Ryan Bertrand

[Hansern]

So, I guess we should discuss this potential signing. Loads have been written about our interest and yesterday Twitter had a mild meltdown with it being agreed for a fee of 6 mill.
Anyway, we'll know more in the coming days. But is it a very underwhelming signing or is it a risk free one were Rodgers can work his magic?

 

[keniget]

Well, it's not risk free - the risk is that we end up with another Cissokho / Aspas / Moses type situation where we've brought in cover but may as well not have for how useful they prove to be. It fucks your season and then next time around you've got the same revolving door of players swinging throughout the summer. That shit ended up killing Rafa's squad.

The fee is largely irrelevant as we'd probably get most of it back if things didn't work out. The main thing is to not give him some absurd double / triple your wages contract as we seem to be in the habit of doing.

 

[Hansern]

Yeah, I think your spot on mate. It has that taste of a Aspas/Cissokho/Moses signing.
I've not seen enough of him and will give him time of course if we sign him. But I'm struggeling to see Rodgers logic when we want to improve the team and not just the squad this summer.

 

[Whirly]

You could do a lot worse for 6M I feel, and he should at least be a serviceable squad player/utility fullback.

I would like the signing because the fee makes sense, and the potential is there for improvement.

 

[Markeh]

He has played in more champions league finals than most of our squad.

He wouldn't be my first choice but he is nowhere near Konchesky levels of awful as some might make it seem and he has 2 legs and 1 intact brain so he must be better than big Ali. Bit of a dull signing but I bet he proves more useful in terms of getting game time than Aspas or Alberto.

 

[OLD_Lewy]

i havent seen him play in a long time, so i have no idea, ive got a decent feeling about it though based on fuck all

 

[Spaghetti Legs]

Signing these type of squad players has rarely ever worked out for Liverpool, look what good its done us over the last 20 odd years yet we still persist with doing it, surely we should be looking at positions and looking to improve on whats already there.

Never taken any real notice of Bertrand but this is uninspiring, its just depressing when added to Suarez leaving, its impossible not to have some doubts when hearing about this sort of signing, were in a bad state at fullback as was blatantly evident last season, surely Rodgers has some better answers than this? bloody well hope so.

 

[Whirly]

Signing these type of squad players has rarely ever worked out for Liverpool, look what good its done us over the last 20 odd years yet we still persist with doing it, surely we should be looking at positions and looking to improve on whats already there.

Never taken any real notice of Bertrand but this is uninspiring, its just depressing when added to Suarez leaving, its impossible not to have some doubts when hearing about this sort of signing, were in a bad state at fullback as was blatantly evident last season, surely Rodgers has some better answers than this? bloody well hope so.

No, the lizards are clearly pocketing the other 69M from the Suarez deal, and we're just getting Bertrand to replace him.

 

[Spaghetti Legs]

No surprise to see you fail to comprehend things Whirly, nice try at attempting to be funny as well.

 

[Whirly]

No surprise to see you fail to comprehend things Whirly, nice try at attempting to be funny as well.

I'm the one failing to comprehend things?

You're the one who sees a potentially good squad signing, and makes the assumption that we're not being ambitious enough.

We can't sign a dozen Adam Lallanas for 25M each, there has to be some compromise. Fullback is the least important position on the pitch, therefore it's the position where the least investment is needed. For 6M you get a young fullback, who has experience on big stages, and the potential to be very solid.

What more can you ask for 6M?

 

[Markeh]

Signing these type of squad players has rarely ever worked out for Liverpool, look what good its done us over the last 20 odd years yet we still persist with doing it, surely we should be looking at positions and looking to improve on whats already there.

Never taken any real notice of Bertrand but this is uninspiring, its just depressing when added to Suarez leaving, its impossible not to have some doubts when hearing about this sort of signing, were in a bad state at fullback as was blatantly evident last season, surely Rodgers has some better answers than this? bloody well hope so.

I know what you mean, we used to fanny about with Josemi, Kromkamp, lost Arbeloa then Rafa seemed to go fuck it and bought Johnson for big cash and he seemed to solve right back for a while. It makes me wonder if we should've been in for Luke Shaw, it's mad money for a left back but he's 18 and could solve a problem for 10/12/15 years, although his wages are mental too supposedly.

 

[Whirly]

I know what you mean, we used to fanny about with Josemi, Kromkamp, lost Arbeloa then Rafa seemed to go fuck it and bought Johnson for big cash and he seemed to solve right back for a while. It makes me wonder if we should've been in for Luke Shaw, it's mad money for a left back but he's 18 and could solve a problem for 10/12/15 years, although his wages are mental too supposedly.

Yeah, Shaw could solve the problem for 10+ years, but he also could just turn out to be another average fullback who's decent going forward, and terrible defending. Or he could become that top LB, but have a career plagued by injuries, because of the number of competitive matches from a young age. Or the massive wages could turn him into a rotten apple, or the huge fee could put way too much pressure on him to be elite, and he could fail as a result of those circumstances.

Spending that much money on a fullback, no matter how promising, is foolish. Especially by a club which doesn't have the bottomless pockets of oil money.

 

[Spaghetti Legs]

I'm the one failing to comprehend things?

You're the one who sees a potentially good squad signing, and makes the assumption that we're not being ambitious enough.

We can't sign a dozen Adam Lallanas for 25M each, there has to be some compromise. Fullback is the least important position on the pitch, therefore it's the position where the least investment is needed. For 6M you get a young fullback, who has experience on big stages, and the potential to be very solid.

What more can you ask for 6M?

You really do talk some shite, who is saying anything about a dozen Lallanas? where does this crap come from?

If you think full back is where we need the least investment on the pitch then more fool you, and whats with 'what more can you ask for 6M?' we can spend whatever we decide to spend there, its not limited to 6mill.

 

[Spaghetti Legs]

I know what you mean, we used to fanny about with Josemi, Kromkamp, lost Arbeloa then Rafa seemed to go fuck it and bought Johnson for big cash and he seemed to solve right back for a while. It makes me wonder if we should've been in for Luke Shaw, it's mad money for a left back but he's 18 and could solve a problem for 10/12/15 years, although his wages are mental too supposedly.

This is basically it, lets go and get the positions we are weakest in sorted out, watching the likes of Cisshoko/Dossena and the pile of other crap we have had playing there over the years is painful, we never really learn, i'ld like to see the club to finally be done with it and go out and splash out on a good one instead of gambling again, this summer is the chance to do it with the funds that are going to be available.

 

[Stulikesdrums]

Bertrand is decent from what I've seen but he's not an improvement on Enrique or Flanagan so I don't see the point if it doesn't improve the position for us. But maybe Rodgers sees something in him that he can work on. Hopefully that's the case.

 

[Markeh]

Yeah, Shaw could solve the problem for 10+ years, but he also could just turn out to be another average fullback who's decent going forward, and terrible defending. Or he could become that top LB, but have a career plagued by injuries, because of the number of competitive matches from a young age. Or the massive wages could turn him into a rotten apple, or the huge fee could put way too much pressure on him to be elite, and he could fail as a result of those circumstances.

Spending that much money on a fullback, no matter how promising, is foolish. Especially by a club which doesn't have the bottomless pockets of oil money.

There's no way to tell without a crystal ball but it's not foolish if it works. The alternative could just as easily be signing Cole or Bertrand who turn out to be shite or past it and have to be paid off to leave, Enrique becomes injury plagued and also has to be paid off and we arse about with other full backs for years eventually costing us over £30m. Maybe if Johnson was kicking ass and we were only concerned with left back it might have been a gamble we were willing to take.

 

[Markeh]

This is basically it, lets go and get the positions we are weakest in sorted out, watching the likes of Cisshoko/Dossena and the pile of other crap we have had playing there over the years is painful, we never really learn, i'ld like to see the club to finally be done with it and go out and splash out on a good one instead of gambling again, this summer is the chance to do it with the funds that are going to be available.

I'm still a bit hopeful that Bertrand can be Steve Finnan in a quietly effective and solid sort of way but what are the chances Enrique ends up overtaking him and we pay 6m for an occasional few minutes.

 

[Whirly]

You really do talk some shite, who is saying anything about a dozen Lallanas? where does this crap come from?

If you think full back is where we need the least investment on the pitch then more fool you, and whats with 'what more can you ask for 6M?' we can spend whatever we decide to spend there, its not limited to 6mill.

You want us to be ambitious, and sign a better player for the position. Lallana was an ambitious signing. Therefore, I used Lallana, a player we spent big money for, as an example of an ambitious signing. I'm saying we can't sign a dozen players to fill our first team holes and bench that are all highly sought after, expensive players. Especially backup fullback.

If we lose Suarez, we need to spend big on another striker. We've already spent important money on the Winger/CAM spot in Lallana, and look to again in Markovic/Shaqiri in order to add options to our attack. We spent 10M+ on Emre Can to play CM/CDM already, where we needed options to supplement/supplant Lucas/Gerrard/Allen.

Now we're looking at spending 20M on helping central defense. I suppose goalkeeper is lower on the list, as we just need an improved backup for Mignolet.

So that leaves us at in priority...
1a.Winger/CAM
1b. Striker
2. CB
3a. CM
3b. Fullback
4. Goalkeeper

We can spend as much as we'd like, you're right. But realistically, that's not a position we need to be spending big money at, especially LB. If we sell Johnson, I can see us bringing in another high quality option, and spending money there. But otherwise, I would be content if we spent 6M on Bertrand, and left it at that, assuming Enrique can get healthy this offseason.

If Enrique is FUBAR though, then I could see us investing in a long term option at LB. That is knowledge I don't have.

 

[Mystic]

What I would say, is if Rodgers can make Flannagan look like a footballer, maybe all isn't lost with Bertrand.

 

[Markeh]

Was it in one of the news articles that Emre Can plays left back occasionally too?

 

[Whirly]

Was it in one of the news articles that Emre Can plays left back occasionally too?

He isn't very good there, that's not his natural/best position by a long shot.

 

[OLD_Lewy]

any solid sources on this one?

 

[Richey]

It makes me wonder if we should've been in for Luke Shaw, it's mad money for a left back but he's 18 and could solve a problem for 10/12/15 years, although his wages are mental too supposedly.

Given that we seemed to have been in for every other decent Southampton player, we most probably WERE in for Luke Shaw, but I rather suspect that he really wanted to sign for United.

 

[Whirly]

Given that we seemed to have been in for every other decent Southampton player, we most probably WERE in for Luke Shaw, but I rather suspect that he really wanted to sign for United.

We probably asked, and then started laughing when they quoted us 30M+.

 

[hmmmmm1]

Nowhere near as bad as he is being made out to be

 

[Rafiagra]

Really uninspiring signing and can't see the point when we already have Enrique and Flanagan who can play there and 'do a job'. Can't see how he's an improvement on them so what's the point?

Hopefully he'll be another Sturridge. However, Sturridge showed a lot when he went played at Bolton. Can't say Bertrand has at Villa.

 

[SummerOnions]

I'd rather it be on loan but he's miles better than cissokho

 

[Spaghetti Legs]

You want us to be ambitious, and sign a better player for the position. Lallana was an ambitious signing. Therefore, I used Lallana, a player we spent big money for, as an example of an ambitious signing. I'm saying we can't sign a dozen players to fill our first team holes and bench that are all highly sought after, expensive players. Especially backup fullback.

If we lose Suarez, we need to spend big on another striker. We've already spent important money on the Winger/CAM spot in Lallana, and look to again in Markovic/Shaqiri in order to add options to our attack. We spent 10M+ on Emre Can to play CM/CDM already, where we needed options to supplement/supplant Lucas/Gerrard/Allen.

Now we're looking at spending 20M on helping central defense. I suppose goalkeeper is lower on the list, as we just need an improved backup for Mignolet.

So that leaves us at in priority...
1a.Winger/CAM
1b. Striker
2. CB
3a. CM
3b. Fullback
4. Goalkeeper

We can spend as much as we'd like, you're right. But realistically, that's not a position we need to be spending big money at, especially LB. If we sell Johnson, I can see us bringing in another high quality option, and spending money there. But otherwise, I would be content if we spent 6M on Bertrand, and left it at that, assuming Enrique can get healthy this offseason.

If Enrique is FUBAR though, then I could see us investing in a long term option at LB. That is knowledge I don't have.

That's a reasonable post, fair enough, although i don't agree at all with the dozen player stuff to make out full back/s are not a priority for us, and another center midfielder is more of a priority over a full back? really? i'd bet we don't even sign another center midfielder, even if Lucas goes.

The way i look at it is where was the weakest area last season and what mostly needs improving upon and right/left back sticks out like a sore thumb (Mig ain't far behind), weaker than the center back positions imo, its frustrating that (presuming we sign Bertrand) we are taking a hit and hope punt again for one of our weakest positions and not looking to sign some real quality, as you say who knows what Enrique will turn up next season? will he break down again? how long will it take to get his proper form back?

Yes we are light upfront without Suarez and that's now another important area to sort out but his fee covers Markovic and another, it even covers those and Lovren.

I know Flanno is in the picture but its looking like Rodgers is hoping one of Wisdom/Kelly really steps up next season to give Johnson some more competition, shrug of the shoulders to that one, hope it works if that is the case, of course would much rather see Johnson sold and some real quality bought in and leave the youngsters to scrap it out behind him.

Fuck knows what our scouts are doing, Moreno and Bertrand, is that it? surely there must be others out there, it looked like we were up for spending 15/16 million on a left back at one point, add the Suarez cash that's why i don't buy excuses about money not being there for that position.

If only we could clone another Markus Babbel, for both sides!, that's the sort of quality we should be looking at again for full back, tbh i'd settle for another Arbeloa or Finnan right now.

 

[peterhague]

Seems a pointless signing, at best.

Does anyone seriously think the Rodgers magic (witness Moses's, Cissokho's, and Aspas's incredible transformations from dross into dross last season) is going to transform Bertrand into the player we need for the next 7 or 8 years?

The chances are he'll be just ok-ish and we'll be looking at alternatives within a couple of seasons.

At worst, he costs us important points or even a trophy, and quite possibly the opportunity to make a really good signing in his position right now.

 

[Ryan]

We lost the league by a point and have 80 million quid to spend. I don't wanna hear "we could do a lot worse for 6M" about anyone, nevermind Ryan fucking Bertrand.