Firstly I think it is fair to say that the continued boardroom uncertainty that remains due to the incompetence of two warring owners who clearly have very little idea of how to run a football club, let alone arguably the biggest football club in the world remains the most plausible reason behind Liverpool’s disappointing campaign.
If the important men at the helm of an organisation can get things so appallingly wrong, then how does that transcend down to people further down such as the management and the players? Hopefully by this time next year both George Gillett and Tom Hicks will be nothing more than a distant memory and the club will be able to move on from a period of ownership that can only be described as a ‘complete and utter farce’.
Whilst events off the field have been far from ideal, matters on the pitch have been no more encouraging. The season started on the back of losing one of our best players and certainly one of the most influential in the squad. Xabi Alonso moved on to pastures new, yet the failure to replace then Spaniard was certainly a costly mistake. While fans may argue that last summer saw an inflated football market in which average players at best were costing in the region of £15m, Alberto Aquilani was certainly not value for money at any price because what Liverpool needed was a player who could walk straight into the team and immediately take over the reins from Alonso. Even if the Italian had come back from injury when expected which was October/November – it would have still be too late to save the reds season.
The early season performances against Tottenham and Aston Villa were nothing short of dreadful. A dishevelled performance at White Hart Lane was not the ideal way to start the season at what followed was a 3-1 mauling at home to Aston Villa. Liverpool’s defensive performances in the first handful of games were questionable and soft goals were conceded in the forenamed games as well as in games against Bolton Wanderers and West Ham. Jamie Carragher took his fair share of early season criticism and at times it looked warranted.
Liverpool’s failure to finish games off can also be named as a decisive factor. The reds have conceded an incredible 13 goals this season in the final 10 minutes of matches and in seven of those cases they initially led. Liverpool’s failure to kill teams off has proved costly.
Despite the disappointing season, the red men have produced some impressive results this season most notably the 2-0 home victory over Manchester United and the 2-0 win at Goodison Park in the Merseyside Derby. Rafa’s team followed up those results with a 3-1 defeat at Fulham and a 0-0 draw with Blackburn. The squad hasn’t managed to push on from good results that they have acquired, mainly down to another key component which has been a lack of consistency at key stages of the season although the reds did pick up 17 points from a possible 21 after the New Year.
Liverpool have also an incredible amount of bad luck. From a ridiculous amount of injury problems to key players at the worst of times, beach balls, dodgy referee decisions and the steady emergence of teams looking to take Liverpool’s place in the top four.
On the injury front, Liverpool have suffered more than any other team. Glen Johnson, Martin Skrtel, Daniel Agger, Fabio Aurelio, Martin Kelly, Alberto Aquilani, Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres have all been long-term casualties at some stage over the course of the season meaning the manager has never been able to put out a settled squad on a weekly basis. The goal awarded to Sunderland in which Darren Bent’s shot deflected in off a beach-ball would have given any team nightmares afterwards. The reds have also had a number of credible penalty appeals turned down.
Rafa’s cautious approach throughout the season has also not gone without its criticism. Why any manager in the world feels the need to play with two holding midfielders when you have one in the mould of Javier Mascherano has left many baffled and the cautious approach has led to further problems as the campaign has progressed. The squad also carries a number of ‘average’ players who in my opinion are not good enough to be playing for a team of Liverpool’s stature.
Going out of all the major competitions so early was a huge morale destroyer, having no chance of winning any major trophy such as the premier league, champions league or the FA cup was a miserable feeling. Let’s face it fighting for fourth place as we have done in the past just is not exciting as fighting for the league title like last season.
Either way, invaluable lessons must be learnt if Liverpool are to push on in the future.
