The last time Liverpool were preparing to face Manchester United at Old Trafford, there wasn’t an ounce of doubt in my mind. I knew we’d win, it was inevitable. We were flying high at the top of the table, and David Moyes’ side were having one of the worst seasons in the recent history of Man United.
How times have changed eh? Liverpool head to Old Trafford this weekend with spirits as low as they’ve been at Anfield in years, with The Reds having just been dumped out of the competition that they’d worked so hard to qualify for.
So what’s gone wrong? How have Liverpool turned from one of the best teams in the league sweeping all who they come up against to a team that’s struggled against some of the poorest sides in the country? Well, it can all be traced back to the summer.
First of all, Luis Suarez left. Suarez had the best season I’ve personally ever seen an individual have at Anfield. He was incredible last season. He scored goals, he created goals and he made everyone around him better. His appetite to win – pardon the pun – was unlike anything I’ve personally ever seen before and trying to replace that was an impossible task. There’s a simple reason as to why Barcelona were willing to stump up so much cash to get the Uruguayan; he’s a bloody great player! He is so, so good and even if Liverpool had managed to beat Arsenal to the signing of Alexis Sanchez, they were never going to end up with a player anywhere near as good as Suarez because quite simply, there’s only two players who I think can be compared to Suarez in terms of quality, and I doubt Cristiano or Lionel will be up for sale any time soon!
The problem is this; I don’t think it came as a shock when Suarez left Liverpool. Nor is it a shock that Daniel Sturridge has once again been bitten with the injury bug, so where was the planning? Forget Rickie Lambert for a moment, he was always coming in to be a fourth choice striker and for £4m, I think that’s fair enough. The fact he is Liverpool’s third choice striker however, just smacks of poor planning. How the hell can Liverpool end up going from perusing Sanchez, to flying Loic Remy to America, to signing Mario Balotelli? Three completely different types of player!
Surely once Suarez was confirmed as leaving, a list should have been drawn up of players who fit the profile of what the manager wanted? Is that really too much to ask? Seemingly so.
The centre half issue is another problem. The club have tried to address it by spending over £35m on two players in recent windows, but they both play in the same position. How does Martin Skrtel go from being out of the team last season to a nailed on starter every week? Has he improved since this time last season? I’d argue not. Where’s the planning?
The fact is this; in the biggest game of the season so far, Brendan Rodgers picked only two of his summer signings, and those two only played because of injuries to others. This shows a couple of things. First of all, Brendan has fallen into the trap a lot of under pressure mangers fall into – he went for a solid team. He’s abandoned his philosophy in order to tighten up and by doing so, the players are now getting mixed messages and look like a team lacking direction.
It also shows that Brendan doesn’t believe that any player signed in the summer is good enough to play in his best XI, in fact, if Liverpool had no injuries at all, I bet what Brendan considers to be his best XI wouldn’t include a single player who the club signed in the summer. This just smacks of poor planning and poor recruiting. You shouldn’t spend over £130m and end up with an improved squad but not an improved first team. That’s borderline criminal in football terms.
Recruitment at Liverpool has been questionable for years. Everyone knew something was up. We’re all paying for it now. Unfortunately, Brendan Rodgers could end up paying for it with his job. Another three year plan anybody?
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