Liverpool: Forth or 5th

Liverpool’s incredulous rise from a dour position in the table to a mediocre position in the table has been met with much fanfare and positivity from all red corners. This may seem unusual to many outside the club, but for those who know their football, it means an awful lot.

Kenny Dalglish has injected some much demanded optimism in to the club and it seems that with players seemingly queuing outside Media Towers to give feel-good quotes, the vibe inside is just as upbeat.

Liverpool are now within breathing distance of 5th place and with only four games remaining, it may be too late. But I now worry that it’s too simplistic to think ‘that’s it, we’re going to be great next season’.

Tails are well and truly up, even Maxi Rodriquez is in the hat-trick club, but without throwing a damp blanket over it all, regardless of whether we finish 5th or 6th, Liverpool face a huge summer.

Hodgson’s chord was cut just in time, he could’ve pulled Liverpool over the edge of the cliff but the strong arm of The King has hauled us back in the right direction. Seemingly without doing little except changing the mood.

A crossroads looms large on the horizon now, and although I seem to say this every year, the very direction of the club over the next few years could be decided this summer. Comolli has been a man in the shadows since he arrived, which is a good thing, but I hope he’s earning his cash.

We have been linked a few times with St. Etienne players and sometimes I wonder whether it’s jobs for the boys or genuine insight.

As always with these things, time will tell and the best quality a football fan can have is patience.

It seems as though giving Dalglish the job, as is expected, in the summer, will be Liverpool playing their final hand: it’s win or bust. There are genuinely six top four contenders now, which is unprecedented in most leagues, and to be there each season we have to make the right decisions starting with the manager.

If Kenny Dalglish can’t turn us around? Who can? The fan momentum is currently there, the owners seem willing and the majority of the players are on board.

Liverpool don’t need a massive overhaul. Dead wood can be shipped off, but large parts of the squad should remain intact, just to add depth.

To truly throw our hat in the ring for the next five years and beyond, for both Champions League and Premier League contention, then Liverpool need real quality. It doesn’t have to be spectacular, but dependable.

At the moment, and it is hugely unfortunate, two of our most talented players are Agger and Aurelio and both players spend for too much time in the treatment room than on the pitch. While i think Aurelio should be let go in the summer, as was originally planned by Benitez, Agger should be retained.

But to get the best out of talented players who seem injury plagued, a team must have adept replacements. At the moment, Liverpool don’t have this. We have scrappers, fighters, and players with passion who throw themselves into tackles, but if we want to dominate teams, become the ‘Bastion of Invincibility’ as Shankly once dreamed, then our mission this summer should be to spend in the knowledge that Liverpool FC is only as strong as its weakest link.

@onlychrissevers

Andy Carroll and Liverpool's philosophy

The biggest thing in football is money, we all know it. Peter Crouch comes close, Wayne Rooney’s vocabulary comes close, but money is what makes the game go round.

Any owner of a club, such as Mr J W Henry, will want to see returns on their investments. Of course they would, that’s fair enough, but sometimes I do sit and ponder whether money hamstrings football too much.

I’ve often heard it called moneyball, and there’s a lot of truth in this. When an owner invests a lot of money in a player, they expect that player to play, and when that player doesn’t play well, or doesn’t fit a system, then who has the ultimate say?

In a perfect world, the football man does. But as Rafa Benitez found out continually through his career, you can’t bite the hand that feeds you, or you’ll get a slap.

When I watch Andy Carroll play, this quandary always pops into mind. I see the team change, our brainless defenders (Agger and Johnson excluded) see it as an easy way out, and I worry that because he’s the most expensive British player ever, ‘he has to play’.

Now, I know he’s young, and new, and I think he will score a lot of goals for Liverpool, but I would hope that the manager (presumably Dalglish) will have the power and sway to dictate the team’s style on a game-by-game basis.

There will be some games where playing Carroll won’t be as effective. While I am sure he will improve as a player over the next few years, his style of play won’t. He will always be a target man, and not in the Drogba mould, because quite simply he lacks the pace.

Liverpool must concentrate on avoiding building a team solely to suitaro Andy Carroll, as has been mooted, but build a team based on a philosophy of good football, and ensure that Carroll fits that philosophy.

Lots of chit-chat and conjecture has bandied about the airwaves and internet-waves [cit] about buying wingers for Carroll. If that was to be our ‘aim’ then we would be seriously undermining our chances of long-term success. Carroll is still an unknown quantity. He has raw assets that should be exploited, and a good crosser would of course be a great acquisition, but any incoming wingers (Sylvain Marveaux looks set to join) I would hope they have a lot more about them than just being able to stick the ball on Andy Carrol’s head.

My concerns are obviously hypothetical, Liverpool may well have a grand plan for the summer, but as mentioned above, would the sheer price of Carroll have too much influence on the way the team thinks and plays?

Liverpool’s problem isn’t the players, it’s the mentality. Too little movement, not enough imagination. We don’t press high up the pitch like we used to, and if we win the ball in midfield, there’s only usually two people in front of play. To break teams down, you have to be ready to pounce, quickly and ruthlessly.

All of the teams who play on that ‘higher level’, have an amazing fluidity about them that allows interchangeable positions making them a nightmare for defenders. By focusing entirely on Andy Carroll, we allow ourselves to fall into dependency. Everybody will know where Carroll will play, and how we will play to him.

Who knows? Maybe Andy Carroll’s biggest role could be to play the worlds most expensive red herring. By using Carroll not as a goal scorer, but as a goal creator (i.e. making space, runs, dragging defenders away) Liverpool can take advantage of this space.

The biggest trouble Liverpool have had for the last two years is finding players who can create space. We’re too static, and Andy Carroll surely falls into that bracket. But, it can work.

To utilize a player of Carroll’s ability, we need strong runners from midfield and players who know when to go and when to stay, a footballing brain can never be underestimated. Meireles has shown he has the potential to do it, but he can’t be relied upon solely.

Kuyt doesn’t have the legs any more and Suarez is still too early in his career at Liverpool and must be given time. Although his direct style and unpredictable nature make him a handful for any team, I’m sure he will help the ‘dream’ of beautiful football along nicely.

In summary, I hope and expect Andy Carroll to be a success at Liverpool FC. I just hope that Liverpool play to LIVERPOOL’S strengths, and not Andy Carroll’s.

Andy Carroll should be a weapon wielded in a way to allow a warrior to move freely, not a weapon too heavy to be swung, rendering our metaphorical warrior over incumbent.

@onlychrissevers

Liverpool's well is dry, only FSG can push us on.

Raising money this year is, as we all know, going to be difficult for most not only in the UK but the world.

Unless you’re a City banker or Gideon Osborne you may find potential income slipping through your fingers. This summer will be a good test of Liverpool’s financial clout, will we be Princes or Paupers?

The money raised from sales this year has allowed us to manoeuvre freely, splashing out like a desperado sugar daddy on two young strikers.

But now, as new Director of Football Damien Comolli plots future transfers with Kenny Dalglish, the question will be asked by fans, ‘where will the money come from’?

Financially, Liverpool have traditionally had wiggle room. The club, for the last few years has always wielded assets to sell on for profit.

Despite misinformation to the contrary, under Hicks and Gillett, Rafael Benitez did a good job in turning over enough profits in sales to keep the squad fresh enough to compete. This, despite the club being strangled from behind in a giant business-like metaphor of Hitchcock’s Rope.

Players like Torres, Alonso and Crouch have been used as lucrative money spinners. Often resulting in two or three new squad members being recruited for cheaper prices, in the hope we unearth a gem.

For a team that doesn’t have any money, yet still is demanded by some to win everything, this is part of a standard squad evolution that must take place if the team is to carry on going forward.

Eventually things reached a standstill and something had to give, after the manager left, followed by the owners and finally the interfering managing director, Liverpool were looking at new horizons.

Hodgson’s reign was short and bitter, so long and thanks for all the fish. But that was all part of a grander change that leaves us where we are now.

Kenny Dalglish is coach, for now and likely to be in the long term, and with FSG in charge and with Comolli as general overseer, LIverpool are in a very different boat to what we where a year ago.

But, how will the transfer strategy change? To make up ground on the teams above us, expenditure will have to outgrow income and with the financial fair play rules just 2 years away, the best time to act would be now.

LIverpool however, for the first time in a while seem short of decent salable assets. Only the suggested £20m transfer clause of Pepe Reina suggests some sort of significant income, otherwise, we would have to clear out a whole host of players just to afford one competitive signing.

Too long have we been forced to sign £5m players in the hope they turn into stars and to boost the squad depth. This philosophy, while it couldn’t be avoided, does not give enough competition to the established players in the squad and ultimately, seamless cover.

So, this leaves the ball firmly in the court of FSG, Liverpool will, ideally need a solid spending plan for the summer, which could match January’s spending but we can’t afford, from a quality perspective, to lose any of our ‘assets’.

Nobody will care if Jovanovic leaves, or if Joe Cole moves on for a couple of million, but to give Liverpool it’s best chance of Champions League football then Mr Henry, as I’m sure he knows, will have to push the boat out, because we have no choice.

Adopting a sell-to-buy policy will only allow us to tread water until we get washed away, aggressive rebuilding is essential.

But this summer, without any room to create substantial funds, Liverpool’s future hopes rely on the will of the owners.

Twitter: @onlychrissevers

Liverpool FC - Subbuteoball

Liverpool’s recent embarrassment of a performance against Braga in the Europa League highlighted a couple of issues that have been around in the side for years.

I picked on Jamie Carragher a couple of weeks back, focusing on his inability to pass the ball with any more imagination than a Sunday League player.

Thursday, for me, not only amplified this problem due to the presence of Andy Carroll but showed that JC is not alone.

Liverpool are suffering at the moment not from a lack of depth in the squad, but a lack of positive philosophy.

The key to any creative team is who the people at the back are and we have some outstanding footballers at Liverpool, but they don’t play enough. Daniel Agger and Fabio Aurelio are technically superb and when they play the team looks completely different. We need players who can step in to the team and continue the style of play that we should be employing.

When they don’t play, which is far too often, we suffer from a lack of imagination that not only makes us simple to defend against, but simple to attack. It’s easy to run in to the gaps when you’re playing against a team from The Subbuteo Premiership.

When Skrtel, Krygiakos or Carragher have the ball, there’s only two things that each find themselves doing. Give it to Lucas 10 yards away, or hoof it long. Hitting it long almost always guarantees a surrender of possession and it’s something I feel Kenny Dalglish should address in the summer with some tough decisions.

I have no problem with the pace of Lucas’ play, which is slow and safe, but the sloppiness of those around puts far too much pressure on a player who’s job is to break up opposition attacks and give the ball to better players. Unfortunately, we don’t have many players who can use the ball better than Lucas and this is a damning indictment of the team as a whole.

The past few years have seen an exodus of creative players who have been replaced by mules and workhorses. Even those who could frustrate the Kop at times could often use a little imagination to swing a game in our favour.

Alonso, Aquilani, Garcia, Riera and Benayoun have all been shipped out and not replaced adequately. They were players who tried things, and who were dangerous in the final third.

Now Liverpool rely on Suarez and Meireles to pull something out of the bag and for two players who don’t have a year between them in the Premiership that’s too much to ask on a game by game basis.

Liverpool need a model. A constitution which defines what Liverpool is in the long term and how we play and ultimately, who we sign. We’ve a team full of scrappers starting from the back and if you want a team to be an effective unit at breaking down defences instead of breaking down attacks then you need to look at ball players throughout the team.

Of course every team needs a bit of steel, all the greats have it. Even Barcelona have Puyol and Busquets, but both can play too. Liverpool have persisted for too long in buying players with no brains and no willingness to adopt the famous ‘Liverpool Way’.

There are players in the reserves and youth teams who’re definitely being groomed in the right way, but by the time they reach maturity Liverpool could be in Premiership oblivion. Trapped between Europa League and Nowhere.

The time, as ever, in football is now. Lets hope Mr Comolli, along with Kenny Dalglish are planning a proper inquisition into the fundamental problems that exist at this club.

Dalglish identified it after the Braga game when he said we have no flair, but I hope that despite all the calls for wingers, which is of course necessary, attention is paid to creativity that starts at the back.

We already have the most creative goalkeeper in the world, now we need to strengthen the most important part of any team that wants to compete at the top, the brains.

Innovation is the only way we can save football.

The recent announcement from the wise old council of football, otherwise known to those who care as FIFA, to ban ‘snoods’ and outlaw the wearing of ‘undergarments not of the team colours’ highlighted not only the shocking indiscipline of player fashion but also the lazy traditionalism of the fat cats at FIFA HQ.

The pace, technical ability and intensity of football is increasing season on season, but the rules remain stagnant and outdated. Why the football Illuminati, led by the untouchable, Nobel craving, hunger solving, world saving Sepp Blatter has not acted on the broken rules of football is beyond normal humanoid comprehension.

There are many things reprehensible about the structure of football but the last few weeks have highlighted some growing issues. Outrageous commendation of incompetence by refusing to allow retrospective punishment tops the list, followed by player registration regulation and the use of the yellow card as if it were going out of fashion.

Retrospective punishment is something that is so simple a child could understand it. I couldn’t give a hoot if it wasn’t feasible in lower leagues, with all due respect, they’re less important to the gigantic empire that is football under FIFA.

Wayne Rooney and Jamie Carragher should both be serving suspensions and justice would have been some way to being done. However, because one man, the referee, missed the incident, the players who committed awful fouls (an elbow and a leg breaker) are then protected by FIFA’s rules. The backward mentality of the decision makers is baffling.

But let’s not forget, they have a lot to do, there’s just so much money floating around for them to deal with that we must all take a moment to appreciate how hard they must work to squirrel it away. So now you may understand why they happily hide behind a referee and let him take all the slack despite having little to no help, they’re too busy saving lives, clearly.

For those interested, take a gander at Law 5 from the FIFA Rules, they ask a lot of the referee, and although sometimes refs don’t help themselves, they do not get enough help. By not implementing proper retrospective punishment, they are pouring far too much pressure onto one individual to truly see everything.

What problems could arise in having the ability to punish players such as Rooney and Carragher for their misdemeanors after the match? There is no defense against it, the ref could simply say to the player on the pitch: “I didn’t see what happened, but that doesn’t mean you escape punishment”. This flexibility in punishment reduces the pressure on a referee to be all seeing and will be a deterrent to players who think they can go unseen.

In the Champions League on Tuesday night we saw Daniel De Rossi get away with a right hook against a Shaktar Donetsk player which went unseen by referee supremo Howard Webb. As the referee didn’t see it properly, like he didn’t see the subtle De Jong challenge in the World Cup final, the player is now eligible to be charged for misconduct, by UEFA. Now, this might be a twisted logic but the referee’s inability to see an incident helps justice to be done. Strange.

Secondly, we have the stubborn player registration law. Liverpool fans will be feeling the brunt of it this season with Luis Suarez’ inability to play Europa League football. A performance for Ajax in the competition means the Uruguayan will now be unable to help his new team win a trophy. Why? I don’t think this even merits looking into, ‘why?’ should be enough.

Here is an exert from the rule in Section 18.8 of the UEFA regulations: “if the player’s new club is playing in the UEFA Europa League, his former club must not have played in the UEFA Europa League at any point in the current season”.
Make of that what you will, while they try and impose fair play financially, they are tightening their grip around the neck of football for the fans. Those fans who have lined Platini and Blatter’s pockets with gold, those fans who prop the industry up as a whole, are now the ones being told to bend over and shut up. A million articles would not be enough to get into the price of games now.

What we need in football is a fluid, quick government, one that has the best interests of the fans at heart and which punishes those who blatantly flout the rules. In a twisted logic, Luis Suarez and the Liverpool fans are being deprived of football and entertainment, while at the same time Rooney and Carragher get away with criminal offenses. The mind boggles thinking of the possible reasons not to listen to the outcries from fans, journalists and players alike.

Almost as nonsensical, and another indicator of the growing conspiracy that ‘mad dog’ Gadaffi was responsible for writing the rule book, with help no doubt from Charlie Sheen, is why the yellow card still exists.

This semi-punishment is about as awkward as a third wheel on Valentines Day, Robin Van Persie can confirm that. His yellow card and sending off against Barcelona is a disgraceful decision that exposed bad refereeing and bad use of the card. The Dutchman was given his second yellow for taking a shot within one second of the referees whistle at the rowdy, noisy Camp Nou, even the hardest authoritarian would forgive the forward from giving Arsenal their first shot on goal.

The yellow card is proving insufficient at even it’s most basic function, calming down players. I challenge anybody to find me a game that has been calmed down by yellow cards. Instead, as is so often the case, the game descends into a tense, edgy encounter which only raises the temperature.

The recent Manchester United - Liverpool game nearly combusted at one point, half time was the only reason nobody got sent off, yet there was the referee, flashing his card about (incorrectly) and it achieved nothing. If a higher profile game was needed to raise awareness of the yellow card issue, see last years World Cup Final and after 15 yellow cards, we were treated to the worst final in decades.

The only impact a yellow card seems to have these days is punishing celebrations and ruining games with decisions that leave fans halfway between shouting at the referee and scratching their heads. Imagine a howling monkey scratching it’s head and multiply it by 40,000 and you’re left with the general imagery of Premiership crowd when the majority of yellow cards are dished out.

Naturally, there needs to be a middle punishment, one that isn’t as petulant as the yellow card and this is where football should take precedent from other sports. The sin-bin idea is pretty much fool proof, for every offense the player should be given an extended sin-bin time, therefore it’s the players prerogative to help his team.

Every match that takes place is likely to leave 50% of the crowd disappointed, but that shouldn’t be due to sloppiness by those charged with safeguarding the game.

It seems almost too easy to be true, but instead of having ‘two extra officials’ who stand behind the goals, why not have two officials who sit and watch TV replays during the game. From this point, they can inform the referee of offenses he may have missed and be there to confirm crucial decisions where there is an element of doubt.

A straight red, most people will agree, can be considered a fair option. Some players deserve to be sent straight off. An automatic 3-game suspension should not be a concrete punishment. There are many different types of sending off offenses, one punishment is not enough to rule them all (Lawyers - this sentence has no intended reference to Lord of the Rings). A handball on the goal-line can receive the same suspension and punishment as a straight up punch. Once again, someone needs to rip the rule book up and rewrite it.

Despite the endless list of ‘why’s’ and constant puzzlement, we must remember the biggest ‘why’ of all. Why is Mr Blatter still at the wheel of this globalized circus? Elections are soon and candidates are to make themselves known by the end of the month. Will anybody step up to be counted? Is there anyone who has the humility and bravery to innovate the game we love and despise all the same?

Who will save us? No, not you Sepp.

By Chris Severs

Gerrard and Carragher: Untouchable? I hope not.

After a cagey start to life under Kenny Dalglish, the embers of a revival were starting to flare up, but after the showing against West Ham, we were firmly put back in our place, and rightly so.

The display was something we all know Liverpool had in them. Too many players going missing and the usual scapegoats being made, well, the usual scapegoats.

Two players that stood out, in terms of absolute worthlessness though, were Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher. This might sound like a strange shout, but it’s all about perspective.

I’ve heard many many fans slating David Ngog, sometimes fairly, sometimes unfairly, and I’ve felt the brunt of criticisms of Lucas over and over along with Kyrgiakos. There is a difference between the nagging comments of these three players, who cost £7.5m in total, to the ‘invaluable’ combo of Gerrard and Carragher.

These stalwarts, the so called life-blood and embodiment of all things LFC, have been off the boil for too long now, and in Carragher’s case, never quite had the ability to cut it at the peak. If this is the backbone of Liverpool Football Club, then we are suffering from a broken back.

The silence, when it comes to the analysis of the two English players is deafening. I don’t mean to be sensational when I write, just for the sake of it, but I cannot be the only one who feels Liverpool might better off without them (proper investment permitting).

First up, Jamie Carragher. A player who, after reading his autobiography, has a lot of self worth it seems. His ability to read a situation and make a possible saving challenge is unquestionable. He is highly competent at doing so. But, from a footballing standpoint, he is not good enough. His distribution is atrocious. Soft, 30-yard chipped balls up to anybody who is up front is not good enough. The ball inevitably comes back straight away, possession it seems is not an option when Carragher has the ball at his feet.

I can see an immediate future for the centre back, dogged defending is his forté and when he stands alongside Daniel Agger, it can work. But when paired with anybody who can’t use the ball well, i.e. Martin Skrtel, he may as well be standing on one leg. For a professional footballer, I find it shocking.

If Jamie Carragher did not carry so much fanfare, then I would be able to accept his deficiencies. It’s all too common for other players to be lambasted, and Carragher to be let off the hook. If you’re wondering where I’m coming from, the next time Liverpool play, just look at how good ol’ JC uses the ball. I only pray Agger is present to hold his hand through it.

Deep down, maybe I have a grudge against him, but one exert in his autobiography forever turned me from being endeared to him. After taking some criticism from a journalist in a local paper, Carragher judged it unfair, and then infers that a phone call was made resulting in nothing critical being written again, if that’s not blinding arrogance I don’t know what is. I can see why successive England managers overlooked the Bootle born defender. His heart is there, his head is there, he has the organizational skills to be a leader, but his ability lets not only him, but the team down.

Secondly, with one of the worst displays I’ve seen from any club captain in the last couple of years, Steven Gerrard.
After strutting about the pitch for 94 minutes having no more than a shot and a couple of flicks, Gerrard embodied his last two seasons. As I said with Carragher, these performances don’t ‘grind my gears’ individually, it’s the combination of people being unwilling to question the ‘icon’. Those most guilty of this are the pundits we see on every live match, paid to be critical, but forever taking the easy road out.

Quick to lay into the smaller fish out there for Liverpool, not undeservedly, it’s the unwillingness by the likes of Jamie Redknapp, Phil Thompson, Paul Merson, and anybody who seems to have a say on LIverpool, to really see the gaping hole that Steven Gerrard leaves behind when played in his ‘favourite role’.

Rafa Benitez could see it, and so could Fabio Capello. Gerrard, although a great player in his own right, Gerrard does not do the ‘team’ any justice. Tactically he leaves gaps.
This is the main driving force behind Benitez deploying Gerrard up front, free of any responsibility, the ‘influential hero’ could do what he liked, and he did it very well.

The press, it seems, were adamant Benitez had it wrong and only in central midfield would we see the true Steven Gerrard. Well, if this is the true Steven Gerrard, throw him back up front, please.

In the West Ham defeat, once Meireles went off, Lucas Leiva was left to deal with three midfield runners. An impossible task. The Brazilian wasn’t helped by his skippers absence in the game and duly took the criticism for a poor performance. Silly old Lucas, didn’t you get the memo? You’re in a no-win situation.

This is becoming an all too familiar sight now at Anfield and on the road. 2008-2009 saw Gerrard undoubtedly hit his peak. His partnership with Torres during that season was the most prolific in Liverpool history and both players looked fired up all season. Since then, the captain has looked a nomad lost in a talentless desert.

I’m not sure what it is that makes Gerrard tick, whether it’s proper motivation from a manager or what’s going on in his family life, but the skipper has not looked the player he was for a long time now, and that brings into question his worth to the team.

Our current squad dictates that both he and Jamie Carragher have their places almost guaranteed, but this comes from a lack of competition which for me, could be the reason their performances are so indifferent.

When it comes to summer dealing and planning, traditionally, managers have not felt the need to look into signing direct competition for these players, they simply buy ‘reinforcements’.

This has, over time, become a dangerous strategy. It seems to me, dear reader, that both Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher have become too big at Liverpool, they are now untouchable.

We need someone at the helm who is bigger than them both, and can hold sway in any power struggle, luckily, that man is already there.

Kenny Dalglish, you’ve got a few big decisions to make come the summer. Rant, over.

By Chris Severs

Alberto Aquilani could still have a red future.

There are not many teams out there that demand and divide opinion as much as Liverpool Football Club do and included in that are the players of Liverpool FC.

One man who is still technically a Liverpool player and who tends to provoke debate is Alberto Aquilani. The Italian has spent the season at Juventus where he has done okay, but most importantly has stayed fit.

The reasons behind his departure in August 2010 remain a bit of a mystery to me. Only two weeks prior to his leaving, Roy Hodgson had pin-pointed the midfielder as ‘looking good’ (along with Lucas). Whether Aquilani had asked for a move, unable to settle, hasn’t been made clear. He has always played his cards quite close to his chest; saying he loves it at Juventus while reminding people that he still belongs to Liverpool.

Aquilani has been a talking point seemingly all his professional life. Blessed with obvious talent and a great footballing brain, to use an old cliché. Injuries, however, have been his downfall.

Heralded as the successor to Francesco Totti, perhaps unfairly, ‘Il Principo’ failed to take the crown off the legendary Roman. Injuries, often to his ankles, prevented his progression and when Rafa Benitez decided he could rebuild and re-mould the player Roma took the bait.

His first season at Liverpool started off as we all knew it would, with him injured. For some reason this didn’t stop people criticising him. In some quarters, he was unbelievably branded a flop before even kicking a ball. Which is ridiculously as what defines a ‘flop’ has changed over the years it seems. A flop used to be someone who couldn’t hack it at a certain level, now it’s whoever hasn’t made an instant impact.

Of course, some people couldn’t handle the fact Rafa had just replaced the popular Alonso with a player deemed crocked.
I always felt criticisms were unfair though, and a lot depends on the standing of the manager on how much faith the fans give. Kenny Dalglish just spent £35m on an injured player, but no fan will question him, not that I disagree with the decision, but comparisons can be made.

For me, the Roman always looked class. After so long out, in a new country and new league, I felt he acquitted himself well. He always seemed one step in front of the opposition and his one touch passing impressed me. Although apparently it didn’t impress everyone. At one point during the home leg of our Europa League semi-final with Atletico, Aquilani, after a good instance of one touch passing was berated by a group of fans for being ‘scared of the ball’. After I had removed my face from my palm, I understood that this player may never be understood by all.

The majority of Liverpool fans could see the ability he has, and would no doubt have him back at Anfield. There are two key decisions to be made though; whether the player wants to stay in Italy, and whether Kenny Dalglish could find a place for him.

The relative success of Raul Meireles means that there may be no place for ol’ Bertie. Don’t be fooled however into thinking they’re similar players, they are very different and could, I think, play in the same team. It would be a positive managerial headache fitting both creative players alongside Gerrard and Lucas, as I don’t agree with sticking either of the midfielders out wide.

In an attacking team, with a good hold up player such as Carroll alongside more technical players such as Suarez and Meireles, the Italian could find his way at Liverpool yet and deep down I hope this is the case.

While Aquilani could play deep, and has done, he doesn’t possess the tenacity in the tackle as Lucas does. In possession though, there aren’t many better for dictating tempo.

The chances are that he will remain in his home country, whether it’s at Turin or elsewhere, but if Kenny does recall the player, then I think there is still a place for Alberto Aquilani, and I hope if he comes back the fans will give him the chance to prove himself.

By Chris Severs