Liverpool Must Strengthen In January

Liverpool Must Strengthen In January

Liverpool are currently sitting in 12^th position in the league and 20 points behind leaders Manchester United and at the moment seem a long way off being where they want to be. OK, so this is a season of transition for Liverpool and patience is the key to long term improvement. But for a club like Liverpool being in such a lowly position in December has to be a concern.

The American owners backed former manager Kenny Dalglish with a lot of money to make Liverpool challengers once again. Dalglish took the club back to Wembley three times in one season and won their first trophy for a number of years, but Liverpool’s lowly league position was not good enough for the Americans and even a “Legend” like Dalglish had to be sacrificed.

Dalglish built a strong squad mixed with a good mix of youth and experience, but many of his signings struggled in their first season. Experienced players like Stewart Downing and Charlie Adam struggled to find their form at Anfield and youngsters with big price tags like Andy Carroll and Jordan Henderson also struggled, but Dalglish and his signings should have been given more time, especially after success in the Cup competitions.

Brendan Rodgers has now taken charge at Anfield and he has a massive job on his hands. The former Swansea manager lost a lot of experience before the new season started, with Maxi, Kuyt, Bellamy, Aurelio and Adam all leaving for pastures new with Spearing and Carroll going out on loan. Rodgers brought in Sahin on loan from Real Madrid along with Fabio Borini and Joe Allen from his former club, youngsters Assaidi and Yesil have also been added to a threadbare squad.

Maybe the American owners wanted to cut the wage bill at Liverpool by letting such players like Kuyt, Maxi and Adam leave, but to let them go and not replace them looks a big mistake and the debacle at the end of the transfer window has really hurt the team, although Liverpool have been very fortunate with the form of Luis Suarez. But can he keep that going for the whole season ?

It has been great to see youngsters like Sterling, Suso and Andre Wisdom come through this season, but it is really because Brendan Rodgers has not really had any other option but to play some kids. A couple of years ago Dalglish did the same when he took over, with Flanagan, Robinson, Kelly, Spearing and Shelvey featuring a lot, until he could add to his squad in the summer. So hopefully this January Rodgers can do the same and be backed by the owners to strengthen the squad.

The youngsters have been tremendous this season, but it is a big ask for them to play week in week out at the highest level. This season’s inconsistent results have been frustrating, but the style of play Rodgers has his team playing has the Liverpool supporters’ backing, when, not so long ago Roy Hodgson wasn’t so lucky.

Liverpool are only seven point short of a top four place at present and still within striking distance, but everybody needs to be pulling in the same direction and the owners need to back Brendan Rodgers with money to bring new players in this January. The summer is too far away and investment in the squad is needed now. But whatever happens in January time must be given to Brendan Rodgers as too many managers have come and gone in recent years.