Except the fact that Sturridge has not hit his prime yet, and has a higher resale value than Ba. Liverpool build squads and buys players for the long-term not for a season or 2, which explains why we have the youngest squad in the EPL.
Well actually apparently it was 10m for Sturridge, 2m was paid to him as part of his contract.
Adam and Carroll are gone. Henderson was thrown into the deep end at such a young age so no you can't judge him just yet especially as he's playing really well at the moment. Same with Downing he's been performing also. However, that doesn't justify paying over the odds for them but they're English so obviously their fee was inflated.
Ba is a short term fix for chelsea and especially with his dodgy knee. In the long run Liverpool have the better deal.
Ba is much better than Sturridge will ever be. His knee hasn't looked too bad when he scored 36 goals in England in just 71 games either...
Sturridge can't even break into the Chelsea setup after Drogba left, nor oust Welbeck from the England lineup. Despite Welbeck being younger and still only really 4th striker at United best case scenario!
Sturridge will be a squad filler buy because Liverpool are desperate for a striker before the summer thanks to the mistake loaning out Carroll without adequate cover.
This is fairly obvious unless Rodgers has lost his mind and wants Suarez to play behind Sturridge which is really the only option. Sturridge is a striker, not a provider.
Suarez is Liverpool's only world class player now and Rodgers would be crazy to take him off the striker role just so he can play behind Sturridge and waste his best abilities.
Watch Rodgers do this exact thing, see that it doesn't work because Sturridge isn't good enough to be lone striker, fiddle about, and then just drop him to the bench. You read it here first.
@vulcan, and buddy You both should take off your man-u blindfolds before you type
Quite a bold statement to say that Sturridge will never be as good as Demba Ba. At Sturridge's age, Ba was playing 3rd division French football. Sturridge has been playing in the best league for quite a few seasons now, and can only get better. Not to mention he is on less wages. Rodgers already has a system to put Sturridge in the central role since that's his best position and Suarez behind him (just like how he played in Ajax) Suarez only world class player? Lol
I would be surprised if Sturridge didn't do well for Liverpool, he was one of Chelseas best players under Di Matteo, he just never got a chance. If he had gotten as many runs as Torres has I'm sure he would have come off better. The Utd fanboyism around here is hilarious. You would swear Utd have never signed a dud.
Sturridge hit his prime? The guy is a second rate player.. just like the other wingers England have produced recently like Lennon for example.. he has pace, can dribble fairly decently but has nothing else going for him. He has the touch of a rapist and that alone will stop him being a good striker.
Demba Ba imho isn't a top player either but he brings goals and that imho is worth more than anything Sturridge will bring.
Incorrect. At 23 Ba was playing for Hoffenheim in the Bundesliga. Ba has had many setbacks in his career but his strike rate doesn't lie, it is impressive especially considering the sides he has played in i.e not that great....
Suarez is Liverpool's only world class player. Steven Gerrard is past his best, turning 33 this year. His form has improved the past few games (from dire early this season to ok now) but it seems no coincidence Liverpool have also only faced mediocre opposition in those games.
Nobody else comes close to the ol world class category. If they did, Liverpool wouldn't be a mid table side that they are. Hardly any of Liverpool's squad would be in the first team of United or City IMO. Suarez is closest but he wouldn't easily displace Rooney or Van Persie, and I probably wouldn't pick him over Tevez or Aguero.
"Not to mention he is on less wages".
Irrelevant- Ba cost 5 million pounds less easily offsetting the cost of his contract compared to Sturridge.
This isn't bias talking this is football sense talking. Ba has a better record anywhere and everywhere he played.
Sturridge is not good enough as one man up top, not for Chelsea, not for United, not for City. He is behind Welbeck in the England pecking order for a reason too.
So I don't know why you suddenly think he is good enough as one man up top for Liverpool to close the gap between the top 3. Unless you have those rose tinted glasses on again.
Rodgers will play him in front of Suarez, you'll soon see he is fairly mediocre and eventually he will be dropped to the bench if Liverpool can get someone worth bothering with in the summer, like Llorente for example.
Stuzza will not get better than he is now, I believe he already peak. The only thing he can improve in his game now are his decision making which is learning how to pass more often
Strikers don't usually peak until their mid-late 20s.. Van Nistelrooy, Drogba, Van Persie, Villa.. there is a long list of world class strikers who peaked in their late 20s.
Honestly I don't think Sturridge is anywhere near world class level but there is a lot of room for him to improve as a striker that could come with time.
Blah blah blah, one guess at which blinkered perspective the manc will side on? Liverpool are trying to buy for the future and have a very steady wage structure that a player like Ba simply wouldn't fit into. I'm not saying one is better than the other just that its clear that Ba would not be the right choice for us. Oh and btw Vulvanproject saying Suarez is the only class player is absolute bollocks. Are you forgetting the current England captain, Denmark captain (and footballer of the year) to name a couple, clubs at the top of the game enquire about many of our boys. Don't be so biased and blinkered, I know you're not that daft so don't do yourself a disservice.
You mean the captain of Liverpool who has had poor form all season up until the past few games against bottom half sides? Against the one top half side played recently, Stoke, struggling to contain the might of Glenn Whelan and umm...Barry Bannan against Villa. Bannan properly bossed that game against Gerrard too lol.
The captain of England who was utterly outplayed and massively outshone by a genuine world class midfielder (albeit aging too) in Pirlo in the summer? That was a friggin masterclass, Gerrard and Parker combined couldn't get near him. Gerrard has seriously waned as a midfielder and your definition of world class needs resetting if you think he can still claim to hold such a status as his career gently slopes to its twilight.
The captain of that well known current footballing superpower full of world class players that is Denmark? Look at all those brilliant players of world reknowned he is compared to in Denmark: Jacobson, Kvist, Poulsen, Kjaer and errr....Bendtner. Prestigious indeed.
The award is hardly a proclamation of world class ability right now. I would rather have Christian Eriksen than Agger, and that ain't a hard choice.
I do tend to have a small problem with Liverpool fans still claiming they have these amazing players shining throughout the squad.
Mainly something to do with their league position currently and the past few years.....
Suarez is world class. Suarez could probably get into (nearly) every side around. Nobody else at Liverpool would.
I apologise, I was wrong. You are that daft. By your definition there won't be many world class players qualifying for your list then. In fact by your definition I'd say only Van Persie is world class in your squad. I would've said Rooney and Vidic too but by your own judgement on Gerrard I feel a similar bar is above both. Regardless of your feelings towards to the Danish national team Agger is a technically gifted and solid CB, so much so the current champions enquired over the summer.
"By your definition there won't be many world class players qualifying for your list then"
Thats right, world class players aren't ten a penny. Glad to see you are slowly figuring this out. At Manchester United I would say Van Persie, Rooney, Vidic and probably borderline Antonio Valencia. He has had poor form recently, but he is only 27 so i believe its just a bad patch. Unlike the terminal decline Gerrard has been on past couple of years, particulary seen this season. http://northeastfox.wordpre... (written by a Liverpool fan)
Last season Valencia was blatantly the best right winger in the league despite being injured for a long time and played out of position for a bunch of games when he came back.
Others have big potential or are faded world class players like Gerrard (Ferdinand, Evra, Scholes, Giggs) but thats all it is right now, and I wouldn't claim otherwise.
The earlier list are the players that (nearly) any club in the world and virtually all in the Premier league would take over any others and probably go straight into their first team and get lots of games.
Gerrard WAS once a real world class midfielder I begrudgingly admit, but not anymore. 3 years ago yes- prior to a bunch of fairly weak seasons and injuries.
Agger was never a world class defender and never will be. Solid for the premier league, but not exceptional. How many PFA teams of the year has he managed to get into in his six year career at Liverpool?
Zero.
Not exactly a be all and end all determination for world class status, but you would expect him to have made at least one if he were as good as you daydream him to be!
Well, this is great news! Torres can be on the bench now for the next few games. Torres will get a rest and Ba will have more time to get adjusted to his new team. Win-win.
Where does this leave Torres? will Chelsea try to get rid? I think they've given him more than enough time to find his form he's just not the same ruthless striker Liverpool once had.
Well there you go, Ba hit the ground running at Chelsea albeit against a much lesser team. I'm sure he'll be a solid addition to their squad. Hopefully Sturridge can hit the kind of form he exhibited at Bolton when given a run if games (something he was never going to get at Chelsea).
7m Ba, 12m Sturridge. Chelsea have pulled a fast one!
ba should not be benched or he will lose current form. bench useless torres
Torres should be second choice for a while to give Ba a chance to settle in.
Well, this is great news! Torres can be on the bench now for the next few games. Torres will get a rest and Ba will have more time to get adjusted to his new team. Win-win.
Finally a striker, about freaking time