Liverpool Have Learned Lessons from Error-Strewn 2014 Summer Transfer Window

The exit of Luis Suarez was always likely to hurt Liverpool. As the Premier League’s top scorer in his final season at Anfield, the Uruguayan’s exit last summer was to the Reds’ obvious detriment. But Liverpool’s disappointing 2014/15 campaign was attributable to the players bought as replacements, rather than the loss of the striker himself.

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Having questioned Tottenham Hotspur’s method of compensating for the sale of Gareth Bale by signing several sub-standard players for big money as replacements, Brendan Rodgers ended up doing exactly the same thing 12 months later following the loss of Suarez. 

“Look at Tottenham. If you spend more than £100 million, you expect to be challenging for the league,” the Northern Irishman posed—as per Hamish Mackay of the Daily Mail—just months before he spent over £130 million on eight players—ultimately taking Liverpool no closer to the Premier League title. By his own standard, the Reds’ transfer-window strategy last summer was critically flawed.

But on the basis of their signings so far this summer window, Liverpool have learned their lessons. The expected arrival of Nathaniel Clyne this week, per the Daily Star, will take their transfer tally to six, but there has been no sign of the scatter-gun approach that look hold of their dealings last year. This has been a smarter strategy.

Rodgers has recognised the areas in which his side was in need of strengthening and has acted on it before his team even returned for pre-season training. Liverpool have done the majority of their business early, giving them a better grounding ahead of what will be a pivotal season for the club and their manager.

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Indeed, the next 12 months will set a tone for Rodgers’ tenure at Liverpool. As things stand, the Northern Irishman has led the club through only one successful season—and that was largely down to the brilliance of Suarez. He must show that he can coach a team into the top four without the Uruguayan forward, placing even more importance on this summer’s transfer window.

But under such pressure, Liverpool and Rodgers have fared well up until this point. The capture of James Milner on a free transfer from Manchester City was a particularly shrewd signing, with the England international bringing a degree of versatility that will have no doubt appealed to Rodgers, and a level of experience that the Reds were lacking following the exit of Steven Gerrard.

Milner could form a midfield partnership with Jordan Henderson in Gerrard’s absence, or Rodgers could use him in a wider area—where Lazar Markovic has failed to impress since joining last summer—with Raheem Sterling also seemingly likely to be on his way out of Anfield before the start of the new season. 

The signing of Danny Ings from Burnley as a free agent is also a wise one, especially given Liverpool’s attacking struggles last season. With Suarez sold to Barcelona and Daniel Sturridge injured for much of the campaign, Rodgers simply didn’t have sufficient quality in the final third to sustain a top-four challenge, let alone a title challenge. It handicapped the Reds’ entire year. 

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And so Liverpool have taken measures to ensure that such a deficiency is no longer an issue, with Ings arriving at the club on the back of a season that saw him score 11 goals for relegated Burnley. He should thrive in a better side nearer the top of the table.

Then there was the signing of Bolton goalkeeper Adam Bogdan, also on a free transfer. Of course, he will hardly prove the difference between top-four success and failure, but with Simon Mignolet’s form dipping so dramatically at times last season, the Hungarian—who has Premier League experience—will provide competition for the No. 1 shirt.

With that trio secured Rodgers has fleshed out his squad, using the Premier League’s released list to his benefit. But the former Swansea City and Reading boss has recognised that Liverpool are in need of headline quality and has made moves to find that too.

With £29 million passing hands, Liverpool might well have paid somewhat over the odds for Roberto Firmino—but the Brazilian possesses the kind of quality the Reds failed to secure last summer. And such is the dynamic of the market right now, with quality comes expense.

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Firmino might have scored just seven goals in over 30 appearances in the Bundesliga last season, but the Brazilian is about so much more than just his goal tally. In fact, his assists actually outweighed his goals for Hoffenheim last season (10 compared to seven) and indeed, Liverpool will be looking for the 23-year-old to fill in the spaces around Sturridge and Philippe Coutinho—with the trio now forming the Reds’ front line.

Liverpool could solve another problem position with the signing of Clyne, who is expected to be announced as a £12.5 million arrival at some point this week. With Glen Johnson gone, the 24-year-old will fill in nicely in the right-back position, and at such a price there is genuine value in the move for the Reds.

Of the eight players Liverpool signed last summer (nine, if you include the loan signing of Javier Manquillo) only two could claim to have been a relative success in their maiden season at Anfield—Adam Lallana and Emre Can. The rest have performed well below expectations, to such an extent that it has been suggested Liverpool will attempt to offload a number of them over the next few weeks. If they can’t do so, the failure of last summer could still burden the Merseyside club this season.

But even if some of those players cannot be moved on, Rodgers has still learned lessons from the failure of last summer. Fundamentally, the aim of a football manager in the transfer window should always be to come out of it with a better squad than you went in with. Liverpool certainly didn't do that last summer, but they are in good shape to make good on that objective this time around.