It was a pretty mixed window for Liverpool who were part of two of the biggest transfer deals in January. While Virgil van Dijk was signed in the early days of the window, Philippe Coutinho made his much-anticipated switch to Barcelona for a fee of 146 million pounds, the second most expensive transfer ever.
After what transpired in the first half of the season, a defender is what the fans demanded and the team needed. Having said that, goalkeeping issues continue to haunt the club but Jürgen Klopp and co. have decided to persist with the duo of Simon Mignolet and Loris Karius, the latter replacing the former as the club number one.
Let’s take a detailed look at the ins and outs…
Ins
Virgil van Dijk
Last summer, Liverpool refrained from buying a new centre-back, which was puzzling, and decided to let go of Mamadou Sakho, even more puzzling as he was arguably the best centre-back at the club. The trio of Ragnar Klavan, Joel Matip and Dejan Lovren somehow managed to do a job more often than not as Liverpool entered January with just two league defeats.
Despite a few promising performances, Liverpool looked shaky at the back and were never far away from a defensive meltdown. Performances against Sevilla and Tottenham were a proof of the aforementioned. Liverpool’s frontline often got the side out of trouble as they were only second behind City in terms of goals scored.
Van Dijk himself was a bit out of touch at Southampton and there were warning signs that it wasn’t all going to change despite his record-breaking transfer. Although the transfer fee looks insane, it’s just what the market is these days. While the overall defensive performances might improve as van Dijk knows how to marshal a back line, unless Liverpool’s midfield offers more protection, it’s unlikely we’ll see assertive defensive performances from the Reds anytime soon.
Tony Gallagher
Signed from Falkirk for a fee of £200,000, the Scot is seen as a long-term prospect. Liverpool already have two fullbacks – Alberto Moreno and Andy Robertson — who have done well this season, so expect Gallagher to play in the youth teams before making the step up in the coming years.
Outs
Philippe Coutinho
Selling your best player and not buying a replacement has become a bit of a norm at Liverpool. Like they did in the summer, Coutinho departed to Barcelona and the club decided to stay mum for the rest of the window. Quite a few fans feel the move could backfire come the end of the season.
It was baffling to see Liverpool making no move whatsoever as they’ve lost a player who could unlock a tight defence with his passing and dribbling ability. While Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is a good player, he can offer the drive from midfield, not the creativity that Coutinho could provide.
Daniel Sturridge
Many criticised the decision to loan out Sturridge to West Brom. With Solanke and Ings, Liverpool have decent cover for Firmino. For all the goals Sturridge has scored under Klopp, he simply hasn’t been able to adapt to life under the German. His injury history isn’t the best either.
The rest
The likes of Marko Grujic, Jon Flanagan and Ovie Ejaria have made loan moves to clubs in the lower leagues and that’ll help them get more game time and face some competitive action, The Championship is a tough league to play in, so the fans will hope that the players return with more skills than they left with.
Another disappointment was Cameron Brannagan’s exit. A player who was pretty highly rated a year or so, Brannagan simply hasn’t been able to improve his game and moved to lowly Oxford United.
A better defence, but a weaker attack
Overall, we could say Liverpool had a 6.5/10 window, neither good nor bad. But considering how well their rivals have done, the fans will feel the club could have invested more. Van Dijk will add a bit more stability, but selling Coutinho in the summer would have made a lot more sense.
Liverpool are hopeful of challenging for the second spot, and that’s something that could have been likelier had Coutinho still been there. The Champions League is a competition where you’ve got to play your best players in every game, so Liverpool might struggle to make it beyond the last eight.
