Where to,
Liverpool?
by rick olivares
Is it more acceptable that Manchester
City wins the Premier League over Manchester United?
Do you worry that the Barclays trophy
isn’t leaving the Manchester area any time soon?
I am not overly concerned about any of
that. I am more worried about rising above the worst ever season by Liverpool
since 1954. I am more concerned that we didn’t really have great signings over
the summer that will lift the team out of its collective funk. I am more
concerned with what the hell Brendan Rodgers was thinking when he tried to
offload Andy Carroll that he was in danger of messing up a player who began to
play better as the season progressed that his fine form carried all the way to
the Euros. I am more concerned that we cannot beat the West Bromwich Albions of
this world so what chance against the champs and last year’s second placers.
Oh, yeah. We gifted City with a late goal.
I am also wondering if Brendan Rodgers
is the second coming of Brian Clough.
Well, it is a little different because
the Leeds that Clough joined were previous champions although their style of
play can be best described as “dirty.” If Rodgers is said to be a genius this
is where he gets to prove it. With a big club.
Liverpool hasn’t been champions in over
a generation or two and the only thing that can best be described as dirty is
the morass of the disastrous Hicks-Gillette ownership that continued to plague
the team up to today.
It beggars my imagination how the
club’s bosses jettisoned Kenny Dalglish and Steve Clarke in spite of winning
one cup and making the finals of another. Of course, the target of a Champions
League slot was missed by a mile and Stewart Downing was a massive bust. So
Fenway Sports Group brings in Rodgers and once more “Wot! We’re in a rebuilding
mode.”
I understand that change is always
good but the club has been rebuilding ad infinitum.
I remember when Liverpool fans used to
taunt Chelsea of having “no history”. The sad thing for Reds fans is well, we
are ancient history. You cannot keep trumpeting the past because Anfield is
turning quickly into Jurassic Park. We’ve not really won much since the advent
of the Premier League in terms of major silverware. In the club’s worst season
since 1954, this should teach us some humility.
While Downing didn’t amount to
anything and it is quite obvious that Steven Gerrard and Jaime Carragher on
their last legs, there is a silver lining (Welcome to Anfield, Joe Allen and Oussama
Assaidi. Hope you survive the
experience.)
The partnership of Daniel Agger and
Martin Skrtel is this generation’s version of John Arne Riise and Sami Hyypia.
Glen Johnson helps but the defense is hardly air tight. Last year saw the best
form of Agger (as he was largely injury free) and that continued all the way to
the Euros.
Lucas Leiva, formerly maligned and now
considered a huge part in the Reds’ plans, is back after a crippling injury.
Rodgers will also have the services of
some world-class players in Luis Suarez, Pepe Reina, Agger, and well, let us
hope here Fabio Borini and Nuri Sahin.
The last Italian and Real Madrid expat
to play in Liverpool both flopped. That was Alberto Aquilani and Raul
Morientes. So there are hopes that Borini and Sahin contribute to Liverpool’s
fortunes.
It’s funny how Liverpool wants to
transport Swansealona to Anfield. Everyone wants to copy Barcelona’s game from
Chelsea to the entire world. Can’t pry Pep Guardiola (who could possibly end up
in either Manchester United, Chelsea or even Arsenal after this season
depending on the fortunes of the three clubs), then there’s a bargain basement
Barca-play alike who got his tutelage under Jose Mourinho of all (and that does
sound weird).
I’m not jumping up and down with the
new signings (while the previous year's summer recruits were all on the bench a sure sign that they are not in Rodgers' plans). Sure there's talent and potential. Really. But who knows? Liverpool can just turn things around
(although I suspect that it will take them another year as they must sign some
key players to really fit the system that Rodgers wants to play.
Does Liverpool have the personnel to
play the short passing game? The jury’s still out after two games. As Rodgers
said, there will be some bleeding before it gets good. Let’s just hope that the
blood shed doesn’t drop them into the relegation zone.
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You will learn a lot more from watching the games than simply reading football sites. And you call yourselves fans. Please. Funny how many people now diss last season's batch of signings post-fall and all. Hindsight is 20/20. Put your money where your mouth is.
You will learn a lot more from watching the games than simply reading football sites. And you call yourselves fans. Please. Funny how many people now diss last season's batch of signings post-fall and all. Hindsight is 20/20. Put your money where your mouth is.
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