Liverpool FC - 2012/13 season review
The 2012-13 season was ultimately a hit-and-miss season for Liverpool FC. The beginning of the season marked the arrival of the promising young manager Brendan Rodgers, who was quick to lower the expectations of the long suffering fan base, and instead sought to label this season as a season of progress, development, and building a firm base.
The Reds started off with a surprisingly heavy 3-0 defeat at West Brom in what was a sign of things to come, results wise. The quality of the football played by the Merseysiders improved from the next match itself, but Rodgers’s men were unable to see out games to save their lives. Apart from a deserved 2-0 defeat to Arsenal at home, the Reds dominated their opposition and outplayed them at every turn for most of their first ten games. However, they failed to win until their sixth game of season at Norwich, with frustrating draws against Newcastle and Manchester City, and an inexplicable loss against eventual champions Manchester United, despite dominating their arch-rivals with 10 men.
Those first few games of Liverpool’s season set the tone for the first half of the season. The squad lacked adequate offensive replenishments, having packed Andy Carroll away to West Ham and Rodgers watched helplessly as Fenway Sports Group waved away his pleas to sign Clint Dempsey. It would prove to be a costly error, as the offensive burden fell on Luis Suarez and the young Raheem Sterling. New signing Fabio Borini flattered to deceive, while the midfield seemed to believe that pointless possession was an art, and the defence was riddled with a series of individual errors.
The team struggled to adapt to Rodgers’s brand of play, with Steven Gerrard struggling heavily in particular, but the captain came back with some strong performances and started to adapt well. The defence continued to struggle, with Skrtel in particular unable to cope with the constant pass-and-move style. Young full-back Andre Wisdom was a solid defensive player, but often lacked the attacking impetus characteristic of his fellow full-back Glen Johnson. It eventually led to Jose Enrique’s return to the side, after being publicly chided by Rodgers, and the Spaniard came back all guns blazing, notably in the 1-1 draw at Chelsea in November. He later mentioned that the harsh word of Rodgers helped his return to form.
While the form of the side gradually improved, coupled with Stewart Downing and Enrique’s return to form, the Reds still lacked a good partner to relieve the pressure on Luis Suarez. Come January, two terrific signings in the form of Phillipe Coutinho and Daniel Sturridge helped alleviate the burden on the Uruguayan, and the duo spearheaded the side after Suarez’s suspension for the controversial biting incident.
It came too little too late, as the Reds were already well behind in the race for the Champions League spots and were eventually only able to finish 7th on the table and missed out on European football entirely next season. The return of Jamie Carragher to the side helped the defensive woes, and ensured that Pepe Reina kept the most amount of clean sheets in the league, second only to Joe Hart.
Positives
- Emergence of promising youngsters such as Raheem Sterling, Andre Wisdom, and Suso.
- The arrival of Sturridge and Coutinho.
- 71 goals scored in the league, fourth highest this season, and only four goals behind 2nd most prolific team Chelsea.
- Some genuinely attractive and breathtaking football.
- The prominence of Steven Gerrard in a deeper role and Luis Suarez’s player of the year type of form.
Negatives
- Only one victory against a Top 8 side, a 3-2 victory over Spurs at Anfield.
- Failure to win games they should’ve easily won, which resulted in them finishing only on 61 points.
- Defence was riddled with individual errors, which resulted in the Reds conceding 43 goals. Most of the defence was culpable for the first half of the season, with Skrtel made out to be the scapegoat, but he certainly was the worst of a bad bunch.
- Failure to add that extra goal to finish a team of before January, which again resulted in several dropped points.
- Suarez’s biting incident, and its overblown aftermath.
- Lack of a Plan B when things didn’t go their way.