’t mean we have never signed any good players. The question was about disappointing signings, as in players who fell way below initial excitement and expectations. When we sign someone poor, it’s most often a catastrophe you can see coming a mile off.

Joe Cole is a great shout, enjoyed watching him in the 2000’s but when he joined it was quickly apparent he was spent.

Lallana is another, I thought he was a perfect signing for us, only to spend all of his time on the injury table and hold onto the ball for far too long.

Upon reflection, my only answer can be Moreno. We’d faced problems at left back for decades, and it seemed like we’d bought a top quality one for a bargain price. It started off well initially, with the goal against Spurs. Pretty soon the mistakes began to creep to the surface, and before too long the picture was clear.

A part of me feels bad for criticising him harshly, because we often say that effort is the bare minimum, and so many of the aforementioned signings didn’t give 100%. Moreno did at least try, which is why the manager kept him around for so long.

Even though i recognise that, I don’t think there has ever been a Liverpool player I have held such contempt for. Nobody has before or since made me so violently enraged on such a consistent basis. Every time he took to the field, it seemed as though each action was calculated to be the most optimally brain dead thing he could have done at that given moment.

I almost never saw him cross, because he repeatedly tried to recreate that goal against Spurs every time he was in that position, even though the shot was never on. His defensive errors seemed to get worse by the week, if I had the vocabulary to describe them then I would, but they had to be seen to be believed. Between 5-10 times every game, the opposition would be let in due to the most horrifyingly stupid decisions that he would make, most often positional ones.

If two moments sum him up best, it would be the Europa League final, which is informally known as the Alberto Moreno final to all who endured it. The second would be an incident against Dortmund, in the first leg. a Dortmund player had the ball, under no pressure, by his corner flag. None of our other players were engaging in a press, because there wasn’t anything on. Moreno, with heartfelt sincerity in believing that was what pressing was, sprinted from his own half towards the Dortmund defender, and near enough two footed him. He gave away a free kick and received a yellow, covering 80 yards to foul a player in the most unthreatening position on the pitch.

Wish him well, was happy to see him lift the Europa League with Villarreal. Never known a more frustrating or disappointing player at Liverpool though.

36.) 04 Jun 2023
04 Jun 2023 12:29:39
Nick Tanner
Awful signing.

37.) 05 Jun 2023
05 Jun 2023 12:50:50
Bjorynebye at LB was an awesome crosser of the ball.