Following Liverpool FC’s hectic transfer season, Raul Meireles was tossed onto the sidelines. He didn’t seem to feature in Dalglish’s plans and was set to be shipped out.
Two games in, and he’s been given two appearances off the bench, and he’s taken what seemed to be his final chance to stay at Anfield with both hands. His efforts against Arsenal practically single handedly won Liverpool the game, with him playing a part in both goals and demonstrated unselfishness in offering Luis Suarez his second goal of the season on the plate.
In stark contrast, Alberto Aquilani is out on holiday in Tuscany according to reports trying to trigger a move to AC Milan. Well, if he’s going to be like that I think that he is better off going to Milan.
I struggle to understand why we brought in two central midfielders in Charlie Adam and Jordan Henderson (and especially Henderson given the massive price tag) when we had Meireles amongst our ranks coming in on the back of a great 2010/11 season.
He brings so much bite to this Liverpool midfield in terms of tough tackling, an absolute corker of a shot, not to mention his passing ability, which is absolutely exquisite.
Against Arsenal, Raul Meireles was more effective in the 20 minutes that he was on than Jordan Henderson ever was in the 70 minutes that he was on. Yes, Henderson was tidy with his passing and offered good tackling in the middle of the park, but Raul Meireles was a whole new creative outlet and created chances for Liverpool, albeit him having the benefit of pace in the form of Luis Suarez instead of Andy Carroll.
But you would think that Henderson would have at least dominated the middle of the park facing up to players such as Frimpong and Ramsey in the Arsenal midfield. I simply don’t understand why Henderson was placed immediately into the Liverpool first XI. Meireles has more experience in the Liverpool team, I would have thought that Dalglish would have taken his time in easing new players into the team, given that he would have required more time to gel with the other players.
In my opinion, for now, it’s Meireles who really deserves that first team spot. Jordan Henderson, whether it be the pressure of playing for Liverpool, the price tag, or whatever reason, isn’t exactly performing to the best of his ability. I just think that Meireles deserves that spot, and not be thrown into the deep end and trying not to get flogged.
The fact that Meireles is being considered in a swap deal for Sturridge simply frustrates me more. He was our best player of our 2011 year bar Suarez and he more than certainly doesn’t deserve to be sold. The player’s class.
