Liverpool's FA Cup Semi-final defeat to Aston Villa at Wembley Stadium on Sunday means that their season is effectively over and the debate over the failures of 2014/15 has begun.
There is still an outside chance—a chance that became slimmer by Manchester City's comfortable 2-0 win over West Ham United—of a top-four finish, which would of course salvage something from what has been a miserable season on Merseyside.
In analysing where it has gone wrong, there are a myriad of problems which arise, but they all loop back to one thing: recruitment.
Right now, Liverpool's transfer strategy is flawed. Extremely flawed.
How else can you explain spending £117 million in the summer, then failing on all three objectives that following season?
Those three objectives this season were to achieve a top-four finish, win a domestic trophy and progress to the knockout stages of the UEFA Champions League.
They failed at the latter of those in damning fashion, winning just one of their six Champions League games in a group that—when it was drawn—was deemed to be almost perfect for Liverpool's return from the European wilderness.
The second failure has been the inability to progress from either of the two domestic cup semi-finals Brendan Rodgers' side have reached this season, losing to Chelsea in the League Cup over two legs and Villa at Wembley.
But the effects of those two cup runs, plus the return to European football, have meant their Premier League form has suffered—thus putting a top-four place beyond reach.
Placing so much emphasis on cup success has damaged the chances of a top-four finish.
"Our objective was to win a trophy," said Rodgers, per The Guardian, earlier this month. "I think if we didn’t get in the top four and we didn’t have a trophy this year, we ourselves would be disappointed."
After such a dramatic overhaul of the squad last summer, acquiring eight new players (plus loaned out Divock Origi), Liverpool attempted to compete on four fronts—five if you include the Europa League—and ultimately will end the season having failed on all four.
Signings
Inevitably, then, attention has turned to why so many players have failed to have a positive impact in their first season at the club.
The answer is partly because of Liverpool's strategy of focussing on youthful signings, players with the potential to develop at the club. The likes of Emre Can, Lazar Markovic and Alberto Moreno have done enough to signal that they will develop and have better years ahead of them as they settle in England.
Arguably the bigger problem has been the more experienced players whom the club signed last summer—the ones who should have had an immediate impact and improved the first team. We're talking about Southampton trio Adam Lallana, Rickie Lambert and Dejan Lovren, plus Mario Balotelli.
These are experienced Premier League players, yet all four of them have contributed less this season than the aforementioned trio of youngsters signed with the future in mind.
Lambert hasn't started for the club since January. Why exactly did Liverpool sign him?
Balotelli has been a gamble that has failed to pay off. Lallana has struggled to settle in and been plagued with injuries.
Lovren's campaign can be summed up by the brain-dead decision to shoot from 35 yards out in the final stages of defeat on Sunday—well, that, his penalty miss against Besiktas or his woefully timed challenge on Ayoze Perez against Newcastle United.
Not many supporters would be too disappointed if all four of Lovren, Lallana, Balotelli and Lambert left the club this summer. The Reds spent £61 million on them, and it's doubtful Liverpool would even get half that back for them.
Strategy
If Liverpool are going to continue with an overall strategy of buying mostly young players for the future, they must do better at ensuring those more senior players they sign actually improve the team.
In other words, no more Lovrens and Lallanas—grossly overrated players who actually are no better than what was already at the club. Is Lovren better than Mamadou Sakho? Is Lallana better than Philippe Coutinho or Raheem Sterling?
The FSG plan for #LFC is built around a philosophy that our transfer strategy is the smartest in the room - that needs some serious review.
— Si Steers (@sisteers) April 20, 2015
Liverpool's policy is an admirable one, and one which can work. But for it to work, they can make few mistakes. Right now, the transfer committee is making more mistakes than wise decisions.
The Telegraph's Chris Bascombe runs the rule over Rodgers' 23 signings, deeming just five to be a "hit," with the "jury still out" on Sakho. Joe Allen is included in those five, which will be questioned, while you may even debate whether Daniel Sturridge can be considered a hit any longer given his continuing injury problems.
Simon Mignolet is another who makes Bascombe's cut, something nobody would have been writing back in December. Seemingly, the only ones who can be agreed on are Coutinho and Can.
Bascombe places Markovic and Moreno among the misses on his list, but with time on their side, they can easily become hits at Anfield. You need only look at how Mignolet has turned things around for evidence of that.
Not many will anticipate Lovren, Lallana, Lambert and Balotelli being transformed into hits, and that's where Liverpool must improve. You can't know how a player will develop into their mid-20s, but you can know how a player performs when they are already in their mid-20s.
from Bleacher Report http://ift.tt/1Hov5n0
via IFTTT April 20, 2015 at 08:35AM
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