Markovic

[LeTallecWiz]

[article]The front page of Portuguese paper Record makes it seem that Lazar Markovic’s days at Anfield may be over.

Still just 22, Markovic has never really secured his place at Liverpool since his move from Benfica two years ago.

Liverpool signed the Serbian winger from Benfica for £20m in 2014, but he struggled to impress under Brendan Rodgers in his first season at Anfield. He scored three goals in 23 starts at Anfield, while last season he was farmed out to Fenerbahce.

Markovic is now back on Merseyside, but for how long?
Sporting CP want to sign the Serb

According to Record, Sporting want to sign Markovic.

Were that to happen, the midfielder is likely to court a bit of hate, considering he became a household name with Benfica.

The story might have legs, however, as Sporting boss Jorge Jesus – the former Benfica boss who worked with Markovic before – has confirmed that the Lions have had “limited contact” with Markovic about the move.[/article]

 

[Judge Jules]

It's a pity, but sometimes you just have to accept that things haven't worked out, even when you don't really get why they didn't. Good luck to him if he does go.

 

[Squiggles]

This is not surprising given the size of our squad and the limited amount of games we have this year.

His inability to make an impression here is as much a failure on the clubs than it is he own. We brought him to a new country at a young age with no real strategy for developing him as a player or getting him into the side. He played more at right full back than anywhere else. We had no real patience when he didn't deliver straight away and then tried to make him into a player he wasn't and then the soon departing manager bombed him out on loan, in part, probably, because he was never keen on signing him. It's embarrassing state of affairs. Given the committee was supposed to be about eliminating risk and wastefulness, the expensive signing of Markovic shows just how flawed the Americans set up has been.

Whilst its hard to feel sorry for a guy being paid significant cash for playing football, I do feel we have wasted his time. I feel worse though that we've wasted our time and a shit ton of cash in the process. Embarrassing all round.

 

[RedStar]

It's a pity, but sometimes you just have to accept that things haven't worked out, even when you don't really get why they didn't. Good luck to him if he does go.

Its not really hard to work out why it hasnt been a success, hes not that good and we massively overpaid for him and we have better players in attacking midfield. If hed gone to Turkey and been a raging success you could argue that maybe he just wasnt cut out for the Prem, but he disappeared without a trace

 

[YNWA]

The current coach of Sporting was his coach at Benfica and thinks very highly of him, hence there could be some truth in this rumor, however will Sporting be willing to part with 12-15 million that we should be asking for in today's market

 

[Hansern]

This is not surprising given the size of our squad and the limited amount of games we have this year.

His inability to make an impression here is as much a failure more on the clubs than it is he own. We brought him to a new country at a young age with no real strategy for developing him as a player or getting him into the side. He played more at right full back than anywhere else. We had no real patience when he didn't deliver straight away and then tried to make him into a player he wasn't and then the soon departing manager bombed him out on loan, in part, probably, because he was never keen on signing him. It's embarrassing state of affairs. Given the committee was supposed to be about eliminating risk and wastefulness, the expensive signing of Markovic shows just how flawed the Americans set up has been.

Whilst its hard to feel sorry for a guy being paid significant cash for playing football, I do feel we have wasted his time. I feel worse though that we've wasted our time and a shit ton of cash in the process. Embarrassing all round.

Good post. Its the perfect example of the previous regimes lack of transfer strategy. If he was bought as a winger, then its even more strange that we didnt go for Mane for 10 mill £ instead. 20 mill £ on a talented player that there really were no plan for at all. Very poor.

 

[willby]

The current coach of Sporting was his coach at Benfica and thinks very highly of him, hence there could be some truth in this rumor, however will Sporting be willing to part with 12-15 million that we should be asking for in today's market

Accepting 15mil at a time when 30 is the new 20 is just unbelievable.

 

[YNWA]

Accepting 15mil at a time when 30 is the new 20 is just unbelievable.

If he was English than i agree we could have expected anything north of 20 million, however as you know that is not the case. Interest in Markovic is most likley will be from Spanish / Portuguese clubs. I would be surprised if any one offered us even 15 million, which begs the question is it worth keeping him for the season and see how it goes?

 

[Modo]

Yeah I dont' think he'll be sold. Not when we just sold Ibe and we're lacking wingers.

 

[Hansern]

Yeah I dont' think he'll be sold. Not when we just sold Ibe and we're lacking wingers.

Depends, maybe we want to sign one more winger though

 

[Modo]

Depends, maybe we want to sign one more winger though

Possibly, but we have to give Markovic a shot first.
Our Serbian assistant seems to rate him we also bought his countryman Grujic so maybe he'll feel more settled and perform better while also playing in his natural position.
I missed the Tranmere game but I heard that he played well.

 

[Hansern]

Possibly, but we have to give Markovic a shot first.
Our Serbian assistant seems to rate him we also bought his countryman Grujic so maybe he'll feel more settled and perform better while also playing in his natural position.
I missed the Tranmere game but I heard that he played well.

Yeah, I agree. I like him as a player but he seems to be a bit to laid back for me. You're just screaming for him to get more involved as he quite happily just lets the game pass him by.

He was quite good. Should have scored but was involved in some decent attacking play.

 

[Modo]

In that case lets just wait and see.
He won't displace Coutinho or Fiminho but Lallana's position might be up for grabs

Shit forgot about Mane ...but still we need real wingers.

 

[hmmmmm1]

Swap him for carvello

 

[KopRed]

In that case lets just wait and see.
He won't displace Coutinho or Fiminho but Lallana's position might be up for grabs

Shit forgot about Mane ...but still we need real wingers.

I'm not a fan of Lallana but there's no way in hell Markovic's going to displace him. He should be just ahead of Brannagan and Ojo and that's just because he had cost us so much.

 

[mark1975]

Possibly, but we have to give Markovic a shot first.
Our Serbian assistant seems to rate him we also bought his countryman Grujic so maybe he'll feel more settled and perform better while also playing in his natural position.
I missed the Tranmere game but I heard that he played well.

It depends what we think of Ojo's prospects too.

I didn't think Markovic played particularly well at Tranmere, same old stuff really - shrugged off the ball easily and missed a sitter.

I still think/hope we'll buy one more attacker. I know we're overstacked with forwards, but we haven't got a lot of genuine players who will make something happen. Rather a combination of direct players and hardworkers, but nothing too intricate with a bit of genius about them. That said, we have Firmino and Coutinho, maybe they will both really push on this year.

 

[Esoteric]

I wonder if Markovic had been shown a fraction of the patience afforded to Lallana if we'd have a much better player on our hands? I think he would offer us a more direct, less fancy option over Lallana and I don't think he could possibly offer any less of an end product.

 

[Modo]

I wonder if Markovic had been shown a fraction of the patience afforded to Lallana if we'd have a much better player on our hands? I think he would offer us a more direct, less fancy option over Lallana and I don't think he could possibly offer any less of an end product.

Or Downing.

 

[Judge Jules]

The comparison with Lallana is fair enough but I don't agree about Downing. He had plenty of opportunities and was basically too much of a wuss to take them.

 

[manwithnoname]

Lallana isn't anything special, but he's miles better than Markovic.

Which isn't much of an accolade, but whatever

 

[Frogfish]

Possibly, but we have to give Markovic a shot first.
Our Serbian assistant seems to rate him we also bought his countryman Grujic so maybe he'll feel more settled and perform better while also playing in his natural position.
I missed the Tranmere game but I heard that he played well.

Echo gave him 6/10 and said he didn't try hard enough.

 

[Frogfish]

I'm not a fan of Lallana but there's no way in hell Markovic's going to displace him. He should be just ahead of Brannagan and Ojo and that's just because he had cost us so much.

Based on Ojo's and Kent's performances I wouldn't put him above them. You really have to give your all when given the chance, he doesn't even seem to be doing that pre-season but it is probably far too early to make that call. Let's see how he got on after the next 7 pre-season games. I think he'll go out on loan / be sold though.

 

[doctor_mac]

Lallana isn't anything special, but he's miles better than Markovic.

Which isn't much of an accolade, but whatever

Yes, all of this.

 

[Hansern]

Fenerbache are also interested according to Desporto Ao Minuto.

 

[Modo]

Fuck me, we signed a 27 year old for the same amount a few years ago and he got 0 assists and 0 goals one season despite being "premiership proven" and people here gave him chance after chance after freakin chance.
Maybe people learned from their mistake? But I don't think so. Exhibit A being fuckin Banana.

 

[Mersey86]

First up let me say that I am pro-Markovic. I think he's been badly handled at Liverpool and was probably a poorly-thought-out acquisition in the first place.
Secondly - to those who say he is garbage, that is not true. Watch that Sunderland game 2 years ago. He dominated and was high quality. Yes - just one game, but there is talent - we just have not nurtured it.
Which leads to my questions:
1. Is he really a winger? I always had him listed as an attacking midfielder - of which we have many. Does he have the attributes to be a good winger, or are we again pushing him out of place.
2. Is seeming laziness just part of his demeanour - ie he has a lazy style - or is he not fully committed? No point hanging on if there is a hint of the Balotelli about him. The talent is likely to remain hidden.
3. How much better than Ojo/Kent is he? Does he seem better in pre-season? How much does experience count for? If he's not then we will surely consider offers. He's not Klopp's man, and while Klopp is fair and gives players a chance he also is not in favor of a bloated squad and has said he prefers not to have such a large number of loaned out players. Which suggests to me that we could see a number of outgoings yet this summer.

Its going to depend a lot on what they are seeing in training

 

[mark1975]

Fuck me, we signed a 27 year old for the same amount a few years ago and he got 0 assists and 0 goals one season despite being "premiership proven", and people her gave him chance after chance after freakin chance.
Maybe people learned from their mistake? But I don't think so. Exhibit A being fuckin Banana.

I think you're using the Markovic issue to fight a completely separate issue. There are plenty of reasons to surmise that Markovic isn't good enough and that we overpaid. I'm not sure what relevance that has to Downing, other than that we overpaid for both of them and we might get a slightly better return out of Markovic. Had Downing played and been played the way he did the season before he joined us, we might have got statistically more from him too. We can all do what ifs.

What's the real upside? That he might be slightly less shit for about the same money but with a few less years on the clock?

It still amounts to the same thing, neither are good enough for a club with title aspirations, to be blowing the kind of money you would reserve for out and out first teamers that you would expect to make a significant impact.

 

[Modo]

I think you're using the Markovic issue to fight a completely separate issue. There are plenty of reasons to surmise that Markovic isn't good enough and that we overpaid. I'm not sure what relevance that has to Downing, other than that we overpaid for both of them and we might get a slightly better return out of Markovic. Had Downing played and been played the way he did the season before he joined us, we might have got statistically more from him too. We can all do what ifs.

What's the real upside? That he might be slightly less shit for about the same money but with a few less years on the clock?

It still amounts to the same thing, neither are good enough for a club with title aspirations, to be blowing the kind of money you would reserve for out and out first teamers that you would expect to make a significant impact.

Write Markovic off after playing a full season in his natural position. If he stinks I'll join the bandwagon.

 

[mark1975]

Write Markovic off after playing a full season in his natural position. If he stinks I'll join the bandwagon.

Fair enough. I don't think he was great last season on loan either, I think he lacks the vision and subtlety to play his natural role and he's got a fair few flaws that don't help in this league - ie his kick and run tendencies and the fact that he's a bit lightweight.

 

[Arn]

Yes, he been badly handled at Liverpool. Rodgers used him as a part of his war against the committee. He played him out of position as a fullback just to show that I don't want him and if you force me to play him then this will happen.

He never got a fair chance. Pre-season won't show if he is good enough, training won't show that. Only by playing games in the PL will show that. Many players can be shit in pre-season and in training but be excellent in competitive games. He will need a fair chance in the PL before we can judge him.