Signings:
The big story in the summer of 2008-2009 was Robbie Keane. Rafa’s courtship with Gareth Barry had been stealing the headlines, but as that didn’t happen, Keane came in. The fears of many of the supporters, which turned out to be spot-on, was that Keane wasn’t a goal scorer and wasn’t “class” enough for us. My personal feeling was that he would link up with Torres beautifully. Turned out that the supporters were not only correct, but that he actually clogged up everyone’s space… particularly that of Gerrard.
The signing towards the end of the transfer window that DID do well was Albert Riera. He was not dynamite at all times, but there were moments where he gave Liverpool a look of balance and width unseen since the days of, well, John Barnes. Riera was certainly no John Barnes, but at least we looked like we had width. He struggled during the winter, but the fall and spring saw some dazzling moments from the young Spaniard. He was certainly not well known or well appreciated in England, so it was a nice little bit of business from Rafa.
The injury-prone Philip Degen, the youngster David Ngog (who chipped in with a few goals), backup keeper Diego Cavalieri, and the frustrating yet talented Andrea Dossena wrapped up the summer signings.
Departures:
The summer saw a mini-exodus of sorts, but it was definitely needed. If 2007-2008 proved anything, it was that this side was in a time of transition and change. Players who had been loved in a previous generation were let go, and new blood was to be injected. There were some difficult good-byes as a supporter, as John Arne Riise left for Roma, Harry Kewell ventured off to Galatasaray, Steve Finnan went to rot on the bench of Espanyol with injury after injury, and Peter Crouch sought more first team action with Portsmouth. Also, Andriy Voronin went on loan to Hertha Berlin. Nobody noticed.
By winter, Robbie Keane had grown increasingly irritating to fans and Rafa alike with his lack of goals, yet the whole of Britain was “aghast” about his treatment. Grow up and look at how we did once we bagged him! Seriously! Selling him to Tottenham was BRILLIANT. We got our money back, he was happy again, and all of a sudden we were able to score goals.
And by the end of the season, it was goodbye to Sami Hyypia, who announced he was moving on to Bayer Leverkusen after 10 brilliant years at LFC. He will be sorely missed, and nobody with Liverpool in their hearts will ever forget him. Absolute LEGEND.
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