Liverpool Is (Slowly) Moving Forward

First and foremost, I’d like to apologize to the people who follow this blog or my Twitter who expected to read my articles and posts because of the lack of content in the past month or so. To be brutally honest, that motivation to write was somehow missing in me. However, the recent events that transpired for Liverpool FC inspired me to write this one. Without further delay, do enjoy!
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Liverpool FC is a gloriously-decorated club that has won eighteen League titles, only bettered by fierce rivals Manchester United. Domestically, we’ve also lifted seven FA Cups and eight League Cups, including one in 2012. On top of that, Liverpool has also won five European Cups, three UEFA Cups and three Super Cups. This makes Liverpool FC easily one of the best English clubs of all time, and one of the best teams in the history of football.

The common phrase used against Liverpool is that we are a team with rich history, and that’s all we have. The sad thing is that many teams of today can boast recent successes but only very few actually have a deep, meaningful history that carries on from generation to generation. However, that doesn’t make them entirely wrong.

Sadly, it is true that Liverpool was an English powerhouse, but now, we are just considered a moderate-to-good team, while only a fair few will consider us a great team. The last time Liverpool was actually a big team was in the 2008-09 season where we finished with the highest amount of points ever in the Premier League but were still runners-up to none other than Manchester United who claimed the title. How ironic, isn’t it?

The 3 following years from that title slip-up consisted of mediocre results and league positions. Under Rafa Benitez’s last season at the club, we finished 7th in the Premier League, meaning that we missed out on a Champions League spot after qualifying for it for many consecutive years. After Rafa left the club, an average Roy Hodgson took charge, only to be replaced by The King himself, Kenny Dalglish, after 6 months. Kenny Dalglish didn’t stay for long either – he was sacked by the club after his first full season upon returning to the club that coveted him for the second time as manager. He did, however, guide Liverpool to a Carling Cup and also to the finals of the FA Cup, only to be runners-up to Chelsea. That was the first time fans were able to see our captain, Steven Gerrard, lift some silverware since 2007.

It has been a rocky ride for Liverpool, the players, and the fans. We are subject to constant banter, jokes and insults just because we went through a rough patch – which is why the summer of 2012 was a crucial one for Liverpool. We have just parted ways with The King, we ended the season in 8th place, and qualified for the less-coveted Europa League only because we won the Carling Cup.

This begs me to ask the question – what have we done from the summer of 2012 until today, the 8th of February 2013, and where do we stand as we speak? Let’s break it down.

FSG and John W. Henry
As a fan looking in, it seems like this season has been a season of rectifications and fixes. After spending a whopping (approx.) £115 million from the past 3 transfer windows, it was made clear that we wouldn’t have much money to spend to start off the 2012-2013 season. From the 9-digit-millions spent, only 6 players are still with the club today (Luis Suarez, Jordan Henderson, Stewart Downing, Jose Enrique and Sebastian Coates. Andy Carroll is out on loan).

So far this season, we’ve only spent less than half of what we had spend prior to the summer. The arrivals of 6 players in two transfer windows only cost us approximately £47 million only. The contrast in the figures is a clear indication that the owners aren’t willing to spend as much this season and has definitely learned from past mistakes. Better now than never, right?

While many may have huge doubts over the new American owners, I personally think that they’re winning me over as time goes by. Many criticize the owners for their reluctant behavior to spend just a little more during the club’s pursuit of Gylfi Siggurdsson and Clint Dempsey during the summer of 2012. 6 months later, we are all releasing a huge sigh of relief for not doing so, as both players aren’t doing extraordinary for the club they eventually signed for, Tottenham Hotspurs. However…

..another criticism they had to take was that they made attempts to sign Clint Dempsey far too late – down to the last hours of the summer transfer window, in fact. FSG’s failure to complete deals early on in the transfer window left us with a relatively thin squad and loaning out Andy Carroll just days before the window closed left us with shortage of options up front.

Again, forward 6 months, and we signed Daniel Sturridge right at the start of the January transfer window. The deal was deemed completed before the window had even opened, and much praise has to go to FSG for that. Philippe Coutinho was also signed a few days before the window closed, which showed that we have improved our efficiency of transfer deals.

In between the two signings were many internal deals being completed. Joe Cole, who was signed on a free transfer during Roy’s days, was released by the club and joined West Ham permanently. Nuri Şahin, who looks to be surplus to requirements, also had his loan-deal with Liverpool cut short, and he returned to Real Madrid, only to return to the club where he shined the brightest – Borussia Dortmund. During the closing stages of the window, Alexander Doni’s contract with the club was terminated as well due to personal reasons (which was eventually discovered to be relating to his health).

These 3 transactions freed up a total of £240,000 worth of weekly wages on a permanent basis, while the signings of Daniel Sturridge and Philippe Coutinho adds £100,000-a-week of wages. The net savings from said transactions is £140,000 per week, which sums up a great transfer window in my books.

We’ve added quality players to the squad while getting rid of players that have failed to impressed and/or are on high wages at the club. This also comes after selling the likes of Alberto Aquilani and Charlie Adam earlier in the summer, further cutting our losses for the long-term.

While FSG may not possess the greatest of football knowledge, but at the end of the day, they are mere businessmen. The main reason why they took over the club was to generate profits out of a £300-million investment. If they were to be operating the club at a loss, the club would suffer the subsequent detriments.

However, the transactions that we’ve seen in this recent January transfer window has convinced me that they are the right people to stay for the long-term, and if they do not stray too much from what they have done in the past month, we can truly be a magnificent European club again with their financial guidance.

From the top going down, the next topic on the list will be the man himself, Brendan Rodgers.

Brendan Rodgers
Before his appointment, we’ve seen and heard names like Roberto Martinez being a possible candidate, and the Danish legend, Michael Laudrup being tossed into the ring. Frank De Boer of Ajax and Andre Villas-Boas, formerly of FC Porto and Chelsea were also names being mentioned. Then we have Brendan Rodgers.

Out of those 5 names, I really truly considered only 3 out of 5 of them. In my eyes, Roberto Martinez and Brendan Rodgers just didn’t have the necessary credentials to be manager of a top club like Liverpool. This was coming just a season after Wigan and Swansea both finished 15th and 11th respectively. We didn’t need mid-table managers to revive the club.

Eventually, we appointed the former Swansea man, someone who parted ways with Watford and Reading before ending up in Wales. Looking at his CV, Brendan Rodgers isn’t the most decorated manager out there, being in-charge of Watford and Reading for a total of only 14 months (24 November 2008 – 16 December 2009), both being the result of poor team performances.

At Swansea, he guided them to promotion (via success in the Championship play-offs) and guided Swansea to a mid-table finish in his first season in the Premier League.

Let’s be frank, 5, maybe 6 years ago, no manager with that record would ever stand a chance of even being considered by Liverpool. The question that arises from his appointment was, “have we really dropped to mediocrity?”.

Brendan’s season didn’t start well – only managing 2 points from the first 5 games, although we had to play Manchester City, Arsenal and Manchester United in those games. Our first win came only in our sixth game, with Luis Suarez’s hat-trick leading us to a 5-2 win over Norwich. That was deemed to be the turning point of the season, and boy was it right. The next 7 games consisted of 2 wins and 5 draws, bringing the unbeaten streak for the club to 8 games before losing 2-1 to Tottenham Hotspurs.

The next 9 games didn’t see Liverpool sharing any points, managing 6 wins, but losing 3 games to lowly Aston Villa, a surging Stoke City and losing 2-1 to bitter rivals Manchester United. 2-2 draws against Arsenal and Manchester City brings us to today – Liverpool on 7th with 36 points and 9 wins.

However, we are currently out of both domestic cups, something that we were still pursuing during Kenny Dalglish’s reign last season. Eliminations by now-finalists Swansea City and Football League 1 side Oldham Athletic FC in the Capital One Cup and the FA Cup respectively leaves us with only the Europa League to compete for.

Brendan Rodgers has certainly brought his own style of football to Liverpool, something we haven’t really seen ever since the deadly partnership of Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres. This “tiki-taka” style of football is slowly warming up to the club, the players and the fans, but it is still far from that of Arsenal, Manchester United, Barcelona or Spain.

Brendan Rodgers’ inconsistency in terms of his opening tactics is something that has come under heavy criticism as well. The line-up he put out against Oldham was certainly great on paper, but the risk of having only two midfielders didn’t work in our favor. The tactics deployed against the 2-2 result against Arsenal was also highly questionable considering the club doesn’t have great defensive qualities. But on his day, like in games against both Manchester clubs, we can play to our full potential with the right tactics employed by Brendan Rodgers.

Another topic to touch on our manager is his press conferences and his approach to the media. I actually applaud the professionalism of Brendan Rodgers when placed in front of a microphone. He answers questions very wisely and his words are nothing short of motivational.

The first time I was genuinely disapproving of his statements was his post-Oldham interview, where he outright blamed the youngsters as well as Martin Skrtel for their lack of performance. I do agree that as a manager, he has the right to shoot down his players if they fail to perform, and that is very much respected by me. It takes guts to publicly talk down your own players.

We’ve seen managers talk nonsense and taking the bullet for his players, but what Brendan Rodgers said about his players was nothing but unwise. His tactics failed him, and he did not take the opportunity to change his tactics early enough. If anything, he should also take a portion of the blame, if any blame were to be given.

As Dion Fanning mentioned in a recent article he brilliantly wrote, I quote,

“Everything Rodgers does suggests that he is not just postponing the moment when he will be judged … that he is worried what that judgement will reveal.”

“Rodgers then went to the other extreme in criticizing the young players, but if a manager must sometimes look ridiculous to protect his players, it is not a good idea for a manager to make his players look ridiculous to protect himself.”

“When he said they were soft and needed to understand the demands of playing for Liverpool, he was getting closer to the truth. Everything he said about those players could as easily be said of him.”

Those words and statements are certainly bold ones, but it is hard for anyone to deny that there is at least, a little bit of truth in it.

There is no doubt that Brendan Rodgers is a good man-manager though. New deals for many players like Andre Wisdom, Luis Suarez, Suso Fernandez and Raheem Sterling would tell you just as much. Even with his recent criticism of his players, there is no doubt that he is a figure that everybody loves, not necessarily on footballing terms, but rather, on a personal level.

In short, there are pros and cons to every manager, and Brendan Rodgers is no different. He does bring a lot of positive energy to the club, not restricted to only the four walls of Melwood, but going beyond to the fans who see him at Anfield game in, game out, to the players on the pitch and on the bench, as well as fans who merely see him on a screen.

However, is it fair for fans to put him on a pedestal, even going as far as to chant “There is only one Brendan Rodgers”, that basing off of only 7 months in charge of the club? My answer, is no. If Rodgers is safeguarded by his time at the club being only of a short period, then it is only fair that he is humbled, and not worshipped within that same period of time as well. If the argument is that he has only been in charge for a few months, then it should go both ways.

Regardless of which camp you are, be it pro-Rodgers or anti-Rodgers, there is one thing that’s a given – Brendan Rodgers seems to be here at Liverpool for the long-term. The task given to him in this first season is definitely a mountain of a challenge considering the condition of the clubs prior to his appointment. He is one of the youngest managers to have ever managed the Red club of Merseyside at only 40 years old, and it is no doubt that the club, rich in youth players, will be looking to develop under Brendan Rodgers while he himself develops at the same time.

As long as Liverpool FC do well on and off the pitch, in terms of football on the pitch or the financial side of the club off the pitch, it really doesn’t matter who is in-charge, whether it is Brendan Rodgers, or not. For now, he is the man in-charge. Will it be the same 3, 4, maybe 5 years from now? Even I don’t know. However, while he is in-charge, I wish nothing but the best out of him for the benefits of the club and the fans who support it.

The performances of the team have been getting more and more convincing under Brendan Rodgers. However, we should all not judge a book by its cover, be it positive or negative judgement.

The best time to evaluate how good Brendan Rodgers has been at Liverpool? At the end of the season.

Players and their Form
Nothing is a better indication on improvement than performances on the pitch. What the players do and don’t do is split to two portions, a portion of 80% and another of 20%.

20% of performances comes from line-ups, personnel and tactics which come from Brendan himself, but 80% of performances boils down to the player himself – how he operates as an individual and how he fits into the team to create a unit. It is also impacted by the confidence and the abilities that one possesses, but at the same time, you judge players based on what they do with the ball, and what they do without it.

Of recent times, I personally believe that we are playing outstandingly, probably playing some of the best football we’ve seen ever since the season in which we finished runners-up in the league, barring a small handful of poor performances.

The recent upheaval in terms of form by a number of players has definitely played a big part in this.

At first there were three, and then there were two. The three high-profile signings of Kenny Dalglish’s second term at the club has definitely got to be Andy Carroll, Jordan Henderson and Stewart Downing. Early this season, Andy Carroll was sent out on loan to West Ham for the season and recent reports state that he is most likely staying there after the end of the season. That leaves the club with two more – Henderson and Downing, both who were subject to heavy criticism.

However, both players are now playing their natural game after being freed of the imaginary chains that linked them to Big Andy. Instead of having to put in cross after cross after cross to Andy, they can now play a much more diverse game.

Stewart Downing is showing more than mere glimpses of his old Middlesbrough self which landed him starting spots in the England national team. Parallel to that, Jordan Henderson is now a staple in the Liverpool midfield after ousting out two of Brendan’s early-favourites, Joe Allen and Jonjo Shelvey. The two players are playing exceptional football at the moment, and have made their respective positions their own.

Let’s not forget that England’s Player of the Year – Steven Gerrard. A rough start to this season is now followed by a surge of brilliant, near-flawless form. His passing is as crisp as ever, his work rate is phenomenal and his two goals against Norwich and Manchester City is simply the icing on the cake on that silver platter which is all too familiar with what he’s treated us with in the past.

Speaking of Gerrard, his vice-captain, Jamie Carragher has also managed to brush off criticisms which arise due to his age and reclaim a starting spot in the team after great performances against Arsenal and Manchester City. While he lacks the ability to catch up with quicker oppositions, the experience he has from decades of playing definitely shows through his defensive positioning. He has put in a number of vital blocks this season and his contribution to the team is nothing short of incredible. He truly is the defensive stalwart we all know and love.

Daniel Sturridge and Luis Suarez are both simply outstanding and their chemistry as well as their mutual understanding is something only teams can dream of. This partnership, if prolonged, can definitely match attacking pairs of the modern day, such as Gerrard-Torres, Dzeko-Grafite and Mandukic-Muller.

While we have plenty of offensive options, we don’t have much to differ from at the back. Last season, we had defended better overall but had trouble scoring goals. This season, it seems to be the other way round – we can score at will, but also concede at will as well.

There are a fair few players who aren’t playing to their maximum potential – Joe Allen comes to mind. His early displays for the club had been great but his form hasn’t maintained since then. Lucas Leiva hasn’t been doing extraordinarily as well, but his performances aren’t bad. Fabio Borini still isn’t back to his 100% while Raheem Sterling and Suso failed to build on their early displays for the club this season.

Don’t be deceived, however. Many of our players that are currently starting or are on the bench are of young ages. People tend to underrate players like Jordan Henderson and Joe Allen, but forget that they are merely 22 years old only. Fabio Borini is only 21, Daniel Sturridge is just slightly older by 2 extra years, while new signing Philippe Coutinho and many familiar names like Suso, Andre Wisdom and Raheem Sterling are all below the age of 21.

Going further in-depth, we haven’t even truly seen the likes of Jordan Ibe, Jerome Sinclair, Samed Yesil, Marc Pelosi, Krisztián Adorján and João Carlos Teixeira in first team action yet. That’s just the tip of the iceberg, I might add. If anything, they are on course for a great career ahead if they develop with the right mentality.

Apart from our oh-so-dodgy defending, there is little to no negatives about our performances lately. The passes are executed very well, the team’s shape and form are organized well, the individual abilities are able to link together and form a great unit. This is definitely heading towards playing the “Liverpool way”, although we are still far from it.

In terms of squad personnel, the only thing we lack is strong leadership and a vocal figure in the squad barring Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher. Going back to that Oldham Athletic game (Again? Yeah, again), we saw Sebastian Coates partner Martin Skrtel in the center of our defence, and all goals scored are what Brendan Rodgers claim to be “soft” goals, which is true.

However, we should not lose hope. We have a great squad now than we have had for the past two years. The foundation and base that we have now is one to look forward to in the future. Our team is rich in youth who have massive potential to be great players in 2 to 3 years time and they are hungrier than ever before. With figures like Steven Gerrard to guide them, it is inevitable that at least half of the younger players we have now will pay dividends.

If we can acquire players who not only provide that extra depth, but also quality to the squad at the end of the season, we are well on our way to have one on the best squads in the league (and possibly, Europe). With consistency, the squad will certainly have a significant improvement on the pitch. All of this, I hope, will come with time.

Conclusion?
We have ambitious owners, we have a young manager who I assume will be here for the long-term, great players like Steven Gerrard and Luis Suarez, as well as soon-to-be great players in our youth academy.

This is the best shape Liverpool has been in for years, and while we had to accept a few mediocre results so far, the rebuilding stages look to be coming to a close soon. The owners have made the necessary steps to fix their past mistakes and we should expect some big signings in the coming summer.

If Brendan Rodgers and the players can build from the positives, learn from their mistakes and maintain consistency, we can surely expect a high finish. Not forgetting that while being out of the domestic cups has its downsides, it leaves us with a less congested schedule and we can still target for a lengthy run in the Europa League.

Nevertheless, we should all still reserve our judgements for Brendan Rodgers and the players until at least the end of the season. We all have to be patient and let the results flow.

Pairing the owners’ actions this season with a higher finish in the league plus a good cup run in the Europa League makes it more realistic for us to sign top players come summer.

If anything, we have already planted all the seeds we need, and will continue planting them for seasons to come. All that’s left now is to just be patient and reap the rewards that will sprout in the future.

With all these factors taking place, I have zero doubt that the club is moving nowhere but forward, granted, at a slower pace than what we are used to from the past. The next 5 years is going to be great to watch.

Will Liverpool be a deadly force in English and European football again? Yes, undoubtedly. It’s just a matter of how long it’ll take. Never have doubt in the club that is now, or has always been, a part of our life. In fact, the phrase “In Brendan (Rodgers) We Trust” is something I cannot agree with, because that trust should extend much deeper and much further than it is now. In Rodgers We Trust? No.

In Liverpool, We Trust. Forever and always. Liverpool is slowly moving forward. Believe in that, and You’ll Never Walk Alone.