I think there are so many related things that it makes analysing the season quite difficult..
The signings were obviously one problem but was it down the targets, the negotiations, the valuations, the strategy? If sanchez had signed, would the season have been different? Did he not sign cos he wanted london regardless or could he have been signed if the club had pushed harder and got it wrapped up sooner or just offered him more money?
What was the transfer strategy? Why do so many signings seem kneejerk? They couldve signed lovren a year earlier if theyd actually been looking at him, for half the price, instead the sign sakho (a better player by far imo) only to then spend 20 on lovren to replace him on the back of half a decent season. Lallana was the same, clearly bought cos of his season at shampton. Too often they seem to buy simply cos of a one off season and its just never a good idea, its like buying someone cos they had a good world cup.
Was lambert bought for depth or as a different option? Regardless, when it was clear they were struggling to score, why was he not given a few games? If you sign someone surely its because you think they have value to the team so why would they not get a chance? Borini was also never used, probably cos they wanted to sell him, but again, they thought he was worth signing in the first place. If they werent played cos they didnt fit the system.. why buy them at all? Balotelli had chances and was obviously signed cos it was him or nothing and he just didnt fit or take his chances, but the fact it was him or nothing is another indictment of the strategy. Why were they not prioritising a scorer? I dont accept the oh they couldnt have expected sturridge to be out - not as much as he was maybe, but he's always missed chunks of the season so they shouldve expected him to be missing for a third of it and catered for it.
Then we have the overseason market. Why spend so much on marko only to play him out of position then be sidelined. Manquillo comes in, does reasonably well, then ends up being a procession of players being played out of position ahead of him. And why does the common theme seem to be if theres another club actually interested in a player, he wont be signing, if theres no other club involved the player will be signed at a premium? Has there been one player signed when there was competition for them? Something is very wrong, either the scouting is picking up players with no thought as to what the manager wants, the manager doesnt know what type of players he's asking for, the negotiation team is unrealistic or a combination of them.
The only players used as would be expected were moreno (young player, given a chance, used in his best position and it accepted when he makes a few mistakes rather than being dropped) and can, tho even he was really only in due to fitting in the back 3. I dont think theres any point in a mass clearout of last seasons signing. They should all get another go, but the things that caused them to fail need to be addressed. Get a destroyed in the middle who will protect the defense and fill in when someones out of position. dont want a destroyer? Then youre gonna need a john terry who will marshall the defense and doesnt really get out of position.
Then on to rodgers. The season starts slowly and he trys it for a while, fine, but then neglects to fix the things that a glaringly obvious. Gerrard was able to play dm last season due to suarez. With him and sturridge teams were not able to push as far up so gerrard had less to deal with but even then it didnt work as the defense was leaky. Without much attacking threat, teams can line up with more in forward mid positions and then they dominate mid. The only player capable of doing that role was lucas and its no accident that once he was in the team started winning, but then it reverts back to the system that failed at the start of the season? He also seems to protect some players while calling out others for small mistakes, I dont think its ever a good thing to critiscize players to the press. Which is another thing, why is so much as the club done in the press? With chelsea (who have the biggest mouthpiece in football) they never shut up, but they rarely say anything that relates to the football. If theyre after a player, there will be a story about it, then they will have signed, none of this 2 months of being linked the another month of offers being submitted and turned down. Currently I have doubts that rodgers has that last 10% that is the difference between doing okay and winning because he hasnt shown much ability to identify what isnt working and change it appropriately.
Leadership and player reputation. When rafa was there, there was a lot about the team of captains, now its a team of no captains. Who do the players look to, who has the prescence to sway referees (right or wrong, a player with high reputation will get the benefit from refs sometimes) This is something that shouldve been considered when players are signed. As it is now it seems that the senior player is toure who rarely actually plays. Hendo will be the next captain and he's probably the best option - but he will have to step up to the next level to be anything greater than the player whos got the armband. A bigger problem is that there are now no world class/top level players at the club. Who will potential signings see and want to play alongside? Who will they look at and think they can learn from? Its just a collection of similar level players, and what teams actually win anything meaningful without a go-to guy?
Currently theres no sign that the club is learning at all. The targets this season are basically the same as the last few seasons, just different names. Not a single target thats been leaked so far will address any of the actual problems and until they recognise that Im not sure how it will improve.
