The 2012/2013 season was a period of adjustment for
Liverpool, the new style of Brendan Rodgers needed time to be implemented and
by the time the dust settled the future looked bright upon Merseyside.
Undoubtedly the captures of Coutinho and Daniel Sturridge helped inject an
extra measure of quality to a side who’s season was in immediate danger of
stagnating. This season the club have recruited well, but the fortunes of the
side are deemed to hang in the balance depending on the situation regarding last
season’s top scorer Luis Suarez who weighed in with 23 goals in the Premiership
for the English giants.
One obvious area where Liverpool is automatically weakened
from last season is centre back. Long serving servant to the club and legend
Jaime Carragher retires leaving a massive hole both on the pitch and in the
dressing room. Fortunately Liverpool managed to snap up a short-term
replacement in the form of Premiership veteran Kolo Toure. The Ivorian was
snapped up on a free representing great business. He impressed for City when he
came in because of injuries or Mancini’s mistrust of Lescott and will offer
Liverpool an extra head of experience inside what is now a young Anfield dressing room.
The club have strengthened up front with the recruitment of
talented Spanish forward Iago Aspas. The 26 year old impressed in Spain last
season with 12 La Liga goals in addition to 7 assists. His close ball control
and his clever linkage with passing movements are a joy to behold. He was
superb against Real Madrid, and although the Spanish giants won the game
against Vigo 2-1, Aspas got himself on the score sheet and his overall level of
play was very high and he offers plenty of backup to Luis Suarez should the
Uruguayan stay at Anfield. His style of
play would suit Liverpool, as he likes to drop into space and receive the ball
into feet and either lay it off or move with it.
Iago Apas passes received versus Real Madrid. The positions are varied and show the strikers ability to lead the line and expose pockets of space.
The attacking involvement of Aspas vs Madrid
A few players specifically Stewart Downing and Jordan
Henderson have to be commended for the way they finished the season, very
strongly. Often a source of criticism Downing finished the season with 29
appearances, and 3 goals and 5 assists within those appearances. His overall
level of play looks to have improved and he already looks more confident and
could have an interesting part to play in Liverpool’s future. The same has to
be said for Henderson who eventually replaced Joe Allen in the starting eleven.
The midfielder’s 5 goals and 4 assists a testament to his hard work to force
his way back into Rodgers plans despite being told he may leave.
Liverpool finished with 71 goals, the 3rd highest
in the league despite coming 7th. They also conceded the same amount
(43) as eventual winners Manchester United, but this was high with the likes of
Everton, Arsenal, Manchester City and Chelsea all finishing with less. The
brand of football Brendan Rodgers favours is possession bases attacking
football, but hard work will need to be done on the training ground in order to
improve the defensive unit when playing this specific type of football. Going
forward the wing backs for Liverpool look strong, in particular Glen Johnson
who had a fantastic season performance wise, however space does open up behind
wing backs and teams exploited this a few times last season. If Rodgers can
stiffen up his defence and limit the amount of goals then the quality attacking
football and defence through possession will help climb Liverpool up the table.
Rodgers has also been targeting more quality for his side,
and it’s upsetting for the supporters they didn’t land Henrikh Mkhitaryan who
instead chose Dortmund over Liverpool. The Armenian wowed both domestically and
in the champions league last season and his recruitment would arguably seen
Liverpool pushing for top four. Currently the side are trying to thrash out a deal
for Atletico striker Diego Costa, who they are targeting not as a replacement for Suarez but as further ammunition up front.
Should they keep Suarez and land another top quality player,
there is no reason why Liverpool can’t break top four. They finished last
season very strongly, one specific performance was the 6-0 mauling of
Newcastle. One of the main problems last season was inconsistency and this is a
key issue that must be addressed. Last season for example Liverpool comfortably
beat Fulham 4-0 at home but this was then followed by a 3-1 defeat at Stoke.
After defeat to Manchester United (Liverpool finished the stronger team and
were unlucky not to get a draw) they humbled Norwich 5-0 at home only to get
beat 3-2 in the cup by Oldham. They revenged this with two good results away
from home, 2-2 draws at both the Emirates & Etihad only to suffer a 2-0
home defeat to West Brom. If the inconsistency is ironed out then Liverpool
will gain more positive momentum rather than the stop start nature which summed
up parts of last season. At times it felt like the club was taking one step
forward and then two back.
Other squads around them are very strong and this will be a
very tough season for Liverpool, but the signs are there. Rodgers philosophy is
beginning to be implemented very well on the pitch, as well as good youth
prospects coming through; Sterling, Suso, Ibe & Wisdom are all top
prospects for the future and if Fabio Borini stays fit he might have a
contribution to make. Gerrard had his best season since the Benitez season when
he linked so well with Torres and Lucas has a huge role in the side if he stays
fit. Keeping Suarez is a priority for the side, if Coutinho & Sturridge can
kick off where they left off from last season and Aspas settles quickly then
there is no reason why Liverpool can’t have a strong 2013-14.
No comments:
Post a Comment