Liverpool FC: Is it Too Early To Blame the Summer Buys?

The game week gone by had a lot of lessons for Liverpool FC to learn from. Considering Manchester City and Manchester United a certainty to finish in the top four, the other contenders for the remaining two places gave a good account of what could be the deciding factor in a possible cutthroat race for the top four positions in the league.

Even though City and United themselves were pretty ordinary in their showing, as were Tottenham, Newcastle and Chelsea, all took home the valuable three points, something that Liverpool even with home advantage and so-called inferior opposition could not do. That meant that not only the aforementioned three but also Arsenal, who were pretty ordinary at the start of the season, also have come level in points with Liverpool.

In three game weeks, this is the second time that Liverpool shared a point with a newly promoted side at home without necessarily playing horrendously throughout. Swansea and Norwich both had the odd chances against the Reds, however the stats easily show Liverpool were far superior in major sections of the games just like Tottenham and Newcastle have been in recent times. The difference: They got three points, while Liverpool settled for one.

Needless to say, if this trend continues, the Reds may well have to forget qualifying for the Champions League before Christmas.

When Pepe Reina said, according to liverpoolfc.tv, that he didn't mind about shutouts as long as the Reds won their matches, one gets the impression that he was fearing exactly what the Swans did to them.

Now looking back into the beginning of the season, Liverpool fans were not really expecting such tame performances from their side. With the money being spent this summer unlike a lot of windows in the recent times, the Reds were really expected to do better.

This brings us down to the basic question: Did Liverpool do the right things in the past two transfer windows when they spent grossly £50 million each time?

A lot of the experts of the game came up with elaborate discussions and all the statistics in the world to justify the spending of the Reds under Kenny Dalglish. Frequent references were made about how

Stewart Downing's crosses would make Liverpool an awesome force going forward with big Andy Carroll to aim at. Jordan Henderson made the cut, it has to be said, more because Liverpool wanted to beat Manchester United to his signature rather than really pondering as to how the Reds could make Champions League football with him. Charlie Adam had a stellar season at Blackpool last season and had clearly attracted lot of eyeballs. 

Now, with a little less than one-third of a season gone, Liverpool FC have come face to face with the not-so-pleasant reality, however is it too early to blame the regulars signed in the summer for the showing which has been easily below expectation this season so far?

I would say yes. I think at least two of these buys are for the long term and cannot be evaluated this season really. I for one think it is Liverpool transfer strategy, and also that their inability to nail down a first 11 is the main cause for this poor string of results.

Fans from all over are quick to point out that Downing has not scored a single goal so far and not even assisted a single goal this season. They say Henderson is nonsense and hurl abuses at Andy Carroll's inclusion into the squad. Many are unhappy with Charlie Adam's performances too.

To start with, I would say that having watched Stewart Downing play so far, I am not really disappointed; he has rattled the bar more than once this season and they were very close to going in. Bad luck cannot be fought against; he has been solid as ever and runs tirelessly up and down both the flanks, and I personally think it is just a matter of time before he scores a few.

However, most people are let down by the "no assists" tag on Downing. Well, why blame him for that? Let us see first how Andy Carroll and Luis Suarez have fared when goal-scoring chances were created. If people don't score, it cannot be considered an assist, so blaming Downing for the tag makes absolutely no sense.

Luis Suarez, though exceptional as ever, has interestingly got more shots on target per match at 4.6 than both Robin van Persie (at 4.4) and Rooney (4.2); now if he didn't score as many as his Dutch counterpart, the playmakers and Downing are hardly to be blamed.

Not saying that Suarez has had a particularly bad season so far; in fact, he has been Liverpool's best player since February after making the switch (barring an odd match now and then), just that he hasn't finished as well as he should have or as well he did at Ajax. He has himself created enormous chances, though finishing has let Liverpool down more than any other single thing this season.

According to Kenny Dalglish, Liverpool would never win a thing without tinkering with the team. Now that has meant fewer starts for Carroll and Henderson after apparently dull performances. Although the changes were made, both Henderson and Carroll were again bought into the setup in a matter of two to three matches. Now, how can we expect players who weren't doing well to suddenly do better without match practice? 

The fact that Liverpool effectively dropped Henderson and Carroll instead of really resting them says something dire about our transfer strategy.

The one line that has most often been used this summer was that Liverpool cannot afford to buy big stars because of absence of Champions League football and that getting to the top four is a top priority. Transfers were planned accordingly and Kenny emphatically remarked that players who don't better the squad presently won't be bought. 

Now if we have a look at whom Liverpool went for with that idea in mind, it baffles logic. It is OK to understand that they went for Jose Enrique (who has been labelled the best buy for Liverpool this summer) and Stewart Downing; they are experienced players who wouldn't take time to settle into positions Liverpool really needed reinforcement with their pace and control of the ball. The purchase of Henderson both as a betterment on Dirk Kuyt and an in-form Maxi Rodriguez, and a player to fire Liverpool to the top four looked baffling.

Kuyt was Liverpool's top goal scorer last season, yet he is benched for a youngster who has no history of being a goal-scoring right winger, the position he has had to play on most occasions so far. Barring an odd match against Bolton, Henderson has blown more cold than hot so far.

Charlie Adam has shown glimpses of brilliance with his passing on many an occasion, however, the same poor finishing from the strikers has meant that he has not been adequately credited. 

As for the other buys, Enrique has been sublime on most occasions, Coates has just been a learner more than a regular and Bellamy has shown sparks of creativity in the few chances he has been given.

Thus, blaming the summer signings is really not entirely correct. Our transfer strategy has demanded more than expected from the players we have bought. Both Carroll and Henderson are good buys and could be excellent for the club in the long run; even Kenny said this April that at this time next year we would be able to evaluate the Suarez-Andy Carroll partnership.

However, with our mission in mind were these buys necessary? Not really.We needed horses for courses, instead we went for ponies.

It is baffling as to how Adam's marvelous free kicks and Suarez's awesome finishing have evaporated all of a sudden, and they are to be blamed for it too.

But in general, players like Carroll and Henderson have been under too much pressure to perform and with a mission of finishing in the top four in sight, not only the players but even the management has to take the blame for not choosing better alternatives in the first place and now asking them to perform beyond anything they have ever done.