Liverpool and Dalglish: Walking alone into mediocrity

In search of that elusive Champions League spot

For all of Kenny Dalglish’s legend, his comeback into management has been far from the fairytale, the Kop envisaged. In hindsight, Roy Hodgson was not the malaise as many of the Reds would like to believe. Dalglish and co, too have been unable to arrest Liverpool’s slide into mediocrity despite spending close to a fortune (in excess of $150 mn on player transfers alone) in little over a year.

The Fenway Sports Group has backed the club liberally, but the recruitment team at Anfield has done little to assuage fears among the club faithful. Stewart Downing and Jordan Henderson for £20 million each represent the sort of ‘bargain deals’ Dalglish and Ian Ayre (the club’s managing director) struck after ‘extensive and advanced statistical analysis’ (in their own words). Downing is yet to register on either the goals or assist column in the Premier League while Henderson has fared marginally better with a solitary goal thus far.

And then topping the charts for ‘sheer value for money’ is the imposing figure of Andy Carroll. A £35 million ‘steal’ from Newcastle; the towering Geordie has seen the ‘lows’ like never before – uncomfortable on the ball, immobile to the core and lacking the confidence and the service to give any sort of trouble to opposition defenders.

As for Luis Suarez, he is the sort of player that lights the playing field with either his unmistakable genius with the ball or his adolescent capers. A return of 10 goals in his Premier League career spanning little over a year is not something Liverpool’s leading striker ought to be too proud of. And then there are the add ons with Suarez threatening to take the club with him into a depthless abyss. The recent Evra-Suarez fiasco highlighted the misguided actions of Dalglish and co themselves; embarrassing the club all over the world and causing an unmitigated PR disaster.

Is Henderson a victim of an 'Awesomely bad career move' ?

On the other side of the spectrum lie Craig Bellamy and Jose Enrique. The basement deals have performed the best by far. Bellamy might be as eccentric as they come but his talent and spirit are unmatched in the entire club. Enrique on the other hand provides a solid defensive cover and is arguably, a better wing player than Downing himself. In fact a solid defense may be the only shining light of Dalglish’s venture that he can build the future upon.

So where does this take Liverpool – short of goals and short of personalities who can lead the team and churn out victories. With talismanic captain Steven Gerrard on the wane and Charlie Adam unable to take hold of the midfield in Gerrard’s presence, Liverpool look set for a long haul. Sitting at 7^th spot with almost three quarters of the season gone, Dalglish hasn’t been able to transform the fortunes at all.

It is indeed ironic that the yesteryear’s flair player Dalglish, now commands a ‘pedestrian Liverpool outfit’. Barring Bellamy, and to an extent Suarez no Liverpool player ever looks like creating something out of nothing. While Henderson and Carroll have apparently made the step up a bit too soon for their own nascent careers; Downing represents the sort of malaise at Liverpool that transforms even good players into ordinary – remember, Torres was not exactly setting Anfield alight before single handedly dousing the last embers of glory at Stamford Bridge.

And finally, to compound matters, with no Champions League football in sight it would be even more difficult to get the players befitting the Liverpool of old.