A seemingly short eventful summer and the long expectant season to come

Last updated : 17 August 2012 By Will Parr

The one-nil defeat, only five days after thrashing the soon to be crowned European Champions, summed up the inconsistencies and weaknesses of a tired squad. The summer blossomed with sporting marvel. A ‘boring’ and ‘negative’ Spain destroyed the former world champions Italy in the European Championships  and the world watched as thirty world records fell and 302 Gold medals were won at London 2012. As the European and Worlds press focussed on the summer events, Liverpool Football Club was being reborn.

 

The summer of 2012 brought huge change to the club. A living legend was dismissed from his position, even though he was the last manager to ever lead Liverpool to the title. To take his place, a young, ambitious and innovative manager, who is untried and tested at the top level. Brendan Rodgers set the Premiership alight last season, with his newly promoted side performing above anyone’s expectations, securing 11th place and an admiration from pundits and fans alike. The chairman promises that his new man will offer ‘aggressive, attacking play’ and Rodgers has been backed by Premier League and Champions League winning manager Jose Mourinho. It seems like a promising appointment; with Rodgers being young he has the years ahead of him to build a dynasty at Liverpool, but European Qualification is a must if the club is to build on anything.

 

Rodgers has already started to pick out players to join him in his revolution. Fabio Borini has come from Italy to be reunited with his former manager and coach, as well as former Swansea boy Joe Allen and it looks like Oussama Assaidi will be join from Heerenveen shortly too. Alberto Aquilani has finally been able to leave the club permanently, after putting an end to his terrible Anfield career, but some favourites have left too. Dirk Kuyt moved on to Fenerbache and Bellamy, a player who really impressed last season on his second stint at Liverpool, went home to Cardiff. Hanging onto the best players seems to be important, with Luis Suarez signing a new long term contract and talks of Skrtel joining him. Daniel Agger is worryingly constantly linked with moves away, but it might just all be paper talk.

 

So, it promises to be a long and eventful season. There are four trophies up for grabs, two Merseyside derbies, two chances to get one over on Manchester United and plenty of players with something prove. But how will the new Liverpool shape up on Saturday 18th August?

 

Ins and Outs

There have been a few changes to the playing staff over the summer: 

Fan favourite Dirk Kuyt moved onto Fenerbache for around £1million. A player who was always 100% committed to Liverpool, who gave everything when he pulled on his Red shirt and a player who scored many important goals. 261 Appearances and 71 goals make it easy to understand why he was so adored by the Anfield masses.

Alberto Aquilani put an end to a black spot on his playing career. He moved to Liverpool with so much promise, but never looked like emulating the player he was bought to replace. He was shipped out on loan and didn’t even make 20 league appearances for Liverpool.

Craig Bellamy is another noted departure from the club. He had one of his best seasons in his game during 2011/12, scoring nine goals in thirty-three appearances and claiming man of the match against Chelsea in the League Cup semi-final second leg. Moving to Cardiff, Bellamy has gone home to Wales, but it is still conceivable that he could have had a big role to play this season in the Rodgers revival.

Other notable departures are the injury prone Fabio Aurellio and the gifted winger Maxi Rodriguez. Maxi was a great player who moved to Liverpool nearing the end of an illustrious career, but it didn’t stop him scoring two hat tricks in two games, against Fulham and Birmingham.

Rumoured to be moving on is Charlie Adam, as he is constantly linked in the papers with a move away. Charlie Adam may well be surplus to requirements now as he faces competition for a place between Allen, Lucas, Shelvey, Henderson, Spearing and Gerrard.

 

There are three new boys at Anfield already and still a couple of weeks before the transfer window slams shut:

Fabio Borini signed for £11million from As Roma in July. The 21 year old played for Rodgers at both Chelsea and Swansea, and obviously impressed the manager enough to spend a large sum of money on him. He can play anywhere across the final third of the pitch and showed signs of connecting with Suarez and the rest of the team by scoring on his Anfield Debut in the Europa League qualifier.

Joe Allen is another young and obviously talented youngster who had previously played for Rodgers in his career. Moving from Swansea, Allen played the anchor to a midfield that showed great ball retention and attacking flair last season. The Welsh international  is only 22 years of age and the £15million price tag reflects that he has the potential to be an Anfield great.

Twenty-four year old Oussama Assaidi will join Liverpool before the end of the week for a rumoured transfer fee of £3million. A goal scoring winger, Assaidi can add a lot to Liverpool who only really have Downing to run the flanks at the minute. He has an impressive scoring record for a winger too, with 20 goals in 68 games for Heereveen in the Dutch Eredivise.

 

Playing Style, formation and shape:

Judging by the friendlies and the Europa League matches, it looks like Brendan Rodgers will play a 4-3-3 formation. A solid back four, built on the superb talent of Pepe Reina as the base, with the defensive line encouraged to keep the ball by playing short passes to the midfield. Ball retention is key for Rodgers and his philosophy. The full backs are given the freedom to push forward and join the midfield, with a holding midfielder employed to win back the ball in that area. Lucas Leiva will have this job and it is a huge boost to have him back from his career threatening knee injury. Alongside Lucas is the will slot the new boy, Joe Allen. His pass completion is one of the encouraging features of his game, with 91.2% pass completion for Swansea last season. In front of these two will play the talismanic club captain, Steven Gerrard. His trademark runs from deep as well as superb passing range will benefit from a system that allows him a little more freedom, just like under Rafa Benitez. The front three is going to be interesting. There are a number of players available, but one definite to start would have to be Luis Suarez. After committing himself to the club, the Uruguayan has a point to prove to a league that will boo him everywhere he goes. He is a key player for Liverpool and this will be a big season for him. But, alongside him could be anyone from Downing, Carroll, Joe Cole, to new boys Borini and Assaidi. The bench is looking better too, with young exciting players like Henderson, Shelvey, Sterling, Suso, Coates and Wilson all trying to force their way into the starting eleven, as well as the three players who won’t make it into the starting front three.

You can expect a Liverpool team who will aim to keep the ball for as long as possible, passing the ball around every square inch of the pitch to draw out opponents and stretch the play to make spaces to probe. Without the ball, the team will pressure opposition high up the pitch, attempting to force mistakes and to keep the ball as far away from the Liverpool penalty area as possible. A high work-rate and a lot of energy, which will hopefully be rewarding and turn Anfield into a fortress once again.

 

Ones to Watch

There are some very talented youngsters at Liverpool and they have had a small chance to show what they can do this summer, as the more senior players received extended breaks due to international commitments. But, there are some seniors who have a lot to prove as well.

Raheem Sterling: Signed from QPR for potentially £5million, there is a lot of pressure on this 17 year olds shoulders. He plays anywhere in the final third of the pitch, boasts electrifying pace and great ball control. He scored five goals in a youth team win over Southend last year, which earned him a few substitute appearances in the Premiership. He has had a good pre-season, scoring a delightful goal against Sami Hyypia’s Bayer Leverkusen in a friendly at Anfield. He certainly has a bright future, and hopefully he will get some more minutes this season to grow into the fantastic player he has the potential to be.

 

Suso: The Spanish youngster turned down the chance to sign for Real Madrid when he moved to Liverpool in 2010. Signed by Rafa Benitez, the 18 year old is showing great promise of growing into another one of Spain’s hugely talented midfielders. Playing high up the pitch the winger was a prominent figure in Spain’s under 19 European Championship winning side this summer and he got a run out in pre-season friendlies in America.

Luis Suarez: Suarez had a mixed first full season at Liverpool. He boasts a supreme quality, with excellent ball skills, the ability to take on any defender and a fine strike of a football. He showed his quality scoring one of the goals of the season against Norwich. However, his season was interrupted by an eight game ban, which saw Suarez become even more hated throughout the Premier League. He has a lot to give back to a club which stuck by him through everything and even a manager who may have even lost his job supporting Luis. Suarez has always been a handful, but this season could be his best. He has a lot to prove and definitely the talent to deliver.

Stuart Downing: A player who joined Liverpool for a large fee in the summer of 2011 who quite simply didn’t deliver. Zero goals and zero assists in 34 league games, saw Downing attract ridicule from the football world. But, it wasn’t all bad for him. If you watched him play, he would always deliver a few wonderful crosses into the box, there was just no one there to convert them. He certainly has talent, having played over 350 appearances in top flight English football, he just had a bad year. However, he already looks sharper, having scored in the Europa League this season. He may well benefit from the Rodgers system, he will have more options further up the pitch to aim for and he could rack up double figure assists this season.

Andy Carroll: Early in the summer, it was heavily publicised that Liverpool’s record signing could leave the club. The £35million front man seemed destined to leave Liverpool for either old club Newcastle of Premier League new boys West Ham United. Yet, it seems Carroll wants to stay and fight for his place. He scored hat full’s of goals for Newcastle and a thunderous header for England at the European Championships. He is a talented individual and seems to have overcome problems off the pitch. Personally, he wants to prove his worth, both to Liverpool and the fans across the world who laugh at his massive price tag. Unfortunately for him, he was burdened by the price because of the massive price paid for Torres by Chelsea, but he certainly has the ability to prove his worth, just does he have the commitment?

 

The opposition

I think the aim for Liverpool should be securing fourth place this season, and the best way to look at it, is to compare the Liverpool squad with the other teams vying for those spots. I feel that Manchester United and Manchester City and miles ahead of Liverpool at the minute. Both teams boast hugely talented squads and performed consistently last season both Home and Away. Chelsea, Tottenham, Arsenal and maybe Newcastle should be the teams to beat this season.

Chelsea: Roman Abramovich has spent vast amounts of money on his squad again this summer. The European Champions have bolstered their aging squad with Eden Hazard, Oscar and Marko Marin. £63.5 million pounds on three players is a huge investment, but all three are young and were hot prospects from around the globe. They have lost key players, like Drogba, Kalou and Bosingwa but they still have an impressive squad. The back four is one of the best in the league, even with an aging John Terry, Cahill and Luiz were superb in the Champions League final and Ivanovich, Ahsley Cole are great fullbacks. The midfield brags Juan Mata and Michael Essien (A player who had shown signs of great quality but had a bad season last year) and it seems like Fernando Torres has finally rediscovered the world class ability he showed at Liverpool. I think Chelsea will have a very good season this year, and their new manager, Di Matteo, will guide them to a third place finish.

Arsenal: Arsene Wenger has consistently guided Arsenal to the top four. He is truly a fantastic manager, but I think Arsenal have finally let it slip. Their defence is nowhere near as strong as it used to be and they have finally lost their best player, Van Persie. Wenger has spent a lot of money, with Cazorla, Giroud and Podolski all boasting international class and the potential of goals. But losing two club captains in as many years will hurt Arsenal and they will suffer without the goals of Van Persie this season.

Tottenham: Another side with a new manager, Tottenham are another potential contender for the top four this season. Gareth Bale has the potential to be the best player in the league and Aaron Lennon offers fantastic pace on the other side of the pitch, with his final ball really developing. However, they currently lack for strikers. If they are forced to play Bale upfront, they will lack his pace and ball control to bring the ball out of midfield and will miss his assists as well as his goals from outside the box. Modric seems set for Real Madrid too, a world class midfielder, Modric was the engine for Spurs last season and he will be missed. But, they are bolstered by the return of Huddleston, who I believe will force his way into the England squad this year and be a key player for Spurs.

Newcastle: Arguably the best strike partnership in the Premiership last season, Cisse and Ba pushed Newcastle to great heights of fifth last season. They had one of the best defences even after losing their home-grown talisman Taylor for the majority of the year. Was it just a fluke? It will be an interesting year for Newcastle, many people will not expect them to keep up the same pace as last season, but it would not be surprising if they do. They have a good first team and haven’t lost anyone to the transfer market over the summer.

 

The importance of a good start

Liverpool’s first five games are going to be massive this season. West Brom away is a tough opener and the first home game is against reigning Champions Man City. Arsenal at home, followed by Sunderland away and then Manchester United at Anfield mean that they play last year’s top three in the opening five games of the season. If Liverpool can pick up points in these three games then it will be something to build on for the season, a good start now could propel Liverpool to the top of the league early on, giving the players something to hold on to. It will also be very interesting to see how the new style of play gets on against these big boys. After all, Rodgers’ Swansea side took six points from a possible nine against these teams last season, so it’s not inconceivable for Liverpool to win all three. Liverpool could be looking at a very nice table on Sunday 23rd September.

 

2012/13

The new season definitely gives Liverpool fans something to look forward to. The exciting new formation and playing style, combined with some good signings and potential youth promotions add depth in quality to a squad that was thin last season. The potential for a top four finish is realistic this season and better yet, Rodgers wants to take Liverpool there in an entertaining fashion. What Liverpool need to do, is make Anfield a fortress again. Home form is vital if they want to make a push for European competition and the Anfield faithful will certainly get behind the team if they play with the devotion and style that Rodgers wants. It looks like it’s going to be a long old year with plenty to play for, lots to learn and plenty of promise. There will be lows as well as highs, but that’s just football. Realistically, Liverpool should push for a top four finish as well as make serious attempts for silverware in the cup competitions. Only time will tell if that will be the case, but 2012/13 offers Liverpool renewed hope in a rare time of struggle for the once world dominating club.