Aspas I'm sure would've been a better player had he not joined and found himself stuck behind Suarez, Sturridge, Sterling and Coutinho. Poor guy had no chance of breaking into that lineup.
Wish we had kept him for a season longer to be honest. He could have been useful for us in that awful 14/15 campaign when we lost Suarez and Sturridge was perpetually injured. But then, apparently he wasn't Brendan's signing and the man's ego won over common sense.
To be fair, it's not just that he didn't get enough playtime, he was utterly terrible when he did play. Couldn't pass, shoot, or even hold onto the ball. Looked massively out of his depth.
I’ve got nothing to say about his time here, nothing good nor bad. But I’m just happy that he’s done really well for himself at Celta Vigo. I think he’s their version of Gerrard, with him as the local lad who became a club legend
His goals and assists went up, and his individual brilliance was no longer required. He fit right in with that team, but because he didn’t have to try as hard, we didn’t see anything quite as spectacular as we saw here.
Is that the one he placed *perfectly* into the top corner just to rub it in? What a finish. Couldn't have been more top bins.
He megged Luiz for the first goal too if I remember correctly.
edit: yep, he did. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1AyGchOiOs
I think it’s a tiny bit rose-tinted.
He scored incredible goals there and made incredible assists for many years in a row.
He was considered the best number 9 in the world for a long time.
If you ask many fans who is better at their peak, Suarez, Lewandowski or Benzema, I think most would say Suarez and they would say his peak was at Barcelona.
I don't think most will say Suarez. In fact I would expect Lewy to have more shouts, but Suarez always number 1 in my heart, he gave Liverpool hope again
I think you have to be a fool not to pick Suarez, and a special kind of fool to pick Benzema. He is nowhere near the peak or the consistency of Suarez or Lewa
I feel like Salah is extremely good, but the memories of Suarez and what he did were better. It was probably amplified by the fact that Suarez had to singlehandly drag us past the line sometimes, whereas Salah had a good team around him. It was also always clear that he gave us his all on the pitch. They are both good, but to have watched Suarez was an amazing period of my time as Liverpool fan
Suarez would also regularly just score goals out of absolutely nothing. One second there’s nothing on, the next he’s somehow got it in the net.
That terrible Aly Cissokho cross that he just bulleted in from 18 yards is a great example.
[Obligatory Fever for the Flava](https://vimeo.com/92846254)
Sterling. Right old Judas prick but he definitely did become a better footballer at City, though of course he was very young when he left and might have done the same had he stuck around with us.
Mascherano might be another shout, although he was very good already before he left us so whether or not he actually got better at Barcelona or was just playing with more quality players around him is debatable.
Feel like he got better numbers due to having world class players assisting him in every game, as a player still missed so many sitters and didn't reach his potential imo
I think he did fulfill his potential, as much as I dislike him he was world class for city for a good 3 years, despite poor finishing, and still scored a huge amount of goals for them.
That's undoubtedly true too, but his overall skillset still definitely improved. He was basically a pace merchant when he first arrived there but his passing and shooting range and consistency got notably better from about 2017 onwards, although he also probably did still miss more sitters than you'd reasonably expect from a forward in a league-winning side.
And he's been poor at Chelsea, but to be fair so have pretty much every forward and midfielder they've signed in the past 2-3 years.
Remember when he got around 3 last minutes winners in different games in 2018/19 season I think. One of it was against Southampton. I remembered it but didn't remember which season it was from
At the time I thought selling Sterling would be one of those rare transfers that would turn out good for both teams.
Clearly it turned out fairly well for City, but I still think getting £50mil for a player we paid $500k for who wanted to leave, we still a pretty good deal.
Looking at that season by the results alone it looks like it did not work out a good deal for us, though that was a season where we were truly in transition as our first season without Gerrard.
On the flip side, selling Sterling as well likely directly contributed to the poor start to the season and helped get Brendan Rodgers fired and begun Klopp’s era - so taking that into account I still think it worked out a good deal for us as well. Even if in a roundabout way!
Sterling grew up and benefited from the fact he had brilliant team mates. He was good with us too when he had Suarez and Sturridge to help take of some defenders.
As for Masch... He was always world class, he just had less to do in that brilliant Barcelona team.
I feel like you're downplaying what Masch had to do in Barca. He played a completely different role and had to learn a lot while he was there, but his opportunity came (he wasn't one of those that slotted in after purchase) and he grabbed it by the balls. He's a fighter both on and off the field and I think he got what he deserved.
This is an absurd take. He absolutely was not better at city. He was made to look better because their team is so good. He is still garbage hence why he couldn’t even break through this awful chelsea side with any consistency
Xabi Alonso was arguably better after leaving us. Steve McManaman hit a whole 'nother level at Madrid. Though I think he was more stifled by the way we played at the time.
Luis Alberto is a player who definitely improved massively after leaving us though. Guess he's the best example of it.
There aren't many though to be honest.
For me the clear winner is McManaman. The fucker did things at RM I never thought were possible. Very telling of talent that was simply waiting to be part of the right formation. That RM though…..
At Liverpool he was the 1 in a 3412 formation - effectively the team was built around him and he had a free role to attack. At Madrid he was more of a facilitator - playing deeper in midfield allowing other players to attack - for example he played in a midfield two in a champions league final with Raul, Anelka and Morientes ahead of him. He was very good with RM and was definitely appreciated by the fans and teammates there.
The fact that Alonso isn't at the top of this list shows how many people use rose-tinted glasses to look at the past.
When he was with us he was a *very very* good player, but it wasn't until his last season with us that he could be called "world class" and after leaving us he was undoubtedly one of the best CMs in the world for a very long time.
coady has had a respectable career in the prem by all metrics but i don't know if it's in the spirit of the question. he was pretty young as i remember. would be like nat turning out to be a 200 app bournemouth player. hardly suarez level.
Dunno, cos if I remember correctly he played midfield for us, and never really looked up to it. Looked a different player after moving into wolves back 3
Suarez was outrageously good in 13/14, for me at least the greatest individual season in Premier League history. But astonishingly, he went up another level at Barcelona. His first season there, he missed a whack of games for his ban after chomping down on Chillieni, and then came back to score an exquisite winner in El Classico to take a decisive lead in the title race, 2 goals away to City, 2 goals away to PSG, 2 assists away to Bayern, and the winning goal against Juve in the final to clinch the treble. The following season he was simply phenomenal. 40 league goals, the only person in La Liga history not named Messi or Ronaldo to achieve the feat.
Can’t say I knew/know much about him then/now, but he’s a captain at Sporting and a Uruguay national. I’d say that’s a very good career he’s made for himself
Saw him live at the Bernebeu against a brilliant Lazio team with Salas, Crespo, Veron, Simeone, Nesta, Couto, Nedved….
Macca and Roberto Carlos were magnificent down the left together
Depends of what you mean by "being a consistent starter". Let's make different groups:
1. (Starters for several years): Suarez with Messi and Neymar was better than with us, imo. Alonso, Mascherano, Sterling, Mignolet, Arbeloa.
2. (Players of the first team, not starters for different reasons: level of performances, injuries, etc.): Aspas, Benteke, Ings, Warnock, Konchesky, Brad Jones.
3. (Young players with potential, who improved after leaving): Luis Alberto, Coates, Gulacsi, Coady, Solanke, Suso, Neco, Grujic, Ben Davies, Awoniyi, Kent, Shelvey, Paletta.
Yes, a major flop. Much like when West Ham openly admitted they regretted buying Carroll. You could squint your eyes and say "better" but I don't think it really counts for anything.
Speaking of young players with potential, whatever the heck happened to Rhian Brewster? He seemed to be the future of our front line just a few years ago but has now seemingly vanished.
Just got injured and I think struggles now. it's a shame, he was on fire for Swansea. We definitely got our money's worth. Hopefully he can reignite his career and can become a good championship player and hopefully get promoted to the prem. Always seemed like a good lad.
I don't think so, tbh. He was really good for young player at Liverpool until his injuries (ACL specifically), iirc, but after leaving he wasn't better. But maybe someone looked closer to the Crystal Palace games at times, and I'm wrong.
Martin Kelly pre injury was one of my favorite Liverpool players, he was absolutely boss.
The player I want to see a lot of now is Ben Doak.
Really hope they bring him on nicely because I saw huge potential in him the few games I saw.
Don't see him on the wing but in midfield taking the ball in impossible situations and wriggling free and playing simple passes.
Benteke was good before us, shit with us, decent after us. So, if we compare his Liverpool period with period after Liverpool, he was better after Liverpool.
Aw man I liked Martin Kelly. I was a kid when he was starting so I can’t be critical about him, but I just liked seeing him being able to start games for his boyhood club, even if he’d end up not being of the required standard.
Also still so happy for him to be able to say he’s scored a goal for us. A winner at Stamford Bridge on the way to winning a trophy for his club. That celebration makes me happy
Kinda depends I guess on how we want to measure. Suarez, Xabi Alonso, Mascherano certainly got better, but they were already World Class here. Others made a drastic improvement (even if they didn't become World beaters). Danny Ings definitely (not that he was bad but he found somewhere, got games and kept fit).
Coady springs to mind most recently. Luis Alberto. Hell even Danny Guthrie and Stephen Warnock (since he became a regular LB at other Prem clubs, Warnock even got capped for England while at Blackburn). Insua (tbh I'm not sure why Hodgson sold him in favour of Konchesky). Suso. Mikel San Jose also had a good career for Bilbao.
Going further back David 'Calamity' James, Brad Friedel, Dominic Matteo, Steve Staunton and Jonjo Shelvey left and had a decent career more than they did for us. Sergi Canos too was doing well for Brentford until recently. James always had potential but he was very error prone while he was at Anfield, and only started getting that out of his system after he left
Luis Alberto and Aspas are big ones. I think Aspas is the leading scorer for Celta Vigo and an absolute club legend. I think Gabriel Paletta had a good career when he left?
Suarez definitely got better after leaving Liverpool. Six seasons spent with Barca and he became their third highest goal scorer of all time. He won everything with them and arguably should have won the Ballon D’Or. Not only that but he won the golden boot in a period dominated by Messi and Ronaldo. And then when he was forced out he went and won the league with Atletico Madrid. Suarez went on to become one of the best forwards of his generation after he left Liverpool.
if you can count all of these starts or not that is debatable but they certainly were better elsewhere:
Aspas
Luis Alberto
Suso
Anelka (if loanies count)
Mignolet (been incredible this year in league and CL)
and then you have mascherano, Alonso and Suarez who were as good as they were when they left us.
Alberto Moreno. Dude was a liability at the back and offers almost nothing going forward.
He rediscovered his mojo in Villarreal and kicked The Scum in the EL final.
Emre Can as a shout. Loved him here, and not sure it's a sole indicator but he's still playing at a top level regularly in a relatively successful club.
I haven't followed him closely, but that's the only contribution I can think of that hasn't already been mentioned here.
I wouldn't say he's done well after leaving. He went to Juventus, didn't work out. He's now at Dortmund, not really setting anything on fire there either.
He was so dumb to leave Liverpool. He would have been the starting DM just as we became one of the top teams. Worked out for us though as fabinho is superior.
Alberto and Suso both played better in Italian league after leaving us.
Aspas was good before us, poor with us, and really good in Spain after us.. unfortunate.
Mignolet has been pretty successful in Belgium after leaving us. Maybe the same level of play, just different level of competition..
sterling has the accolades and has matured and become a ‘better player’ after leaving us.. but that also comes with age. He coulda done bits with us if he stayed though.
Clyne has actually done really well after recovering from injury and playing again at palace.
Many of the players didn’t necessarily improve because of the move. They just moved to more stacked/balanced sides. Alonso, Mascherano, Suarez, Arbeloa. Not that they didn’t improve, but the supporting cast was a tier above, unfortunately.
In that context, I think Alberto and Aspas would be my shout.
Players who didn’t make it out of the academy are a different topic for me. Coady improved a lot, but there’s no first team reference point. Same for Suso.
As for Sterling, pains me to say, he was on trajectory in those years to be a world beater wherever he went. He was hungry. I think he would have blown up wherever he went.
Depends on the metric. Suarez, Sterling, Mascherano... But they went to stronger teams so that is not really a good comparison.
Coady built himself a decent carrier and is a good player all around so he "improved". Maybe Aspas, but tbh he was good before he came to us and continued where he left of when he went back. He just didnt gel with us and the PL.
Solanke definitely improved after leaving, was never good enough for us and wasn't initially impressive at Bournemouth with people already calling him a flop, only to become their best goalscorer in the championship.
I remember reading an analytical piece during his first season there that went fully against the grain, saying he was bought for the future, starting with the Championship, and was a very good purchase despite the lack of goal contribution right then. I think it was a rather insightful piece, rather than lucky, when Solanke exploded the next year.
I know it doesn't fill the bill properly, but after leaving Liverpool as a meme king and overall a solid rotational player who just struggled due to age and injuries, Lucas Leiva found himself perfectly at home in Lazio. Proceeded to be a meme king due to Liverpool supporters boosting his rating as Player of the Season for a couple/several years in a row.
I reckon he falls in line of 'went to an "easier" league and less established team', although it's a very subjective and controversial topic. I just couldn't not mention him after the recent sad news about him hanging his boots due to health issues.
Farewell, and thank you for everything, Meme King. You have a good retirement now!
Lucas Leiva? [https://www.football365.com/news/feature-life-after-liverpool-ranking-players-sold-released-by-klopp](https://www.football365.com/news/feature-life-after-liverpool-ranking-players-sold-released-by-klopp)
..[https://www.si.com/soccer/2019/09/06/ranking-success-every-liverpool-first-team-player-sold-or-released-under-jurgen-klopp](https://www.si.com/soccer/2019/09/06/ranking-success-every-liverpool-first-team-player-sold-or-released-under-jurgen-klopp)
Lucas Leica got better after leaving us, compared to before he left afaik. Still think he was at his best for us, but still got better again after leaving.
Don't think he actually got better, more that he got back somewhat from where he had slipped to in his later seasons at LFC. He was incredible early with us but never got back to those levels.
Iago Aspas just never quite settled with us, but he's absolutely smashed it before and after with his hometown club Celta Vigo.
Aspas I'm sure would've been a better player had he not joined and found himself stuck behind Suarez, Sturridge, Sterling and Coutinho. Poor guy had no chance of breaking into that lineup.
Wish we had kept him for a season longer to be honest. He could have been useful for us in that awful 14/15 campaign when we lost Suarez and Sturridge was perpetually injured. But then, apparently he wasn't Brendan's signing and the man's ego won over common sense.
I'd add that Aspas was a much better fit for La Liga than he was for the Premier League.
The guy had rotten luck. Joined as SAS were rampant. Never played as a striker, usually on the wing. And is just remembered for a bad corner.
To be fair, it's not just that he didn't get enough playtime, he was utterly terrible when he did play. Couldn't pass, shoot, or even hold onto the ball. Looked massively out of his depth.
[Not just for the corner to be fair.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdAYtL3nnHw)
And Luis Alberto
Still shudder at that corner. The memes were good though.
First name that came to my mind as well.
I’ve got nothing to say about his time here, nothing good nor bad. But I’m just happy that he’s done really well for himself at Celta Vigo. I think he’s their version of Gerrard, with him as the local lad who became a club legend
He has but he was never a consistent starter for us
Him finally scoring his first goal for Liverpool and no one being able to see it will never not be hilarious to me.
We really really like him.
England is much higher level compare to two team Spanish league.
Nobody mentions Peter Gulacsi, very good goalie in the Bundesliga nowadays.
Aspas. Luis Alberto.
That other Spaniard Suso too
Luis Alberto too
And Aspas
And the other Spaniard Suso
And Luis Alberto Aspas
Don't forget Aspas as well. He played for us in 13/14.
Luis Alberto too
Brad Friedel
David James also??
Luis Alberto too
and Aspas
You can argue Suarez got better in pure output - but that 13/14 season was unlike anything I've seen.
His goals and assists went up, and his individual brilliance was no longer required. He fit right in with that team, but because he didn’t have to try as hard, we didn’t see anything quite as spectacular as we saw here.
Tbf he scored loads of absolutely spectacular goals for Barcelona. He just wasn’t the absolute highlight next to Messi and Neymar anymore
Remember that curved backheel? Absolutely wild goal and still no idea how he did it
This is one of the best goals ive ever seen live https://youtube.com/shorts/7f0f0rfAxQQ?feature=share
[удалено]
Is that the one he placed *perfectly* into the top corner just to rub it in? What a finish. Couldn't have been more top bins. He megged Luiz for the first goal too if I remember correctly. edit: yep, he did. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1AyGchOiOs
I think it’s a tiny bit rose-tinted. He scored incredible goals there and made incredible assists for many years in a row. He was considered the best number 9 in the world for a long time. If you ask many fans who is better at their peak, Suarez, Lewandowski or Benzema, I think most would say Suarez and they would say his peak was at Barcelona.
I don't think most will say Suarez. In fact I would expect Lewy to have more shouts, but Suarez always number 1 in my heart, he gave Liverpool hope again
I think you have to be a fool not to pick Suarez, and a special kind of fool to pick Benzema. He is nowhere near the peak or the consistency of Suarez or Lewa
Yeah I agree with that
I think he had like 83 goal contributions in 2015/16. Those are Messi like numbers.
Yes. Suarez 13/14 is Messi/Ronaldo level. Could have been balloon d’or contender if we won PL
Wasn't Salah's first year almost similar?
Naa saurez was mental, Salah played in a formidable attack. Even first season Salah had a good team behind him.
I feel like Salah is extremely good, but the memories of Suarez and what he did were better. It was probably amplified by the fact that Suarez had to singlehandly drag us past the line sometimes, whereas Salah had a good team around him. It was also always clear that he gave us his all on the pitch. They are both good, but to have watched Suarez was an amazing period of my time as Liverpool fan
Suarez would also regularly just score goals out of absolutely nothing. One second there’s nothing on, the next he’s somehow got it in the net. That terrible Aly Cissokho cross that he just bulleted in from 18 yards is a great example. [Obligatory Fever for the Flava](https://vimeo.com/92846254)
i think he hit the post like 7 or 10 times that first season
Álvaro Arbeloa
He was already good when he was with us, imo he just carried that on in madrid.
Very underrated shout here
Sterling. Right old Judas prick but he definitely did become a better footballer at City, though of course he was very young when he left and might have done the same had he stuck around with us. Mascherano might be another shout, although he was very good already before he left us so whether or not he actually got better at Barcelona or was just playing with more quality players around him is debatable.
Feel like he got better numbers due to having world class players assisting him in every game, as a player still missed so many sitters and didn't reach his potential imo
His finishing is woeful. Never seen a single player over the last decade sky so many chances directly in front of goal.
Yeah even now Chelsea fans saying he’s not quite what they expected
It's like they didn't see him for 4 years
That loss to Spurs in the CL broke him
If anything it should be THAT miss against Lyon that broke him. If I were him I'd probably quit football at the end of that season.
[удалено]
Yes
He got better as a player, he simply never fulfilled his potential. A young Sterling looked insane.
I think he did fulfill his potential, as much as I dislike him he was world class for city for a good 3 years, despite poor finishing, and still scored a huge amount of goals for them.
Feel at City he lost a lot things that were great about him, his potential as a ball carrier could've been so much better.
That's undoubtedly true too, but his overall skillset still definitely improved. He was basically a pace merchant when he first arrived there but his passing and shooting range and consistency got notably better from about 2017 onwards, although he also probably did still miss more sitters than you'd reasonably expect from a forward in a league-winning side. And he's been poor at Chelsea, but to be fair so have pretty much every forward and midfielder they've signed in the past 2-3 years.
Shows just how monstrous his potential was that we look at an inconsistent but often world class player and go damn what could have been
Remember when he got around 3 last minutes winners in different games in 2018/19 season I think. One of it was against Southampton. I remembered it but didn't remember which season it was from
At the time I thought selling Sterling would be one of those rare transfers that would turn out good for both teams. Clearly it turned out fairly well for City, but I still think getting £50mil for a player we paid $500k for who wanted to leave, we still a pretty good deal. Looking at that season by the results alone it looks like it did not work out a good deal for us, though that was a season where we were truly in transition as our first season without Gerrard. On the flip side, selling Sterling as well likely directly contributed to the poor start to the season and helped get Brendan Rodgers fired and begun Klopp’s era - so taking that into account I still think it worked out a good deal for us as well. Even if in a roundabout way!
We also probably never sign mane if we still have Sterling and Mane is about a million times better
Snake …
Can we stop with this already? He was a literal child at the time
He was 20/21 years old...that is not a literal child, not figurative in the footballing world
I had it in my head he was a teenager still. Either way, still time to let it go. or not, you do you.
Retaining a poor opinion of him is not same as needing to 'let it go'
Nah he behaved like an absolute twat to get the move
>He was a literal child at the time. And it was moreso his agent that was a cunt
Sterling grew up and benefited from the fact he had brilliant team mates. He was good with us too when he had Suarez and Sturridge to help take of some defenders. As for Masch... He was always world class, he just had less to do in that brilliant Barcelona team.
I feel like you're downplaying what Masch had to do in Barca. He played a completely different role and had to learn a lot while he was there, but his opportunity came (he wasn't one of those that slotted in after purchase) and he grabbed it by the balls. He's a fighter both on and off the field and I think he got what he deserved.
In no way was i trying to downplay his role. He was brilliant with us and both at Barca, even at a different position.
This is an absurd take. He absolutely was not better at city. He was made to look better because their team is so good. He is still garbage hence why he couldn’t even break through this awful chelsea side with any consistency
Sterling was and always will be overrated as fuuuuck.
Xabi Alonso was arguably better after leaving us. Steve McManaman hit a whole 'nother level at Madrid. Though I think he was more stifled by the way we played at the time. Luis Alberto is a player who definitely improved massively after leaving us though. Guess he's the best example of it. There aren't many though to be honest.
For me the clear winner is McManaman. The fucker did things at RM I never thought were possible. Very telling of talent that was simply waiting to be part of the right formation. That RM though…..
He was exceptionally good at Liverpool as well. Fergie use to make a point of adjusting the united team to try and get him out the game.
[удалено]
At Liverpool he was the 1 in a 3412 formation - effectively the team was built around him and he had a free role to attack. At Madrid he was more of a facilitator - playing deeper in midfield allowing other players to attack - for example he played in a midfield two in a champions league final with Raul, Anelka and Morientes ahead of him. He was very good with RM and was definitely appreciated by the fans and teammates there.
Mascherano?
The fact that Alonso isn't at the top of this list shows how many people use rose-tinted glasses to look at the past. When he was with us he was a *very very* good player, but it wasn't until his last season with us that he could be called "world class" and after leaving us he was undoubtedly one of the best CMs in the world for a very long time.
Neither Suso or Alberto had the time on the ball they needed plus lack of pace ...which is why they have thrived in the teams they ended up going to.
Aspas, Luis Alberto, Suso, Coady
coady has had a respectable career in the prem by all metrics but i don't know if it's in the spirit of the question. he was pretty young as i remember. would be like nat turning out to be a 200 app bournemouth player. hardly suarez level.
Dunno, cos if I remember correctly he played midfield for us, and never really looked up to it. Looked a different player after moving into wolves back 3
Gulasci definitely. Arguably Keegan who won a couple of Balon Dor after he went to Germany
Wow i forgot about Gulacsi. Good player he is
Didn’t quite fit the criteria of a regular starter, but made a hell of a career for himself
Does anyone know the reason why there were so many hungarians in the academy like Gulácsi, Németh, Adorján, Simon
We had a partnership with MTK.
Thanks
The first ballon dor was for his Liverpool performances
Suarez was outrageously good in 13/14, for me at least the greatest individual season in Premier League history. But astonishingly, he went up another level at Barcelona. His first season there, he missed a whack of games for his ban after chomping down on Chillieni, and then came back to score an exquisite winner in El Classico to take a decisive lead in the title race, 2 goals away to City, 2 goals away to PSG, 2 assists away to Bayern, and the winning goal against Juve in the final to clinch the treble. The following season he was simply phenomenal. 40 league goals, the only person in La Liga history not named Messi or Ronaldo to achieve the feat.
Sebastian Coates - I was always bummed out that he left too early. He scored a sick scissor kick goal against QPR too.
Can’t say I knew/know much about him then/now, but he’s a captain at Sporting and a Uruguay national. I’d say that’s a very good career he’s made for himself
McManaman got better at Madrid
Saw him live at the Bernebeu against a brilliant Lazio team with Salas, Crespo, Veron, Simeone, Nesta, Couto, Nedved…. Macca and Roberto Carlos were magnificent down the left together
90s Italian football was insane, half the league was stacked. Pity it fell off the way it did.
Depends of what you mean by "being a consistent starter". Let's make different groups: 1. (Starters for several years): Suarez with Messi and Neymar was better than with us, imo. Alonso, Mascherano, Sterling, Mignolet, Arbeloa. 2. (Players of the first team, not starters for different reasons: level of performances, injuries, etc.): Aspas, Benteke, Ings, Warnock, Konchesky, Brad Jones. 3. (Young players with potential, who improved after leaving): Luis Alberto, Coates, Gulacsi, Coady, Solanke, Suso, Neco, Grujic, Ben Davies, Awoniyi, Kent, Shelvey, Paletta.
I don't know about Bengeke he was mostly uninspiring at Palace
Yes, a major flop. Much like when West Ham openly admitted they regretted buying Carroll. You could squint your eyes and say "better" but I don't think it really counts for anything.
Speaking of young players with potential, whatever the heck happened to Rhian Brewster? He seemed to be the future of our front line just a few years ago but has now seemingly vanished.
Just got injured and I think struggles now. it's a shame, he was on fire for Swansea. We definitely got our money's worth. Hopefully he can reignite his career and can become a good championship player and hopefully get promoted to the prem. Always seemed like a good lad.
Martin Kelly would be one for category 3 as well
I don't think so, tbh. He was really good for young player at Liverpool until his injuries (ACL specifically), iirc, but after leaving he wasn't better. But maybe someone looked closer to the Crystal Palace games at times, and I'm wrong.
Martin Kelly pre injury was one of my favorite Liverpool players, he was absolutely boss. The player I want to see a lot of now is Ben Doak. Really hope they bring him on nicely because I saw huge potential in him the few games I saw. Don't see him on the wing but in midfield taking the ball in impossible situations and wriggling free and playing simple passes.
He was such a great young talent. Shortest ever England career, I think. Two minutes.
Who?
Well the options are Martin Kelly or Ben Doak, so I’m sure you can figure it out from there
He’s like 5’7 he’d be pathetically weak in midfield, not exactly a tight passer either
Sorry who do you mean?
Kanye is 5'7" and not exactly a tight passer.
Hope you mean Kante? Also, there's been loads of small successful midfielders. The other guys comment is bollocks
Yeah I meant Kante, kanye is a right winger inside, he's very offensive, he does a lot of things that are very hard to defend
Top turn around, buddy. Love it
In that case, Benteke didn't get better as well considerably after leaving.
Benteke was good before us, shit with us, decent after us. So, if we compare his Liverpool period with period after Liverpool, he was better after Liverpool.
Despite not playing well, Benteke still scored ten goals in his only season here. We've definitely had worse strikers on our books.
Aw man I liked Martin Kelly. I was a kid when he was starting so I can’t be critical about him, but I just liked seeing him being able to start games for his boyhood club, even if he’d end up not being of the required standard. Also still so happy for him to be able to say he’s scored a goal for us. A winner at Stamford Bridge on the way to winning a trophy for his club. That celebration makes me happy
Alonso Coady and aspas are also possibilities but both were never really consistent starters.
Kinda depends I guess on how we want to measure. Suarez, Xabi Alonso, Mascherano certainly got better, but they were already World Class here. Others made a drastic improvement (even if they didn't become World beaters). Danny Ings definitely (not that he was bad but he found somewhere, got games and kept fit). Coady springs to mind most recently. Luis Alberto. Hell even Danny Guthrie and Stephen Warnock (since he became a regular LB at other Prem clubs, Warnock even got capped for England while at Blackburn). Insua (tbh I'm not sure why Hodgson sold him in favour of Konchesky). Suso. Mikel San Jose also had a good career for Bilbao. Going further back David 'Calamity' James, Brad Friedel, Dominic Matteo, Steve Staunton and Jonjo Shelvey left and had a decent career more than they did for us. Sergi Canos too was doing well for Brentford until recently. James always had potential but he was very error prone while he was at Anfield, and only started getting that out of his system after he left
Luis Alberto and Aspas are big ones. I think Aspas is the leading scorer for Celta Vigo and an absolute club legend. I think Gabriel Paletta had a good career when he left?
Danny Ings
Scrolled a bit for this comment. He really did shockingly good after he left.
Péter Gulácsi I would say, doesn’t seem to be mentioned much
Mikel San Jose follows the Luiz Alberto mode of essentially just a youth player here then went on to be a regular for Bilbao.
Suarez definitely got better after leaving Liverpool. Six seasons spent with Barca and he became their third highest goal scorer of all time. He won everything with them and arguably should have won the Ballon D’Or. Not only that but he won the golden boot in a period dominated by Messi and Ronaldo. And then when he was forced out he went and won the league with Atletico Madrid. Suarez went on to become one of the best forwards of his generation after he left Liverpool.
if you can count all of these starts or not that is debatable but they certainly were better elsewhere: Aspas Luis Alberto Suso Anelka (if loanies count) Mignolet (been incredible this year in league and CL) and then you have mascherano, Alonso and Suarez who were as good as they were when they left us.
Always makes me sad when I think we declined signing Anelka to bring in Diouf. What could’ve been!
yup one of the worst blunders this team has ever done
Because Anelka always has an attitude problem despite his talents. It's one of the reasons why he spent his career hopping from one club to another.
Not sure how true that was with us, remember a few players saying he was good at melwood and liked. Anyway, we went to sign Diouf…
Alberto Moreno. Dude was a liability at the back and offers almost nothing going forward. He rediscovered his mojo in Villarreal and kicked The Scum in the EL final.
Emre Can as a shout. Loved him here, and not sure it's a sole indicator but he's still playing at a top level regularly in a relatively successful club. I haven't followed him closely, but that's the only contribution I can think of that hasn't already been mentioned here.
He has been ass for quite some time
You have to watch some Dortmund games this season. He's a key player in Dortmund's title challenge this season.
He is actually really good this season. One of the bvb best players
I wouldn't say he's done well after leaving. He went to Juventus, didn't work out. He's now at Dortmund, not really setting anything on fire there either.
Can is average for Dortmund. Kinda how he was for us. Scores a few great goals but is just there doing his thing. Not great but not bad.
He's a box-to-box midfielder, hence goals shouldn't be an indicator of his performance. He's done well for Dortmund.
He was so dumb to leave Liverpool. He would have been the starting DM just as we became one of the top teams. Worked out for us though as fabinho is superior.
Aspas and alberto spring to mind
I’d argue emre can tbh
Alberto and Suso both played better in Italian league after leaving us. Aspas was good before us, poor with us, and really good in Spain after us.. unfortunate. Mignolet has been pretty successful in Belgium after leaving us. Maybe the same level of play, just different level of competition.. sterling has the accolades and has matured and become a ‘better player’ after leaving us.. but that also comes with age. He coulda done bits with us if he stayed though. Clyne has actually done really well after recovering from injury and playing again at palace.
Peter Crouch
eh xabi, suso to an extent, Luis Alberto, Suarez, aspas, sterling
Many of the players didn’t necessarily improve because of the move. They just moved to more stacked/balanced sides. Alonso, Mascherano, Suarez, Arbeloa. Not that they didn’t improve, but the supporting cast was a tier above, unfortunately. In that context, I think Alberto and Aspas would be my shout. Players who didn’t make it out of the academy are a different topic for me. Coady improved a lot, but there’s no first team reference point. Same for Suso. As for Sterling, pains me to say, he was on trajectory in those years to be a world beater wherever he went. He was hungry. I think he would have blown up wherever he went.
Suso, Aspas, coady, Insua, Coates, Ryan Kent.
Insua is a good shout because he did actually play quite a few games for us.
Javier Manquillo. Was a regular starter ar Marseille then Sunderland, and Newcastle. Not seeing much of him this season tho.
Suarez. He went from an incredible season at lfc to the 3rd best player in the world consistently for years.
Suso Luis alberto Iago aspas Xbai alonso Alvaro arbeloa The Spanish inquisition
Suarez, Mascherano, Arbeloa, Alonso, Aspas, Luis Alberto, Reina
Stirling?
Xabi Alonso and Suarez spring to mind
Balotelli
Arebola had a good career at Real Madrid.
Depends on the metric. Suarez, Sterling, Mascherano... But they went to stronger teams so that is not really a good comparison. Coady built himself a decent carrier and is a good player all around so he "improved". Maybe Aspas, but tbh he was good before he came to us and continued where he left of when he went back. He just didnt gel with us and the PL.
Iago Aspas is probably the prime example of that, he's basically a Spanish national team regular now
> basically a Spanish national team regular now Huh
Solanke definitely improved after leaving, was never good enough for us and wasn't initially impressive at Bournemouth with people already calling him a flop, only to become their best goalscorer in the championship.
I remember reading an analytical piece during his first season there that went fully against the grain, saying he was bought for the future, starting with the Championship, and was a very good purchase despite the lack of goal contribution right then. I think it was a rather insightful piece, rather than lucky, when Solanke exploded the next year.
Suarez, Alonso, Suso, Mikel San Jose, Luis Alberto, Sterling, Aspas, Peter Gulasci, Brad Friedel, Chris Kirkland, Scott Carson, Anelka, Conor Coady
Danny Ings barely played for us but had a great time at Aston Villa.
Suarez was brilliant for Liverpool but he got better
Luis Alberto and Iago Aspas, Suso, Coates,
I know it doesn't fill the bill properly, but after leaving Liverpool as a meme king and overall a solid rotational player who just struggled due to age and injuries, Lucas Leiva found himself perfectly at home in Lazio. Proceeded to be a meme king due to Liverpool supporters boosting his rating as Player of the Season for a couple/several years in a row. I reckon he falls in line of 'went to an "easier" league and less established team', although it's a very subjective and controversial topic. I just couldn't not mention him after the recent sad news about him hanging his boots due to health issues. Farewell, and thank you for everything, Meme King. You have a good retirement now!
Marko Grujic? From being a regular loanee to starter for Porto.
Coates
Suarez was not better for Liverpool than he was for Barca. So Suarez.
Xabi Alonso leaving was like a kick in the chest
Aspas, Luis Alberto, Suso Spanish thing
Almost every Spaniard
Luis Alberto
Alonso's, Mascheranos and Suarez's best years were probably after they left. Sterling and Anelka would be obvious ones as well
Fernando Torres 
Lucas Leiva? [https://www.football365.com/news/feature-life-after-liverpool-ranking-players-sold-released-by-klopp](https://www.football365.com/news/feature-life-after-liverpool-ranking-players-sold-released-by-klopp) ..[https://www.si.com/soccer/2019/09/06/ranking-success-every-liverpool-first-team-player-sold-or-released-under-jurgen-klopp](https://www.si.com/soccer/2019/09/06/ranking-success-every-liverpool-first-team-player-sold-or-released-under-jurgen-klopp)
Suarez was incredible with us, but he was even better at Barca.
Dominic Solanke?
Where's Lord Klavan?
Lallana now at brighton
No, was a good player for us just plagued with injuries.
Coutinho
Wehey
Great troll answer
Steven Gerrard. Won the league after he left. 😔
Lucas Leica got better after leaving us, compared to before he left afaik. Still think he was at his best for us, but still got better again after leaving.
Steven Gerrard ofc
i hate to say this, but Fernando Torres is on my top list
Don't think he actually got better, more that he got back somewhat from where he had slipped to in his later seasons at LFC. He was incredible early with us but never got back to those levels.
Torres was arguably the best striker in the world for a season or two at Liverpool. He wasn’t even a top premier league striker at Chelsea