The number of players linked with a move to Liverpool football club must have topped a century now, the madness that ensues when the transfer window is beyond belief. We all seem to be after that nugget of knowledge about who is going to be joining our prestigious club. Names such as Mata, Downing, Johnson, Wickham, Diego and more recently Wayne Bridge (please) are but a few of the names linked. Do we need such players to be a success next season? I don’t think so and I’ll tell you for why.
The most important signings have already been made in the Dalglish and Clarke. In Dalglish we have a manager that embraces the Liverpool way and knows exactly how to make the players believe they are capable of performing at the highest level. But in Steve Clarke we have a young coach who is totally in tune with the modern game. He had a fantastic record while working under Jose Mourinho at Chelsea with two Premier League titles, an FA Cup and two League Cups over three seasons. If he and Dalglish can bring a glimmer of that to Anfield next season I for one will be more than happy. Even when Mourinho left Chelsea still continued to do well reaching the league cup final and also the Champions league final (both of which they lost….. but only just)
Just to highlight things a little further in the 2007/2008 season Chelsea under Avram and Clarke had a win percentage of 66.67% which is an excellent record I’m sure you’ll agree and is better than that of Manchester United’s this year at 63.93% which saw them win the title. Under Dalglish and Clarke we would have finished joint 2nd in the league if you worked the season out pro rata and if you consider the state the team was in when Dalglish took over, time was clearly needed to shall we say “spruce things up”. Since Clarke left Chelsea they have only had 1 good year and that was under Hiddink (need I say more). So for me the missing link at Chelsea since 2008 is Clarke
We also have to remember that we brought in the outstanding Suarez and the “yet to impress” Carroll (who I’m sure will come good) in the winter window. Most Liverpool supporters seem to forget this and I reflect back to earlier that since that time and Dalglish and Clarke coming in we performed at a much higher level. Suarez has been a revelation and I cannot wait to see him in action again next season. Some might say he’s twice as good as Torres at half the price. So with Suarez and Carroll already instilled we have already increased our prospects.
The final factor that needs mentioning is youth. The likes of Flanagan, Kelly and Spearing have shown they have what it takes at such a fledgling stage of their careers. Out of the three Kelly stood out for me and I find it hard to imagine that if both he and Johnson are fit that he won’t get the nod. Further down the line we also have Suso, Sterling and Coady looking like they can challenge for first team honours in the not so distant future.
I suppose the point I am trying to make is sit back and relax, the foundations are already in place for a fantastic campaign next season. We don’t need the next Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo, what we need is the old Liverpool culture. One that works hard as a team unit, that believes in one another and one that has quality direction from its management. We already have that in abundance and I’m not sure I can wait another month and a half for our boys to get out there and start proving me right!!!
By Michael Elmore
Twitter: @Lfcmonkey
hat we need is the old Liverpool culture. One that works hard as a team unit, that believes in one another and one that has quality direction from its management –
You wrote what my heart felt all these while, this is, THE LIVERPOOL WAY
damn true.let alone those bs rumors,kenny n clark know what they r doing.YNWA
Brilliant article, even King Kenny couldn’t have said it better! YNWA
Like King Kenny would say, if there is something to tell, he’ll tell us. In the meantime we have a great squad with great players. The guys are playing for each other and us fans, that is the LFC way.Hang on to Meireles and don’t let Shelvey go eiter. Suarez better than Torres? Any day of the week for sure, glad we saw the back of that blonde poster boy. Next season will be a great one! Can’t wait.
can’t wait ’til the new season start ‘cos we will kick ass
Best article I wrote during the transfer period. THANKS YNWA
Are you a liverpool fan?don’t you know we need wingers who can be creative,cross good cross,create chances in the box with good dribbling ability?no wonder we can’t even challenge spurs,and you are happy.
Clearly you missed the second half of the season and the progress we made under Dalglish and Clarke
Chelsea won the double in 2010 under ancelotti (not hiddink) and without clarke, how is that not a good year?
i thought chelsea won the premier league in 2009! lol we can finish again top 6 without class signings! if we want 2 compete with the likes of scums,city,arsenal and chelsea then we need some good signings without which we’ll remain in 5th or 6th!
A “slight oversight” well spotted. They haven’t been the same though in all honestly. Not looked like the team they were
Apologies to FSG and John Henry…. clearly they were worthy of a mention in my article. A fantastic job has been done so far and they appear to be completely in tune with our prestigious history. Thanks guys!!
Great article,my only disagreement is “the yet to impress Andy Carroll” I think he did well considering he was still recovering from injury and that goal against Man City was a cracker. Otherwise very good.
Not a bad article, however every team could do with Messi! I agree its a breath of fresh air our players are working hard for eachother but this alone will not win us the league or trophies. We desperately need wingers with a bit of flare and the ability to take people on and put a ball in the box (Kuyt is an excellent player who will work hard but would you be happy having him on the wing all next season).
I have faith in Kenny, hopefully a winger or 2 are on the way!
Ok I accept that new signings can only help to improve the squad but I do think we as supporters get too carried away with ourselves. We have already added Henderson, Suarez and Carroll since January but yes I agree we could do with some more wide players. Although I do feel Kelly and Johnson are capable of producing the width we need, Henderson is also capable of providing good balls from out wide
We arent good enough to challenge for top honours with this present squad. We had a great second half of the season but the last 2 games told their own tale.
We have a mixture of top quality and squad quality and desperately need to enhance the squad.
Defence needs boulstering i/c 1 or 2 players/ we need a ‘quality’ passer/ at least 1 wideman (if not 2).
Even if it means paying over the odds for quality then it’s something that we’ve got to do. We need to persuade players that CL football is only a season away for them and that the foundations of something special isnt too far away.
Does everyone believe Liverpool will buy all the required players we need which is a Left Back, Centre Back, Attacking Midfielder, Right Winger, Left Winger and a Supporting Striker.
So that’s 6 transfers or is everyone thinking there might be less then that? I think if those 6 positions are filled with quality, then the first time in many seasons we would have a squad and not just a first XI to compete at the very highest level in the epl.
Would it be unrealistic though for us to get 6 good/great buys?
I’m sorry but I totally disagree, you’re watching at EPL like we’re still in the 80’s. Obviously the LFC mystic is something that helps to push the team forward and playing under Kenny gives another dimension to the club.
But nowadays you also need players to win such a competitive league like EPL (not to mention European competitions). The team has grown a lot under King Kenny but clearly the squad is not good enough to challenge for the top 4 against teams who have better squads than us and are signing or looking to sign better players then us.
We need a LB, a RW and a LW to say the least. And we need top class players. We cannot have another season we’re finishing 6 was not bad…
This is Liverpool!
YNWA
Go on then let us know the players you would sign and how you see us lining up. If we buy 2 wingers I’ll eat my hat…. Johnson can overlap and deliver, as can Kelly. Johnson can even play in front of Kelly. Expect Stewart Downing and maybe Adam as a squad player. 1 Marquee signing if we are fortunate. If so this will be a player to form a front three with Suarez and Carroll
First of all, sorry for taking me so much time to get back to you but work got in the way.
The difference between our points of view is not a matter of what players to sign and where should we played them. You believe that the old Liverpool culture is back and that it’s enough to put us back on the title race. I think that we also need quality players to add depth to the squad and then the old Liverpool culture would make the difference.
If you want to speak in therms of players and thinking only of the ones linked with us, I would love to see Mata, Lennon and Cissokho join the club and play with Gerard and Meireles in the middle.
You could argue that we have bought Henderson and Adam and that they won’t be benched, but I can’t understand why we have spent that amount of cash to reinforce the only part of the field where we didn’t have that much problems.
I understand that King Kenny is the coach and I’m just a Portuguese fan, but I’m still entitled to my opinion.
Thanks for taking the time to get back to me. I fully respect all LFC supporters even if we disagree.
YNWA!