Performances have been promising, new signings have been in sensational form and yet more youngsters have risen through the ranks of the Academy to make an impact on the first team. Perhaps most importantly, Liverpool's league performance, despite falling short of what we may have hoped for, improved notably from the previous season, showing encouraging signs of progress under Brendan Rodgers' stewardship.
Rodgers was handed an unforgiving fixture list at the start of his first season in charge at Anfield following his arrival from Swansea. Both Manchester teams and Arsenal were faced within the first month of the campaign, providing formidable opposition early on at a time of transition when easier fixtures would have been preferable. An embarrassing 3-0 defeat at the Hawthorns on the opening day of the season meant the Reds entered those fixtures lacking confidence and, consequently, only yielded one point from the nine available.
Individual mistakes, such as Skrtel's inappropriate back-pass that allowed Tevez to bag a late leveller for Manchester City at Anfield, arguably revealed some flaws in Rodgers' team, who, at times, appeared to indulge in passing for the sake of passing rather than to construct a productive attacking sequence of play. Hardly any supporters disagreed with Rodgers' overarching pass and move philosophy, which is so clearly in tune with the traditional Liverpool Way, but a number expressed concern at its application and the Northern Irishman's seeming lack of pragmatism. It's all well and good playing fancy football, they argued, but points on the board ultimately matter more than passes on the pitch.
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| Rodgers can be pleased with his maturing as a manager |
Meanwhile, the character of the squad was shown in the Reds' impressive comeback to defeat Spurs 3-2 at Anfield in March. Instead of slipping to defeat after Vertonghen netted twice to give the Londoners the lead and put them in the ascendancy, the Merseysiders didn't give up and, with the help of some good fortune, staged a comeback typical of a well functioning Liverpool side, clinching all three points thanks to goals from Stewart Downing and Steven Gerrard.
This ripening character was accompanied with a crucial addition of talent in the January transfer window with the arrival of Daniel Sturridge and Philippe Coutinho from Chelsea and Inter Milan respectively. Both hit the ground running, the former crucially providing an alternative source of goals to Luis Suarez and the latter adding a sprinkling of mesmerising talent that the likes of Henderson, Lucas and Shelvey simply do not possess in their repertoire.
The pair often combined to lethal effect as well, Coutinho regularly playing pinpoint passes that only he spotted and Sturridge routinely taking advantage of the Brazilian's creative expertise to add to his already bulging goal tally. Liverpool's six goal victory at Newcastle provided two examples of the dynamic duo combining to punish an opposition defence, as Coutinho and Sturridge were involved in setting up Henderson for the second goal and also linked up for Sturridge to bag a third just after the break. Although there remains the danger that Coutinho and Sturridge may suffer second season syndrome, particularly as teams discover how they interact and attempt to develop strategies to combat their threat, the pair are one reason to look forward to next season with hope in our hearts. They also arguably prove that Rodgers can be trusted in the transfer window since, at a combined total of £20.5 million, the pair were bargain signings.
Another reason to be optimistic about the future is the fact that the long-term structural reforms of the Academy that former manager Rafael Benitez initiated appear to be coming to fruition under Rodgers, who seems willing to give youth a chance. The youth teams emulating the first team's style of play and formation has made it much easier for the likes of Raheem Sterling, Andre Wisdom and Suso to settle in and seriously compete for a regular spot in the starting eleven.
Sterling seemed an integral part of the first team during the start of the season, providing a useful source of skill and pace on the wing and linking up encouragingly with Suarez. Injuries may have curtailed his progress during the second half of the campaign, but his 36 appearances, with 22 starts, is impressive and he certainly remains an exciting prospect for the future. Fellow attacker Suso may have had less of an impact than Sterling, but the silky Spaniard still has much to offer, reminding Reds supporters of his talent on the final day of the season against QPR at Anfield. Andre Wisdom, meanwhile, is a gritty defender who has performed competently whenever called upon, slotting into the back four with ease despite his young age. Alongside Martin Kelly, who has sadly suffered another injury plaughed season, he appears to offer Liverpool credible defensive alternatives, although Rodgers will of course be searching for more experienced defenders to replace Jamie Carragher and possibly Martin Skrtel this summer.
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| Wisdom and Sterling share a joke on the subs' bench |
Let's hope the 2012/2013 season is remembered as the first step on the road to a successful future under the leadership of Brendan Rodgers and not just as Jamie Carragher's last at Liverpool.
YNWA
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