Dutch winger Ibrahim Afellay will not be joining Liverpool this January and instead he will be headed to Barcelona. The 24 year old winger had been on our radar for a while, even under the Rafa days but he has opted, in my opinion, to go and sit on the bench at Barcelona. I do not see him getting much game time there as there are too many World Class players at Barcelona ahead of him. We could have done with his pace and trickery at Liverpool as he would have given us some much needed width in the team. But alas, he has made his decision and I hope it is the right one for him to join Barcelona.
Now John W Henry has come out and said that he doubts Liverpool are going to spend much in the January window in a bid to strengthen the team and would rather wait until the summer to spend.
Henry said, “We have work to do and must invest in this club to improve it on the field,” he added. “Can that be successfully done in January? A number of people I’ve talked with doubt it.
“Most people seem to think it will be the summer before we can really begin to improve.
“So the players – all 11 each week – have to be on the same page every match and have to live up to the history and respect this club has engendered – no matter what.”
Judging from that, we should not expect to see many, if any, big name signings this summer. I hope this is a decision that everyone in management is happy about i.e. Roy Hodgson as I was under the impression that Roy is desperate for some new signings this January. If that is not the case, then we may already be seeing signs of cracks in the relationship between Henry and Hodgson which is not good at all.
So if I am reading Henry correctly, he wants the current players to get stuck in and be the ones to bring success to Liverpool this season. Whether this can be done is a big ask as the current players seem not to be playing to their best under Hodgson. On that note, Henry has also come out and said that we should not be blaming Roy. “Blaming the manager or any one particular player is simply wrong. This club needs to play up to their potential every match. If they don’t, they won’t win.” So who should we blame Mr. Henry? Someone has to be accountable.
Actually, Afellay will start for us on the RW. Pedro hasn’t been consistent enough this season and since Messi is playing as a false striker and Villa out the LW this gives Afellay a chance to pay in MF or RW.
Forget about his role for Barca, and whether they need him or not. The simple fact is that Liverpool under Hodgson does not hold much allure for young, talented players with the option of joining another big, aspirational club. He has a clear history of preferring to work with more “experienced” players than younger players, and obviously prefers “workers” over flair” players.
There is no reason to believe that Affelay would’ve had any more time on the pitch at Liverpool than he will at Barca.
A look at Babel, once a player with great promise, will tell us Jay is completely right.