Long before the season started,when we were rumoured to be paying huge amounts for the likes of Downing,Henderson & Adam,having already paid around 35m quids for a certain Andy Carroll,i was very concerned with how the transfer dealings were panning out to be for us..I wrote an article ‘Why go English?’,where i emphasized the fact of having a mix of both English and Foreign players to have that right combination of players in attack and defence in order for us to succeed and finish in that Top 4..Taking in the performances of the current squad,id say its only Suarez,Enrique & Bellamy who’re proving their worth right now,so i wouldn’t say i was speaking nonsense at the time.
This may well be a premature judgement and i may well get butchered for it,but id be lying if i said that the signs of having a world class attack in the near future are looking very promising right now.
King Kenny thought of reforming the crux of the squad with homegrown british players,just like in our golden days..Not a bad plan,but it was something that i was very sceptic about from the very start.
Dont get me wrong,i have nothing but utmost respect for English players,but at that point of time,when we did have the resources to buy the necessary personnel,i think not only did we overpay for certain players but we also made a couple of wrong choices.
For Instance,Downing..A decent winger,but he still lacks that electric pace and vigour to perform..Heck we paid a staggering 20m for him,while Ashley Young,who’s obviously in the world class category was bought by Utd for just 16m!
With Carroll & Hendo,we splashed out 55m for the future,and i never expected them to make a huge impact from the offset anyway..Splashing cash for the future is actually a pretty sensible thing to do,but id rather think about the future after getting the present squad to the level of the other top sides..Take Chelsea,they had already got Drogba,Torres,Anelka & Sturridge up top,only then did they go out and pursue the 18 yr old Lukaku,who’s obviously not expected to play and chip in for the next couple of years,not until he gets to the level of the other strikers theyve got.
In the same context,it will take a couple of years for Carroll & Henderson to really shine for the team,but i don’t think we can afford another couple of years,or else players like Suarez will certainly leave us for higher ambitions.
All im saying is,when the team’s in need of recruitments,you’d want to think more about the present needs than the future..At that time,our present needs were much greater,i would’ve wanted us to go for established players than the players who are more likely to make an impact in the future,because of obvious reasons that we really needed immediate results to finish in the Top 4 this season.
What’s done is done,though..& ill still support and back these players to perform as long as they’re donning the Liverpool crest on their chest week in week out..Kenny has my full support,and i sure hope the team starts to gel now,just like the latter stages of last season.
But yea,if i were John Henry,i wouldn’t be too impressed right now.