One view of Liverpool’s demise in the 1990s is that they persistently got it wrong in the transfer market after Kenny left.
You can’t keep buying average players and expect to win trophies.
Twenty odd years on and a similar argument could be made about Brendan Rodgers’s Liverpool acquisitions. A quick look at his buys tells us that he has had too many failures to create or sustain a successful side.
No manager gets it right every time but, for us, the ability to spot a player is one of the three most important qualities of a manager, along with man-management and tactical nous.
We look at Liverpool’s hits and misses in the market since Rodgers took charge and ask how many have noticeably improved the squad? Apart from a couple of outright winners (Sturridge and Coutinho) the rest of the list is full of arguable failures and players who have yet to make a genuine impact at the club.
Fabio Borini £10,400,000 13 July 2012
Who?
Joe Allen £15,000,000 10 August 2012
Always threatening to step up a level but not a top buy
Oussama Assaidi £3,000,000 17 August 2012
MISS
Nuri Sahin Loan 25 August 2012
MISS
Samed Yesil £1,000,000 30 August 2012
MISS
Daniel Sturridge £12,000,000 2 January 2013
BR’s best buy
Philippe Coutinho £8,500,000 30 January 2013
2nd Best Buy
Luis Alberto £6,800,000 22 June 2013
MISS
Iago Aspas £7,000,000 23 June 2013
MISS
Simon Mignolet £9,000,000 25 June 2013
Few would lose sleep if Liverpool sold him. Many would sleep better.
Kolo Touré Free Transfer 2 July 2013
MISS
Aly Cissokho On Loan 20 August 2013
MISS
Mamadou Sakho £15,000,000 2 September 2013
Could become a hit. But not there yet.
Tiago Ilori £7,000,000 2 September 2013
MISS
Victor Moses On Loan 2 September 2013
MISS
Rickie Lambert £4,500,000 2 June 2014
MISS. Bless him.
Adam Lallana £25,000,000 1 July 2014
Unlucky with injury but hasn’t got close to looking like a £25m player yet.
Emre Can £9,750,000 3 July 2014
Could become a hit. But not quite there yet.
Lazar Markovic £19,800,000 15 July 2014
Could become a hit. But miles away right now.
Dejan Lovren £20,000,000 27 July 2014
How Much?!!
Divick Origi £9,800,000 29 July 2014
Good Buy. But bad decision not to bring him straight to the club.
Javier Manquillo On Loan 6 August 2014
MISS
Alberto Moreno £12,000,000 16 August 2014
Has potential. But more miss than hit this season
Mario Balotelli £16,000,000 25 August 2014
MISS
Liverpool fans: As the season draws to an unsuccessful conclusion have the transfer dealings of Brendan Rodgers become the main problem at the club?
Figures courtesy of LFCHistory.net
Conor
May 12, 2015 at 11:40 pm
As of yet it is still unknown which signings were BR’s and which are that of the Committee. Your article is null and void.
Rick
May 13, 2015 at 3:26 am
He’s always saying that he won’t pay over the odds for a player, (what were the odds on Balotelli?) and so he ends up with players that nobody else wants. Are his women the same? Ones that nobody else wants because he won’t pay over the odds?
Geoffrey Ganani
May 13, 2015 at 7:18 am
Rogees taste of players don’t fit lfc’s menu.we bull & cocks not calves & chicks.2ndly he doesn’t know what lfc need or lack.2 HM(song,wanyama,naigolan),CM(mirelem,cabaye,moh’d diame,Forwards(benteke,milner,Jeremy menez,berahino,lloriente)etc.all his tastes fit Swansea not lfc.3rdly his tactics are shambolic.no game plan,poor fielding & poor analysis of opponents.he delights in gambling.he must know lfc is a big club not(No.3 in europe
Cosmas Nwaogwugwu
May 13, 2015 at 1:57 pm
The above statistic is very correct.
We the fans should not expect anything different from the past transfer market that Brendan Rogers has been in charge.
I can only say, no hope until he leaves. I expect the club management to do something urgently.