Luis Suarez bookended
Liverpool’s summer transfer window.
His departure to Barcelona for £75 million on 11 July
sparked a spending spree that saw a grand total of nine new signings arrive to
try and fill the Uruguayan’s considerably sized boots. The fact that his return
to Liverpool’s Melwood training ground to pick up a few personal items and say
his goodbyes to former teammates was one of the main stories on Merseyside on
transfer deadline day demonstrated the success of the Reds’ summer revamp.
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| Suarez with his former teammates |
Liverpool’s lack of activity on deadline day was a sign of
success. As football fans get caught up in the excitement and drama of deadline
day, they often forget that frantic activity on the final day of the transfer
window is more often a sign of failure than of success. As the media whips up
speculation and anxiously counts down the minutes until the transfer window slams shut- it never closes quietly!-
the fact that leaving your business until the last minute does not make
footballing or financial sense is frequently overlooked.
On the financial side, transfer fees and wages become
inflated as sellers know that buyers are becoming increasingly desperate to add
to their squad as the clock ticks down to midnight, or 11pm, as the case may be.
On the footballing side, new signings who arrive late on in the transfer window
miss out on spending pre-season with their new teammates, making it more
difficult for them to gel and form a cohesive unit.
Consequently, the fact that Liverpool, alongside Manchester
City and Chelsea, did not make the headlines on deadline day demonstrated the
success of their respective transfer strategies, while Arsenal and Manchester
United belied the panicked nature of their transfer activity by spending big
and working on deals into the twilight hours of the final day of the summer
transfer window.
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| Is Falcao worth £350k a week? |
While Manchester United spent a whopping £24 million on
signing Radamel Falcao from Monaco on a season long loan and hurriedly ushered
Danny Welbeck and Javier Hernandez out of the door to finance the
out-of-the-blue signing, Liverpool quietly offloaded two squad players surplus
to requirements, namely Sebastian Coates and Oussama Assaidi, who joined
Sunderland and Stoke respectively on loan for the season.
It was a good way to end a busy and productive summer
transfer window in which Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers has sought to
replace a superstar striker with a strong squad. So far he seems to have been
fairly successful , although only time will tell whether or not Liverpool “do a
Spurs” and repeat the mistakes that Tottenham Hotspur made last summer when
they financed a whole host of signings by selling star performer Gareth Bale to
Real Madrid.
On the evidence of Liverpool’s 3-0 win over Tottenham on
Sunday lunchtime, however, it appears reasonable to conclude that Rodgers has
completed his revamp of the Reds’ squad quite well. Undoubtedly, the Reds’
squad has far greater depth now and is much more thoroughly equipped to cope
with competing on four fronts.
Importantly, Rodgers also has options off the bench to call
upon. At White Hart Lane, there wasn’t a single inexperienced youngster sat on
the substitutes’ bench; every sub had experience at the highest levels of club
football and had been involved on the international stage as well. As it turned
out, Rodgers didn’t need to call upon them as his side had already taken Tottenham
apart, but in closer games when a little inspiration from the bench is
required, it is reassuring to know that the Northern Irishman can call on the
likes of Coutinho, Lambert and Markovic to come on and change the course of the
game.
Moreover, the Reds’ revamp has seen improvements in all
areas of the pitch, particularly problem positions. Everyone in the footballing
world knew that the Reds’ defence needed major work over the summer, and
Rodgers has spent big to try and rectify the glaring holes in Liverpool’s
defence that unquestionably cost them the title last season.
At centre back, Dejan Lovren arrived for £20 million from
Southampton and has already assumed the mantle of leader of the back four,
marshalling it superbly in the opening few games. Admittedly, he’s prone to the
odd error, but his pace normally compensates for that and allows him to make
some spectacular recovery tackles. Most significantly, he looks like the long
term leader that Liverpool have been lacking at the back since the retirement
of Jamie Carragher in 2013.
The loss of Agger is disappointing, but more for emotional
than footballing reasons. It’s always sad to see a faithful club servant leave,
but the reality is that he wasn’t going to play a key part in Liverpool’s
defence heading into the future.
Additionally, the left and right back positions have been
bolstered by the acquisitions of Alberto Moreno and Javier Manquillo
respectively. The former, signed for £12 million after protracted negotiations
with Sevilla, looks like a talented left back in the John Arne Riise mould, and
promises to provide plenty of attacking verve down the left wing, as
demonstrated by his brilliant solo run and goal versus Spurs.
The latter, who arrived on a two-year loan from Atletico
Madrid, finally provides Glen Johnson with much needed competition. He seems
encouragingly feisty in the tackle, although he’ll have to channel that
aggression correctly in order to avoid adding to the couple of bookings that he
has already picked up.
At the other end, Mario Balotelli- why is it always him? – arrived from AC Milan in the shock signing
of the summer to provide the touch of genius and healthy dose of madness that
Liverpool lost when they sold Suarez. It’s a risky gamble, but one that
certainly seems reasonable to make considering Arsenal signed Danny Welbeck for
the same £16 million transfer fee.
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| I know which I'd prefer, and it's not the one that Roy Hodgson loves |
With Lambert arriving and Borini staying put, Rodgers has
four strikers, which is needed when competing amongst the European elite. Moreover,
versatile attacking players like Coutinho and Sterling mean that the Reds
shouldn’t struggle for goals this season, even without their superstar striker
from last season, who would have missed a sizeable chunk of the campaign
through suspension anyway.
Meanwhile, Liverpool’s midfield has vast reserves of talent
following the signings of Lallana and Can. With Gerrard, Henderson, Lucas and
Allen also competing to fill three midfield positions, Rodgers has an exciting
array of options from which to choose, and he’ll welcome the resulting
selection headache.
All in all, the Reds’ squad has been comprehensively and
successfully revamped. Between the posts is arguably the only place in which
improvements have not been made, although there are rumours that the
out-of-contract former Barcelona goalkeeper Victor Valdes may arrive to provide
back-up to first choice Simon Mignolet, which would be a good free signing
assuming the Spaniard’s wage demands are reasonable and fitness levels adequate.
Every signing seems to make sense on an individual level and
each department of the team has been improved. The only remaining issue is how
long it will take for them to form a cohesive unit and whether or not this will
be a season of transition or a campaign in which Liverpool can kick on and
compete at the highest levels.
Despite losing Suarez, Rodgers’ and Liverpool’s successful
strategy and footballing philosophy remains in place and the Reds are carrying
on their progress by building a strong squad to replace their superstar
striker. After all, the club is and always will be bigger than any one
individual.
YNWA
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