Is there a plan? There doesn’t seem to be. Maybe there’s the general ‘philosophy’ of signing young players but there’s not been much evidence of a more specific plan. (I.e. looking at the kind of players that are needed in each position for the manager to work with). This has been particularly true in the club’s approach to forwards.
Last summer – and we can accept this as truth now – Alexis Sanchez was Liverpool’s number one target. That’s fair enough. He fit the bill. Sanchez is similar in make-up to the departed Luis Suárez; he’s quick, scores goals, intelligent and – pertinently – he was ‘available’.
Liverpool don’t sign Alexis Sanchez. That’s football. We move on.
What worries me most about how the club’s recruitment is being handled is what happens next. Liverpool target Loic Remy. At the time, I was on board with Remy. He’s quick and scores goals. He’s not of the Suárez and Sanchez mould, nor is her anywhere as good as them. But he’d still fit in well with Brendan Rodgers’ Liverpool and we could have done a lot worse. And we did.
Liverpool don’t sign Loic Remy. That’s football. We move on.
Now. Have Liverpool ran out of options? Did the powers that be plan for the sale of Suárez? If you have a player like Suárez scoring 31 goals in 33 league games and you don’t win anything, you’ve got to prepare for the eventuality that he might leave. Especially when Suárez and his agent had raised the idea before.
What happens next suggests that the transfer committee weren’t prepared for the eventuality that Suárez might leave. It suggests that they hadn’t drawn up a list of suitable replacements. It suggests that they’d spent a year sitting around, earning money and not doing their job. Which begs the question: what is the point of them?
Liverpool sign Mario Balotelli for £16m.
Balotelli scored a lot of goals for AC Milan. He’s young and obviously full of talent. But he’s still a risk, his style of play doesn’t match Rodgers’ Liverpool’s style of play – or at least what Rodgers wanted from his forwards in 2013-14. At the time it didn’t look like Rodgers was keen and as the season went on, he looked less and less keen.
Rodgers has met with FSG to explain why Liverpool had a poor season. The Northern Irishman is partly at fault for the poor season. As are the club’s owners. As are the transfer committee.
Whatever happens next, the transfer committee needs to be dismissed. The individuals that make up the committee – which includes Rodgers – could be replaced, or the idea of the committee should be completely scrapped. Either way, the committee are guilty of negligence and can’t survive this.
Personally, I’ve backed Rodgers all season. I thought he was still the right man for the job. Then Stoke happened and I was open to the idea of him being replaced but only if the way the club is being run at a higher level were to change and only if he was replaced by Jürgen Klopp or a Carlo Ancelotti. It seems Rodgers will be staying, though.
But if Liverpool are to challenge again then something has to be done about the scattergun approach to recruitment. The team has been rooted in mediocrity for the last five years (bar 2013-14) but the club is in real danger of becoming accustomed to mediocrity if things don’t change now.
The signing of James Milner would be a good start. Milner’s experienced but still young enough and good enough to make the starting XI better – and he’s the kind of player Rodgers would love.
I’m still worried. I’m worried because Christian Benteke appears to be Liverpool’s number one target. Benteke has a great record over the last three seasons but – like Balotelli – he doesn’t fit the mould of the striker that Liverpool need to go out and buy.
Benteke – like Daniel Sturridge – is plagued by injuries. Sturridge’s injuries this season forced Rodgers’ Liverpool to play without a striker for the majority of the campaign. That can’t happen again. Talk of a £30m fee for Benteke points to the decidedly average Danny Ings being the only other arrival in the striking department.
The committee haven’t taken anything from last summer’s failings. Signings weren’t even made in January when it was obvious that additions were needed.
Brendan Rodgers looks as though he will remain in charge, but it is crucial that the transfer committee alters or else we can only expect more of the same mistakes. We won’t move on.
