EPL preview: Can Liverpool finally return to the top of the tree?

As we continue our build-up to the new Premier League season, Liverpool follower Dupin forces himself to take a dispassionate look at whether this year will finally be their year...

Liverpool and Manchester United are tied on 18 top flight triumphs apiece but everyone knows where the momentum lies behind that stat. Despite considerable cup success and some attractive ensembles in the meantime, Liverpool have not prevailed in the real benchmark of success - the league - since the 1989-90 season, when Kenny Dalglish was at the helm. You half suspect that the summer appointment of ‘King Kenny’ to a senior role at the Youth Academy is a wistful nod to those halcyon days. As current manager Rafael Benitez manoeuvres his chessmen and says his Hail Mary’s, is there anything to suggest that he can go one better than last season and finally bring the coveted Premier League title to Anfield? Let’s take a look at the principal players from back to front in an indulgent fan’s first XI selection, not forgetting (mindful of Liverpool’s oft-cited Achilles heel of a lack of strength in depth) the prospective supporting cast - and see whether they’re strong enough to do the job...

Goalkeeper.   

In Pepe Reina Liverpool have, to my mind, the best goalkeeper in the league.  His cat-like agility and lightning reflexes (clichés both but true!) are supplemented by an unusually astute reading of the game and no little pure footballing ability. At 6”2, Reina stands 3 inches shorter than rival keepers Edwin van der Sar and Petr Cech, and this is sometimes apparent on crossed balls, his only significant relative weakness. 

The statistics support my impression: starting with his debut season in 2005/06, Reina claimed the Barclay’s Golden Glove award for the most clean sheets three seasons running and was only thwarted in retaining the honour last term by Van der Sar’s record-breaking run for United.

Defence.   

Of course, a huge part of the reason for Reina’s shut-outs has been the well-drilled back four playing in front of him, especially Kop Idol Jamie Carragher, who will soon clock up a staggering 600 appearances for the Reds. 

Perhaps perversely, it is the defence that most excites me this season because there is real scope for a dynamic formation change to three centre-backs and two wing-backs, something that Benitez, tellingly, has alluded to. The factors that suggest this are the high quality and the variety of the three recognised centre-backs - the workaholic marshal Carragher, the uncompromising Martin Skrtel (lineal successor to Sami Hyypia, who every Liverpool fan will miss) and the elegant Daniel Agger - and the acquisition of Glen Johnson, a real coup even for the Ronaldo-crazed market price of £17.5 million. Both Agger and Johnson are magnificently fluid, progressive footballers and in such a formation (with Johnson right wing-back) their average positions on the pitch - at least, in theory - would be higher than in a conventional back four, thereby maximizing attacking threat (and mitigating any damage from Johnson’s tendency to drop a defensive howler every other game!).

On the left, it’s a toss-up between reliable team-man and Benitez stalwart, Fabio Aurelio, and the thrusting young Argentine Emiliano Insua, both of whom, in common with Johnson, are happier on the front foot than the back.

The one evident collective weakness, whoever plays in central defence, is a lack of speed, and, perhaps more importantly, acceleration. A whippy high-torque player such as a Robin van Persie could put them to the sword.

Midfield.  

Expanding on a hypothetical 3-5-2 formation, the central midfield will feature two deep-lying players – Alonso and Mascherano – and a primarily attack-minded player, Steven Gerrard. Arguably, Benitez’s best bit of summer (non-) business has been (at the time of writing) retaining the services of the former pair, who have been seriously courted by Real Madrid and Barcelona respectively.  They are wonderful mechanical complements: Alonso is the metronomic initiator of play (with that splendid sideline in scoring from miles out) and Mascherano the all-action retriever.

Should Alonso be sold to Madrid before the start of the season, the likely replacement is the exasperating Brazilian Lucas Leiva, who has a neat ‘five-a-side’ game and whose ghost runs into the box are reminiscent of David Platt, but who often looks too languid (and simply not quite good enough) to play for Liverpool.

And what of captain fantastic Stevie G?  Whilst there are more skilful ballplayers in the world game, nobody matches him for sheer Stakhanovite productivity. He can scarcely improve on last season, where his 16 goals and 12 assists made him statistically the best attacking player in the Premier League. This was achieved playing largely as foil to Torres in a split frontline but I still think he can play a tad deeper, enabling him to exhibit his passing repertoire (and formidable tackling) more fully. After signing an extension to his contract this summer (and with that court case behind him), Reds fans are just hoping for more of the same swashbuckling fare this season. 

Forwards. 

A centre-forward must be judged on his goals-to-game ratio and this was a slight concern when Fernando Torres joined Liverpool from Atletico Madrid in 2007, where he looked “the bomb” but was not super-prolific. However, in striking up a dazzling rapport with Gerrard, he has delivered big-time, reaching his first 50 Liverpool goals in just 83 games, faster than legends Rush, Fowler and Owen (albeit these three started their LFC careers as youngsters). ‘El Nino’ has a highly-strung constitution - he can get a bit petulant or lose interest and go missing. Which is why we have coming in at ‘number 11’ to partner Torres…

… Dirk Kuyt. With some incisive contributions last season the likeable bow-legged Dutchman proved himself to be more than the artless carthorse some regard him as. His shot is (almost) as powerful as Gerrard’s, his predatory instincts are better than average and he’s good in the air (and yes, by God, he works!). However, a wingman he ain’t, and I can’t see Liverpool winning the league with Kuyt a permanent fixture on the right flank.

Enter stage left.  

Heading the supporting cast are midfielders Yossi Benayoun and Albert Riera, who both have strong claims for a starting place. Yossi, somewhat like Luis Garcia before him, has an exceptionally quick brain and can make things happen but is a bit too lightweight to seriously influence a match for 90 minutes; Riera is a class act, who just needs to add a few more goals to his effective link-up and approach play.

The one player I desperately hope can step up to the mark this season is Ryan Babel, who is far more talented than, for instance, rough equivalent Theo Walcott, but who must deliver more than a few dashing cameos with the game usually already won.

The Verdict.

Where Liverpool lost the league last season was in a slew of home draws against mediocre opposition. As it stands, the back-up striking firepower is distinctly average (Voronin, Ngog) or untested at Premier League level, which points to a likely repetition of this somewhere along the line. However, with United and Chelsea not really having strengthened over the summer and Arsenal in one of their ‘transition stages’, if Liverpool can match the 86 points they managed last season, that might well be enough.  To achieve this it needs Johnson to provide that extra je ne sais quoi and, at the risk of stating the bleedin’ red obvious, they will need injury-free campaigns from talismans Gerrard and Torres.

 

Key Ins and Outs.

In:

Glen Johnson (Defender) from Portsmouth, £17.5 million.
Chris Mavinga (Defender) from Paris St. Germain, £undisclosed.
Andrey Voronin (Striker) from Hertha BSC (end of loan).

Out:

Sami Hyypia (Defender) to Bayer Leverkusen, £Free.
Sebastian Leto (Midfielder) to Panathinaikos, £3 million.
Jermaine Pennant (Midfielder) to Real Zaragoza, £Free.

Comments

[Dupin]

I think your quarterback comparison is a good one but there are different modes of ball transport - extending the gridiron analogy, Aquilani, the new Eyetie, is apparently a dashing carrying midfielder - the running back. If he can make significant 'yardage', Alonso's loss might not be so great.

[The Worm]

When I watched Liverpool last year, Alonso seemed to be coordinating most of the gameplan like a quarterback, leaving Gerrard and Torres to impress with moments of improvisation. I don't see how they can replace him, a huge loss.