As reported by The Mirror, Tottenham Hotspur are interested in signing Watford attacker Richarlison this summer, should they fail in their attempts to sign Wilfried Zaha.
What’s the story?
After signing a new long-term contract at Spurs, Mauricio Pochettino has given the club the stability they need to push on and challenge the likes of Manchester City and Liverpool for major silverware in England over the next few seasons.
To do that though, they need strong summer recruitment and fans are expecting the club to back Pochettino in the transfer market over the next couple of months.
One player on the club’s radar is Watford attacker Richarlison.
That’s according to The Mirror, who say the club could make a move for him if they are unable to convince Crystal Palace and Wilfried Zaha of a transfer this summer.
The paper say that Watford rate the Brazilian youth international at £40m.
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Would he be a good signing?
At just 21 years of age, there is no doubt that Richarlison holds significant potential and at Tottenham Hotspur under Pochettino his game could improve massively.
The inconsistency of youth was apparent in his 2017/18 season however, showing incredible form in the first half of the season before struggling alongside his teammates from January onward.
The left-sided forward scored five goals and assisted four times between August and mid-December for the Hornets before failing to record another direct goal contribution for the rest of the season.
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At the reported £40m, it would be something of a risk for Spurs to invest so heavily in a fairly unproven talent, although his powerful physicality and eye for goal would add a different dimension to their attack next term.
Chelsea, for much of last season, were in the running for the Premier League title. However they fell short, with manager Jose Mourinho pointing his finger at his misfiring strikers.
Fernando Torres, Demba Ba, and Samuel Eto’o managed just 19 league goals combined last season, only five more than top scoring winger Eden Hazard.
It just isn’t good enough, and after a long wait the Blues have finally confirmed the capture of Atletico Madrid striker Diego Costa… who scored 27 goals in La Liga all by himself.
Now expected to lead the line at Stamford Bridge, is Costa the missing piece to Mourinho’s title-winning side?
Here are FIVE REASONS to be excited about Chelsea signing Diego Costa.
[ffc-gallery]CLICK ON DIEGO COSTA TO SEE THE FULL LIST!
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5. Obviously, Diego Costa scores goals
//www.youtube.com/embed/u42-Cth6CoE
Costa was brought into the squad by Mourinho to score goals. And he is extremely good at it.
The striker is capable of scoring in all kinds of positions, but is known for his movement to find space inside the box. Important games, domestic cups… Costa will find the net on a regular basis.
Watch Costa do what he does best in the video above.
4. He creates space for others
Not only will Costa score goals, but his presence will pull markers away from his team-mates.
Although Costa was Atletico’s main goal-scorer, the Madrid side had plenty around him that put in a few of their own. Raul Garcia and David Villa scored 17 and 15 respectively, and this is one of the main reasons Atletico went on to win the Spanish La Liga.
Now with a goal-scoring midfielder in Cesc Fabregas at Chelsea, expect the rest of the Blues to score much more than they did last season.
3. Costa can handle physicality of the Premier League
Unlike many players signed from Spain, Costa is a striker that plays to his physical strengths.
Teams like West Ham United and Stoke City are known for their tough defensive stance, and much more diminutive players struggle against the Premier League’s much more resilient sides.
However Costa can cope with their physicality, offering the presence that has been missing ever since Didier Drogba left the club back in 2012.
2. He is not yet in his prime
Although £32million sounds like a lot, it is nowhere near the amount for strikers in a now very inflated transfer market.
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Luis Suarez – albeit all round a better player – only scored four more league goals than Costa but cost more than double the Spaniard, making Costa’s purchase extremely reasonable.
However what makes it even better is Costa’s age. At just 25 years old, Mourinho still has time to mould him into an even better striker… one that could finally replace Drogba and become the new star of the English Premier League.
1. Diego Costa will change the way Chelsea play
One of the main criticisms about Chelsea last season – apart from their lack of goals – is that the Blues were a very ‘reactive team’, not playing in their own style and forcing the issue on their opponents.
This would see Chelsea look extremely comfortable when playing the top sides, but tend to struggle against weaker opponents. But with Costa now leading the line, Chelsea finally have a striker capable of breaking down stubborn defences.
Mourinho is a coach that likes players to play a certain way, and Costa has been firmly on the ‘Special One’s transfer wish-list for some time. Now that he has captured his man, Premier League defences will be trembling in their shoes.
New Southampton manager Mauricio Pochettino wants to make Anderlecht midfielder Lucas Biglia his first signing at the club, according to reports from Sky Sports.
The Argentine has been linked with a number of Premier League sides in recent times, including the likes of Arsenal and Tottenham.
But, Pochettino is confident that he can lure his fellow countryman to St Mary’s Stadium, as he looks to add some creativity to his central midfield options.
Biglia is reportedly keen to leave Belgium and has gone on strike in an attempt to force through a January move.
The 26-year-old arrived at Anderlecht in 2006 from Independiente, and is said to feel that he is need of a new challenge.
Pochettino is keen to bring in a few fresh faces before the end of the month as he looks to stamp his personality on the south coast club’s squad.
Although Biglia is believed to be his top target, the Argentine is also looking to bring in Joan Verdu from his former club Espanyol.
The midfielder was a key man under Pochettino during his spell in Spain, and at 29 would likely be available for a reasonable fee.
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He may also look to improve his defensive options, with the club having conceded 40 goals this season.
It feels as if a small lifetime has passed in the respective quests of both Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur, to find a solution to their stadium capacity woes. Both clubs have endured relatively painful legislative sagas as they’ve sought to develop a blueprint to maximize matchday revenue; no doubt spurred on by having to sit back and watch their fiercest rivals turn their own home grounds into Premier League cash cows.
But as Liverpool managing director Ian Ayre announced plans to renege on building a new stadium in favour of redeveloping Anfield, there have been some in the white half of North London, that have been left scratching their heads. Both clubs have been entrenched in the financial mire of getting stadia projects, estimated to cost in the region of £300-£400milion plus, off the ground and bricks and mortar finally lay.
Yet all of a sudden, Liverpool appear to have saved themselves half the financial burden, with a more modest redevelopment of Anfield harnessing a price tag of around £150million. It’s a development that will bring The Red’s a similar number of seats as what the new White Hart Lane will. The difference being, Spurs are still looking to tie up a private funding package for the development during the worst economic downturn in recent memory – for over double the money.
This has led some to ask the question as to why Spurs can’t go down a similar route? If Liverpool can shave off half the money needed to increase the capacity, then why can’t Spurs? Although it’s a fair question to ask – and at one point in the last decade, a highly relevant one too – the fact is that it just isn’t as simple as knocking up a new stand at White Hart Lane. Each case must be judged on it’s own merits and although there are similarities between Spurs and Liverpool’s stadia headaches, there are huge differences to.
None more so, than the fact Spurs are edging oh so close to the finishing line of getting their expansive Northumberland Development Project off the ground.
But first of all, we’ll look at the scope that Tottenham Hotspur could have, theoretically, if they chose to dispose with their grand new stadium plans and push on with a Liverpool style redevelopment.
It’s important to note that while Spurs’ new plans are by technicality, a redevelopment, it is in essence, a completely new stadium in an almost identical, yet slightly altered footprint
With a very haphazard and cautious estimate of the current White Hart Lane, you could probably make a case that three of it’s four stands, would have the capacity for some kind of redevelopment. On the premise that the bulk of the NDP is set to be built on the industrial area to the back of Paxton Road, you could safely assume that the North Stand has plenty of room for elaborate development. The West Stand on the High Road has a fair area of space behind it, incorporating a small car park, which you would have thought would offer room for some form of expansion.
Perhaps ultimately, the only stand that couldn’t be developed would be the South Stand. Indeed, towards the end of the Alan Sugar reign, Spurs were granted preliminary planning permission to redevelop the East Stand, in a move that would have increased capacity to 44,000. It is maybe only the South Stand that would face some severe issues, given the proximity to houses down Park Lane – an issue that Liverpool have similarly faced with housing down Lothair Road behind their main stand.
But for Spurs, it isn’t as black as white as just knocking down the stands one by one and starting again. With Liverpool, although we are yet to see stonewall architectural plans, the crux is that they already have boast a capacity of 45,276. As Ayre said, they don’t need to be paying £300million to increase stadium capacity by 15,000. Spurs are looking to expand by near on 20,000 with potentially the scope for a little bit more. The grander the size, the harder it becomes.
Because although an estimated £400million for the NDP may seem an astonishing figure, for the price it could cost the club redeveloping White Hart Lane stand-by-stand, it makes no sense to not go through with it.
For example, by choosing to resurrect the Worcester Avenue plans, Tottenham would have to kiss goodbye to the matchday revenue that the 10,691 capacity stand brings every week, during the duration of the works. If we go with a very general bracket of 12-18 months construction time at a time, the club would have to live with a huge loss in revenue while paying out for the works; of which you couldn’t guarantee would be covered by a lucrative naming rights deal.
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The beauty of the NDP is that Spurs can stay in White Hart Lane, for the majority of the works, ensuring they don’t suffer a loss in revenue as they would do by redeveloping the stands individually. Plus when they do move in to their new home (which will be three-quarters built around the old ground) it will still , in theory, offer a greater matchday revenue than what they receive at the moment, while the old White Hart Lane is demolished.
Furthermore, the issue of finance would be a real issue. Phase one of the NDP, which encompasses the construction of a huge supermarket development, is under way, and the proceeds of what they will receive from the incumbents (Sainsbury’s), will go straight towards paying for the new ground. Furthermore, the club’s income will be boosted by the sale of housing and commercial space in phase three of the development, which will again, help fund the stadium. None of this would be possible if Spurs went down the Liverpool route- let alone the potential lack of scope to develop the all important hospitality space.
The notion of redeveloping White Hart Lane in its current guise is a romantic one, but while it may work for Liverpool, it simply won’t work for Tottenham. It may seem like just another acronym, but the Northumberland Development Project means so much more both the area and the prospect of financing, than just a shiny new stadium.
Give me your opinion on Spurs, White Hart Lane the NDP and more, on Twitter: follow @samuel_antrobus and tell me what you think about the long term future of Tottenham.
Everton midfielder Thomas Hitzlsperger has confessed that he thought his football career had finished during the summer.
The German was released by Wolfsburg at the end of last season, with a series of injuries having limited his first-team chances.
He was still without a club at the start of the campaign, until Toffees boss David Moyes offered him a short-term deal at Goodison Park.
The 30-year-old has gone on to make seven Premier League appearances, resulting in the Merseyside outfit offering him an extension to his contract.
Hitzlsperger confessed that he feared for his career, but is now enjoying his time at Everton:
“When I was out in the summer I thought maybe I’d played my last game already.” He told EvertonTV.
“Now I’m back at a very, very good level in the Premier League, playing for a huge club and it’s so enjoyable.”
He also insisted that he is now fully fit and focused on helping his new team:
“It happens and I think most players go through it. It came unexpectedly to be honest but when it did come it was something I knew I had to deal with.
“I tried to be positive and I was most of the time. Fortunately that period is over now, it’s behind me and I’m just looking forward to the next few weeks and months.
“I think now I’m fully fit, there’s not any problems and I think it’s gone well.”
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Hitzlsperger has a wealth of experience in English football, having started his career with Aston Villa.
He has also played for Chesterfield and West Ham either side of spells with Stuttgart and Lazio.
Andre Villas-Boas is facing going into the north London derby this Saturday missing some key regulars from the Tottenham Hotspur first team.
It is doubtful whether Jermain Defoe, Moussa Dembele, Kyle Walker and Aaron Lennon will be fit enough to play in the Premier League clash at Arsenal this weekend.
Moussa Dembele will definitely not be able to play a part in the match, with Villas-Boas confirming the midfielder has not recovered sufficiently from an injury to his hip. He has carried a knock since October, but aggravated the issue when playing for Belgium.
It is expected that Tom Huddlestone will replace the Belgian and team up in the centre of midfield with Sandro.
“Dembele will not be back for this game. There is a 50 per cent chance he will be ready to play Lazio on Thursday. At the moment surgery is out of the question – hopefully,” Villas-Boas said.
Walker, Defoe and Lennon all face late fitness tests after having to withdraw from last night’s international friendly between England and Sweden as they are all suffering from hamstring strains.
However, the Tottenham boss is hopeful they will be sufficiently fit for Saturday.
“They haven’t trained with the team yet. They trained separately on Wednesday in a recovery session away from the team,” he added.
“We have to see how they return; see if there is any disturbance. Lennon had a scan on Wednesday and it’s fine on his hamstring. We have to wait and see. They have had quite enough time to rest and recover.”
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Tottenham are also still trying to cope with existing long-term problems with Younes Kaboul, Benoit Assou-Ekotto and Scott Parker.
When a player manages to break into the Barclays Premier League under the provisions of any suspecting radar, it feels as if we are often very quick to douse them in a blaze of uncertainty. Today’s modern age dictates that every next big thing is usually well publicized within the realms of the footballing community- be it through the column inches of a dedicated blog or the YouTube montages of a fan boy’s creation.
This isn’t to say that Moussa Dembele’s talents have never been clear for all to see, but such is his ability, it feels truly remarkable that it’s taken till the age of 25 for him to really burst into public consciousness. But it’s not how you get there, more as long as you do. And make no mistake, Tottenham Hotspur have picked up one hell of a player in the Belgian.
The final game of last season’s Premier League calendar saw White Hart Lane encompassed in one of the more bizarre atmosphere’s you’re ever likely to witness in N17. Supporters were paying as much attention to the select few who had brought in personal radios, as they were to what was going on in the field of play, such was the situation regarding Champions League qualification.
But in between seeking out the West Brom v Arsenal score and hopelessly trying to attain any form of mobile phone signal, fans were left aghast as the authoritative number 30 from the other team, began running their midfield amok.
Spurs ran out 2-0 winner on the day, but all that left Spurs’ hallowed old ground that day were in no doubt as to who the best player on the pitch was – not that too many particularly cared. Fulham’s number 30 danced around the edge of Spurs’ penalty area at times, playing cute little balls through at angle, attracting the ball like a magnet and causing Harry Redknapp’s team all sorts of problems. Moussa Dembele’s performance may have been a surprise for some of the home fans but for the away support, it was simply another day in the life of the talented Belgian.
The beginning of this season saw Dembele continue from where left off from that day at White Hart Lane but this time, no one was under any illusions as to what he was capable of. Yet no one seemed able to stop him. After pulling the strings in Fulham’s devastating opening day 5-0 win over Norwich City, he then put in another virtuoso display at the Theatre of Dreams, causing Manchester United all sorts of problems as Martin Jol’s side succumbed to an unfortunate 3-2 defeat. By now, Dembele wasn’t so much hot property but a transfer market supernova- moves to both United and also Real Madrid were widely touted in the gossip columns.
But it was Andre Villas-Boas’ side who managed to capture his signature and Dembele signed for Spurs in a deal worth near on £15million. Most supporters have been pleased as punch with the 25-year-old’s acquisition, but there are a small minority who remain unconvinced. After all, if Dembele was so good, why has it taken him this long to get such a high-profile transfer? The boots of Luka Modric’s are massive ones to fill and although he isn’t a direct replacement, fans are well within their right to have the odd reservation. But the truth is that Dembele has always had the talent; it’s just that finding the right way to channel it has taken a little longer.
His goal scoring record might suggest that it was hardly ever rocket science, but Moussa Dembele was originally something of a conventional striker during his beginnings back in the Netherlands. Indeed. When Mark Hughes snapped him up from AZ Alkmaar in the August of 2010, the talk was that The Cottagers has signed another frontman or ‘attacking option’. Sparky said at the time:
“Moussa is strong and quick and will add another dimension.”
You were hardly expecting the Shakespearian but Hughes was being rather basic in his assessment of Dembele to say the least.
The Belgian’s career has gone from strength to strength in the last few years and it’s no coincidence that it’s prospered as he’s worked his way deeper down the pitch. During Alkmaar’s 2009-10 Eredivisie winning season, Dembele chipped in with an impressive 10 goals in 23 games but that represents something of an anomaly during his career. He is, as Spurs fans saw first hand against Norwich on Saturday, capable of putting the ball in the back of the net, but it isn’t primarily where his strengths lie.
His talents are far, far more influential in the engine room of a team, more centrally in midfield. His technical ability and close control are as good as any but he perhaps lacks a little bit of quicksilver to really make a case as a regular forward. This isn’t to say he couldn’t do a great job there, but he needs to be playing deeper- especially in this Tottenham Hotspur side.
As no one is under any illusions to how much the side are crying out for an injection of creativity within the heart of the team. Luka Modric is an outstanding footballer and as we are perhaps already seeing at Real Madrid, perhaps one of the best in the business at what he does. A player like that is in some respects, always going to be irreplaceable. But that doesn’t mean that Dembele can’t have as big an influence as the mercurial Croatian.
He has that similar ability to redistribute as Modric but perhaps in an alternate way. Maybe he doesn’t have the outstanding agility or metronome like quality as the Croatian does, but he certainly has a far more imposing physique and an authoritative level of power that Modric lacked. The combination of technical excellence and physicality is a rare one, but Dembele has it. No one is saying he is necessarily a better footballer than Spurs’ old number 14. But he has the ability to be just as important.
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And that is all that matters for Andre Villas-Boas and Tottenham Hotspur. Like his journey to the top, Dembele’s game is cut from a different cloth from many of his peers. He is as equally unique as he is exquisite and there can be no doubt that he has the skill in his locker to perform the deep lying role that the Portuguese wishes him to play. The challenge now for him is to come into an under-pressure side and produce the goods from the off.
And if Dembele the man is anything like Dembele the footballer, then expect him to take it all in his strider. Harder tests will lay ahead but the stage is set for him to finally kick-start his new team’s season into life.
How do you feel about Moussa Dembele’s White Hart Lane prospects this season? An inspired purchase or do you remain unconvinced? Let me know how you see it all playing out on Twitter: follow @samuel_antrobus and bat me all your Spurs chat.
Now that October has hit us in the face like a cold, unrelenting shovel we can finally put to bed any hopes of an ‘Indian summer’ and instead reflect on an intriguing past few months in the football calendar.
The transfer window perhaps lacked the glamour and unforeseen bombshells of its previous incarnations but there were still plenty of deals to admire. The ever-increasing financial restrictions of a climate ravaged by recession and Michel Platini mean premium transfers were at a minimum (if you ignore PSG) and instead an onus was placed on securing influential talent on a tight budget.
Now that those summer arrivals have had time to settle into their new surroundings, it’s perhaps an appropriate time to highlight those who deserve a special mention.
Click on Moussa Dembele to reveal the top ten summer transfer coups
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The problem with Arsene Wenger is that he never gambles. He never abandons that voice in his head that tells him to hold fire on something that could go either way, ignoring the tremendous upside that could be had on his team and Arsenal as a whole.
Mesut Ozil wasn’t a gamble or a stroke of transfer genius, of which Wenger has been known for especially in his first 10 years in north London. Even though the numbers were against him in the chase for Ozil’s signature – Tottenham doing their part to halt the move by delaying Gareth Bale’s transfer to Real Madrid – the capture of the German was primarily to make up for yet another lacklustre transfer window and disastrous start to the season. Forget that Ozil is the perfect Arsenal player; that’s not what the club were thinking at the time.
At some point in the next four or five months, we’ll be able to tell whether Julian Draxler is another name consigned to that list of current or former superstars who could have been Arsenal players. Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Didier Drogba, Cristiano Ronaldo, Yaya Toure, among many others.
The January transfer window played out as most Arsenal fans expected. There was a name linked. A player, like every other window, who would have been a boost to the squad’s morale and given them the impetus to go out and secure what was needed, whether it be Champions League qualification or the capture of silverware.
The reservations held by Wenger came to the fore yet again. And while the monetary issue is the bat which fans and pundits will beat the Arsenal manager over the head with, there are likely other factors at play.
Bayern Munich have explained that they have no designs on Schalke’s midfielder. The suggestion was that Draxler would be a replacement should Toni Kroos depart for Manchester United, but Karl-Heinz Rummenigge has ruled out a move for the youngster.
It leaves a clear path for Arsenal to move ahead and bring Draxler to the Emirates. Not only would the German represent another step to where Arsenal’s financial might and infrastructure should place them, but it would be as if the club were offering a thank you gift to the supporters for hanging on in times of difficulty and enormous frustration on the transfer front. After all, what better way to move on from the heartbreak and disappointment of losing names like Cesc Fabregas and Robin van Persie by rebuilding with players who are genuinely capable of replacing them?
Wenger will need to put his degree in economics to one side. If for the purpose of making Arsenal a better team Draxler is deemed the perfect target, then allow the club’s negotiators to get the deal done.
Wenger will need to put aside his reliance – not so much faith – on what he currently has and completely desert the notion that players like Draxler will hinder the development of others in the team.
Wenger is accountable for the way Arsenal move, on the pitch and off, and where the club ultimately emerges. There is an almost unanimous consensus on Julian Draxler and where he will end up soon in his career: as one of Europe’s leading stars. Arsenal do have the financial means to get him. They must take this opportunity and make the most of the resources they have fought to gain.
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Draxler’s signing will lift Arsenal enormously, but it will also tell the supporters that Wenger is capable of doing what needs to be done to shake the tag of ‘also-rans.’ Arsenal may finish this season with the FA Cup, but it is likely to count for very little and keep the club cemented in stagnation if it isn’t used as a springboard to join the elite of European football.
It isn’t just about Draxler the player; it’s what he as a star name represents. Wenger must shake the reservations he has which are currently holding Arsenal back and make a bold move in the market. With a superpower like Bayern out of the picture, there can be no excuse for Arsenal choosing not to make strides with the signing of Draxler.
It was always inevitable that Liverpool would miss the talismanic services of Luis Suarez this season. A return of 31 goals in 33 appearances during his ultimate campaign at Anfield, in addition to leaving the Premier League with the PFA and FWA Player of the Year awards, speaks for itself in regards to the now-Barcelona star’s world-class quality.
Yet, his absence thus far has been considerably more debasing than initially anticipated – without the 27 year-old, Liverpool have lost three of their opening five Premier League fixtures. And amid the Mersey outfit’s recent plight, it makes you wonder; what do Liverpool miss most about Luis Suarez?
Is it his goals and his creativity? The Reds should have that covered with Daniel Sturridge, Raheem Sterling, Adam Lallana, Mario Balotelli and Lazar Markovic to name a few. Or perhaps his industriousness? Well, the whole team worked hard last season. Perhaps his ability to completely appal the English public on a seemingly annual basis? Surely not. I would argue the quality Liverpool miss most regarding their £65million departee is in fact his leadership.
That may seem counter-intuitive. After all, we’re talking about a player that’s embroiled himself in no less than three biting scandals – the most recent being at the 2014 World Cup – in the space of four years.
But Suarez came to epitomise much about Liverpool last season; their incredible fluidity and potency going forward, their tenacity and work ethic off the ball, their determination to defend from the front, their immense energy throughout the starting XI, their sensational team spirit. Many of those characteristics still remain at Anfield, yet a human effigy who encapsulates them in the same way, combining them with world-class quality, is absent.
Take Mario Balotelli for example, a striker who echoes Suarez’ quality in goal-scoring terms. Although he has the potential to become equally talismanic for the Reds, he’s lazy, self-centred and egotistical. He doesn’t define Liverpool in the same manner; he doesn’t serve Liverpool’s identity with a paralleled magnitude. He doesn’t provide that unique level of intensity.
The Uruguayan’s competitiveness was, and always will be, a double-edged sword. It lead to suspensions and world-wide controversy, but it also made Suarez an important leader on the pitch for Liverpool. The striker took huge individual responsibility in attack last season, not only in terms of output but all-round productivity on the ball, whilst that tenacious edge became infectious to those around him.
Local-born legend Steven Gerrard may be the connection between the players and the community, the continuity between Liverpool’s present and it’s past, but it was Suarez, not the Anfield skipper, who tacitly demanded higher performances from the rest of the squad last season – through the immense quality and consistency of his own.
It certainly feels like Liverpool are lacking a figure like that within their starting Xi this season, especially in attack. The Reds enjoyed 78% possession against Aston Villa but only produced one shot on target, eventually succumbing to a 1-0 defeat at Anfield. It was a similar case amid West Ham’s 3-1 victory at Upton Park; 62% possession, but only five accurate attempts and one goal. Clearly the right opportunities have come Liverpool’s way, but with the exception of Raheem Sterling, few of their forward players appear determined to take them.
Of course, Daniel Sturridge’s absence exacerbates the situation and sloppy defending has played it’s part too; the Reds have recorded just a solitary clean sheet in the Premier League this term, haemorrhaging eight goals in just five games. Only four clubs currently have worse defensive records.
That may seem unlinked but there is a recurring theme, namely, a hesitance from Liverpool players to take games by the scruff of the neck in the same way. And it wasn’t just Suarez doing that last season; talismanic entities appeared all over the pitch in different fixtures, ranging from Martin Skrtel in defence to Jordan Henderson in midfield, from Simon Mignolet between the sticks to Raheem Sterling in attack. Indeed, there was a fantastic group ethic at Anfield last year, a real all-for-one mentality. In my opinion, inspired most predominantly by the South American.
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Suarez, one of the top strikers in world football, boasts many qualities as a player. Yet, often underrated are his qualities as a leader; that intensity infectious, that determination inspiring. Liverpool always had the money to replace Suarez’ quality. The £65million his departure provided alone is more than enough for that, and in regards to summer recruitment, Brendan Rodgers’ is difficult to criticise.
Yet, the irreplaceable element, the one part of Suarez Liverpool – regardless of fortunes – will always fail to replicate in quite the same way, is the Uruguayan’s ability to galvanise his team-mates to a higher level. Suarez was a leader for the Reds, and be it in the transfer market or already within the squad, they now need to find a new one.
It could be worse Nando, you could be one of these guys…