Sunday, August 16, 2009

John Aldridge: Liverpool FC Need More Options In Attack

Having come so close last season, we all desperately hope this is the year when Liverpool finally clinch the Premier League title.

It’s been a mixed summer with a couple of big signings but a few key players moving on.

We’ve lost Alvaro Arbeloa and Xabi Alonso but gained Glen Johnson and Alberto Aquilani so I would say the squad is about as strong as the one we had last season.

I’ve seen Aquilani play a few times and there’s no doubt he’s a very talented player.

The concern is we don’t know how long he is going to be out injured.

And we also don’t know how long he will take to adapt to the demands of the Premier League.

I was disappointed to see Arbeloa go and I thought £3.5m for him was a great bit of business for Real Madrid but Johnson is undoubtedly a better attacking full-back.

I would still like to see Rafa strengthen our attacking options by either signing a striker or a wide player.

Andriy Voronin has come back from a year on loan at Hertha Berlin but I can’t see him making much of an impression. I hope he can prove us all wrong but I doubt it.

The options up front are limited and the fear is we’re still short of one top quality player.

The worrying thing is it looks like the money has run out and that’s unbelievable considering how much Rafa Benitez has brought in by selling players.

Before the Americans arrived the manager would always have £20m to £25m to spend each summer plus whatever he could raise from sales.

Whether what’s happened this summer is a sign of how difficult things are behind the scenes I don’t know.

Our first XI is still as strong as any in the Premier League.

But we just have to hope and pray everyone stays fit because our second string is probably the poorest out of all the clubs in the top four.

Even Spurs probably have more in reserve than we have.

If we keep everyone fit then we will challenge but my fear is that if we have to rely on fringe players then we will struggle.

The first target has to be to get through to the international break at the start of September unscathed.

The Reds have got to be looking for 10 points out of 12.

Liverpool couldn’t have been handed a much tougher opener than a trip to Tottenham.

Harry Redknapp has done a great job and turned things around since taking over from Juande Ramos.

He has made some great buys and I’ve got no doubt Spurs are going to be one of those clubs, along with Manchester City, fighting to get into the top four this season.

Spurs have certainly got plenty of firepower. Robbie Keane and Peter Crouch will be desperate to do well against their old club, while Jermain Defoe will be flying after his two goals for England in midweek.

Defoe was excellent against Holland and the Reds will have to keep a close eye on him.

Of course we lost 2-1 at White Hart Lane last November but that was one of our best away performances of the season.

We battered them but missed so many chances and ending up paying the price.

If we can reproduce that display and be more clinical then I’m confident we’ll be celebrating a great start to the campaign.

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