This has been an absolute mixed season for Liverpool with a new manager at the helm who has tried to influx a new theory and a new philosophy into the club. While the team have certainly showed glimpses of progression on the field, the results have been pretty inconsistent, making the club settle for a seventh spot in the league. They have also failed to progress in the other tournaments, which has obviously created one or two doubts even on the minds of manager Brendan Rodgers’ biggest admirers. We look back at the season and point out three areas where Rodgers has certainly hit gold in this season.
Transfers
All in all Rodgers transfer policy is better than average although he has had certain missed opportunities this season. While Joe Allen was pretty good initially for the club, the early promise faded soon and questions were raised on Allen’s nature of lateral passing rather than forward passing.
Fabio Borini, who was brought in from AS Roma did not have a good season either with injury plaguing his debut season. But towards the lateral part of the season, the Italian has made a couple of appearances and trying to get his way into the English game.
As far as transfers are concerned, the January transfer window did wonders for Rodgers and neutralised any poor decisions made by him in the summer. He brought in Daniel Sturridge from Chelsea for a sum of £12m and so far the forward has knocked up 10 goals from the 13 matches he has played. The other inclusion during this window was Philippe Coutinho for a sum of £8.5m, a player who has taken everyone else by storm. His skills have impressed one and all and has immediately cemented his place with the starting XI as the Brazilian is been cited as the club’s future.
Youth Policy
In Rodgers Liverpool has got a manager who is not only young himself, but supports a youth policy which would help the club immensely in the future. In Sterling the club has found a talented young player who could turn out to be one of the biggest stars. Suso has been extremely promising and being hailed as the next big thing. Jonjo Shelvey has also been given fair opportunity and more often than not, he has made it count. Andre Wisdom and Sebastian Coates have also made notable performances this year apart from their reserve league triumphs. Liverpool’s transfer policy also highlights the club’s mentality to promote young stars and 17-year-old centre-back Lloyd Jones certainly is the next big thing from the Merseyside academy.
On field approach
Liverpool have displayed a series of impressive performances this year and have drawn against big clubs like Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester City. The manager’s vision of a passing game right from his Swansea days have been well documented and imposed on the Reds which may take until next season to fully adapt. With time, this approach of theirs would only take them further.
The summer sure looks bright for the Reds. With a couple of good looking transfers plus the return of Luis Suarez, they could certainly not win the league, but definitely be in the race for at-least the Champions league spot.