Neil sat with Nick O’Prey, Steve Graves and Paul Cope to continue the discussion of Liverpool’s transfer window. The lads talk about the ins and outs, the sales and loans, and those who stayed, in some cases maybe unexpectedly. How will this impact the rest of a long season LFC have started well?
Direct link to PODCAST: TRANSFER AFFECTION
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Ilori can play CB, he can play DM, and he can even play as a striker. Lads, you really need to start appreciating that BR is looking for VERSATILE players.
And the focus isn’t on “getting” games but “earning” games, hence, competing with other players to earn a starting spot. That doesn’t happen without depth on the bench and we have that now.
I also thought the focus on the 5 centre backs was unnecessarily stressy. Sakho and Ilori are obviously the ones chosen to be our future partnership, and they are exactly what you guys were calling for last year, tall, strong (more so for Sakho but I’m sure Ilori will be no slouch after a few years in the gym), good with the ball at their feet and importantly very quick. Guys who in a few years you could hopefully leave with almost any striker in Europe and rely on them to “win their battles”, leaving the rest of the team to play attractive attacking football. I think their speed is really the most critical thing, especially as Ilori is meant to be one of the fastest guys around, as it should allow us to keep a very high line and really press the opposition like we have all been crying out for.
That we have a period of overlap with the old guard while they bed in to life in Liverpool and the EPL is just very sound management. This way we can gradually ease them into the team and then sell Skrtel and Agger while they still have good value, and maybe even turn a profit. Kelly and wisdom would then be the perfect reserve centre backs, since they came though the system and would therefore presumably be more loyal to the club and willing to fight for their place than other players brought in from somewhere else.