Maxi scoring one of his crackers for Liverpool
Maxi Rodriguez – Maximiliano Ruben Rodriguez: he’ll never make anybody’s list of the greatest players of all time. It’s doubtful he’d even make anybody’s list of greatest Argentinian second-string of all time. But one thing you can guarantee is that any team Maxi has been a part of has been far the better for it.
Much like Dirk before him, Maxi coupled an unexpected level of skill with a remarkable work rate. But whereas Dirk’s levels of skill tended to be on display much more rarely, Maxi was an outstanding footballer, a superb technician and, for a midfielder, a quite prolific goalscorer.
He was only at Anfield for three seasons, scoring once in his first 17 games. But it was under Kenny Dalglish, at the back end of the 2010-11 season that we truly saw what Maxi could do, as he dovetailed superbly with Luis Suarez and Dirk himself. He finished that seasons with 10 goals, throwing a hat-trick or two in there for good measure, showing Liverpool fans what they could’ve been witnessing had he been used properly.
But you only have to look back at Maxi’s career prior to Liverpool to see how good he was.
The fact that he was signed on a free transfer, perhaps, gave many fans the false impression that he wasn’t that great. When, in fact, he should’ve been seen as an absolute coup. Having been installed as Atletico Madrid’s club captain following Fernando Torres’ departure, Maxi saw his career in Spain stutter with injuries but still managed 145 games before moving to Anfield, scoring 42 goals in the process.
Even for Argentina he was quite the goal-getter, with 16 in 57 caps.
Goals aside, Maxi’s physical stature and often awkward style of play belied a player with supreme footballing abilities, often showing flashes of a player that could’ve been so much more had it not been for injury. But, for Liverpool, even for a short 72 games, Maxi was a great option, a hard worker and a very underrated acquisition.
