Alot of casual fans could see it in the summer, so it makes it a little worse that our manager couldn't. For me its not surprising Ings has hit it off so well here, at Burnley he looked to have the profile of a player with the right technical ability, workrate and know how and finishing in the box to make it here. I always maintained that despite the sometimes stimga of English players in comparison to their Continental counterparts, he was and is a level above Borini technically, and at 6 m, at 22 and considering what the likes of Berahino Kane Austin and Mane were being quoted for, Ings for that price was some of the best business this summer. Alongside Gomez and Clyne, it was a smart deal that simply made sense on all levels, price age and ability, but also the sense of how he would fit into what i regards as an 'ideal Rodgers side', a player who could press from the front, dribble and who is attentive and alert in the box with a smart finish to boot.
However despite the Ings deal being a great one, i also felt that it shone a light on another deal that was perhaps not so great and far more costly in terms of price and the impact on the team if said player was to fail. The question wasn't necessarily the players ability, because Benteke is a good player with a potential to maybe be a great one, great in the air, strong as an ox and a good finisher. However the opposition to the deal came from the fact that it was my belief that despite Bentekes ability which he has shown in snippets in his short time here, it made more sense to go for a player with the template of Ings, but of a much better quality, afterall for me that is essentially what Suarez is, albeit with much more copious amount of South American genius. It was almost as if to me, Rodgers was stabbing his own self in the back, because for me the best Rodgers teams haven't been like the Chelsea 04 team, which he may have been trying to recreate, for one due to his own coaching tendancies i doubt Rodgers could ever have a team like that. But what he has coached, is a Swansea team with continental foundations in Ajax and Barcelona, and a counter attacking fast paced menacing Liverpool side reminiscent of 90's United teams inspired by Cantona in his arrogant pomp.
One could argue that despite him not being of that value, spending 32 m on Ings would have made more sense than spending it on Benteke in theory, just for the fact of the template of a striker he is, and how i feel he fits into the type of players and attackers Rodgers has got the best of in his time as a manager, think Borini, Suarez, Dyer, Sturridge, Sterling... Yet for another summer, we went against that when spending money on our biggest signing, that itself doesn't speak well of our transfer policy over the last couple years, because for all the good work we done this summer, the big one, the one signing that is supposed to catapult us to the next level, may have been the wrong choice again.