05 Sep 2020 09:52:56
I remember when Chelsea signed Shevchenko and Ballack and they were guaranteed the League. I remember Andy Robbo being bought as a back up for Moreno. Salah? That's a lot of money I thought. The same for Sadio Mane.
I'll start to worry when other teams start to recruit and develop players as well as we have done.
05 Sep 2020 10:14:30
Ballack was great at Chelsea to be fair.
05 Sep 2020 10:27:06
Chelsea went 4 years without winning the PL from 2006 to 2010 after spending hundreds of millions on Ballack, Shevchenko, Anelka, Malouda, Cole, Kalou, Bosingwa, Pizzaro, Smertine, Alex and the list goes on and on during that 4 year period. Strengthening guarantees you nothing. Just facts.
05 Sep 2020 10:34:22
Fantastic player Ballack who had a great career.
05 Sep 2020 11:21:21
Rm in fairness we can black cat Chelsea. They might have gone 3 seasons not winning the title spending millions but we went 30 years spending millions and millions and didn’t win it.
05 Sep 2020 11:34:18
Ballack wasn't 'great' for Chelsea. Neither was Shevchenko.
I remember them both struggling with injuries and they have one League title between them.
05 Sep 2020 12:31:33
i don't remember Ballack being great for chelsea, good, but not great. he did come with huge reputation as i recall?
05 Sep 2020 12:57:06
Some transfers work and some don’t. That doesn’t bother me, only problem i see is Liverpool wanted Werner, Lewis and Thiago. We Might end up with none. Something isn’t right there. I personally think we’re okay as we are, but if Klopp wants these players we should be getting them no matter what.
{Ed001's Note - Lewis was only first choice because he was home grown. We got Tsimikas instead, hardly a problem.}
05 Sep 2020 12:57:19
JK23, two things can be correct at the same time. Also, Your point relates to something that I am not arguing. My point was to prove that strengthening a season after you win the title or win it back to back, proves and guarantees nothing.
A fair comparison in this regard, is how it took LFC 30 years to win the title again while it took Chelsea 50 years to win their first title and another 50 years to win their second (in 2005 where Roman and his millions showed up) .
I used Chelsea as an example. I could use Utd under Fergie or even City under Pep so again, it is not about black catting (whatever the heck that means) anyone.
05 Sep 2020 13:14:25
Rm my comment was said in jest mate and I wasn’t having a dig at you. What you said in your original comment I whole heartedly agree with. Black catting my friend is always going one better. So if I said I ran 5 miles you will get someone who will say they ran 5 and a half just to be better.
05 Sep 2020 13:42:11
The same Ballack who won 1 league title, 3 FA cups and 1 league cup in 4 seasons? Scored 25 goals for them in 4 years from midfield? Finished runners up in the Premier League twice and Runners up in the Champions League once?
I don't get the obsession with putting down other clubs players. Ballack was great for Chelsea. Fair play if you want to say he was "good" for Chelsea. That's just a case of terminology and i'm not going to bother debating the difference between good and great. Fact is, he was better for them than Shevchenko and shouldn't be mentioned in the same breath.
{Ed001's Note - Ballack was a top class team player, so sometimes people didn't notice just how good he was as he put himself out for the team.}
05 Sep 2020 14:06:52
True Ed001, but the same people who will crucify Ballack, will claim Wijnaldum is a Liverpool legend from his 4 years at the club because he is a good team player and has 1 league title. There was even a statement above that Ballack was injury prone at Chelsea, but he played 166 games in 4 seasons.
It just comes across as bitter bias and i hate seeing it from fellow reds as it tarnishes us all. The only player in our entire squad with the same number of Liverpool trophies as Ballack has Chelsea trophies, is Henderson. And it took him 8 seasons. Nobody here will say Hendo hasn't been great for Liverpool.
Strange, strange thread this one. The point about not necessarily needing to strengthen (which i totally agree with by the way, Rigsby) could have been made without weirdly attacking, as Ed001 says, a top class team player.
{Ed001's Note - I don't understand why people can't celebrate good players no matter who they play/ed for.}
05 Sep 2020 14:27:07
Ballack was a great footballer, it would be churlish to even attempt to argue differently. Again a player prepared to sacrifice his natural game for his team when he went to Chelsea, his medals speak for themselves.
{Ed001's Note - he did it for his country as well. None of that pathetic crying Gazza done, he just put in a MOTM performance in the semi-final even though he knew he would miss the final. He was a truly great player.}
05 Sep 2020 14:35:47
Agree with your post, HMB, although my pet hate is when people assert that players are great because they have won trophies.
Trophies are won by teams rather than individuals. You could put Phil Jones or Luke Shaw in the Barcelona team 8 years ago and they would still end up with winners medals galore but it doesn't mean they are great players. Conversely, Messi has no WC medal, Maradona never won the European Cup, but they are still two of the greatest footballers ever (along with Pele and Matt Le Tissier, of course) .
Either way, your point is valid. I always thought Cantona was a sublime player even if he played in a nastier shade of red.
06 Sep 2020 09:59:55
Harvey's, I never attacked Ballack. I'm comparing his and Shevchenko's signings to Chelsea's signings this summer.
I'm not attacking Werner, Havertz etc. either.
They look great and people panic about us not doing the same.
I could have said the same for United and Veron.
We're not doing the same but what we're doing has been very good, so far, under JK.
All I'm saying is, I'm not panicking this summer.