Liverpool: Where Would the Reds Be If Kenny Dalglish Had Been Hired Last Summer?

Since Kenny Dalglish came on in January, Liverpool has won five of nine Premier League games, scoring 15 goals in the process and moving into sixth place with a whisper of getting into the top four by season’s end.

Dalglish took over for Roy Hodgson, who was sacked after a humiliating 3-1 defeat at Blackburn Jan. 5.

He’s reshaped the team a bit by getting rid of Paul Konchesky, Ryan Babel and Fernando Torres while bringing in Luis Suarez and Andy Carroll.

The Reds certainly are flying high now—despite the recent slip-up at West Ham—and players who were mediocre at best in the first half of the season are now top favorites for their splendid performances.

So this begs the question, where would Liverpool be now if King Kenny had been hired in the summer to succeed Rafa Benitez instead of Hodgson?

Hodgson had a fantastic season with Fulham last year taking them all the way to the Europa League final where they lost in painful fashion to Diego Forlan and Atletico Madrid, something Liverpool fans can sympathize with.

Everyone was over the moon to begin with—yes you were, stop denying it and move on—and saw imminent success in the Reds’ future under Hodgson. Obviously, that’s not how it worked out.

Rumor had it Kenny wanted the job in the summer and was in consideration, but for reasons that must’ve been clear to the powers that were, he wasn’t the best candidate. But if he had been?

First off, Joe Cole wouldn’t be dressed in Red. Maybe he’d be at Fulham where Hodgson would’ve stayed—along with Konchesky—or maybe West Ham would’ve gobbled him up in trying absolutely anything to stave off relegation.

Whatever, he wouldn’t be our £90,000-a-week problem.

Next, Kenny likely would’ve kept Alberto Aquilani.

Benitez purchased the Italian in 2009 after Xabi Alonso departed for Real Madrid, but Aqua was injured and wasn’t expected to play until October at the earliest. Even when he was fit, Benitez decided not to play him, and Hodgson took this to mean he wasn’t any good and shipped him out to Juventus on loan.

King Kenny likely would’ve seen Benitez’s error in not playing the Italian playmaker alongside Steven Gerrard more often and would’ve kept him to play just behind the front line to provide passes for forwards to latch on to.

This also means Reds fans wouldn’t be watching Raul Meireles each game now. The chances that Kenny would have the same thought as Hodgson are pretty slim, but the curious thing is that Meireles’ form only picked up when Kenny came on, even though Hodgson had praised him for being such an attack-minded midfielder.

Meireles said he didn’t feel like he really had Hodgson’s backing, but he knows Kenny has faith in him, and that’s why he’s scored all five of his Liverpool goals under Kenny and all in the Premier League.

When you’ve got Aquilani supplying passes and supporting the front line, is there really a need for Meireles? Well, perhaps we’ll see next season if Kenny brings Aquilani back. Truth be told, you can’t have too many creative midfielders. Just ask Harry Redknapp.

Christian Poulsen is another one of Hodgson’s purchases, and he has gone relatively unused under Kenny. Poulsen is a holding midfielder, and Kenny knows one of those is enough. Lucas Leiva has become better each year with the Reds, and he has that spot locked up.

And what about Fernando Torres? He had some moments of class under Hodgson, namely his two goals in the 2-0 win over Chelsea at Anfield in November, but other than that, he looked pretty darn depressed out there. But so did everyone, according to Daniel Agger.

But once Kenny came aboard it seemed as though Torres did too. He scored three goals in four Premier League games after just a couple weeks with the King, but he still wanted to leave for Chelsea.

If Kenny had been on board since the summer, we wouldn’t have seen a sad Torres moping around the field, up front all on his own. Behind a manager who understands him, Torres would’ve been more eager to play, would’ve gone into the midfield more to try and win the ball back and consequently would’ve scored more goals.

Remember, this is really the only season you can fault Torres for a lack of effort. He was always raring to go under Benitez.

And if Torres had been enjoying his football, he’d be banging in goals from everywhere, and the Reds would likely be right up there with Arsenal fighting for the title, or at least closer to Chelsea and Tottenham fighting for fourth.

But then the Reds likely wouldn’t have bought Carroll in January. Take your pick.

So, if Liverpool had just skipped the Roy Hodgson chapter in its illustrious history and gone straight into King Kenny: The Second Coming, the Reds would probably be a few spots higher than they are now and have some different faces in the squad, but not completely new ones.

Now here’s another question. Do you think the six months under Hodgson were a total waste or did he actually lay some good groundwork that’s led to the recent surge under Kenny?

Or is this article just totally depressing to read because you can’t believe the Reds actually have to face another season without the Champions League because of Hodgson’s incompetence?