AT least the football season died as it had lived. All sorts of fireworks – quite incredible tension and a last-day finish with the title changing hands until the 94th minute, while Liverpool (to whom much the same happened in 1989) were playing out, without anything at stake, a dreary 1-0 defeat to a newly promoted club.
Eighth.
We’ve only managed that twice since our return to the top flight in 1959, the year before I was born. And, as I wrote, the Liverpool blogosphere was gripped by more tension than has been generated on the pitch most of the season, as we awaited the outcome of the Boston summit: would King Kenny fare any better than King George did at the 1773 tea party? You now have your answer.
So what’s gone wrong with this damp squib of a season? And what can be done to but the fire back in the next one at Anfield?
Of course it always sounds pathetic to blame one’s bad luck, but we know that luck plays a part in football and always will – and Liverpool haven’t had any of it at all recently. Yes, we can be blamed for some shoddy finishing – wasn’t that a record for penalties missed in one season? But poor Andy Carroll, having been failing to get the ball over the goal-line all season, getting called for having only got 99% of it over in the last minutes of a Cup Final: it’s really too cruel.
I’ve always doubted whether Kenny was himself to blame, and whether anything will be gained by replacing him. I really can’t see that there’s too much wrong with the players on the field, with one or two exceptions. It’s true that there’s no-one, except Suárez, who really lights up the pitch, and he can’t do it on his own. The right signing, or maybe two, may light a few fires. But it’s the succession planning that’s really vital, rebuilding from the back as the great Liverpool sides always did. To be horribly frank, in the course of next season we need a new spine for the post-Stevie-and-Carra era.
I am already getting worried about the huge expectations that are being piled on to Lucas Leiva in this regard. Lucas is an awesome player, and my only fears are that these expectations might overwhelm him. Like Suárez, he can’t do it on his own. Spearing and Adam haven’t quite made the grade; nor has Downing; Henderson, provided he’s allowed to play down the centre where he belongs, could still get there. And for heaven’s sake don’t get rid of Dirk or Maxi just yet; we need them and Bellars to bolt the side together for another season, or for as long as we keep churning out those gruesome 0-1 first halves….
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Which brings me back to the main point; stop being so bloody dreary, fewer boring back-passes, and try to thread the ball through to the front-men with some sort of confidence that they know where the net is. That confidence has to be earned, of course – Luis, Andy, and whoever is brought in to complement you, please start next season like you finished this one.
So, next season. Top six at the very least [Editor: Or top 4, so it seems]. Build on our rep as a Cup team: we should take the Europa League seriously (even those ghastly Thursday nights in Eastern European hellholes) and aim to win it. And for frick’s sake show a bit of flair. It wins more games than it loses – it really does.
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