Of all the photographs proudly on display in the Anfield press room, the one which really strikes a chord is that of Luis Suarez wheeling away in celebration. It could be any of the 31 goals he scored in 33 Premier League games last season, but for as long as the picture remains on that wall it will serve as a reminder of what Liverpool have lost. Life without the prolific Uruguay striker began much as the Reds would have wanted; three points in their opening fixture and goals for two of their most important players. Luis Suarez was banned for the first five league games last season for biting but still won the golden boot There was even a text message from Suarez to Brendan Rodgers on the morning of the match to wish his former manager and team-mates well as they embark on a new era. But if that era is to yield success, Liverpool will have to improve dramatically on the display they produced against a Southampton side who could well have left with a shock victory. Did Liverpool miss Suarez? Any club would miss a player of Suarezs calibre and while the £75m Barcelona paid for his services does cushion the blow, it cannot guarantee he will be adequately replaced. Liverpool have spent heavily to bolster their squad, but the only striker recruited so far is Rickie Lambert and it was no surprise to hear Rodgers in his post-match news conference reiterating a desire to add to this department before the transfer window closes. Against Southampton, the absence of that constant menace up front - the rare talent who can create something out of nothing and win matches almost single-handedly - was noticeable. Raheem Sterling continued his impressive form of last season But, interestingly, there were signs of a more ruthless streak emerging as Sterling converted the games first meaningful chance and Daniel Sturridge got the winner with his only clear-cut opportunity. Although Liverpool had the same number of shots as Southampton (12), with fewer on target (five to six) and less corners (two to six), they still came out on the right end of the result. Rodgers accepted his team lacked their usual fluency but pointed out that some players are still finding their fitness while others are soon to return from injury. If the Suarez tally subtracted from Liverpools 2013-14 league total, they still managed 70 goals - a figure surpassed only by champions Manchester City (102) and third-place Chelsea (71). We are bigger than any one player and our ambitions have to be, Rodgers added. Philippe Coutinho was picked to support Sturridge in the role Suarez used to occupy and Rodgers called him over to deliver instructions on several occasions before substituting him on 76 minutes. There was little sense of dejection among the home fans at the loss of their star man, however, tougher opponents than Southampton await. Did the new signings work? As Tottenham showed after the departure of Gareth Bale, not even spending £100m on a raft of signings will necessarily mitigate the loss of your best player. Southampton made an £11.5m profit on Dejan Lovren in a year Liverpool have committed a similar outlay on eight new faces: Rickie Lambert, Adam Lallana, Emre Can, Lazar Markovic, Dejan Lovren, Divock Origi, Javier Manquillo and Alberto Moreno. The fact that three of them - Lambert, Lallana and Lovren - came from Sundays opponents was lost on nobody but only Lovren and Manquillo started, Lambert later replacing Coutinho
Posted on: Mon, 18 Aug 2014 19:48:54 +0000
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