One of the main things that has bugged me and other Liverpool fans in recent seasons is the pace that the team seemingly lacks; more specifically a lack of pace in midfield. Out of all the wingers and central midfielders we have at the moment, none, with the exception of Ryan Babel and to an extent Steven Gerrard, have any real claim to be lightning fast. Even the free transfer signing of a winger Maxi Rodriguez did not bring that extra pace to the team, although the Argentinean does bring many other attributes to the table. The lack of pace, and especially a lack of pace on the wings, means the Reds struggle to stretch teams out wide and open up defences for goal scoring opportunities. With players such as Dirk Kuyt on the wing, a more narrow approach has to be taken to break down teams.
So in some respects I welcome the latest rumour about us being linked with a fast winger. Shaun Wright-Phillips is the fifth Manchester City player in the space of a few weeks who has been linked with Liverpool. Roberto Mancini will look to bring in his own players this summer while shipping out some of those brought in under the Mark Hughes era and Wright-Phillips looks like another player who is set to leave the City of Manchester Stadium. After starting regularly under Mark Hughes earlier on in the season, the winger has been reduced to playing a bit part role from the bench as Mancini preferred Adam Johnson on the right in the final few months of the season.
So why would Rafa Benitez be interested in the 28 year old, after all he is small and can be a bit one-dimensional with his straight runs, running into dead ends and losing the ball when an opponent muscles him off the ball? Well, I think there are two reasons why the Liverpool manager maybe interested in him, 1) he is English and would fulfil the “home-grown” requirement being enforced in the Premier League quota system next season and 2) He has raw pace. The second point is the more interesting one for me. Wright-Phillips is a fantastic dribbler on his day and with his pace and skill on the ball he can bypass any full back and provide excellent crosses and passes for team-mates. He is certainly not everyone’s cup of tea as he can be incredibly frustrating when he is on an off day but when he’s at it, he can trouble most defences.
He did fail during his time at Chelsea but he turned it around when he returned to City two years ago and he would certainly give you a different option. Rather than a Dirk Kuyt or Maxi Rodriguez whose talents lie elsewhere other than stretching defences, the 28 year old England international can do that job for you. Whether he is the best option out there is another question but with tight financial constraints, he may be one to consider. With Mancini looking to offload him he may be available for £8m and with Yossi Benayoun looking closer to the exit door, it could be a negligible net transfer spend.
If you asked me the question flat out, if Wright-Phillips is a better player than Benayoun, I would say probably not, as the Israeli offers so many different abilities, creating chances, running with the ball, linking up with other players, but if you asked me who is the better winger, it would be Shaun Wright-Phillips. If pace and width is where Rafa wants to go then the Manchester City star maybe a good step in the right direction even if in an ideal world Liverpool should be looking at bigger fish.
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If you had ever seen him play nooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!
I would prefer us to get Mata, in a part-exchange deal for Reira.
Have you seen Mascherano when he runs? He went after AND caught SWP last season…and very nearly did the same to Walcott in the CL a few years ago.