Topic: Martin Skrtel

[GlenJohnson2]

We shouldn't be selling our best players.

[filopastry]

Its also another side effect of the ridiculous last contract awarded to Carra, who's sitting on an estimated Ģ90-100k a week for a player who is at a much lower level than Skrtel these days, it makes it more difficult to appeal for loyalty to a player who looks to be getting paid under his market rate when you do deals like that which on the face of it don't seem to be entirely driven by footballing reasons.

The fact that we're paying far too much in wages for players who aren't performing is no reason to stiff those who are when they understandably want a rise.

[bigbear]

Duncan Jenkins on twitter confirming that Skrtel has had his head turned by City. It remains to be seen whether its a case of his agent stirring up shit to get a new contract for his client or Skrtel actually seriously considering leaving us after 3 successive seasons out of the Champions league. But we can't afford to lose Skrtel at this crucial stage in our rebuilding process. For once, I hope we grow a pair and tell City to keep their mitts off Skrtel in a Daniel Levy-esque no nonsense manner.

Itīs not that difficult really. Martin Skrtel deserves a new contract of between 70-80k a week, if he rejects it because he can get a lot more elsewhere then fine, sell him.

If we are going to sell him, personally Iīd welcome a sale to City at the moment because they pay between 50 and 100% over the top for any player who has played in this country (Adebayor, Toure, Milner, Lescott etc etc).

Right now we are not competing with City and so if we can get 25m from them for him and he wants to go - no problem. Donīt tell me we canīt do a lot of shopping with 25m which equates to 32m euros right now and that pre-supposes that Coates and Kelly are not good enough. I canīt see Kelly being Rodgers idea of a right back so he has to come back inside sometime, why not let he and Coates battle it out for the shirt.

32m euros might get us a top class central midfield player or wide right man. We donīt have a bottomless pit and sometimes it is about making good trade to improve.

[mysterio_86]

It's irrelevant, there are many. Skrtel is a great player but to say that we couldnt find someone to replace him for 30 mil?

There are many defenders out there who would complement Agger for that sort of money.

Does many has any name  ?

[Zlenpasha]

Its also another side effect of the ridiculous last contract awarded to Carra

It is true but Skrtel deserves a pay rise anyway, there's no denying it.
However Carragher situation improves his bargaining position and could even piss him off enough to want to quit, should we bargain hard over his improved contract. But yes, our new manager must deal with all aspects of the 'Carragher in the room' as soon as possible, it's only right and Carragher should play along for the good of the club.

[bigbear]

Its also another side effect of the ridiculous last contract awarded to Carra, who's sitting on an estimated Ģ90-100k a week for a player who is at a much lower level than Skrtel these days, it makes it more difficult to appeal for loyalty to a player who looks to be getting paid under his market rate when you do deals like that which on the face of it don't seem to be entirely driven by footballing reasons.

The fact that we're paying far too much in wages for players who aren't performing is no reason to stiff those who are when they understandably want a rise.

That situation will be over next year. Itīs a contract that shouldnīt have been given out but I donīt begrudge Carra his extra dough like perhaps Joe Cole who has never done anything in a red shirt and earns top whack.

Jamie could have moved years ago and pocketed decent signing on fees but that was never his way. We should just let his contract run out and thank him for his efforts before offering him 5k a week on the coaching staf.

[Bob Loblaw]

If we do offer him a new deal, then we also have ot be sure that he's the man we want at the back for the next five years. He's had a terrific season no doubt, but i'd still like to see him do it for another year before offering him close to 100k a week. I'd sit tight for another season, maybe we get fourth and can offer him huge money then, or we lose him for a reduced fee, or interest in him could cool too, and we wouldn't have that ludicrous contract of Carra's hanging over us.

A gamble either way i suppose. Wouldn't like the idea of going into next season with just Agger and a couple of unknowns at the back.

[penga]

It's irrelevant, there are many. Skrtel is a great player but to say that we couldnt find someone to replace him for 30 mil?

There are many defenders out there who would complement Agger for that sort of money.

-Who are the many? Any names?
-Who's to say the calibre of CB up to 30M would be willing to join Liverpool?
-Even if they did want to join, who's to say they will settle into the league or the squad straight away if at all. You must consider the risks.

Now how many names do you have? I can't think of many.

[bigbear]

-Who are the many? Any names?
-Who's to say the calibre of CB up to 30M would be willing to join Liverpool?
-Even if they did want to join, who's to say they will settle into the league or the squad straight away if at all. You must consider the risks.

Now how many names do you have? I can't think of many.

Coates/Kelly to name 2.

Our scouts will have lots of names who we could sign for 15m who could do a good job. Our success doesnīt start and end with Martin Skrtel. I hope he signs and stays but if we are really able to get 25m for him Iīd be pretty confident we could move forward.

We are not talking about losing Xabi Alonso here.

[gollne]

Coates/Kelly to name 2.

Our scouts will have lots of names who we could sign for 15m who could do a good job. Our success doesnīt start and end with Martin Skrtel. I hope he signs and stays but if we are really able to get 25m for him Iīd be pretty confident we could move forward.

We are not talking about losing Xabi Alonso here.

Agree with this, a few examples would be:

Luković
Subotic
Dede
Kjaer
Martinez etc. There are many and if we were to sell Skrtel im sure we would find adequate cover.

However, since this is just speculation and not a transfer thread....

[mysterio_86]

We are not talking about losing Xabi Alonso here.

Thats the most stupid statement I have ever heard. Best teams are built around their defense. Now matter how much potency Napoli or Schalke or Bilbao or Netherland or Brazil or Argentina etc al have up front, Great teams are build around great defenses.


Our scouts are playing vada vada fuck Liverpool somewhere in Honolulu so lets not destroy what good parts are remaining in a pathetic team

[-Q-]

It's irrelevant, there are many. Skrtel is a great player but to say that we couldnt find someone to replace him for 30 mil?

There are many defenders out there who would complement Agger for that sort of money.

   
I am waiting for you to to give some examples, name players to replace Skrtel, your reasons why you think they will settle in instantly and fit well within the squad. They need to be players willing to come to Liverpool and accept low wages. I am very interesting to see how you will support your argument.
 
Replacing Agger and replacing Skrtel is not the same, they are not the same but rather they compliment each other really well. They enjoy playing together and nether of them is greedy, wants to leave Liverpool etc. They both always speak highly of the club, how they like playing here (together) and not once I saw them mentioning they want to leave, the opposite. (yes I know Agger was almost pushed out by Owlface). I am sure they are both ambitious but they are not like Torres who was not prepared to wait to win trophies for Liverpool. It is possible Skrtel's agent wants to cash in. It is possible that Skrtel is flattered by interest of other clubs, however he keeps repeating that he is happy at Liverpool, that it meant a lot to him to win  Player of the year award and that he is looking forward better times with the club. There were rumours he wants to leave if Rafa is sacked, that he will be sold because Kenny does not fancy him etc. all from a 'reliable source' of course and all 100% rubbish. Failure to replace our top players that ether left or got injured cost us a lot in the past three years, I hope lessons were learned by the ones who make decisions because it does not look some fans have learned at all.

Itīs not that difficult really. Martin Skrtel deserves a new contract of between 70-80k a week, if he rejects it because he can get a lot more elsewhere then fine, sell him.

If we are going to sell him, personally Iīd welcome a sale to City at the moment because they pay between 50 and 100% over the top for any player who has played in this country (Adebayor, Toure, Milner, Lescott etc etc).

Right now we are not competing with City and so if we can get 25m from them for him and he wants to go - no problem. Donīt tell me we canīt do a lot of shopping with 25m which equates to 32m euros right now and that pre-supposes that Coates and Kelly are not good enough. I canīt see Kelly being Rodgers idea of a right back so he has to come back inside sometime, why not let he and Coates battle it out for the shirt.

32m euros might get us a top class central midfield player or wide right man. We donīt have a bottomless pit and sometimes it is about making good trade to improve.

Weren't you selling him for 3mil last year and posting about how poor he is  ? Are you really saying that Coates and Kelly can replace Skrtel (is that Rodger's kind of idea?).

I see people posting stuff like - it's time to cash in on our best player and use the cash to buy more players etc. Is this what Liverpool is now? a club that sells their best players? How can such a club ever think of trophies?

[mysterio_86]

Agree with this, a few examples would be:

Luković
Subotic
Dede
Kjaer
Martinez etc. There are many and if we were to sell Skrtel im sure we would find adequate cover.

However, since this is just speculation and not a transfer thread....

Subotic n Martinez will piss on your face if you ask them to come to Liverpool
Kjaer is a pile of shit
Dede - jezus
Luković - never heard of him

[spider-neil]

Kjaer

That's a good shout and both players are familiar with each other, a ready made partnership.

[penga]

Coates/Kelly to name 2.

Our scouts will have lots of names who we could sign for 15m who could do a good job. Our success doesnīt start and end with Martin Skrtel. I hope he signs and stays but if we are really able to get 25m for him Iīd be pretty confident we could move forward.

We are not talking about losing Xabi Alonso here.

Wouldn't be pinning my hopes to regain a CL spot next season on those 2 despite their potential. Too big a risk to be upsetting our already solid defence. This time it's really really crucial we keep our best players and try add to that. Have to hope the new play style will help us bridge the gap. Highly doubt we would get more than 20M for him anyway if an offer came.

Agree with this, a few examples would be:

Luković
Subotic
Dede
Kjaer
Martinez etc. There are many and if we were to sell Skrtel im sure we would find adequate cover.

However, since this is just speculation and not a transfer thread....

Certainly wouldn't be risking my hopes on any of those.
Subotic obviously won't come - CL football, title and cup winners.
Martinez is more a midfielder. Again highly unlikely he'd choose to come here. Tried to play as CB for Spain and didn't do well, did ok for Bilbao though.
Dede and Lukovic have only played from lower leagues - massive risk. Unrealistic to think they would settle within a season.
Kjaer is/was overrated and has stagnated. Disappointing at Wolfsburg who almost got relegated, loaned to Roma and flopped.
 

[L666KOP]

32m euros might get us a top class central midfield player or wide right man. We donīt have a bottomless pit and sometimes it is about making good trade to improve.

Correct.

See Rafa for further details.

[HighSix]

I really cant see City offering 20-30 million like some are suggesting would expect closer to 15. Either way I think its really important we keep him, having the same strong backline will help Rodgers implement his new style of football.

[GlenJohnson2]

Big no to Kjaer.

[Cpt_Reina]

We cant lose really.

Either Skrtel signs a new contract, which he'll certainly be offered. And we tie him down for the foreseeable. Or, we sell him at an inflated price to City (who we're not competing with for anything right now) and that sale allows us to not only replace Skrtel but also possible vastly improve another area of the squad.

Win, win.

There are many good CBs out there. Always will be. Lovren/Dede/Papadopoulos/Musacchio are all highly thought of and would be within our means.

We could even pocket the majority of the cash for Skrtel and simply promote Coates. It might take him a while to get up to speed initially but its something that he's going to have to do sooner or later. Sign an experienced back up on the cheap so we've a bit of cover.

There are many way it could play out. I wouldnt lose too much sleep over it.

[filopastry]

Correct.

See Rafa for further details.

That was a lot easier to pull off when we were in the CL though, a lot more difficult to attract top class replacements now, especially as some of our recent purchases wouldn't fill any of us with confidence in our scouting.

To be honest I think a lot of people are coming up with fantasy numbers of the kind of fee we'd receive for Skrtel, City are making a lot of understandable noises that while they're willing to spend their days of overpaying ridiculously are over, given they now feel they can sell their project in terms of success to players rather than just having excess cash as the only attraction of note, on the face of it that would seem to be the reason they missed out on Hazard.

[Cpt_Reina]

That was a lot easier to pull off when we were in the CL though, a lot more difficult to attract top class replacements now, especially as some of our recent purchases wouldn't fill any of us with confidence in our scouting.

To be honest I think a lot of people are coming up with fantasy numbers of the kind of fee we'd receive for Skrtel, City are making a lot of understandable noises that while they're willing to spend their days of overpaying ridiculously are over, given they now feel they can sell their project in terms of success to players rather than just having excess cash as the only attraction of note, on the face of it that would seem to be the reason they missed out on Hazard.

Skrtel's still got 2 years to run. If City dont offer enough we can always just tell them to bugger off.

[RideTheWalrus]

That's a good shout and both players are familiar with each other, a ready made partnership.

Shame he's crap

[L666KOP]

That was a lot easier to pull off when we were in the CL though, a lot more difficult to attract top class replacements now, especially as some of our recent purchases wouldn't fill any of us with confidence in our scouting.

To be honest I think a lot of people are coming up with fantasy numbers of the kind of fee we'd receive for Skrtel, City are making a lot of understandable noises that while they're willing to spend their days of overpaying ridiculously are over, given they now feel they can sell their project in terms of success to players rather than just having excess cash as the only attraction of note, on the face of it that would seem to be the reason they missed out on Hazard.

True, but trading up may be the only way to progress, last year we had no Europe, this year we do, so that should attract a better quality of player, next year we push for fourth, it will be the same etc etc.

Fwiw, Hazard was more likely to go to Utd than City, but the demands he tabled were deemed unreasonable.

[stevedo]

Skrtel's still got 2 years to run. If City dont offer enough we can always just tell them to bugger off.

And hope he signs a new deal. Carras money gets freed up soon, it'd be good to go on a starting CB.

[stevensr123]

We cant lose really.

Either Skrtel signs a new contract, which he'll certainly be offered. And we tie him down for the foreseeable. Or, we sell him at an inflated price to City (who we're not competing with for anything right now) and that sale allows us to not only replace Skrtel but also possible vastly improve another area of the squad.

Win, win.

There are many good CBs out there. Always will be. Lovren/Dede/Papadopoulos/Musacchio are all highly thought of and would be within our means.

We could even pocket the majority of the cash for Skrtel and simply promote Coates. It might take him a while to get up to speed initially but its something that he's going to have to do sooner or later. Sign an experienced back up on the cheap so we've a bit of cover.

There are many way it could play out. I wouldnt lose too much sleep over it.

Yea but then again we could say the same thing about alonso, macherano, torres etc and look where that got us? If we really want to get somewhere in the footballing world, we can't keep on selling our best players, otherwise we will just keep climbing down the table.

[Drinks Sangria]

Shame he's crap

Concurrence, Kjaer is awful. Error prone and slow, even for a CB. Roma didn't want him permanently and he's seen as a liability by many Danish fans as they go into the Euros.

[stevensr123]

True, but trading up may be the only way to progress, last year we had no Europe, this year we do, so that should attract a better quality of player, next year we push for fourth, it will be the same etc etc.

Fwiw, Hazard was more likely to go to Utd than City, but the demands he tabled were deemed unreasonable.

Yea but players don't care about the mickey mouse cup that the europa league has become, They care about champions league football and competing for it (which we haven't done in 3 years), The worst thing we can do is keep selling our best.

[No666]

True, but trading up may be the only way to progress, last year we had no Europe, this year we do, so that should attract a better quality of player, next year we push for fourth, it will be the same etc etc.

Fwiw, Hazard was more likely to go to Utd than City, but the demands he tabled were deemed unreasonable.

It's interesting that both Manchester clubs are reportedly baulking at very top end fees/wage demands this summer: City with 50m for Cavani and Ferguson with Ģ32m for Modric. If it's true, it suggests a tipping of the cap to FFP. I can't see that City will want to pay the fee we'll require for Skrtel when they already have the strongest centre back pairing in the league, statistically.

[Rohit]

Seems people don't learn, you don't sell your best players regardless of the cash. Have you not seen how we conduct business in the transfer window? We have been taken to the cleaners over average players for far too long and we are in no position to get the top bracket of players right now, skrtel is one of them.

I couldn't give a fuck if a player wants out, who gives a fuck they have a contract and they should be made to honour it. It seems the only club that wants to bend over to players needs is us. City made sure tevez was not let go until the price was right and now he wants to stay. Luka modric was forced to stay regardless of chelseas interest and they got fourth. United made ronaldo stay another year and he won them yet another league title, rooney was not sold and got a pay rise and helped them win another title. Bayern with ribery and the examples continue.

We have a weak back bone and don't have the big club mentality when it comes to retaining our players and it has pissed me off seeing bullshit excuses like the player wants out so fuck him off. In what way has that benefitted us in the last few years. Case in point torres should have been made to stay regardless of the fee considering when he was being sold same with alonso, transfer request or not.

Seems were willing to burn our own fingers based on stupid pride.

Also, for me it seems somewhat like martin wants a payrise anyway, enough players in the past have pulled this trick get an improved contract. He deserves it anyway considering how important he is to us and that the third choice centre back is one of our highest payed players without warranting it.

[kelly34]

Yeah we sold those players but how many do we really miss?  Alonso maybe.  But I'd rather have Lucas than Mascherano, and Torres speaks for itself.

I agree with those saying it's a win win.  We sell him, we invest elsewhere and promote Kelly/Coates who are both ready to become just as good as Skrtel and who are both 7 years younger.

[sattapaal]

I don't think Skrtel will leave to be honest.

He's first choice here at a big club, he'll be 3rd choice and be bought as "cover" for Kompany/Lescott.

Personally, I think someone like Kelly could do a similar no-nonsense defending job like him. But I think we would be fools to sell our player of the year at such a time.

Like Cpt_Reina says, if he leaves we may get Ģ15million+ for him, but for me, he's a better defender than Lescott.

[Gnurglan]

But Cole and Downing want to play for us - so there is a difference right away.

I don't think anyone would have Downing or Cole playing for us next season, ideally.  But we aren't in an ideal situation... I'd sell both if we could, but getting rid of them might be a problem and then you have to consider whether it is best to keep or loan if you can't sell a player.

Skrtel is different.  Everyone would keep him if he wanted to stay.  But why keep a player who wants to leave?  They might not perform to their best and deep down everyone knows they want to go.  I bet someone will given the Alonso example now, but again that situation is different, he only wanted to go due to Benitez touting him publically and say he was for sale for the right price.  But we had Torres who wanted to go and wasawful until he got his wish to go. 

I am very much of the belief have players who want to be at the club. I could understand if Skrtel had been fantastic for five years or something and then really felt he had given his all and had a few years left to win some medals.  But 18 months ago he was not in the best form and we stuck with him through that.  If he wants to go when he hits top form and sees it as a good chance to get more money or success, fair enough - get rid.

People say he is irreplacable but I don't agree, all players are replacable.  We saw that when we sold Keegan and got Dalglish.  We lost Owen and we got Torres and now have Suarez. 

If Skrtel wants to go - let him go and get the best fee we can!  If he wants to stay, great!   

I am still not convinced he does want to go, it seems twitter speculation to me.  But if it is true and he does go, I won't be gutted - we have seen plenty of players gone over the years and it is clear loyalty is a rare breed in the game now days.

We have seen plenty of players leave. Keegan and Kenny are good examples. The difference is, in recent years we haven't been able to replace the departures with equal quality. And because of that, we've fallen behind. We have taken so many players for granted and it needs to stop.

I believe that because we don't have the highest quality standards anymore, we become a club where you go to earn the big bucks and little or nothing is expected from you. As a result, our best players keep their options open. So we create this environment ourselves. We're a transition club, a stepping stone. Or a place where you fill your bank account before you retire.

When they leave for better clubs, we blame it on them being mercenaries, who lack loyalty. We shift the blame to them. What they see is a club that doesn't use its resources well, a club where it's OK to be half decent. Money sure is a factor, but if they could see we were going places (and not just talk about it), I think we could keep at least half of them. And we'd find it easier to attract the right players.

Skrtel has, at least IMO, been key to us for quite some time. Here's something I said last summer.

...disagree about Skrtel. I think, all in all, he is our first pick CB. Agger is better, but his fitness means we can't depend on him.
http://www.redandwhitekop.com/forum/index.php?topic=276421.msg8771434#msg8771434

During this past season, I think he's just confirmed he is our first pick CB. Now that he's had a positive development, it would be good for us, and him, to build on that. That would show that we value the right things. If we were to sign players of Mascherano's and Torres' quality, it would help our chances and it would be easier for us to keep Skrtel, but also players like Pepe, Lucas and Suarez.

[classycarra]

Seems people don't learn, you don't sell your best players regardless of the cash. Have you not seen how we conduct business in the transfer window? We have been taken to the cleaners over average players for far too long and we are in no position to get the top bracket of players right now, skrtel is one of them.

I couldn't give a fuck if a player wants out, who gives a fuck they have a contract and they should be made to honour it. It seems the only club that wants to bend over to players needs is us. City made sure tevez was not let go until the price was right and now he wants to stay. Luka modric was forced to stay regardless of chelseas interest and they got fourth. United made ronaldo stay another year and he won them yet another league title, rooney was not sold and got a pay rise and helped them win another title. Bayern with ribery and the examples continue.

We have a weak back bone and don't have the big club mentality when it comes to retaining our players and it has pissed me off seeing bullshit excuses like the player wants out so fuck him off. In what way has that benefitted us in the last few years. Case in point torres should have been made to stay regardless of the fee considering when he was being sold same with alonso, transfer request or not.

Seems were willing to burn our own fingers based on stupid pride.

Also, for me it seems somewhat like martin wants a payrise anyway, enough players in the past have pulled this trick get an improved contract. He deserves it anyway considering how important he is to us and that the third choice centre back is one of our highest payed players without warranting it.

think this pretty much sums it up for me.

if it does turn out he really does want to leave, then we should show some spine and keep him here til next summer at the earliest.

that would allow coates to get through a full season (hopefully with more exposure) while sizing up other possibilities. we could then wait to see if any massive offers come in for him (one year on your contract doesn't seem to mean what it used to, not everyone is as patient and conniving as michael owen - see ashley young's transfer fee).

i'd then offer him a contract again, and if he takes it great, if he doesnt take it make it clear he faces another year playing for us on his current wage, unless something masive comes in. i think that would be motivation enough - we need to start putting the clubs interests first, like spurs did with modric

[Z e u s]

But no one is saying we should sell our best players. 

I am saying sell players who don't want to be at the club - there is a difference.

If Skrtel wants to go, do we force him to stay?  I'm not sure I like that, I'd rather have players who are 100% committed to the club.

[The Dark Knight]

Seems people don't learn, you don't sell your best players regardless of the cash. Have you not seen how we conduct business in the transfer window? We have been taken to the cleaners over average players for far too long and we are in no position to get the top bracket of players right now, skrtel is one of them.

I couldn't give a fuck if a player wants out, who gives a fuck they have a contract and they should be made to honour it. It seems the only club that wants to bend over to players needs is us. City made sure tevez was not let go until the price was right and now he wants to stay. Luka modric was forced to stay regardless of chelseas interest and they got fourth. United made ronaldo stay another year and he won them yet another league title, rooney was not sold and got a pay rise and helped them win another title. Bayern with ribery and the examples continue.

We have a weak back bone and don't have the big club mentality when it comes to retaining our players and it has pissed me off seeing bullshit excuses like the player wants out so fuck him off. In what way has that benefitted us in the last few years. Case in point torres should have been made to stay regardless of the fee considering when he was being sold same with alonso, transfer request or not.

Seems were willing to burn our own fingers based on stupid pride.

Also, for me it seems somewhat like martin wants a payrise anyway, enough players in the past have pulled this trick get an improved contract. He deserves it anyway considering how important he is to us and that the third choice centre back is one of our highest payed players without warranting it.

[Z e u s]

i'd then offer him a contract again, and if he takes it great, if he doesnt take it make it clear he faces another year playing for us on his current wage, unless something masive comes in. i think that would be motivation enough - we need to start putting the clubs interests first, like spurs did with modric

That sounds great in theory, but it is risky in practice.

Not all players are like Modric, who like Alonso when he didn't want to be at the club anymore knuckled down and gave 100% to the cause.  We saw that with Torres who was not 100% committed when he clearly wanted to leave.  Then we saw Mascherano refusing to play in a game.

It is easy saying - Skrtel has to stay whether he wants to go or not.  But that stance has hurt us in the past, such as Owen and Mcmanaman driving down their contracts and us getting hardly anything for their talents at the time.  I think if Skrtel wants to go, sell him for the best price we can and move on.  Rather that than an unhappy player, potentially not a fully committed player and at least getting a good fee. 

Having said all that, I am hopeful this is all just twitter speculative bollocks.

[Cpt_Reina]

Yea but then again we could say the same thing about alonso, macherano, torres etc and look where that got us? If we really want to get somewhere in the footballing world, we can't keep on selling our best players, otherwise we will just keep climbing down the table.

The money from the sale of those players largely went to service debt (Torres apart). That's why they weren't replaced.

Skrtel moving on wouldn't be the same. We'd have that money available.

[Z e u s]

Have you not seen how we conduct business in the transfer window?

Doesn't mean we will buy poorly with Rodgers or under the new structure.

Arsenal didn't want to sell Henry to Barca, they challenged for the title the season after and it made them a better team as a whole.

Skrtel is one player, one of our best, but replacable (like every other player) if they want to leave.

[-Q-]

Yeah we sold those players but how many do we really miss?  Alonso maybe.  But I'd rather have Lucas than Mascherano, and Torres speaks for itself.

I agree with those saying it's a win win.  We sell him, we invest elsewhere and promote Kelly/Coates who are both ready to become just as good as Skrtel and who are both 7 years younger.

That is a very naive thing to say. We missed all those players and we failed to replace them. We need them all, Lucas, Masherano, Alonso and Torres. Kelly and Coates are young and need to be slowly introduced and there are plenty of games. Look at City, the Mancs, Chelsea - when a player is injured an equally good player steps in. Lack of depth has been our issue and this has affected the health of players because we've rushed them back.

[Adeemo]

Yeah we sold those players but how many do we really miss?  Alonso maybe.  But I'd rather have Lucas than Mascherano, and Torres speaks for itself.

You're forgetting that Lucas was Mascher's partner and not his replacement, that was Poulsen. Still think it's worth the risk trying to make a profit on your best players and find a suitable replacement? It's a massive, massive risk and one that's unlikely to come off.