Re: Liverpool Thread(King Kenny!!)
@ Gerd,
It's a combination of factors.
Torres was leaving anyway
Most of us thought that Torres would leave in the summer anyway, so getting 50mil for a player that has been pretty poor and injured for a year is very good business. Admittedly I would rather he stayed and only have signed Suarez, but even then it would have been a 6 month gamble to see if he decided to stay or not. I think most of the irritation was down to the timing more than him actually leaving.
Investment
Instead of selling an asset and spending pennies on a replacement (Alonso - Aquilani? / Masch - Poulsen ) the money has been directly used to invest in the team with a little more thrown in. And might have been more if the other clubs would have been willing to sell (Adam/Young).
Potential
As for the players, both are risks, however they are both young and still developing. One has already done it on the world stage (although a good WC means nothing, it shows he has the potential and has done it in Holland which either means he will be great...or Kuyt) and the other has been pretty devastating in his first season at the top level. Also I don't think Carrol's succes has been down solely because of form, his strength, size and speed have been a very important part of his succes and he won't lose those with poor form. Even if Carrol turns out to be an only ok signing he will still command 20mil in a couple of years, as that's how ridiculous the market is for English players. The only way Liverpool will really lose money on him (besides injury) is if he ends up in jail...which is a possibility
Tactics
We now have two potentially very dangerous strikers, Carrol has already been doing it in the Prem so needs to continue (and is less risk as a signing in that regard), Suarez needs to adjust to the game so needs time. However it means we have more players to score goals and tactically we have more options to play (effective long ball, on the floor, counter, etc) wheras with Torres the team was moulded to play to his strengths. Everybody has seen how much less effective he was with Hodgson's tactics, but also with Spain he has generally needed to be the main striker with the rest accomadating him. If he wasn't doing it, what has been the case since last season (for whatever reason) the team was poor and had no other options. It was pretty much Gerrard or Torres that you could rely on. Now, again potentially, we have added two players, with Meireles starting to look dangerous aswell. The team has become less reliant on one or two players and looks like it will be more balanced and more dangerous as a team.
Kenny
Also Kenny has gotten the team to play football again, and has a history of knowing his strikers. So the potential they have already shown and his/commoli's judgement to sign them gives more trust that it will work out.
Admittedly I don't think they will have the cutting edge of Torres in the biggest matches (CL, Top4) for atleast a few seasons, if ever, and that might very well be the difference. However the coming seasons we won't really be fighting in those matches anyway (and Utd have shown that you don't even need to be the best out of the top4 to win the league). By the time the team will have developed to fight again at that level Torres will be 30 anyway. And to have to rely on him for every attack is a dangerous path to take, which has been shown the past 18 months.
New signings are always a risk, but quite a lot of aspects point towards a positive outcome. So we will see.
There was also an interesting comparison made somewhere else, If Torres had been sold for 40mil in the summer and Carrol/Suarez would have cost 15/25mil would there have been as much a commotion made about it?
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