Season Review 2012-2013

Pepe Reina: The Spaniard's cloak of invincibility slipped even further this season, not helped by his propensity for silly mistakes, some of which proved costly. The Man City draw comes to mind at a time when Liverpool were looking to propel themselves forward for a bite at the Champions League apple.  The worrying factor for the manager was that his world-class keeper could barely stay fit during the first-half of the season, worryingly picking up different muscular injuries along the way.  His concentration levels seemed off kilter with the constant speculation of a move to Barcelona, gathering steam after his father's comments of a possible move and Victor Valdez stated wish to move away from the Catalan giants to eek out further challenges. Will be interesting to see if the fan's favourite becomes the second member of his family to keep goal for Catalan giants.   Should he leave, which is more than possible after the recent purchase of Simon Mignolet, we will miss his leadership which will leave an almighty gap with the retirement of Jamie Carragher.   4/10

Brad Jones:  Apart from the odd blemish, the Australian stopper followed on from the previous season serving the club with distinction.  He played in more games in 2012-13 than he could have imagined and although one would struggle to find a place for him in the top twenty-five goalkeepers in the Premiership, his conviction to the cause and bravery should not be under stated and his progress was recognised with the signing of a new long-term contract in December.  6/10

Glen Johnson:  Upped his consistency levels to such an extent, that he is now the best English right-back  by some distance.   The marked improvement defensively showed up

particularly in one on one's and his covering across the backline. Unfortunately, he fell away in a few performances toward the end of the season when his concentration wavered, either not putting in a challenge or being beaten on the back post in the air, which is disappointing when one considers the player's physique and his height at 6ft 2in.  It should not detract from a stellar season and one looks forward to further improvement as he seems to have reached his peak.  8/10

José Enrique: An improved performer this season showing the form he displayed in the first half of his initial season.  As with Johnson, he attacks with purpose and often linked up with Suarez to devastating effect.  He has shown his passing is both short and long range and his distribution can often be quite clever.  Like Johnson, if he could eradicate the odd silly mistake from the defensive part of his game, which is purely down to concentration and a propensity to hold on and occasionally loose the ball in dangerous areas, he could well develop into one of the foremost left-backs in the Premiership. 7/10

Daniel Agger: The Dane's talents have never been in question as a ball playing centre-half, but this last season was underwhelming.  Where at the start of the season the expectations levels were high following the Danish captain's statement of intent not to ply his trade elsewhere, his performances were less than stellar, but more disappointing for a national captain was his failure to show leadership of any consequence.  In fact, the defence only hinted at any cohesion with the addition of Jamie Carragher.  Next season will be the most important of his Liverpool career as the focal point of the defence and will determine whether he could be a future club captain. 5/10

Martin Skrtel:  His performance in the away game at Southampton was systematic of a player whose confidence levels had hit rock bottom.  Brendan Rodgers lack of faith in the Slovakian can't have helped a player who at his best has a host of admirers around Europe and was Liverpool's player of the season for 2011-12.  His recent comments, supplemented by his agent's, suggest, sadly, we may just be seeing the watershed of his Liverpool career.  3/10

Sebastian Coates:  If ever a player suffered from a lack of support its Coates.  Still only 22 years old, he arrived from Nacional in August 2011 with great fanfare having been voted the best young player at the 2011 Copa America.  There is no denying he has been disappointing in his appearances in a Liverpool shirt appearing to struggle with the physicality of the Premiership.  He would though have benefited from being loaned out or been given a longer stint in the first team, but sadly, he is another whose Liverpool career seems to have run its course.  0/10

Jamie Carragher:  His competitive edge has never wavered despite not quite being at his combative best moving toward the end of his career, but the club's vice-captain still managed to usurp Martin Skrtel and had the manager and others clamouring for him to overturn his decision to retire at the end of the season. .  His performances have struck a chord to remind us the standards required to be a Liverpool centre-half, let alone to play for the club.  Alex Fergusson tribute to Carragher said it all, "He's absolutely a player I admire," Sir Alex told the club's official website. "He's the epitome of a loyal, dedicated player who Liverpool have been lucky to have for more than a decade.

"He's been a bedrock of their defensive qualities for years and years. I loved him. He's a fantastic example for any young lad that wants to play the game. He's been a really, really good professional."

Carragher struggled for appearances in the first half of the campaign but has started 14 of Liverpool's last 16 Premier League games, and Sir Alex compared the centre-back to former United captain Steve Bruce.

"He's absolutely the type of player a manager wants," Sir Alex continued. "I used to rave about Brucie [Steve Bruce] and the nine years he had with us, and I think Jamie Carragher is that exact same mould - can play with injuries, gets knocked about and gets back up, hardly misses a game.

A true club legend.  6/10

Martin Kelly:  Started the season buoyed after becoming a late inclusion in the Euro 2012 squad, he was struck down for the second season in succession with a long-term injury, just as he seemed destined to hold down a first team place.  Whether his future is at right-back or centre-half is an interesting question for the pacey defender, but what is not in question is how highly rated he is at the club.  He signed a new long-term contract in February.  N/A

Andre Wisdom:   Robust in the tackle and showed enough maturity to make many observers forget that he is a centre-half by trade.  Martin Kelly's return may just hasten his move back to a central berth, but he let know one down with his performances and what was overlooked is just how comfortable he is on the ball.  If Brendan Rodgers is looking for depth at centre-half for next season he could do no worse than the Leeds born defender.  6/10

Joe Allen:  By the end of last season his £15million price tag seemed to be weighing down on him to such an extent that it appeared to be stifling his performances.  But, as we now know, the ex-Swansea midfield controller was playing with a shoulder injury.  It makes it all the more surprising and misguided that Brendan Rodgers continued to play the Welshman, with his level of performance being so poor, than one wondered whether he had any business being at the club.  Midfield is an area that Liverpool are over endowed  and as such there was no need to take such a risk.  Encouragingly, he managed to score his first league goal for Liverpool, but with Steven Gerrard and Lucas Leiva the dominant midfielders and with the club seemingly on the lookout for external talent, the cold realisation is that drive and power is a requirement in the engine room, and as such the 'little man' will have to up his game with additional elements to remain in the first eleven.  4/10

Lucas Leiva:  Steven Gerrard's improved form in the second half of the season was in no small part to Lucas finally getting over his long-term knee injury.  It allowed Gerrard to escape the shackles of holding the midfield together and becoming more of an attacking force, linking up with Coutinho and Suarez.  Lucas work in front of the defence should not be underestimated, as much as his play is understated, he makes countless interceptions and has added a variety of subtle passing to his armoury.  A fit Lucas at the beginning of the season and a Daniel Sturridge in toe may just have helped us to build a winning momentum through the season. In saying that, whether he is and can make the leap to become top class is open to question.  6/10

Jordan Henderson:  Impressed many during the season with performances hinting a long-term career at the club is not beyond him.  His team mate’s celebration following his stunning volley against Norwich showed just how much they recognise his whole hearted approach, often bursting through to support the striker and adding vitality to the midfield.  He showed tremendous strength of character to come back from ferocious criticism the previous season and one detected warmth among the Anfield faithful for a player who was voted England under-21 Player of the Year for 2012 by supporters and captained England under-21 at the European Championships. 6/10

Stewart Downing:  Another who showed fantastic fortitude to raise his game and put in some potent performances adding some much needed goals to his output.  Was on his way out of Anfield with 18 months’ worth of disappointing performances wearing thin the patience of his manager, who in a un-Liverpool like manner criticised the player in public, stating the player could move on in January.  Downing to his credit, fought back not just verbally, but displayed his best form since his arrival at the club in July 2011.  One sensed the player knew he was in the last chance saloon and operated accordingly.  His improved form might be enough to keep him as an important squad member, but as Rodgers seeks to improve Liverpool in his second season, he may struggle to hold down his first team place.  5/10

Steven Gerrard:  The England captain enjoyed an injury free season, but unlike his halcyon days, he understandably played in a more measured and less dynamic way, controlling the tempo of games and turned defence into attack with stunning long range passing.  His surging runs are not as frequent, just more controlled, and I lost count of the times colleagues failed to pick out runs with loose passing.  His ubiquitous influence is very much still the heart-beat of the side, although he has been supplanted by Suarez as the inspirational figure. His level of performances this last season gives one the impression he will be around for a few seasons yet. 6/10

Raheem Sterling:  The lack of depth forced Brendan Rodgers into picking the youngster.  It says a lot about his fearlessness and the impact he made early on, that stories were abound that the club were being forced to offer the youngster improved contract terms as rivals were looking to pounce in the January transfer window.  He has a prodigious work ethic, often working back to support the defender behind him.  One felt as the season went on his struggled as teams began to work him out and as he came up against more physical opponents.  He has the prerequisite 'smarts' to get over those perceived problems as he gains more experience and begins to fill out.  All in all, a promising first season as he took on the mantle of being Liverpool's premier winger scoring his first Premiership goal. 5/10

Jonjo Shelvey:  After some strong early season performances, particularly in the Europa Cup, he dropped out of contention which is hard to quantify considering the form of Joe Allen.  In a season which saw him making his debut for England in the World Cup qualifier at home to San Marino and continued excellence for the under-21s, his absence from the run-in seemed mystifying and it appears sadly, that the talented youngster maybe heading for pastures new.  3/10

Jesus Fernandez Seaz (Suso) - Arguably the most naturally gifted player at the club, with the ability to dribble with the ball close to his feet and a passing range which only his club captain is able to top.  His lack of stature is the only thing holding him back in the Premiership at the moment and on a few occasions he was substituted at half-time. With Coutinho on the scene he has direct competition and one suspects he would rather play in the hole rather on the left had side. 4/10

Fabio Borini:  The Italian striker's first season was decimated by two injuries.  The first of which left the club with one recognised striker and the second cruelly as he'd worked his way back into the contention all but ended his season with a dislocated shoulder. He returned in the last few games to score his first Premiership goal for the club and looked incisive.   He is highly thought of in his homeland as one of the best young strikers and hopefully will push on next season even with Apas and Alberto entering the equation. 3/10

Luis Suarez:  After two and half seasons at Anfield is arguably behind only Messi and Ronaldo respectively as the best players in the world.  The Uruguayan has overtaken Gerrard and is now carrying Liverpool.  Some of his performances have been simply devastating and until Daniel Sturridge arrived he was the Liverpool attack.  We are now in the dangerous position of hoping rather than been relatively certain of his stay and should he leave will be in the position of losing a truly world class player destined to be a great one.   The Uruguayan once again blotted his copy book with his unconscionable act of savagery against Chelsea which brought LFC into disrepute and cost the club with his ban overlapping in next season. 9/10

Daniel Sturridge:  His explosive start to his Liverpool career only made fans wonder what might have been had he started the season at Anfield alongside Suarez.  The pairing almost pulled the loss at Old Trafford out of the mire with a second-half performance which had fans looking forward to possible Champions League entry.  The £12million looks money well spent and Anfield could be a happy home for the England International.  He has a disturbing knack of picking up injuries just as he appears to be pushing on and was injured playing for England in the close season and we can only hope that he’ll be back in time to have a pre-season, especially with Suarez still serving his ban.  6/10

Osama Assaidi:  Difficult to fathom just why Brendan Rodgers bought the ex-Heerenveen winger.  We saw enough of him in flashes to see his potential coming off the bench.  There were occasions when the Liverpool bench looked sparse with youngsters helping to fill the breach and one could only wonder whether the Moroccan International had failed to impress a manager who spent £3million to beat of interest from clubs in Holland and the Premiership in training.  1/10

Philippe Coutinho:  The Brazilian has already become a firm favourite with supporters taking to the Premiership like a duck to water.  Able to play in colleagues on the run and play pinpoint passes from wide or central positions.  He has built himself an upwardly mobile place in the club stats having already a number of assists and goals.  Possessing the ability to beat defenders with just a drop of the shoulder, he has a burst of pace over the first five yards and as he proved an undoubted match winner who combines well with Enrique and his fellow South American Suarez and with Sturridge there relationship appeared almost telepathic.  As time goes on he'll become more combative, which will enable him as with Suarez to become one of the team's leaders,  7/10

Notable others:  Samed Yesil showed in flashes he could be poacher of some repute with a sharpness in the box and a directness in front of goal which saw him start in the Europa League.   Unfortunately, injury finished his season just as he was looking to kick on. Anyone watching Jordan Ibe’s progress since his debut for the under-18s in 2012 will not be surprised by his impressive debut in the final game of the season against QPR when he laid on an assist for Philippe Coutinho.  Definitely one for the future.

Loaned players:

Player	Team	Appearances	Goals
Andy Carroll	* West Ham (Sold to West Ham for a reputed £15 million with add ons)	24	7
Michael Ngoo	Heart of Midlothian	17	5
Daniel Pacheco	SD Huesca	17	4
Jack Robinson	Wolverhampton Wanderers	11	0
Jay Spearing	Bolton (voted player of the season by Supporters’ Association and also scooped the club’s player of the season)	37	2

Brendan Rodgers:  Next season will be the barometer used to measure whether Liverpool are going forward under  Rodgers or whether his 180 page document was merely a false dawn written by a manager/coach swimming against the tide of expectation.  At our best we've played some of the most thrilling and dynamic football in the League and it's to Rodgers credit, his positive outlook and his fervent belief that football should be played in an entertaining manner.  

He buys similar bodied players in stature which sometimes leaves us susceptible against the more physical teams.  He's plagiarized the Barcelona play book, but even they recognise the need for steely resolve and have Sergio Busgetts and Alex Song at the bottom of the midfield doing the dirty work and no surprise that these two are physically taller and stronger in the tackle than their more celebrated colleagues, although they still felt short to the more powerful Bayern.  Swansea while keeping Rodgers basic philosophy, have added more power to their play at both ends which enabled them to compete and become a force away from home.  We need to adapt to different philosophies of play as this is not La Liga where most teams play football without the physical threat.  Even Chelsea with the wonderfully gifted talents of Mata, Oscar and Hazard have found it difficult to play all three, in the Premiership and it was the same for Liverpool at St. Mary's and a good portion of the home game against Spurs where we struggled to live with their power and pace having started with Downing and Coutinho supplementing Sturridge and Suarez leaving the midfield bereft. 

Gone are the days where Steven Gerrard is going to carry the team on his own and Rodgers must look long-term for his captain's replacement which will allow him to be more strategic in the way he deploys him.  We have been found wanting in some games pure and simple because of the lack of depth and quality in the squad.  Rodgers needs to add ready-made quality to the squad and it's the one thing he should've learn from Suarez who was a quality player before his arrival. 

 
There are positives.  We could and should have beaten Man City twice and Man United at home.  A lot has been made of our failure to beat those above, but we more than held our own and it is how Rodgers channels this into moving the team forward that will set out whether we compete with the big four.

We let ourselves down in home matches against WBA and Aston Villa which turned out to be vital points dropped, in our quest for European qualification.  All in all, with Rodgers at the helm, the club has managed to stabilize itself following the traumatic last few years.  On the field we haven't gone forward as much we would’ve liked, but with the glittering skills of Luis Suarez he knows that should he add some more talent to the team he may on the verge of moving the side into contention for a top four position. Should he not be supported by the board, then 2013-2014 may see us lose Reina and Suarez and our ability to compete at the top end.  One would like to see us succeed with a British manager at the helm and hopefully Brendan Rodgers is that man.  6/10

The Board:  The board haven't been backwards in coming forward, having backed managers financially, but we need to move on to the next level.  Critically, at the start of the season their failure to back the manager in the transfer market left us short upfront.  The drive to balance the books saw Andy Carroll go to West Ham on loan and no viable alternative come in.  Alternately, the success of Daniel Sturridge proves the club could've returned to the Champions League ahead of schedule and one wonders whether it was a lack of foresight on their part or just naivety in not knowing enough about the game to recognise how difficult it would be to challenge on any front with one top striker, all be it a world class one.  It begs the question, as to just just how much control Rodgers had in terms of transfers at the start of last season.

The summer transfer window will see whether the board understands the rationale of bringing in top players to help Gerrard and Suarez or stick rigidly to their mantra of bringing young players with potential rather than world-class players to take us to the next level.  Liverpool are at least four players short of being able to build an aura of authority to consistency challenge for a top four position and I challenge John W. Henry, Tom Werner, Ian Ayres and co to work with Brendan Rodgers to achieve that this summer. 

Hopefully the board shares Steven Gerrard's views in what needs to be done.  "We're not far away," said Gerrard speaking after the win against Villa.

"There will be some improvements in the summer to the squad and we believe we can then put in a better challenge for the top four next season. “We know what our problem is and it's inconsistency.

For the majority of the games [last season] we have played well enough to be higher up the league than we are, but when you look at performances like Southampton, Aston Villa at home, West Brom away, Arsenal at home; there's a handful of games there that this team hasn't turned up. That's the reason why we are sitting where we are in the table. But there have been some fantastic performances, ones that are well worth a top-four finish."

"If you have players like Coutinho and Suarez in your team then you win games," said the 32-year-old. "Ever since I was a player as a kid, you always find it easier to play alongside quality players. All the way through, Michael Owen, [Fernando] Torres, Suárez, Coutinho, they are the easiest players to play with."  John W. Henry were you listening?

 
The board sacked Kenny Dalglish over his ill-judged support over the racism row with Patrice Evra.  There followed a root and  branch clear out of the club's PR Department,  yet over the Suarez 'Bite Gate' affair the club instead of being seen to act by banning the star striker, they fell foul of not seeing the wider picture.  If we had been blessed with a few more world class players in the locker would the board have seen fit to have issued its own tough ban or even let the player go?  One doesn't want to aim cynicism at their attempts to be fair to the player as the FA in their wisdom and own attempts to lay down the law did not, as the PFA had, offer an olive branch to help the help the player who obviously has a character flaw in his make-up. 5/10

2012-2013 (Review):  The season started with no gargantuan expectations, but through it expectations were raised time and again with performances against the top six clubs.  Time again it was one step forward and two back with under-par performances against Aston Villa and WBA at home and a humiliating performance away to Southampton spelt curtains for the push towards a European place.

Luis Suarez stood head and shoulders above his colleagues and usurped Steven Gerrard as the go to man in the side.  One felt in the first half of season, he and he alone kept us away from the mediocre.  If he came to us as world class talent he finished the season as one of the world's great players, but even his explosive play couldn't get us into the top four.

Liverpool supporters are some of the most knowledgeable in the game and understand the position having seen promising performances against the Manchester United (home and away), Man City (home and away) Spurs (home) and Arsenal (away) and beating Chelsea away.  We threw away game after game, unable to finish off teams.

The lack of depth and was keenly shown up in our Europa Cup performances, where  Rodgers often threw, youngsters into the fray and didn’t look too perturbed after we were summarily dismissed from the competition.

The defence one of strongest the previous season, leaked goals throughout.  Martin Skrtel, a rock, saw his form dissipate to the point that Jamie Carragher regained his place in the twilight of his career.  It was disappointing to see the level of support given to the player who is a top quality defender.  Granted Jamie Carragher came back to provide organisation and leadership, but the goals still leaked and alongside him Agger was lucky not to find himself in the same boat as his normal centre-half partner.  The spine of the team lacked a combative edge and needs to be addressed.

All is all, with the tools on hand, 7^th place is about par for the course considering the turn over at the start of the season, but with three undoubted world-class players in the ranks in Reina, Gerrard and Suarez the disappointment felt that we hadn’t at least usurped Everton was keenly felt.  Progress in the second-half of last season lends one to believe that relative progress in 2013-14 is attainable.  5/10

So success for the forthcoming season would be in my eyes a strong push for fourth and even third place and a strong showing in both domestic cup competitions with no European Cup to use as an excuse.