Few could have predicted, when King Kenny came in for Roy Hodgson, that things would get this bad. In these days of highly impatient chairmen and board members I can’t think of one other manager who could have navigated this sequence of results without getting the sack. Indeed, Hodgson himself had a better record in his time at Liverpool.
That’s not to say that I think Kenny Dalglish should necessarily get the boot or relinquish control of daily affairs. Losing to a buoyant Newcastle at St.James’s is no disgrace in itself. But when paired with a 15 minute collapse at struggling QPR followed by a home defeat, to a team that has spent most of the season making up the numbers in the Premier League, you start to get the full picture. The term ‘crisis’ is used all too frequently to describe Premier League football teams but the only thing saving Liverpool from total oblivion right now are the cup runs.
If you want to know the actual source of the problem you need look no further than Liverpool’s bench at the weekend. Two of the three biggest signings of last summer were fit, but only deemed good enough to warm the bench. Meanwhile Andy Carroll gave another performance which undermined his huge transfer fee. Charlie Adam was injured but has hardly ignited the team himself this season.
Jordan Henderson and Carroll have time to improve but, at 26 and 27, Adam and Downing are in their prime now – so we can’t expect huge improvement from either – but neither has done the business this season. If Liverpool are a team in transition then surely these players are the key to next few years. But, based on their performances this time out, most Liverpool fans will be very apprehensive about the idea of these guys taking the team much further forward. Downing, in particular, has been really under par. In the modern game wingers need genuine pace, but Liverpool ostensibly overlooked this fact when splurging on the Englishman.
Whoever is making the signings needs to get their finger out. Be it Damien Comolli or Dalglish, Liverpool cannot afford another summer of expensive yet ordinary acquisitions. As a priority, they need at least one new winger with blistering pace and decent delivery to provide service for Andy Carroll and Luis Suarez. Justin Hoilett may well fit the bill and continues to excite and deliver consistently at Blackburn. They also need an assertive midfielder to play alongside the now ageing Steven Gerrard. That player might come from within – in the shape of either Adam, Lucas, Spearing, Shelvey or Henderson – but either way Liverpool can’t continue to rely solely on Gerrard in the engine room.
And whilst Skrtel and Agger have been decent, Liverpool need a real personality in the heart of the defence. Someone who will boss the team from the back. Someone like Ajax captain Jan Vertonghen.
An FA Cup trophy will go a long way to assuage the anxst of the fans but, beyond that, Liverpool need to have a summer of really intelligent player acquisitions and also think long and hard as to whether Dalglish is the man to take Liverpool forward in a game that has changed almost beyond recognition since the last time the club lifted the league trophy.
RED
Apr 3, 2012 at 2:39 pm
What are you on about?, say it like it is!, KD is cr*p!, and everyone knows that. He is destroying Liverpool, like he destroyed Newcastle and Celtic. He needs to step down, NOW!!, and take his summer CHAD with him. Totally clueless in 2012 and it can only get worse, if god forbid, stays!!!.
cludge
Apr 3, 2012 at 2:43 pm
Charlie Adam and Andy Carroll need to be sold/given away asap, nowhere near good enough. We are in desperate need of quality and pace which is so blatant it’s hurting. Why do LFC but players like Adam when we didn’t even try to get Van der Vart, who is leagues above. Kenny needs to step aside and maybe Capello or a Rafa return with some decent money to spend, because when Rafa made a mistake the player was soon out of the door.
mozo
Apr 3, 2012 at 3:13 pm
All we are saying is that King Kenny should just be given the remaining games for the season and sacked with a good handshack for giving CC and for ruin the season for us. I don’t reason properly anymore cos i just can’t believe that this is my beloved Liverpool. Jesus 8 matches DLLLWLLL this is unacceptable. They should better just bring our nextgen to complete the season and get RAFA to rebuild the squad in the summer. Dalglish is taking to hell and we can not fold our hands and watch him accomplish that.
Costasy
Apr 4, 2012 at 4:14 am
We should all have to start wondering:
1. Are John W. Henry, Thomas Werner, Ian Ayre, and Damiel Comolli possessed with the same feelings of humiliation and embarrassment as most of LFC’s fans are by watching one of the most historic teams to be humiliated by all of its opponents in 2012?
2. Do they really have the pure intentions, as they are trumpeting, to turn around the fortunes of this team?
3. When will they finally realize that as long as they do not act decisively and immediately to appoint a world class manager and sack Kenny Dalglish this team will always be on the red alert zone?
4. Will John W. Henry and Thomas Werner start eventually protecting their investment and the sponsors who are heavily investing in LFC’s world-recognized brand name?
5. Will John W. Henry and Thomas Werner eventually and finally be consulted honestly by the football experts and informed that what it is happening to LFC in 2012 is not a normal and healthy condition/development?
6. Will Ian Ayre as the Managing Director and Damiel Comolli as the football director finally start acting as pure professionals and step aside any emotions of favoritism towards Kenny Dalglish and finally advise/consult John W. Henry and Thomas Werner to make the right decision(s)?
7. Will Kenny Dalglish finally start acting as a pure Liverpoollian and step down as LFC’s manager as he can help this team find its recovery path?
The recent development from John W. Henry and Thomas Werner to require a written report by Damien Comolli, Kenny Dalglish, and Steve Clarke is a very encouraging/promising movement that simply signalize their intention not to compromise with mediocrities and their determination to not tolerate from anyone, even if his name is Damien Comolli or Kenny Dalglish, with his decisions to put the overall success of turning the fortunes of this historic club around and guide/lead it to a new golden era in jeopardy. Every cent/penny that will be provided by them as a transfer budget should be spent wisely not on ambiguous value football players, but on players that have a proved record that can make the difference. On this specific aspect both Damien Comolli and Kenny Dalglish have failed and they are held responsible for that. Damien Comolli has succumbed to Kenny Dalglish’s limited knowledge of modernized football and tactics by bringing in players that are not made up for a club as LFC. This proves that they both (Damien Comolli and Kenny Dalglish) do not have the knowhow of how to build a title contender team in today’s modernized football. My assessment on Damien Comolli is based on the fact that by holding the position of football director should apply veto when he feels/believes that the players the manager/coach is asking for cannot stand up to the standards of a club like Liverpool. My assessment on Kenny Dalglish is based on the fact that he was out of the game for a decade and he cannot understand the changes that applied in this field.
Concerned
Apr 4, 2012 at 6:09 am
I think most of the comments sum it up perfectly, ‘historically’ we are a big club. Now however in the modern game we are just not able to compete with the ‘big four’ and maybe even the top six!!