I've never understood the mass reaction against Messi winning it. Most people are saying Rodriguez should have won it, and he possibly should, but he was KOd in the quarters by Neymar and co; as good as he was, you're looking for a player that's played in the final.

For me, Messi and Mascherano were Argentina's best players, with Messi carrying them through the groups, so they're your top two from that side. The Germans, as everybody reminds us, were a fantastic team with, for me, only one player that stood out head and shoulders above all others. For me, that player was Lahm and he should have won the Golden Ball, but after that, you could have span a bottle on Messi, Mascherano, Kroos, Schweinsteiger or Muller, and either would have been just as deserving as the other.

Messi clearly isn't the same player he was under Guardiola. I don't know if he's had a long term injury, if he's lacking commitment or if he simply can't be bothered any more, but he's just not the same and hasn't been for months. Suarez will help him pick back up, I believe Barca will win the CL next year if they get a few defenders and another midfielder, or simply play Mascherano in midfield who'll add the qualities they've missed for years.

So, this Markovic then? Liverpool have paid £20m+ for him and seem genuinely excited at the signing. A few LFC fans I know reckon it's a bigger deal than losing Suarez and that it's a better signing than United's of C. Ronaldo. Having not really heard of him outside of Football Manager, I did some research on him and there is a genuine buzz about him on the internet. A lot of people guaranteeing that he'll be 'the next Messi/Ronaldo' level player and that he's going to be the best player in the Premier League with a couple of seasons.

So, why then, were Liverpool the only side that seemed to be interested in him? I found transfer rumours linking him to LFC going back to this time last year and there were no real mentions of other clubs. It's being discussed that Chelsea had a first option deal on Markovic as part of a partnership deal they have with Benfica, but were happy to waive it to allow him to join Liverpool. Why would they do that if the boy was so special?

Either way, looking forward to seeing him in action. Is he one to pick in Fantasy Football while he'll be relatively cheap and unknown this season? Will he be starting for LFC this season?

The thing with foreign signings is, its hard to know if they will be a success or not. Even if they have pedigree, you dont know if they will settle or not.

Regards

King James

That's a fairly interesting and fair take on it actually, with some good points. Mascherano was ridiculously good, but obviously the argument there is that he didn't score 4 goals so his contribution to Argentina's run to the final isn't as 'telling' as Messi's, yet i think his PERFORMANCES were better than Messi's. Still think it's a sponsor thing, though.

Couldn't you say that about loads of signings, though? Didn't Liverpool have the chance to sign C. Ronaldo before United, but didn't. Did that make people think any less of him?

There are so many things to consider with a transfer, so let's start listing them off:

- Was the player actually after a move, or was he actually pretty settled?
- Does he have an agent that aggressively 'flogs' his players through the media?
- How many teams out there, looking for a winger, could afford £20m on 'potential'? Or would want to spend £20m on potential when they can probably buy something a little more certain for a bit more money.
- Did the player play in the world cup, putting himself in the window for potential suitors?
- His ownership status wasn't clear cut, it involved third parties and you throw in him being a Serb, it also means work permits/foreign quota spots for certain countries.
- How good was his last season? Benfica clearly had a good year, but did he convince enough people he's the real deal, or is a large chunk of it still potential?

I believe that most clubs know about near enough every talent that's out there, sometimes the clubs that have the greater success are those that take the big risk before others. If you look at pretty much every top player in Europe, they've usually had to work their way to a top club. Aguero was one of the great South American talents, but he ended up going to Atletico Madrid instead; why? Because they took the risk. I could give examples all day, but I don't think the 'well nobody else seemed interested so he can't be that good' argument really fits, especially when we're talking about really young players.

If I was to have a wild guess, I wouldn't go for him in the fantasy team yet. He's young and pretty raw, he'll have to adjust and I can't see him nailing a first team spot straight away. I doubt he'll be cheap either, £20m signing for the side that finished second generally hits me as a pretty expensive FF player. From all I've read, his biggest issue seems to be the end product part of his game, which doesn't bode well for FF.

Doesn't look good at Blackpool www.independent.co.uk/sport/foot ... 16677.html

Doesn't look good at Blackpool www.independent.co.uk/sport/foot ... 16677.html

Quote Cibaman="Cibaman"Doesn't look good at Blackpool www.independent.co.uk/sport/foot ... 16677.html'" I wonder if Paul Ince thinks that the fault is still with the transfer window, and not that idiotic club?

Quote Cibaman="Cibaman"Doesn't look good at Blackpool www.independent.co.uk/sport/foot ... 16677.html'" I wonder if Paul Ince thinks that the fault is still with the transfer window, and not that idiotic club?

What happened to all the toon fans that used to post on here? There used to be two/three of them IIRC.

Anyway, we're supposed to be close to signing Remy. Actually liked what I saw of him but can see him being for us a bit like what Ba was at Chelsea, an option who will never hold down a first team place. Will probably gone within a year or two, but relatively risk free as a signing. Still feel like we need a great centre mid, another forward and a full back on either side, but I can only see us getting a full back and maybe a midfielder if Lucas goes.

He's a quality player. Not world class but certainly a 15 goals a season man if played enough.

Do you think there is a risk Liverpool will do a Tottenham this season? Five signings so far if this comes off and rumours of two or three more to come. Liverpool could well end up with a massively different squad to last season, much like Spurs when they were crazy with the Bale money.

Not really. We need more players for the CL, something Spurs didn't have. Spurs signed a load of players who they were clearly dependant on for their starting XI, I still feel like we have a pretty good starting XI, especially in attack, which should allow some of the players a bit more time to settle. Spurs' issue was they signed a new first choice striker, two midfielders, two playmakers/creative players and then sacked their manager despite the league standing not being too bad. Rodgers hasn't had a sensational record in the market since he's been at the club, but I do believe the players we've signed so far have all been first choice players who he definitely wanted, I'm just worried that whoever else we sign won't fall into that category.

Buying Remy for less money than you'll get for Borini is a great bit of business, and does indeed make it pretty much risk free.