IF the award for best signing of the summer was given in December, the 2011/2012 season’s winner would have been Jose Enrique hands down.
However, a superb start to the season was overshadowed by a significant drop in form after the New Year.
For reasons unknown, Enrique went from a solid, impressive left-back to a defensive liability.
Many people believe that the reason Enrique’s performances went sour was because of the amount of pressure he was under playing behind Downing who did not deliver a single goal or assist in the Premier League all season.
Downing does not do a lot of defensive work and with Enrique having a very attacking attitude as a left-sided defender, the Spaniard covered a lot of ground throughout the season and it is possible that come January/February the ex-Newcastle man simply ran out of steam and his standard of performance suffered as a result.
For me, a lot of it came down to the fact that, when fit, Enrique started every game. With only an injury-hit Fabio Aurelio and an inexperienced youngster in Jack Robinson for competition, Enrique must have rendered himself immovable at left-back. This sort of attitude affords a player the opportunity to drop in standard as they know they’ll still get picked every week.
This summer provides new manager Brendan Rodgers with an opportunity to bring in a quality left-back to compete with Enrique and bring the best out of the Spaniard and, with Aurelio moving to Gremio [Editor: where he subsequently got injured!] and Robinson in need of a loan move to gain first-team experience, it is an opportunity I feel Rodgers cannot afford to pass up. Admittedly, there aren’t many left-backs out there that would be considered as good enough to come to Liverpool and for a reasonable price that represents good value to the club. This means that the scouting staff has got a difficult task on their hands to find Rodgers a left-back who would tick all the right boxes.
We have all seen the potential Jose Enrique has and it is exciting to know how good he can be so, after the initial first season settling down period, all Liverpool fans will be hoping that Brendan Rodgers can get the best out of the full back. Give us your thoughts on Enrique: do you think we need to sign a left-back to replace him or compete with him? Do you have faith in the full-back and does he have your backing in a Liverpool shirt?
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Never rated him, loses position to often for me. Get rid!
At one time Liverpool fans were asking “Why isn’t he in the Spanish side”. The answer is simple he very rarely passes the ball first time.
While hi is a good strong defender he will need to improve going forward because the style of play will require a considerable amount of one touch football.
I would keep him as he is a good defender and the passing can be improved.
No, we’re short on funds. Agger and Johnson can backup, while Coates and Kelly can play in the centre and right rspctvly..
Have you ever heard of fatigue?
He is very over rated. Massive ball hog. Never gives off first option, and only when he’s in all sorts he tries to pass which by then too late. Got found out big time.
not good enough n no time to wait on his improvement…get jodi alber to bench him…
no he is gud..i lik his fatique..he got a lot of stamina..de problem he has is a little back up 4rm downing..jst give enrique a little more games he is owk an i like him..!
Really don’t know what’s happened to Liverpool fans in recent years. Enrique is a really high quality defender and a superb attacking full-back. He just happened to have a bad end to the season, is all. He’ll be more suited to the style we’re led to believe the new manager wants us to play so I’m sure we’ll see the best of him again this season.