Two extreme future reviews of next season

THIS week, I thought I’d take a tongue-in-cheek approach and look at two very extreme views as to how the upcoming season may pan out; one positive, one negative.

Which one do you prefer?

1. Positive

Not many Liverpool fans could have dreamed of their level of performance this past season.

Yes, there was optimism in some quarters, however when Luis Suarez made it clear that his future was elsewhere last July then the most positive view would have been getting somewhere near the top four.

Suarez joined Coates, Spearing, Downing, Carroll, Shelvey, Assaidi, Gulacsi, Wilson and Pacheco as departures to add to the retirement of Carragher. Suso, Morgan and Sinclair were farmed out on loan for valuable experience. Skrtel was kept as cover, being moved out in January.

Before the window even opened there were moves for Kolo Toure, Iago Aspas, Luis Alberto and Simon Mignolet, but it was not until the signings of Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Jose Callejon were cemented that the supporters could see beyond Suarez leaving. Toby Alderweireld and Javi Martinez were also brought in to shore up more defensive areas.

But to still have an outside chance of the title going into April and being pipped to second place by Manchester City and deserved winners Chelsea is a fantastic result, despite only reaching quarter-finals in the domestic cups. The Champions League may make next season tougher, but a push toward the title may not be impossible for Rodgers’ men.

The decision to hold on to Pepe Reina paid dividends. There were some nervy performances from Mignolet early on and it is to his credit that he finished the season in superb form, but it was important that Pepe was there to step in through the mid-winter wobble and he can leave Anfield now having given years of good service to the club.

The high point of the year defensively was the emergence of the central defensive pairing of Alderweireld and Martin Kelly. This was a by-product of Daniel Agger’s injury in January, but with Toure coming in effectively on occasions we can be happy that we have options.

Jordan Henderson continued his improvement from the previous season to become a valuable first-team starter. He has more than a good engine: an improved passer of the ball and disciplined in his defensive work, a return of 7 goals now makes him a proven performer. Coutinho was pivotal in finding ways through disciplined defences and Alberto and Borini contributed. Javi Martinez showed that he is likely to become more effective than Lucas.

With Sturridge and Mkhitaryan each bagging 17 goals, ably supported by Callejon (12) and Aspas (10,) last season’s total of goals scored was surpassed with a figure of 76 and with only 39 conceded this shows an all-round improvement which augurs well for the future – a future which looks all the brighter with the continuation of the fledgling careers of Sterling, Ibe, Suso, and Wisdom, and the emergence of Lussey, Adorjan, Teixera, and McLaughlin. The squad only needs a little tampering for 2014-15.
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2. Negative

So now the post-mortem begins, a seventh place repeat of last year with the distinct impression that the club, at least on the field, has further deteriorated. The decisions to let Reina go and keep Suarez cost us heavily.

Mignolet did okay but made several errors at crucial times which exacerbated his nervous spell and only Brad Jones was available to deputise. Meanwhile Suarez, having committed himself to LFC for one more year, tried hard to lift the mediocrity around him but his heart was elsewhere. His goal tally of 16 means that the writing was on the wall and now Brendan Rogers is under extreme pressure.

While Coutinho and Suarez showed occasional glimpses of brilliance, Aspas, Borini and Sturridge all struggled while Luis Alberto was anonymous on his few appearances. Henderson was a willing warhorse but lacks ability, Allen is out of his depth, Lucas is not the player he was before injury and finally we saw Stevie succumb to his increasing years.

Poor Martin Kelly flattered to deceive before his back and knee starting playing up again while Agger had his worst season, free of injury. Glen Johnson and Jose Enrique have good attitudes but no class at this level. The decision not to replace Martin Skrtel at the start of the season was criminal as Andre Wisdom was exposed as being unready and this reeked of former transfer deadline fiascos.

Sterling and Suso should not have been loaned out; they could have been viable options when things started going wrong. It just adds to the sudden arrest of youth promotion at our club: Ibe and Coady getting the odd minute while we never saw Sinclair, Yesil, Flanagan or Robinson.

Andy Carroll’s 21 goals for the Hammers, which put them four points behind us, have given him pole position for a starting berth for England in Brazil, while Tom Ince’s full debut season was spectacular to say the least, ensuring he joins the latter on the World Cup plane. What a difference they might have made!

Verdict: Major surgery needed, maybe from the top downward.
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