It is safe to say that Iago Aspas has not had the best start to his Liverpool career. After a fine pre-season with the club, injuries and a lack of goals have severely halted the start to his life on Merseyside.
A lot of fans have voiced their dissatisfaction over the signing of Aspas lately; with some saying he is simply not good enough for the Premier League. I am here to convince you all otherwise.
Since signing for Liverpool, Iago has managed just one goal, which he scored against Oldham Athletic in the FA Cup earlier this year. It’s hardly something to write home about! I have to admit, I grew frustrated at him during our recent 2-0 victory over Hull City as it was obvious to be that Aspas was low on confidence, turning back every time he got the ball rather than taking on the opposition defender.
Time on the pitch is a precious thing in the Premier League and cannot be afforded to everyone, but I believe that this is exactly what Iago Aspas needs in order to succeed.
From what I saw of Aspas at Celta Vigo, he was a player that could play in two positions, either off the main striker in a slightly Suarez-esque style, or on the shoulder of the last defender as a poacher in front of goal. Unfortunately for Iago, he has only played these positions for Liverpool during pre season as the form of both Luis Suarez & Daniel Sturridge’ has meant that Aspas has had to play either wide on the right or as a centre attacking midfielder, two roles he is obviously not comfortable with.
If Aspas is played as a striker, I can see him easily scoring 10-15 league goals a season. Whether this is enough to warrant a first team place is another matter entirely.
Aspas proved at Celta that he can score goals; getting 12 in the league last season for a struggling side was quite an achievement. So far at Anfield he has been unable to even get a sight of goal let alone score one in the league. His assist for Sturridge at Stoke Coty on the opening day of the season remains his only major contribution to the side in the league.
Aspas desperately needs a run of games in the league, but this is a big issue for him at the moment for a few reasons. In such a crucial season for the club, can we afford to play an unproven striker up front when we have others who have already proved they can score goals at this level? With the ‘SAS’ in such good goalscoring form, it is hard to see Aspas as anything other than backup right now.
I would suggest that a loan deal would do Aspas the world of good right now, but this again is unlikely to happen seeing as he is the one backup striker the club has in it’s first team.
Personally I believe that Iago Aspas has all the qualities to eventually become a good player for Liverpool, he is a good finisher who can dribble at pace, perfect it would seem for our side. The problem is that Liverpool currently cannot afford him the games he needs to settle into the league. I would like to see him come off the bench a bit more often to give him a chance in the next few games.
I hope that Aspas has a strong finish to the campaign, as with Fabio Borini coming back from Sunderland in the summer, there will be more competition. One good thing that will come from this situation however is that at least we will have options in attack, a rarity for Liverpool over the past few years.
