da supremo： It’s been a torrid start to the season for 12th place Liverpool and everybody is searching for a solution.
da leao： Drop Glen Johnson, sell Mario Balotelli in January, change Steven Gerrard’s role and give Rickie Lambert more game time are just some of the theories that have been mooted over the last few weeks, amid a run of five defeats in the Reds’ last seven fixtures – including three consecutive losses in the Premier League.
But by far the most popular are calls for Brendan Rodgers to bring Lille prodigy Divock Origi to Anfield in January, strongly endorsed by former Liverpool favourite-turned-columnist Stan Collymore.
The Reds signed the 19 year-old for £10million in the summer following his promising displays at Brazil 2014 for World Cup quarter-finalists Belgium, but decided to let him continue his development with the Ligue 1 side for another season.
A compensation agreement to fast-track his Mersey arrival by six months is alleged by many, including The Daily Star and the Guardian, but is this young front-man really the answer to Liverpool’s many, many problems?
None of Liverpool’s Premier League table columns are particularly inspiring; just 14 points from twelve fixtures leaves the Reds closer to the relegation zone than the Champions League spots, whilst their 18 goals conceded constitutes the sixth-worst defensive record in the division.
Then again, defending has never been too high a priority for Rodgers. Liverpool concede on average 1.26 goals per game under the Ulsterman and their issues at the back are clearly long-term – inherently linked to philosophy.
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Liverpool’s lethality at the other end, and particularly that of Daniel Sturridge and Luis Suarez, has more than made up for the ropey defending but in the absence of both strikers this season, the Reds’ league standing has duly suffered. Stoke City and Newcastle are the only clubs above Liverpool in the table that have scored less than their 15 league goals.
That’s where Origi comes in – to take the reins from Mario Balotelli and Rickie Lambert, who have netted just once collectively in the Premier League since the summer. Yet, the Belgium international’s goal record thus far suggests he wouldn’t fare any better – in fact, worse is that were actually possible.
Of course, Origi is still a teenager – one that shone at the World Cup and will be expected to blossom at Anfield – but he’s still miles away from the finished article. Across all competitions throughout his entire career to date, including internationals, the 6 foot 1 forward has claimed just 14 goals in 75 appearances.
That includes five goals this season, but two have come from the penalty spot and only three have been in the league; hardly a strike-rate on par with Liverpool’s sensational alumni of world-class centre-forwards or even worth mentioning in the same breath as Lambert’s 29 over two and a half years in the Premier League – let alone Sturridge and Suarez’ 52 combined last season.
It’s not all about goals and the Belgium starlet is certainly a better fit for the breakneck-paced attacking style that defined Liverpool last season when compared to Balotelli or Lambert. Both are worryingly static and prefer to bring others into the game. Origi, on the other hand, is electrifyingly quick, an effective dribbler and physically aggressive; he offers tenacity off the ball and the ability to stretch opposition backlines by threatening spaces in behind, creating far more room in midfield for the likes of Raheem Sterling, Phillipe Coutinho and Steven Gerrard.
From a tactical perspective, he could make Liverpool more functional or at least have them going forward with the more familiar fluidity of last season.
But that’s an enormous pressure to place on teenage shoulders amid a season that’s already witnessed Liverpool corrode under the weight of unrealistic expectations. The worst case scenario is that Origi arrives at Anfield with the hype of a saviour, one that can parallel the form of Daniel Sturridge over the last two years, only for him to endure identical barren spells of his to-be-Liverpool team-mates.
And that’s the crux of the argument – if Liverpool are to sign a new striker in January, they need to come with goal-scoring guarantee – a Jackson Martinez, a Gonzalo Higuain, a Wilfried Bony, a Carlos Bacca – or they’ll be met with a similar apathy to Lambert and Balotelli.
Although Origi has a bright future ahead of him, at this moment in time, he comes with equal risk as Liverpool’s current goal-shy strikers. With other options in the market, money to spend in January and a talented youngster’s long-term development to consider, moving for Origi in Januarysimply isn’t worth the gamble.
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