Tuesday 24 July 2012

Brendan Rodgers Versus The Culture Of English Football

If it's not about the journey but the destination, then winning is about the method.  Contradict that with the idea that the ends justify the means and what you're left with is the proverbial catch 22. Those two ideals form the basis of all tactical methodology. That it is better to fight with honour, courage and valour or to sacrifice everything in order to gain victory.  Some would see a battlefield with all but a handful of their own soldiers down as worth it so long as the battle was won. They're probably ancestral Stoke fans.

Brazil, Ajax, Sacchi's Milan.  Teams that played football as it should be and won trophies in the process.  When Pep Guardiola and Spain took over the world it wasn't unprecedented that a side could remain pure to the fundamentals of the game and still get the job done, but it wasn't quite on the same scale.  The world became obsessed with trying to replicate the model that was forged inside La Masia and perfected at the Nou Camp and when they couldn't, the goal was to undermine it.  In the Champions League, that Chelsea inexplicably managed to edge past Barca became a stick to beat them with despite the fact that if the same scenario were to be played out a hundred times again it probably wouldn't have worked out that way.  

At the other end of the spectrum, residing in a dark place that skillful players have nightmares about, Roy Hodgson was to find himself in the middle of something that had been brewing in England for some time.  He, along with members of the national press and fans up and down the country, declared war on modern tactics in football.  That steadfast refusal to implement anything other than outdated tactics and ideas, added to the notion that Spain were now somehow boring gave every fan a side to take.  It seems almost bizarre that anyone would fight against the idea of possession football coupled with good movement but there are two problems with it.  

First of all it requires a great deal of patience, something that Sky TV generation of football fan has all but run out.  As a source of entertainment, football - sport in general - fails the majority of the time.  A lot of the drama in football comes from a meeting between two teams with a great history or rivalry, there can be no way of knowing when a story will evolve within the game itself.  There are groups of supporters up and down England, as well as grounds all over the country that have no real grasp of that.  Knocking the ball around at the back, keeping it tidy and away from the opposition to them is cause for howls of discontent.  After a few months of getting used to the Spanish way of life, Javier Mascherano told the press that he would get cheered for booting the ball into the stands in England, whereas he would get ridiculed for it in Spain.  That tells you all you need to know of the different culture and mindset between the two nations.  The other problem with trying to play the "right" way is that requires a lot of courage, the kind that rules out most managers.  

The arguement against having principles is that eventually there will come a time when you have to discard them.  Style comes with a risk and on that basis alone, some won't even bother with trying it.  When the risk is losing the money that comes with staying in the top flight, it's all the more impressive that Rodgers remained true to his philosophy at Swansea.  Pragmatically football does cater to those that favour winning at all costs, provided you don't have the means.  A team will have no problems in putting everyone behind the ball and trying to spoil the game - nor should they receive no undue criticism - so long as they don't have the required talent needed to actually play.  At the very top, with the embarrassment of riches that a team vying for trophies should have, then the very least that should be aimed for is an attempt to play football rather than simply stopping others from doing so.  Even the most well meaning of managers will forgo a passing game if it it met with an improvement in results.  Right to the end Pep Guardiola flouted that and won everything there was to win along the way.  

Numbers mean different things to different people.  Whether or not you read a lot into them the game is full of stats, percentages and anything else someone might use to try and gain an advantage over their opponent.  The most common and basic use of these numbers is in regard to formation, the starting point from which both players and fans have an idea as to how things are organised initially.  These days however, they are no more than a reference point beyond that.  For years now teams have employed a modified formation depending on whether or not they are in possession of the ball.  Barcelona's theoretical "team of midfielders" has moved that on to the Nth degree, in that no one player has a single defined role and that the shackles are well and truly off.


In Brendan Rodgers, Liverpool have got themselves a manager at the heart of all this.  Because of what he has experienced and who he is as both coach and manager, Rodgers strives to be at the forefront in regard to tactics and applied the Spanish model to great success at Swansea.  The challenges that he will now face are far greater but the thought process will remain the same.  He has spoken at great length about resting on the ball and the concensus appears to be that Liverpool will have the lion's share of possession in a large majority of games next year.  There will come a time - presumably away from home against the better sides - in which Rodgers' men will have to hold off, even if it is for brief periods during a game.  For a manager and a team that wants to play football, what then?

"If you give a bad player time, he can play. If you give a good player time, he can kill you." - Brendan Rodgers

Not that there was ever much doubt, Liverpool will be playing a pressing game next year.  Not only will defenders be harassed and forced into mistakes but right the way up the pitch that will intensify.  Getting back the ball in an opponents half exposes them to being overloaded, but the opposite scenario has the same outcome.  The counter attack may be seen as a tool of the limited but all top teams have the ability to turn defence into attack in the blink of an eye.  Though it helps to have players of great speed - something that Liverpool do not possess as great deal on the whole - what's more important is speed of thought and vision, something the team has an abundance of.  While the counter may be a valid method of punishing mistakes, that doesn't mean it will not fit in with the rest of Rodgers' philosophy.  Don't expect the ball to be played up the park aimlessly, under any circumstances.

To be presented with the chance to break is not directly the same as being in on goal.  Last year Swansea only managed four shots directly after forcing turnovers from the opposition but would almost certainly have made use of that possession in other ways.  One thing that all football managers have in common is that they have to believe in the way they operate and that's certainly true of Brendan Rodgers.  He is far removed from the atypical English style manager (think Sam Allardyce) that clog up the game, deluding themselves and others into thinking that the game hasn't moved on in the last twenty years.  The ideas and style he will bring to Anfield will not simply be a traced over copy of the Barcelona manual but his own take on the same principles that helped them become arguably the best club side this world has ever seen. 

If it works, the tide in England may finally turn against the old school way of thinking.  Should Rodgers fail, then he will be held up as an example of why teams should keep it simple. No system is perfect, no set of players infallible.  Though the mistakes and inevitability of sport may catch up to Brendan Rodgers at Liverpool, at least he is determined to go about it in the right way.  To chance fate by having his footballing ethics intact.  A life without risk isn't living at all, football without taking a chance is a game ruled of the likes of Alex McLeish, Roy Hodgson and Sam Allardyce.  Nobody wants to live in that world.

Sunday 15 July 2012

Arrested Development: The Pressures Of Youth Football

There's something about getting old. Despite all the benefits of wisdom and experience, the world is a much brighter, simpler place in time gone by. Free from the shackles of fear, the young by their very nature are bold, brash and brave for they do not know what failure and dissapointment feel like. As the years pass by, our hopes and expectations are forever held tempered and tied down by mostly self imposed limitations. For a child, possibilities are endless. No boundaries can be placed on those who have no concept of them.

To say that Liverpool have been spoiled by the names that have graduated their academy would be an understatement.  The list contains two European Cup winning captains (Phil Thompson & Steven Gerrard) as well players like Jamie Carragher and Robbie Fowler.  There was a time when players would learn as much about their team-mates as themselves and clusters of players would break through into the first team, those days appeared to have gone with the class of 96.  That year saw Liverpool triumph over West Ham in the FA Youth Cup final, secured by a 2-1 victory at Anfield that saw the likes of Carragher and Owen on one side going up against Ferdinand and Lampard on the other (Gerrard would pick up a medal but not play in the final itself).  Generations like that don't come around very often.

Times change, the academy has been completely revamped and the shoots of recovery are starting to bloom a little.  Jay Spearing and Martin Kelly have more than a handful of first team experience now, with the latter having gained his first international cap in May.  With a bumper fixture list handed to Brendan Rodgers - a man with a cut his teeth in his coaching at the youth level - a handful of other players will be needed as the squad is stretched out not just for this coming season but for many to come.  Whether or not those from the academy right now make it into the first team or one or two that are bought in by Rodgers, the road ahead - for both Liverpool and the players - will be full of twists and turns.

The desire and willingness from fans to want youth team success and people breaking into the first team is a natural one.  As fans we can sometimes take a very parental role with regard to watching our football team and watching players grow up is a part of that.  Now more than ever it's become something of a necessity.  Every avenue must be persued in order to follow sucess and developing a good academy set up is a paramount to that.  At the back end of last season, Raheem Sterling was seen as someone who could ignite our league season on the basis that nothing else was working.  That the club had to turn to a seventeen year old - even one as exceptionally gifted as Sterling - does more than suggest how badly things were going.

Later tonight, the UEFA Under 19 Championship final will take place in Estonia between Spain and Greece.  It will be broadcast to a television audience consisting of those desperate to fill the void between friendlies and hardened footballing connoisseurs eager to see if this group of highly talented Spanish players can emulate their senior compatriots.  Liverpool's very own Suso will be hoping to play a vital role and further his claim to catching the eye of Brendan Rodgers before the season starts.  That a competition like this should be shown on television however just goes to show how far the game has gone.  The growth of exposure for these players has risen at an exponential rate over the last ten years. LFC TV and variants thereof mean that we can now watch - and also judge - players who are still at school.  Is that level of attention a good thing?

Trial by error, in terms of the development of a footballer, can be a very heartless process. That there is no other choice than to fail - for that is how we learn - is one thing, to do it in front of a worldwide audience borders on the macabre.  Fickle by nature, the game of football is such that players are only ever one bad performance away from being written off completely.  This adds a very steep learning curve to what is already one of the most competitive markets in the world.  With that kind of pressure at such an early age, it's a wonder any of them actually make it out to the other side.  Talent alone isn't enough to get you there.

Arsène Wenger has never won the league cup, not that you'd ever know it.  Though it has become a relatively relaxed policy over recent years, it had become an annual event that a newly polished batch of youngsters would destroy a perfectly capable lower league side.  Many a hyperbolic headline followed, forever proclaiming that the future belonged to Arsenal.  But it didn't happen like that because Wenger heavily gambled with their future, and lost.  The trend begins early into Wenger's reign but their defeats matter little as they are challenging on all fronts.  A semi final defeat at the hands of Middlesborough in 2004 represents something of a missed opportunity, given that Bolton were the other two semi finalists but that hardly made a dent in the confidence of a side that won the league without losing a game that year.  Two seasons later however and a horrible trend begins.

In the six seasons that followed their last trophy, Arsenal have managed to make two semi finals and appear in two finals - a fantastic record on paper(?).  Law of averages would suggest that they should have won at least on of those, not least the Final of 2011.  Wenger chose - rather boldly in some cases - not to play his first team where possible in any of those six seasons and allow those in the academy to showcase their football in a competitive atmosphere.  Commendable perhaps to an extent, but what they have ended up with as a result of all this however is a generation of players who freeze on the big occasion because they don't know how to win.  It would be callous to suggest that Wenger threw them to the wolves and though some of the players that failed to prove themselves and have moved on from the club the results have clearly left a mark within the psyche of those left.

Mentality plays a huge part in the game of football, far more than is ever given credit for.  The will to win is more than just an intangible cliche, it can be taught.  Players learn how to get over the line by doing just that.  It doesn't matter how, just so long as they get the job done so that in the future there is the knowledge there that they have the ability to suceed.  Had Wenger been a bit more liberal earlier on in his Arsenal career and gone with a blend of both youth and experience, there may be a few more in that dressing room now with the knowhow in the back of their mind, as well as medals around their neck.

It's very easy to look at youth development the wrong way and not even realize it.  Instead of thinking how these players can make Liverpool Football Club better we must first work out a way of making them more accomplished as footballers, which will in turn take care of the rest.  Fortunately for the club, we have someone in charge who not only knows all this very well but is well versed in helping young, gifted players make the step up to first team.  Lucas Leiva was written off at the age of 21 just because he wasn't Javier Mascherano, Xabi Alonso or Steven Gerrard.  It took Jamie Carragher until the age of twenty seven to become a defender of real quality, until then he was a bit part player whom we may have looked over in different circumstances.  The big worry is that in our haste to try and bring through a player of genuine class that we cast aside a few that could help the club move forward, if only incrementally.  Istanbul would never have happened were it not for an academy graduate; Neil Mellor.  Every little helps.

Monday 9 July 2012

Purple Hazing

Unique, ever changing and about as hard to pin down as Luis Suarez inside the penalty area, style is an important tool in how we are perceived in the wider world.  It is that individuality that places like school and work can sometimes try to take away from us.  They group people together through no common bonds, other than the fact that they are learning or earning money under the same roof.  Sport is different.  That everybody has the will - even if not the means - to wear whatever they like, the idea that a group of people would choose to dress the same is one that speaks to the tribal nature of football and the idea of belonging to something.  More importantly than this however, is to be seen belonging.  The more something is associated with success, the more people will want to be seen wearing it, hence the growing amount of Manchester City shirts that are popping up in city centres all across the country.

Most of the time fashion is subconscious on both parts, we wear things that we like and look down on those that we don't without ever giving much thought as to why that is.  Colours themselves are inoffensive - even aesthetically pleasing pending on their usage - but associated with something then they become more.  In football they are just that and become the constant that connects past from present.  Billy Liddell, Roger Hunt, Kevin Keegan, John Barnes, Robbie Fowler, Steven Gerrard.  They all wore the red of Liverpool FC.  The identity of a club and what they represent are all epitomised by what they wear as they cross that white line.  For all that's different between two sides of a city, all the diversity and distinctions between Liverpool and Everton, this is what is all comes down to.  Red or blue.

Off the field, it means more than just what will be the fashion for the following season.  Manchester United fans went back to green and gold, the colours of Newton Heath in order to visualize their fight against the Glazers.  Cardiff City now face an even deeper crisis, having had an entire history altered and what once was their traditional blue will now only ever be seen away from Ninian Park. Even closer to home, a kit designed as a protest shirt against Hicks & Gillette was made for those who wanted to show their support without filling the pockets of those hurting their team.  That Liverpool fans are now engaged in a simple debate over whether a shirt looks good or not puts things into perspective.

At the end of last season, Liverpool's kit deal with Adidas was replaced by a company very few had heard of.  Formed in 1992, Warrior had been primarily making lacrosse uniforms until having been acquired by New Balance and moving into Ice Hockey.  The deal itself is a bold statement from the relatively unknown manufacturer, with Liverpool receiving a whopping twenty five million pounds a year through the next six years.  A brand new look to go with the new direction of it's young manager, virtually every aspect of Liverpool Football Club has been freshened up over this post season and with this injection of cash it's hoped that will do the same to the playing staff.

Unlike any other kit reveal - certainly in the last decade - this one had an element of secrecy about it that none had gone before it.  Twitter, those in the know and various forums all around the internet could only speculate as to exactly what would be draped over the shoulders of players to come in the following year.  When the home kit was eventually reviled, there was both a collective sigh of relief in that Warrior hadn't given us an abomination but a sense of satisfaction that it looked very smart.  There was a shadow looming over the horizon however.  It'd take a monumental effort to oust Man United's tablecloth effort as the worst kit in circulation, but that's what appeared to be on the cards.  For as good a job as they had done with the home shirt, everyone began speculating about the third.  With nothing official to go on, other than the colour scheme of purple and orange, rumours spread like wild fire.  Were Liverpool about to be lumbered with one of the worst kits of all time?

The actual need for a third kit - aside from the cynical, potentially more accurate response of more money - is that Liverpool are once again back in Europe.  Short of coming up against AC Milan, there will be very little in the way of an actual clashing of shirts that will require the use of the purple strip and so it is unlikely to be used excessively over the course of the season.  The nature of modern sportswear manufacture and the constant turnover of new product - especially now that Liverpool will now be changing the home kit every season as opposed to every two - mean that it's likely that something else next year will be heralded as an abomination.

On the fourth of July 2012, it was finally revealed to the world.  By then pictures had been circulating the internet of exactly what kind of monstrosity we were supposed to be getting but this was the first time Liverpool players had been seen wearing the shirt.  Rather unsurprisingly, a lot of fuss had been made about nothing.  There will always be people who hate the very concept of Liverpool wearing purple - or nightshade as Warrior so melodramatically put it - and those who would have purchased it along with their home and away kit regardless of how offensive to the eyes it was.  Citing David James as inspiration behind it's colour doesn't exactly inspire greatness, however there have been far more upsetting Liverpool kits in previous years.  Last years dubious blue effort springs immediately to mind which went on to become one of the most successfully sold shirts in years.  Controversy creates cash.

Think back to the 22nd of February 2007.  The day itself may not immeidiately ring any bells but the result certainly will.  Barcelona 1-2 Liverpool.  Craig Bellamy and John Arne Riise scored as Liverpool pulled off one of the best results in European football this century.  That night - as I'm sure you're now picturing it - featured a kit many thought very little of but that image has now been forever burned into the memories of LFC fans the world over.  It wouldn't have mattered if those shirts been made of wool and featured a polka dot pattern.  Those kits that endeer themselves to the memory only ever do so because of the results made wearing them.  If Brendan Rodgers and his team have a good season, the next time Liverpool are to wear purple it won't be just to commemorate a couple of old goalkeeper jerseys.

In the end what Liverpool are left with is an home strip that's as close to being universally liked as is possible these days, one which was nowhere near as bad as had been made out and an away kit that if anything has underwhelmed.  Football is a world away from the game that saw Juventus borrow the colours of Notts County and never relinquish them.  Every single aspect of the game is far more commercialized and that's something we have to acknowledge and move with the times, as well as trying to maintain our proud traditions.

Hard to believe but there was a once time when Liverpool took to the field in blue.  After changing to a red shirt, white shorts and red sock combo in 1904, it wasn't until Bill Shankly himself decided to change the kit by going out in an all red kit in 1964.  Though it is a vital part of the history of the club, it is not defined by its colours.   The shade of red which coarses through the veins of every Liverpool fan that is far more vibrant and fantasic than any that could be put onto a strip of material and it will remain that way regardless of what players come and go, what manager is at the helm and what we go onto the field wearing.

Wednesday 4 July 2012

Medal Of Honour: Liverpool & The Olympics

Imagine a computer capable of almost anything.  Something with the capacity to store masses of information and data as well as the intelligence solve complex problems at the same time and also an output sound quality far more advanced than any MP3.  Durable, with the added bonus of being able to repair itself.  Able to operate at relative high speeds, with an interchangeable shape that allows for best usage.  On top of all that, the aptitude for learning as well as adapting to any given surroundings and circumstances.  Man is that machine.

Like every cliche, there more than a modicum of truth in the idea that taking part matters more than winning.  Not everyone can be the fastest man on the planet, but that won't stop thousands from trying.  Being the best in the world at anything is such a lofty ambition it cannot simply begin with that kind of supposition alone.  Seeing how far the human body is willing to push itself is not only great drama but endears us to one another for the notion of simply trying.  Triumph may be the ultimate goal but before anyone can test the limits of humankind they must first find out where their own breaking point lies.  Sport captivates us not because of how naturally gifted a person may be but what they will do to make up for in spite of it.  Over the last twenty years heroes have been made based not on their individual talent but their willingness not to give up.  It is that indelible spirit that helps defy humanity.  That Olympic spirit.


As a game rather than merely athletic competition, team sports may be less of a pure contest but they are no less enthralling.  Reliant on so many different people and actions, in no other discipline can so many mistakes still lead to success or so much talent lead to failure.  It's for precisely this reason that football is loved the world over.  Legends can be brought down by the actions of those around them and that a team of otherwise pedestrian players could collectively rise above themselves and achieve the impossible.  Unlike athletics, football also gives someone the chance at redemption.  A momentary lapse in concentration for a runner may cost him everything he's worked his entire life for.  So long as there's still time on the clock, anything is possible.  Even coming from three goals down in a European Cup final.

A quarter of a century after the first ever international match, football was represented at the 1900 Olympic games held in Paris.  To say it was a modest affair would be an understatement.  It was comprised of just three teams - each nation represented by a chosen side - and was eventually won by Upton Park FC (Great Britian). In 1904 there were again three teams, this time representing just two nations.  Slow to start with, both the games themselves and the place of football within them would continue to grow.  Twenty two teams took place in 1924 - which an emerging Uruguay side would eventually win - but football was at crossroads.  Having gone professional in some places over the world, though a gold medal was seen as claiming your place as the best team in the world, it was strictly an amateur competition.  Disputes over whether teams had indeed paid their players as compensation for "lost time from work" led to Britain's withdrawal from the 1924 games and it was then dropped altogether in 1932, due to it's lack of popularity in the United States.  By then something else had grabbed a hold of the footballing masses, something which has never let go.  The World Cup.

Following on from World War II, the Great Britain football team continued to participate in the Olympics, handcuffed by the fact that it's now flourishing league system could not be utilised - with it's players counting as professionals.  With that in place, the gap between the England amateur team - from which the basis of the squad was picked - and the rest of Europe shortened, to the point where they did not even qualify for the main tournament for another twelve years.  At this point the FA decided that there would be no distinction between amateur and professional and that they would all be "players" instead.  Since then, with a football team from these shores not taking part in the Olympics there has been very little of a connection or emphasis on it and Liverpool Football Club.

Even after the rules were changed to include professional players, Great Britain declined the chance to take part - even though twice Scotland and once England were both given qualifying berths based on their European Under 21 Championship performance.  This may have seen a greater opportunity to LFC players throughout the nineties to have a chance of winning a medal but as it was it would not be until 2008 until a Liverpool player would take part in an Olympic games, with Lucas Leiva, Javier Mascherano and Ryan Babel becoming the first men ever to take part while at the club (Arthur Berry, Joseph Dines & Tom Armstrong represented Britain in 1912 and would all later go on to play for the Liverpool).

Having dipped their toe into the competition last time around, Liverpool will again be represented in London.  Craig Bellamy, Sebastian Coates and Luis Suarez will all be doing their part to get their hands on a medal.  It's unclear as to how much of a role Bellamy will have within Stuart Pearce's side and there will still be a concern over his fitness, especially in the latter stages of the tournament when the games come thick and fast.  Having said that this represents Bellamy's best and only chance of ever being able to grasp something on the international stage and he will be chomping at the bit in order to do so.  As one of the elder members, it's both a sign and a test of Craig's growing maturity that he will be be given a paternal role in the squad.  With regard to his place in the pecking order at Liverpool, there's no doubt he has the ability but both his injuries and lack of consistency over the last year mean that while he will be missed, his place in the starting eleven is far from certain.

It seems that barely a tournament goes by without a player from Anfield taking centre stage.  From the Spanish contingent that came via of Melwood in 2008 and 2010 to Suarez lighting up the Copa America last year, success and Liverpool go hand in hand as ever.  Impressed heavily during Uruguay's triumphant campaign in Argentina last year, Sebastian Coates will be hoping to pick up where he left off.  Having tasted nothing but success so far in his short career, the man who could just as easily played for Scotland has everything going for him right now.  His talent is raw but obvious and any experience for him at a major tournament can only be good for both he and Liverpool.  With playing time again likely restricted to League Cup and Europa League games, he may miss an early opportunity to impress Rodgers but it's a chance he will almost certainly have again.

As influential a figure as one can be, especially in an area in which is so vital as Liverpool failed in that respect so spectacularly last season, it's fortunate enough in that Luis Suarez will potentially miss no league games.  The final takes place a week before the curtain falls on the opening day of the Premier League season and with the tournament being on home soil, barring injury all those taking part will only miss Europa League qualifiers.  Following the tournament in 2008, however Javier Mascherano took a long time in getting back to full form and fitness, missing four out of the next seven league games in the league after the tournament had finished.  Having finally had a summer break after a couple of years, Suarez will report for international duty with a team tipped to go far if not quite all the way.  He is unlikely to be home early, although Brendan Rodgers may be secretly rooting for it.

Because of it's four year cycle so few get more than one shot at glory, to the point where Mascherano is currently joint top of Argentina's all time gold medal winners.  Players from all over the world may go on to challenge for further glory and London 2012 may be just the springboard that set their career into motion but for some this tournament is all they are ever going to get.  Footballers the world over will forever hunger for success and trophies, athletes and sportsmen crave nothing more than to have that gold medal draped around their neck.  This is a unique occasion in which a lucky few get the chance to represent their country as well as showcasing the sport itself.  When the tournament is all over, Suarez, Coates or Bellamy may have written a new chapter in Olympic folklore.  Brendan Rodgers will be waiting, ready for them to make history with Liverpool as well.

Sunday 1 July 2012

The Invisible Armband

Men have gathered together - from the dawn of time - and looked toward a figurehead.  Placing a solitary figure at the head of a cause does more than make it easier to give orders, it gives them a purpose.  That person becomes symbolic of a cause, be they chosen for their past glory or what characteristics make them a champion right then and there.  You cannot train to be a leader.  They are born, not chosen.  The hidden intangibles that make it so one man can stir others into fighting for him - or for something greater than them all - are no more elusive than what makes up a great human being.  Despite all this - and whatever else makes them special - they cannot do it alone.  Captains may lead, soldiers can still be heroes.

The idea of having one person on the pitch who is responsible for everyone else somewhat outdated these days.  Though Gerrard was captain all throughout the Rafa Benitez years, he would more often than not be found talking to Xabi Alonso but that does not mean that neither one of them had any less value than the other.  Because of the recent explosion of multi national teams, there is more accountability to be shared around the side.  It wasn't long ago that Liverpool boasted almost a team full of captains.  Sami Hyypiä, Yossi Benayoun and Javier Mascherano all captained their national team on a regular basis with many more having experience of it (Jamie Carragher, Xabi Alonso, Jerzy Dudek).  Of it's current crop of players, there are a handful still left who regularly lead their country out and despite the fact that only one of them can do it for Liverpool it's important that all of them remain as strong as they would otherwise.  Modest shoulders make not for such a heavy burden, regardless of how those shoulders may have been made out to be.  One man alone cannot carry a team nor vanquish an army.  Every sheriff needs a deputy.  

It's just as important now as it ever was that a club has an identity.  Representing certain values aren't just corporate level buzzwords, it's what prevents a club from just becoming a set of undistinguishable faces.  One of the things that defines Liverpool are the two local lads but as scouse as they are, both Jamie Carragher and Steven Gerrard are very different leaders of men.  One prefers to lead by example while the other is very vocal in his efforts to drag the team over the line.  The other key difference - one that has been spoken about ad infinitum this past off season - is that only one of them is likely to play a major part in the future.

New manager for a new era and another year along in the career of Steven Gerrard.  More so than anyone, over the years he has embodied  Liverpool Football Club and done all in his power to move it forward.  There is no doubts as to the legitimacy of his claims to still be able to contribute, he is certain to be as integral a part as ever.  As the other half of the scouse heartbeat of the team, it is important that his legacy lives on but that we begin to prepare for a future without him.  Installing a new vice captain now would allow them a decent amount of time to learn exactly what is required of them should they then go on to take the armband on a permanent basis once Gerrard enters the final phases of his career, just as Carragher is now.

Fickle the way life is, those that are given the phyiscal ability to play football must watch as that talent withers away as the years go by.  Father time has a better record than Man United when Howard Webb is refereeing and right now appears to have his sights set on one Jamie Carragher.  The idea that he can no longer give anything to a team is somewhat premature but we have reached a point where that club may not be Liverpool.  Over the years it only a fool would write of the number twenty three for time and again he has shown that when it really matters Jamie can and will get the job done.  His experience and organisational skills are unparrelled and something the club will definitely need if it is to bring through a whole host of new talent.  That being said there is very little left for him to do on the pitch.  Rodgers tactics and Carras aptitude for the long ball, in addition to his lack of mobility suggest that unless he is content with being a second string player then it's unlikely fans will see much of him this year.  With that in mind, a space opens up alongside Steven Gerrard at the top table.  Who would then be second in command?

First on the list of candidates, step forth Pepe Reina.  It's very rare in football that a goalkeeper would posses all the qualities required to lead a team, for most prefer to be led at the front.  That being said, Pepe is a rare breed of goalkeeper.  Mentally tough, technically brilliant, calm under pressure and also someone who connects with people.  From his outings with the Spain squad over the last few major tournaments, Reina has demonstrated his ability to bring people together and create a harmony around the squad, even if Casilas has prevented him from doing so on the field.  He may be coming off the back of a tough season but under Brendan Rodgers' new set up it's likely he will play a much bigger part and handily bounce back.  Having had no real injury concerns over the last few years, he is a diving James Perch away from being an ever present in the team, that kind of dependability is something that could see he becoming a future Liverpool captain.

Next in line is someone who has many things in common with Steven Gerrard himself.  Coming off the back of a fantastic European Championships where he marshalled his national side valliantly, Daniel Agger may arrive back at Anfield this year with some new responsibilities.  As a centre half, he has all the attributes that make him a great defender and as a commander of a team very few could do better.  The major concern over Agger on a long term basis would be the problems he has with injury.  Last season he played his joint highest amount of league games and if he is able to remain off the treatment table then would be a prime candidate to take over from Gerrard once his career comes to a close.

Of those most likely to be deputy, there is one more.  He is hardly the sterotypical choice but the fact that despite everything that has gone on his name stands out means that he is a viable candidate.  Lucas Leiva has seen it all at Liverpool Football Club having gone from reviled to revered in a few short years so there can be no doubt that he has the mental tenacity that's required to lead the club.  Having had breif experience with captaining his country at youth level and being one of the few candidates that maintains a calm enough stature to put him forth as a choice to do so for the full Brazil side should he ever get a regular place in the team, provided he comes back from injury without any damage to his fearless playing style then it's very possible Lucas Leiva could have the last laugh on his doubters by being the man to drive the team forward into the future.

Because nothing is certain - in football and in life - there are a few outsiders who could also rise above the ranks.  Suarez getting the job would be eventful, but at least it would give him have an actual excuse to talk to the referees.  His over exuberant style of play makes it rather unlikely Luis will be seen with extra responsibilites anytime soon.  Glen Johnson has both the talent and the experience of playing at a high level for so long but is not the most vocal and also has persistent injury problems.  There is also the chance that over the next couple of years Rodgers may bring in somebody who takes the team by storm and forces himself into the reckoning.  What is important - as well as getting the decision right - is that there is still enough time to deliberate about it.  Steven Gerrard isn't going anywhere just yet.

As of right now, save for Jamie Carragher demanding a transfer it's very unlikely that there will be any drastic changes with as far as the chain of command at Liverpool goes.  Brendan Rodgers will need all the experience and help he can get in moulding this team together and taking it where we want to go so to completely tear up what exists at the club now would be premature, especially with the added prospect of European football and the likelyhood of there being a large number of players used over the course of the coming season.  What Liverpool does have however, is a core of young gifted talent not yet to reach their full potential.  Agger, Reina or Lucas could all grow into wonderful Liverpool captains in years to come but that's not yet to be decided.  The fact that it is not yet set in stone which of them Gerrard will pass the torch onto is not so much a worry as it is a bonus, in that there is a pool of talent to choose from rather than having very limited options once Stevie cannot go on any more.  Though things may not be perfect, we face a brighter present today than the future given to us under Hicks & Gillette.  Who knows what tomorrow may bring?