My honest assessment of the window:
As far as the in's go -
I feel Salah has been a superb buy. We needed pace on both the flanks and look to have that now. However, I do feel that we need some depth in the event of injuries to either Salah/Mane. Maybe this is where Chamberlain comes in? I for one, cannot understand how somebody with his technical skills can play in the middle, once Lallana is back. Nonetheless greater depth definitely.
Robertson is better than Moreno and better than Milner at LB. Balance there as well. Hope he integrates into the team structure, shape and play as the games will now come thick and fast.
Solanke in pre season looked like a definite upgrade on Origi. Happy with that. As long as the tribunal fees stays below 10 million!
Keita for next year, its the year that matters so will keep this short. I feel this is absolutely smashing business by the club. The kind of deals Bayern, Barca, Madrid are lauded for. I really hope there is no clause in the agreement such as Liverpool have to qualify for the UCL.
The Outs:
Kevin Stewart, Lucas, Wisdom sold - Good.
Origi Loaned - Great. Especially with the recall clause along with the fees.
Sakho - BAD. I for one, cannot understand what Klopp's thinking here is. Let's think about his misdemeanors.
- He took an allegedly banned substance. Was suspended from Football. Missed the Euros in his home country. Uefa come back and say the substance wasn't in the list. Revoke the ban. Nobody comments how Uefas incompetence cost him a chance to represent his nation in their backyard. He should have informed the club and was silly.
- He acted totally unprofessional during pre-season. Klopp decides to send him back to train alone. Player trains alone. Makes no fuss about it. Klopp wants to loan him out for fitness. He declines. Klopp decides there is no way back for him so he is left to train with the U-23s. Player apart from one Snapchat or whatever post maintains his silence.
How are these things worse than what Coutinho has done? How come there is a chance to reintegrate Coutinho into the squad? He committed far worse mistakes than Sakho and there was a bid on offer which is way more than what he is worth. Any level headed fan will tell you that Coutinho is world class but he is not worth a 130 million pounds. Granted we don't need the money etc etc but how has what Coutinho done not undermined Klopp? The way Sakho has been treated is absolutely ridiculous for in my opinion.
He is better than Lovren, Klavan, Gomez (at this stage in his development) and without a doubt the second best CB we had.
Selling him would have made sense if:
Van Dijk - This has been the biggest let down in this window. Coupled with the Sakho issue, it is a big blunder. We are 1 injury away from Klavan at Center back and 2 injuries away from the Rodgers approved Emre Can at CB experience. The club messed up here and there can be no turning away from that. Massive, massive let down.
I really won't comment much on Coutinho because I feel he should have been sold, we should have chucked whatever money at his replacement (Kovacic/Lemar) and be done with this whole thing. It will start again next year.
We should have also got in a new Goal Keeper. United have a world class GK, so do Chelsea, Spurs too and City have something better than Mignolet/Karius. Cech is also better than these 2. Maybe Klopp sees Ward as his number 1 eventually this season?
The next objective for the club should be to tie down Can to a long term contract. That should be their single biggest agenda going forward.
To conclude - Unlike previous windows where it has been 1 step forward 2 steps back. This one has been 2 steps forward and 1 step back. It's progress but it could have and should have been so much more.
As far as the in's go -
I feel Salah has been a superb buy. We needed pace on both the flanks and look to have that now. However, I do feel that we need some depth in the event of injuries to either Salah/Mane. Maybe this is where Chamberlain comes in? I for one, cannot understand how somebody with his technical skills can play in the middle, once Lallana is back. Nonetheless greater depth definitely.
Robertson is better than Moreno and better than Milner at LB. Balance there as well. Hope he integrates into the team structure, shape and play as the games will now come thick and fast.
Solanke in pre season looked like a definite upgrade on Origi. Happy with that. As long as the tribunal fees stays below 10 million!
Keita for next year, its the year that matters so will keep this short. I feel this is absolutely smashing business by the club. The kind of deals Bayern, Barca, Madrid are lauded for. I really hope there is no clause in the agreement such as Liverpool have to qualify for the UCL.
The Outs:
Kevin Stewart, Lucas, Wisdom sold - Good.
Origi Loaned - Great. Especially with the recall clause along with the fees.
Sakho - BAD. I for one, cannot understand what Klopp's thinking here is. Let's think about his misdemeanors.
- He took an allegedly banned substance. Was suspended from Football. Missed the Euros in his home country. Uefa come back and say the substance wasn't in the list. Revoke the ban. Nobody comments how Uefas incompetence cost him a chance to represent his nation in their backyard. He should have informed the club and was silly.
- He acted totally unprofessional during pre-season. Klopp decides to send him back to train alone. Player trains alone. Makes no fuss about it. Klopp wants to loan him out for fitness. He declines. Klopp decides there is no way back for him so he is left to train with the U-23s. Player apart from one Snapchat or whatever post maintains his silence.
How are these things worse than what Coutinho has done? How come there is a chance to reintegrate Coutinho into the squad? He committed far worse mistakes than Sakho and there was a bid on offer which is way more than what he is worth. Any level headed fan will tell you that Coutinho is world class but he is not worth a 130 million pounds. Granted we don't need the money etc etc but how has what Coutinho done not undermined Klopp? The way Sakho has been treated is absolutely ridiculous for in my opinion.
He is better than Lovren, Klavan, Gomez (at this stage in his development) and without a doubt the second best CB we had.
Selling him would have made sense if:
Van Dijk - This has been the biggest let down in this window. Coupled with the Sakho issue, it is a big blunder. We are 1 injury away from Klavan at Center back and 2 injuries away from the Rodgers approved Emre Can at CB experience. The club messed up here and there can be no turning away from that. Massive, massive let down.
I really won't comment much on Coutinho because I feel he should have been sold, we should have chucked whatever money at his replacement (Kovacic/Lemar) and be done with this whole thing. It will start again next year.
We should have also got in a new Goal Keeper. United have a world class GK, so do Chelsea, Spurs too and City have something better than Mignolet/Karius. Cech is also better than these 2. Maybe Klopp sees Ward as his number 1 eventually this season?
The next objective for the club should be to tie down Can to a long term contract. That should be their single biggest agenda going forward.
To conclude - Unlike previous windows where it has been 1 step forward 2 steps back. This one has been 2 steps forward and 1 step back. It's progress but it could have and should have been so much more.
