15 Jun 2019 15:34:42
Wazza,

I have to disagree that British players are less talented than Spanish or German counterparts. There are some real gems out there that we can buy.

The approach we need to have is a right balance in what we do and buy up and coming players from within the league, most of whom are likely to be British but not necessarily.

Look at what Liverpool have done. TAA, Robertson, Wijnaldum, Henderson, Milner, Mane, Gomez all either coming from the academy or moderately priced players from within the league who can already hit the ground running. These players form a core of their team.

They then complement that with moderately priced imports like Fabinho, Salah and Firmino who fit well into their system.

After this they come to a consistent top 4 level but with defensive frailties. And when the core engine is built with players from within the league and creativity is added from the right foreign buys, they can then identify just one or two holes that remain in the squad (GK and top CB) and then they fill those with big money signings like Van Dijk and Allison. They had a few off signings and misses but the strategy was clear and they got there patiently.

And they financed a part of this by selling a superstar at a high price who was supposedly indispensable in Coutinho. The prospect of them losing their best player and getting better was unthinkable at the time.

This is what I would do over the next couple summers. We need to employ a similar strategy. Its not a player's nationality but them being from within the British leagues is what matters for me to build a core of players that already know the league.

If we could buy Wan Bissaka, Maddison, Tielemans, Longstaff, Daniel James to add to Rashford, Shaw, Lingard, Mctominay and Martial already at the club that would form a core of the team.

We can then supplement that with decently priced players from outside leagues like a Ruben Dias and a slightly more expensive Bruno Fernandes. This should be enough to build a squad for top 4. I would finance this by letting go of a supposedly indispensable superstar (who limits us tactically) in Pogba and also Lukaku who clearly doesn't want to be here. I would also let De Gea go (the time has come) and bring a reliable keeper in his early 20s with some experience in. Andre Onana comes to mind although I wouldn't mind going a season with Romero as our starter and then going big for Oblak next summer. This would reset our dressing room and a majority of the players there would be ones who would want to be there.

We are currently trying to do all this in one summer and it may not be possible but over a couple of summers and given time this is certainly possible.

That would still leave us with holes at the right wing position and maybe once these players are settled in and we are back in the top 4 we can address that with our own superstar signing in a Sancho.

That squad would have a hard working core that already knows the league and will hit the ground running, talented players from outside the league and a couple of top players to fill the remaining obvious needs.

1.) 15 Jun 2019
15 Jun 2019 17:17:37
Agreed Redfaith!

Although I would still keep Pogba and Lukaku. New motivated players around them can do world of good to them and us.

2.) 15 Jun 2019
15 Jun 2019 17:43:01
If someone is stupid enough to give us 120-150 million for a player who plays well every in 1 in 10 games then they are bigger fools


You could make an argument to keep pogba but he doesn't even run games against relegated teams.


He is and always will be a player who has the skill to be one of the best but when you look back in 15 years know one will class him as a world class player and he's won the world cup.

3.) 15 Jun 2019
15 Jun 2019 18:05:41
Big question. Will fans, including many on here have the patience?
MAZE is back.

4.) 15 Jun 2019
15 Jun 2019 22:06:45
We have been fortunate over the last few years at LFC, more so than I can remember, with transfer strategy and actual investment in real quality. If you do get it right you have a perfect footing with which to build from and challenge properly once again. We are all loving it currently as Liverpool fans, but I think we are all too aware of how much power MUFC has with the correct strategy. Much as it pains me to say, you can all be down, and rightly so, about where you are now but you’re older fans will remember how lovely it is to watch the team grow into a force from nowhere in particular. We all want instant success, but the downs make the ups feel so much better. Embrace the change and be optimistic for the future.

I’m just going to be sick in my mouth a little bit.