[styled_box title=”A Q&A With Martin Lipton” color=”red”]The chief football correspondent of The Mirror, Martin Lipton, takes time out of his busy schedule to answer a few questions about Liverpool’s current position and a few key areas in the team. Martin is probed in regard to FSG’s transfer policy and Luis Suarez being in the thick of the media storm. [/styled_box]
1. Is Brendan Rodgers the man to take Liverpool back to consistent Champions League football?
[quote]I hope so and I believe so. But not this season. And maybe not next season. The reality is that Liverpool are a long way away from being good enough to challenge for a top four place and their rivals are simply better. Liverpool fans may not want to recognise that, may simply deny it, but the truth is that the squad is nowhere near strong enough. Would you, honestly, rather have the Liverpool squad than the Tottenham squad? Or than the Manchester City squad? And would you have suspected you would give that answer in 2006? That is where Liverpool are now and pretending otherwise is foolish in the extreme.[/quote]
2. Do you think Rodgers’ use of academy players was a forced hand?
[quote]Yes. The money he would like to spend is evidently not there, which forces him to use all the tools at his disposal. Some of them are maybe not quite ready for regular first team use, yet, although their progress will have been accelerated, markedly by their use this season. Wisdom, Suso, even Sterling, can only benefit. But they should not be expected to be a match for the best at the top Premier League clubs.[/quote]
3. Last season, Liverpool had a good defensive record whereas this season the defence has looked susceptible at times, how big of loss has Steve Clarke been?
[quote]Every coach has a different way of playing. Rodgers’ methods rely on all the players, including the defenders, being comfortable on the ball. He had that at Swansea but not so much at Liverpool. Also, Reina has been somewhat erratic, especially at the start of the season, which added to the uncertainty and inconsistency at the back. If defenders have trust in their keeper not to make a mistake, they play with more conviction. It’s just the way it is.[/quote]
4. Is there space in the midfield for both Joe Allen and Lucas to play together?
[quote]I’d like to think so but I’m not sure there is – and I think one of them will end up becoming the casualty. At the moment, that looks like Allen. He is very good at keeping possession but I’ve yet to be convinced that he ever really hurts the opposition and you can’t have two midfielders who don’t hurt the other side. Lucas provides a platform for the rest of the team but the other midfielders have to have an attacking edge to their play.[/quote]
5. With Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher coming to the end of their illustrious playing days at Anfield, how do Liverpool compensate for the loss of their two ‘go-to’ men?
[quote]The way every club does – by finding replacements. Nobody lasts for ever and you have to prepare for the eventuality of their departures. Either develop them – that is what the academies are supposed to be about – or buy in players who can stay for a long while. It is hard to buy loyalty – that normally needs success as well. The two tend to go hand in hand.[/quote]
6. Luis Suarez has always been part of the media storm, what do you make of the controversy that seems to follow him?
[quote]Fantastic player with world-class talent and a player who has now discovered the clinical edge in front of goal that he lacked for his first 18 months at Anfield. However he is seemingly a magnet for negativity. And at some point, some Liverpool fans have got to stop the stupid and false conspiracy theories and accept that he is at times the agent of his own misfortune. The “I fell” storm was one entirely of his own making. For Liverpool fans to criticise the media for accurately reporting something a player says is pathetic – as Brendan Rodgers’ response proved. Suarez, needlessly, dragged up a historical event and embarrassed the club. There is no way round that and to suggest otherwise, blame it on a “pro-United” media, is wilful and utter blindness. Like Bale at Spurs, I feel Suarez has been more sinned against than has been a sinner this season. But he has dived in the past (like Bale) and referees have now decided he is diving even when he isn’t. Had he not dived in the first place, they would not have that view. As for Mansfield, I said I wasn’t fussed, and I wasn’t. I never said he should have told the referee but, I did say, and maintain, that he COULD have confessed and changed the narrative to “Luis the FA Cup hero”. That is not a criticism. It is an observation.[/quote]
7. Do you think Luis Suarez is in a team and a system that allows him to realise his full potential?
[quote]I think the arrival of Sturridge, allowing him to operate slightly deeper and with more space, might make Suarez even more difficult to play against.[/quote]
8. Is it too early to start to compare Brendan Rodgers’ style that is being employed at Liverpool to Barcelona or the great Dutch sides of total football?
[quote]Utterly premature – and I don’t think Brendan would welcome such a comparison either. Rinus Michels’ side, as much as Barcelona, was the outcome of an organic process developed over decades, let alone years. Rodgers has been at Anfield for a matter of months. He has the right principles but they have to seep into the DNA of the squad and the development teams. They cannot be grafted into a side in a few months. To suggest otherwise is utter madness.[/quote]
9. Is renovating Anfield the right move or would a new stadium be more beneficial?
[quote]From my meeting with Werner and Henry soon after they took over I always suspected their grand plan was, like at Fenway Park, to rebuild and improve rather than build from scratch. New grounds can work, no doubt but some clubs need to be at their traditional home. I don’t think anything could replicate the atmosphere of Anfield on a big night. Staying is the best option for the club.[/quote]
10. Looking at foreign ownership in the English game, how do FSG differ and are they doing it the right way, in terms of buying for future?
[quote]The main difference, compared to, say, Chelsea or Southampton, is how hands off they are. But that is a similarity with Arsenal and a certain Salford-based club. It does seem that FSG are reluctant to get the club into debt and they want to build a self-sufficient model. That has impacts (ones that might seem negative) in the short-term and relies on the academy genuinely bringing top players through. It is a harder path to success and a less comfortable one. But if it does work, then it ensures a bond between the players and the fans that is part of what Liverpool, and the Liverpool Way, should be about.[/quote]
11. What are realistic targets for Liverpool for the remainder of the season?
[quote]Europa League. Top four is, just a mere possibility. But realistically, I don’t see it. And neither, I suspect, do most sensible Liverpool fans. [/quote]
