With Liverpool making all the recent headlines amidst their £20m capture of Sunderland midfielder Jordan Henderson, it’s easy to see Kenny Dalglish’s plans for the clubs future. With the emergence of youngsters such as Jay Spearing, Jonjo Shelvey, Martin Kelly and John Flannaghan, it’s clear that the Anfield club are looking to build on a home grown foundation.
The Red’s made all sorts of headlines in January, capturing Andy Carroll in a £35m deal from Newcastle too. But whilst the ‘trying to buy success’ accusations have been thrown at Chelsea, and more recently, Man City, Liverpool haven’t come under such scrutiny. Perhaps it’s because they are buying young, British talent at high fees that they are escaping such criticism, but just how fruitful are King Kenny’s plans going to be?
The stats on Henderson certainly highlight his potential, with him creating the fourth most amount of chances all season. Carroll is undoubtedly a massive aerial threat to any defence, and on first sight the clubs own academy players seem hungry to achieve success. But is it all too much of a risk?
Henderson could well be unimpressive in his first season at Anfield, with the pressure of a £20m price tag on his head. Carroll could also suffer the famous ‘second season syndrome’ with the goals drying up and the physicality of the Premier League taking its toll on his body. Some may say that these are all ifs, buts and maybes but surely the same statement can be applied to their potential successes.
The sheer pace of the Premier League is incredible and it’s becoming increasingly obvious that players need to be at peak fitness and whilst young players such as Henderson and Carroll can offer this, they lack the experience of winning trophies and challenging for titles that Liverpool’s competitors have.
Maybe this young, enthusiastic Liverpool team will click and set the Premier League alight with exciting and competitive football next year. Maybe they will be shock contenders for the title, or compete in the domestic cups. They will certainly have their cynics going into the season and its up to young players like Henderson and Carroll to prove the doubters wrong. Alan Hansen famously said in ’95 ‘you’ll never win anything with kids’ of a famous rival of the Kop, and we all know what happened that year. Only time will tell, and times are exciting for Liverpool fans at the moment.
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