2014 Summer Transfer Window Review Thread

[Hobo]

I was thinking it might be interesting before December comes and Lineker or someone starts the January Transfer Window Thread 2015 to see what people think of their clubs transfers from the last window and anything they'd like to see happen in January.

Liverpool signed the following players.

In

Rickie Lambert (Southampton)

Lambert is, well, he's slow. He holds up the ball well but his main problem is his glacial pace. It's been a problem with Liverpool's general attacking play all season (not helped by the lack of Sturridge) but that's not really Lamberts problem since he mostly starts from the bench. He seems to be a bit over-awed by the fact he's actually playing for Liverpool after all this time too. He worked well with Balotelli against Swansea but I wouldn't want to be starting him every week. I doubt he'll be around next season.

Adam Lallana (Southampton)

Of the 3 players Liverpool have gotten from Southampton, I think Lallana has shown the most promise so far. He's been hampered by getting injured before the season started but he's looked lively at times and showed good energy. Maybe he's trailed off a little after a good opening flourish but I like him so far.

Emre Can (Leverkusen)

I like Can so far too. He's got talent, he's probably a natural successor to Lucas (who hasn't really been the same since his injuries). I think given time he'll become a great player. Like Lallana, got injured early in the season and it's hampered his development but again I'm confident he'll do well.

Lazar Markovic (Benfica)

I once heard him described as being like Patrik Berger without the shot. Which is pretty apt. He's not really got a great goalscoring record at all but he does have pace to burn. Like Lambert he seems a little within himself at times and he hasn't hit the ground running. Jordan Henderson didn't hit the ground running at Anfield either and now he's Vice Captain so there is hope for Lazar yet.

Dejan Lovren (Southampton)

I think there is a lot on Lovren's shoulders. He's seemingly been bought to lead the defense and it's hard to come into a club and instantly become the leader (especially when you're mostly playing alongside a more experienced CB). He had an epic first appearance in the pre-season game vs. Dortmund.... But friendlies aren't really things you can judge a player on. I'm not really sure what to think about him just yet. Generally, I try to be optimistic though.

Divock Origi (Lille)

Is on loan at Lille and from what little I've seen of him I like.

Alberto Moreno (Sevilla)

Liverpool's new fullbacks have probably started the best of any of the new signings. Moreno has been pretty good. He's really fast and he seems to be like what Jose Enrique would be if Enrique was, y'know, capable of more than just running around like a madman.

Javier Manquillo (At. Madrid - on loan)

When you conisder he's not really had much first team football prior to this season and he was loaned in to be a squad player not a regular starter Manquillo has done really well. He's inexperienced and it shows at times (same with Moreno) but overall I think the two new Spanish wing-backs have been fairly good.

Mario Balotelli (AC Milan)

He's had decent to good games. He's looked low on confidence for the most part and probably needs someone to help him out up front rather than be playing alone as he seems to be more often than not. He hasn't delivered many goals yet but he's also gotten an annoyingly large amount of criticism which hasn't always been fair (see Robbie Savage during the Newcastle game last week to). To some people he can seemingly do nothing right. He really needs to get a few goals and get his confidence up and maybe that'll help him. I kinda feel bad for the guy.

Out

Luis Suarez (Barca)

It was going to happen. Whether he bit anyone or not. It's hard not to miss a player who is so amazingly talented like Suarez is and it is also hard to keep players like him. I miss the mad bastard.

Conor Coady (Huddersfield)

He was one of those highly thought of youth players but he just didn't work out.

Pepe Reina (Bayern)

Reina was a great keeper but I think he peaked a few seasons ago and never really was the same player after that. I kinda wish he could've stayed to provide competition for Mingolet but it seemed like that wasn't ever on the cards.

Martin Kelly (Palace)

He got the move he needed. Injuries really slowed down his progress but probably ruined his chances of being a Liverpool player.

Jack Robinson (QPR)

See Conor Coady.

Daniel Agger

This one was weird. He would probably be good to have as cover but then again, he got to go back to his old club and he took a paycut to do so. Maybe that's just what he wanted to do?

There are a bunch of others out on loan (Aspas, Wisdom, Ibe, Coates etc.) but I'd rather stick to the transfers

Personally, going forward I'd like to see a 2nd choice keeper signed (since Valdes is seemingly off the table) and... Maybe a forward? Someone who has a bit of pace and energy who'd be able to cover for Sturridge. I've no idea who that might be though.

Generally, I'm fairly optimistic about the signings Liverpool made so far.

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

IN:

Ben Davies

A better defender than Rose. Not a great final ball but I wish he'd play more.

Michel Vorm

Hardly seen him to be fair but very solid when he plays.

Eric Dier

Started wonderfully, has looked a bit off the pace the last couple of weeks and is starting to look more like a centre back who's been shoehorned into right back. For a while I was hoping he was a long term right back solution.

DeAndre Yedlin

Can't wait 'til he arrives. He COULD be the long term right back solution.

Federico Fazio

I generally quite like him. Definitely prefer him to Kaboul and he's obviously higher than Chiriches in the pecking order.

Benjamin Stambouli

Deserves more games, he's great.

[Matt]

Silvestri. Great goalkeeper.

Taylor. Perfectly cromulent back up.

Bellusci. I liked him at first, seems a bit of a liability recently.

Berardi. Fine at left back not so much at right back. Needs to calm the fuck down though.

Cooper. Would like to have seen him play more, not done a lot wrong.

Del Fabro. Seems to be alright for the development side, hopefully he'll continue to develop and step up.

Bianchi. Looked great at first, less so recently. Hopefully that's a blip.

Adryan. Looks great, just needs to stop running himself into the ground after 60-70 minutes.

Sloth. Not impressed really.

Ajose. I'm not even sure he's still here.

Montenegro. Supposed to be playing well for u21s and has started making the bench so hopefully he'll turn out alright.

Antenucci. Very up and down.

Sharp. Deserves more game time. He's a natural finisher but hasn't had much chance.

Doukara. Not convinced but he does pop up with goals.

I think that's them all

[Lineker]

Maybe Sloth is just a slow burner.

[TCO]

You should do a manager one too!

[Kaney]

Debuchy and Ospina haven't really had enough time to show what they can really do. Chambers looks pretty good and I think he's got a lot of potential to sort out our defence issues if he doesn't end up injured all the time. Welbeck has done better than I expected, I had little excitement when we signed him but he's turned out pretty decent. I still don't know if I'd pick him over Giroud or Walcott but it's nice to have options.

And Alexis Sanchez, wow. He's been absolutely amazing, everything Ozil should have been although it's still early. If he doesn't burn out then he'll be amazing for us. As much of a game changer as any one player can be. His attitude and work rate are spot on and he'll score for fun. Him, Ramsey and an in form Ozil/Walcott makes me very excited.

[Matt]

Hockaday. Shite.

Redfearn. Awesome.

Milanic. Shite.

Redfearn permanently. Unlucky thus far.

Oh i missed Benedicic who has been injured thus far so can't really comment

[Rafael]

IN

Ayoze Pérez

He's great. Had a good pre-season, didn't start quite well but has been amazing in the past few weeks.

Jack Colback

Great start, then had the injury, didn't come back the same. Still a decent, hard-working midfielder.

Siem De Jong

Looks class, but didn't really play much due to injury.

Remy Cabella

MoM against City, and then had a string of bad games. He's starting to come into his own now, coming from the bench. Smarter Ben Arfa when he's on his day.

Emmanuel Rivière

Physically wonderful and good finisher, but his decision making has been terrible. Maybe he just needs time.

Daryl Janmaat

Solid replacement for Debuchy. Looks good going foward, a bit shaky on defence at times.

Karl Darllow

I liked what I watched from him. Maybe this means Krul leaving next summer?

Jamaal Lascelles

I wish he was with the team right now. We don't have many options at CB and he's great.

OUT

Dan Gosling

I always tought he was decent, but his knee is made of glass.

Romain Amalfitano

I didn't even know he was still at the club.

Shola Ameobi

James Tavernier

He could be a decent back-up at RB, but it isn't the end of the world for us without him.

Mathieu Debuchy

He was the best player we had after Cabaye left. Great full-back.

Edited November 5, 2014 by RafaelFms

[stokeriño]

Apologies at the sheer amount of gushing that follows, but last summer's business was staggeringly good in pretty much every regard.

IN

Diego Costa (Atletico Madrid, c.£32m)

Phenomenal. Even without the context of the strikeforce we've had to deal with over the past couple of years...just fantastic. Straight in, boom, starts scoring. No faff about 'settling in' or 'adapting to the league'. Imagine if our new main striker hadn't scored in the first three games of the season - not necessarily a huge deal, in the grand scheme of things, but with the spectre of everything Torres hanging in the background? Massive weight off the collective shoulders of club and fans alike. I was concerned by stories of him being some kind of condensed super-crazy Suarez character...but I've not seen a bit of it. If Spain could stop breaking him then we'd be laughing.

Cesc Fabregas (Barcelona, c.£30m)

Unreal. This man has notched up more Premier League assists (nine) in our first 10 games than the most any individual Chelsea player got in the entire of last season (Hazard, seven). Consider also that the most that ANY player has got in a single season since 2008 has been 15...he's already two-thirds of the way there!

(Why 2008? Because the player with the most PL assists that season, with 16, was...yep, Cesc Fabregas.)

Felipe Luis (Atletico Madrid, c.£19m)

Some questioned why we would spend so much on a 29 year old left-back who might not be (and so far hasn't been) first-choice ahead of Azpilicueta. To me, once you accept that neither Ashley Cole nor Ryan Bertrand wanted to be second-choice and were therefore off elsewhere, it makes perfect sense. Azpi and Ivanovic are the only two other senior full-backs in the squad, so adding a third is only sensible. I can also understand why he'd want to come, off the back of probably the biggest season he'll ever have at Alteti. So far, he's not been as defensively solid as Azpi but gets forward a lot more and can deliver a particularly sweet curled cross with his left. Good competition for Azpi.

Loic Remy (QPR, c.£11m)

I must admit I'd only watched bits of Remy closely, and I had him pegged as an "play off the shoulder and run in behind" kind of player. So in his few appearances so far what I've really been impressed by is the quality of his hold-up play. Yes, he's not Costa and more of his game is spent facilitating our attacking midfielders, but I don't feel like we're horribly weakened if he has to come on (cough, Torres, cough). Plus he has the versatility to play in the AM wing slots if necessary. All that and for that price, you can't really ask more from a second striker.

Didier Drogba (Galatasaray, free transfer)

Evaluating the return of Drogba has, until very recently, been a focus on the intangibles - his experience, leadership and so on. His ability on the pitch has almost been an afterthought, like "oh well if it gets down to him we can't really expect much anyway". Early appearances reflected this view...but, rather like how Eto'o took a few appearances to get going last season, Didier has markedly improved as he's regained match fitness. He'll probably play for one season then become a coach. But for now, when Costa and Remy get injured, it's refreshing to be able to call on quality rather than contemplating chucking a kid in the deep end. Great third striker.

OUT

David Luiz (PSG, c.£40m or more)

I just...I don't...how much?!

Goodbye.

Romelu Lukaku (Everton, c.£28m)

He has his skill set, but there were always vital parts of his game that were too raw to be undisputed first-choice - especially when we've brought Costa in FFS. Theoretically he could have been second-choice instead of Remy (if he'd been willing, but honestly who knows)...but the money was also really good. So, you know, no big loss.

Demba Ba (Besiktas, c.£5m)

All things told, it's understood that Mourinho would really have liked to keep Demba on because he operated so well as the "big man up front" second or third option (now being operated by Drogba) for when a game required that kind of play. But it's fair play that he would prefer to be first-choice elsewhere, so good on you, Demba. Your immortalisation in the Gerrard song only makes it sweeter.

Patrick Van Aanholt (Sunderland, c.£1m)

He's been around long enough that he's not going to have the massive increase in quality that would ever cause Azpi to suffer sleepless nights... Here's hoping he has a good career in Sunderland or elsewhere.

The free transfers (Frank Lampard, Ashley Cole, Samuel Eto'o)

Again, I fully understand that not every players wants to be on the bench at any age. And for everything they've done, Frank and Ash will be behind the likes of Fabregas and Azpilicueta most weeks, and that's just a fact of life. More to the point, they have both more than earned the right to do what the fuck they like. Eto'o was great last season but you wouldn't want both him and Drogba (at their ages) filling up the squad sheet. And in a choice of Eto'o versus Drogba? Yeah, sorry Sammy, but this is a no-win for you.

The Technically-Not-Gone-But-Actually-As-Gone-As-You-Could-Hope-For (Fernando Torres, 2 year loan to AC Milan)

Oh Nando. Nando-Nando-Nando. It's been a blast, Nando. And whether you wish to interpret that as a good thing or as a literal explosion leaving destruction in its wake...well, that's up to you. I don't know what degree of Torres' wages are being paid by Milan, but even if it's just half, that's a massive help in these days of FFP. And best of all, we can now get on with our lives without the need to feel strangely conflicted by this Torres love/hate relationship that Chelsea fans have had going on.

[Gorka]

In:

Lukasz Fabianski

He's a reliable keeper and a great replacement for Vorm, who had seemed to stop caring about his performance by the time Laudrup left. He didn't have the best spell at Arsenal but his start to the season has been very pleasing.

Bafetimbi Gomis

Quick and a talented dribbler, a nice alternative to Bony's back to goal style. I would prefer for him to start a few more times, I don't know if he's too happy starting for Lyon and warming the bench for us. However, it is very difficult to take Bony or Gylfi out of the team to give him a chance. He'll come in handy when Bony is at the African Cup of Nations.

Stephen Kingsley

One for the future, haven't seen anything so far.

Marvin Emnes

Great at the end of last season but the permanent move has yet to look good, although he did smash one from distance against Everton in the cup. That's a positive but he also played the worst five minutes I have seen, it was against Newcastle with several mistakes on the ball.

Gylfi Sigurdsson

It's impossible to dislike Gylfi, everybody loves him down the Liberty. He's been a terrific replacement for Michu, offers a greater threat too. Here's hoping he stays for a long, long time.

Jefferson Montero

Quite amazed that he always does the same dummy outside, cut inside and yet always seems to beat the defender. Monk is spot on by bringing him on against tiring legs. One to watch.

Federico Fernandez

While he doesn't possess the crazy attitude and performances of Chico Flores, he's a very good centre back. There's a reason he's involved with the Argentinian national team. Quite right-footed though, doesn't like his left foot which does occasionally cause a problem.

Thomas Carroll

A bit like Joe Allen, had a few decent appearances in the League Cup. A bit of a lightweight though.

Outs:

Leroy Lita and David N'Gog

Pretty useless strikers, even Luke Moore had a better stint.

Ben Davies

Why Ben? Why?

Michel Vorm

Nobody seemed that bothered by his exit, probably because he made some fucking horrible mistakes last season after two great seasons. He's not someone you want when you're battling possible relegation.

Alejandro Pozuelo

Looked like a bright one in the Europa League but was apparently a problem in the dressing room with regards to cliques, performances and weight.

Chico Flores

The mental flower boy. He had a lot of memorable moments though his exit was certain once Laudrup had left. He's now in Qatar with lots of money and a pet monkey. He's living the dream.

Pablo Hernandez

Shame that he departed but he was a Laudrup guy. Monk seemed to get the most out of him at AM, quite spectacular for a very inconsistent player. I would take Gylfi over him every time though. Rotting in Qatar now.

Jose Canas

Seemed quite the personality judging by behind-the-scenes videos, witnessed a few nice interactions with fans too. He was good for depth. The return of Ki shut him out plus the departure of Laudrup.

Michu

Such a natural finisher with some of the best movement I have seen, loved everything about him in the first season. The knee injury in the second season has really done a number on him, and if the rumours of arthritis are true, then his career is close to ending. I fully expect him to leave for a cut price at the end of the season. He was also a negative influence in the dressing room from what I have heard. A real shame.

Edited November 5, 2014 by Gorka

[Roster Depth Sicko No. 2]

Can I just quote Stoker's? He already beat me to practically everything I was going to say

[Hobo]

Wait... We have TWO Chelsea fans!?

[Summers]

Oh, this'll be easy.

Aly Cissokho - Good. I like him.

Senderos - Done well, started a solid partnership with Vlaar.

Sanchez - I think he'll come good, one bad performance the rest have been impressive.

Richardson - He's not too bad.

Joe Cole - Waste of wages.

[Roster Depth Sicko No. 2]

Wait... We have TWO Chelsea fans!?

Yeah, I just very rarely post in The Sports Bar.

[EddieG]

Wait.. Aston Villa signed Joe Cole?

[Hobo]

Well, they took on the burden of paying his wages from West Ham.

[Noah]

I was hoping rafa wouldn't mention Shola in his departures so I could go "What about Ameobi like?"