Sorry, totally missed that.
And totally forgot about Di Matteo, Di Canio and Vialli. But yes, they were also sensational players to watch
In fairness, that era Serie A was significantly higher calibre (even if the decline had started) while the PL was much weaker (and slower) than it is today and players who even just possessed technical ability were much rarer and could be ācarriedā even if they played at a lower tempo.
I wouldnāt have any worries with Barella. Good player, should fit the Liverpool style.
Whether or not thereās any truth to thisā¦ I donāt care. As long as it keeps us from discussing what we have in our pockets when leaving the house, itās all good.
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FIFY. 
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Can you back this up with certification that youāve watched him at least 10 times?
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Yes! Not in one season though, so I think I might be disqualified.
If Klopp and our recruitment team like him, that says plenty. When I saw him play for Italy he looked the best midfielder. Not seen ten games though, if thatās the rule!
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Iām not going judge the quality of a country based on Dossena, Balotelli or Borini, Borini was Championship at best.
Aquilani was just an odd signing, just would not expect Liverpool to make that change nowadays.
Ravenelli was decent for Middlesbrough but yeah itās a bit like judging Germany on Karius.
Under the right circumstances Aquilani could have been an excellent player for us. I remember watching him in the Euro under 21 championship rampaging through teams, he looked like a man amongst boys. He came to us injured and during a period when the team was in turmoil and I still feel he never got the chance to show what he was truly capable of.
Probably a bad idea to buy him with the injury but then again H&G shafted Rafa of the Xabi sale money soā¦
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But compare a Karius to Hamann, Klinsmann, Ballack, Rudiger, Havertz (Iām sure Iām forgetting more).
Just havenāt been that many good Italian imports. And now their league is shite
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But that quality from Italy has never come across to Liverpool, the quality that has has been odd like Balotelli, injured but talented like Aquilani and just championship like Borini.
Barella is a very talented player whatever the rest of the league is like, itās absolute rubbish gossip like but he is.
Iād make the same point on French footballers, Sakho was decent but had issues with his attitude, Anelka like wise, Cisse was decent but injured but the rest were crap.
On that basis youād stay clear of Konate but no you sign the player based on the quality and we did and he is ace.
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The quality of the league a prospective target plays in would of course be a factor to consider. With that said, Iām as certain as can be that the stattos in our recruitment department will have refined metrics to make a solid judgment about any individual and the value they could bring to Liverpool.
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Agreed.
If we were convinced that the targets league defines them we would never have signed Sami, Suarez, Salah, Diaz etc etc.
The recruitment team know quality, that is why we have success at the moment.
Well Portugal and France are garbage if Italy is bad.
European leagues ranked:
England
Spain
Italy
Germany
France
Portugal
Holland
The rest
Is that unreasonable? If not, it makes Italy the third best league in Europe and therefore, the world.
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Yeah probably Belgium or Turkey after that lot, case for Austria perhaps.
Would Bundesliga not be ranked above Seri A?
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Dunno the drop off from Bayern is high, then again it would be mildly competitive and watchable without them.
Depends how you rate the Milan clubs and Napoli, I think recent years have taught us a lot about the strength of leagues. Englandās looks as lopsided as most nowadays
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