Preston North End vs Liverpool preview

A welcome return for Martin Kelly?

This afternoon at 3pm will see Brendan Rodgers' emerging Liverpool side take on Preston North End in the pre season curtain raiser an Deepdale. Perhaps fitting that both teams share a past employee as player and manager in one William "Bill" Shankly OBE.

Although this is by no means a competitive match, all Liverpool fans will be looking for three things. Firstly, a good performance all things considered, secondly, how the new recruits manage, and lastly - the nice to have - a win. 

Rodgers has said all of the new additions to the squad will play a part in the game so providing he doesn't mean the "part" of benchwarmers then it'll be an interesting match. It goes without saying that all eyes will be on them and my mince pies will be no exception. Having won every Premiership, Champions League, FA and League Cup since 1998 from the comfort of my sofa and with the help of Football Manager, I think my eye, is particularly keen.  I am interested to see if the manager has brought some real value to the team in terms of ability and, due to their ages, potential. Does "potential" translate into a challenge for a top-four slot? A discussion for another time. 

One position which will be of interest to supporters will be who plays in goal. Simon Mignolet is a keeper of undoubted ability, and Pepe Reina is proven. I think a half each would be fair. In the outfield, I'd like to see young Martin Kelly get a run out after his year-long absence through injury. Albeit not a competitive match I think Kelly will be looking to show the manager what he's missed last season, and put himself ahead of the equally impressive Andre Wisdom. Needless to say, Iago Aspas and Luis Alberto will be under scrutiny following much-lauded moves to Anfield.

In any case, it'll be a good run out for the team, a chance to get some fitness and for the new lads to integrate. Despite this being a "friendly" I'd like to see a Liverpool victory and ideally a good showing from the new boys. No pressure then!

Prediction... I don't do predictions but I'd suggest, 3-0 to Liverpool. 

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Liverpool looking good value for money

The annual summer transfer frenzy is now officially up and running, and the papers are full of speculation and links based on insider contacts, hope and in some cases pure imagination. However, with that said, only half of the Premierships clubs have flexed any financial muscle thus far, with the usual moneybags suspects Manchester "hard-up" City leading the way with over £50m spent already.

What I've found surprising is that although Aston Villa have been the most busy, bringing in five players for a total of around £11m, I see the supposedly cash-strapped Liverpool currently running second to Citeh in the spending stakes. With the current acquisitions of Iago Aspas and Luis Alberto costing a reported £12m or thereabouts, and the imminent arrival of Simon Mignolet for £10m, the Liverpool Chief Financial Officer Andy Hughes is now sweating over the departure of £22m from the cash ledger. The perennial big spenders, Chelsea are yet to draw their wallet in anger, and Manchester United and Arsenal only have spent a massive £2.8m between them... With Arsenal contributing, er... zero.

You see, as far as I was aware, Liverpool are supposed to be skint. "We need to build a 700,000 seater stadium so we can keep up with the likes of Chelski and Manyoo" they say. "We can't compete anymore because we've been left behind financially". "We're poor..." they cry. Well, they don't seem to be doing that badly. 

On reflection, Liverpool's decline over the last few years is not, in my opinion down to a lack of funds. Lets face it, it's not as if they've been scratching around for a transfer kitty this last few years. The main reason is simply down to adopting a poor recruitment policy of picking up average players on massive salaries. Poor use of funds, rather than a lack of it. After all, the Reds are currently lying in 5th place in the current Premiership Rich List, and on the strength of that, not as poor as we'd imagine. Am I the only one that's noticed this?

In terms of revenues, Liverpool have, potentially, some large income from the departures of Luis Suarez - at least around £35m by all accounts (excuse the pun) but surely a profit on the £23m purchase price - and Jonjo Shelvey, who's lack of discipline, composure and overall poor form seems to have earned him a place on the sales ledger, so perhaps £7m for him as reported. I don't expect Liverpool to get anywhere near that amount for Jay Spearing who is allegedly being tracked by Stoke City and Bolton Wanderers, perhaps £3m at most. Add to that the possible sale of Pepe Reina and there is a likely healthy profit in the air. Surely a pleasant prospect for Mr. Hughes. 

It's near on certain that once the rest of the top four get their readies to hand, I think Liverpool will fall down the transfer spending table. However, it's clear to see that things are not as bleak as many Reds supporters would imagine. That coupled with the astute purchases made by Brendan Rodgers so far, don't paint too bad a picture for the club in the short to medium term, and especially so if that can be translated into results on the pitch. 

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Build from the back

Oops!!

No cryptic start to the title of this blog. It is about what it says it's about. Liverpool remain in my view a team in transition, despite Brendan Rodgers telling The Mirror this week that he thinks he's solved Liverpool's "Top-four puzzle". Perhaps he knows something we don't? I hope so. Reported over the last couple of days has been the possible signing of Sunderland 'keeper Simon Mignolet.

If Rodgers can get Mignolet on board, then he may well be right. The finishing table from last season shows The Reds a creditable seventh, just two points away from the blue-noses across the way. In other words, a win or two draws short of sixth. You probably know where I'm going with this. Pepe Reina is rumored to be leaving for Barcelona this year, and I think that could be a good move for both Reina and Liverpool. Errors against Man City, Arsenal and Tottenham among others' individual mistakes cost the team dear and I think it's time for a change between the sticks. 

I checked some stats for both Mignolet and Reina and they make interesting reading. The shots faced to goals conceded is telling. According to thescore.com Reina's ratio shows that out of 292 shots he was  beaten 34 times. Or 11.6% of all shots bulging the net. On the other hand, Mignolet, played more games but let in 54 goals having faced 524 strikes. Remember, he was playing for Sunderland, bless him! These numbers give us a return of 10.3% which considering he was clearly overworked speaks volumes for his ability. 

There are another two areas I looked at which indicate that perhaps Reina has, quite literally, taken his eye off the ball. He's been at fault for at least, arguably six points this season. Against Citeh and the Gooners, valuable points were lost through errors. A glance at Reina's stats show a steady increase over the last three seasons to reach six howlers last term. If I wanted to be pedantic, I'd say that was six points right there. Not enough for European qualification but a place higher nonetheless. Mignolet on the other hand has an error count of just two. Notwithstanding the fact the poor lad didn't get a moment's rest! Add to that the fact that Reina has missed 32% or 10 of his 41 crosses compared to Mignolet's 6% or 3 of the 50 crosses he's had to intercept and you get the picture.

Unlike David James, who I believe Liverpool let go before his peak, it's probably time for Peps to move on. I wouldn't say he's past it, but I get the impression that he's not as happy at Liverpool these days as he has been in the past. Is it any coincidence that since the speculation linking him with a move to Barcelona, his form has steadily declined? I'd say, his heart is definitely not in it anymore. To be fair to him, he started out at Barcelona and the chance to return there as number one and follow in his old man's footsteps must be a hard one to resist. On the other hand, Mignolet at 25 has his best years ahead of him and is in the kind of form Reina was showing three or four seasons ago.

Pepe Reina will be sorely missed because he has been a relatively consistent performer over the time he's been at Liverpool but if Rodgers is intending to push for a top four spot next season, then he could do a lot worse than bringing Mignolet in to shore up the last line of defence. With the additions made to the attack, he still has work to do with the rest of the defence. Kolo "tree-trunk legs" Toure is a more than worthwhile signing in my opinion but we still need more cover. You know, build from the back, so to speak.

Follow me on Twitter @Mrbengreen