Following their Champions League elimination, we look at where it's going wrong for Brendan Rodgers's side
FEATURE
By Kunle Fayiga
On the back of a wonderful campaign last season, one would expect Liverpool to hit the heights once again this term.
That has, however, not been the case.
Last night the club’s much-celebrated return to the Champions League came to an ignominious end against FC Basel at Anfield. The Swiss side are an emerging force in Europe, but despite their promise, Rodgers will surely have been confident to have finished higher than both they and Ludogorets when the groups were drawn.
Liverpool are far off what they were last season. They currently sit 9th in the league, 15 points adrift of leaders Chelsea, who they led for much of last season. They have won just six games and lost six out of 15 matches, drawing three games. They have scored just 19 goals and conceded 19 goals.
The Reds were not in this position last season.
Liverpool’s form in the Champions League after a five-year absence is nothing to write home about; the Merseysiders ultimately won only one match.
So much for glorious returns.
What has then gone wrong with the fine team that Brendan Rogers built?
It seemed to be almost a dream come true for Liverpool last season.
They were on the verge of claiming the league title for the first time in 24 years.
A formidable partnership of Luis Suarez, Daniel Sturridge and Raheem Sterling saw Liverpool score a total of 101 league goals, only to be bettered by Manchester City.
Suarez | Gone, but not forgotten
However, Luis Suarez was sold after Barcelona paid £75 million for his services.
Liverpool needed to invest in players and as is Rodgers’ policy, he delved into the market to purchase young talent in Alberto Moreno, Adam Lallana, Dejan Lovren, Lazar Markovic, Divock Origi, Emre Can and Javier Manquillo, with Rickie Lambert being the only veteran. The void left by Suarez needed to be filled and Rogers went for another controversial striker in Mario Balotelli.
The exit of Suarez has hit Anfield hard.
Balotelli has not hit the ground running. He doesn’t seem to have any confidence after having a trouble-filled career. He might have realised his mistakes now but it may ultimately be too late for him to show the world what he really can do. The rest of Liverpool’s new signings have not delivered well enough to put the Reds into the heights of last season.
The absence of injured Daniel Sturridge means that Liverpool don’t have a reliable striker which explains a lack of goals.
Putting the trust on 32-year old Lambert isn’t working, neither is want-away hitman Fabio Borini. Liverpool’s defence and midfield has not been very solid this season and as such Rogers faces a selection dilemma each week of who gets the nod to start or drop to the bench. Evergreen captain Steven Gerrard is past his peak and the Reds should be looking for a replacement now.
Can Liverpool’s fortunes turn around this season?
It’s a hard call but with the way things are going, it might continue to be a struggle to the end of the season for the Reds. Liverpool do not have enough top quality players that can challenge with the rest of the big teams.
Gerrard | Time for some more new faces?
Suarez was almost exclusively responsible for Liverpool’s fine form last season. He would have continued in the same vein this season if he had remained, and their Champions League performances might not have been that miserable.
Looking to January, Liverpool must spend big in order to compete and to ensure that the promise of last season isn’t lost in the mire of last term. Rodgers will be aware of the importance of momentum and the desire not to regress on the achievements of last year.
Football is no longer about nurturing young players. That’s the job of the likes of FC Porto, Udinese, Ajax Amsterdam and others. Huge sums spent by the likes of Man City, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain have all seen them get silverware. Manchester United, in the wake of their terrible campaign last season, had to break the bank this season in order to get back to its place of challenging for titles.
Liverpool has 18 league titles, seven FA Cups, eight League Cups, five European Cups, three UEFA Cups and three UEFA Super Cups all to its name. The club hasn’t played well enough for a long while to live up to the illustrious titles it has racked up over the years.
Failure for Liverpool to improve its side with top quality players might see it become a team like Arsenal who sell established players and end up in 4th place at the end of the season.
Liverpool’s league title drought might also persist while the emerging powers like Manchester City will continue to seize the limelight from the Reds as they did last season.
No comments:
Post a Comment