The OFFICIAL Liverpool FC thread - #DankeJürgen

[brokencrossbar1]

I've decided over lunch that Mario will be a Liverpool legend and i'm going to get a tattoo done of him in a Liverpool jersey ASAP 

It must have been a good lunch!

Must have been of the liquid variety!!!!

[johnneycool]

I like Mario, he's a looper in the nicest sort of way. He'll make things interesting for sure.

[brokencrossbar1]

£40m = Sturridge, Sterling, Coutinho and Ballotelli
£42m = Ozil
£43m = Fellaini + Zaha
£50m = Torres
£56m = Soldado + Lamela

This is a nice wee stat.

[deiseach]

I wonder what manner of 'hype' would have caused Liverpool supporters to think they might get more than 75 points last season...

I suppose you can call it hype. I call it excitement at the possibilities. No one is fooling themselves that this is a sure-fire winner. Balotelli has the potential to be a stunning success or a waste of space and all points in between. However, the 'potential to be a stunning success' part is present and correct. It's no offence to the likes of Shane Long or Rickie Lambert, the player occupying the kind of squad position that others had earmarked for Long when West Brom were touting him to all and sundry, to say that no one would ever suggest they were the final piece of any top team's jigsaw.

[J OGorman]

I wonder what manner of 'hype' would have caused Liverpool supporters to think they might get more than 75 points last season...

I suppose you can call it hype. I call it excitement at the possibilities. No one is fooling themselves that this is a sure-fire winner. Balotelli has the potential to be a stunning success or a waste of space and all points in between. However, the 'potential to be a stunning success' part is present and correct. It's no offence to the likes of Shane Long or Rickie Lambert, the player occupying the kind of squad position that others had earmarked for Long when West Brom were touting him to all and sundry, to say that no one would ever suggest they were the final piece of any top team's jigsaw.

well covered if it implodes and the Utd men start looking back over posts ;-)

[deiseach]

I wonder what manner of 'hype' would have caused Liverpool supporters to think they might get more than 75 points last season...

I suppose you can call it hype. I call it excitement at the possibilities. No one is fooling themselves that this is a sure-fire winner. Balotelli has the potential to be a stunning success or a waste of space and all points in between. However, the 'potential to be a stunning success' part is present and correct. It's no offence to the likes of Shane Long or Rickie Lambert, the player occupying the kind of squad position that others had earmarked for Long when West Brom were touting him to all and sundry, to say that no one would ever suggest they were the final piece of any top team's jigsaw.

well covered if it implodes and the Utd men start looking back over posts ;-)

If that happens, I'll be able to say "I told you so!"

[Boycey]

£40m = Sturridge, Sterling, Coutinho and Ballotelli
£42m = Ozil
£43m = Fellaini + Zaha
£50m = Torres
£56m = Soldado + Lamela

This is a nice wee stat.

I've seen some pretty pointless stats up here but I think that one tops the lot 

[Walter Cronc]

£40m = Sturridge, Sterling, Coutinho and Ballotelli
£42m = Ozil
£43m = Fellaini + Zaha
£50m = Torres
£56m = Soldado + Lamela

This is a nice wee stat.

I've seen some pretty pointless stats up here but I think that one tops the lot 

Do you seriously want non Pool fans to start digging up the silly sums you's have paid in the past for players haha...

[deiseach]

£40m = Sturridge, Sterling, Coutinho and Ballotelli
£42m = Ozil
£43m = Fellaini + Zaha
£50m = Torres
£56m = Soldado + Lamela

This is a nice wee stat.

I've seen some pretty pointless stats up here but I think that one tops the lot 

[insert Andy Carroll reference here]

[Armamike]

It's always fascinating how much of a role hype can play in determining peoples' opinions.

Shane Long's attitude, workrate and versatility would fit perfectly into Liverpool's system of play. He's not a fox in the box and won't score 20+ goals a season, but with the number of chances Liverpool create, he probably wouldn't end up too far away.

Balotelli will stand with his hands on his hips, and if he maintains his Man City record of one assist in 54 games, Sturridge, Sterling and co just won't pass to him. They thrive on interchanges. Plus Gerrard won't let him hit penalties, which means his strike rate could dwindle to next to nothing.

Each to their own I suppose.

Nothing to do with Hype. Shane Long is an honest, good pro. Ballotelli is a sulky hoor. However, in terms of ability to stick the ball in the net, Ballotelli is in a different league to Long.

Long has played for WBA, Hull, Reading and Southampton.

Ballotelli has played for AC Milan, Inter and Man City.

I have nothing against Long, I like him and he seems like a good lad, but there is no way he's at that level. Of course he'd be a far safer signing, but it looks like Rodgers is rolling the dice and backing himself to get the best out of the looper. We'll see.

Again, it's a hype thing. He's played for some of the biggest clubs in the world, but I think this makes him a curate's egg rather than a player of pedigree.

Statistics do produce anomalies, like that streak of losses every time Gareth Bale played for Spurs after he first joined.

But these are interesting:

- Over his time at Man City, their win rate was 59% when he played, compared to 73% without.
- Last season was the first time in 15 years AC Milan finished outside a CL position.

-----

Armamike, I'm not suggesting that Liverpool should have signed Long, nor that he is worth the money Southampton paid. I'm more pointing out that if Liverpool sign low profile players (like Long), all their fans would do is concentrate on the negatives -  even if they are potentially a good fit. But if they sign a player with a big profile (like Balotelli), the same fans will scramble to ignore any cold hard facts about weaknesses with their new player. That's the influence of hype. In fairness, managers buy into it too, otherwise "super" Mario would never have got any of these transfers.

Isn't it funny though how Man City, Milan and now Liverpool have seen something in Balotelli?  Surely his skill level and ability has to come into it rather than hype? 

[laoislad]

Man City or Chelsea didn't want Sturridge....Worked out pretty well for Liverpool.

[mikehunt]

If he gets close to 20 goals a season he'll be a success for an outlay of 14m. My worry is that he's not the type that will work hard which will put pressure on the others to play the pressing game. I'm optimistic that the kop will inspire him though.For the money it's worth the risk I think.

[tiempo]

If he gets close to 20 goals a season he'll be a success for an outlay of 14m. My worry is that he's not the type that will work hard which will put pressure on the others to play the pressing game. I'm optimistic that the kop will inspire him though.For the money it's worth the risk I think.

Aaah, the myth. I look forward to seeing which teams crumble in front of the myth in the CL this year. The amount of times an average Liverpool team progressed in the CL as visiting teams shat themselves instead of being inspired. Real Madrid that time being the most unforgivable.

If you think the Kop is going to inspire Balotelli you probably also think that Louis Suarez has a little place in his heart for Liverpool... well he doesn't and you's embarrassed yourself pandering to him when he brought your club into disrepute several times. Only a matter of time before Mario pulls a wobbler. As much as he has match winning potential he also has the potential to undo a lot of BR's good work to date, a huge risk not worth taking I would say.

[supersub]

If he gets close to 20 goals a season he'll be a success for an outlay of 14m. My worry is that he's not the type that will work hard which will put pressure on the others to play the pressing game. I'm optimistic that the kop will inspire him though.For the money it's worth the risk I think.

Aaah, the myth. I look forward to seeing which teams crumble in front of the myth in the CL this year. The amount of times an average Liverpool team progressed in the CL as visiting teams shat themselves instead of being inspired. Real Madrid that time being the most unforgivable.

If you think the Kop is going to inspire Balotelli you probably also think that Louis Suarez has a little place in his heart for Liverpool... well he doesn't and you's embarrassed yourself pandering to him when he brought your club into disrepute several times. Only a matter of time before Mario pulls a wobbler. As much as he has match winning potential he also has the potential to undo a lot of BR's good work to date, a huge risk not worth taking I would say.

Meet the very bitter class clown everyone 

[TabClear]

A few on here wanted to sign Shane long 

Yea Bingo you are right but that was when Long was available for 5M from WBA a few windows ago - I don't think for 1 minute he is worth 12M, never was and never will be that good a player but was decent value at 5M when compared with Aspas for 6M, Borini for 11M....

Not so sure about this Balotelli deal - like him as a player but he seems to be an absolute nutter who thrives on causing problems. No doubting his quality but not certain this deal will be a success and if it turns out to be a success then all hail BR as a man manager of the highest order.

Cant fathom why we didn't take Falcao for 12M for a 1 year loan deal - sell Borini and then we have the cash therefore no expense lost. Maybe he is coming here also

Agger, Borini, Lucas will all be sold and get us 20M+ - this covers the Balotelli fee but we should maybe buy someone else also - Alonso would be great from RM or Song from Barca on loan - 2 good holding midfielders as Stevie G is past it to play every game in what is going to be a long gruelling season compared to previous years.

Difference is that even if Mario didn't work out Liverpool have an asset to sell in a year's time. Someone will.always buy a striker like him no matter how crazy. While I think falcao is a better striker and would be a better fit, £12m is a  pretty steep rental for a player unproven in the premiership. Shevchenko?