There is a lot of things that can be said about how Liverpool FC entered last season.
Many of them can only be described as either deluded or outright abysmal. But I for one, seriously, in all honesty, because that’s what I am all about, went into last season with a hope that the world had not exactly caved in on itself. Suarez leaving? Yeah ok, fine we will deal with it. Henderson, Sterling, Lallana, Markovic, Sturridge, Coutinho, Can, Moreno, Balotelli and Lambert should have enough firepower between them to soften the blow.
Other’s will now tell you that they always knew we would have a horrible season, but here, as I sit and type away, I can tell you that I was not one of those people. I saw the future and it did not look too bad. Lallana for me was a great buy, he had all the high pressing energy we needed and he looked like a proper finisher during his time at Southampton, the price tag obviously was not on the cheap end of the scale, but so what I thought?. Markovic was the young addition that did not need to prove himself straight away, but still had enough about him to make me giddy with excitement, more for his second season with Liverpool, than his first. Moreno, well, he is just all sorts of crazy and I loved everything about the man and best of all, he may have been young, but straight away he improved our first 11 in a position that has been a God awful curse for years. Lambert, inexpensive backup who surely would have been able to make a bit of a difference. Can, well, he is a proper beast of a midfielder who can literally write his own script and become the star destroyer for years to come. Balotelli, was a name I was genuinely excited about and after witnessing the way he teared Tottenham up on his debut playing alongside Sturridge, I was well pleased with what we had brought in.
And then there was Lovren.
Sorry folks, but I had convinced myself that firstly, he was as good as the hype Rodgers had created around his signing, even after watching him fail miserably at The World Cup and secondly, I just really believed that there must be a reason that I do not get as to why he was being pursued so vigorously. I wanted to believe. I wanted to think that people paid to know actually knew what they were doing, but that just was not the case.
So what does all this have to do with next season?
The reality is, last season was not good enough, it was not ‘par’, it was not even somewhat acceptable, it was a disaster and to be totally honest, the summer that preceded the season may not be the sole reason for the substandard finish, but it did play an almighty role.
After the horrendous finish to the year, which culminated in the utter capitulation at Stoke, it seemed as though there was only one option. The manager had to go, he had failed at winning a cup, he had failed to make it out of the group stages of the Champions League, he had failed at making it into the top 4 and most of all, he had failed to provide the fans, the owners or the players with any hope. As a Rodgers supporter, this is all hard to say. But you know what? Having to state that I am a Rodgers supporter is just as cringe-worthy. As fans, we should not have to pick sides, we should all be united in a common goal, Liverpool FC doing well, but that is how far things had fallen under Rodgers. Camps were created and you were either on one side or another. No middle ground to be had here, except, as a rabid fan of Rodgers, I genuinely believed that I had reached the middle ground. I wanted him to succeed, I wanted him to be our next Shankly, I wanted him to etch his name in Liverpool folklore so that our kids would all sing his name.
But here I was, at the end of a season that had crushed me beyond belief, stuck in a middle ground that on balance felt like the right place to sit, I loved Rodgers, but I love Liverpool FC and I could not see how Rodgers would get himself out of this mess.
You can talk about tactics, you can talk about desire, you can talk about running through walls, but what was clear by the end of the season was the fact that Rodgers just did not have anything left in the tank and neither did any of the players charged with winning games.
It is easy to forget that with even 10 games to go, Liverpool had top 4 aspirations that were more than obtainable. Except of course for the fact that they really weren’t because the players had decided that it was all too hard.
So now, this season is upon us, we have a barrage of good news, Ings, Milner, Origi, Bogdan, Clyne and Firmino are all confirmed, with a handful of kids primed to make up the numbers in the squad and academy network. There is nothing but sheer goodwill for all those players from my point of view, although to be fair I wanted Mat Ryan as our keeper, but we can fix that one up in January. With news constantly filtering through that Benteke is on his way, it really does seem as though we have just about finished up all our work and we can go through our preseason with everyone already on board and ready to go.
But what do all these players mean for how Liverpool set up next season?
Well, Borini, Lambert and probably Balotelli are all being moved on, which gives us a strike force of Sturridge, Benteke, Ings and Origi, which when all else is said and done is a dramatic improvement on our strikers from last season. With Firmino, Markovic, Coutinho, Lallana with Sterling (because we ain’t selling) and Ibe in the attacking third behind the strikers, it does seem like a side that is incredibly top heavy. Milner, Henderson, Can, Lucas and Allen in the Midfield, with Clyne and Moreno as our Fullbacks and Skrtel and Sakho as our Centreback pair, you can begin to see a starting 11.
If we were to play a 4-2-3-1 the back four writes itself, the 2 in front of the back four can be Can and Henderson with Milner Coutinho and Firmino all occupying the 3 with Sturridge up top.
Personally, I would tweak this formation just a little by playing more of a 4-2-2-1-1, semantics I know, but imagine, a Box Midfield with Can and Henderson at the base, Coutinho and Milner ahead of them with Firmino and Sturridge/Benteke literally playing off each other terrorizing defenders with ample runners from midfield and from the flanks with Moreno and Clyne to ensure that Liverpool can go all out in attack, without leaving the CB pairing too exposed.
But, we could go with a 4-3-3 where the back four once again writes itself, with Coutinho, Henderson and Milner in the midfield with Sturridge/Benteke Firmino and Ibe tearing up defenders. Give Coutinho 4 runners in front of him and I think he has a field day in that midfield position.
Or you could go with a 3-5-2 with Illori/Skrtel/Sakho at the back with Moreno and Clyne at WB with Coutinho, Henderson and Milner in CM with Firmino and Sturridge/Benteke up front.
The opportunities are endless, and although last season the switching of formations ended up being really troublesome for all involved, what you can see above is the fact that all 4 formations mentioned above can easily work with all the available squad players. There is no shoehorning in players into positions that do not work for them. There is just variety which works to all the strengths of our available players. The first 11 as you can see is also vastly and I mean this with all due respect, improved from what we had on the pitch last season and there are still Ings, Benteke, Origi, Lallana, Markovic, Sterling, Ibe, Allen and Lucas all to force into the first 11. That is just crazy talk.
What does this look like? It looks like a real squad. You can make a second first 11 with the likes of Ing, Benteke, Origi, Lallana, Markovic, Sterling, Ibe, Allen and Lucas that should tear through Europa group stages and cup competitions which leaves our best 11 free to compete in what matters most, the league.
Obviously, what that second first 11 clearly lacks are solid options at the back, with Illori and Wisdom able to play CB or FB and the poor old Lovren and Kolo as the best we can muster for an experienced CB pairing behind our first teamers.
So is there room to improve this squad in the future? Obviously there is and the glaring holes are right there plain to see, but with the focus on scoring goals, it seems appropriate to take care of the biggest issue from last season first, leaving the back up defender squad roles for a later date.
Things you see, are not that bad again, we are on the right path and there is definitely hope. But I thought that same thing last preseason, so you know, maybe worrying about it is the right thing to do!
