Can we find the Lavia?

[Brizzle]

I am tilted. Like absolutely on fucking TILT

 

[tomasjj]

Going back two times, haggling, and then dropping it 10% below their 50 mill threshold seems very odd.

We clearly rated him.

 

[Halmeister]

Dunno about anyone else but I’m absolutely loving the Hal’s rants, never laughed so much the last few days.

If you want the truth and don't live with your head in the clouds, you will probably appreciate my posts on this particular matter

 

[Hansern]

But he’s Klopp’s mate, isn’t he?

Nah, not mates.

 

[Halmeister]

I think the impact of a single fiasco is frankly overrated, and these fiascos are more commonplace than you think.

From Edwards' era alone, I remember:

- the van Dijk leak, which was a much more colossal fuck up at the time
- Loic Remy, the guy we signed and then told the world that he'd failed a medical
- Fekir, who had literally done a photoshoot with the club before he failed his medical
- Konoplyanka who we'd agreed to sign on the last day of the Jan transfer window, before the Dnipro owner decided for no good reason that he wouldn't sell him
- Caleta-Car who was sitting at the airport waiting to board a flight at the Lyon airport before we decided that we'd get Kabak and Davies on loan

These fuckups happen constantly, and happen with every club. What defines a competent club is not its failures, but how it responds to them.

If we end up signing Florentino Luis and Goncalo Inacio in the next 2 weeks, and they turn out to be massive hits, nobody will remember this Caicedo saga in 2 years time.

The problem of course is that the fact that a mediocre retired DoF is running the show from Ibiza, and that our commercial head is now involved in transfer negotiations doesn't inspire much confidence.

This makes all of those combined pale in comparison. If I can be arsed, I'll do a detailed post explaining why later.

 

[Red Bird]

Nah, not mates.

So how did we end up with joblot DOF

 

[binomial]

If you want the truth and don't live with your head in the clouds, you will probably appreciate my posts on this particular matter

I've read and agreed with many of them, I understand and share the frustration.

Bottle jobs? Yeah
Incompetent bellends? Yeah
Fucking time wasters? Yeah.
Chucking away Klopp's last few years? Damn right we are.

 

[keniget]

I agree that - from the outside looking in - we didn't seem particularly keen on Lavia for all the reasons a lot of us were umming and aahing about him as well.

As I said earlier in the thread, no idea how good this kid is and how he compares (talent wise) to someone like Bajcetic but we really need someone a year or two on from where he is in his development.

I wonder whether they're gonna play him alongside Cacideo or whether he's just gonna cop a whole lot of bench.

 

[StevieM]

There's a price to be paid in delayed squad integration. It always looked to be a foolish approach and I said so from the start.

I don’t disagree. Foolish, definitely in hindsight.

 

[Shadey]

Lavia can get fucked, we don’t need players who don’t want to play for our team, we’ll have back up plans and we obviously have the money, so we need to jog on from these 2 frauds.

 

[dee]

I agree that - from the outside looking in - we didn't seem particularly keen on Lavia for all the reasons a lot of us were umming and aahing about him as well.

As I said earlier in the thread, no idea how good this kid is and how he compares (talent wise) to someone like Bajcetic but we really need someone a year or two on from where he is in his development.

I wonder whether they're gonna play him alongside Cacideo or whether he's just gonna cop a whole lot of bench.

enzo, Caicedo, Sanchez, Ugo, Gallagher …… Yepp bench, and he must know it.

 

[Brizzle]

Lavia can get fucked, we don’t need players who don’t want to play for our team, we’ll have back up plans and we obviously have the money, so we need to jog on from these 2 frauds.

He’s rejected us for the same reason. We made it clear we didn’t want him before he then decided he didn’t want to join us.

 

[dee]

Lavia can get fucked, we don’t need players who don’t want to play for our team, we’ll have back up plans and we obviously have the money, so we need to jog on from these 2 frauds.

Love the confidence, I’m with you!

 

[Whaddapie]

Lavia can get fucked, we don’t need players who don’t want to play for our team, we’ll have back up plans and we obviously have the money, so we need to jog on from these 2 frauds.

That's all very well in theory, mate, but if we don't sign a very good DM very quickly, we're gonna have a far worse season this year than last... Who are our back-up plans and when will we get them?

 

[rubans]

Is Jorg the new opportunstic scape goat and Klopp the over bearing control freak?

Get real, we had the same genius transfer commitee pre Klopp and with the same constants:
- seemingly on average same netspends with possible inflation factored ( this could be wrong but feels so!)
- before Peter Moore and after him, how are our CEOs?
- few massive misteps from FSG; ticket price increase, ESL?
- FSG hired Commoli as our DOF - wasn’t he a bit shite too?
- lost our access to city scouting DB while back

I don’t believe Klopp made anyone hire his choice as DOF, why would he? Why would FSG just do it just to keep a guy who has extended his contract a full year before.

The same FSG who sat quietly over Dec 2020 transfer window while we signed two unknown CBs on last day while were decimated by injuries months before hand? The lack of planning was on the wall back then, wasn’t that under Edwards?

FSG have done some fantastic stuff but buck stops with them. It’s worrying the amount of fingers being pointed at Klopp for non football reasons without any real evidence. Just look at Red Sox for the last 6yrs…

 

[Halmeister]

I can assure you all that we wanted Lavia and Klopp rated him really highly. However, we were trying to penny pinch and get the best deal as we felt we were paying over the odds.

 

[Markeh]

In isolation though it’s not awful to back out of Lavia for financial reasons, he is overpriced. But the current situation is a car crash and we were only a couple of million off signing him.

 

[Jerry Laser]

Just buy a right back, stick Trent in there and buy that Brazilian lad....

Sorted

 

[rubans]

Just buy a right back, stick Trent in there and buy that Brazilian lad....

Sorted

I would for now agree, change tact and buy a RB whom Chelsea don’t want and let Trent, Thiago and Bajetic manage it for 3 months. In the actually buy a DM without fannying about before Jan. We will be fine, won’t get bummed as much in midfield at least…

 

[Farkmaster]

Lavia can get fucked, we don’t need players who don’t want to play for our team, we’ll have back up plans and we obviously have the money, so we need to jog on from these 2 frauds.

These were the backup plans. Plan is charitable, though.

 

[Farkmaster]

I would for now agree, change tact and buy a RB whom Chelsea don’t want and let Trent, Thiago and Bajetic manage it for 3 months. In the actually buy a DM without fannying about before Jan. We will be fine, won’t get bummed as much in midfield at least…

I agree that we should change tact.

 

[The Nomad]

Just buy a right back, stick Trent in there and buy that Brazilian lad....

Sorted

The Brazilian lad isn't available until January.. at which point Chelsea will buy him too.

 

[Halmeister]

In isolation though it’s not awful to back out of Lavia for financial reasons, he is overpriced. But the current situation is a car crash and we were only a couple of million off signing him.

We'd slapped 40+ on the table and then were haggling over a couple of mil. Then went back after we shat ourselves with well more than that after showing our hand and how desperate we were, as well as pissing the player off. We literally did everything you're not supposed to.

 

[refugee]

Timber out with an ACL injury, so watch Arsenal go after any right back we bid for.

 

[Markeh]

We'd slapped 40+ on the table and then were haggling over a couple of mil. Then went back after we shat ourselves with well more than that after showing our hand and how desperate we were, as well as pissing the player off. We literally did everything you're not supposed to.

No wonder we stuck to release clause players where possible. Everyone knows our budget now too.

 

[Halmeister]

No wonder we stuck to release clause players where possible. Everyone knows our budget now too.

Never let them know your next move. We screamed our next 37 moves with a megaphone.

 

[Fabio]

Timber out with an ACL injury, so watch Arsenal go after any right back we bid for.

Pffffft

We're not getting a defender, let alone a right back

 

[Raz]

Anyone we go after now we will get fleeced.
We will make do with what we have or most likely get someone on loan!

 

[refugee]

Pffffft

We're not getting a defender, let alone a right back

Fair point

 

[Halmeister]

So for those still clinging on to that misplaced faith and optimism with regards to FSG, and for those desperately trying to convince themselves this latest transfer fiasco is not as bad as it looks, I will refer you to this following post going forward...

We could probably start as far back as just after our champions league win. I remember myself and a couple of others saying that now was the time to strengthen. Strengthen while you're on top. Add quality to quality as you go along.

We signed Sepp Van Den Berg in the summer, then Minamino in the January.

Sure, we won the league, but still, a lot of us knew our chickens would be coming home to roost in a few years if we didn't plan for the inevitable decline.

We seemed to make a bit of an attempt at guarding against that. Players like Jota, Konate, Diaz came in and have proven to be decent buys that supplemented the squad. Still, the fact remained that much of that spine was all of a similar age and profile, and if we weren't careful, we'd need to rebuild the entire side all in one go.

We let Lovren go and didn't replace him. Now, I hated the cunt, but expecting Gomez and Matip to stay fit and not get a 4th centre back in was sheer folly. Of course, Weetabix legs and cardboard shins got injured, and then we were scrambling about last minute for any old random. We ended up with Ben Davies who didn't play a minute, Kabak who stunk, and Fabinho and Henderson as centre backs at times. Nat Phillips and Rhys fucking Williams had to step up in the end. Lack of foresight and risk analysis almost cost us a Champions League spot. Thankfully, our fucking goalkeeper scoring a 95th minute winner had a big hand in keeping us in the Champions League. Phew! Close one. Let's not have that happen again, eh?

At some point, Michael Edwards leaves and Julian Ward comes in. I wasn't too thrilled with that, but hey, maybe he's developed into the man for the job.

The midfield is a couple of years older. We're still reliant on Henderson, Fabinho, geriatric Milner, an injury prone Thiago who, for me at least, took us on an unnecessary detour away from what had worked for us before, crocks in Keita and Ox who may as well have not been there, and a couple of kids in Elliott and Jones. We have a good season, nearly win the quad, but we need to start rebuilding that midfield and adding quality from a position of strength.

We go for Tchouameni. He chooses Madrid. Fair enough, that can happen. We decide he's the only guy for us and decide to wait another year. That makes me uncomfortable. In the meantime, we become enamoured with Bellingham and embark on a 2 year courtship of the player.

We settle for a little "cost-effective" gamble in Arthur Melo when things get a little nervous and twitchy. He's a stopgap until Jude signs afterall. In the words of Tony Stark, "not a great plan".

Our midfield falls to bits and it is clear as day for everyone to see that it's an absolute must to strengthen in time for the following season, lest we get left behind and cut adrift. A season outside of the Champions League isn't great, but we'll sort it in the summer and we'll be back.

Julian Ward leaves at some point under mysterious circumstances and no replacement comes in.

The season ends and EVERYONE knows we need a midfielder. Not to worry. That long courtship of Bellingham will bear fruit, right? Nope. Off to Real Madrid. Oh well, that can happen. Let's look elsewhere. Not ideal, but at least we have some good pros that we can add some youth to and help the latter develop and flourish.

Jorg Schmadtke (who!?) comes in for 3 months.

Mac Allister and Szobo sign after we trigger their release clauses. Good stuff. Pretty straight forward.

Lavia... right okay. 19. Young. A prospect. Not played many games, but has a high ceiling. Plays defensive mid where we're already desperate after the glaring holes were made evident followimg an abysmal campaign. They want how much!? Right, let's monitor this. And prepare. And monitor. Let's try and get that fee down. Get Jorg on the phone. What do you mean he's in Ibiza? Just tell him to fax something over...

Saudi Arabia come calling for Henderson and Fabinho, offering ridiculous sums for both. They're both finished, but we need all the bodies we can get in their positions. Fine, let them go, but let's be smart about this. It's a crucial area that we need to improve, that much was made obvious last season. We look at Thuram as well but back out for whatever reason. Too expensive? Balk! Probably.

We needed a DM before Henderson and Fabinho left, everyone knows we're desperate, but FSG hate being taken to the cleaners. Who doesn't love a little haggle, barter and a bargain? Time to shine. Let's spend months pretending we're skint so that we can knock Southampton down from £50m to about £46m. Sure, we're Liverpool. Sure, we can afford it. Yeah £4m over 5 years isn't a lot. Especially when you've already committed £40m plus. But by GOD do we love a thrifty bargain. Besides, the player is desperate for us and nobody else is interested. We hold all the cards.

Fast forward through tedious weeks of incremental bids, stringing the poor lad along and pissing Southampton off, and quite frankly, fucking ourselves over because this is all time that could've been used getting Lavia integrated into our squad and getting used to the way we play. But no, think of the back pats we'll be able to give ourselves when we knock a few quid off.

Suddenly we receive a call from Caicedo's (dodgy as fuck) agent. Yeah, he's gonna cost us, but Chelsea are stalling, he's a great player, and Klopp is a big fan. Forget wheeling and dealing! Do a 180! Break the bank! These completely reputable and trustworthy FOOTBALL AGENTS from SOUTH AMERICA have assured us he'll join us. Swerve Lavia. Never wanted him anyway. BREAK ALL RECORDS FOR CAICEDO! Klopp, do a presser and tell them it's all gravy.

Turns out we got played. Caicedo was never interested in us, we were needed as a stalking horse to get Chelsea to make a bid that Brighton would accept. Mission accomplished. And, oh, we've pissed off Chelsea - these dodgy lunatics with bottomless pits of cash - and now, just for trying to fuck with them, they're going to throw money at Lavia.

Speaking of whom, Lavia's now been made to feel like a right fucking mug as Liverpool have spent what seems like months arguing over pennies, before whipping their (tiny) dick out and placing it on the corner of the table in a bid to entice Caicedo. Problem is, Caicedo had already eyed up Chelsea stroking that 12 inch schlong from across the room. Lavia will still come to us, though, right? Right!?

Wrong. Chelsea put in a better offer than we have all summer, and in a last pathetic, desperate attempt to land someone we've already made feel subpar, we throw in a bid well over what we were ever willing to pay in the first place. Business 101. Lavia, understandably, chooses Chelsea. More money, longer contract, maybe during the negotiations they didn't make him feel like chopped liver? I don't know.

Jorg is probably still in Ibiza. Or Deepdale carpark. Who knows.

So, here we are. Everyone has known for years we're desperate for a central midfielder. Up until now, we'd done a good job of convincing the world we were skint.

But upon revealing our transfer kitty and desperation, we've also revealed something much more deep-rooted and cancerous. We don't have a fucking strategy any more. We don't have a plan. We don't even look like we're trying to formulate one. We used to be the standard bearer for how to get deals done quickly, efficiently and ruthlessly. Now, we're even second choice to a Chelsea in turmoil. Even we can offer more playing time.

We've outed ourselves as cash rich and common sense deprived in a shark tank. Yeah, I'm mixing my metaphors, but fuck it. It's quite apt when discussing these owners, the transfer committee and the club as a whole at the minute. It's a fucking mess. We're ripe for fleecing and we're no longer the prospect we once were.

There was a time when the lure of the badge, of Klopp, of Anfield was enough to sway almost anyone. I didn't think it would end so quickly. And I'm not sure we're capable of pulling that back.

TLDR: We're shit and fucked.

Again, putting this here so I don't have to keep discussing the situation across multiple threads. These are my views on the situation. An absolute mess.