Jul 12 2008
What are you thinking Liverpool?
photo: Mr. Phillip Chambers
What are you thinking Liverpool, and Rafa Benitez, seriously? I can’t really figure what Benitez is doing, supposedly going after Robbie Keane as a star target. Because let’s face the obvious, Keane is a striker, Torres is a better striker. You already have Torres, who functions more effectively as a lone striker. Keane isn’t talented enough, and hasn’t been playing as well recently to boot, to add anything to the Torres dynamic even if you switched the striker format around.
If you acquire Keane from Tottenham, which seems unlikely, as the White Hart Lane faithful seem to think of him as their answer to captain fantastic. Would you play Keane behind Torres to set up the Spaniard? In which case wouldn’t you much rather have Steven Gerrard continue with that role, as he’s probably the best in the world in performing such duties.
Switching to a 4-4-1-1 also wouldn’t work, because it still makes things awkward for Torres, as what’s to stop Keane from drifting forward and interfering with the Spaniard’s forte. The 4-5-1 that Liverpool has been employing has been the most comfortable scoring fit for Torres so far, so why mess around with things?
Benitez is having the same issues he’s had at the beginning of last season. You don’t need to tweak a component of the squad that has been effective. Just because a striker made their exit in the form of Crouch, doesn’t mean you don’t need a replacement for a player that was not a main component of the team anymore.
If anything you need defenders, because Carragher is getting ancient, Hyypia is already ancient and slow, and Riise hasn’t been fit to hold the position off the bench for more than five minutes. So buy a defender or two, or even another midfielder to replace the inevitable exit of Xabi Alonso. But don’t waste money and time on a striker you don’t need.
