Originally Posted by
Steveo
Let’s hope the top brass at the club are more demanding and have loftier ambitions eh, or we can expect another 30 year wait.
How many premier league starts for Elliott? Ah yes… 3…!
Milner is how old???
Quality youngsters break into the team first - NOT the other way round. That’s how the top clubs do it.
Surrendering quality regulars to make way for prospects is what penny pinchers do:
Missed this the first time around.
It's a balancing act as always - Elliott obviously isn't ready to come into the side and be a dominant first-choice midfielder for 25+ League games a season, nor indeed is Curtis Jones - but Klopp was happy to pick Harvey at the start of the season and who knows, he might have had enough in him to do very well this season with high-quality players around him to further his progress and confidence - the injury is such a shame.
I wouldn't want to sell our absolute best players to facilitate more progression of youngsters if I could avoid it - I'd say no to trading Salah at £120m for 12 exciting £10m players - but I am definitely behind selling lesser-utilised players to facilitate more minutes for youngsters. If we were to ignore the injury situation (magic wand scenario) and I were to be presented a choice of giving Elliott a certain amount of minutes or, say, Ox the minutes, I'd give them to Elliott, as he has yet to peak, whereas Ox (probably?) has.
Of course, what you want/need from your squad will complicate the picture. Much as I'd want to give Elliott minutes for his development, I probably give Ox more game time in the hope that he has a few good performances (a goal+assist in a Champion's League game for example) as I (personally) would be keen to sell Ox for a more reliable (injuries) player or to integrate a youth player. Whereas I wouldn't sell, say, Henderson and say "we'll give Hendo's minutes to Curtis" sort of thing. In midfield I'd be looking at getting one of Ox or Keita moved on (hopefully for reasonable money) and replacing with a player who is young, talented and can help now, but also help in years to come.
The perfect scenario would be to sell Ox for £30m or so and Milner leaves at the end of the season, to facilitate a "big" spend complimented by a free transfer - for the sake of having a couple of names, if, I don't know....Kessie came in (on a free) at his age (24) and.....pffff......Bellingham came in for a big fee (£80m?) with Ox (hardly used) departing for £30m (doubt we'll get that) and Milner leaving (adore him, not the future though) then you've acquired Kessie and Bellingham for a net of +£50m. That is "penny pinching" of a sort, but you still get to improve the side and hopefully have room for another transfer, versus chasing £120m+ players who want £400k-per-week.
Equally (sensible spending side) I look at what Pep has spent on full-backs, then I look at our lads (Robertson, Tsimikas, Trent, N. Williams) and realise we've spent less than £20m there, versus the likes of Pep spending £26.5m on Danilo and it not really working out.
I would like to see us spend a little more, as I totally understand the logic of strengthening while you're on top, but I think we're striking a pretty good balance overall. A "marquee" signing in the midfield or the forward positions would be lovely, but we'll see how January/Summer pan out. I love that youth players will want to join us and that our stars are largely staying. I'm certainly very thankful that we weren't the ones to spend £142m on what looked a sure thing only to be badly burnt
We'll probably always disagree slightly in terms of the financial stance/handling and that's grand - you're a bit more speculate-to-accumulate and I'm probably a bit more risk-averse/slow-controlled-growth and that's grand - I think the picture always looks worse when a couple of lads are injured and we all have that little bit of PTSD about last season so are inclined to want more players.
Your hobbies are rollerblading and you're also a bit of a rat-hound? Steel Wool
Sid knows he's crazy and he likes it. Balinkay
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