Mark Finlay
19/1/14
Perhaps now that Liverpool’s owners the Fenway Sports group were in attendance to watch the Reds scrape a draw at home against Aston Villa yesterday they will be more likely to give manager Brendan Rodgers the funds he needs to bring players in now to help ensure that Liverpool can obtain a top-four finish and the £40 million Champions League money that goes with it.
Except for Raheem Sterling, Jordan Henderson and the two front men Suarez and Sturridge Liverpool looked like a team desperately short of options and the arrival of new blood at Anfield would at least provide the players with competition for their places.
I hate to be critical of Steven Garrard but he was completely out of his depth in the first-half trying to play as a defensive midfielder which was made all the more obvious when Lucas came on in the second half and Gerrard was allowed to play further up the pitch.
Something is obviously wrong with Glen Johnson as he just does not seem to be the player he was in fact in yesterday’s match we saw none of the attacking runs we were used to seeing and the only time I saw him in defense was after Mignolet’s mistake that allowed Benteke to score.
Cissokho had what can only be called the worst shot of the season once again highlighting why we need a new left-back who incidentally was playing for Villa in the form of Ryan Bertrand who I thought had a decent first game for Villa.
Why did Rodgers not sign him on loan for Liverpool? If he was to come out and say that Mourinho did not want to let him join Liverpool because they were unhappy about the lack of playing time Victor Moses was getting at Anfield or that they did not want to let him join a team they see challenging for the title then fair enough, but the fact is we have heard nothing.
A worrying sign was the need to substitute Lucas after just a short time on the pitch with me hoping that it is not yet again a serious knee injury which if it is a priorities change again to needing a defensive midfielder such as Yann M’Villa and if Rubin Kazan do not want him to leave on loan Rodgers needs to spend the cash.
Mohamed Salah has reportedly told friends that he still wants to join Liverpool and it is now up to Ian Ayre to get his finger out and get the deal done.
Liverpool face a tough match against Everton at home on the 29th of the month so let’s hope Rodgers gets it right and we do not have to sit through another first half like we witnessed at Anfield yesterday.
