Like last season, Liverpool will begin their campaign after the loss of an influential midfielder. The impact of Xabi Alonso’s departure to Real Madrid was clearly felt at Anfield and one has to wonder whether the loss of the Argentine captain, Javier Mascherano, will have a similar effect. We have already seen how the current stock of defensive midfielders were trounced by their opposite numbers in the game against Manchester City a particular highlight being the rather ineffectual form of Lucas, who seems to be the favored replacement. The arrival of Christian Poulsen and Raul Meireles over the past weeks could push Lucas down the pecking order and provide a dynamism and creativity which have been lacking in the center of the park to support Steven Gerrard. Alberto Aquilani was tipped to be the solution to that but he was injured far too often but when he did play showed glimpses of his price tag. Aquailni has since moved to Juventus on a season long loan. Liverpool have long been lacking natural wide players with Maxi Rodriguez, Joe Cole, Dirk Kuyt, Milan Jovanovic and twitter fiend Ryan Babel plying their trades here. The wealth of options for these positions is enviable but they have yet to produce commendable performances. As far as forwards are concerned, Liverpool fans will have to look forward to another season of over reliance on the brilliant but injury prone Fernando Torres. The Spanish international has already reminded Liverpool fans exactly why he is their number one striker with a goal against West Bromwich but is still not 100% fit. While David Ngog is a promising talent his lack of experience could be damaging to the Liverpool club and could have benefited from a season loan. Hodgson recently promised Ryan Babel the chance to play in his favored forward role. The inability of Hodgson to bring in a suitable back-up/partner for Torres could be costly should he become injured. A wealth of names had been tipped to be signed by the Reds but alas not even one has made it to Melwood. Has Liverpool’s squad improved? Despite the obvious absence of potent striking ability beyond Torres the squad seems to have improved and should mount a challenge to unwary teams. The squad has a decent level of depth and enough promising youngsters notably Daniel Pacheco and Jonjo Shelvey. What remains to be seen is Roy Hodgson’s implementation of all the players that he has available to him and how well they play in the coming months. It is still too early to judge their ability to challenge the teams that finished above them with 4 points from 3 games but Liverpool fans will be excited to see their team in action in after the international break. |