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Rumours Of His Demise Were A Myth: Jose’s Back!

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FOLLOWING a rather disappointing finish to the 2011-12 season, Jose Enrique fell from grace with Reds fans rather swiftly.

Once the current season began, he found himself out of favour with the new man at the helm as well, and a succession of average-to-forgettable displays from the bench consigned the Spanish wing-back to the ‘get rid’ pile, in the eyes of many a fan.

Unlike many of the detractors, I kept the faith. Not that I’m claiming to be a footballing equivalent of the Oracle or anything, but I just didn’t feel like he’d had enough of a chance to be thought of in a negative light. Had a lot of these people forgotten about his awesome attacking performances from full-back at the start of the previous season? Was it lost on them, also, that he was playing in a side that had collectively lost its’ form (if it had ever really had it) in the last 4 months of the previous season?

It seemed that all of that had been forgotten.

If anything, I was more disappointed that many people were still prepared to give both Henderson and Downing more time, when a player with bags of quality (but clearly lacking confidence), who had deserved, at least, another crack of the whip was being shoved out of the door before he’d even played a full football match at all this season.

So, after an assist that could only be marvelled at (and almost matched the quality of the finish) for Luis Suarez’s equalizer against Newcastle, Enrique followed that performance up with a lung-busting display against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge from the left wing back position. All that he missed was a goal that his performance deserved. But despite this, he was still getting some stick from fans for trying things that his apparently limited technical ability wouldn’t allow.
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Well, fast-forward 6 days and Jose Enrique’s resurgence shows no signs of slowing down.  After starting in the same position as against the blues of Chelsea the Sunday prior, he put in a dazzling display of attacking verve that even managed to rival Luis Suarez’s. So it was with great delight (and a little smugness) that I watched as the Spanish defender was named Man of the Match against Wigan on Saturday, after an assist and a goal in the 3-0 victory over Wigan Athletic.

Sure, he may not reach this height every week but he’s a defender by trade, so you wouldn’t expect assists and goals from him week after week. But one thing I can say with some certainty is that this is no false dawn: Jose Enrique is back.

When Downing scored from left-back a few weeks ago, the manager and press were full of ‘this is where he turns his Liverpool career around!!’ claims, but nothing has followed on from that and, if we’re honest, we didn’t expect it to. But Enrique’s career at Liverpool should never have been in doubt. He’s back. And once he hits his stride fully he’ll add something to our left-side that we’ve missed all season long. So why did anybody doubt him in the first place?
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I'm a 32 year old Liverpool fan, living in the heart of the City Centre. I've supported the club since the day I was born and have been writing articles for L4L for over 3 years, writing close over 350 articles in that time. My favorite player of the past generation is Sami Hyypia.

I am the current editor for L4L, with my day job being in R&D for the NHS.

16 comments

  • Elias says:

    Need more fire power in the next big games to come, and solidity at back coz swansea and spurs is another challenge if we are pushing for a good spot

  • Elias says:

    Need more fire power in the next big games to come, and solidity at back swansea and spurs is another challenge if we are pushing for a good spot

  • redrum says:

    i never doubted him but he needs to play in his proper position . a midfielder type winger he aint

  • Bill says:

    What all his detractors forget is that he has been carrying an injury for some time. Some players can drop back into the team like nothing has changed others need time to get their confidence back. You don’t go from being brilliant to crap just like that, (hang about I forgot Torres, he did just that.

    I believe he is coming back in January on a free or maybe a loan.

  • NJRedsFan says:

    Enrique has been an absolute beast the last two games! A fire in his eyes and a drive that was great to watch. Apparently he is over the niggling injuries he has been carrying, he looks stronger than ever. The combo of him and Johnson on that side looked fantastic, let’s hope Rodgers continues to explore that option. I spouted last year that Johnson should have been used as our right mid in front of Kelly. Seeing the possibilities of Enrique and Johnson interchanging and overlapping is an exciting prospect. Let’s hope it propers and helps bring us the wins our team needs and deserves.

    • Mac says:

      Our team gets what it deserves . If you score more than the other side you deserve to win , if you dont then you dont deserve to
      We are 11th because we have been very poor

  • SuaRed says:

    He’s never a true left back???

    The formation on saturday to start was 4-2-3-1 with Enrigue playing on the left of the 3. When Suso went off it was changed to 4-1-4-1 with Enrique playing on the left of a 4. His best two performances both came from when he was playing as a wingback and as a winger. He’s NEVER a good enough leftback! Defensively he switches off far too many times. That’s why Johnson (a right back) is prefered in that position over Enrique 99.9% of the time.

    I think playing Enrique in midfield we may have just stumbled on something very good. Enrique trys to attack too much from his fullback role but in midfield he offers a lot going forward and enough defensively to help the fullback! PERFECT.

    When Gareth Bale was a full back he was average, however as a winger he’s sensational!

    Now I’m not saying he’s Gareth Bale, but he’s a dam sight better playing playing left wing or left wing back than he is playing left back.

    Keeping him further forward is a must.

    His potentiel in this role is openended.

  • Word says:

    Enrique at left wing is not a bad thing at all. He tracks back to cover Glen Johnson when he makes runs to the box. He is physically stronger than I can remember. He took off his shirt after the Wigan game and looked like an absolute specimen. He was yoked! Against Chelsea and Wigan he was physically dominating when getting other players off the ball. His passing has been absolutely ridiculous. When on the pitch at LW, he gives BR tactical options. Foward and onward Liverpool!

    • redrum says:

      i would be worried about playing a guy who has 2 career goals to his name further forward
      thats our whole problem isnt it ? only 1 guy gets all the goals

      • Word says:

        Until reinforcements arrive, he is playing well enough to hold down the left wing ahead of GJ. He played superbly against Chelsea and again against Wigan. I wouldn’t pigeonhole Enrique as just a left back. The experiment is working. He wants to earn his paycheck and I don’t hear him complaining.

  • Brian says:

    oh my god what a pathetic article.. you are a class A tool. Enrique’s playing better recently thank god..

  • Mats says:

    Good article! enrique is back!

  • Abhijan Barua says:

    I don’t understand why someone of his quality was doubted in the first place. Plus those who’re questioning his defensive ability, no offence, but you’re wrong. End of story.

    The man’s been brilliant in intercepting passes and dispossessing opposition players. Not to mention his ability to constantly drill the ball past several midfielders and feed it out wide or back inside. Plus he’s got decent pace.

    A couple bad performances just show he’s human, as opposed to a bad player.

  • stevieG says:

    players go through dips in form like enrique did , he needed to be dropped last year until he regained it

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