The announcement on the morning of Friday 2 January 2015 that Steven Gerrard will be leaving Liverpool football club at the end of the already turbulent 2014-2015 season added yet another dramatic twist to a ride which, for the fans, already feels like a particularly crazy rollercoaster. As if the failure to replace Luis Suarez after last season’s near miss had not already generated a great deal of uncertainty that permeated through the side, the oncoming loss of the club captain – hero of the 2005 Champions League success and 2006 FA Cup triumph, in the face of overwhelming odds, and constant saviour of the side with his dead-ball brilliance, vital goals and all round midfielder game – means this transfer window just became a vital fork in the road moment for manager Brendan Rodgers, as he looks to replace not just Liverpool’s beating heart but also another piece of its spine.

Initially Rodgers had shown reluctance, in interviews, to make too much recruiting in this window, well aware as he is of the significant outlay made in the summer. Quoted in the club’s own online website in an article on New Years Eve, he said,

“I don’t think it’s a good time to spend. If you look at last year, we never brought anyone in. My job is to coach the players we’ve brought in, to manage them.”

The players brought in included three defenders (albeit one on loan): Alberto Moreno, Dejan Lovren and Javi Manquillo; utility player Emre Can; £20m forward Lazar Markovic; strikers Rickie Lambert and Mario Balotelli. But doubts remained over whether the young Spanish full backs would instantly slot in and impress, or whether a Borini/Balotelli strike partnership could flourish in the way that Suarez and Sturridge did last season, with the Uruguayan gone and the Englishman injured, and these have been borne out with Moreno making several costly errors that have led to opposition goals, and neither Balotelli or Borini even scoring in the Premier League in 2014-2015 at the time of writing.

The frustrating thing for Liverpool supporters this season is a feeling, enhanced by the announcement of the much-maligned transfer committee facing a review at the end of the season, that the club has become at the mercy of events rather than controlling them, and the acquisition of players before a system was set up for them to actually play in seemed to indicate this, with the games toward the end of 2014 showing sparks of the so-recent magic of the title-chasing season with the switch to three at the back and wing-backs instead of a straight back four.

I will therefore look at the areas that in my opinion need strengthening, and those which do not, followed by my conclusion.

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Goalkeeper.

Simon Mignolet had faced growing pressure even last season for what was seen as panic in the Liverpool penalty area at crucial moments, and from Jamie Carragher on Sky Sports for not producing vital saves at vital moments in the way that Joe Hart did at Goodison Park to help Manchester City pip the Reds to the title. But if his presence was less than calming last year, what has happened so far in 2014-2015 has been truly shocking – committing a series of derided errors, being publicly dropped by the manager, coming back in when his replacement Brad Jones was injured only to seem even more nervous than before.

The concerning thing for Rodgers is that little seems to be working with the Belgian keeper: either keeping faith with him early on or the less-than-diplomatic way he was rested. Brad Jones would also probably accept his chances of being a long-term number 1 goalkeeper, for all his likeability and rapport with the fans, are limited, and his own displays whilst covering between the sticks have been open to criticism too. It appears vital, for all the distractions created by Gerrard’s announcement, that the Reds do not lose sight of the need for a new keeper.

After the complications over Victor Valdes, and the fact that flirting with Manchester United will hardly have endeared the Spaniard to the Kop, Guillermo Ochoa is the name touted by many, notably Bruce Grobelaar and would be appear to indicate good value at a mooted £4m price tag, as the chances of landing Koln’s young German stopper, Timo Horn, appear to have faded. However the name of Petr Cech keeps coming up, with the Chelsea player’s contract nearing its end and with the keeper no longer being Jose Mourinho’s first choice.

Full backs.

The switch to three central defenders would hardly indicate the need for more full backs, and if Jon Flanagan recovers from injury he would probably be the natural first choice to bomb on as a right-sided wingback: the opposite number to the equally buccaneering Moreno on the left. Manquillo has proven himself relatively solid, if unspectacular, this season, though the form of the initially impressive Jose Enrique has caused concern this year.

Martin Montoya is regularly the full back associated with signing for Liverpool, though with a relatively high price tag, and Liverpool requiring wing-backs rather than defensively-minded full-backs, this would appear to have faded. Fabio Coentrao has been mentioned again recently, however, though with Arsenal and Manchester United also interested and the price subsequently rising a £25m fee would be double what LFC paid for Moreno in the summer, and the owners would surely wish to see if the current full-backs fulfill their potential before buying an expensive upgrade so soon.

Centre-backs.

Liverpool’s centre-backs have been the subject of almost constant criticism this season. Even Martin Skrtel, who has been the mainstay of the back 4/back 3 this year, has been in the firing line, despite his heroics in the Arsenal game. The criticisms have mostly been about taking up the right positions in the back 4, with too much space being left between the centre-halves and the full-backs, whilst in the back 3 the big defenders have been accused of not reacting quickly enough to danger by assuming their colleagues nearby will cover.

Oddly, however, Liverpool have not really been linked consistently with many centre-backs recently – perhaps there is more concern over how to get the most out of the toiling Dejan Lovren, currently a shadow of the player who made just one error leading to a goal in the whole 2013-2014 season for Southampton. Can has been surprisingly adept playing at the back, adding another string to the bow of a player who can already play as holding midfielder or even left-back, and Mamadou Sakho, who ‘offered his services’ back to his manager when out of favour for Lovren stating he could be the defensive leader the club need, and has recently been impressive. Yet with Can subject to tiring late in games and a lack of further cover or consistent performances generally, the defense situation looks far from sorted.

Defensive / Central Midfield.

The sight of a crestfallen Steven Gerrard this season, coupled with the two-man midfield of the number 8 and Lucas getting over-run by Leicester City at Anfield, indicate there is a real problem in the centre of the park. And the need to resolve this has obviously been exacerbated by the announced departure of the former in the summer.

Last year, before the ‘Chelsea slip’, Gerrard earned plaudits for his reinvention as a deep-lying, Andrea Pirlo-style playmaker, with destroyer Lucas covering him (and occasionally even playing in front of him) and box-to-box dynamo Jordan Henderson doing the legwork. But this year the midfield has looked like another question that needs answering, and for all his general passing accuracy £15m signing Joe Allen, one of the first of the Rodgers era, is yet to truly prove he is the ‘Welsh Xavi’, lacking the dynamism to threaten the places of Coutinho further forward or the imposing qualities of a Lucas-type further back.

Aston Villa’s Fabian Delph has been mentioned as a potential new recruit in a Gerrard-type role, though the progress of players such as Jordan Rossiter from the youth ranks has been notable and one might wonder whether he in particular might find opportunities coming through as the club captain heads for the curtain call on his extraordinary career. Will Hughes at Derby County has also been mentioned, as has Ogneyi Onazi at Lazio.

Forwards/Attacking Midfield.

Bizarrely this is an area which Liverpool have been regularly linked, despite the fact that the club had so many that some of the younger, rawer talent – like Suso, Jordan Ibe and Joao Teixeira – had been loaned out. Yet the names of the likes of Marco Reus and more recently Xherdan Shaqiri and Ezequiel Lavezzi have regularly come up, hinting there may be dissatisfaction at the return of players such as Lazar Markovic.

Judging by the number of shots in games, which has creeped towards the 30 mark recently, fashioning chances is not the issue, though wastefulness may be. Philippe Coutinho has not scored the goals to go with his exquisite skill, Adam Lallana has also had relatively few goals or assists despite bagging a brace against Swansea at Anfield (though this belies the general promise he has shown and that he has been playing with two broken ribs), while Raheem Sterling has been moved further forward to the strikers’ role to cover for the still-injured Sturridge.

Whilst a wide player such as Shaqiri would have appeal, to bring in too many more creative players (non-strikers) would perhaps create a top-heavy squad. Furthermore they will need to provide goals from the beginning to prevent them being seen as an immediate disappointment in the line of a worrying amount of highly-touted attacking players at Anfield.

Strikers.

The departure of Luis Suarez from Liverpool was always predicted, long before the event. Most of the speculation centred on whether the Uruguayan would leave if the club did not get Champions League qualification. Yet there was a double irony that having been given the alleged target of getting into the top four to keep him, not only did the 2013-2014 season bring qualification but it came within a whisker of bringing the league title back to Anfield after nearly 25 years.

Liverpool have simply not managed to replace Suarez. Summer signing Balotelli has fallen so far out of favour he cannot even make the bench, with the usual off-the-field headlines increasing the negative vibes around the club, and to date having scored no league goals. Fabio Borini has also done little to justify his own faith in him having a career at Anfield, after impressing on loan at Sunderland last campaign, and Rickie Lambert, always a slightly odd signing, has kept his dignity and done his best but is unlikely to be a long-term solution up front for the club’s style of play.

Names raised include Saida Berahino, Alexandre Lacazette, Danny Ings, Wilfried Bony and Jackson Martinez, with Berahino particularly given short odds on going to Anfield, or White Hart Lane. Certainly Liverpool need a striker who can ‘finish ugly’ in tight games, which they have lacked with Sterling up front and Sturridge in the treatment room.

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In conclusion then ‘all’ Liverpool will need is a ‘new Bruce Grobelaar’, a ‘new Alan Hansen/Mark Lawrenson’ defensive partnership, a ‘new Luis Suarez’ and, in light of today’s announcement, a ‘new Steven Gerrard’. A new spine for the team, but at what cost? Time will tell, and whether Rodgers can supply that spine.

Laurence Buxton, 2 January 2015.