2005-06 record
League 3rd
FA Cup Winners
Carling Cup 3rd round
Champions League Last 16
COULD THIS BE THE SEASON WHEN Liverpool finally reclaim their place at the top of English football? In the 16 years since the Merseyside giants last won the league championship, seldom have they looked so equipped for the challenge, and while Chelsea, rightly, remain favourites to clinch a third successive Premiership title, there are murmurings within Anfield that an agonising wait is about to end.
Much of the optimism springs from the arrival of Craig Bellamy, who, at £6 million, could turn out to be the best bit of business done by a club in recent seasons, especially considering that Emile Heskey signed for Wigan Athletic for only £500,000 less. The Welshman’s preseason form has been impressive and Rafael Benítez will hope that he has finally found a replacement for Michael Owen.
The problem for the manager lies with the fact that Bellamy is injury-prone, so much so that the prospect of Liverpool playing for long stretches without the former Blackburn Rovers and Newcastle United striker is one reason why Benítez is still looking for another forward. Dirk Kuyt, the Holland front man, remains the principal target, even if negotiations with the player’s club, Feyenoord, have faltered in recent days with Liverpool reluctant to match the £10 million-plus asking price.
What is certain is that few teams possess such strength in depth as Liverpool. The defence, bolstered by the arrivals of Gabriel Paletta and Fabio Aurélio, is among the meanest in Europe, while the midfield, strengthened by Mark González and Jermaine Pennant and spearheaded by Steven Gerrard, is matched only by that of Chelsea.
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Only in attack could Liverpool come unstuck if Bellamy’s hamstrings fail him again. As Jamie Carragher remarked last week, it will be essential for Liverpool to get off to a good start. They won only one of their first six league games last season, then faltered again early in the New Year. That must not happen this season.
Others wonder whether Benítez’s decision to “gamble” on players with chequered pasts may backfire. Bellamy may be forced to miss Wales’s European Championship qualifier against Cyprus because it takes place the day after he is due to appear in court on an assault charge, while Pennant is no stranger to the inside of a court room, or a prison cell, for that matter. Fortune, Benítez might argue, tends to favour the brave.
Manager Benitez would have to fall from grace faster than Floyd Landis for his job to be under threat. The problem is coming up with the resources to keep Benitez happy
Player to watch Steven Gerrard. There are newer, less proven players, but it would be silly to pick anyone other than Gerrard given his utterly compelling form for his club. Desperate for a Premiership winners’ medal, Gerrard has ambition to fuel him and should get to play more regularly in his favoured position of central midfield
In an ideal world Benitez would overturn his poor head-to-head record in the league against his club’s biggest rivals and with six points taken from each of Chelsea and Manchester United, Liverpool would charge to the title. Bellamy and Gerrard would chip in with 25 goals apiece but this would not be enough to pip 30-goal Robbie Fowler for the Golden Boot
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INJURIES AND SUSPENSIONS Daniel Agger (ankle, days), Fabio Aurélio (calf, days), Robbie Fowler (knee, days), Harry Kewell (septic arthritis, three weeks)
PRE-SEASON
God-awful, at least from a results point of view. As if 3-2 and 2-0 defeats by 1FC Kaiserslautern and Grasshopper Club Zurich were not bad enough, a 5-0 humbling at the hands of FSV Mainz 05 was positively embarrassing
TICKET SALES
Season-ticket sales are at 27,000 and 5,000 priority scheme tickets have been snapped up. Three thousand seats are reserved for away supporters, while the rest are on general sale. Anfield, with its 45,362 capacity, will be full as usual
If they were a historical figure they would be ... Florence Nightingale Because new arrivals Craig Bellamy and Jermaine Pennant will need some careful looking after