Sign up to FREE email alerts from Liverpool.com - The best LFC opinion Subscribe Thank you for subscribing See our privacy notice Invalid Email

Football fans might think they know everything, but there's a reason none of us run a football club. In this regularly updated piece, our writers confess some of their most incorrect opinions on matters concerning Liverpool Football Club, whether it be signings, line-ups, managers, matches, or anything else we cringe at our past selves for having believed. We'll be updating this article regularly, and including things that happen in future, so make sure to check back.

******

James Milner wasn't good enough to play in midfield for Liverpool

Joel Rabinowitz : I distinctly remember walking out of Anfield after Liverpool drew 1-1 with Norwich City in what was to be Brendan Rodgers' penultimate home league game in charge, and saying to my mate: "I don't think I ever want to see Milner starting in central midfield again".

In fairness, this was at the point when Milner had only just joined and supposedly he had been offered a guaranteed starting spot in central midfield upon signing from Manchester City, despite not having consistently played that position for some time.

Liverpool had just been beaten 3-1 by Manchester United at Old Trafford, and were embarrassed in a pathetic 0-3 defeat by West Ham United at Anfield in the previous home game, and I guess I just didn't think Milner had the necessary guile on the ball or positional sense to make a genuine positive difference in central midfield, whereas I felt he could offer much more using his energy, tenacity and crossing ability from out wide.

(Image: Photo by Robbie Jay Barratt - AMA/Getty Images)

That day against Norwich, Milner looked lost and unsure of what he was meant to be doing, which in hindsight is probably more a reflection of the overall dysfunctional state of affairs of the team towards the very end of Rodgers' time than it was about Milner himself.

As it happened, Milner spent the entirety of the following campaign under Klopp at left-back, before shifting back into midfield for the 2017/18 season. I have to hold my hands up and say I never expected him to hit the levels he has over the past couple of years, playing such a pivotal role in two extraordinary European campaigns, and especially with his performances in the early stages of last season in the Premier League, which I'd say is probably some of the best football he's ever played in his career.

I was a little critical of him in the 2-0 defeat to Napoli recently (although few players covered themselves in glory that night, and I still have reservations over Klopp starting him away from home against the very best sides, but as his latest showing against Leicester City proved, there are still plenty of miles in the old tank yet. And that's without mentioning his vital importance as a leader and personality in the dressing room and on the training ground.

I'm sorry for every doubting you, James.

Joel Matip was too meek to play for Liverpool

Dan Austin: Well. Times really do change, don't they?

Right now Joel Matip is justifiably Virgil van Dijk's centre-back partner for Liverpool. In fact, I reckon he might have even performed better than the Dutchman across the course of 2019. Genuinely. I believe if you go back through every single match Liverpool has played this year, and choose which one of Matip and Van Dijk performed better in each one, you're going to come out with more in the Matip's tally than big Virg's.

Nobody is more surprised by that statement than me. Once, not even that long ago, I thought Joel Matip was too frail, too cowardly even, to play regularly for Liverpool. It seemed like he allowed attackers to dictate the match to him, rather than playing on the front foot himself. His body language appeared awkward, as though he wasn't always fully in control of the movement of his limbs. Joe Gomez, Dejan Lovren, and at times, even Ragnar Klavan, seemed like more reliable options to me.

(Image: Photo by Chloe Knott - Danehouse/Getty Images)

To be fair, I was probably right at the time. But he transformation Matip has undergone since the turn of the year, especially in that two-legged tie with FC Bayern in February and March, has been utterly staggering. I never saw it coming. The Camerronian has become an indispensable member of the Liverpool, a crucial figure in a European Cup winning campaign, and a figure who exudes calmness.

I'm certainly not worrying now.

Signing Sadio Mané was a mistake

Dan Austin: Ok, so this is a really bloody big one.

In the summer of 2016, Jürgen Klopp's first transfer window, the Reds needed to strengthen in order to improve significantly on the previous season's eighth-place finish.

What they needed was goals. Christian Benteke had bombed, Divock Origi has suffered a serious injury, and Daniel Sturridge was no longer capable of playing significant first-team minutes.

Roberto Firmino had shown flashes under Klopp that he was ready to adapt to a role higher up the pitch, but nobody would have expected him to transform into one of the world's greatest centre forwards. He needed support either side of him.

On one side would be Philippe Coutinho, and the berth on the other wing was open.

(Image: Photo by Craig Mercer/MB Media/Getty Images)

So Liverpool signed Sadio Mané from Southampton. The Senegalese had caught the eye against the Reds in the Premier League before, but I always thought his form was patchy, that he'd score three goals in two games and look like the business, and then disappear for a month. I was concerned he was a player who looked good on football highlights programmes, but not in the flesh, and that's what Liverpool were getting.

How wrong I was.

Within minutes of his Liverpool debut, against Arsenal at the Emirates in August 2016, he crashed a thunderous left-footed shot into the corner of the net that silenced the home crowd and shut me up too. Mané's first season was impressive, his second excellent, and his third absolutely superb.

Now, in the early stages of the fourth, he's arguably Liverpool's best player. He can score any kind of goal, at any moment, and his creativity is integral to the team's playing style. For my money, Mané has been the best player in the world in 2019.

Not too shabby for a lad I originally worried had found his level at St. Mary's *grimace emoji face*

"Sell him".. Luis Suárez should have left Liverpool in the summer of 2013

Dan Morgan: "What are they smoking over at Emirates?".

It seems Liverpool owner John W. Henry and me had some differing opinions during the hazy summer of 2013. None more so than on the future of Luis Suárez.

The Uruguayan forward had behaved pretty abominably during the closed season, angling for a move to London which then became the talk of a £40m ($49m) buyout clause, in which the Gunners offered up in conjunction with a shiny penny, in an attempt to tip the balance and activate it.

It is fair to say this irked me, somewhat. I need to make it clear that I, like Henry, did not advocate the sale of Suárez to Arsenal, however I admit I could not see a way back for him in a Liverpool shirt and disagreed with the club's unequivocal stance on the player not being sold to anyone.

(Image: Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images)

Suárez was sulking, training alone and being a generally negative influence around the place. He was also serving a ban for biting Chelsea's Branislav Ivanović at the back end of the 2012/13 season. Another serious indiscretion his club had stood by him with.

It is therefore somewhat unbelievable that he came back to be the leading light in the club's heroic challenge for a Premier League title in 2013/14, which they came up agonisingly short.

Suárez redefined his legacy on Merseyside in that final season, and completely vindicated the clubs stance on keeping him. Proving me and others wrong in the process.

Liverpool would win the Premier League under Kenny Dalglish

Kristian Walsh: I know what I said, and I know why I said it. But that cruelest of mistresses, hindsight, has since made me look foolish.

It was on the banks of the River Thames in London, where Fulham's Craven Cottage home is located, that I felt this would happen. It was May 2011 and, after a season which began with Roy Hodgson in charge, this was an incredible detour. Kenny Dalglish's side had destroyed the Londoners by five goals to two, going three up within 20 minutes.

The players looked hungry. There was a balance between control and chaos. The tactics looked genuinely ahead of their time. Playing a 4-2-2-2 style, made famous by great Brazil sides of the past, this was a modern twist: two holding midfielders, two wide forwards tucked in, and two strikers, with the front four interchanging.

(Image: Scott Heavey/Getty Images)

Maxi Rodríguez scored a hat trick, Dirk Kuyt was everywhere, Raul Meireles was excellent and Luis Suárez put in the sort of showings which would become common at Anfield. Lucas Leiva and Jay Spearing, behind them, glued it all together. Even Jonjo Shelvey, a second half substitute, looked a world-beater.

This result came off the back of 5-0 and 3-0 wins at home. The gloom of Hodgson had been lifted. A side which possessed both youth and experience, led by a club legend, had limitless potential.

Just over 12 months later, Dalglish would be sacked. He did not win the Premier League title.

Brendan Rodgers was going to get the best out of Mario Balotelli

Joel Rabinowitz: I still shudder at the fact I actually allowed myself to believe this for a short while. We'd seen occasional flashes of brilliance from Mario Balotelli for Italy and Manchester City and with Liverpool badly in need of a new striker to fill the Luis Suarez-shaped void, I think out of desperation and self-delusion more than anything else, I was briefly convinced that Balotelli's maverick genius could finally find a place to flourish regularly at Liverpool.

There was something thrilling about the transfer, the fact that he remains such an enigma, but one which, at the time, had he caught fire and found the right manager to unlock his potential, the payoff could have been huge.

The flip side of the coin, of course, was that it had obvious scope to become an absolute calamity. In fairness, his debut against Tottenham Hotspur actually provided some initial promise as he struck up an impressive partnership with Daniel Sturridge that day and looked a threat, albeit missing a few decent opportunities.

It soon became apparent that the Italian didn't actually know the meaning of the word 'sprint', or even 'run', which is a bit of a problem as a professional footballer. There would still be the old glimpse of something which briefly made you wonder if he might actually come good, but it suffices to say he was one of the most poorly thought-out, misguided purchases in living memory.

To see a player, clearly talented, so often look completely disinterested while on the pitch was as bemusing as it was infuriating.

With him and Rickie Lambert lumbering around to little effect, and Fabio Borini comprehensively failing to impress, Balotelli came to characterise a gloomy time after the exhilarating 2013/14 season.

Still, we got that late winner against Tottenham at Anfield, which was great. He seems to have revived his career in France, but I will readily admit I was wildly off the mark when getting so excited about his arrival. I should have really seen it coming.

Suso would save Liverpool millions

Dan Morgan: Not quite at the level of European wonderkid that never was Dani Pacheco, Jesús Joaquín Fernández Sáez de la Torre, or "Suso" to his mates, caught the attention of Reds' supporters at the beginning of the 2012/13 season.

With Brendan Rodgers appointed head coach that summer, he immediately set about experimenting with his team and handing increased opportunities to the likes of Raheem Sterling, Andre Wisdom and the young Spaniard.

Suso gained plaudits for some promising performances, prompting my bold claim he could save Liverpool a hefty fee if his development continued at the pace is was at.

As it transpired, the performances dried up and the player was eventually loaned to AC Milan, who eventually made the move permanent in 2015. He has since gone on to be a regular feature at the San Siro and won his first Spanish cap in a friendly against Russia on 14 November 2017.

I always knew he had something special.

Alberto Aquilani was going to help Liverpool win the league title

Dan Austin: Ah, the summer of 2009.

I was 14, and spent pretty much every moment of every day either watching, playing or thinking about football. Liverpool had just come as close to winning the Premier League as they had ever done before in my lifetime, and I was convinced that Rafael Benítez would one day drag us over the line. The man was genuinely my hero, I believed he could do no wrong. I met him a year after Istanbul and after shaking his hand I had to huff about seven puffs of an inhaler to help me calm down.

When Benítez brought in Alberto Aquilani as a €20m ($22.5m) replacement for the Real Madrid-bound Xabi Alonso, I was fully onboard. He was great on Pro Evolution Soccer, had the kind of long dark hair that I associated with the best Italian playmakers of the mid-2000s, and I bought into Benítez's idea that Aquilani would play slightly higher up the pitch, joining in attacks and scoring and assisting more goals than Alonso ever did. Surely now those 0-0 draws that had cost Liverpool dearly in 2008/09 could be turned into wins, and the Premier League would finally be ours.

Absolutely not mate, no. Aquilani was injured when he joined the club, made just 18 appearances across the course of the league season, and Liverpool finished seventh. Roy Hodgson replaced the sacked Benítez in 2010 and Aquilani was loaned out to Juventus FC and AC Milan before moving permanently to Fiorentina. He retired at the age of just 34 after a downturn in his career saw his contract with relegated La Liga side Las Palmas expire.

The transfer is remembered as one of the most costly, in both the financial and figurative sense, in Liverpool's modern history. The club endured five years of relative mediocrity afterwards, failing to challenge for the title again until 2014. Various factors were obviously at play, but Aquilani's signing was the beginning of the end for the previously very successful Benítez era.

14-year-old me knew absolutely nothing, essentially.

Selling Philippe Coutinho would cost Liverpool a top four place

Joel Rabinowitz: Back in January 2018, Liverpool were embroiled in a tight battle to finish in the top four and secure Champions League football for the second season in a row.

Philippe Coutinho had kicked up a fuss in the summer but to no avail, and once he was reintegrated he delivered some of his best football for Liverpool, as we briefly had the pleasure of watching not just three, but four elite attackers firing goals for the Reds.

I remember feeling very strongly in January that Liverpool just had to dig in until the summer and do everything to keep hold of Coutinho, who was then under a long-term contract. A deal to allow him to leave at the end of the season, perhaps, but selling him half way through the season with so much to play for seemed like madness to me at the time.

(Image: Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)

As it happened, the Reds made me look daft for my concerns, going on to secure a top four spot and reach the Champions League final, as the Brazilian's departure actually had a galvanising effect, alongside the transformative addition of Virgil van Dijk.

The team became more balanced, stronger defensively, and the likes of Sadio Mané and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain stepped up and assumed greater responsibility in in Coutinho's absence.

Jürgen Klopp made a judgement call and decided that keeping a player who so clearly desperately wanted to make his dream move to Spain was not a feasible option. It turned out he was absolutely one-hundred percent correct.

Alberto Moreno was going to be Liverpool's left-back solution for the next decade

Joel Rabinowitz: I'll be honest, I was convinced at first that Alberto Moreno was going to be a world beater, nailing down the left-back spot at Liverpool for many years to come.

His reputation from his time at Sevilla as one of the most highly-rated emerging talents in Europe only added to the excitement, and when Liverpool finally secured the deal after a rather protracted transfer saga throughout the 2014 summer transfer window, I thought Liverpool had an absolute gem on their hands.

That sensational solo goal against Tottenham Hotspur just a few games into his Liverpool career, as he ran over half the length of the pitch before firing a perfect finish into the bottom corner only served to confirm my belief that Moreno was going to be a superstar.

(Image: Andrew Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)

As it happened, it turned out that Liverpool had bought a defender who couldn't actually defend very well, which was exposed in the most excruciating fashion in the 2016 Europa League final defeat against his former club.

It would be unfair to Moreno to label him as a total flop, though, as he did put in some excellent performances at times. It's easy to forget that he was keeping Andy Robertson out of the team until he got injured in the first-half of the 2017/18 season, before the Scotsman seized his opportunity and never looked back.

I'm sure he'll do just fine at Villarreal, but it's fair to say my dream of Moreno being the second-coming of Roberto Carlos never quite came to fruition. Those mad karate-kick tackles will be sorely missed.

Stewart Downing was the missing piece of the jigsaw

Dan Morgan: Ah, mate, what was I thinking?

During the summer of 2011, Liverpool actively pursued Aston Villa winger Stewart Downing, amid a wave of anticipation following Kenny Dalglish’s rescue mission and Fenway Sports Group’s traumatic High Court purchase of the club the season before.

Downing was signed for a then hefty £18.5m ($23m) on July 15 2011 and followed the previously acquired Charlie Adam (good lord), Craig Bellamy and a certain Jordan Henderson.

Opinions and forecasts were offered for each player amongst fans, and my 24-year-old self, full of gumption and vigour, was telling anyone who would listen that Downing would provide the width and balance the team needed for their coming campaign.

(Image: Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images)

Sadly, it didn’t quite work that way. A 30 yard piledriver that crashed against the Anfield Road crossbar on his debut against Sunderland seemed to set the tone for the player, who was eventually sold to West Ham United on 13 August 2013.

Downing’s ill-fated stint at Anfield was capped with a tragically comical question and answer session that never was during the back end of 2012/13 campaign.

The club decided not to go ahead with the feature following a series of satirical questions aimed at Downing via their Twitter feed, including one fan asking if there was any truth in the rumour he once went missing in a lift.

Kenny Dalglish shouldn't have been sacked in 2012

Dan Austin: The 2011/12 season was one of the most enjoyable I've had following Liverpool. I was 16 when the campaign began, and I had a bit of disposable income from a part-time job and a freshly acquired Liverpool Football Club members which I was able to purchase match tickets with.

The only games that were accessible to me were in the domestic cups, so I couldn't make it to any league matches (not with my own membership, at least). But I didn't care, because that season, which was Kenny Dalglish's first full season in charge since returning to the helm, was all about the cup competitions.

Liverpool made it to the final of the both the FA Cup and League Cup, beating the likes of Manchester United, Manchester City, and Everton at Wembley along the way. I had never watched Liverpool in a final before, let alone win a trophy, so those were my first consistent experiences watching the Reds win big matches,

Andy Carroll's headed winner against the Blues in the FA Cup semi-final, when the big man planted £35m ($43.7m) worth of greasy Geordie forehead onto Craig Bellamy's cross, remains one of my favourite Liverpool goals of all time. I had mates in the Everton end so being able to go berserk in celebration, knowing the extent of the pain they were feeling in the same stadium as me, was perfect.

When the owners sacked Dalglish after the team finished 8th at the end of that season, and replaced him with Brendan Rodgers, I was livid. Kenny had just given me the best moments I had ever lived as a Liverpool supporter, he was a club legend, and he was being replaced by a man who had managed in the Premier League for one season and previously been sacked by Reading. I could barely compute it.

I didn't change my mind after Rodgers' first season, either. The quality of football was better but Liverpool were awful in both national cups and the Europa League, so in contrast so the one which came before, I found it to be an incredibly dull campaign. But the next season Liverpool were electric, almost won the Premier League, and not too long afterwards ended up hiring Jürgen Klopp.

At the time it hurt, but in hindsight, the decision to remove Dalglish had an undoubtedly positive effect on the club's on-field fortunes. If it hadn't happened, we'd probably still be on just five European Cups...

Robbie Keane was the perfect strike partner for Torres

Dan Austin: It should have just worked. It made so much sense. I was utterly convinced of it.

Liverpool were desperate for foil for Fernando Torres in 2009. The elegant striker with the lovely blonde locks had been a revelation since joining the Reds two summers earlier, but the team was far too reliant on his goals. Peter Crouch had left, Dirk Kuyt had been converted to a right-winger by Rafa Benítez, and Andriy Voronin was a great big pile of cack.

Robbie Keane should have been the perfect partner. His work ethic, movement between the lines of midfield and attack, and fantastic goal scoring record across a career playing for stylistically varied teams, should have meant that he was able to take some of the burden away from Torres and dovetail with the Spaniard to create a brilliant partnership. And Liverpool were his boyhood team, apparently, just like the 11 other clubs he signed for in his career.

But none of that mattered. The Irishman scored 7 goals in 28 matches before being sold back to Tottenham Hotspur barely six months after his arrival.

Benítez seemingly grew impatient with the player, who occasionally displayed glimpses of the technique and finishing which caught Liverpool's attention in the first place, including with a stunning goal away at Arsenal. But Keane spent the majority of his playing time looking lost, unable to adapt to the tactics of the team, and unsure of what to do and where to move in the role slightly deeper than the irrepressible Torres.

Liverpool recouped the majority of their £20m ($24.8m) outlay on the player, and Steven Gerrard played alongside Torres to great effect for the rest of the 2008/09 season, so regrets didn't last too long.

Keane never became the Keegan to Torres' Toshack that I expected him to be, and that remains a real shame. More importantly, though, that silver kit with the red shorts and socks from the Arsenal game might look berserk, but it's also definitively the best ensemble Liverpool have ever worn. Phwoar.

Divock Origi should have been sold in summer 2018

Dan Morgan: I’ll be honest, I was ready to wave him off.

If I’m being totally honest, I would’ve driven him the airport and probably paid his fare.

Divock Origi’s Liverpool career has been a series of highs, lows and euphoric Champions League winning fairytales.

I feel like we have all been on a journey with Origi. When Jürgen Klopp arrived at the club and clearly made the Belgian forward a part of his plans, several eyebrows were raised.

(Image: Andrew Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)

However Origi dispelled all fears with a dazzling run of form which was cut horribly short by the sheer s***housery of Everton’s Ramino Funes Mori, who inflicted a damaging ankle injury on the forward during a 4-1 Liverpool victory in the Merseyside derby at Anfield in April 2016.

From then, Divock never quite looked the same. After his uninspiring loan spell at VfL Wolfsburg in the 2017/18 season, I was ready to cast him aside quicker than a pair of trainers I have thrown on Depop to the highest bidder.

The rest is history, as they say, a history written by a nonchalant prince who wears the number 27 and takes the ground-breaking goals he scores way too easily in his stride, but more importantly, one who rewrote his own story, proving me and many others wrong in the process.

Lazar Markovic was the winger Liverpool needed

Kristian Walsh: The first time I watched Lazar Markovic in person was in Boston, MA. On the training fields of Harvard University, it was there the Serbian dazzled me. His first touch was fantastic, his effort unparalleled. Brendan Rodgers, then coach of Liverpool and a few months removed from a second-placed Premier League finish, would often call out his name in appreciation of the skill produced and end product witnessed.

An impressive pre-season in the United States followed, most notably in a 1-0 win over Olympiakos. Markovic had arrived at Anfield that summer with Liverpool beating off Chelsea for his signature; the £20million ($24.8million) paid to SL Benfica looked a steal.

Excitement over having another direct threat, able to line up on the opposite side of Raheem Sterling, had fanciful dreams of another title challenge lingering, even after the sale of Luis Suárez. At the age of 20, Markovic also had room to grow, and even exhibited the sort of tendencies Suarez had upon his initial arrival. The Uruguayan could never be replaced but, in time, Markovic could lead the line for Liverpool as both creator and goalscorer.

(Image: John Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)

That was 2014. Thirty-four appearances, three goals, one assist and four loans (Sporting CP, Fenerbahce, Hull City and Anderlecht) later, it is now 2019; he left Liverpool in January, and now sits in purgatory with Fulham, a Championship club.

Maybe it could have all been different if he hadn't joined a club which had no real plan to deal with the loss of Suarez, and no real clue how to build on their stunning progress a year before. He was played as a wing-back towards the end of his time at Liverpool, for crying out loud. Even still, he was never what I thought he could be, and never will be.