The Skipper

That's the sort of player I thought he was. Was surprised to see him being called a DLP but I haven't seen enough of him to disagree so...

I'm guessing you've gone off Paulinho being a great signing now then?

Isn't Nainggolan more in the mould of Ramires/Paulinho than Rakitic?

Not a bad shout. Fits the profile of what we need. Whether he's ready to be the number 1 midfielder at CFC alongside Matic though? I'm not very sure. If Holland are going to get anywhere this WC though he's going to need to put in some huge performances, especially now Strootman's out.

I've seen him play a few times now, which started after January when KdB went to Wolfsburg (when I was more skeptical about him because I never really heard about him before), mainly to follow KdB's progress a little, and I must say he's very good. Just seen on WhoScored that he's actually the 5th highest rated player in Europe at the moment, only behind Messi, Suarez, Ronaldo and Ribery. That in itself is amazing.

We can easily overlook that technicality because you and I both know there is no way Matic would be the player he is today had we kept him around. Matic now is a completely different entity to the Matic we signed back in 2009. Benfica did us a massive favour in fact - not only in developing him as a player but also in selling him back to us at a very, very decent price. Happy to have a fair debate about Luiz on here with you though, some seem to be incapable of that.

He's better than Moreno because he's a lot more defensively solid than him, also has a bigger frame. He's very good going forward as well and has a great set piece delivery on him - Moreno is probably slightly better than him in terms of attacking but Rodriguez is far better rounded. He had a great season as well, was probably one of the best players in the Bundesliga in general - 5 goals and 9 assists from LB is crazy. I think WhoScored has him rated as 5th best player in Europe after Messi, Ronaldo, Suarez & Ribery. Rodriguez would probably be a bit more expensive than Moreno though, however if we could get one of the two I would go for RR.

Luiz has not been a bad player for us though (i.e. Torres bad - that is a truly disastrous signing) - if he was his value would've obviously gone down. I wouldn't say the Luiz transfer has been a major success but to say it's been a bad signing is simply wrong in my opinion, simply because he has not depreciated in value. I fully agree that consistency was Luiz's biggest problem, never will I deny that - but the fact that he finished the season strongly for us last year and then went on to also have a very good Confederations Cup tournament had many on here hoping that this season would be the season where he truly broke out as a top CB. Obviously because of various reasons - i.e. not having a pre season, being injured when he came back, form issues and JT + Cahill being very solid throughout the year which justifiably meant he didn't get an extended look in when Jose did make the team defensively more solid - that didn't happen, but that's football, not everything goes perfectly to plan so I'm not complaining about that in the slightest. If we sell him it's good business for the club, if not, we keep him - he's still a very good squad player to have around and can still produce excellent performances for us. He might even get another run in at CB - who knows. Either way, it's not the end of the world if we sell, nor is it the end of the world if we keep him.

Sure the "home grown" added on tax is slightly excessive but the main reason for this one is that Southampton are comfortable as a club financially whilst Sevilla aren't so they cannot refuse big money offers.

To me, in no way has Luiz been a bad transfer, simply because he hasn't depreciated in value. If we do sell him we'll still fetch £30m for him which is fine. Also, Luiz has had a bad/average season this year, so naturally people will completely forget the strong finish he had the season before where he was one of our better players, with most of his good games coming at CB. It wasn't like he wasn't improving. Luiz has had quite a few quality performances at CB exclusively for us which some seem to have completely forgotten - suitably to their agenda against Luiz - but before this season started he was definitely our best CB and he was really set to establish himself as a top CB but he obviously regressed this season due to numerous reasons. It's not fair to fully assess his CB performances IMO this season because he was never really given an extended run in. I think he only had a bout 10 games at CB which isn't enough at all. It's simple - if he was as bad as some are trying to make out on here, he would in no way be attracting top clubs like Bayern, PSG & Barcelona (these guys aren't stupid), and he would in no way still be Brazil's (who have more than competent central defenders about) starting CB.

LOL

Top post, but some just have an agenda against Luiz and will always deride him in any way they can.

They'll obviously announce more in due time.

I'm pretty sure he's only played up front a handful of times? He's a CAM first and foremost so would actually be challenging the likes of Oscar & Willian.

Did Mourinho tell you that himself or?

The other parts are irrelevant because no one is disputing that at all, you just don't understand the premise of the whole thing that's being discussed to begin with.

So because you're not a "remote fan" (whatever that means) your opinion is more valid than others right? A lot of people at the Bridge would find your love for Torres and hate for Mourinho more than delusion too, so come off it.

There you go. That was the whole point of Kieran's post. It's what I got from it anyway. Glad you finally understand.

Yeah, that's exactly how I would want him to be like next to Matic.

You can't tell me one game is a proper chance - which is exactly why Kieran brought up the JT error - because with that same logic you can say that JT should've also been dropped; which we all know is just wrong. Mourinho didn't give Luiz an extended run at CB after we became more conservative not because he made a mistake against in the one "chance" he got. He stopped playing him there simply because JT + Cahill were immaculate for the whole season.

Again, re-read what I said, I'm not saying that Luiz should've played more at CB. I don't know what you're trying to argue here.

What are you on about? I'm not talking about whether it was fair to give Luiz a run in or not (I stated numerous times during the season that JT + Cahill were deservedly our number 1 partnership and that Luiz shouldn't get a look in because they are both playing very well), I merely stated that Kieran was right in saying that Luiz only had one game at CB after we became more conservative as a team and that using one mistake in one game to justify why Luiz wasn't being picked instead of just simply stating that JT & Cahill were the better partnership (which is a far better reason) is as illogical as saying that JT should've been dropped because he scored an OG against Palace that also cost us the game and points in the run in.

What a player this guy is. Would be my dream signing for the pivot. Would complement Matic so well.

Liverpool "Occult" FC.

My problem with Ivanovic is is that he's very ineffective in the final third of play. His crossing ability has massively declined - he fails to get them past the first man on numerous occasions. It isn't just his crossing ability either; he's clearly uncomfortable on the overlap and has no attacking flair whatsoever. Apart from that he's a very solid player. I think that is most people's qualms with Ivanovic. Doesn't mean they're saying he's a bad RB, just that he's below average going forward - especially in games where we will have the most of the ball - moves on the right break down on Ivanovic a lot of times, so obviously people will get frustrated with that. Plus, he's better at CB.