Gooood afternoon ladies and gentlemen, hope you’re all well. It’s been a while since I posted a new topic, thought it was about time I put another one together, mainly for my own enjoyment. Talking of time, as some of you might remember, my opening posts tend to be rather long, many would say tedious too, so if you are running on a tight schedule, and you haven’t already done your Christmas shopping or whatever, you might want to take this bit by bit. Once I start typing I can’t stop. Already I’m rambling and you’re thinking ‘get to the point Daws’, so I will.
I’ve been thinking about the players Kenny and Comolli have bought in over the last 7 or 8 months. Why they have invested in the players they have, how will they fit in, where they will play and what will their role for the club will be? I tell ya’ what, just to get everyone’s attention, I’ll start with the man who has attracted the most attention, as well as being the first player bought in under the Kenny-Comolli strategy. Luis Suarez.
You gotta’ love this guy, right? Little Luis the Livewire. Obviously the lad had a cracking World Cup Tournament and experience scoring many, many goals for his previous club Ajax. There’s really not too much to state, nor discuss when it comes to Luis, what you see is what you get. Hard work, tenacity, aggression, skill, balance, flair, dribbling ability, he’s a very well rounded supporting striker. That’s about all you can say about Luis the individual. It’s obvious what he will bring to our club – so let us look at this a slightly different way….
35M pound Andy Carroll. Yes I know the price is irrelevant, just thought I’d throw it in there so all you Andy haters can go and have a little cry. Personally I think Andy was an excellent bit of business when you consider the Torres fiasco. However, it’s not Andy the individual that I am going to focus on here; it’s what he gives Liverpool as a team.
His partnership with Luis will be a particularly interesting as we watch the Premier League unfold over the course of this season. From what we can tell they seem to be getting on okay in terms of a personal relationship, but it’s their relationship on the park that really fascinates me. The big man little man combination, but not in the Owen-Heskey sense, here we have something very different.
Andy is a target man, through and through. That doesn’t mean Carra should be hoofing balls at him all day long, as much as he’d like to, but Andy is the focal point of our attack. He should almost be used as the flag in a game of pitch and put – rather than an 18 hole course. If the wide men have the ball in deeper areas, say by the halfway line, then they should be able to look up and play a ball in towards Carroll. This is where they can continue their runs and play off him. He does have ability with his feet and from what I have seen of him he seems fairly clued up when it comes to playing the right pass, popping it off to a midfielder or to Suarez before turning and getting his frame into the penalty area. This is what we want from a target man, somebody who can hold the ball up high up the pitch, make a nuisance of himself, distract defenders and of course, chip in with plenty of goals.
This is where Luis comes in. Luis’ movement is at times, fantastic. He’s a very intelligent player and I think he will relish playing off Carroll and running the channels. Particularly due to the attraction Andy brings upon himself from defenders, Suarez will find room in and around him, and with his brilliance in tight situations; he’ll be a devastating attacking force for us. The two of them, on paper at least, appear to compliment each other exceptionally. We will score goals people. Goals galore.
So that’s our first two signings dealt with. Where do we go from here? Something I asked myself at the beginning of the transfer window. Well, strangely, we went with Jordon Henderson, who wasn’t exactly who I expected as our first major summer signing, admittedly.
I like Jordon though, his physique, his playing style, his work rate – he reminds me of a 19 year old Steven Gerrard. He may lack the dynamism and power of Stevie, but the way he moves the ball, the way he gets up and down, even his running style, remind me very much of that fresh faced Steven Gerrard who burst onto the scene in the very late 90s. Although he may lack that dynamic edge, and that explosive power that Stevie once wondered us with, and probably still will, Jordon makes up for this with his technical ability, and a very cool head. He’s comfortable in possession, he can cross, he can pass, is deceptively quick and valuable at both ends of the pitch. He way well play plenty of games this season, but we will really see the reasons why Henderson was signed in a couple of years time, when Stevie can’t do it anymore, this man will take over the reins. For me, that’s the reason he was signed above any other – to replace Gerrard when the time is right.
You might ask yourself however, if we are playing a 4-4-2 most of the time, why sign Jordon? Why not sign an out and out right winger? Well I’ve always said that no team should play with two out and out wingers on their natural sides. Why? Well it stretches the game to much for me. It can leave your full backs and midfield vulnerable, and it also limits your attacking options. Many sides have rectified this by playing one winger on his ‘unnatural’ side, so he is cutting in on his stronger foot. We’ve seen Robben, Messi, Ashley Young and the likes do this over the years, but it looks as though we might be going a different way considering we’ve signed a natural left winger (Downing), and Jordon Henderson, some sort of inside right player (a position Stevie should have played more – the one season he did he scored an impressive 23 goals) to give you a natural right footer on that side, but also a player who will drop in and support the midfield, allowing his full back to over lap him. That, for me, is the role Henderson will find himself in on a regular basis in the future, and possibly why he’s getting games there in Gerrards absence.
Next came Adam. The longest transfer saga at the club since Kenny and Comolli arrived.
Charlie Adam? I like him, I also have my reservations about him, but for the money he cost, it makes absolute sense to get him here. At the very least, Adam will provide you with excellent set pieces and with the likes of Carroll coming into the team we will need them. A lot of people would say that set pieces have been one of our major weaknesses over the last few years. Even with as technically talented players as Gerrard and Xabi Alonso standing over them, often we have looked little like a threat from corners and free kicks from wide areas. Never have two such talented players given so little quality from corners. With the signing of Adam, for a low fee for a player of his age, we seem to have rectified this issue.
The other major quality Adam gives us is similar to what Xabi once did here. They are different players though. Adam is stronger, more eager to get forward, and probably a little more direct. Xabi was more technically gifted, a more intelligent passer, and had more tactical awareness. The common denominator though, is their ability to switch the play. What long passers bring is an extra dimension to the pitch with their ability to remove the ball from a crowded area and switch the play into space for another player while we have possession. This opens up the pitch while you are attacking and stretches the play, forcing the opposition to go from pressing hard in one area of the pitch, to having to rush to another to close down the space in what has quickly become (thanks to the switch of play) a more threatening area in need of defending. That’s what a good long passer does; opens up the pitch and allows the wingers and full backs to exploit space on one side of the pitch while the ball is on the other, knowing that the ball could come across any second. We saw with Xabi, that when he got the ball, one winger, or both, would pull wide, hug the touchline, and allow space centrally for Gerrard (now Suarez) to move into. I’m not suggestion a good ‘pivot’ style player is necessary for every team, but with the system we are looking to employ, with two wide players and a centrally attacking one, the ability for the ball to be switched from side to side becomes all the more important in order to get these players involved.
My major issue with Charlie can be his choice of pass. Occasionally for me, he looks to play the switch ball too early or too often. This was something Xabi was guilty of in his opening season, but one must consider that Alonso was 22 at the time, not 27. Every player has weaknesses and faults, and to be honest, I’m nit-picking slightly here, and I’m sure it’s something Kenny will address. Glad we got him signed.
Next, eventually the winger we all craved came in. Stewart Downing. Some were relieved, excited, happy. Others were slightly disappointed, unimpressed and wanted Mata. Boo-fucking-hoo. Anyone that has watched Downing over the years will tell you that he is very efficient. That’s the key word, efficient. You know what you’re getting with Downing. He’s quick, energetic, technically sound, and he is an excellent crosser of the ball. He may not be as exotic as Mata, or Turan or whoever, but he will consistently put good crosses into the box. Besides, Downing is more than just this. He has the ability to play on either flank, or even behind the forward, he can finish, beat players and is a better passer than he is given credit for. We knew Downing would fit in here. Kenny and Comolli knew they would get an instant return on Downing and that there would be very little settling in period. He was a safe bet, and a sound one at that; a good bit of business if you ask me, especially when you consider the benefit of having an extra home-grown player in the squad, starting regularly.
The score seems more or less settled now anyway. Perhaps when he was signed some people were somewhat underwhelmed, but I think even in Stewart’s first games, he has impressed sufficiently to be accepted by the doubters. In a better team, with better players around him, Downing suddenly looks a quality player, the quality player many have suspected him to be for a few years now, and a vital cog in the Liverpool machine.
So by now the major signings seem done and dusted. We’ve acquired the winger we desperately needed, a long term replacement for Gerrard, a midfielder who can ping a ball to any point of the pitch, as well of course as the two strikers that arrived in January. However, Comolli and Kenny were not quite done.
Shortly before the summer transfer window closed, Uruguay’s young player of the tournament (Copa America) arrived at Anfield and met up with his pal Luis Suarez. Coates, the young, highly rated centre half has arrived. Now this will be brief, as I know very little of Coates - I’ve only seen him play once. Obviously there’s plenty on RAWK that would think this made them experts on the boy; I however, will be a little more reserved and freely admit that I really don’t know how good this lad is, or what his best qualities are. The general consensus is that he is a class act in the making. As I say, I don’t know enough about him to suggest what he will bring to the squad, but I will trust Kenny and David’s judgment, and, I know that Uruguayan defenders are usually very good, strong, aggressive players with good technical ability. If you want to know more about this lad, then visit his thread on RAWK. Or Youtube – whichever makes you feel more like a professional scout.
The last player to sign on the dotted line was Craig Bellamy. We all know plenty about his man - pace, aggression, determination, and a clinical finisher. Four or five years ago Bellamy was considered one of the best forwards in the Premiership, and rightly so. Although that may not be the case anymore, he is still an extremely good squad player to have in order to make an impact in some games and start others. He give us pace, and a direct, single minded approach in our attacking line up, something we thought we lacked before his arrival. A two year contract, a Liverpool boy who we know will play his heart out for this club and give us something different; a great piece of business if you ask me. Top marks for David and Kenny after bringing in the one type of player we felt we desperately needed despite all the previous signings. Well in boys.
So that’s the where we are so far. We have bought in a crop of players that will drastically improve the squad and bring it back up to the sort of level it was at before the likes of Alonso and Mascherano were prized away from us with no quality replacements. The mess the Yanks and Roy left us in seems a million miles away right now, a blot in Liverpool’s long and illustrious history. Another dark chapter to a book written in 40 years time is over, and again a bright one will follow. This isn’t over, not by any stretch, and I hope the new owners do not think that it is, because football is always evolving and we need to keep up with it - survival of the fittest. Every year we will need to keep improving, keep adding quality, and discarding dead wood (what a fine job Comolli has done there, I might add). Every year I write a piece similar to this at the end of the transfer window, except last year when I was totally underwhelmed by the whole summer activities. I do, hope that next year I can write another, and the year after that, and the year after that, because that means we are improving and I am hopeful for the future – even if you fuckers haven’t got the time or energy to read it – I will still enjoy scribbling every word, as long as I have hope in my heart.
Merry Christmas.
