Lorenzo Melgarejo

Isn't this the kid that might not be able to get a work permit? That's what I've head about him anyway.

I've seen him play loads. He is brilliant. A world beater and a very exciting player for the club to sign. I can't wait to see him stick on the number 32 shirt and grace the pitch with his attack minded defending.

EDIT: I have never seen him play and know nothing about him, I am just bored.

Yes, Brendan sees something good in him.

Agreed, as long as it's more than he saw in Assaidi. 

I haven't seen Melgarejo play. But the basic jist I'm getting is: good playing his natural wide position, but horrible at LB?

I haven't seen Melgarejo play. But the basic jist I'm getting is: good playing his natural wide position, but horrible at LB?

That seems to be what I've taken from it as well. That's why I'm hoping we are getting him to play wide and not LB.

Obviously, if we get him in it's not to replace Enrique at left back. Brendan is looking for goals from all over the pitch. Looks like it's bye bye to Assaidi and maybe Downing. Still leaves the problem of the left back position for me.

If this bloke plays like does on the Youtube clip, f*ck the defence he'll be scoring headers and shots from everywhere!

Is this supposed to be a squad improvement or starting XI improvement 

Is this supposed to be a squad improvement or starting XI improvement 

Well Brendan said...

never mind, I'm going to go with squad despite what he said.

Is this supposed to be a squad improvement or starting XI improvement 

Definitely part of the "tight group".

Definitely part of the "tight group".

do loans with option to buy have a price set? I don't want to think his price will increase if he performs well at Anfield.

I guess the price is fixed.

@MoleyBTK: With a deal for #Melgarejo agreed you can read an scout report on him here, read, rt and comment http://t.co/QG6ev3sDKM

Author: Davinder Dhesi writer for BeyondtheKop & Anfieldforever, follow on Twitter @anfieldforever1


Portuguese teams have always had a longstanding reputation for importing players from South America. The talent pool is huge and the likes of FC Porto, Benfica and Sporting Lisbon have a history of importing young players with great potential with a means of selling them on for huge sums when they become established players and household names on the continent. Portugal is basically a home from home for such players due to the similarities in language and way of life coupled with the fact that work permits are not presented as an obstacle as they are in other European countries.
Moneyball, which was a word often mentioned by Fenway Sports Group when they took control of Liverpool Football Club, is none more appropriate to both FC Porto and Benfica. The likes of Anderson (Manchester United), Lisandro Lopez (Lyon), Lucho Gonzalez (Marseille), Fredy Guarin (Inter Milan) and Radamel Falcao (AS Monaco) were all acquired for modest sums from South America and then sold on for large sums. Likewise, Ramires and David Luiz (both Chelsea) and Angel Di Maria (Real Madrid) were all brought over from South America by Benfica on the cheap and sold for millions to the giants of Europe. And that brings us onto Paraguayan left-back, Lorenzo Melgarejo, who is likely to become the next player to depart Lisbon for pastures new.

Lorenzo Melgarejo started out as a left-winger at Club 12 de Octubre, who were in the Tercera Division (third tier) in Paraguay whilst Melgarejo played for them. Aged just 19, he was promoted from their youth set up in 2009 and made an instant impact when he scored seven goals in just 22 games, from the left-wing. It was not long before Primera Division giants, Club Olimpia, came calling and took the young winger to Asuncion in 2010 where Melgarejo would go on to make just 12 substitute appearances in the Clausura Championship.

The following season, Lorenzo Melgarejo was sold to Segunda Division side, Independiente FBC on a four-year deal. A step down a level proved to be just what Melgarejo needed as he went on to score an impressive eight goals in just 17 appearances and provided 12 assists from his position out on the left. However, during the mid-season break in the Segunda Division and after his impressive performances for Independiente FBC and with both Benfica’s and Vitoria Setubal’s scouts having followed his progression closely during his time at Olimpia, Benfica snapped up Melgarejo for an undisclosed fee in June 2011.

As is often the case when FC Porto or Benfica snap up young talent on the continent, it is quite often the norm for the player to be sent straight on loan to a team in the lower echelons of the league; and that was the case for Melgarejo as he was immediately sent on a season’s loan to Paços de Ferreira where his performances and goals from the left-wing helped Paços retain their Primeira Liga status as he finished the season with 10 goals in 29 appearances finishing the season as Paços’ top scorer.

The following summer saw Lorenzo Melgarejo return to his parent club and Benfica coach, Jorge Jesus, immediately handed him a starting place in Benfica’s team. However, this was not the biggest surprise as Jorge Jesus announced that Melgarejo would not be playing on the left wing but at left-back, which had been a problematic position for Benfica ever since Fabio Coentrao had left the club for Real Madrid in July 2011.

Now Jorge Jesus is a highly-respected coach in Portugal but he is also known for being extremely stubborn and pig-headed. Where Fabio Coentrao was successfully converted from a left-winger into a fine left-back under the tutelage of Jorge Jesus, the Benfica coach felt Melgarejo could follow suit. However, Melgarejo would struggle at times due to not knowing the position all that well but Jorge Jesus kept faith and continued to play Melgarejo in defence throughout the season. Both Benfica fans and the local media would often lay into the coach during post-match conferences, as Melgarejo was often the culprit for Benfica conceding goals and opposition teams soon latched onto this as they would target the left-back position as Benfica’s weakpoint.

So that leads us onto Lorenzo Melgarejo’s strengths and weaknesses. Without doubt, Melgarejo’s natural position is as a left-winger. He is blessed with raw pace and trickery and has a direct style of play which means he will not just stay on the wing but will look to cut infield as he likes to score goals as well as to create them. As a left-back he is far less comfortable. He is still learning the positional aspect of the role and he was caught out numerous times last season where he was either ball watching or failing to clear his lines, where he would try and play his way out of danger rather than keeping it simple. Onto his physique, Melgarejo has a slight stature and he did find it a struggle last season when he came up against strong forwards who would try and knock and bully him off the ball. Being just 5ft 7in, he also struggled in aerial duels which eventually led to Jorge Jesus sticking him on the post when defending corners or marking players when defending free-kicks.

Where Lorenzo Melgarejo did show promise was when he came up against fast wingers or wide players. His knowledge of the role was a great asset as he was able to read and nullify danger from wide positions by using his recovery pace and aggressiveness in the tackle. His bravery also meant he was able to stop crosses into the box more often than not. Another aspect that was a plus was his ability to throw the ball a long distance at throw-ins which was used to great effect at times last season.

As for Liverpool’s interest in Lorenzo Melgarejo, it seems that Brendan Rodgers is looking for a senior player to offer some real competition and cover for Jose Enrique at left-back. Aly Cissokho of Valencia was reportedly on the radar last week but that deal seems to have gone on the backburner for some reason or other.

Although predominantly a winger, Melgarejo could be seen by Rodgers as someone who could offer something further up the pitch when Liverpool are chasing a goal or playing against a side who are going to be set up more defensive-minded. Where Jose Enrique is a fine defender, going forward he does have the tendency to slow play down and often fails to deliver a cross when presented with the chance. Melgarejo could be seen as someone who could do just that from the left-back position.

Brendan Rodgers also had a tendency to change tactics mid-game last season and quite often reverted to three central defenders with Glen Johnson and Jose Enrique acting as wing-backs. Where Johnson offered a threat in a more advanced position, Jose Enrique failed to do likewise on the other side. Lorenzo Melgarejo could quite easily play such a wing-back role and would offer a far more direct and attacking threat than Jose Enrique was capable of producing last season.

Any such deal for Lorenzo Melgarejo will be on a loan basis with an option to buy next June. This, of course, gives the manager a chance to look at the player first hand without parting with a fee which is always a good way to gauge whether to make the deal permanent at a later stage. Where a problem may arise is due to Melgarejo only having one international cap to his name and whether he will be able to gain a work permit to play in England next year. If this obstacle is overcome, Liverpool will finally have senior cover at left-back which was something that Brendan Rodgers certainly needed to address this summer transfer window.

http://www.beyondthekop.com/4/post/2013/07/lorenzo-melgarejo-sl-benfica.html

I don't like the sound of this at all if Brendan is going to deploy him as a LB. It just doesn't make any sense. To me, if you are going to put someone at that position...defense should be the first thing they can do. If they aren't any good as a defender then what good are they?

I don't like the sound of this at all if Brendan is going to deploy him as a LB. It just doesn't make any sense. To me, if you are going to put someone at that position...defense should be the first thing they can do. If they aren't any good as a defender then what good are they?

I understand your concerns but I think, as fans we tend to think of a defensive line as a flat back four and quite symmetrical (I hope that doesn't sound like I'm patronising you). In reality, this could almost be like playing an extra winger at times, coming from deep to overload that side. Agger is perfectly adept at moving left slightly to cover, with Lucas stepping back a little.
To put it another way, we'd be playing an attacker who can defend a bit rather than a defender who can attack a bit. I'm all for that 

I don't like the sound of this at all if Brendan is going to deploy him as a LB. It just doesn't make any sense. To me, if you are going to put someone at that position...defense should be the first thing they can do. If they aren't any good as a defender then what good are they?

This, defenders need to defend before they can attack.

I understand your concerns but I think, as fans we tend to think of a defensive line as a flat back four and quite symmetrical (I hope that doesn't sound like I'm patronising you). In reality, this could almost be like playing an extra winger at times, coming from deep to overload that side. Agger is perfectly adept at moving left slightly to cover, with Lucas stepping back a little.
To put it another way, we'd be playing an attacker who can defend a bit rather than a defender who can attack a bit. I'm all for that 

Good point....I guess he wouldn't necessarily be "cover" for Enrique then as much as an alternative.

I'd like this move a lot better if we got Papa too

I understand your concerns but I think, as fans we tend to think of a defensive line as a flat back four and quite symmetrical (I hope that doesn't sound like I'm patronising you). In reality, this could almost be like playing an extra winger at times, coming from deep to overload that side. Agger is perfectly adept at moving left slightly to cover, with Lucas stepping back a little.
To put it another way, we'd be playing an attacker who can defend a bit rather than a defender who can attack a bit. I'm all for that 

Yeah, I was going to say something along those lines, and I think you've explained better than myself.

Think of Dani Alves. He's never a right back in the traditional sense of it (the name of the position influences our view of the player a little bit, too); he's much more a wide player that covers the entire ground, but not so much a defender. He's often struggled when deployed in a flat back line for Brazil.

Obviously it is not to say that the defensive aspect of the game isn't important, but it all depends on the shape of the team.

(A smarter person than myself could start an interesting philosophycal debate over the limits of language and how we often shift our ideas to fit preconceived concepts - we don't have a proper definition for Dani Alves, so we call him a right back; a right wing back perhaps; and that influences how we see his weaknesses and strenghts. Oh well, that part of my post is easily neglectable)

Good point....I guess he wouldn't necessarily be "cover" for Enrique then as much as an alternative.

I'd like this move a lot better if we got Papa too

Brendan does cherish flexibility in his players, so i can understand this.

Think of Dani Alves. He's never a right back in the traditional sense of it (the name of the position influences our view of the player a little bit, too); he's much more a wide player that covers the entire ground, but not so much a defender. He's often struggled when deployed in a flat back line for Brazil. Obviously it is not to say that the defensive aspect of the game isn't important, but it all depends on the shape of the team.

Especially if we play our centre-mids as a 2 and 1 as was often the case last season when you've got Lucas and Gerrard virtually sitting on the CBs with both full-backs playing much higher up the pitch.

The Times are claiming that Brendan will abandon the loan deal for Melgarejo and will either try to sign Aly Cissokho from Valencia or Guilherme Siqueira from Granada.

The Times are claiming that Brendan will abandon the loan deal for Melgarejo and will either try to sign Aly Cissokho from Valencia or Guilherme Siqueira from Granada.

Its on the guardian as well.

The Times are claiming that Brendan will abandon the loan deal for Melgarejo and will either try to sign Aly Cissokho from Valencia or Guilherme Siqueira from Granada.

Good news !

Sky Sports reporting that this deal is off as the player couldnt get a work permit cause he only has one international cap.