Liverpool need goals ASAP!
What does the title of this blog mean to the discerning Liverpool supporter? You’d presume on first glance that we need goals as soon as possible. Makes sense! However, there’s more to it than that. In case you didn’t notice, this is a neat little anagram of the much-mooted Celta Viga forward Iago Aspas. The potential replacement for Luis “Hannibal” Suarez, should Liverpool be fortunate enough to sell him. Or, an attacking option for the front line should they not be so fortunate.
I’ve looked at a few videos of him and spoken to a couple of Spanish friends of mine – well, Valencia and Malaga fans but hey, any port in a storm! They tell me he’s quite similar to Carlos Tevez, which comes as a relief because I think Brendan Rodgers would be better jumping off a bridge than signing Tevez! Aspas is not an “out-and-out striker” such as Messrs. Ians, Rush and Wright. His record, 12 goal in 36 appearances or, one goal every three games, is not going to make Rushey hide the LFC record book for fear of having his name rubbed out of it. However, I do believe it will help to solve a problem that has been Liverpool’s achilles heel over the last few years or so.
Since the days of Gérard Houllier, Liverpool generally relied on one midfielder to add to the total goals tally. For Houllier it was Steven Gerrard. For Rafa Benitez it was… Steven Gerrard. For Hodgson and Dalglish it was… well… Gerrard. You see, he has been the only real surety of goals from midfield for some years now, and Rodgers, thankfully is looking to take a different approach. Some call it tiki taka I call it common sense.
Last Season, we saw the introduction and deployment of Phillipe Coutinho and the improvement of Jordan Henderson. Both making and creating goals. This is what Liverpool has been missing since the days of John Barnes and Peter Beardsley. The Reds have never really had that incisive spark in midfield. Players who you feel, once they have the ball, something exciting will happen. For too long it’s been all industry and no creativity. Not much imagination and no va va voom! . With players like Aspas, Coutinho and Henderson we’re returning to the days when Liverpool was more of a team than a collection of slightly above-average individuals.
Aspas is very similar to Tevez, and in that sense, I hope he will fill Rodgers’ need for this type of player. He has a good eye for a pass and is pretty strong on the ball. With this lad, the capture of Kolo Toure from “Citeh“, and another player for defensive cover, I think Liverpool fans can be cautiously optimistic for the 2013/14 season. I think Champions League qualification is still another season away in terms of a realistic expectation. However, with the additions Rodgers has made to the squad thus far, the pendulum of hope swings more toward “some” rather than “no”. Hopefully next season there will indeed be Goals ASAP from midfield.
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