Anfield Index

I think it’s fair to say that Raul Meireles is the only positive that can be taken from Roy Hodgson’s disastrous tenure as Liverpool manager.  It’s taken Raul Meireles half a season and a manager who immediately recognised his best position to get him firing on all cylinders, but did we really need him?  Should...

During the transfer window there were rumours flying about that Joe Cole would be heading out of Anfield on loan to Spurs.  Those rumours may have been wide of the mark but you can see why there might have been more than a little bit of truth in them, given that Harry Redknapp tried...

With their third of the week the young Reds made it eight wins on the spin, showing their grit to come from a goal down away at Crewe. After conceding a penalty and falling behind 1-0 within the first 5 minutes, the team rallied and drew level courtesy of a Toni Silva header. The Portuguese winger bundled home after a Krisztian Adorjan corner, grabbing the goal that certainly his performance earlier in the week against Huddersfield deserved.

The midweek game saw Huddersfield visit Kirkby and another confident performance from the young Reds, who took the lead in the 1st half after Adorjan & Sterling linked up once again. A long through-ball from the Hungarian sent Raheem through on goal, and the N0. 7 produced a neat finish to flick the ball passed the onrushing keeper.

After the FA Youth Cup drubbing of Southend & Raheem Sterling’s 5 star performance it was back to league action for the Under-18’s with 3 games in the space of 8 days. However, with the likes of Jack Robinson, John Flanagan & Suso now training increasingly at Melwood with the reserve squad and only playing for the U18’s in the FA Youth Cup, Academy League games offer an opportunity for some of our other up and coming players to make a name for themselves.

It’s always hard to calculate transfer costs. Transfer fees can be undisclosed, and additional costs such as agents fees and wages etc are even harder to guess. But despite these obstacles, guesstimates can be made. Looking at the stats we do have, the last four Liverpool FC managers, Gerard Houllier, Rafa Benitez, Roy Hodgson and now Kenny Dalglish, have between them laid out nearly £440 million in transfers, on 172 players. By my count, in total the four of them have laid out £10 million or more on a single player 13 times:

Whenever I see Kyrgiakos, I always think he should be in the film ‘300’ screaming at the top of his voice ‘This is Sparta!!’ rather than being a footballer. So probably playing Centre Half is very suited to him. His strength and aerial ability has been a useful asset in recent years.

Right, so recently Liverpool have signed Andy Carroll to replace the outgoing Fernando Torres. But what do we really know about the big number nine? Well be looking at his performances for Newcastle this season we can gain a real insight into his game and where he affects play the most on the pitch. Now you might be tempted to jump straight in and say that he is most effective in and around the opposition penalty area, but that is not necessarily the case.

Whether Roy Hodgson came to Liverpool with Raul Meireles in his little black book of decent midfielders or whether he was merely the grateful recipient of some good scouting from the Anfield backroom staff is a moot point. What is clear is that he has certainly been the most successful of the departed’s recruits.