I have to pinch myself at times these days to make sure I'm not dreaming about this current Liverpool side.
What Klopp has built over the last few years is staggering and the Reds now have a team that can compete with any first 11 in the world.
But it wasn't always that way.
In fact, the last decade has seen Liverpool make some really weird signings that simply didn't make sense then or now. In an era within which the club almost went into administration, it's difficult to look back and figure out what direction the cowboy owners were trying to take the club.
Yet, even since FSG took over at Anfield, Liverpool continued to make terrible signings in the transfer market under Brendan Rodgers.
Let's take a look at some of the worst signings Liverpool made in the darker era.
Paul Konchesky
Signed in 2010 by Roy Hodgson, Knochesky was a player that Liverpool fans knew would be a disaster.
We were proved correct when the left back went on to make just 15 appearances for the Reds. At one point, Konchesky's mother went onto Facebook to post a lot of insulting things about the Liverpool supporters who didn't think her son was good enough for the team.
Charlie Adam
The fat midfielder signed from Blackpool was renowned for his ability to take set pieces. In fact, Alex Ferguson once said that Adam's corner kicks alone were worth £10M.
What a load of nonsense that was. This slob of a player waddled around the pitch like an out of shape civilian taking part in a dads and lads tournament.
Thankfully, Adam was offloaded to Stoke in 2012 where he fit in perfectly as a relegation fodder kind of midfielder.
Christian Poulsen
Another strange midfield signing and one that stood out like a sore thumb in a Liverpool team that were apparently trying to steady the ship after some dark days.
Poulsen was ultimately the replacement for world class defensive midfielder Mascherano who has been sold to Barcelona. Talk about a downgrade. I spent most of my time with my head in my hands when he was on the ball.
Luckily for me, Polusen played just 12 games for Liverpool before moving to Evian.
Milan Jovanovic
Another short-lived Liverpool career was that of Milan Jovanovic, a Serbian winger signed from Standard Liege in 2010.
Touted as a bit of a pace-merchant, he certainly had none of that. It was like watching a toddler playing football, running in a straight line with his head down and no idea of an end goal.
Strangely, Jovanovic's name was brought up in an episode of Neighbours, the Australian soap, in which he was referred to as "one of the greatest players in the world".
Maybe there's hope for me playing professionally after all.
Oussama Assaidi
Seriously, what was the point in this guy?
He apparently made 4 appearances for Liverpool, but I can only remember 1 when he came on as a substitute and looked dreadful.
A loan to Stoke City didn't do the Moroccan winger any favours either and he went on to play for Al-Ahli Dubai before moving to Twente.
Pure Brendan Rodgers banter era right here.
Joe Cole
Where to start with this moron?
Joe Cole was signed on a free and Liverpool supporters around the world, including myself, saw it as good business. After all, Cole was a decent player in a very good Chelsea team at one point in time.
In pre-season, Cole looked the business. Yet, tragedy occurred as he was sent off on his competitive debut.
Steven Gerrard stupidly mentioned that Cole had similar skills to Messi. If this seemed crazy at the time, it looks even worse now. Having failed as a Liverpool player he went on to take some sly digs at the club after he left and I'd love to leave a sly dig on his chin for being such a little rat.
Iago Aspas
This is a bit of a strange one because Aspas has gone on to be very successful at Celta, scoring 75 times in 128 appearances.
However, his time at Liverpool left a lot to be desired and he was never up to the task of leading the front line at a big club. Making just 13 appearances for Liverpool, he scored zero goals.
Aspas is best remembered for his shocking corner against Chelsea in the game where Gerrard slipped. Needing something, anything, to get us back in the game, Aspas went over to take a corner and simply passed it slowly along the ground to a Chelsea player.
That was the end of him in a Red shirt.
There are many more awful players to have graced the Red shirt but I'll save them for another day as I feel like vomiting aggressively after writing this post.
Thank fuck those days are behind us.
Comments