One Half Done, One Half still to go for the Reds this Summer

Jamie Carragher’s commitment to the cause cannot be called into question. However, he isn’t getting any younger, and he too is prone to some long-term injuries – albeit mostly coming about from a number of comedic ways. Try as he might, he’s not the same player of 4-seasons ago. This leaves the ‘new’ Carragher – Martin Kelly. Whilst a youngster still learning his trade (and best position, be it centre-back or fullback), he too is no stranger to the treatment table. I’ll leave the big Greek Kyrgiakos out of the equation for a number of comical reasons.

What remains a mystery is very early on in the transfer window, Liverpool were thought to be extremely close to signing Phil Jones, before he chose to head further down the M62. However, since missing out on the young centre-back, no real interest has been shown in pursuing other defensive targets. Gary Cahill and Ryan Shawcross have been (very) loosely linked at times, but it appears no real endeavour has been made to sign a dominant centre-back since the Jones incident. This may be smart play by the Liverpool management; after all revealing targets only increases their value and difficulties in signing them. But with the start of the new season only one week away, one hoped the issue would have been resolved in preparation for the big kick-off. If Jones was a serious target, it was a serious mistake not to have a back-up option.

Liverpool, particularly under Rafael Benitez’s stewardship, were especially hard to score against. This was thanks to the Spaniards unrelenting obsession with controlling his players and defining structure. However, it came at the cost of mostly negative play and a limited attacking philosophy. Once Benitez left, the defensive stability which he had installed fell apart and Liverpool have been less than solid since.

Kenny Dalglish will be looking for that perfect balance; a return to the solid foundations at the back, coupled with a freedom of attacking football not seen since the days of the Dalglish MK 1 team of the late 80’s. They have rebuilt the attacking half – they now need to invest in defence.

The article was written by Jimmy Areabi for FootballFancast.com. Make sure to check out the latest news, blogs and podcasts at FFC – ed.

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