So How Would It Really Feel To See Luis Suarez Leave Liverpool?

 With all the quotes attributed to Luis Suarez over the last couple of days it’s looking increasingly likely he’ll be heading out of Anfield and into the Bernabeau this summer. I’m not happy he’s leaving and I can’t say I’m overly gutted either, I’m finding it hard to feel anything either way over the probable transfer.

 Liverpool have released a short statement saying Suarez is not for sale and neither the player nor his agent have contacted them about him seeking a move. Statements like this are normal in this sort of circumstance and 99% of the time the player still gets his move so I'm not expecting the club's desire to keep our number seven to win out. If we're lucky it may add a couple of million on to the transfer fee we receive. To those saying Suarez making public his desire to leave weakens our negotiating position I disagree. If he wants to leave his agent would make potential buying clubs well aware of this so just because it's now public knowledge I doubt Real Madrid know something they didn't yesterday.

 As a club and as a set of fans Liverpool could not have shown the Uruguayan any more support than they have done, but if he doesn’t feel comfortable in Britain then what can we do about it? Yes, his problems are largely of his own making, but that doesn’t mean any human wouldn’t be tempted when offered a very attractive way out. If you had caused yourself issues in your own workplace and were offered a better paid job in a sunnier climate would you take it or would you show your bosses loyalty? The fact that Real Madrid are challenging for the league title and the Champions League would be very hard for Suarez to ignore.

 Steven Gerrard is a top player but he’s not the force he was a few years back, Coutinho has genuine potential but the fact remains that Suarez is currently our only world class player, and nobody wants to lose someone like him. Any Liverpool fan who says they’re happy he’s going obviously isn’t bothered about us improving our league position.

 Comparisons are already being made between Suarez’ imminent departure and Fernando Torres leaving us a few years ago, the majority feeling Torres walking away hurt more. In my opinion it probably did, but not because our affection for the player was any stronger. Choosing Chelsea over Liverpool was a clear sign that the newly rich London club are a better prospect than us, something that’s not easy to stomach. The fact that a South American fancies Real Madrid more than he fancies Liverpool isn’t really a big deal and I’ll accept it, though in a perfect world it wouldn’t be true.

 I have a feeling that if we’d qualified for next season’s Champions League Suarez might have chosen to stay, but we didn’t so we’ll never know. It would be nice if he’d come out and say he wants to play in the Champions League rather than blaming the media but he’s not the first and won’t be the last player to avoid the honest truth when seeking a move. Real Madrid are one of the biggest and most prestigious clubs in world football and it would be quite easy to say 'I'd love to stay at Liverpool and be part of their future but from a footballing and a financial perspective this move was just too good to turn down'. I don't think there is any real need for Suarez to blame the British media for his exit, even though I'm sure they have certainly helped speed up his departure.

 I don't believe it was particularly the reaction to Suarez biting Branislav Ivanovic that bothered him, he was clearly in the wrong and apologised for his behaviour and subsequently accepted his suspension that most judged to be at least a little harsh for the actual offence. I think it was the reaction to the incident at Mansfield that really hurt the Uruguayan. The ball ricocheted upwards and hit his hand, and he then put the ball into the net. To any seasoned football observer it was quite clearly unintentional but large sections of the media reported that he had basically ruined the entire FA Cup competition. He seemed to be made into the poster boy for all that is wrong in football on the back of an accidental collision between the ball and his hand. This was where the press had the opportunity to report the facts rather than aim more arrows at an easy target and we all know which path the majority of them took.

 There is something a bit off if Suarez leaves Liverpool of his own desire, after all the controversy he has caused the club it seems that it should be them who tell him it's time to go, not the other way around. Liverpool supporters and management rallied around Suarez after he bit Ivanovic when they had the chance to condemn him. To allow everybody to come out so strongly and publicly on his side when he probably already knew he wanted to go isn't classy behaviour.

 For his ability on the pitch Suarez deserves to be playing in the Champions League and challenging for titles. If one game summed up his time at Liverpool for me it was when Newcastle visited Anfield earlier this season. Suarez scored probably the goal of the season, ridiculously controlling a long ball from Jose Enrique before rounding the keeper and slotting calmly into the net. But the team didn't win, a fixture we were strong favourites to take all three points from ended in a 1-1 draw despite our main striker's man of the match performance.

 If, as now looks virtually certain, he moves on this summer I hope the money we receive is invested wisely in new attacking talent. If he goes to Real Madrid then good luck to him, and good luck to Liverpool too, I think all parties involved may need it.

What Sort Of Signing Is Kolo Toure?

 Liverpool have confirmed that a deal has been agreed in principle with Man City's central defender Kolo Toure, stating that the Ivory Coast international will join once he becomes a free agent at the beginning of July.

 Toure is 32 years old and will come with a hefty wage packet though the lack of transfer fee for an experienced Premier League player is an obvious plus point. Only time will tell if he proves to be a good signing or not but there are arguments that could be made both for and against us adding him to our squad.

 The retirement of Jamie Carragher leaves the squad short of both a central defender and an experienced professional, Toure ticks both of those boxes. He's played in England for over a decade, won trophies and been a solid, consistent performer. On the face of it you'd have to say it's a sensible signing, not spectacular or exciting, but sensible. 

 He's older than any of FSG's previous signings but I don't think they've particularly broken their transfer policy to bring him on board. A measured approach to recruiting new squad members has been their trademark so far, only buying players they feel will hold or even improve their values, and signing somebody on a free clearly fits into that category. 

 I don't see Toure being a first team regular, I think Daniel Agger is our first choice centre back and it remains to be seen whether Martin Skrtel is trusted to play alongside him or if we bring in another defender (Shalke's Greek Kyriakos Papadopoulos has been strongly rumoured to be on our radar) to partner the Dane. Giving a regular starting berth to a 32 year old signing would be against everything that Brendan Rodgers has done so far and I don't see him changing his policy any time soon. Where we have struggled this season has been with our 4th choice centre back. Sebastian Coates has potential but there was no way you could put him into the starting XI and be fully confident he would deliver, meaning he wasn't genuine competition to the established Agger/Skrtel partnership. When Skrtel's form dipped it was Carragher who was brought in, not the young Uruguayan. 

 This is where my doubts over Kolo Toure come in. He hasn't played much football for Man City over the last couple of seasons and at this stage of his career he has two choices - go somewhere and play every week for the love of the game, or move somewhere else as a squad player and take the nice salary on offer. A player happy to take his money without contributing can be disruptive so there is an element of a gamble in signing him. I'm not saying Toure is definitely like that, but it's a possibility and one hopefully Rodgers is fully aware of.

 It remains to be seen who else we bring in this summer but it's good to see us acting swiftly, having a settled squad enjoying a full pre-season together can only help come the start of the next campaign. Let's hope for a few more new faces at Anfield over the coming weeks, there are still a few positions on the squad that need sorting (left back) and getting the players in early can give the manager a more relaxed summer and more time to prepare for next season.

What Should Liverpool Look To Achieve Next Season?

 I think the general response to Brendan Rodgers from Liverpool fans this season has been fairly positive, our new manager has made changes and the majority of them for the better. With the spate of sackings and retirements this year he will begin his second season in charge at Anfield as the sixth longest serving manager in the Premier League.  

 We finished seventh this season which isn't good enough for Liverpool, but the performances over the last few months have left most Kopites with a feeling of optimism for our future. One thing came back into my head from our reasonably recent history though - didn't Gerard Houllier get the sack for actually finishing fourth?

 Yes, he did. So what's changed, why was finishing fourth not enough and now finishing seventh is considered a promising start? Well, there's a few reasons. I think the main factor is beyond the club's control, that being the huge financial backing given to Chelsea and now Manchester City. Back in 2004 when Houllier was let go there was still a genuine belief we could challenge for and even win the title. Now that looks much harder with too many clubs above us who can simply go out and buy the best players from all around the world, something that we can't do to the same extent. To win the title in the early part of the century we would have had to finish above Arsenal and Man Utd, now we would have to overtake the same pair, plus Man City, Chelsea and an emerging Spurs side. 

 I've had a look at the league table from 2003/04 and it's interesting to compare it to this season -

2003/04 Played 38, won 16, drawn 12, lost 10, goal difference +18, points 60
2012/13 Played 38, won 16, drawn 13, lost 9, goal difference +28, points 61

 So, almost identical then, one more draw this time around and a better goal difference, and a solitary point better off, and yet we finished three places lower than in 03/04. In 2003/04 60 points qualified us for the Champions League (which we then went on and won) and this season Spurs reached 72 and had to settle for Thursday night football next term.

 The conclusion from that is that qualification for the Champions League is harder to achieve now than ever, making Brendan Rodgers' task an extremely difficult one. I think most Liverpool fans are realistic enough to realise that winning the title will only come with a strong financial input allowing the club to compete with everyone else when it comes to transfer fees and wages. And the only way to strengthen the club's finances is to regularly qualify for the Champions League.

 We want to get back to the top of the table, back on our perch, but it has to happen a step at a time. In modern Premier League football teams simply don't leap from seventh to first, nobody suddenly one season manages thirty more points than they did at the previous attempt. Brendan Rodgers needs to move us up three places and approximately twelve points. Only once that step has been taken can he consider the next step of targeting another league title.

 Much has been made of our lack of victories against the top six teams this season but I'm not totally convinced it's as important as it has been made out to be. We have dropped vital points in winnable games and I think that has cost us more. If we'd won at Southampton and Reading, at home to West Ham and beaten West Brom home and away (all games we went into as favourites) we would have finished in the top four. 

 We are capable of getting the number of points needed to achieve our short term goal of returning to European football's big stage, we just need to turn it on week in week out and let the belief build within the squad. We have no European football next season and we simply have to take advantage of this. We have to turn it into a positive and use the free midweeks to prepare properly for every game no matter who the opponent is. Chelsea have played 69 competitive matches this season, we have 38 plus the domestic cups next season. Taking advantage of having fewer games than the other contenders is something that we cannot fail at. 

 Next season may be bigger for Liverpool than any of us realise, it's our best opportunity for a while to climb back up the table. For me if we don't get top four next season then serious questions will have to be asked. I don't mean I'm expecting it, I just mean that if we can't make it when the fixture list is on our side then we may need to re-evaluate our approach. I have faith and our manager has my full support, let's just hope we deliver.

Sturridge And Coutinho Give Reds Real Cause For Optimism

 With one game to go, no trophies won and a seventh place finish confirmed I think looking back over Liverpool's season it's fair to say the most important part of 2012/13 was the January transfer window. The additions of Daniel Sturridge and Philippe Coutinho have given our team a greater attacking threat and a genuine reason for optimism going forwards.

 Sturridge has received plenty of praise from Liverpool fans (though not the press coverage you'd expect a young, English striker with his goal return to get), scoring five times in the three games we've had since Luis Suarez' much publicised suspension. Now I'm going to say something that may seem a little off - I don't think Sturridge is a great striker. But he doesn't have to be. He fits into how we play, he's the right player for that specific position in the system we play, and that's worth all the ability in the world. 

 I'm not saying Sturridge is a bad player, far from it, but I think his goal return has been as much down to the team and the formation as the individual. We play one central striker with an attacking midfielder behind him (I'll get to Coutinho in a bit) and two advanced wide midfielders with license to roam infield as and when the opportunity arises. In short we have a system designed to create chances for one main man, and Sturridge has been finishing off those chances. He's just doing his job, playing his role in the system and that only happens because everyone else is also fulfilling their briefs. Like I said, he's the right player in the right role in the right system. We needed somebody selfish who is quick and doesn't really move too far from the central striker position and our January signing from Chelsea fits the bill perfectly, full credit for this must go to Brendan Rodgers for seeing exactly the right qualities in our number 15. 

 Suarez has scored a lot of goals this season, but he's had A LOT of chances. He's a fantastic player and a world class talent, but is he a deadly finisher? Well, sometimes. But not all of the time. With the ball at his feet there is no better player in the league than the Uruguayan and he's made plenty of his goals for himself (see his brace at QPR) but he's also missed a shedload of chances. A more consistent finisher playing in Suarez' position would probably have finished off more chances that team mates had made for him, but scored fewer self-made goals. Suarez playing out wide making chances for himself and a central striker (Sturridge) seems ideal. Downing and Sterling between them can cover the other wide position (though personally I'd like to see Andre Wisdom at right back and see how Glen Johnson fared in an advanced role) and there is real potential in that attack.

 Coutinho's arrival from Inter has been another major factor in our recent run of good results. I must admit when we signed him I half expected him to flop, I think I've just seen too many skillful foreigners (Kewell, Smicer, Gonzalez, Cheyrou, Diouf) turn up and make no impact and I've lost a bit of faith. But on the evidence so far the little Brazilian seems to be a player of genuine quality. Some of his passes to create goals and goalscoring chances seem unremarkable at first as he makes them look so easy but on second viewing you realise exactly what he's just done, and then you have to watch it again and again. 

 He's still very young and hasn't been impressive every match (Chelsea at home) but when he's given space he uses it intelligently and with no little amount of vision and skill. The way he plays some of his passes through the air to land in just the right place is something I haven't seen before and it's difficult to defend against - thankfully we don't have to! He's more effective playing centrally behind the striker than he is when he's put out wide which makes him slightly harder to accommodate but certainly not impossible. 

 Steven Gerrard and Lucas playing as more orthodox central midfielders with Coutinho in front of them, Suarez and Downing wide and Sturridge central seems like a very effective front six. Players like Henderson, Allen, Shelvey, Borini, Sterling and Suso can also fit in when needed and be trusted as able replacements. We're blessed with a flexible squad with the likes of Suarez, Downing, Sterling, Borini, Henderson, Suso, Coutinho and Gerrard who can fit into more than one position within our system, meaning it's easy to change things around during a game without using up substitutions. We can also switch from a version of 4-3-3 to more of a 4-4-2 at the drop of a hat and that can be invaluable in a tight game.

 The two men brought in to Liverpool in January may not have been cheap, but by today's standards it looks like we got a pair of bargains who have improved our team no end. Brendan Rodgers has shown that he is a man who can be trusted with a transfer budget and hopefully whoever we bring in over the summer will be just as wisely chosen as Coutinho and Sturridge. It's about having a system and finding the right players to buy into it and make it work and the way we've played a lot of the time this year suggests we're on the right path.

Managerial Changes At Our Rivals

 I try to keep this website more Liverpool related and not comment too much on other clubs but this week has seen both of biggest rivals lose long term managers who have brought relative success to their football clubs so I felt it was worthy of a few words.

 It’s impossible to knock Alex Ferguson’s domestic success despite the slightly disappointing return of ‘only’ two European Cups in over a quarter of a century. I’ve no doubt his departure can only weaken Man Utd, though by how much only time will tell. I had a feeling he would go if they won the title, he sees Man City’s finances as a genuine threat and there’s no way he would want to retire with City as champions so he’s gone while he’s on top, and you can’t blame him for that.

 I’m obviously pleased that Man Utd will be weakened but to be honest I’m a bit disappointed with the timing. They have several ageing key players and now will have a new manager coming in, which will kick off a period of transition for a side that can fairly be described as the best of a bad bunch this season. I would expect them to struggle by their standards for the next couple of seasons and I’m gutted we’re not yet in a position to take advantage of this. If Fergie could have kept going one more year and then left, leaving us a year further down the road in our progress I would be happier.

 While Utd’s annual league finish being higher than ours has a sort of permanent feel to it, Everton’s feels temporary. It looks like they’ll (deservedly) finish above us this time, making it two seasons in a row but I’d expect with Moyes leaving, possibly along with a few key players, normal order to be restored from next season onwards. It’s been a long time since Everton have been challenging for top honours so finishing above them is a much lesser aim than it was in the eighties, but it’s still nice to be the top team in the city. I completely agree that the difference between finishing sixth and seventh is pretty irrelevant, but anybody who says they’re not bothered at all if we finish below Everton is a liar.

 In my opinion David Moyes replacing Alex Ferguson at Man Utd will weaken both clubs so overall as a Liverpool fan I’m happy, but I’m certainly not celebrating the changes like some people are. And it’s nice after all the stick that Utd fans have given Rafa it was a victory by his side at Old Trafford that finally pushed Fergie over the edge and into retirement.

What Does Finishing Seventh Mean For Liverpool?

 Liverpool now look certain to finish seventh in the table, one place higher than last season and between 5 and 11 points better off than last term, depending on our last two results. Seventh isn't good enough for Liverpool, but it is acceptable, and why have we finished so low?

 For this season, Brendan Rodgers' first in charge, the final league position wasn't the only thing we would be judged on, we needed to see improvement and promise. We've definitely seen these two things but probably not as often as we'd like. A good example would be our last four matches, during which time we've scored eight goals and only conceded two, but only managed one win and six points out of a possible twelve. We've scored goals in gluts and they haven't been spread out, we're the second highest scorers in the league this season but have all too often fired blanks.

 The teams that have finished above us are all decent sides but none of them have been particularly exceptional this season and our results against them have, in some ways, been disappointing. In a mini-league made up of the top seven sides we've only lost four out of twelve games (the same number as champions Man Utd) but we've only won one. It's often been said that you have to beat the lesser teams, which is true, but three points against a close rival is always more important for the simple reason it's three points they don't win. We need to win more games against the top sides next season, plain and simple. Even the likes of Norwich, Sunderland and Southampton have won more games against top seven sides than us. 

 We need to be mentally stronger, especially in games where decisions don't go our way. In draws against Everton, Swansea and West Ham we've had goals disallowed for offside that probably shouldn't have been, but this happens to sides and if that goal doesn't count then you've just got to keep going until you score one that does. Penalties not awarded to us, especially in the early part of the season (home vs Man Utd and Arsenal spring to mind) haven't helped our cause, but again, this can't be an excuse. If things don't go our way then we have to channel the sense of injustice into something positive and get a result anyway.

 I wouldn't say this has been a bad season for Liverpool, but it would be disappointing if next season was the same. We won't have European football to contend with, giving us more time and energy to concentrate on the thirty-eight Premier League games in front of us. I don't think there's a team in the league we haven't outplayed at some point this season so we have to believe we can win every game we go into. Providing we don't lose any key players this summer I think we're capable of challenging the top four but we will have to spread out the goals a bit more. 

 Brendan Rodgers has had a year to see where we do well and where we slip up, he now needs to prove he is intelligent enough and tough enough to make changes where they are necessary. This season can, to a degree, be written off as one of transition and learning, but next time around big strides need to be made. 2013/14 will be a massive time for Liverpool Football Club and we all need to rise to it.

Clean Sheet For Carra In His Final Derby

 I'm not going to insult anybody's intelligence by suggesting today's 0-0 draw with Everton was a classic, but there's undeniably something about a Derby game going into it's final minutes still there for either side to win that creates a tension like no other.

 Neither team particularly deserved the three points on the strengths of their performances this afternoon, Everton seemed content to keep it tight and hope for a goal from a set piece while Liverpool never found their attacking stride and 0-0 was the only fair result. The visitors will be disappointed the referee disallowed a Sylvain Distin header after a small push by the Frenchman on Jamie Carragher as soon as the corner was taken but a foul is a foul, no matter how small. Liverpool didn't really look comfortable defending set pieces and can feel fortunate Distin gave the official the opportunity to rule the goal out as he was given far too much space to put away a straightforward header.

 Daniel Sturridge had probably his poorest game since joining us in January, often choosing to shoot when the shot wasn't on but then opting not to pull the trigger when it seemed a good chance was there. The closest we came were two Steven Gerrard efforts that Tim Howard wasn't stopping, Distin and Phil Jagielka putting the blocks in at the right moments for the blues. Our attacking play wasn't sharp enough to warrant a goal but thankfully our defence wasn't overly troubled and despite looking vulnerable to corners and free kicks there wasn't a whole lot of danger of us conceding.

 A lot of credit should go to the referee Michael Oliver today for understanding the occasion and keeping his yellow card in his pocket for the majority of the game. Both Leon Osman and Gerrard could have been booked in the first half but weren't, the game was struggling to flow as it was and a flurry of cards wouldn't have helped at all. One thing (okay, four things) that he missed though was Marouane Fellaini's elbow. He managed to get Daniel Agger twice, Gerrard and Martin Skrtel and it will be interesting to see what punishment he receives from the FA because A: the ref didn't see his elbows, B: the incidents were mentioned a lot on Twitter, C: the game was shown on live TV across the world, D: he's a repeat, in fact serial, offender, and, E: we wouldn't want our children going into school and elbowing other children. I'd be very surprised if the Prime Minister doesn't give us all his views at the first possible opportunity. Of course I'm being sarcastic about all of this, but it shows just how ridiculous the reaction to incidents like this can be.

 The draw today means it's quite certain we'll finish seventh this season, one place higher than last. We've already got five points more than we managed last term and there's still two games to play so there are positives, despite our failure to qualify for Europe. I'll have a look at what finishing seventh means for us later on this week and hopefully get a few comments from my readers, see what you all think of our season.

 Back to today and it's a shame we couldn't win for Carra but I'm delighted for him that he helped keep a clean sheet in his final Derby match. If I was petty I'd also take some satisfaction from the fact David Moyes will now leave Everton never having won at Anfield despite more than a decade of trying, but I'm not like that so I won't say it.............. 

 We've had a couple of scoreless draws at Anfield recently and it makes you appreciate the 1-0 wins against Reading and Southampton a little more, the crucial and hard fought breakthroughs in those games earned us just as many points as when we've hit four, five or six past other teams. It would be easy to say we missed the creative spark of Luis Suarez today but most teams would miss a player of his quality and it's something we'll have to get used to until October so it's not an excuse for being poor in front of goal.

 There are a few performances I'd like to highlight today apart from the obvious man of the match display from our captain. Firstly I think Philippe Couthinho showed a real eye for a pass and in spite of his diminutive stature he didn't struggle in his first Merseyside Derby. Jordan Henderson played well first half and made some very good short first touch flicks, he's certainly improved over the last few months. And finally Stewart Downing. He didn't offer a huge amount that will contribute to any highlights package but he played a big part in making sure Leighton Baines was no threat. If you don't play well enough to help us win then you have to make sure you help us not lose and he did that today.

 The draw today means we've lost the same number of games against other sides in the top seven as the title winners Man Utd, but we've only managed one win. The draws against the sides we want to be competing with have proved costly and if this doesn't improve next time around we won't be able to take that next step forward.

My Derby Highlights

I’ve got a few favourite Derby memories, and a couple of specific favourite matches, both of them from the same season. 

 My favourite Derby matches were both in the 2000/01 season, the 3-1 win at Anfield and the 3-2 win in the ‘Gary Mac’ Derby later that season. I was lucky enough to be in the lower centenary stand to see Nick Barmby head home his first goal for his new employers against his previous club. The Everton fans singing ‘die, die Nicky, Nicky die’ and ‘who had a heart attack, Hou, Hou, Houllier’ left an impression on me that day. Until then I'd had no real experience of Evertonians in such big numbers and they surprised me, all the Everton fans I knew I got on with well and didn't expect that kind of chanting from them. But you live and learn. 

 At that game sitting a few rows behind us was Samuel L Jackson (he'd been filming The 51st State) and whenever I see him on TV I always think 'he knows what it's like to be in Anfield an Derby day when the Reds win'. Goals from Emile Heskey and Paddy Berger added to Barmby's early strike and gave us the win. It wasn't my first taste of Derby day but it was the first when I was old enough to appreciate what was going on and I'll never forget it.

 At Easter time the same season we traveled to Goodison chasing a Champions League place (as well as a treble of trophies) and after a frenetic encounter during which Robbie Fowler missed a penalty and Igor Biscan was sent off it all came down to the last seconds of injury time. Gary Mac waited to deliver his 45 yard free into the crowded penalty area and came up with the unexpected, a precise shot into the bottom corner that took everyone by surprise and gave us the win. A Derby win to always remember.

 Another highlight of recent encounters for me was something that happened off the pitch after the game. Everton had come to Anfield and played for, deserved and got a 0-0, and in his post match interview Rafa Benitez mentioned that sometimes smaller clubs come to Anfield and play for a draw. Nothing untrue about that, and anybody who saw that game knew exactly what the visitors aimed to get out of the ninety minutes. Now one of the Everton songs contains a line 'we don't care what the red side say' which, as it turns out, is one of the biggest lies in football. They went nuts, claiming Rafa called them a small club, which technically he didn't. And even if he had their recent trophy haul wasn't exactly much of an argument to prove him wrong. 

 And then we come to last season, a 2-0 victory at Goodison, a 3-0 win at Anfield and a 2-1 triumph at Wembley in the FA Cup semi final. They finished above us in the table but as far as I'm concerned three Derby wins in the same season certainly gave us the bragging rights. 

 If anybody has any special Derby memories please feel free to share them on here, just write them in the comments section. It's a great encounter, it will be a great weekend and hopefully it will be a great home win on Sunday.