Liverpool Sign Henderson from Sunderland

22 year old Jordan Henderson has completed a summer transfer from Sunderland to Liverpool. Henderson enjoyed a good run of form during the season, but the transfer of Sunderland's number one striker, Darren Bent, saw the team struggle to gain results. His transfer fee may reportedly rise to £15 million depending on the clauses included in the transfer contract.

I think that Henderson is a great transfer. When he was playing with a great striker, he excelled. Luckily, Liverpool have Suarez and (hopefully) Carrol will hit form, which will give Henderson some attacking outlets to play the ball to. Henderson is a young midfielder with a lot of upside and I expect him to grow a lot under Kenny Dalglish.

Here are some videos of Henderson in action, via youtube.com, that highlight his touch, finishing, and passing abilities.

 

Dalglish Signs 3 Year Deal

It is official: Kenny Dalglish is Liverpool FC's new manager.

This is not a surprise as Kenny has led a turnaround at the club, saving the Reds from the bottom half of the table (at one point it seemed possible that we could be relegated) and bringing them up to 5th place. The culture of the club has changed and its nice to see that he can stay and keep it going.

This is probably the biggest "no-brainer" decision that the Fenway Sports Group has had to make since taking over Liverpool. The future is exciting and I look forward to Dalglish taking us to bigger and better things.

Read more about this story at Liverpool FC's official website.

Liverpool to Sign Kit Deal With Warrior

Wait, what? Weird.

Liverpool are going to switch kit suppliers from Adidas to Warrior, an American based company known for its lacrosse gear.

Warrior is a subsidiary of New Balance

The Details of the deal are that Liverpool will sign a £25 million pound deal with Warrior that will start for the 2012-13 season. It is interesting to note that Liverpool have not won a European cup while wearing an Adidas kit, so... maybe this will change our luck!

As a business major, I have to admit that this worries me from a branding and distribution standpoint. Adidas has both strong brand recognition and a worldwide distribution system that helped make Liverpool the fourth highest selling football jersey in the world. I don't know much about Warrior or New Balance, but I think that says a lot about its brand visibility.

I've read comments from Europeans who have never heard of Warrior, so that shows that Warrior doesn't have worldwide brand equity and that they do not sell their product worldwide and don't have the infrastructure to distribute Liverpool jerseys internationally at a low cost.

In the end, I don't think jersey sales have the same impact as £25 million injected directly into the club on a yearly basis, so the benefits outweigh the costs.

Read more about it at the UK's The Daily Mail.

Liverpool Return to Form, Dalglish to Thank

Liverpool FC currently occupy fifth place in the English Premier League, which qualifies them for the Euoropa League next season. Early in the season, Liverpool were three points above relegation. What changed?

Two things come to mind: The Fenway Sports Group and Kenny Dalglish.

FSG replaced the previous owners and immediately made changes to the club. The best decision, by far, was the firing of Roy Hogdson and the hiring of Kenny Dalglish - the main topic of my article today.

Photo from the Independent

Dalglish made immediate changes to the club. Primarily, our style of play switch from the long-ball orientation to the short passing style that Liverpool employed during the height of the club's success in the 70s, 80s, and 90s. Not only is the short passing more enjoyable to watch, it has proven to be very effective given the players we have at the club. Dalglish recognized that we possess speed in our defensive backs and precision passing in our central midfield.

The long ball approach was taking our talented midfield players of Maxi Rodriguez, Steven Gerrard, Dirk Kuyt, and Lucas out of the game and making them nonfactors in the offensive movements. With the implication of short passing, we got them more involved in the offensive build up and became more threatening in the final third of the field. I think nothing supports this change more than the performances of Dirk Kuyt. Always the hard worker, Kuyt struggled under Hodgson (as did many other players), but as soon as the short passing approach was introduced he seemed to have more of an effect on the final score line.

Dalglish's greatest contribution of all has to be the most intangible: his altering of the atmosphere at the club and improvement of the attitudes of its fans and players.

It is no secret that many were unhappy with good old Roy and that the players looked more than a little disillusioned on the field and fans were getting angrier and more worried by the day. Dalglish's appointment sparked interest and optimism amongst many people.

A key development in the improvement of the team atmosphere is found in the transfer of Fernando Torres. It was obvious by his on-field attitude that he did not like life at Anfield. Many questioned why we would let him go to another club in midseason, let alone those Blue rent boys in London! However, this seems to have been an amazingly good move on the part of the Red management.

Luis Suarez celebrating a goal with Dirk Kuyt and Steven Gerrard

Not only did Dalglish remove the poison from the water, he brought in two footballers that have brought this club to the level it should be in Luis Suarez and Andy Carroll. Carroll's move has been hampered by injury, but his few short appearances have been positive. As for Suarez, he has been nothing short of sensational in my book. His energy and attitude have been inspiring and have led to fantastic performances thus far.



To summarize, the appointment of Kenny Dalglish as caretaker manager has been brilliant in every sense of the word and I wish for him to become permanent manager of Liverpool FC. He is taking this club in a great direction and I want him to be able to take us as far as he can.

If Dalglish is made manager,  I will look forward to watching the Reds play next season and will be optimistic of their position in the table this time next year (as if I ever don't look forward to watching them play!).

Liverpool: Torres Out; Suarez, Carroll In

Fernando Torres

Fernando Torres has completed a £50 million ($79.5 million) transfer to Chelsea, which is highest transfer fee ever for any English club. Luis Suarez and Andy Carroll move to Liverpool for £22.8 million and £35 million plus add-ons, respectively. Fan reaction to the transfer of Torres to a league rival has been quite negative, with images surfacing on the web that feature 'Pool fans burning the ex-number 9's jerseys in the streets.

Torres has already spoken of his delight with the move to Chelsea, stating that, "It's always very tough to play against Chelsea, they are one of the biggest teams in Europe, always fighting for everything. So after that there is no more to look forward -- it's the top level and this is the target for every footballer."

Harsh words coming from a man that had previously feinted love and admiration for Liverpool, but hardly surprising. He left Atletico Madrid for Liverpool and the higher wages and a chance at Champions League football. Now he has left Liverpool for Chelsea and the higher wages and a chance at Champions League football. It is clear what is most important to the Spaniard.

Andy Carroll

Liverpool scrambled to find a replacement over the last 24 hours, with Newcastle's Andy Carroll being the player that the club decided to bring in on a five and a half year contract. He has the qualities that New England Sports Venture (NESV) designated they wanted in their signings: youth, marketability, and visibility. He is a tall striker that has been on a hot streak this season, netting 11 goals in 19 league games. Carroll has spent the majority of his career in the Championship division, but he has been projected as a star for the future and earned his first cap for England this past December. Carroll will become Liverpool's new number 9 and will have a lot to prove thanks to his hefty transfer price of £35 million, the highest transfer fee in Liverpool Football Club's history.

Unfortunately, Carroll has been quoted as saying that he did not want to leave Newcastle, his boyhood club, and was forced out of the Toon for the money. The Independent reports that Carroll said "I'm gutted to be leaving my hometown club, I was told to go. I didn't want to leave that's why I signed a five-year deal [with Newcastle in October]. I was pushed out of the door." This revelation certainly puts a damper on the new signing. Who knows how this could mentally eafect Carroll's performance on the field.

Luis Suarez is LFC's new number 7

Prior to the Torres saga, Liverpool managed to lure 24 year old Luis Suarez from Ajax to Merseyside on a five year and a half year deal. Suarez was captain of the Amsterdam club and has made 38 international appearances for Uruguay. In 2010, he scored 35 goals in 33 league games on his way to claiming the title of Dutch Footballer of the Year. Hopefully his goal scoring ability translates well to the English game.

In the end, Liverpool must be happy with their lot this January transfer window. Getting £50 million for Torres was a steal as he has not performed well enough over the past two years to justify that amount. While Carroll's transfer fee is somewhat overpriced, his monthly wages will be nowhere near the' £110,000 a week Torres was receiving. So, if Carroll is as good a player at Liverpool project, this transfer will remembered as a fantastic piece of business. Suarez's signing had reignited the hope of the Liverpool faithful and he is seen as a perfect striking partner to the tall Carroll.

The new signings will have a chance to showcase their talents when Liverpool play host to Stoke City this Wednesday.

Robbie Keane On Loan to West Ham

Robbie Keane has completed a loan move from Tottenham to West Ham.

Robbie Keane during his time at Liverpool

Robbie Keane was the Tottenham captain before he completed a transfer move to Liverpool for the 2008-2009 season. His time at Anfield was marked with a scoring drought and a dip in form and ended when he returned to Tottenham during the January transfer window. Things were never the same for the Irish captain as he struggled to return to his pre-Liverpool form. Keane was loaned out to Scottish side Celtic during last year's January transfer window and will be with the Hammers for the remainder of this European domestic season.

Liverpool See Fulham Off 1-0 at Anfield

Liverpool continued their pervious game's form in the first two-thirds of the field with strong possession and sharp passes, but they lacked the final element in their offensive third. Despite the lack of finishing, they left the game winners courtesy of an own goal by Fulham's defender, John Pantsil.

Six minutes into the game, Raul Meireles made a fine pass to Fernando Torres who put the ball in the back of the net. The goal was then called off by an offsides call made by the line-referee, but replays suggest that the wrong call had been made.

The team carried on undiscouraged by the call and had a fair number of chances on goal. Fulham rarely had a chance to put together an attack because of a fine display of defensive by the Liverpool squad. Glen Johnson had a superb game at left back and got in a few well placed crosses.

Torres got another chance at goal at the 51st minute mark. His shot was defelcted into the post, but created havoc on the bounce-back. Pantsil had two chances to clear the ball, but his clearance was mistimed and instead he sliced the ball into his own net.

Fulham's came back strong after that, but their best offensive threat culminated in Meireles clearing the ball off the Liverpool goal line.

This win moves Liverpool up to seventh in the Premier League standings, while Fulham are now in fifteenth. The own goal was a lucky break for the Reds, but it is a good sign that they can find a way to win, even when they are not clicking at all cylinders.

The Reds currently lie nine points away from a Champions League qualification spot.

premierleague.com

Here is a video of the game's highlights:

[video credit to Free Football Highlights Online]

Liverpool FC's On-Field Revival Begins With a 3-0 Victory at Wolves

Was this really the same team that lost 1-0 to Wolves at home under Hodgson? All hail King Kenny!

Return of the King:
In stark contrast to Hodgson's approach to the beautiful game, Daglish has encouraged the players to play a pass-and-move style of play reminiscent of his Liverpool teams of 1985 to 1991.

 [(Not-so-) Fun fact: Liverpool won the league championship three times over that time span and have failed to win it since)].

You could see hints of the style of play in his first few games in charge. Thankfully, as the players have had time to adjust, it seems that they are beginning to thrive under Daglish's managerial approach. One can only wonder what words King Kenny has said to bring the morale of this team up, getting even the recently deadpan Torres looking like the passionate player he had been when he first arrived at Anfield. It looks like a 4-3-3 (sometimes 4-1-4-1 when Gerrard is healthy) is Daglish's current formation of choice.

This is a clip of Fernando Torres's goal at the 91st minute. It summarizes the beauty of the pass and move approach; 31 passes were made and nine players had a touch on the ball before it found its way to Torres and was subsequently buried into the top of the net.

I must admit that I giggled out of delight while watching this clip; pass and move has that effect on me.

Final Take:
I am usually wary of being overly-excited for the teams that I support, but if this game is any indication of the future, we have some great football to look forward to from Liverpool FC under Kenny Daglish.