EPL Season Review: 2. Liverpool

After reviewing the Champions' season yesterday, I'll move down the table to #2: Liverpool FC.

Manager

Brendan Rogers was hired 2 years ago to take over for club legend Kenny Daglish. His first season was underwhelming because he started extremely slow. On November 30th 2012, Liverpool sat 12th in the table, with just 16 points from 14 matches.

Philippe Coutinho and Daniel Sturridge were bought in January and Liverpool's form did improve. Liverpool took 45 points from their next 24 matches, finishing 7th.

Even though they played better in the second half of last season, Liverpool was just the 6th best team in the league during the final 24 matches, behind Man United (56 pts), Arsenal (52), Tottenham (49), Chelsea (49), and Man City (46). They still finished 12 points out of the European places. It was fair to think the Reds still had a lot of work to do to step up into the Champions League.

But Rogers and the club's new owner, John Henry, insisted they aimed to do exactly that. When Arsenal publicly attempted to sign Luis Suarez, Liverpool refused to sell even when Arsenal reportedly met his release clause--risking litigation on Suarez's end to see their ambitions fulfilled. It worked.

Liverpool strengthened with several new players and enjoyed a resurgence to put together a genuine title challenge until the last few weeks of the season. After beating Man City 3-2 at Anfield in dramatic fashion with just 4 matches left to play, Liverpool was 7 points clear of Man City, and even though City had 2 games in hand, Liverpool only needed to win their remaining 4 matches to secure their first ever EPL title.

They only won 2.

New Additions

Like City, Liverpool strengthened with more than just 2 or 3 players, suggesting that major investment in the squad does not have negative effects on team chemistry. Liverpool added 7 players in the summer, 6 of whom played this year.

Simon Mignolet was bought from Sunderland and played well in goal for Liverpool this year. He started all 38 EPL matches and averaged nearly 3 saves per match. Liverpool did concede a lot of goals (50, the 8th best record in the league) but that total would almost certainly have been worse if Pepe Reina or Brad Jones had been in goal. Mignolet was a very good signing.

Mamadou Sakho was bought from PSG and rotated with the oft-injured Daniel Agger in defense. Sakho was inconsistent this season, but he made 17 starts this year, and that experience will help him adjust to the English style of play. A young player, its fair to expect Sakho to be a better, more consistent player next year.

Kolo Toure was also bought from Man City to reinforce the Liverpool defense. Toure brought experience and leadership to a team that needed it, and he started 15 matches this season. With that being said, considering how poor Liverpool's defensive record was this season, it's hard to argue that the signing of Toure (or Sakho for that matter) was a successful signing this year.

Aly Cissokho was loaned in from Lyon to provide competition and cover for Jose Enrique at left back. Cissokho was normally featured as a left wing back in a 5-3-2 formation early in the year, but his role diminished in the second half of the season as Rogers changed his tactics to a more consistent back 4 and John Flanagan was a mainstay in Cissokho's position. Cissokho played in 15 matches, 12 as a starter, this year.

Victor Moses was loaned in from Chelsea. Moses had played for Rogers when Rogers managed the Chelsea U21s. Moses must have thought moving to Liverpool would get him more playing time than if he had stayed at the Blues. In reality, he was nothing more than cover for the first team. Moses only made 6 starts, but he did make 13 substitute appearances. In all, he scored just 1 goal and assisted 4 this year. An underwhelming contribution from a player who was at his best for Wigan under Roberto Martinez a few years ago.

Iago Aspas flopped. The Spaniard started matches early in the year, but failed to convince. In 5 starts and 9 substitute appearances, Aspas scored no goals, and only assisted 1. He fell out of favor with Rogers quickly, only playing in 4 matches (all as a substitute) after December.

Tiago Ilori is a young defender who was bought from Sporting Lisbon. He did not make a single Premier League appearance this year.

In summary, only Mignolet played a major role for Liverpool this year, but the 7 new players Rogers brought in provided competition for places and kept the first team players working hard to keep their place. Rogers can hardly be seen as a wizard in the transfer market, in fact most of these players did not work out, but it would be difficult to argue that reinforcing the squad disrupted Liverpool's team chemistry and hurt their chances at all this season.

Key Players

Luis Suarez won the PFA Player of the Year award. He led the league in goals with 31, assisted 12, and started every EPL match after sitting out the first 5 suspended. He matured, developed into a leader, and was only booked 6 times all season. Suarez was never sent off. Suarez is the best striker in the Premier League, and one of the best strikers in the world.

Steven Gerrard took on a deeper defensive midfield role and he pulled the strings for Liverpool this season. His set piece delivery was very strong, and the experienced Liverpool captain scored 13 goals and assisted 13 more, landing a spot on the PFA Team of the Season. But Gerrard was just as vital to the club's resurgence as he was in their ultimate collapse. His slip against Chelsea in the final weeks of the season proved to be too much for the team to overcome. He will need to rebound quickly as the veteran will captain England at the World Cup this summer.

Jordan Henderson was an extremely important player for Liverpool this year. Raheem Sterling was outstanding this spring, and deservedly received a lot of praise, but Henderson's strength and mobility helped him form a great partnership with Gerrard in midfield. Henderson's athleticism complimented Gerrard's technical ability very well, but his reckless tackle in stoppage time in their victory over Man City suspended him for 3 of Liverpool's final 4 matches. Those results: a 3-2 win at relegated Norwich, the 2-nil loss to Chelsea at Anfield, and the 3-3 draw at Crystal Palace. The only three matches Henderson failed to play, Henderson scored 4 goals and assisted 7 more in 35 starts. But his stupid tackle at the end of the City match might have been just as catastrophic as Gerrard's slip.

Looking Ahead

Liverpool has qualified for the Champions League, and therefore will need to rotate more than they did this season. That means they'll need to strengthen once again. The defense, in particular, needs new reinforcements. Rogers will now face the additional challenge of juggling multiple competitions, and with many of the team's key players expected to feature at this summer's World Cup, it seems unlikely that Liverpool will avoid injuries to key players like they have this year. If Rogers can keep his team in the top 4 and return them to the Champions League next season, that will be viewed as a success.