Liverpool Strike Force!!!!

Liverpool manager Brendan Rogers has gone all out to buy himself a strike force that could rival the best teams in the league. Liverpool seems to have the best lineup since the Benitez era. But Rogers might have a problem of to many. With all most six strikers to choose from competition among the players will be fierce.

Like last year Brendan Rogers has once again bought an array of players in a bid to win the elusive premier league title. Rogers seems to have bought sensibly this time over with players like Benteke, James Milner, Ings, Nathaniel Clyne having striking capabilities. Though players like Origi, Firmino, Joe Gomez are still to prove their mettle in the fast paced premier league. One thing though this transfer

window Rogers has given more attention to his attacking lineup this time over, which is good unlike last season where he bought player spread all over the park.

Last Season's signings Ricky Lambert, Mario Balotelli, Divock Origi (Origi loaned back to his club for full season) were the only out and out strikers with Markovic as an attacking midfielder. With Liverpool selling Suarez one of the best in form strikers to Barcelona, the team needed reinforcements to fill in the big gap created with the departure of Suraez.

Lack of goals has always been the ackles heel of liverpool. Converting those many draws into wins has been a problem at least past four seasons. When Suarez came into the scene he filled that void resulting which liverpool had a shot at the title and given big spenders Manchester City a run for their money in the 2013-14 season. Liverpool scored 101 goals and conceded 50 goals to reach the second spot with just 2 points difference from the title holders.

Hopefully this season players like Origi, Benteke and Ings start firing past the goalkeeper to keep liverpool's in the top four and return to the Champions league, if not winning the league.

Firmino will also contribute in the scoring tally besides creating them having scored 10 goals in 36 appearances for Hoffenheim. He spent four-and-a-half seasons at Hoffenheim, helping them to promotion to the Bundesliga. His 16 goals in 33 games for the 2013–14 Bundesliga season earned him the award for the league's Breakthrough Player.

Origi's stock has fallen in the past 12 months and the striker already has a lot to prove ahead of his debut for the Reds.

Origi being named in Ligue 1's worst XI in a poll ran by influential French sports paper L'Equipe.

That, though, was perhaps as much to do with expectation as it was performance, for the Belgian returned eight league goals from 33 appearances, a total which bettered any of Liverpool's strikers last term.

Benteke on the hand is a strong and powerful striker with 15 goals in 33 matches out of which 13 goals came in the league. With talented midfielders at liverpool he is going to have much chances to score. He has also scored many goals against liverpool in the league in the past. Hoping he doesn't turn out to be a “Andy Caroll part 2” and fulfills his potential at Liverpool. James Milner though acquired on a free transfer has goal in him and will bolster the midfield. Ings is speculated to be hit or miss. His performance will only dictate his future at the club. The striker does not look too impressive but sure know the way to the goal. I have watched his pre-season matches and it sure seems a positive start and is full of energy and a hunger to score. Ings just scored a ha-trick in a 7-0 win against Felda United a team playing at the Malaysian Premier league. Sturridge, Lambert are not pushovers they to will push hard for a spot on field. Only time will tell the this strike force will attack and blast the opponents or self destruct

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Top Big Money Flops of Premier league

Fernando Torres £50million

Poor old £50million striker Fernando Torres has had a tough time since joining Chelsea for a record breaking British transfer fee in January. The Spaniard has only managed one competitive goal since his move from Liverpool and, unsurprisingly, no-goal-Nando has been labelled a flop. Torres has defended his poor record and tried to install some confidence in the fans by saying, "I am 27, I don't forget to score goals, I will score."

 

Andriy Shevchenko £30 million

 

Andriy Shevchenko after the Ukrainian made a £30m move to Chelsea from AC Milan, a transfer that broke the record for the highest fee paid by an English club.

Shevchenko made his debut with the club in the FA Community Shield game vs Liverpool where the Ukrainian scored the only goal in his side's 2-1 defeat to the Mersey side club. Goals were hard to come by for the former Milan forward as his inconsistent run was a worrying factor for both Jose Mourinho and Roman Abramovich.

Mourinho soon dropped the Ukrainian international for Didier Drogba. Shevchenko's poor form was one of the key reason's for Jose Mourinho's strained relationship with Ambramovic which eventually saw the Portuguese leave the club.

The Ukranian was finally loaned back to Milan in 2008. Shevchenko managed 76 games for Chelsea scoring 22 goals in his 3 year stint with the club.

   Andy Caroll £35 million

 

The burly striker was signed for £35m from Newcastle in January 2011, making him the Reds’ most expensive player in history, and he never close to repaying that fee.

Injury problems meant he didn’t make his debut until March, and barring two good goals against Man City at Anfield, Carroll didn’t score for the remainder of the 2010/11 campaign.

The following year he found the net just four times in 35 league appearances, and although fairly likeable as a character, he lacked the hunger to be a success and never suited Liverpool’s style of play.

Brendan Rodgers eventually got rid of him in 2013, and until the club signs someone for even bigger money, Carroll was always be remembered as the record signing who flopped completely

  

Anderson £20 million

Believe it or not, former Manchester United midfielder Anderson is still just 26-years-old.

In eight seasons at Old Trafford, the 'box-to-box' £20m midfielder managed 181 appearances, scoring just 9 goals

Despite his critics, despite the fact his form tailed off about six and a half years ago and despite the fact he repeatedly looked overweight when he came off the bench in the last minute to was time, the Brazilian still has four Premier League winners medals.

Anderson has gone back to Brazil to rescue his career with Internacional.

 

Berbatov 30.75million

Signed for a United record £30.75million in 2008, Berbatov polarised opinion among the supporters and struggled for first-team football within a year, as Ferguson first favored Wayne Rooney as a lone striker, then Javier Hernandez struck up a prolific partnership with the England forward when he arrived in 2010. Last season Berbatov became United's fourth-choice striker behind Rooney, Hernandez and Danny Welbeck but Ferguson regardless insists the Bulgarian was a success

 

Jô £19 million

João Alves de Assis Silva, most widely known as Jô, was possibly Manchester City's biggest ever transfer flop. Jô cost city a staggering £19 million pound to sign from Russian side CSKA Moscow.

Despite the massive transfer fee, a club record at the time, Jô only ever scored 6 goals for the club in 38 appearances.

Although he was signed on 31st July 2008, before Sheikh Mansour took charge at City, Jo was too much of a flop not to include!

Ex-Arsenal man Sanogo want to be like Ibrahimovic

 Arsenal striker Yaya Sanogo has a desire to emulate Zlatan Ibrahimovic ahead of a loan move to Ajax.

 

The 22-year-old, who failed to score in 10 appearances for the Cystal Palace, has talked up his plans to make an impact in the way Paris Saint-Germain striker Ibrahimovic did during his time at the Amsterdam Arena.
PSG superstar Ibrahimovic shot to worldwide prominence at Ajax after winning two titles and a KNVB Cup during three years in Amsterdam – but Sanogo has set his goals high ahead of the move.
Sanogo said: ‘My reference [for the move] is Zlatan and Kanu – legends who played for Ajax. The manager from Amsterdam (Frank De Boer) called me last week and said, “I want you to play for us, for Ajax.”
‘I am very happy because I didn’t think a big club like Ajax wanted me so I have to work hard to play. I hope to score a lot of goals.’

Marcelo's Pet Fever!!!

Marcelo the very skillful Real Madrid left-back along with wife Clarice are very passionate about pets. They have a bunch of them at home and treat them like family.

Marcelo and Clarice with Bella, the pinscher,Uly, a french bulldog

Nalla, a labrador, Lola, a newfoundland,

Kiara and Thaig, two english bulldogs,Lil, the cat 

Marcelo and his wife Clarice are passoinate about animals. Despite having six pedigree dogs, Marcelo and Clarice have some projects in mind, so as to help those who weren’t fortunate enough to find a home and are abandoned.

They are developing projects to participate in adoption and castration fairs, and to help raise awareness to this problem. Since they love them so much, they want to use Marcelo’s image to help somehow, both in Madrid and in Rio. Going to events, raising funds.

Superstitions of Cristiano Ronaldo before Matches

Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro also known as CR7 one of the most celebrated and followed player in the world. Portuguese by nationality and 2 time Ballon d'Or winner and won many Player of the Year Nominations. Currently playing in Spain at Real Madrid and currently the best player in the star studded Real Madrid team followed the much hyped Gareth Bale.

Ronaldo was shot to fame at Manchester United where he famously remembered for his quick step overs , knuckle ball free kicks and his 40 goals in a single season for Manchester United.

Its time and again seen that many successful players across all sports disciplines have ritual or superstition that they follow meticulously before their games. Cristiano too has his own superstitions that he follows before every important match.

On the bus Cristiano is sitting alone in the back row and he is the last one who leaves the bus

On the plane he sits always with Pepe and he is the first who leaves the plane

In the locker room at the halftime he must change his hairstyle

He must touch the ball before leaving the dressing room

In the Portugal national team he is the only Portuguese who is allowed to start off with a long-sleeve jersey

On the pitch he always steps onto the right foot 

Arsenal's raid on Chelsea not over: French striker next on Wenger's list

After the signing of Petr Cech, Arsene Wenger is not done with signing Chelsea players as he looks to add Loic Remy to his list of forwards for the next season Wenger had the opportunity to sign the player in the last Summer Window but elected to sign Danny Welbeck instead who did manage to put in a few good performances throughout the season but was far from impressive.

It is understood Jose Mourinho wants to keep Remy but only as a third choice striker given Radamel Falcao impending move to the Bridge. The Special One has made his preference of Falcao clear through his votes of confidence and promising to bring the best out of the Colombian. At the same time Remy has always been asking for a chance to prove he is good enough and playing third fiddle for a second season is certainly not part of that.
Chelsea fans should probably expect a bid soon and it’s not impossible that it will be two 'former' Chelsea players at the Emirates next season.

Reds can afford best players

 

Liverpool chief executive Ian Ayre insists the club can still buy top players within the remit of their "smart and sustainable" transfer policy and a lack of Champions League football does not affect that.
The Reds have already made considerable strides with their summer recruitment plans with six first-team signings already in place, including Hoffenheim forward Roberto Firmino, whose £29million deal will make him their second most expensive signing.
Liverpool also remain in the hunt for Aston Villa striker Christian Benteke, although they value him at less than his release clause of £32.5m.
Spending this year has not matched that of 12 months ago, when £110m was invested in eight players on the back of Luis Suarez's £75m sale to Barcelona.
Owners Fenway Sports Group's policy is to buy younger players of potential who have a resale value and Ayre insists this is the only way to avoid the financial problems which beset the club before the Americans took over almost five years ago.
"I stood on the Kop for many years as a fan, and like everyone else I'd love to buy all the greatest players, regardless of price," he told the League Managers' Association magazine The Manager.
"But, as we saw under the club's previous ownership, things can all go very wrong financially; then people will hold you accountable for not running the club in the right way.
"You can't work that way. You have to have a very detailed, thought-out plan and ensure everyone buys into it and adheres to it.
"That is what we have been doing and will continue to do.
"It doesn't mean we are not investing in or buying good players; we are just doing it in a smart and sustainable way.
"We may not be competing in the Champions League this year but we are still making progress as a club and continuing to add quality to our squad.
"We are also improving financially, which means that as we go forward with the plan we will have more resources and will be able to invest more than we have in the past."
The way the club's transfer committee - made up of six members including FSG president Mike Gordon, Ayre, manager Brendan Rodgers and members of the recruitment department - operates has been criticised for seemingly not producing joined-up thinking on signings.
Rodgers has been reluctant to speak about the workings of the committee but has publicly insisted he has the final say over all signings.
Ayre said the general model now installed at the club works and the manager has bought into it fully.
"If your manager doesn't understand your long-term plan it will never work, because he's in charge of the biggest cost item - the players," Ayre said.
"Brendan is very much a team person, he understands budgets and the financial implications of bringing in certain players, and he is very easy to get on with.
"That always helps gel a team together, because it means you can spend time together socially and professionally and discuss things in a relaxed way."
Of the way FSG have changed the way the club is run since taking over from Tom Hicks and George Gillett, Ayre added: "We needed a plan and a group of people who were committed to it and who would work together to achieve it.
"This ownership and management team is strong and united.
"There are no egos, we are honest with one another and I know I have their full support.
"I have direct and open lines of communication with the owners at all times and we make and stand or fall by decisions as a group.
"The unity that we achieved is exactly what Liverpool needed to move forward.
"It's now in a far more profitable situation and that is the result of good management and good people, which includes our manager."