Flair and skill the trick for the Kop ?
When asking supporters the reason behind their team’s ‘misfortune’ this season, most Liverpool fans will angrily mutter one man’s name, Rafael Benitez. The reaction is one connoting such anger and distain, anyone overhearing the conversation unaware of who this ‘Benitez’ was, would naturally assume he was either the banker responsible for the recession or the man guilty of helping to conceive Justin Bieber.
Although perhaps a justified reaction, the list of kop flops ordered in by Rafa is seemingly endless, Mark Gonzalez (4.5m), Fernando Morientez (6.3m), Andrea Dossena (7m), Ryan Babel (11.5m) and Alberto Aquilani (18m) to name but a few, all failed to make their mark at Merseyside. His one saving grace perhaps, the signing of Fernando Torres (20m) from Athletico Madrid, scoring 33goals in all competitions in his debut season and still widely regarded as one of the world’s best forwards despite his current lack of form.
Even with Torres completely fit and firing on all cylinders and the option to lean once more on the weary shoulders of Steven Gerrard, the team looks far from the 2005 outfit that came back in the Champions League final to beat AC Milan on penalties and even further from the victorious 1985-91 side, led by current Manager Kenny Dalglish in his first stint in charge of the club.
In honesty it seems difficult to see how King Kenny can really make the impact he needs with the under-invested squad he has been left with, a legacy passed down from Benitez, that Hodgson was also powerless to do anything about. Liverpool have been linked with an incredible 32 signings in the January window, including the likes of Luis Saurez, Eljero Elia, Eden Hazard and the highly sought after youngster Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. But are these players really those needed to impact the team and create a turnaround?
Rather than focusing on how to turn things around this season, it seems clear Liverpool need to be dealing with the deeper issue, of how they can build the team to a title-challenging outfit for the future. They need to invest in key signings that they can build a team around, future players to replace the Jamie Carraghers and Steven Gerrards who, unfortunately for Liverpool, are passed their best. Until then King Kenny has a big job on his hands, despite his man-management skills and prestigious history, even he will struggle to inspire quality that doesn’t exist.
