The Reds have been curiously transfer happy this summer. Didn’t they learn from Andre Villas-Boas’s failed experiment at White Hart Lane? When they brought in a bucket-load of new players to replace Gareth Bale, they struggled to gel and Spurs got caught with their pants down the following season.
Replacing Luis Suarez is just as big a challenge. I just hope that Brendan Rodgers has gone about it in the right way. Moreover, I hope that the talent that was present at Anfield before the summer, does not find their game-time limited over the coming seasons. The Reds need to find the right balance. That could be the biggest challenge that Rodgers will face this time round.
This brings me to The Metro‘s claim that Jon Flanagan is close to signing a new contract with The Reds. If there’s anybody who deserves it, it’s him.
The 21-year-old is a Liverpool player through and through and from what we’ve seen so far, his future is very bright indeed.
He was a major part of The Reds’ team in the second part of last season (when Brendan Rodgers’ side was in the ascendancy). His exciting, marauding forward play added extra bite to Liverpool’s attacks and he was also more than capable of chipping in with his defensive duties.
I’m sure you’ll remember his Man of the Match performance against Everton last season. Here’s hoping there’s many more performances of at that kind of level to come.
Liverpool have brought in a couple of additional full-backs this summer (Javier Manquillo and Alberto Moreno), so his position at the club is under threat. Good players like Martin Kelly, Conor Coady and Adam Morgan have struggled to fight their way up the pecking order. There’s a chance that he’ll suffer the fate.
Luckily, Flanagan’s main competition is youthful and not fully-formed. If he works hard, performs well and keeps developing, there’s still room for him in the first team. Let’s just hope that Rodgers is willing to give him a proper shot.
What’s your take? Will Jon Flanagan make it at Anfield?
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Flanagan is the best right-back we have, so this story is a non-starter. He and Manquillo will hold down that spot for years to come.
Also, the comparisons with Spurs are unfounded and smack of desperate journalism. Here’s why:
*Spurs tried to buy a new starting XI, LFC have bought players to add depth. Only 2-3 (Lovren, Lallana and Balotelli) would be expected to start (and non of them are guaranteed), so gelling shouldn’t be an issue.
*It was the Spurs chairman who chose and brought in their players last season, dumping them on AVB whether he liked them or not. At LFC, Rodgers has more control over the signings since signing his new contract extraction. These are Rodgers’ signings and he feels he knows how to motivate and get the best out of them.
*AVB was clueless (in the EPL anyway), as he proved twice. His super-high back line was too predictable and he didn’t have the personnel to implement it properly. BR has proved that his methods actually work – extremely well.
So will we suffer the same fate as Spurs? Extremely doubtful. Expect certain players to come on leaps and bounds this season, including (but not limited to): Flanagan, Sterling, Sturridge, Balotelli, Moreno, Henderson, Allen, Can, Markovic, Manquillo and Lallana…
YNWA