End of the January transfer window. End of another really silly season. What happened then, from an LFC supporter’s perspective? Let’s see: Luís “Hannibal Lecter” Suarez came in from Ajax and got the ultra-classic number 7 jersey, Fernando Torres left for bigger money and a shot at the Champions’ League, some fans thought this was worth burning his shirt over, and then Andy Carroll was signed from Newcastle—for a ridiculous amount of money according to reports—to strengthen up the Red attack.

First of all, who the **** pays €35M for a 41 EPL games/11 goals striker. Thirty-five, million, euro. Seriously. Have you all gone stark raving bananas over there in ol’ Blighty? Carroll has the look of a potential top scorer, even a national team player, but €35,000,000? At this point in his career? Come on.

That said, we think that with Carroll as target and Suarez as free-roaming setter-upper, it could work really nicely. What Torres has lacked the past few seasons is a mate up top (or anywhere in the lineup to be honest) that will set him up for easy-peasy goals – sorry Dirk – and that seems to be better covered with Suarez/Carroll. Of course, it all depends on how Kenny decides to play these guys and what kind of role that leaves for Dirk, Ngog et al.

Secondly, Commoli and friends have now spent around €60M on the attack (ok, with the assumed fee of €50M for Torres, they’ve only spent €10M, but still) and €0 on the parts of the team that really need strengthening: defense, and midfield. Naught. Zero. No-thing. That, in our mind, is kind of ominous. We all know that since Alonso left there’s really no-one who can both keep the defensive lines together in the midfield and deliver inch-perfect attacking passes. And since the departure of Masch’, there’s no-one left who can intimidate, bully and scare the opposition into simply handing the ball back when lost. Oh, and don’t get me started on the back line. Do we even have one? Johnson runs a lot but can he really, actually, defend? Carra is past his prime, and ... what else is there? Kelly? In a year or two maybe, but now?

With Torres gone, Carroll is a welcome addition (price tag aside), but the team still feels ill-balanced and with a lot of things wanting in the rear. This could mean serious trouble when trying to get back to the level where Liverpool FC rightfully should be. In the top 3. Call us pessimistic if you will, but we don’t see it happening this season.

Addendum: okay, so King Kenny knew some things I hadn’t thought of, like playing with three full backs and two halves which really worked nicely against Wolves, Stoke and Them Blue Shirts. I still think the defence needs more quality, but ... we’ll see how things progress before making harsh judgments.