By China Acheru
The media have been having a good time. They are suggesting players
for Liverpool FC and it has been a circus show ever since the transfer
window closed and we failed to tie up a striker, leaving us with just
Luis Suarez and Fabio Borini as it is widely believed.
Liverpool can only get a free agent now or else they wait until the
January transfer window so names fave been bandied- Michael Owen,
Emile Hesky, Florent Sinama Pongolle and even Allesandro Del Piero.
These are all supposed to be stop gap measures until January when we
can either recall Andy Carroll from his loan move to West Ham or get
another striker (if FSG will be ready to spend then).
How did we get to this point? We are Liverpool, aren’t we?
This time last season, our striking options were Luis Suarez, Andy
Carroll, Dirk Kuyt, Craig Bellamy and Maxi Rodriguez but in the
summer, Dirk, Bellamy and Kuyt left yet we failed to replace and were
left with just three- Suarez, Carroll and Borini.
On the eve of the transfer window shutting, we let go of Carroll on
loan to West Ham but got nothing in return and we have seemingly been
left with just two strikers in Suarez and Borini so it’s time to press
the panic button?
Did I just ask if it’s time to press the button? We have already pressed it.
Now look at the free transfer names being bandied- Owen? When was the
last time he played football? If he’s not good enough for Manchester
United why should we have him? Thank goodness he signed for Stoke, now
the media will have to cook up another rumour.
Emile Hesky? I can’t even laugh at this one and the names keeps being
mentioned in the media.
There is really nothing we can do about getting attacking options in
the team now unless we take one of these out of contract players or
wait until the January window but we sure can use what we have.
Many people forget a silent signing the club made about the same time
Andy Carroll was going on loan to West Ham.
Samed Yesil, an 18 year old striker for Leverkusen joined up last week
before the window closed for one million pounds.
Any 18 year old striker that costs that much must have some goals in
his boots and its time we let him show us what he has.
If not for the lethargic displays of Stewart Downing we probably would
have left Raheem Sterling in the U18s, depriving ourselves and the
world of his talent and the same applies to Jack Robinson who we had
to throw in to the fray after a former coach brought in a certain Paul
Konchelsky who was simply not Liverpool standard. I must also mention
a player like John Flanaghan who played 8 league games under Kenny
Dalglish when Glen Johnson and Martin Kelly got injured. He certainly
held his own.
In making cases for Yesil, there is also Dani Pacheco and Adam Morgan
and I want to start by tracing a history of youngsters who have come
good for our club in time past
Michael Owen- He made his Liverpool debut at 18 and scored in that
game. He went on to score one hundred and fifty eight goals in two
hundred and ninety seven games for the club
Robbie Fowler- Liverpool fans worldwide still call him God and the
reasons are not far-fetched. He scored one hundred and eighty three
goals for Liverpool. He scored on his debut against Fulham in the
League Cup in 1993 when he was just 18 years old and went on to be the
5th highest goal scorer in the history of the club.
Jamie Carragher- He is currently the second most capped Liverpool
player, ever and he made his debut at 18 becoming a mainstay in the
team ever since.
Steven Gerrard- He is another player blooded at a very young age and
has remained a back bone of the team ever since.
If I go on and on, I will certainly be naming players like Jamie
Redknapp, Steve McManaman, Daniel Agger and many more.
What’s the point? The point is mistakes have been made. Brendan
Rodgers has already shown his naivety by bungling up the Andy Carroll
loan without first being sure of a replacement striker because as much
as we want to blame FSG for not putting up the cash, it was Brendan
who watched players like Maxi, Kuyt, Bellamy and Carroll leave without
securing the future of our front line so he must now turn to what is
available to him and have faith and confident in them.
Daniel Pacheco- I have always looked on him as a great prospect but he
has never really been given a good run in the first team always being
shipped out on loan. It’s time to throw him in.
Samed Yesil- Goal.com’s Clarke Whitney in a profile on the website
described him as ‘the next Drogba’.
Adding that “when history reflects, Yesil just might be remembered as
this summer’s greatest transfer coup”.
He has scored 57 goals in 71 matches for Bayer’s youth teams in the
last two years, an extraordinary statistic. He also captains Germany’s
Under-19 and won the “Silver Shoe” at the Under-17 World Cup two years
ago.
Adam Morgan- He is still with the U18s but he got some games in the
pre-season friendly matches and featured in the Europa Cup games
played by the club so far so rather than go on and on saying the club
has just two strikers in Fabio Borini and Luis Suarez we must say it
as it is that we have five when we include Yesil, Pacheco and Morgan.
Rodgers is himself a young coach who was given a chance in a big club
in difficult and grim times so he must in turn give these youngsters a
chance to save his job.
I’m sure he must have studied the history of our great club to see
that we have always thrived in youngsters so he must look back into
that conveyor belt and pull them out.
Unless we want to panic and start seeking washed out players who are
out of contract, there is only one way forward for Rodgers- The youth.
YNWA
You can follow China Acheru via twitter on @ikwerreman