5 Questions – Liverpool FC edition
Liverpool opened the 2014-15 Premier League season in August with high hopes for a promising year.
The club was coming off a second-place finish in the previous season’s campaign, had once again made Anfield a site that opposing teams feared, and were returning to Champions League play after a four-year hiatus.
While Luis Suarez had taken his talents to Spain, confidence was high that Daniel Sturridge would slide into the No. 1 goal scoring spot, with Raheem Sterling making a similar progression as Sturridge’s sidekick.
The club was active over the summer, bringing in Adam Lallana, Lazar Markovic, Emre Can, Alberto Moreno and Dejan Lovren, adding youth and depth to the squad, and Rickie Lambert for experience. And just after the start of the season, Liverpool added the mercurial Mario Balotelli to bolster the offense.
One of the biggest advantages was the continued guidance of manager Brendan Rodgers, who rarely made a misstep as Liverpool battled Manchester City down to the season’s final game in 2013-14.
As the calendar turns to 2015, however, things are not going as planned at Anfield.
Liverpool exited the Champions League after a series of poor performances in group play, Sterling has been injured the majority of the season, the new arrivals – most notably Balotelli – have yet to find their form, and after a disappointing tie with bottom-of-the-table Leicester City on New Year’s Day, Liverpool finds itself in eighth place with 29 points.
Liverpool has reached the midway point of the Premier League season with plenty of questions, so we’ve brought together an esteemed panel of Liverpool supporters in an attempt to find some answers.
Stuart Fearon, a member of the Houston LFC supporter’s club, was born into a LFC family in Liverpool, “although I have plenty of blue-nosed cousins, but that’s their problem.” He’s lived stateside for 28 years. You can find him on Twitter @3lions1962 and can follow Houston LFC @HoustonLFC.
Scott Gregory is law student from North Central Ohio who’s closely followed LFC since discovering Steven Gerrard’s scoring abilities in FIFA ’06. Follow him on Twitter @ScjGreg.
William Bryson has been a Liverpool supporter since 1991, when the exploits of a young Macca first caught his eye via the family’s newly-installed satellite dish. He has 30 years and counting as player, ref or coach of the world’s greatest game. Follow him on Twitter @Bbo13.
Bryn Griffiths is a member of the LFC Madison supporter’s club and a lifelong Liverpool supporter. While my Mum and Dad are both Liverpool supporters, the inspiration for my LFC love really came from my Dad. He was the youngest of four brothers growing up in Liverpool in the ’50s and ’60s, playing footy in bombed-out churches and on cobbled streets and although his Dad was a Liverpool supporter, too, all of his older brothers were Evertonians (Dad/Granddad – I am eternally grateful for your excellent taste in football teams!). Follow the club on Twitter @LFCWisconsin.
To see what the lads have to say about the current state of the club, head over to World Soccer Talk.
Red Right 88 