Such is the nature of the Premier League transfer “system”, Liverpool fans were understandably excited for the January window to arrive. The majority of this anticipation stemming from the well documented buying failure of the club, in the summer of 2012. Let’s not go into that.
The reflection on the window just passed is one of actual positivity and, by most accounts, success. Brendan Rodgers had quite rightly highlighted forward areas as the club’s main focal point and personally, I see this to have been well addressed. The month was also a chance to offload where possible too, as FSG’s insistence on paying sensible, realistic wages continued.
IN – Daniel Sturridge (Chelsea, £12m), Philippe Coutinho (Inter Milan, £8.5m)
OUT – Joe Cole (West Ham, Free), Nuri Sahin (Borussia Dortmund, Loan Terminated), Michael Ngoo (Hearts, Loan), Danny Wilson (Hearts, Loan), Alexander Doni (Retired), Adam Morgan (Rotherham, Loan), Dani Pacheco (SD Huesca, Loan)
The big thing you notice about the business Liverpool conducted was the outlay by the owners. Riddled, previously, with criticism for lack of net spend, Fenway Sports Group invested over £20m in January. Not only making them a very close 2nd in terms of expenditure, but also going some way to dispelling numerous rumours based on theories of ambition inferiority.
In Daniel Sturridge, Liverpool have acquired a mobile player, with pace, power and finishing ability. This is something which has certainly been lacking on Merseyside for a little while, however, that’s been dampened down slightly by the excellent recent form of Luis Suarez. Fans are already seeing the fruits of the ex-Chelsea man’s labour, with 4 goals in 6 games. He provides a contrast which makes him an all-round striker. When playing away from home, he’s able to hold play up well and get others involved, whilst at Anfield, he offers predatory instinct when involved higher up the pitch. For me, the £12m paid will look like a bargain come the end of this season.
Philippe Coutinho provides an element of the unknown. He’s a player who was heavily talked up in his younger years but now finds himself detriment to those complimentary phrases. Players often find it difficult to live up to praise billing them as “the next big thing” and I believe Coutinho sits in that camp. From what I’ve seen of him, which I must be honest is fairly minimal, he looks to have great feet, a big bag of tricks and an eye for goal. Sounds perfect for Brendan Rodgers, right? Well I think he might actually be just that. He’s raw, he’ll need nurturing and he’ll need time. With those 2 ingredients, he can become a recipe for success. He’s one to keep an eye on.
Joe Cole left the club after a couple of years of inconsistent game time, a loan spell at Lille and barely an ounce of triumph to speak of. The guy talks like a pro and comes across as a top bloke but he was taking outrageous wages for a player with his lack of 1st team playing time. He joined West Ham, which appealed to all three parties.
The short love affair with Nuri Sahin also came to an end during the window. The loan deal seemed like a real coup for the club, back in August, but the buzz never really came to fruition. Sahin struggled to force his way into the team on a regular basis which eventually became his downfall. As others upped their games and forced Rodgers’ hand, the Turkish international seemed to be overwhelmed with the Premier League as fans became underwhelmed with him on the pitch.
Alexander Doni returned to Liverpool for a few days, prior to the window end, and it was announced he’d be leaving, joining Brazilian side Botafogo. Soon after the club made that official announcement, rumours circulated about potential heart problems for the goalkeeper, a possible explanation for his recent extended leave. That speculation did come from Doni’s mouth but the club refused to comment on any of this.
Other shrewd business included a number of other agreements which saw some of the club’s talented youth pool go out on loan deals. Ngoo and Wilson joined Hearts, both have been performing well since, Pacheco joined 2nd division Spanish side SD Huesca and Adam Morgan went off to Rotherham. I have a very one-tracked view on how the club should be utilising these players and how we should be dealing with them. With the Academy being the way it is (full of brilliantly talented individuals), we need to be clever with how we conduct our business in the future. I won’t go into too much detail but the use of loan deals, buy-back clauses etc should be heavily encouraged. It’s good for these players to get game time in a highly competitive environment at a high level, but not so much so that they’ve left permanently. Gives them a chance to show the club what they’ve got and what they can offer Liverpool Football Club.
As a whole, this window has pleased me considerably. We’ve gone about our purchases in a way which suggests we’re learning from previous mistakes. We held firm on deals and that has paid dividends. Ian Ayre must be praised for some of this. As some of you may know, I’m not his biggest advocate, but he’s growing in my estimations. Important I try and remember he’s fairly new to this role and is learning on the job. Rodgers has talked of elapsed time and a few windows before the squad is “his” and if they all go as well as this January has, he can most definitely pull that off with aplomb.
