[Ancien directeur sportif] Damien Comolli

[Sami]

J'ouvre un sujet sur Comolli pour une info qui ne le concerne pas directement. Mais c'est plus simple de regrouper tout ce qui a trait aux scouts ici. Donc :

Liverpool

Diego Caniggia has been appointed as the club's new South American scout. Caniggia, the brother of the former Argentina and Glasgow Rangers striker Claudio, also worked for Damien Comolli when Liverpool's director of football strategy ran Tottenham's scouting operation. He is currently representing his new employers at the Fifa Under 20 World Cup in Colombia.

http://www.thenational.ae/featured-content/channel-page/sport/football/chelsea-set-to-miss-out-on-playmaker-javier-pastore

Peut-être qu'il nous ramènera quelques perles sud-américaines...

[rodofromparis]

Excellente idée, Sami!

J'ajoute ma pierre à l'édifice: Excellent article paru sur Tomkins Times qui décrit la philosophie de la gestion de Comolli. Bonne lecture, il y a du matos

Holy Comolli, Statman! Liverpool’s Data Revolution

Some people in football get tarred with a dirty big brush early on, and struggle to rid themselves of the coal-black stain.

I have a sneaking suspicion that, for some Liverpool fans (as well as those outsiders who like to criticise), Damien Comolli could be the next Rafa Benítez: foreign, studious and mocked. Above all else, misunderstood.

There’s some tetchiness creeping into the fanbase, albeit possibly just the usual knee-jerk suspects who cry foul each and every season. I’ve received messages from supporters criticising almost everyone: Comolli (“he has to be sacked!”), FSG (“they don’t know what they’re doing!”) and even Dalglish (“stuck in the past!”). Football365 published a mailbox that appeared to damn everyone involved with player recruitment at the club.

Most of this has been based on the summer’s transfer activity – including players merely linked with moves in and out via speculation – and ignores the fact that Liverpool made massive strides last season when FSG, Comolli and Dalglish were in tandem. Inheriting a side languishing in 12th, Dalglish’s Liverpool finished 6th; but it would have been 3rd based purely on results following Hodgson’s departure. (A few people got a bit uppity when the Reds lost the final two games, but by then, to quote Dalglish, the club simply ran out of fit senior players.)

Comolli and Dalglish have very different skill sets. Between them, they can cover a lot of bases. By all accounts, following extensive scouting by himself and his team, Comolli creates a shortlist for Dalglish to choose from, rather than forcing signings onto the manager. The Frenchman knows that the manager has to be happy with who he receives, and his job is to narrow down the field.

There’s also been a small backlash that, due to appointing Dalglish, Chelsea were free to pursue Andre Villas Boas, with some suggestion that appointing ‘King Kenny’ was harking back to the past. (A view I might have shared a few years back, but which was clearly wrong.)

I’ve little doubt that Villas Boas would have been ideal for FSG and what they are trying to achieve. However, it ignores that Chelsea are in the Champions League, not to mention his previous strong connections with the West London club (so it’s not like he would have certainly turned them down in favour of Liverpool – just as procuring elite players this summer will be nigh-on impossible given the incredible emphasis that almost all of them place on the Champions League).

Also, it has to be noted that FSG were delighted with the way Dalglish performed, and that no manager alive would have had as much chance of uniting the club at what was clearly a time of crisis on the pitch. Based on results and, just as importantly, how he handled both himself and his players, he merited the job. If Villas Boas fits the FSG model, Dalglish fits Liverpool FC. At a time when harmony was restored, both on and off the pitch, to have jettisoned Dalglish would have been crazy.

The Fall Guy

Perhaps Comolli is the easiest to blame when fans start to see things they don’t agree with. He’s young, French, never played professional football, and occupies a position that is greatly mistrusted in the English game. Directors of Football, and others who work primarily behind the scenes, are easy to write off, and dismiss as offering nothing; you can’t see what they do, so it doesn’t exist.

At Spurs, Comolli was widely derided, and yet if you look at his player recruitment record, it’s actually very impressive. Not every player worked out at the time, but many have since come good, both at Spurs and elsewhere. (See our analysis on the TPI site.)

The Daily Mail’s Martin Samuel has today written a bizarre piece about Comolli. It’s interesting that he puts all the ‘blame’ for the club’s English buys at the Frenchman’s door, when Liverpool have already explained that recruitment is a groupthink strategy. (Others, who think Dalglish is a dinosaur, are putting the blame solely at his door.)

Had Roy Hodgson been buying these players, you suspect that Samuel would have been telling us how right the manager was for Liverpool. But maybe I’m a hypocrite: had Hodgson been buying them I’d be far more worried, but mostly because everything he touched turned to tripe, including the way the Reds played.

Choosing to focus on some strange angles, Samuel spends two paragraphs talking about a young Spurs keeper who cost £1m, and has played only one first team game. So what? Even the best reserve keepers can fail to get a look-in. Even though Samuel accepts that it was low-risk, criticism is still implied. (And of course, if Comolli was buying too many foreigners, you can imagine the outcry.)

Here’s more from Samuel:

Sound familiar? It was a policy Comolli inherited and then pursued at Tottenham with conflicting results. The club had already established its penchant for the bright British prospect when Comolli joined in September 2005, following the acquisition of players such as Calum Davenport, Sean Davis, Michael Dawson, Michael Carrick, Jermaine Jenas, Jermain Defoe and Andy Reid by the previous regime.

At the very least, Comolli maintained this project and arguably accelerated it with buys including Darren Bent, Gareth Bale, David Bentley, Jonathan Woodgate, Ben Alnwick, Danny Rose, Alan Hutton and Chris Gunter.

He bought from abroad, too, but Tottenham were largely known for taking a punt on a domestic prospect. The difference being it was not such an inflated market then.

Having looked at transfer prices and inflation in Pay As You Play, that last point is bogus: since the time Comolli was at Spurs the average price of a transfer has risen considerably. (See Dan Kennett’s piece on why English talent has been overpriced for years, and in current terms, may actually be cheaper right now; £48.8m on Shaun Wright-Phillips to Chelsea and £41m for Michael Carrick’s move to United in 2011 money?)

This doesn’t alter the fact that Comolli made several game-changing transfers at Spurs, and just as Alex Ferguson buys flops like Tosic and Bebe, it’s the signings like Rooney and Hernandez who win him trophies.

“He bought Bale for £10m and the player could one day be sold for five times that; except Bale’s career was going nowhere until rescued by Harry Redknapp and this time last year the jury would have been very much out on his worth.”

Is it Comolli’s fault that Bale took a couple of years as a very young man to realise his potential? And why didn’t Redknapp rescue his career before last year, having taken over as far back as 2008? Why the need from the writer to include that meaningless caveat? Comolli’s job was to find untapped talent. If you buy a 17-year-old, then unless you are particularly stupid, you accept that he might not be an overnight sensation.

(More on Comolli at Spurs: Berbatov, as he was then, Bale and Modric would get into most sides in the world, even if the Welshman is a little overhyped at times. Darren Bent failed under Harry Redknapp, but has succeeded at Sunderland and Aston Villa. Kevin-Prince Boateng had an excellent season on loan at AC Milan last year, and this summer they took up their option to buy him. And Adel Taarabt, now at QPR, has immense natural talent. In many cases it was just the timing that was out: Bale, Boateng and Taarabt were simply too young and/or new to English football to immediately prove themselves; as was Modric, who was mocked after a slow start. And while never going to be ‘world class’, Darren Bent continues to outscore the players Redknapp bought to replace him, and to be sold for high transfer fees. Roman Pavlyuchenko has done fairly well, without ever being exceptional; but a damn sight better than Robbie Keane since his ill-fated return to the club in 2009. Assou-Ekotto and Alan Hutton have also done pretty well. However, Comolli’s major mistake was appointing Juande Ramos as manager.)

Samuel also misses a key point: namely that Liverpool have to buy English, and preferably young. Why?

Catch Up First, Moneyball Later

One of the most commonly overlooked concepts of the Moneyball principle is that you overpay to plug gaps. Perhaps the best example of someone failing to do this is Arsene Wenger at Arsenal. Having built an exciting, vibrant team that looked capable of challenging for the title last season, the good work appeared to be undermined by the lack of an experienced, established goalkeeper. Such a clever exponent of finding cheap young talent (once with Comolli’s assistance), Wenger did not appear to do enough to adequately fill arguably the most important position in any side. Even if Arsenal had to pay £10m over the market price, it’s possible that the rewards would have been far greater.

By January 2011, Liverpool had a number of holes in the squad, the most notable being up front. After his failed dalliance with Robbie Keane in 2008/09 (thanks again to Redknapp for taking him back for up to £15m), Rafa Benítez had wanted to reinvest the recouped fee on Stevan Jovetić, the accomplished young Fiorentina striker. According to Benítez, he was told he could spend the money recouped on player sales, plus £20m; only for the extra money to be withdrawn later in the summer, after Glen Johnson and Alberto Aquilani were purchased. As players continued to be sold and the money used to service the debt under Gillett and Hicks, then so the squad thinned out. FSG inherited that problem.

It left a hole up front that was not filled by Roy Hodgson, whose purchases were mainly aging midfielders and aging left-backs; a hole which threatened to widen into a chasm with the exit of Fernando Torres. And while Luis Suarez was an exciting signing, he was not seen as adept at being the spearhead striker, and had he been the only replacement for the Spaniard, the hole would merely remain the same size. Liverpool needed to make a statement.

So, despite being prepared to pay over the odds (because they were selling Torres for such a high fee), Liverpool required a proper centre-forward and Andy Carroll was that man. And yet Carroll also helped fill another gap: he was young and English, at a time when the club lacked in that area.

When Benítez overhauled the Academy in 2009, one of the reasons was the lack of English youth internationals at the club; sufficient quality was not being found, and it was driving the manager mad. (In my 4-hour interview with him in 2009, this was his most passionate topic.) Finally, two years ago, he got his chance to revamp the failing youth project.

His appointments – Barcelona duo Pep Segura and Redolfo Borrell, Liverpudlian Frank McParland and legend Kenny Dalglish – helped change that, to the point where the club currently has no fewer than six kids in the England U17 party at the youth World Cup, and a few weeks ago, five starlets starting for England U19s (and it may have been six had definite starter Jonjo Shelvey not been injured); all as part of 25 youth internationals now on the books. (Segura recently said that there were just two back in the summer of 2009.)

However, despite this brilliant teenage potential aged 19 and under, how many England U21 players did the club possess back in January of this year? By my reckoning, just Martin Kelly (with Jay Spearing yet to be called up, and not making this summer’s tournament squad, and is now too old). The additions of Andy Carroll and Jordan Henderson make it three, and interest in Phil Jones and Connor Wickham shows an intent to increase that.

As I noted here, Henderson and Carroll may have inflated fees but will surely be on far more reasonable wages than some of the recent ‘free’ transfers.

A big part of FSG’s strategy is to lower the wage bill, and to not overcommit on long, expensive contracts to the likes of injury-prone Sylvain Marveaux, who chose Newcastle because they offered a longer, more lucrative deal which was too risky for LFC. Roma’s keeper Doni didn’t want to take a 60% pay cut and sit on the Anfield bench watching Pepe Reina. Brad Friedel, aged 40, simply didn’t want to sit on the bench, whatever the money, in the twilight of his career. All three are non-Brits, but they turned Liverpool down for their own reasons. None were high-priority targets, though, and with that in mind, Liverpool did not go the extra mile to land them. That may be different with the left-back targets of Clichy and Enrique, but as both are 12 months away from being free agents, it may be a case of deciding how much of a deduction in price is appropriate.

But like it or not, Liverpool need to have a certain number of English players in the match squad, and with further quota plans mooted, it may need to be as many as six in the starting XI.

Back in January, aside from Kelly, only Glen Johnson was young enough and good enough to feel confident about lasting the next few years, so work needed doing, until what could possibly be a golden generation filters through. Hodgson’s English solutions – Cole and Konchesky – were disastrous, and along with Gerrard and Carragher, did not have age on their side.

Do I expect Liverpool to keep ‘overpaying’ for English talent? No. In time, Comolli and FSG can afford to be more patient in their recruitment – which is not to say that they are panicking or buying in haste now, just that the situation should smooth itself out in the coming seasons.

However, when the Reds are meeting the asking prices, they are being criticised for overpaying; when they refuse to meet wage demands and/or big fees, they are slated for lacking ambition or moving too slowly.

Comolli’s Way

If there’s one thing I’m sure of, it’s that FSG know what they’re doing. Or rather, they have clear ideas on strategy and how to run sporting institutions, even if football is new to them, and what they attempt might not work – although so far, if the proof is in results, they’re clearly succeeding.

The second half of this article by Zach Slaton outlines how Liverpool improved after FSG’s first major decision last season. While it may not make sense out of the context of the piece (which is fairly complex, so be warned), the graphic below plots Liverpool’s results last season under Hodgson and Dalglish, in relation to their odds of winning matches (based on the cost of the XIs, with inflation taken into account).

FSG’s whole modus operandi is built on the power of information, not simply winging it.

As such, Damien Comolli is one of the key figures in Simon’s Kuper’s outstanding piece on the new data revolution in football.

Comolli’s three years at Spurs encapsulated many of the early struggles of the data revolution. British football had always been suspicious of educated people. The typical football manager was an ex-player who had left school at 16 and ruled his club like an autocrat. He relied on “gut”, not numbers. He wasn’t about to obey a spreadsheet-wielding Frenchman who had never played professionally himself. Comolli was always having to fight “nerds versus jocks” battles. With hindsight, he unearthed some excellent players for Spurs: Luka Modric, Dimitar Berbatov, Heurelho Gomes and the 17-year-old Gareth Bale. Yet eventually Comolli was forced out.

. . .

From his perch at Anfield, Comolli often chats to the father of Moneyball 5,000 miles away. Beane says: “You can call him anytime. I’ll e-mail him and it will be two in the morning there and he’ll be up, and he’ll e-mail me and say, ‘Hey, I’m watching the A’s game’, because he watches on the computer. The guy never sleeps.” At Liverpool, Comolli has genuine power. He has said that data informed the club’s recent purchases of Andy Carroll and Luis Suarez for a combined £60m.

The same level of research applies to Jordan Henderson, who has suddenly become a bit of a joke figure, in the way that the Brits love to knock their own. Last October, Steve Bruce was talking up Henderson, using statistics: “He’s a fantastic footballer. Jordan’s got the lot. He’s 6ft 2in but he covered 13 kilometres against Aston Villa without giving the ball away. He can tackle, he can pass, he can cross, he just needs to score a goal but he can do that, he can hit the ball. How many 20 year-olds are playing week in week out in the Premier League?”

Henderson went on to be one of the league’s top chance creators, and Comolli will have assessed how he went about doing that. Nothing guarantees that he will do the same under greater scrutiny at Liverpool, but if he’s given time to settle, he can grow as a player and pick out passes for the likes of Gerrard, Suarez, Carroll and Kuyt. The way Dalglish handled Flanagan and Robinson last season – putting them at ease, removing the pressure – suggests that Henderson could blossom under Liverpool’s greatest living patriarch (as opposed to the way playing for England could simply be throwing him to the wolves.)

Stewart Downing is another accomplished chance creator. He’s not a ‘glamourous’ winger, but he is a versatile team player who delivers for others, and who can score himself. Most of us would prefer Mata or Hazard, but thanks to Gillett and Hicks, whose decisions turned a top-four team into one fighting relegation just eight months ago, Liverpool are a slightly harder sell right now. The likes of Downing and Charlie Adam would undoubtedly improve the squad, and it just needs the Reds to scrape 4th place to look a far more exciting proposition in 12 months’ time.

Comolli will continue to make mistakes, just as anyone in football does. My theory is that only 50% of transfers work out, for a variety of reasons, and maybe only 20% are what I call game-changers. But he learned a lot of lessons from his time with Spurs, and he’s determined to reduce the odds for making errors. With his intelligence and Dalglish’s experience, Liverpool could have a winning back-room team, providing they work in unison (and so far, there’s nothing to suggest otherwise).

Philosophies

In this excellent interview with Leaders in Performance, Comolli outlines some of his philosophies.

The process of recruitment is, more than ever, a strategic operation. At a first team level, due diligence must be afforded to potential multi-million pound acquisitions. The initial player recommendations of the scout are followed up by at least 3 to 4 more viewings from ‘other’ senior staff. Subsequently, three positive reports will trigger a ‘buying’ mechanism, ‘the beauty of having different people is that different people watch different things. They have a slightly different eye, depending on their experience, their personality or background as maybe a coach or maybe a player… the diversity is key… you want to develop a situation where people can challenge, challenge me or the manager. You know, saying that’s my opinion, you may not agree with me but I’ll give you my opinion because that’s the way I think and that’s what I’ve seen… you want your scouts to be strong, not sit on the fence, make a recommendation, yes, no, why. You want a strong recommendation either way.’

Anyone panicking should read that. And this:

As for the future of talent recruitment, Comolli extends his need to understand every detail of a player before the club decide to sign them. The need for (accurate and reliable) data and information; physiological, physical, technical, psychological and social is critical to help inform decisions. As is the case in America, he believes that psychological profiling prior to signing a contract will emerge in England and in Europe. The sense of knowing the person as opposed just the player appears critical. At the earlier age Comolli would like to be able to predict the work load capacity of a player before signing them. In essence, he wants to know if they can cope physically with the demands of top-level football. Something similar occurs in US baseball with the physical assessment and work load capacity of the pitcher’s arm. Comolli’s not quite sure whether this will transfer or translate to football just yet, but I’m sure he’ll find out pretty soon.

It might take time, but the more we try to understand what’s going on at the club the better our chances of judging transfer activity. Of the other big clubs, only Manchester United have signed anyone of note, but they are also one of the only big clubs to lose key players this summer (Van der Sar, Scholes).

A little patience is required. Last season, Steven Gerrard barely played under Dalglish, and never started alongside Andy Carroll. These two alone could feel like big summer signings if they are fit and raring to go come August.

[Brittanyred]

Merci Rodo & Sami.

[rodofromparis]

Je ne savais pas où poster ça, donc j'ai fait le choix de le poster ici. Il s'agit des prix des transferts des 20 dernières années indexés selon le TPI (Transfer Price Index, la méthode de Paul Tomkins et de Graeme Riley), ce qui donne des résultats pour le moins intéressants.

20 Years of LFC Transfers in 2011 Money

In a recent article I saw reference to Stewart Downing becoming the Reds’ 4th-most expensive transfer of all-time if all clauses were met. While I see nothing wrong with the reporting, it did strike me as unfair on the player, and those behind the decision to bring him to the club. When the British transfer record is £50m, is £20m really a fortune?

Part of the reason for our work on the Transfer Price Index (www.transferpriceindex.com) was to bring big buys from previous eras into line with current prices, using the ‘football inflation’ we calculated based on the Retail Price Index model, only using footballers (as the price of bread and milk does not rise at the same rate as players).

As such, I thought there’s no way Downing would come out as particularly expensive, and in truth, looking at the results, he ranks way back at 13th when inflation is taken into account; below the loathsome El Hadji Diouf.

What’s also interesting is the club’s record purchases under Houllier – Emile Heskey and Djibril Cissé – cost roughly the same as Andy Carroll in 2011 money, and not an awful lot more than Stan Collymore and Dean Saunders. So the current no.9 doesn’t have a lot to live up to in that company.

Thankfully Liverpool had some brilliant homegrown strikers from 1993 to 2004; alas, those bought to partner them often failed to live up to expectations. Between 1991 and 2011, of those purchased, Fernando Torres was the only striker who exceeded them (with Luis Suarez destined to join him).

The list below includes only those players who started at least one Premier League game, therefore excluding the inexpensive youngsters bought for the reserves or youth set-ups.

It’s also worth bearing in mind that in the time of Souness and Evans, Liverpool broke the British transfer record for players who rank only 5th and 7th here, and yet Houllier and Benítez never got within 20% of it. (Dalglish, as he had in the ‘80s, broke the record for a Geordie striker, but almost immediately Chelsea smashed it by some £15m when taking Torres; a figure I’d be surprised if the Reds get close to in the next few years. Indeed, Liverpool could only break the record in the knowledge that they were going to receive that £50m.)

So in a relative sense, deals from the early to mid-‘90s are perhaps slightly under-inflated. Downing cost roughly the same as Paul Stewart, but whereas Stewart cost 70% of the British record in 1992, Downing cost only 40% this summer.

In terms of sales, the top fees received are the £50m for Torres (as yet unaffected by inflation), and the £38.5m for Xabi Alonso.

(Note: depending on whether the average price of transfers rise or fall in the years following a transaction, some players’ values can appear lower than the original amount paid. This is quite rare, however, as most years the average price of a Premier League footballer rises.)

Source: TTT

[Gerrard-8]

Un beau paquet d'argent envoyer en l'aire !

Benitez : 340M

Houiller : 300M

Modifié le 8 août 2011 par Gerrard-8

[rodofromparis]

Un beau paquet d'argent envoyer en l'aire !

Benitez : 340M

Houiller : 300M

Attention: c'est des données partielles avec les transferts les plus et les moins chers. Et ton compte oublie les ventes, qui ne sont pas pris en compte dans l'article.

[Invité scouser#9]

Moi aussi je trouve qu'il y a eu beaucoup de gâchis

Surtout que la plupart des joueurs ont ete de gros flops !

On va vers une meilleure politique de recrutement depuis l'arrivée de Dalglish et du nouveau board !

[Le Talisman]

On va vers une meilleure politique de recrutement depuis l'arrivée de Dalglish et du nouveau board !

Combien de fois bénitez a pu mettre autant d'argent en une année, sans avoir à vendre des joueurs que ce que dalglish a pu en mettre cette année?

[Invité scouser#9]

Cette année ça sert a rebâtir une équipe

Benitez avec les moyens qu'il a eu désolé mais dans l'ensemble il a fais du grand n'importe quoi..

[rodofromparis]

On ne parle pas de Benitez, il a son topic s'il vous plaît.

En plus, il est rempli des chiffres qui appuient les dires et tout pour éviter de dire choses sans fondement.

[robbiefowler80]

Créé le 27/02/2012 - 11:17

Angleterre Liverpool: Comolli annonce l'arrivée de grands joueurs

Liverpool a donc remporté la Carling Cup, dimanche, en venant à bout de Cardiff City aux tirs au but. Un succès qui a visiblement emballé Damien Comolli, le directeur sportif des Reds, qui a annoncé l'arrivée probable de joueurs renommés l'été prochain. "On sait déjà que des grands joueurs veulent nous rejoindre à la fin de la saison. Ils croient en notre projet. Tout le monde en Europe sait ce que le club essaye de faire. Il y a des vibrations positives autour du club et beaucoup de joueurs que je connais sont intéressés", a expliqué le Français sur SkySports.

[toinou LFC]

http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11669/7558595/

Liverpool's director of football Damien Comolli insists he is not expecting the club too spend massively this summer.

Following the Reds' Carling Cup success at the weekend, Comolli told Sky Sports that a number of 'big players' were already in the club's sights.

However, Comolli admits there will not be a repeat of last summer when Kenny Daglish brought in seven players, taking his spending to over £100million since taking charge.

"It is early days. We will probably make some adjustments in the summer but nothing that we've done before," said the Frenchman.

Remote Record

"We signed nine players since Kenny came back so there will be a few adjustments but nothing massive.

"We have done the hard work and now it is a question of making some adjustments in certain positions.

"Kenny has said it several times that we have a very competitive squad and all positions are covered by two or three players, quality players, and we have a lot of young players coming through as well."

Massive game

After lifting the Carling Cup last weekend, the club's first trophy for six years, matters now turn to the Premier League.

Comolli believes Saturday's visit of Arsenal is a match the Reds have to win to boost their hopes of a top-four finish.

The Gunners' stunning 5-2 win over Tottenham last weekend, having been 2-0 down, means Arsene Wenger's side are currently in pole position for the final UEFA Champions League qualification spot.

However, Chelsea are only below them on goal difference and Liverpool need to claw back a seven-point gap - although they do have a match in hand, against Everton.

"We have a massive game against Arsenal at the weekend," said Comolli.

"The next priority is to win the next game. When you see the results at the weekend with Arsenal beating Spurs we definitely need to win on Saturday."

Comolli believes victory in the Carling Cup on Sunday, securing the club's first trophy for six years, can only have a positive impact on the club and the players.

"It is a fantastic statement and also we are back in Europe early in the season," he added.

"We know it will bring us positive dynamic for the rest of the season.

"It is a fantastic way to end February with a trophy already but we know we have a lot to play for until May."

Modifié le 2 mars 2012 par toinou LFC

[REDDINGUE]

http://www1.skysport.../11669/7558595/

Liverpool's director of football Damien Comolli insists he is not expecting the club too spend massively this summer.

Following the Reds' Carling Cup success at the weekend, Comolli told Sky Sports that a number of 'big players' were already in the club's sights.

However, Comolli admits there will not be a repeat of last summer when Kenny Daglish brought in seven players, taking his spending to over £100million since taking charge.

"It is early days. We will probably make some adjustments in the summer but nothing that we've done before," said the Frenchman.

Remote Record

"We signed nine players since Kenny came back so there will be a few adjustments but nothing massive.

"We have done the hard work and now it is a question of making some adjustments in certain positions.

"Kenny has said it several times that we have a very competitive squad and all positions are covered by two or three players, quality players, and we have a lot of young players coming through as well."

Massive game

After lifting the Carling Cup last weekend, the club's first trophy for six years, matters now turn to the Premier League.

Comolli believes Saturday's visit of Arsenal is a match the Reds have to win to boost their hopes of a top-four finish.

The Gunners' stunning 5-2 win over Tottenham last weekend, having been 2-0 down, means Arsene Wenger's side are currently in pole position for the final UEFA Champions League qualification spot.

However, Chelsea are only below them on goal difference and Liverpool need to claw back a seven-point gap - although they do have a match in hand, against Everton.

"We have a massive game against Arsenal at the weekend," said Comolli.

"The next priority is to win the next game. When you see the results at the weekend with Arsenal beating Spurs we definitely need to win on Saturday."

Comolli believes victory in the Carling Cup on Sunday, securing the club's first trophy for six years, can only have a positive impact on the club and the players.

"It is a fantastic statement and also we are back in Europe early in the season," he added.

"We know it will bring us positive dynamic for the rest of the season.

"It is a fantastic way to end February with a trophy already but we know we have a lot to play for until May."

Mon anglais étant limité ( Bien que je prends des cours au Wall street institut ) , je n'ai compris que partiellement à la lecture de l'article, please un petit résumé en français pour le "Cancre" !! lol :D

[REDDINGUE]

Un beau paquet d'argent envoyer en l'aire !

Benitez : 340M

Houiller : 300M

Enfin on a quand même gagné la LDC sous l'ère Bénitez alors !

Modifié le 2 mars 2012 par REDDINGUE

[toinou LFC]

Voilà REDDINGUE, je t'ai traduit vite fait les déclas de DC

Liverpool's director of football Damien Comolli insists he is not expecting the club too spend massively this summer.

Following the Reds' Carling Cup success at the weekend, Comolli told Sky Sports that a number of 'big players' were already in the club's sights.

However, Comolli admits there will not be a repeat of last summer when Kenny Daglish brought in seven players, taking his spending to over £100million since taking charge.

"Il est encore un peu tôt pour le dire. Nous ferons sans doute quelques ajustements mais ce ne sera en rien aussi agité que l'été dernier."

"Nous avons signé 9 joueurs depuis que Kenn est revenu donc il y aura quelques retouches mais rien de très conséquent."

"Nous avons fait le plus dur, et maintenant il s'agit de faire quelques retouches à certains postes."

"Kenny l'a dit à plusieurs reprises, nous avons une équipe très compétitive, tous les postes sont doublés voir triplés, par des joueurs de qualité, et nous avons également beaucoup de jeunes joueurs qui poussent dérrière."

After lifting the Carling Cup last weekend, the club's first trophy for six years, matters now turn to the Premier League.

Comolli believes Saturday's visit of Arsenal is a match the Reds have to win to boost their hopes of a top-four finish.

The Gunners' stunning 5-2 win over Tottenham last weekend, having been 2-0 down, means Arsene Wenger's side are currently in pole position for the final UEFA Champions League qualification spot.

"Nous avons un match importantissime contre Arsenal ce samedi." said Comolli.

"La priorité, c'est le match qui vient. Et quand vous regardez les résultats du week end dernier, nous devons absolument gangner samedi."

Comolli believes victory in the Carling Cup on Sunday, securing the club's first trophy for six years, can only have a positive impact on the club and the players.

"C'est un message fantastique envoyé par le club, et nous serons aussi de retour en Europe au début de la siaosn prochaine.

"Nous savons que cette victoire va nous mettre sur une bonne dynamique pour le reste de la saison."

"C'est fantastique de gagner un trophée déjà en février mais nous savons que nous avons encore beaucoup de choses à jouer jusqu'au mois de mai."

Modifié le 2 mars 2012 par toinou LFC

[REDDINGUE]

Voilà REDDINGUE, je t'ai traduit vite fait les déclas de DC

Liverpool's director of football Damien Comolli insists he is not expecting the club too spend massively this summer.

Following the Reds' Carling Cup success at the weekend, Comolli told Sky Sports that a number of 'big players' were already in the club's sights.

However, Comolli admits there will not be a repeat of last summer when Kenny Daglish brought in seven players, taking his spending to over £100million since taking charge.

"Il est encore un peu tôt pour le dire. Nous ferons sans doute quelques ajustements mais ce ne sera en rien aussi agité que l'été dernier."

"Nous avons signé 9 joueurs depuis que Kenn est revenu donc il y aura quelques retouches mais rien de très conséquent."

"Nous avons fait le plus dur, et maintenant il s'agit de faire quelques retouches à certains postes."

"Kenny l'a dit à plusieurs reprises, nous avons une équipe très compétitive, tous les postes sont doublés voir triplés, par des joueurs de qualité, et nous avons également beaucoup de jeunes joueurs qui poussent dérrière."

After lifting the Carling Cup last weekend, the club's first trophy for six years, matters now turn to the Premier League.

Comolli believes Saturday's visit of Arsenal is a match the Reds have to win to boost their hopes of a top-four finish.

The Gunners' stunning 5-2 win over Tottenham last weekend, having been 2-0 down, means Arsene Wenger's side are currently in pole position for the final UEFA Champions League qualification spot.

"Nous avons un match importantissime contre Arsenal ce samedi." said Comolli.

"La priorité, c'est le match qui vient. Et quand vous regardez les résultats du week end dernier, nous devons absolument gangner samedi."

Comolli believes victory in the Carling Cup on Sunday, securing the club's first trophy for six years, can only have a positive impact on the club and the players.

"C'est un message fantastique envoyé par le club, et nous serons aussi de retour en Europe au début de la siaosn prochaine.

"Nous savons que cette victoire va nous mettre sur une bonne dynamique pour le reste de la saison."

"C'est fantastique de gagner un trophée déjà en février mais nous savons que nous avons encore beaucoup de choses à jouer jusqu'au mois de mai."

Thanks my friend and .....YNWA

[Invité apsilon]

c'est bien ce que je me disais , il sait emballé après la victoire de la Carling cup , mainetant que l'euphorie est passé , il revient sur ses propos et par la même occasion nous fais redescendre de notre petit nuage

[toinou LFC]

Il avait trop bu dans la coupe le damien !

[REDDINGUE]

C'est clair , il s'emballe, il s'emballe, et puis pfffffff un petard mouillé !!

[Sick_Boy]

Je reposte ce que j'ai mis dans la rubrique transfert à ce propos.

Il n'a aucun intérêt à dire l'inverse (que nous cherchons des joueurs).

Comme d'habitude, il fait le job. S'il dit on a besoin absolument d'un attaquant cela a pour conséquence :

1°/ De dénigrer les joueurs achetés à ce poste et dire qu'on s'est peut être trompé.

2°/ Faire monter les prix.

Je reste persuadé qu'il y aura du mouvement, de tout manière on en a besoin.

Commolli il souffle le chaud et le froid de manière intelligente.

Il y a quelques jours après la victoire : beaucoup de grands joueurs veulent nous rejoindre dès cet été.

Maintenant après cette déclaration : mais nous n'avons pas besoin de beaucoup de joueurs, on calme le jeu.

C'est joué de manière intelligente et fine je trouve.

[toinou LFC]

Je pense qu'il est plutôt honnête dans ce qu'il dit Sick_Boy. Il dit que ce ne sera pas la bamboula comme ca l'a été l'an dernier. On peut le croire non ? Qui a envie de voir 7 joueurs arrivés et je ne sais pas disons 10 partir ? Pas moi en tous cas.

Il ne parle pas forcément d'argent mais plutôt d'activitée. Si on dépense 40 M dans 2 très bons joueurs aux postes qu'il faut je serais le plus heureux du monde.

[Owen0412]

http://www.nesn.com/2012/03/liverpool-fc-director-of-football-damien-comolli-feels-club-is-headed-in-right-direction-excited-to-.html

Interview plutot interessante de Comolli

[redshirt]

Selon Kopsource, Comolli se serait fait virer

http://www.kopsource.com/liverpool-sack-damien-comolli/

Je me demande quels transferts étaient de son fait et lesquels étaient du fait de Kenny

[Ronan9]

Il y a des bruits sur le départ de Comolli...

Il serait viré par NESV.

[Gian]

Il y a des bruits sur le départ de Comolli...

Il serait viré par NESV.

Confirmé par Talksport:

talkSPORT

Damien Comolli has been sacked by Liverpool. Is he to blame for the club's poor Premier League season?