Liverpool's 2014/15 End-of-Season Awards
It wasn't a campaign to cherish for Liverpool, but the pageantry of awards season is impossible to ignore. Who wins out in the Reds' end-of-season awards for 2014/15?
Here we subjectively ordain the victors for eight separate awards—Biggest Disappointment, Worst Signing, Best Signing, Best Team Performance, Most Improved Player, Best Goal, Best Individual Performance and Best player—taking into consideration performances across all competitions.
With one particular Brazilian No. 10 inevitably set to dominate the majority of the positive individual categories, a non-Philippe Coutinho option will also be provided when required in the interest of diversity.
Who rose above the sixth-placed, no-silverware dross that was Liverpool's latest season under Brendan Rodgers?
We kick off with a dose of misery, courtesy of Alan Pardew.
Biggest Disappointment
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Winner: Liverpool 1-3 Crystal Palace, Premier League, May 2015
This was a season full of disappointments, but the Reds' inability to overcome Alan Pardew's Crystal Palace outfit in their penultimate Premier League game ranks above all the rest for various reasons.
Most superficially disappointing was that this encounter marked the final competitive Anfield outing for Steven Gerrard after 17 years at the club. The manner with which Liverpool limped to defeat was far from befitting the storied career of an undisputed club legend.
Gerrard delivered a rousing speech following the game, but given the state of the preceding performance, his encouraging views of the future of the club rang out as hollow.
More importantly, this was the second time Palace had turned the Reds over 3-1 in 2014/15, and Rodgers' setup for the clash was disappointingly one-dimensional and left Liverpool with no chance in individual battles; the Dejan Lovren-Yannick Bolasie duel was a distinct disaster.
As Gerrard waved goodbye to the Merseyside faithful, so seemingly did Rodgers to his playbook.
Worst Signing
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Winner: Dejan Lovren, £20 million from Southampton
In Bleacher Report's end-of-season Premier League Awards, Sam Tighe declared Liverpool striker Mario Balotelli as the worst signing.
"He was predictably erratic, a little greedy on the pitch and incredibly profligate," Tighe wrote, highlighting the miserly one league goal the Italian contributed after his £16 million move from AC Milan last summer.
However, many of Balotelli's on-field failings can be at least partially attributed to a poor understanding of his strengths by Rodgers, who persisted with the striker in a lone centre-forward's role despite his misfiring.
Instead, our award goes to £20 million former Southampton man Dejan Lovren, who despite being utilised in his natural role—centre-back—throughout 2014/15 offered up countless calamities in defence.
His aforementioned withering at the hands of Bolasie was emblematic of his entire campaign.
Best Signing
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Winner: Emre Can, £10 million from Bayer Leverkusen
Having spent an incredible £107 million on players last summer, that very few can be regarded as even minor successes is a damning indictment of Liverpool's current transfer strategy.
The one player who stood out above the rest, however, was Emre Can.
Joining from Bayer Leverkusen in a £10 million deal and taking up Jamie Carragher's vacated No. 23 shirt, Can demonstrated qualities that could make him a Liverpool icon in seasons to come.
Although signed as a midfielder, Can was utilised for much of the campaign at centre-back, and he shone.
The only area that he arguably failed in was when deployed mercilessly out of position at right-back as the season died out. Rodgers did Can a disservice in 2014/15.
Despite that, with the 21-year-old performing well on the whole, Can endures as Liverpool's best signing.
Best Team Performance
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Winner: Liverpool 4-1 Swansea City, Premier League, December 2014
There were very few times when Rodgers' side genuinely clicked this season, with at least one or two areas of his tactical approach looking loose and ill-fitting compared to others.
But in December's 4-1 Premier League mauling of the Ulsterman's former side Swansea City, Liverpool produced their performance of the season. The Reds dominated their Welsh opponents for the entire 90 minutes, which was a luxury for supporters in 2014/15.
Lining up in their radical 3-4-2-1 formation, Liverpool constantly found gaps between Garry Monk's 4-2-3-1.
The performance of Adam Lallana in the right-sided quasi-No. 10 role was a particularly outstanding facet of this performance—the midfielder embraced Rodgers' hardworking ethics, scoring two and also making a game-high five tackles.
Elsewhere, Coutinho, Raheem Sterling, Jordan Henderson, Alberto Moreno and Javier Manquillo were all excellent in a free-flowing, overwhelming attack display.
Most Improved Player
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Winner: Simon Mignolet
"I would give Brad Jones a chance to see if he can come to the party and put [Simon] Mignolet on the bench," legendary former Liverpool goalkeeper Bruce Grobbelaar told BBC Sport in November.
"Then in the January window I am going to find a goalkeeper who can come in and shore up the back."
These comments, while perhaps slightly exaggerated, given how Grobbelaar went on to bizarrely compare Mignolet to Dracula "because at least Dracula comes out of his coffin now and then," was indicative of the feeling surrounding the Belgian's poor form during the first half of the season.
As the campaign came to a close, however, Mignolet was a front-runner for the club's player of the season—so stark was his improvement.
Deputy goalkeeper Jones came in for three games in December, conceding five and getting injured in the process, before Mignolet returned a completely different player.
Mignolet finished the season with 13 clean sheets, with nine of these coming in the aftermath of his dropping. He returned a more confident and more assured presence between the sticks and is now Rodgers' undisputed first-choice 'keeper.
Best Goal
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Winner: Philippe Coutinho vs. Manchester City, Premier League, March 2015
Enter Coutinho.
There is a case to award Coutinho with the Most Improved Player award because the 22-year-old grew into a match-winning phenomenon throughout 2014/15.
The addition of his now-trademark long-range curled strike was the biggest factor in his improvement, and there was none better than the one he hit against Manchester City in March's 2-1 Premier League win at Anfield.
"I’ve been working on assisting my team-mates even further and improving my goal tally as I understand this as being part of my role," Coutinho told Ian Doyle of the Liverpool Echo in January. "I expect to do better on this."
Two months later, Coutinho's well-struck effort soared beyond Joe Hart to secure Liverpool the three points in a hugely important league encounter.
The Brazilian had announced himself as a goalscorer.
Non-Coutinho Winner: Alberto Moreno vs. Tottenham Hotspur, Premier League, August 2014
Best Individual Performance
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Winner: Philippe Coutinho vs. Manchester City, March 2015
Coutinho's goal against City was merely the flourish that capped an incredible individual display from the No. 10.
Lining up in the left-sided attacking-midfield position in Rodgers' 3-4-2-1, Coutinho took up the space between right-back Pablo Zabaleta and centre-back Vincent Kompany—on reputation, two of the league's very best—and their respective flailing was all due to the Brazilian's mastery.
Coutinho made four successful dribbles and one key pass, as well as constantly hounding when out of possession, completing three tackles.
Finishing City off with his aforementioned wonder goal, Coutinho was the star turn in a statement victory.
Non-Coutinho Winner: Lazar Markovic vs. Sunderland, Premier League, January 2015
Best Player
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Winner: Philippe Coutinho
Predictably, Coutinho wins our Best Player award.
Coutinho was quite simply Liverpool's attacking inspiration, their dogged emblem of work ethic and most influential player throughout 2014/15.
At just 22 years old, Coutinho serves as the brightest hope for Liverpool's long-term future.
Non-Coutinho Winner: Jordan Henderson
Statistics via WhoScored.com.
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