With the new Premier League season just around the corner, in fact even closer than that - just 4 days away - pundits and fans alike have been commenting on the upcoming footballing marathon and trying to predict results based on the summer transfer window's deals.
The biggest transfer of the summer was Luis Suarez's £75m move from Liverpool to Barcelona in the wake of his third biting scandal. Liverpool's successful 2013/14 season led to Champions League qualification for the first time since 2009, mainly thanks to Suarez's scintillating form and goal tally of 31.
Liverpool have dipped, or rather plunged, into the market over the past few months, buying a number of players in an attempt to counteract Suarez's departure and manager Brendan Rogers has signalled his intent to attract a few more names before the transfer window closes.
How will they cope with extra midweek games without their star performer and with an ageing captain who clearly won't play every match? Only time will tell, but the pressure will be on the likes of Daniel Sturridge and Raheem Stirling to up their game, and the need for the newbies to fit in quickly is evident.
Tottenham had a similar situation with Gareth Bale at the start of last season. 7 new big names couldn't help Tottenham last season, as they scored fewer goals than Bale did in 2012/13. Liverpool must get it right where Spurs got it wrong or the recent success might be undone all thanks to one massive transfer.
On a separate note, Barcelona's strike force of Messi, Neymar and Suarez looks unmatchable. With the big names at Real Madrid too, the Premier League's recent domination of European football and its tag as the most exciting league in the world might well be lost to the Spanish upsurge.
Source: http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/football/28421516
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