It has been a little over a year since Kenny Dalglish took over as Liverpool manager for the second time in his career, a choice he made because he had 'unfinished business' with Liverpool football club. During this time Dalglish and his team have faced mixed reviews from the media, up to even some Liverpool fans. Despite this divide of opinion, few can deny that after Sunday's Carling Cup victory over Cardiff, and another trip to Wembley on the cards with the F.A Cup, the club are showing signs that they are moving in the right direction on to bigger and better things.
Although yesterday's performance is not something any Liverpool fan will want to remember, Steven Gerrard lifting the clubs first trophy in six years is something they will savour for a long time. A lot of people say the first trophy is always the hardest, and this will be the first trophy for what is a new Liverpool team, in a new era. Gone are the dark days of Hicks and Gillette dragging the club down almost into administration. No more selling players, (and important ones too) to buy new players. For the first time in years Liverpool have the right owners who will back the club all the way, and by that I mean, will give money for players when it is needed.
Without looking at this in solely my rose tinted glasses I must remind everyone that Liverpool currently lie in 7th place in the Premiership. Also, the lack of finishing shown throughout the season almost costing us a trophy is a big issue that needs to be addressed. As amazing as Luis Suarez is, he is no finisher, more the creator who will chip in with some goals but cannot be relied upon solely for goals. Andy Carroll still needs to do more to win over the majority of Liverpool fans, but his performances since the turn of the year do show signs that he is slowly progressing with us. For me though, I will not be able to sleep easily until we buy ourselves a fox in the box, someone in the Javier Hernandez mould who can be in the right place at the right time. To get players of this calibre, we may have to be in the Champions League by the end of the season. Right now, it isn't looking great for us but with the fixtures we have coming up compared to our rivals and a trophy under our belts I see no reason why we cannot make it if we finish strongly.
Putting my rose tinted glasses back on, I have to stress that the team is a lot closer to being complete than many will think. The defence, including the goalie, have been arguably the best in the Premiership this season. Martin Skrtel has had his best season for Liverpool, possibly being our best player and has flourished under Dalglish and Steve Clarke. Skrtel has been arguably the best centre back in the league this year with only Kompany really matching some of his performances. Lucas although injured for over half a season has proved to everyone that there is no player who does his job better than him. He was top tackler in the Premiership last year and this year until his injury against Chelsea. Jose Enrique has came in and produced performances of the highest quality. With Evra and Ashley Cole regressing, it is a breath off fresh air to know our left back has his best years ahead of him. He has proved to be a key part of this defence and has also been one of our best players this season.
Another area I believe has done well is our creativity. I remember reading a while back that, we had created the fourth most chances in the Premiership this season. As I said it was a few weeks ago and we may have slipped up, or down that table since then, but it is still encouraging nonetheless. It is hard to believe because we have scored so few goals, but as shown in almost every game this year, Liverpool create chances, enough chances to win the majority of our games, it's simply whether we take them, and unfortunately we struggle to do so.
The final point I would like to stress is that we have a young team, and bright future. As mentioned earlier, there have been a lot of new players brought in. It takes time for players to gel with each other. Look at Manchester City last year, swap Tevez for Aguero and it is the same team really, however they have got an understanding together and now look at them. As for the age of our squad, apart from Reina, there is nobody part of our defence over Twenty-seven. They all have many years left in them, and have all shown improvements over the last year. Also players like Shelvey Kelly and Coates are Nineteen and Twenty-one and have already played in big games for us and have shown they have quality to get into the team in the future. The midfield is relatively young also. Obviously Gerrard at Thirty-one is not the same player who volleyed home that famous goal against Olympiacos but still is one of the first names on the team sheet, the captain of the club and will be around for a few more years. Bellamy also has a season or two in him. Some will argue he's on the form of his life at the moment, and few could argue. Suarez and Carroll are both under Twenty-five and are yet to hit their peak.
Also players like Sterling, Suso, Adorjan and Wisdom look as if they are close to getting loan deals and hopefully sub appearances over the next year or two. The Under 19s Nextgen tournament they're participating in has seen them reach the Semi finals against Ajax proving they can match some of the best youth teams in the world. Also there seems to be a new youngster the club has scouted and signed every month, with Jordan Ibe, Joa Texeira and Marc Peolsi joining the already fantastic youth squad.
To sum up, this team is not yet completed, and wont be until Dalglish and Comolli do their homework and pick the right players that we need. A Champions League place is achievable despite what the league table says. However it is imperative that we finish strongly and hope our rivals slip up, and reviewing their fixtures it is definitely plausible. Winning the League Cup is a big step in the right direction, for Liverpool six years without a trophy is too long, and winning a trophy with this current team can do wonders for some of the players confidence.
With many draws being Liverpool's problem at Anfield this year, they are still the only side in England to be undefeated at home. Call me OptaAlbi. This is a key stat going into the Arsenal game next week; a win against them and one against Chelsea at the end of the season could be enough to get the club where they belong, in the Champions League battling it out with the very best. If we fail to achieve this, then don't be fooled, building a team takes time, the clubis going forward and will start afresh next year with new players capable of doing more than just challenging for top four but hopefully challenging for Mr Nineteen himself over the next few years.
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