The season has begun with some of Liverpool’s brightest players from last season finding themselves second in line to the new faces at the club. Is Kenny Dalglish making a mistake persisting with youth over experience?
We are only five games into the new season, but there are murmurings of discontent on Merseyside at the patience being shown to a number of new faces at the club. The likes of Jordan Henderson and Andy Carroll are starting week in week out, at the expense of players who are vastly more experienced and have shown a lot more in a Liverpool shirt over the years.
Liverpool seem to have lacked the spark shown at the end of last season, and it is no coincidence that players who did well during Dalglish’s first few months in charge, like Maxi Rodriguez and Dirk Kuyt, have not been in the starting line up during the club’s indifferent start to the season.
A lot of money was spent over the summer on new players, but surely a new face should have to earn his place in the side and not just be thrust straight into it, ahead of established first team players. Regardless of how hefty the price tags they arrived with, the likes of Carroll and Henderson have no automatic right to start every game. They were bought with the future in mind, and so they should feature more as squad players at the present time and be gradually integrated and phased into the starting eleven.
Dirk Kuyt is just one of the experienced players who has had to content himself with a role on the bench so far this season. He linked up well with Craig Bellamy, Maxi and Luis Suarez in Liverpool’s Carling Cup win over Brighton. Together they showed a fluidity that has been lacking from Liverpool’s displays so far this season, which makes it difficult to understand why they aren’t featuring in the Liverpool side every week.
[ad_pod id=’qs-2′ align=’left’]
Kuyt offers Liverpool a different option, and should be in the starting line up whether as a right winger or a striker. He isn’t the most natural right winger, but he certainly offers more in that role at this time than Henderson, who has looked completely out of his depth and has not really done anything of note. Kuyt gives 110% every time, chases everything down, and can fit into the Liverpool pass and move system. He also seems to be on the same wavelength as Suarez, something which Carroll hasn’t quite yet mastered. Liverpool look more inventive, aggressive and fluid with Kuyt alongside Suarez.
As well as options going forward, Kuyt also offers good cover at the back, and certainly would have offered more help to Martin Skrtel in the Tottenham game than the Slovakian received from Henderson. It was astonishing that he didn’t start, or at least come on to shore things up after Charlie Adam was sent off. His vast experience would have paid off in that situation, and he would have run himself into the ground for the sake of the team.
Kuyt offers a different option, as well as his attacking abilities, he is always willing to drop back and help out, and his maximum effort rubs off on the others around him, with the team playing at a higher tempo. He isn’t the most technically gifted player of all time, but at this time he is the best option Liverpool have, either wide on the right, or supporting Suarez up front. Even if he isn’t at his best, he still puts a shift in, and that commitment and passion is what epitomizes the club best and what they need at the present time.
It seems that too much respect is being shown to spent money, and there is a stubbornness shown by Dalglish in sticking with the players he has purchased. The players playing clearly aren’t ready for the Liverpool first team, and experienced players must be played ahead of them, especially in the biggest and most important games. At the age of 31, Kuyt certainly isn’t past it, and he should be starting, with the younger players, like Henderson, coming on to replace him in the second half, gradually phasing them in, rather than throwing them straight into the deep end.
There comes a point where you can’t continue to keep sticking with something that isn’t working. New players have had a valid chance to prove their worth and they have yet to show that. Now is the time to bring in the old experienced heads, to sure up the Liverpool side and teach the young players a thing or two.
Do you think the likes of Kuyt and Maxi should be in Liverpool’s starting line up? Let me know your thoughts by commenting below or following me on Twitter @LaurenRutter for more comment and debate.
[divider]
Fancy VIP tickets to the Merseyside derby in style this Saturday – click on banner to find out more