As the dawn of a new Premier League season looms, all eyes will be upon Kenny Dalglish’s Liverpool after a summer of heavy spending. Five new players have arrived in Jordan Henderson, Stewart Downing, Charlie Adam, Jose Enrique and Doni. Things could certainly go either way – with so many new players, a gelling period may be required for many, but can the club afford a slow start?
For the first time in a long while there will be no European football on offer at Anfield this term and finishing in the top five league places remains the bare minimum. The emphasis at the moment though is on planning for the future. This season will justifiably be seen as a stepping stone to larger challenges in the future. Dalglish is beginning to make his mark on the side and he has added diversity and depth to the squad. While all the talk around Anfield will be about small, incremental steps, in private, a push for a Champions League place will be the club’s main aim for the forthcoming campaign.
Premier League: It’s inevitable when you spend as much money as Liverpool have this summer that expectations will rise. The club will have to build upon last season’s topsy turvy form and 6th place finish and display a new-found level of consistency. For the first time in a long while though, the club will be looking upwards rather than backwards which is a major bonus. Arsenal may be susceptible to a top four challenge more than anyone else. With the likes of Luis Suarez, Steven Gerrard and Andy Carroll, the club will pose a keen attacking threat. The club’s poor pre-season form does point towards a lack of cohesion at the back and with the emphasis placed upon attractive, attacking football, it will be interesting to see how Dalglish will strike the balance between defence and attack.
The only immediate weakness within the squad that comes to mind is that the side appear to lack at least one more quality centre half. With no European football on display this season and with their main rivals, namely Spurs and Arsenal, distracted by trips over the continent for the foreseeable future, missing out on a Europa League place may well prove to be a blessing in disguise. There appears to be an excellent team spirit around the place now and that can often prove the difference over the course of a long campaign. With a united team focused on one goal and all pulling in one direction, I fully expect Liverpool to make the Champions League places.
Prediction – 4th (3rd at a push)
FA Cup: The FA Cup can quite often throw up a lottery when it comes to the draw. Just last season Liverpool drew Man Utd away in their first game in the third round. The fact that Roy Hodgson had just been sacked from the club and Kenny Dalglish reinstated as manager on an interim basis just days before the fixture can hardly be seen as the best preparation for an unusually tough test at the best of times. Losing captain Steven Gerrard early on to a red card hardly helped matters either.
The fact that Liverpool have added strength in depth to a threadbare and uneven squad and that they only have the three domestic competitions to focus on this season should see Dalglish treat the FA Cup extremely seriously. They haven’t fared too well in the competition over the last few years but this season it will be one of the club’s top priorities. Everyone harps on about the fact that Arsenal haven’t won a trophy for six years which has conveniently papered over the cracks of Liverpool’s relatively trophy-barren period which now stands at five years themselves. If they can avoid the big boys in the early stages, I can envisage a decent crack at a cup run this season.
Prediction – Semi-Finalists
Carling Cup: Despite the club having just the three competitions to focus on this season, I can see Dalglish taking a very different approach to the Carling Cup than he will to the FA Cup. Last season saw the breakthrough of a number of youngsters, with the likes of John Flanagan, Jack Robinson and Jay Spearing impressing. The club has an exciting crop coming through the reserves and youth team set-ups too, with Conor Coady and Raheem Sterling exciting prospects. Expect to see a combination of youth and first-team deadwood (Cole, Poulsen, Aurelio, Ngog) play the majority of the fixtures in the Carling Cup this season. I don’t foresee Dalglish changing his attitude towards the competition unless the club reaches the semi-finals with a genuine chance of winning the competition.
Prediction – Quarter-Finalists
Breakthrough Season: Jonjo Shelvey – Dalglish clearly fancies Shelvey (no, not in that way) and Liverpool fans will have become familiar with the sight of seeing ol’ Jonjo trot onto the pitch around the seventy minute mark. The influx of a number of midfielders this season could limit his impact in the first-team at the beginning of the campaign, but Shelvey may have a part to play over the busy festive period and it‘s worth noting that he hasn‘t been loaned out to a Championship club yet. At 19 years of age, Shelvey has plenty of time on his side, but he appears to have that natural knack for finding both time and space in and around the box and he should feature more prominently this season if last season’s impression was anything to go by.
Player to watch: Luis Suarez – Suarez returns to the league that he lit up towards the back end of last season on the back of a successful and victorious foray with Uruguay in the Copa America. He will want to dispel any fears about ‘burnout’ and over the issue whether his impact last season was a flash in the pan straight away. He’s not a goalscorer in the same model as Fernando Torres, the man he replaced, but unlike Torres, when Suarez doesn’t score, he contributes hugely in other ways. He was at the forefront of everything that made Liverpool exciting towards the end of last season. Strong, inventive and creative, if Liverpool are to challenge the top four, Suarez will have a pivotal part to play.
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