Video: Suarez Scores in Copa America Final & is MVP!!

Luis Suarez kept up his fantastic form in the Copa America as he scored the opener in the final as Uruguay beat Paraguay 3-0 to lift the cup.  Watch the goals below.



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Video: Suarez Scores - LFC's striker fires Uruguay ino the Copa America Final

Luis Suarez showed his class once again with these two goals in the Copa America Semi-Final against Peru.

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Charlie Alonso

The signing of Charlie Adam for a modest £8.5m may well prove the be the best signing of the summer.  The figure pales in comparison to the other big money transfers taking place this summer, but in terms of value for money it'll be hard to beat.

Adam will provide the Reds with something they've sorely lacked since Xabi Alonso departed for Madrid two seasons ago.  He has a sweet left-foot and a magnificent range of passing, he takes penalties and delivers high quality free-kicks both directly and indirectly.

He will add some much needed firepower to the Reds midfield.  He scores goals and has a good number of assists, 12 goals and 8 assists in the 2010/11 season.  That's more than the £45m rated Luca Modric (3 goals, 2 assists) and Gareth Bale (7 Goals, 1 assist) combined and also more than another Reds targets Stewart Downing (7 goals, 7 assists) and Aaron Lennon (3 goals, 2 assists) who Aston Villa and Spurs both value at £20m.

He will take the creative burden off Steven Gerrard and allow the skipper to venture forward more.  Adam to Gerrard......GOAL!  He'll provide service that Andy Carroll and Luis Suarez will thrive on.  Carroll especially will benefit from his deliveries, so expect to see combinations between these two lead to regular goals.

Some say that he doesn't track back and fades in games, so does Ashley Young, Nani and Downing, all of whom would cost a lot more money.  As long as the Reds can get a quality, defensive left-back then we can work around and work on any perceived weaknesses Adam may possess.

I for one think this is the best signing at this time for LFC and that Adam, at only 25 and with his best years ahead of him, will prove an extremely valuable asset as we rebuild.

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Video: Suarez Scores!

Luis Suarez scored in Uruguay's 1-1 draw with Peru at the Copa America.  Lets just hope he gets back to us OK and is ready to go. 

Watch the goal below.

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Video: Raheem Sterling must play for the first team

Raheem Sterling is having a wonderful time with England at the moment and showing LFC fans what he could be doing for us next season.  He must be given a chance in the first team next season, he is an outstanding talent and just the type of player we need at the moment. 

Watch his latest goal agains Argentina below.

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Meireles to leave?

As predicted by KopTalkin' in Got (Dead) Wood?  Raul Meireles looks like he's on his way out of Anfield.  Although some fans seem to want to keep him, he simply doesn't possess the quality we need to challenge for the title.  Would he get in to any of the top 4 teams' starting 11?  No.  He has a large sell-on value of around £13m and for a 28 year old, that is a good price.


He may have scored a few in quick succession last season, but he will find himself on the bench more often than not from now on.  Those goals are the main reason some fans think he should stay, but he is not a true goal scorer and I doubt if he will be able to repeat those feats next season.  Sell now and reinvest!

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Video: Raheem Sterling - The Future of LFC

Take a look at this wonder-goal from wonder-boy Raheem Sterling, the future of Liverpool Football Club.  Come on Kenny man, give him a game!



An example of Raheem's previous exploits.  This boy is special!!

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Got (Dead) Wood?

There is no doubt we need to get rid of some "Dead Wood" this summer and with (hopefully) more arrivals to follow Jordan Henderson through the Shankly Gates, there may be a few surprise names who are surplus to requirements, but how much can we realistically expect to get?  And who wants to take them off our hands?

 

There's no doubt we need to get rid of Paul Konchesky, he only made 18 appearances before being loaned to Nottingham Forest and, no offense to the lad, but he shouldn't have been signed in the first place, he's simply not good enough and his mother didn't help his cause with the silly comments on Facebook either.  Wolves are apparently showing an interest but I doubt we'll get anywhere near the money we paid for him.  A very poor Roy Hodgson signing.  (£2 million).

Christian Poulsen was another poor Hodgson signing.  He may have done quite well in Italy in his younger days but at 31 years old it's clear his best days are behind him.  He's too slow of mind and body for the pace of the Premier League and with more midfield additions likely, there's no place for him at Anfield.  Who will take him though?  (Free).

With only 2 appearances last season and Liverpool in the market for an experienced back-up goalkeeper, Brad Jones must be on his way out.  Again, we'll struggle to get half the reported £2.3 million back for him that we paid Middlesbrough a year ago.  (£750,000).

Emiliano Insua (yes he's still with us) was loaned to Galatasaray last season and has disappeared off the radar.  Even though we desperately need a left-back, he has not shown the quality needed to play for a club like ours.  I could never see why Rafa played him, he is too slow, can't cross a ball and was constantly being exposed defensively.  Yes he had a few good games, showed some promise in the reserves and scored that cracker against Arsenal, but needs to be moved on asap.  There seems to be no takers for Ensua either though.  Could he be kept and given another chance?  It's possible.  (£2 million).

Philipp Degen, free transfer or not, is another player who isn't of the required quality.  We'll get very little, if nothing for him but it's clear that he needs to go.  With Flanagan, Johnson, Kelly and Carragher all options at right-back, he has no sniff of a chance of getting anywhere near the first team.  Any takers?  (Free).

Alberto Aquilani has to be the biggest transfer mistake in Liverpool's history.  A huge fee was paid to bring him (injured) from Roma in 2009 and now no one wants him.  Big Problem.  He's only made 28 appearances and scored 2 goals.  The injury prone midfielder never settled into life in England and in my opinion, is too lightweight and soft to cope with the physical demands here.  Juventus don't think he's worth the £15 million Liverpool want for him and neither do any other clubs.  If we can get £10 million then we'll be lucky.  (£10 million).

Nabil El Zhar, (yes he's still here as well), was another youngster who showed some promise but hasn't matured and developed enough as a player to push for a first team spot.  El Zhar was loaned out to the Greek side PAOK last season.  It's yet to be seen if there are any forthcoming offers for the attacker.  (£500,000).

Milan Jovanovic is another player who is obviously surplus to requirements.  The experience Serbian was a free transfer in 2010, so at least we didn't pay for him, but he has found himself frozen out firstly by Hodgson and then Dalglish.  The problem is that once again no one seems to want the player and we'll have to try to offload him for next to nothing (or nothing) just to get him off the books.  (£500,000).

David N'Gog may be (or may not be) on his way to Sunderland for £5 million.  I'm a little undecided on this one.  He has shown on occasion that he has quality, but is still far too inconsistent.  Kenny gave him very little playing time last season which may well indicate how The King views the striker.  I think £5 million is a good price for a player who has scored just 19 goals in 94 games, but he is still only 24 and may prove to be a good back-up for Carroll if we can't get anyone else in.  It would certainly be a mistake to let him go and not replace him.  (£5 million).

Joe Cole has been a massive disappointment so far in a red shirt.  His signing was a huge coup for the Reds a year ago and his signing did a lot to lift the spirits of LFC supporters everywhere.  Unfortunately he made an awful start with the red card on the opening day and a lack of form and injury problems contributed to a very poor season.  He still may have something to offer, but if we get the likes of Adam, Downing and/or others he won't get a game so needs to be sold now for the most we can get.  How much will that be?  (£4 million).

Two other possible names that may be surprise exits are Raul Meireles and Maxi Rodríguez.  Meireles will find his place under threat next season with new boy Henderson arriving.  At £16 million, Henderson must be in Kenny's thoughts for a first team spot and Meireles will be the one under threat.  Gerrard is the first name on the team sheet, Lucas has proven his worth and youngsters Spearing and Shelvey coming through he mind find himself surplus to requirements.  Meireles had a run where he couldn't stop scoring and I'll always thank him for the Chelski goal that shut Torres up but he is the type of player who has no outstanding qualities.  He is another player who is too weak for central midfield and definitely doesn't like the physical side of the game, he pulls out of too many challenges, he is ineffective on the wing and not creative enough to play behind the striker(s).  Is his time up?  (£10-13 million).

Maxi Rodríguez runs down the wing for me, (quality song), but will he be playing for me next season?  Maix has recently been linked with a return to Argentina but I can't see that happening at this stage.  Before his hat-tricks against Birmingham and Fulham I would have said he was another on the way out.  He proved his worth towards the end of the season however and may well have one more good season in him.  He's a good squad player but not good enough to play every game.  If we get a good offer, which is unlikely, and depending on incoming transfers I could see Maxi leaving.  (£3 million).

If all these players leave for the fees stated here, an these are hopeful estimates, we'll get around £38-40 million which would allow us to buy 2-3 quality players on top of the others we can afford with what we already have available.  We'd be far better off with 2 quality players in areas we need than the players in this list, most of whom would not even warm the bench.  If Maxi and Raul stay, which is likely at this stage, we should still get around £20 million for the rest  and cut the wage bill.  As long as the money we get is invested carefully, even if it's in only 1 player, we'll have a better squad with more competition for places.  The question is, who wants these players?

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Video: Mascherano says sorry to LFC fans

So Mascherano dedicated Barcelona's Champions League win over the mancs to the LFC fans.  He left under a big cloud, especially with the way he acted before the Man City game.  Can we forgive him?  I personally felt very bitter about the way he acted towards the end, there's no doubt he gave his all for the Reds but it seemed like he was abandoning us when we needed him most.  I could see his point as a professional, we seemed to be going nowhere and he had the chance to join the best team in the world, plus his family wanted the move as well.  I felt as a fan however that he owed LFC to stay at least a little longer.

That said, I did appreciate the sentiment, it's more than Torres has done, plus Gary Neville's face made me cry with laughter.  Is he forgiven?

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Jordan Henderson Signs

So is the first major summer signing for LFC Charlie Adam?  No, Juan Mata?  No, Jose Enrique?  No, Stuart Downing?  No it's...... Jordan Henderson.  I was firstly very surprised to hear that and secondly amazed to hear the fee (around £16m).  My initial thoughts are, why so much for someone who has had so little Premier League experience?  He doesn't strike you as a world beater at present.  He is a good young English player with big potential, no doubt, but haven't we got enough central midfielders?  Will he get in the side?  Where?  Centrally?  Out wide?

Surely wingers, a left-back and a striker are priorities.  Henderson didn't show too much against us last season, so I was a little confused by the signing.  Then again, this time last year we were signing free transfers and players well below the required quality, no names mentioned just in case Mrs. Konchesky has a go at me on Facebook.  The good news is that we now seem to have money to spend, so lets trust Kenny's judgement and hope that this is not the only major summer signing.  I'm sure it won't be.  Stevie G seem to be pleased with the signing and if Henderson can become the new Gerrard then all will be ok.

Henderson's signing certainly poses more questions than it answers however.  At £16m he needs to play games straight away, but I don't think he is ready to play centrally from the first game, too young and too inexperience for our club.  He can't dictate games yet, so maybe a right sided role would better suit at the moment.  Does that mean Kuyt moves up-front?  What about Spearing?  Shelvey?  Does Henderson's arrival mean the beginning of the end for Raul Meireles?  Yes, Meireles had a good few games where he couldn't stop scoring and he always gave his best, but where will he play?  He is took lightweight to play centrally, too slow to play out wide and not creative enough to play in the hole.  If we sign the likes of Adam and Downing then I can't see the 28 year old playing much.  In that case we need to sell him for the best possible price rather than let him run his contract down.

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