Liverpool Agree Fee For Sporting Lisbon’s Joao Teixeira

First time poster here , I really like the look of Sterling in this match his skills and silky footwork is something we have lacked in a long long time someone to turn and beat a defender and whip in a shot or incisive pass in the box for a natural poacher to finish. Forget Downing he is finished play these kids off the bench and with the likes of Silva, Coady , wisdom , Flannagan and Robinson the future is very bright. Charlie Adam should step aside for the likes of Coady to replace him.

If this guy was English we would be paying £10 million for him (Connor Wickham anyone)?

If the deal goes through lets hope that he develops and is not over used to early like Insua or misused like Pacheco was under Hodgson.

Here here.

Pacheco was under Rafa (bit too early), Woy, Kenny and Lambert at Norwich where he was used sparingly.

There must be something that we don't know for all of them to decide he needed more experience elsewhere, not least given our need for squad members last season.  

Norwich weren't interested in taking him this season either, so there must be something up with him.  Probably not physical enough or consistent enough.

Yeah there must have been something wrong with him. Even Atletico Madrid loaned him out after we loaned him to them. Mystery mystery.

Now that was bizarre - staright to another Liga team. maybe they considered him one for the future, but wanted to see him play regulalrly first and they couldn't guarantee that for him - are they paying for him to be at Rayo Vall?

Spot on JS, but you've also got to wonder how a player comes to the club with so much hype, yet doesn't get what seems to be a fair crack.  As you say, they see them daily, we can only go on the hype or you tube clips!

Hello peoples. New LFC fan here. I've been lurking all season and this is my first post. I chose this thread because some of the comments discuss FSG's strategy and as a life long Red Sox fan, I believe I have some knowledge on how they operate. I wasn't around for the takeover so please if excuse me if some (all) of this has been discussed.

This move is what FSG does. Find a commodity that the market undervalues and take advantage of it. FSG have proven to be forward thinking, statistically driven, Scrooge McDuck rich owners. They tend to stay out of the way and allow management to make most of the decisions, as long as they are in sync with the overall strategy. They will expand the LFC brand and may overpay for players who can lead LFC into a new market. 

With this and the Ibe signing, I believe it's clear that the Academy is the hole in the market. I wouldn't be surprised if more and more money is dumped into Borrell's lap to grow the Academy's reach and influence. 

All that being said I believe Kenny still needs to make a move for a player who can play a quality ball in from the right and some pace up front. Pace will stretch the hole between midfield and defense that the horse toothed magician can and will exploit. And Bellers sure looked like that player do deliver quality from the right against Man City but I doubt he can honor the defensive duties required in a 4 in the midfield formation.  Depth and versatility, depth and versatility.

Been a great 1st campaign as a LFC supporter, so thanks for the site and all the posters. It's awfully fun yelling " Come on you f#*cking Reds!!!" at the TV. 

Thanks for the warm welcome. Kenny will most assuredly have a longer leash than AVB. I believe 3 years is a good call on the amount of time to challenge in the league. Furthermore, my brief impression of Kenny is that he is so Red he would beg off if he hasn't built a challenger in that time. 

@ psb - Sounds as if they may set of shop in the Boston area for a bit this summer. Fun.
http://msn.foxsports.com/foxso... 

I like this guy.  I'll buy you a beer this summer when the Reds are at Fenway.. You sir, as we can see, are wise in the ways of science.  We're glad to have you here. 

How do, candaon lad? Interesting take on FSG and and The Academy and anyone coining the term "horse-toothed magician" is a welcome addition to a community under threat from hater-numpties and shouty KFC-eaters. Nice to have you along man.

Yes, lad. Spot on on the FSG philosophy. Successful team owners leave the football operations to the football men all across the world, yeah, including American football.

I think Dalglish has a much longer honeymoon period than AVB and Mancini. I would not be surprised Dalglish have a 3 year window to prove he's the right guy, not necessarily bringing in trophies along the way. 4th is a must though, may be next season. Progress is the key. If FSG is convinced with the team's progress, we will see substantial amount of money to splash in the market. You cannot build a dynasty in a year.

The result has not shown progress nor regress. We are where we ended last season, 7th. We count the missed chances and dominant possession time. Missed chances are a direct reflection of the quality of our strikers. What good is possession time when most of the time we are passing backward & sideways. We can "hope" and "wishfully think" we will be better in the 2nd half of the season, but I can't see it coming.

What is puzzling to me is why he remains so stubborn and keeps starting players who are not worthy of the Reds jersey while the other 5 are filling up rosters with star quality players.

Well, you have set a very high standard for first time posters. And referring to Suarez as "the horse toothed magician"? Brilliant.

Welcome aboard lad. YNWA. Like GT said, great start to your posting career :)

Thats a great start to your posting career candaon. Welcome to fold son, welcome to the fold.

Good news indeed!

Now starts the most difficult part of the job: how to turn this still relatively raw talent (like Sterling, Suso, etc.) into week in, week out 1st team material.

Pacheco anyone? Best player and top scorer of the M19 (or M18?) euro (or world cup)...some promising first team appearances under Rafa, some much less exciting stuff under xxx...and who really knows where he plays in Spain without looking it up in google... 

Let's keep fingers crossed - with the ones mentioned above + Coady + Jonjo + Hendo the future's got to be bright at the midfield.

still waiting for the midfielders that really look like an exciting future midfield.

Lucas has set the bar high, and any others have a lot to do to give match up and get me excited.

I posted the other day that IMHO, the only way of truly integrating your Academy players effectively is to trim your squad right back to say 15/16 players and start using the youngsters more regularly.

All outfield players need time on the pitch against better opposition to be able to hone their skills without being overexposed. Its a tricky balancing act, but when youngsters don't get brought through, it has a really detrimental affect on their potential.

I really think that Kenny has to start this thing now, slowly. Put them on the bench first, let them play for last 10-20 minutes. Well he might be doing that now, with Shelvey and Flanno. But honestly, I want to see someone else T_T. Someone with flair in attack.

And we need to introduce them to the first team so that other PL teams might be interested to loan them, which could help their development. Honestly, I'm so not into our talented players being loan out to the Championship and lower.

Re Sterling and or any other of our prospects - i think we should also look to loan them to other countries top leagues. For example, maybe a couple of our more "traditionally english" players could head over to portugal, the eredivisie or the belgian league to get to know another style of play. Maybe send our flair players to, I don't know, Argentina or Turkey (!) to toughen up....Experiencing a different style of play and a different culture may just give them an extra edge in getting ready for life in the first team.

I really like your way of thinking. Maybe you should work besides Rodolfo :P

really? and if they get hurt? what then? you gonna nurture them back to health? i doubt it...these kids are human beings, not FIFA 12 dude.

So if they're younger they are easier to hurt? And older players are not? What's wrong with your logic? And don't talk to me about that FIFA 12 thing, I know this is not a game, I'm not that stupid. There are examples in real life (yes real life, not FIFA 12) with the loan thing, look at Man Utd with Welbeck and Cleverly, Arsenal with Wilshere, Tottenham with Walker, now even Chelsea with McEachran. If we are afraid to take chances with the youngster the FSG philosophy will never be realized.

I'M SO PISSED RIGHT NOW, I REALLY DON'T LIKE IT WHEN PEOPLE ASSUMED THAT I ANALYSE FOOTBALL FROM A GAME POINT OF VIEW, I REALLY DON'T!

You wouldn't loan them out if they're not physically ready in terms of body maturity, but just cause someone's small doesn't preclude them from going out on loan as they can get hurt at anytime - even in training.

Really good to see the video again, some really enjoyable football.
I liked the 3rd goal, scored by Rosa especially, looks like he has a great foot on him.  

Tex will fit in well with the Uruguayan connection too, especially as Coates is only a year older than him.  Reckon that might have also been a positive in the consideration.

The score in that game doesn't reflect our ability having watched it again.  We missed 2 sitters (aaaaggggghhhhh! even the reserves!  are we going to have to change the colour of our strip or something.  ffs, we even hit the post!!), so we weren't as outclassed as the score suggests.

Chances, you, no WE - gotta take them!

By the way Noel, you say we shouldn't expect to see Mr Tex Mex straight away, but given Shelvey's age that might not be the case?  

Sure, a couple of months of acclimatisation, but might we see a late cameo further into the season in a game where we're cruising?  

Also have to ring the bell for Sterling, gutsy player and quick too.  Given how good Sporting are he was really giving them a run for their money.

Anyhow, who are we buying next week?  Although Comolli said the squad was complete for now, I can't help thinking we might feel a little low if we don't get a forward - though Carroll might get a little pissed about it.

Guess it's good, but it's always a gamble at that age.  Look at Jonny Howson, just moved from Leeds to Norwich at 23.

He was an under 21 England player but till now has only made it to the Championship, and we're yet to see what he can do in the PL, though Lambert is clearly a cool customer.  Ok, ok, England are a bit shit internationally (:-o) .

Robbie Savage was a youngster when MU bought through the Scholes, Beckham, Giggs, Neville troop but didn't make the grade for a top player and was moved on.

So 1m might not sound a lot and I guess Liverpool are likely to be part of fee inflation system but it's high historically I believe and we don't know the wages.

Being positive, this has a lot to do with Rafa setting up the new Academy with the Barca guys in charge.  

Borell and Segura (?) will have been a big attraction for a young developing player no doubt given their barca origins and language capabilities.

One thing on a different issue - Carroll.   

I've been thinking about his mobility issue.  He isn't moving like he was at Newcastle and I think that's causing him all his problems.  As has been mentioned by posters on this site, he does look leaner than before.

There were also the comments that came out about his training regime and not bulking him up too much though it was published in the context of his 'drinking with the lads'  rubbish.

Is it possible that the training he's done under Liverpool's Aussie rules phys ed guys has given him too much muscle already in the wrong way, and affected his mobility - hence the new emphasis on his training (which doesn't really seem to be improving it)?

Can tell you right now that Carroll's biggest physical issue is the fact that he's weak as all hell for his size. Stays much too upright when moving because he doesn't have the leg power to get low and drive forward. Wouldn't be surprised if there were mobility issues in the hips as well, but these are matters you can (usually) sort out in 10 weeks, nevermind a year. If it were more severe he would've never passed the medical.

And the worst of it is that it's not even remotely surprising. A lot of the stuff the players seem (obviously, I'm working with limited info on training regimen here) to be doing physically is, not bothering to look for a better word, shit. Wouldn't be surprised to find that Newcastle (among others) have a far superior training regimen, which could explain why Andy seemed like so much more of a handful last year, despite the "lifestyle issues". Generally, I feel our side is fairly "soft" and unathletic, Enrique being the obvious exception (and guess which club he came from).

Nah, he may have been drunk a lot but he was lean and mean at Newcastle, then bulked up and slowed down at Liverpool. He was more dangerous in his natural state.

Kinda like Agbonlahor, who has not scored as often since he upped his weight training. He thought he needed to bulk up to hold off defenders, but all he did was rob himself of that extra bit of speed and agility that made him so dangerous.

Andy was heavier at Newcastle.

Btw, are you saying strength training makes you slow?

Bulk is different than strength. I don't have his weight numbers over time, do you? Not that it matters too much, since we are talking about body shape and not every pound is the same.

Here's what I read about him last year after they signed him:

"...to the astonishment of the Anfield staff, it turns out the 22-year-old has spent little time in the gym to develop the upper-body strength that would make him even more potent in the penalty area. Since Carroll arrived at Anfield, he has been stunned by how hard he is being made to work in trying to recover..."

"They will also put Carroll on an intensive weights programme in the belief that, come the start of next season, he will be an even more formidable forward and even more of an athlete."

From eyeballing him, to me he looks slower, bulkier, and less dynamic than he did at Newcastle and if the above quotes are correct, it could be he did bulk up a bit between February and August because of what the LFC staff asked him to do. Not sure how to quantify that with limited public information, but there it is.

Indeed it is, but no matter how you slice it, the major decisive factor of muscular strength is cross-sectional area, e.g. muscle size. What matters then is which muscles we're talking about.

The issue I took then and still take with the above quotes, and the approach they symbolise, is that upper body strength is considered of major importance. It definitely won't do anything for his pace, change of direction, acceleration or jumping ability, which is where I see his major physical flaws. Added upper body mass would merely represent extra weight to lug around.

To my eye, he definitely looks slower and less dynamic (and weaker in the duels), but he's leaner than he was at Newcastle. Lost some bodyfat, no doubt, easily seen in his face and neck, but I doubt it was adequately replaced with muscle mass, clear from looking at his shoulders, arms and back. And from the way he's moving, his lower body strength development seems to have been completely neglected.

Like I said, none of this surprises me, because a lot of the stuff I've seen and heard the players are doing in terms of strength work, is silly shit other sports spend little or no time on. And again, I feel like it's representative of our squad as a whole, which lacks in athletic ability.

yeah, it's all speculation.  

If I had real power, you have no idea what rumours I would spread!

but yeah, the wrong sort of training and you'll barely beable to walk!  Ask a cyclist, fittest guys around,  to go for a run and die laughing at them try.

We went into a lot of this in my Phys Ed degree, or I would have if I were at the lectures.....

I think one of the biggest frustrations for me re: Carroll is that there's so much that could be/is going wrong, and it doesn't seem like there's many answers to it. So yeah, difference in training style could be an issue, or it couldn't be at all. That's not dismissive of your thoughts, which are well-reasoned, but more a comment on the general confusion about just what the hell is going on with him.

Besides drinking all day every day, obviously. 

Can you please tell me when my optimism of Andy becoming a world beater becomes a dellusion, I am rather prone to tipping into the delusional realm, and any guidance as to when or if this is truly the case with my hope for Carroll would be greatly appreciated...

Just stay delusional. It's much more fun!

and necessary with the p tailed git.

It doesn't really matter, because whatever your views on Andy Carroll are, you're wrong.

Patience sucks, you know?

Also, Sterling looks great in that video. His ball control, the way he dribbles; he reminds me of Florent Malouda or (the Chelsea version) Joe Cole. Both players are relatively short and hard to push off the ball. Rugged, yet nimble. He doesn't show the strength of a John Barnes yet, but that aspect of the game is not as important as it once was. 

Yeah. I was very very impressed with him. None of our wingers are like that these past few years.

Kick ASS! Screw the haters. For this cost, he could be as good as me or you and it still could be a good piece of business. I mean, if Joe Cole is worth that much a week....

The only person who hates this deal is Wegner, because he didn't get his ice cream truck to the Sporting Lisbon gates soon enough...

Wenger has his hands full after getting Spanked by Swansea and Fulham two games in a row. It's almost a full on revolt again in London. It's OK though. He has United up next. Hehehe.

Sterling looked great in that video, eh? Good to see Kenny, Stevie G. and Carra at the game too.

I vividly remember an interview John Henry gave when they took over the club. He was full of praise for Wenger's ability to scout very young talent, swoop in and get it at cut price and then nurture it into world beaters.

Another piece of that puzzle, really. It is their decided and communicated strategy. Sounds great for EPL 2015, not so much for the blues of season 2012.

There is a lot of truth to this post. But Rome wasn't built in a day, and FSG's lasting legacy certainly won't be either. More than a year after FSG's takeover, we're finally getting somewhat definitive answers as to the stadium plans. That is a huge step in increasing the revenue and therefore being able to stick with FFP.

Then again every day I hope a u19 makes the squad sheet, only to find out none of them do. Sterling should go out on loan to another premiership club to get him some game time so we can get him out in a red jersey already!

Re Sterling and or any other of our prospects - i think we should also look to loan them to other countries top leagues.

For example, maybe a couple of our more "traditionally english" players could head over to portugal, the eredivisie or the belgian league to get to know another style of play.

Maybe send our flair players to, I don't know, Argentina or Turkey (!) to toughen up....

Experiencing a different style of play and a different culture may just give them an extra edge in getting ready for life in the first team.

I like this signing if only because it shows a commitment to a philosophy spouted over and over by the actual powers that be. Henry made a comment the other day about links to players of a certain age being outside the plan being implemented at LFC. They are interested in long-term solutions, not quick fix plaster.

And if the story re: David Teixeria comes to fruition, then the "Pinky and the Brain" plans our Ice Cream Truck Driver and Living Legend have drawn up are a bit more complex than "Sink Everything into British Bulldogs".

Granted, Stuart Downing is the Paul Sheldon to my Annie Wilkes. Misery.

Nice goal he scored in that game, but not much to really get an idea of him.
But oh my, that kid Sterling! Stewpot, go watch this and prepare yourself for the bench.

I'm drooling with excitement to see him in the first team. Sterling I mean.

I wonder why he hasn't made the bench yet...but then again patience is a virtue and all good things come to does that wait apparently...

And I heard that it's his birthday today? Lol what a birthday gift for him.

"Happy Birthday! Now sign here, here..and here...and initial this bottom bit..."

Reminds me of Suso; similar skill-set and position. I like that, but I'm sure there's going to be some mixed emotions from others.

What ever happened to that Marco Bueno kid by the way? That was supposedly a done deal once.

If I'm not mistaken Marc Bueno already joined, no? I swear to God I've seen highlights of him playing in the under 18.

Don't think he's joined because they're not allowed to move until they're 18 at least. 

Varying reports that his move has already been done that he'll be due next season, other reports saying that the move isn't actually done but LFC to try again when he's finally 18.

Well, guess the only way to tell is when there's actually something concrete about it on the official website. 

Yeah, I was mistaken. I thought it was Marc Pelosi. Sorry guys :P.

Don't let it happen again. 

...

Aye sir!

FIFA laws don't let Liverpool sign him until he's 18 (not sure exactly what that law is).  He impressed on his trial and it looks like he will sign in the summer sometime.

http://www.nesn.com/2011/10/re... 

Aha, excellent find, thanks.

I really hope you're right, but I can't recall having seen him at all, nor is he listed on the offal.

Oh I'm really sorry I confused Marc Bueno with Marc Pelosi. From what I searched he got the pre-contract but he'll only officially joined when he turned 18, so right now he's still at his club. Idk whether it's true or not. According to my FM, he only joined at the start of 2012-2013 season so it might be true :P.

3:10, 3:25, 4:12, 4:27 in the video if you want to see him :P.

Looke like a DUD - why sell if he was any good - we have not got a clue with these massively overated superkida

I've noticed that the vast majority of angry, partially literate screechy flying monkeys that have been commenting of late have spent a lot of time sharing their thoughts on liverpool-kop.com

In a way that's nice, as it gives me another reason to avoid that site. But some of you should really stick to where your asshattery is appreciated.

Liverpoolkop.com truly is the worst, well that would be true if there wasn't another site called ourkop.com...that guy has seriously been dropped on his head continuously...

10 total replies for that shit? why not just ignore?

God knows how much I hate that site.

The perils of e-fame. Screechy flying monkeys of the illiterate sort, that is.

Obviously. Because why would you spend 1mm pounds on a 19 year old brought up in a system that regularly produces fantastic footballers rated in the tens of millions of pounds? Clear f-ck up by Comolli. 

Oh, and they're selling b/c they're fucking cash-strapped. See, e.g., "The midfielder, who has not made a senior first-team appearance for the side, is highly-rated in his native Portugal and has been compared to Deco, but Sporting have been forced to part ways with his services due to their financial difficulties"

stopthisnonsense!

wow. like you said, you've not got a clue about these players so to label him a DUD without anything credible to base on doesn't really let people take you seriously.

Nicely said dude.

??? Why do you...? What is the point of...? What are you basing your...??Aaaaaaaahhhhhh!!!!....*face-palm*

It's one for the future, geez.

Well welcome aboard lad. Seeing as Sporting had produced a lot of fine players down the years I do hope that this fella will become one for us for the next few years. YNWA Texeira. Ok now gonna starts watching the video, thanks for the video Noel, I've been searching for his video to see him play, completely forgot that I can see him in the Sporting vs Liverpool Next Gen video.

p/s: Does anyone know if he will be able to play in the NextGen for us? Or is it the same rule as in Europe competition?

Cup tied, unfortunately.

Ah..that's too bad.

But then he can't play for them, either.  It looks like a very good deal.  I saw some of the Sporting game against us and they were great - so to get one of their better players is fantastic.

The future of these youngsters are definitely exciting, much credit has to go to Rafa Benitez for kick-starting the entire revamp and vision for the academy for it to have progressed thus far.

Still hopeful that we might make a signing that helps the first team, but won't be end of the world if nothing happens.

I'm sure people will start screaming about how this isn't the "marquee" signing they wanted and Liverpool supposedly need RIGHT NOW, but I'm pleased by the news. Be nice to see him, and some of Liverpool's other young prospects, making a leap to the first team in a few years.

Pleased as well. If he can be as half as good of Ronaldo, I'll be in heaven. I hope we managed him well.

Agreed. This is the type of signing that's supposed to be the new owner's bread and butter. Get 'em young and cheap, then supplement w/ some veteran / marquee signings when / if needed. Pretty f'ing excited about the team that's gonna walk out in two years.