Thursday, May 22, 2008

07/08 Season Review - Strikers

The strikers are the ones putting the goals into the net most of the time. Liverpool have been criticised over the past seasons for not be able to score goals in games and is not clinical enough. Rafa was aware of this problems and bought several players in during the summer.

Let's see how the strikers fared for the season..

Andriy Voronin
The Ukrainian striker was bought in the summer, a free transfer from German club Bayern Leverkusen. He started the campaign pretty okay, scoring some goals as well. However, his form dipped during the season and eventually, not becoming first choice for the team. After Steven and Fernando formed the fantastic partnership upfront, it's hard for him to come into the team which such a lousy form. He got injured and was out for some time. Nevertheless, I don't think the team missed him. I don't really like his style of play and I won't be surprised seeing him leaving in the summer. Sadly so, I do feel that he's the worst no.10 ever in a Liverpool shirt. That's how much I rate this fellow.

Ratings: 2.5 / 5

Peter Crouch

The English striker has been second to number 1 striker Fernando Torres and has declared that he's unhappy in Anfield. He's not playing first team football reguarly and has questioned Rafa's policies as well. Still, he did make several matches in which he scored and his goal scoring rate is not that bad at all. He loved scoring against Arsenal and gave so many problems to the big and strong defenders of Arsene Wenger's men. His future in Liverpool is a major doubt. It is believed that his price tag of 15 million is known to the clubs which are interested in him. He might be leaving very soon I guess. His performance is decent ones and I do like him too. However, he may be too predictable at times and can be overpowered in games. We shall wait and see how it goes. Have a good holiday Crouch!

Ratings: 3.5 / 5

Dirk Kuyt
The second season of Kuyt has been ups and downs for him. He was horrible in the beginning, facing so much criticism for his poor touch and lousy performance. I was so frustrated with him that I cursed and sweared at the television whenever he played. Somehow, I read from the news he had some personal problems during that time and he had a difficult time on the pitch. Credits to the Dutchman, he improved tremedously as the season progressed. Rafa played him on the right wing and he did very well despite playing out of position. He made the position his and did it his way. He was very hardworking in every game and his work rate is world class. Stamina is not a problem with this felllow. He scored many crucial goals along the way especially in the Champions League. Goals against Inter Milan, Arsenal and Chelsea are unforgettable.

He has worked hard and done very well for us. I do hope that he can play in the Euros for his country. Keep the form going and score more goals for us next season, Dirk!

Ratings: 4 / 5

We normally leave the best for the last..

Fernando Torres

Oh boy, what can I say about our new record signing in the summer? 26 million pounds well spent? I can say that we have not been having someone like this upfront for several seasons. Even Michael Owen couldn't match him, in my opinion though. 31 goals in his debut season is an unbelievable achievement. Once he scored his Anfield goal against Chelsea, there's no turning back since. He just couldn't stop scoring and he has broken many records just in his first season over here.

He scored some awesome goals and has proven to be one of the threats in the league. His partnership with Steven Gerrard has terrorised so many defences. El Nino is in top form the whole season and just simply loves scoring at Anfield. I love his song. The fans just kept singing and singing his song. Probably that added some motivation into his game. Oh well, I just hope he would continue to build on his brilliant season and he will be up there seasons after seasons.

WELL DONE FERNANDO!

Ratings: 5 / 5

The season review has come to an end and it's been a season full of ups and downs. Somehow, it's more of disappointment this year but we did make some good progress. Let's cross our fingers and pray hard that Rafa would be able to do the impossible and built on this seasons' positives!

You'll Never Walk Alone..


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