by LFC2007 » Fri Aug 31, 2012 11:57 pm
We'll have to wait and see how the team performs over the next few months to see how we cope with the situation but I would nevertheless agree that loaning Carroll out wthout signing a replacement when our striking options are already as limited as they are is an extremely risky move, particularly given the number of games we can expect to play.
If it's true that the club refused to stump up £6m for Dempsey then that's obviously a crazy decision given the sh!t we could be in if Suarez gets injured. I say that and Dempsey's not even an out-and-out striker. In fact, neither Suarez, Dempsey or Borini are. They are all ideally second strikers or support players to a no.9, which we don't have since we loaned out Carroll. That's why, for me, we needed to sign a minimum of one extra striker even before loaning Carroll, and even if Dempsey had signed. When you look at the options available to the other top clubs, we stick out as being massively underresourced in this area and hugely exposed in the event of injuries, suspensions and lack of form. The fact that we had such difficulty scoring goals last season makes it that much harder to understand why we didn't make the signing of a striker more of a priority this summer. It's hard to know what to make of it from either the manager or FSG's point of view given how exposed it leaves us.
Having said that, we have massively improved the midfield, kept the defence and our key players together which is more than can be said for the likes of Arsenal or Spurs. If we are lucky and Suarez stays fit, finds his shooting boots and strikes up an understanding with the likes of Borini and Sterling, or whoever gets the nod, it's not unthinkable that we could get to January in OK shape in time to hopefully strengthen with another striker.