It has undoubtedly been a difficult season for us Liverpool supporters, with the lack of progression in the Champions League preceding a lack-lustre performance in the FA cup semi-final, and ultimately culminating in a spiritless finish in the league: failing to finish in the top four and a particularly rotten last day of the season at the Britannia.
Amidst such poor displays it can be hard to salvage any hope or optimism. Perhaps our decent run of results and performances domestically in the middle of the campaign? Not exactly Istanbul, I accept. However, despite our justifiable disappointment, it is important to try and be analytical to get a sense of perspective.
Obviously the Stoke result on Sunday was beyond anything we would have ever imagined, its hard to believe our final game of the league campaign ended so horribly. However, if you consider the season as a collective we have been in this predicament before. Liverpool finished second in the Premier League in 2001/02, 2008/09 and of course last season (2013/14). The seasons following these near-misses were all extremely disappointing: in 2002/03 we slipped to 5th, in 2009/10 we finished 7th and we all know about this season’s shortcomings. These set-backs were particularly hard to take as a result of the optimism that had precipitated with finishing second – we genuinely felt we could push on and win the title; or at least, with respect to this season, stay in the top four.
It is hard to fathom why our club struggle to build on strong progress. It is equally hard to imagine our rivals suffering from similar situations. It may be a little far-fetched, but I genuinely believe there is a psychological element to this failure: given we haven’t won the title for so long, finishing 2nd can be particularly painful. Most clubs would consider finishing 2nd to be a strong position, and could use that constructively; for Liverpool, finishing 2nd has a feeling of ‘so-close, yet so-far’ which could perhaps make it difficult to take the positives from a high league position and utilise them in a pragmatic manner.
However, that is merely my opinion and, whether right or wrong, it does not really provide any meaningful answers. Questions surely have to be asked about the way the club is managed – from top to bottom. I believe the problems we have faced a a club run deeper than merely poor managerial choices: I actually remain in the minority pro-Rodgers camp, although I accept he has made some poor decisions. The way the club handle transfers and contracts is reflective of the poor management of the club, think of the number of top talents we have lost in recent seasons: Alonso, Arbeloa, Mascherano, Yossi Benayoun, Torres, Reina, Carragher, Agger, Suarez and even Gerrard. Of course, many of these players were actively pursued by big clubs and wanted to leave, but surely the club could have done more to try and retain the services of at least some of them? Or the club could have maximised financial dividends from their sales and re-invested efficiently. Arbeloa, for example, a player who has gained 56 caps for Spain, was sold for £3.5 million. Yossi Benayoun was sold to Chelsea when we could undoubtedly have gotten more from the Israeli, and could the club not have pursued the renewal of contracts for Carragher and Gerrard more intensely and effectively?
This is part of what contributes to my continued support for Rodgers, he hasn’t exactly had an easy ride at Liverpool: losing Carragher after his first season; the issue of Suarez wanting to leave (potentially for Arsenal) that same summer; dealing with Suarez being banned and Sturridge constantly being injured; Agger leaving (vice-captain at the time); eventually losing Suarez; Gerrard announcing his departure and the instability of the Sterling-saga. Couple these issues with his restrictions surrounding the signing of players due to the transfer committee and the lack of funds in his first two summers and it doesn’t exactly provide the optimal settings for running a competitive football team.
Moving forward, the club needs to address some fundamental flaws in our squad. Personally, I would like to see the transfer committee scrapped and Rodgers given full autonomy over signings, but regardless of whether or not this happens, singings are required. One position that I believe we are lacking strength in, and have been for a number of seasons, is the holding midfield role. Mascherano has effectively never been replaced – remodelling Lucas Levia has not been a satisfactory solution and I believe we have suffered, somewhat unduly, because of this. Mascherano provided a tenacity and aggression that has been absent this season. Lucas has been a loyal servant to the club and, when injury-free, has been immense at times for Liverpool. But he suffers from a great deal of injuries, and despite his best efforts, does not possess the qualities of Mascherano. In the 2013/14 season we were so good in an attacking sense that we managed to make up for a lack of a holding midfield player; this season has been a different story and it was particularly evident against Stoke. Perhaps Stoke’s Nzonzi would be an effective solution to this problem? Having played in England since 2009 he has established himself as a reliable and consistently strong performer as a holding midfielder.
As well as a holding-midfielder, Liverpool desperately need new strikers. We have suffered enormously this season due to the double dichotomy of Suarez departing and Sturridge being injured for most of the season. This has, in my opinion, resulted in a loss of balance in the team; we haven’t seemed to pursue that strong, aggressive, off-the-ball pressing this season which was a hallmark of Rodger’s first two seasons. I would personally welcome the arrival of Danny Ings: his 38 goals in 122 league appearances for Burnley is a strong platform from which the 22 year-old can progress. However, Danny Ings on his own would not be satisfactory and other proven goal-scorers must be recruited.
I also feel the team could benefit from enhancing our play in wide positions of the pitch. An improvement in the team’s width could be a solution to our one-dimensionalism, witnessed a little in the 2013/14 campaign, and more so this season. We have a problem breaking teams down when they defend in numbers in and around their own penalty box. We may even have beaten Chelsea in the 2013/14 campaign if we could have utilised the wide areas of the park and got in behind their defence. This does not necessarily have to mean signing wingers, the club could just utilise existing talents. If I were Brendan Rodgers, I would play Jordan Ibe from the start of the new campaign in every game, give him a run in the team and maximise his speed and aggression on the left-flank. He proved a success in this role at Derby and could give us different options in an attacking sense. The same could perhaps be tried with Lazar Markovic.
We could also do with strenghtening in other areas. I would like to see a quality left-back signed in the summer, I say left-back rather than right-back because we have Jon Flanagan coming back from injury, an orthodox right-back who has shown is versatility with solid performances at left-back; it is not as common to find a left-sided player adapting well to a right-sided role. I appreciate that Alberto Moreno was signed as a left-back, but I think everyone would agree that his best traits have come in an attacking sense, he isn’t quite as accomplished defensively. For this reason, I would re-model Moreno as a left-sided winger to provide back up to Jordan Ibe; I fail to understand the reluctance of managers to push attacking-minded full-backs into more conventional winger roles – I felt we would have got more from Glen Johnson had he played as a right-winger and its worked out alright for Gareth Bale. Its irritating that Ryan Bertrand has signed permanently for Southampton, and even more annoying that Rodgers was not given the green light to sign him when he displayed interest last summer. I would like to see the club pursue a premier league-proven left-back, Aaron Cresswell, for example, would be a welcomed addition to the squad.
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