When the January transfer window opened in the winter just past, Liverpool’s senior ranks were brimming with an excess of left-sided defenders. If none of them had exactly made a case for making the spot their own, at least between the three of them they seemed to have different attributes and abilities to give us a chance of matching up against any given opposition right winger.
Fast forward seven months and we seemed to be down to zero. Dossena, shipped out in January to raise funds, had never gotten close to living up to the hype piled on him when he signed from Udinese. Fast, yes. A sometime decent cross on him, plus those goals against Real Madrid and Man United, but never really anything like a consistent defender or a real attacking threat.
Aurelio, the likeable and gifted but perpetually injured Brazilian had seen his contract expire and was allowed to leave on a free – similar to the situation when we originally signed him from Valencia. And Emiliano Insua, the great hope of the reserves the season before last, who had made enormous strides in terms of breaking into the first team but little headway in cementing himself as a reliable, confidence-inspiring member of a consistent back four, was seemingly on the verge of sealing a move to Italian side Fiorentina.
All of sudden, a new manager was facing the prospect of inheriting a team who’s last two available “left backs” were a 16 year old untested kid and the great Dane Agger, a centre back. The rumour mill – as expected – went into overdrive on who would be signed for the Reds, with at least one and possibly two new arrivals expected for the position. Figueroa, Konchesky, Drenthe and Salcido have all been “on the verge” of signing at various moments over the past two or three weeks, but the actual turn out has been quite different.
The re-signing of Fabio Aurelio has been met with reserved praise in most quarters, with fans comfortable and knowledgeable of his ability, but also concerned that a) his fitness is the same and b) he cannot represent a step up in quality since he was already here before. And to add to the confusion, it seems now that Insua’s move to Fiorentina is off, leaving him in the position of knowing the club have ccepted an offer for him and were happy for him to leave, but not being able to. Not quite on the scale of Mascherano perhaps, but awkward enough.
If Insua stays, he knows he might not be quite as wanted as most players would like to be, and in terms of the club, we are stuck with both a player who was keen on leaving and, again, who does not represent a step up in quality from last season. Whether he stays or goes at this point is almost immaterial – Liverpool need another left back to help improve both our overall squad quality and our defensive performances at times from last season.
In addition to the above mentioned names, there are other left-backs who could make a good contribution to the Reds’ squad. Benoit Tremoulinas at Bordeaux had an incredibly impressive season last year, flying down their left side to provide assist after assist for the likes of Marouane Chamakh. He is uncapped as yet but has been included in Laurent Blanc’s first France squad.
Andres Guardado, used mainly as a winger for current club Deportivo, learnt his trade as an attacking wing-back in his home country of Mexico, and has long been touted through Europe as a potentially excellent attacking full back from a more conventional back four. With a fearsome shot and good crossing ability, he certainly holds the technical skill to hold his own in attack.
In addition, our own Stephen Darby and Martin Kelly have already shown they can cover the position, while U-19’s Euro champion Chris Mavinga will have hopes of making his mark on the first team this season. Until the transfer window closes or any new owners seal a deal for the club we can certainly expect more rumours of potential signings for this area of our defence to continue, but for now at least both Liverpool’s first choice full back, as well as Insua’s own future, remain unclear.
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