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Former England national football team coach Terry Venables really liked goalkeepers, another famous coach George Graham liked central defenders, and last season's UEFA Champions League winner "Liverpool" strategist, Spaniard Rafael Benitez, has a weakness... for left-backs.
More specifically, attacking left-backs. Alongside Harry Kewell, Luis Garcia, Stephen Warnock, and John Arne Riise, the Spaniard acquired Mark Gonzalez and Boudewijn Zenden. If Portuguese Luis Figo were to join as well, R. Benitez would have up to seven left-backs at his disposal.
In his former club, "Valencia," the club board heavily controlled player movements in the market. Once, a bit upset about a new purchase, Rafa told journalists: "I asked for a sofa, and they bought me a lamp." Of course, this metaphor was meant to emphasize the board's reluctance to buy attackers.
Lacking high-level right-backs, R. Benitez risks becoming even more dependent on left-backs than London's "Arsenal." This problem could worsen if right-back A. Nunez leaves the club. And that's a highly likely event, especially since a couple of days ago Rafa spoke about it. Benitez told his countryman, who appeared in 27 matches and scored one goal for "Liverpool" last season, that a new club is already being sought for him.
However, Benitez's trump card in left-backs is versatility. Next season, Garcia will likely play more centrally (similarly to Kewell in this year's UEFA Champions League final). Warnock and Riise can play on the left defensive side, although it's worth mentioning that Norwegian, playing in the defensive line, was undoubtedly one of the best players in Liverpool's team last season. Even Zenden, playing as a left-back, right-back, and central midfielder, is not the most versatile "Liverpool" player. To Owen's disappointment, S. Gerrard did not leave Liverpool, so the competition for a place on the field will be fierce, but probably beneficial for R. Benitez's men.
After the somewhat unexpected decision of Gerrard to stay, Benitez started asserting that the transfers he made demonstrate the growing ambitions of the club. However, this year, "Liverpool" acquisitions are not those players who will undoubtedly strengthen the club. Fortunately for Benitez, the club acquired young "Villarreal" goalkeeper Jose Manuel Reina this summer, whom many experts call the best goalkeeper of last season in Spain.
When it comes to other summer purchases, no big names can be mentioned. Chilean Gonzalez and "Sevilla" right-back Antonio Barragan are still "unproven," and the Malian defender Mohammed Sissoko, recently bought from "Valencia," is still quite "green." Meanwhile, Zenden was a mediocre star at "Middlesbrough," but when he played for "Chelsea" and "Barcelona" - European football giants - the Dutchman was just an average player, not always guaranteed a place in the starting lineup. For this reason, Figo would be a real boost for the English team. Not only because the right flank was Benitez's headache last season. Even cast aside in "Real" star, L. Figo is a star, and "Liverpool" could help the Portuguese shine for a few more years. Of course, skeptics will say that in England, physical play prevails, and L. Figo's technique will not help against powerful defenders like Sol Campbell, but time should show everything.
Even without being a "Real" star, L. Figo would probably be the biggest purchase for English clubs this summer. "Chelsea" has not managed to attract any stars yet, "Manchester United" purchases were quite cheap, and "Arsenal" acquired Belarusian star Alexander Hleb. The purchasing power of English clubs in recent years seems somewhat diminished, which is strange considering London's "Chelsea" has an inexhaustible fund, and the fact that "Manchester United" has been considered the richest English club for many years.
If the field were to be played by names, "Real" would have won everything in recent years, but "Liverpool" showed last year that it is different. However, the attention to left-backs suggests that R. Benitez understands that to win, a team needs more than just a great counterattacking plan.
Now, "Liverpool" is in an interesting position - are they the fifth team in England, or the best in Europe? In order to overcome the first assumption, "Liverpool" is trying to acquire "Southampton" striker Peter Crouch (as "Feyenoord" does not want to sell Dirk Kuyt). P. Crouch was more productive than "Liverpool" forwards last season, but with Djibril Cisse recovering from a serious leg injury and Fernando Morientes adapting (!) to English football, it seems the problem could resolve itself. R. Benitez likes defenders... One can also remember his former club "Valencia." Their defensive line is still one of the best in the world. Well, except maybe for the not-so-strong right-back position. "Liverpool," similar to Valencia during Benitez's reign, scored important goals mainly through defenders last season.
Still, as I said, we can hope that the problem will resolve itself. Especially since R. Benitez also has the most prolific player of Euro 2004, Czech Milan Baros, in his arsenal. If Benitez can "hammer" it into the Czech that the ball needs to be hit not looking at it, but watching the field, and that running should be done not just anywhere but with purpose, M. Baros can become the Spanish secret weapon.
With experienced Argentine Mauricio Pellegrino leaving the team, Benitez does not have players who could replace Sami Hyypia and Jamie Carragher in the center-back position. However, the Spaniard has already mentioned that this year he still wants to acquire one more center-back and one striker. It might have been easier for him to look for players if "Liverpool" had sold Gerrard, but now, it's unlikely that Benitez can complain. If he did, probably everyone would call him a spoiled child.
Although Benitez still has work to do this summer assembling the team, we can confidently say that he doesn't need more attacking left-backs...
