What Positions Rodgers Needs to Address First, And Why

SO it’s been well over a week now. We have a new man in charge and we’ve all had time to get used to that idea. And while it might not be ideal that he has hardly any of his first team squad available (or even in the same country) at the moment, thanks to Euro 2012, he will have seen enough of many of the players last season to know what challenges he faces and where, and if he doesn’t then I’m about to give him a bit of a helping hand on our behalf!

Perhaps the most obvious position – even the most important – is up front.

It was no great secret that Liverpool struggled badly at times to score goals and while many lazier pundits put that down to a lack of creativity on the part of the players, it was actually purely and simply a lack of prowess in front of goal. I read a Paul Parker article recently, in which he stated that Liverpool played a long-ball game all season and failed to create many chances and this just sums up the lack of understanding of Liverpool’s real problems, because we did actually play some good football at times. The real problem was that Suarez and Gerrard aside, we didn’t really have any players capable of putting the ball away.

Last season, relegated Blackburn even scored more league goals than us, despite having created over 650 chance in the league alone, we managed only 47 goals. Regardless of what people said about Suarez’s ability in front of goal, without him we would have been well and truly up the creek. So the first priority needs to be a striker. He doesn’t need to be a £30 million International superstar (pure and simply, because we couldn’t afford one) but he needs to be able to put the ball in the goal when called upon. See Hernandez, Sturridge, Defoe – players who aren’t necessarily first choice but can do the business when called upon.

Once a good striker is added to the squad we need to look out wide. Because while we may have created numerous chances last season a lot of our forward play was often lacking direction and the midfield often looked totally clueless. I lost count of how many times it required a moment of brilliance from Suarez, Bellamy, et al to break the deadlock, or even just liven the tempo of our game up, so we will require at least one creative wide player and ideally two. The absence of Kuyt has left a void on the right, and we don’t know how many games we’ll get out of Bellamy next season, or even if he’ll be here.

Added to that, Stewart Downing showed no signs of improving toward the end of last season, while it’s touch and go as to whether Maxi will still be a Liverpool player by the start of next season so a wide-player with the ability to take on the man in front of him and get in some quality crosses is a necessity, particularly if we’re going to make use of Andy Carroll. Even if Carroll isn’t in the new man’s plans, then we will need somebody that can at least offer something different and provide another attacking threat. We can’t always rely on Gerrard, Suarez and the oft-injured Bellamy for a bit of creativity.

Thankfully, it looks as if this is something that Rodgers already has in mind, with Gylfi Sigurðsson having been heavily linked with a move to Liverpool since his arrival at the club. Having scored 7 goals and added 4 assists in just 18 games for Rodger’s Swansea last season (and being aged just 22) the Icelandic International could really be the answer to a lot of our wide problems, should he eventually sign. And if he could be acquired for the same fee that Swansea were quoted then there may be the possibility of bringing in another creative player to add to our options.

But while some attacking prowess and creative flair are both necessities, they may not necessarily be something that we need to bring in from outside the club. It was mentioned in the press last week that Rodgers is planning to sit down with both Joe Cole and Alberto Aquilani and see whether they have a future at the club and if they’re both willing then it would be interesting to see how they would fit in to his own version of Barca’s Tiki-taka. Not only this, but it would free up more funds to strengthen elsewhere. Another option would be to strengthen from the reserves, with both Suso and Sterling beginning to get restless after a lack of first-team action. I, for one, would be more than willing to risk these two youngsters than suffer another season of Downing and Henderson.
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While attack was an area in which we suffered at times last season, defensively we were pretty solid all season long. With the likes of Kelly, Skrtel, Agger, Coates, Johnson and Enrique we’re pretty much sorted. Not to mention young talents such as Flanagan, Wisdom, Robinson and Coady waiting in the wings. Likewise, we have two full international ‘keepers (with Jones likely to move on) who will no doubt both benefit from the change in coaching personnel next season.

But while we have an abundance of strength at the back, one final area of the team that I feel needs to be looked at is the very niche role Lucas fills. After a huge 18 months from the Brazilian general, we could all be accused of having started to take his abilities for granted, so when he got injured and Spearing stepped in to the void, it was only then that we realised just how good he is.

Too short, too slow, and just not Lucas – those are the only ways to describe his performances in this role. And while that isn’t a personal attack on Spearing, it does just go to show that it takes a very particular type of player to fill that position and somebody of at least comparable quality to a young Lucas is something we desperately need. Thinking back to when we had both Mascherano and Sissoko, many people didn’t see the point in having two players to fill the same role when we often only ever played one but I imagine many of us would bite off the hand of the person who offered us Momo back now?

In Mohamed Diame I see a very similar player to Sissoko but perhaps a slightly more mature, less rash version of him. The Senegalese international was, at one time, chased by both Barcelona and Real Madrid, which does make you wonder how he ended up at Wigan, but you should never turn your nose up at a free transfer and particularly not one with Premier League experience. He may not be a Yann M’Vila or a Javi Martinez, but until we’re in a position to chase the top players again he would be a low-cost, low risk option and would provide our world-class destroyer with some occasional respite.

So while we had a pretty poor season last time out, I still do not believe that we’re as bad as the position we finished in. We have a good spine and some top players but, as with many sides, we have our fair share of dead-wood. In this period where we’ve been without Champions League football for what feels like a lifetime we won’t be able to sign the biggest and best names, just yet. In the meantime what is required, I believe, is considered, sensible signings and perhaps a bit of wheeling and dealing, in order to strengthen in several key areas and ship out what is no longer needed and with a new striker, a couple of wide-players and a new defensive midfielder, we could begin looking forward to next season with a healthier squad and a much more healthy sense of optimism about the place.

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