This was always supposed to be
the season of transition, building the squad was always the priority, and
qualifying for the Champions League was always going to be the Holy Grail. Now
that the season has come to end, may be its time for us to look back at the
season and evaluate the “progress” that has actually been made under Brendan
Rodgers.
Change at the Managerial Hot Seat
He brought in his own backroom
staff as most managers do, which meant the departure of Steve Clarke. The best
thing about the change in the backroom staff has probably been the increase in
fitness levels of two very important players- Steven Gerrard and Daniel Agger.
Agger’s injury problems have been ever present since the time he joined
Liverpool, resulting the former Brondby man in making just 155 Premier League
appearances in the last six and half years at Anfield. Yet, this season he
appeared in 35 Premier League games. The Liverpool skipper on the other hand
had been blighted by niggling injuries in the past two seasons, making less
than 30 appearances in all competitions in each of those two seasons. However,
this season Captain Fantastic had been back to his best, making 35 Premier League
appearances before a shoulder injury forced him to end his season early.
Shift in Transfer Policy
The primary task given to Brendan
Rodgers in the transfer market was to reduce the wage bill as well as the
average age of the squad. Consequently, Fabio Aurelio was released, Craig
Bellamy and Maxi Rodriguez were given free transfers, and Alberto Aquilani and
Charlie Adam were sold in cut-price deals, while Andy Carroll was shipped out
on loan to West Ham. Stewart Downing and Jordan Henderson, big money buys under
Dalglish, were rumoured to be loaned out or sold in part-exchange deals, which
however did not materialise. The players brought in to replace them Fabio
Borini and Joe Allen, both having previously played under Rodgers, for a
combined outlay of £25 million and Nuri Sahin on loan from Real Madrid.
Allen settled in quickly in a
deeper midfield role in the absence of the injured Lucas and put in some good
performances. The return of Lucas meant that Allen had to shift to a more
advanced role, something which he failed to do very successfully, ultimately
losing his place to a rejuvenated Henderson. Borini, on the other, hand failed
to find the back of the net, barring his goal in the second leg of the third
qualifying round of the Europa League against Gomel. He was then out of the
action for three months with a broken foot, leaving Liverpool with Luis Suarez
as the only recognised striker in the squad.
A Feeble Beginning
Liverpool had a dismal start to
the Premier League season with an opening day loss at West Brom. They failed to
win any of their first five games and were languishing at 18th place
in the table before they managed to win at Norwich, with Suarez scoring a hat
trick. In their next 10 games, Liverpool lost just once, against Tottenham, but
won just 4 of them. Their main undoing was that they failed to kill off games
despite having a lion’s share of the possession and numerous attempts on goal.
Even in the Europa League, they
failed to kill off games, and had to rely on a final day victory over Udinese
to confirm qualification to the knockout stages. At times, Jonjo Shelvey played
as a striker, and even scored a brace against BSC Young Boys. However,
their problems of not being able to finish the chances they created continued
to haunt them, forcing things to be stretched to game week six to ensure
qualification.
Winter is Coming
Finally the winter transfer
window came, and it seemed that Liverpool had been readying for it for the past
4 months. Having failed to land a striker on the deadline day of the summer
window, Liverpool spent £20 million to bring in Daniel Sturridge from Chelsea
and Philippe Coutinho from Inter Milan. They decided to terminate Nuri Sahin’s
loan agreement after he failed to make a major impact as was expected from the
former Borussia Dortmund skipper. Joe Cole was also given a free transfer to
West Ham in an effort to further reduce the wage bill.
The Winds of Change
At the start of the season,
Jordan Henderson, Stewart Downing and Jose Enrique were not deemed to be good
enough to warrant a starting place in the team. Youngsters Andre Wisdom, Raheem
Sterling and Suso were entrusted to do the job. Given opportunities, they did
not fail to impress one and all. However, as the season went on, Enrique,
Henderson and Downing played themselves into the team. All three of them have
become integral members of the team, either in a starting capacity or as a sub.
The winter arrivals of Sturridge
and Coutinho helped address the striker shortage that had been plaguing
Liverpool all season. They hit the ground running- Sturridge has scored 11
goals and provided 4 assists in 16 appearances while Coutinho has scored 3
goals and provided 7 assists in 13 appearances. This has reduced the burden on
Suarez to a large extent, and has allowed Liverpool to find alternate route to
goals in the absence of Suarez due to suspension.
The Controversy Magnet
Perhaps Luis Suarez and
controversy are made for each other; when one is there, the other never seems
far away. Last season it was the racism row with Patrick Evra, this season it
was multiple- admitting to diving in order to win a penalty at Stoke, the
handball at Mansfield Town and the biting incident on Branislav Ivanovic.
The diving incident which happened at Stoke was blown out of the
water when Suarez, in an interview admitted that he had dived to win the
penalty, leading to everyone calling him a cheat. Post the inadvertent handball
at Mansfield, he was labelled a cheat, despite the fact that the referee had seen
the incident and had not blown for a handball.
Just when he seemed to have put
all the bad blood behind him, and was playing superbly, scoring goals to
singlehandedly win Liverpool matches, and was in the running for the PFA Player
of the Year, he bit Ivanovic during a game. The game finished with a last gasp
equalizer by Suarez, but by then, everything else had taken a back seat- Suarez
the cannibal was back, evoking memories of a similar incident during his time
at Ajax. His inevitable 10 match ban ruled him out till October 2013, meaning
that Liverpool will have to begin next season without his goal scoring prowess at
their disposal.
End of an Era
The most emotional part of the
season was the last match of Jamie Carragher’s career at Anfield against
Queen’s Park Rangers. It brought down the curtains on a long and illustrious
career which saw him make 736 appearances for his boyhood club. He had started
the season on the bench, as a backup to the first choice centre backs Skrtel
and Agger. However, a loss of form saw Skrtel lose out his starting place to
Carragher, and he has shown that even at the dusk of his career, he still has
the ability to perform at the highest level. He became the mainstay of the
backline once again, allowing him to announce his retirement from the game when
he was still first choice.
The Silver Lining
This season has not been the best
of seasons, with Liverpool failing to progress beyond the 4th round
in both the FA Cup as well as the League Cup, and the round of 32 in the Europa
League. The finished 7th in the Premier League, meaning that there
will be no European football at Anfield next season. However, the season has
given some positive indications.
The team took some time to gel
under Brendan Rodgers, but now is playing some very good eye-catching football.
The arrival of Sturridge has relieved the goal scoring burden on Suarez, and
the form shown by Coutinho has meant that Liverpool now have a creative force in
the final third other than Suarez who can create something out of nothing.
With the retirement of Carragher,
there is a hole in the defence that needs to be plugged, along with reinforcements
for other positions. If the winter transfer window is anything to go by,
Rodgers should be able to add to the depth and quality of the squad without
having to pay against the odds. There is quality in the team; and a little
depth and some quality additions, coupled with greater consistency throughout
the season will help Liverpool push for the fourth spot next season.
