Liverpool promised much but delivered far too little in one of their most dismal Premier Legaue campaigns in recent memory.
It's ironic, because Liverpool's massive fan following welcomed the new season with more optimism than in any campaign in recent history. Exactly nine months later, as the Anfield outfit succumbed to Swansea on the last day of the season, Liverpool had delivered their lowest finish in 18 years.
The largesse of the Reds' new American owners was fully exploited at the start with £108 million pounds spent on Stewart Downing, Jordan Henderson, Charlie Adam, Craig Bellamy, Jose Enrique and Sebastian Coates in addition to the procurement of Andy Carroll and Luis Suarez in the January transfer window.
So it was understandable when many felt the expensive ensemble would help thrust Liverpool back into title contention or at least bring about a return to the Champions League.
But the British backbone that former manager Kenny Dalglish built failed to prop up anything close to a title charge, spending most of the season floundering in mid-table mediocrity.
Carroll, the young frontman expected to be the city's new darling , continually failed to impress with only a late flourish justifying even a part of his record transfer fee.
In Bellamy and Downing, Liverpool finally found two genuine left-sided wingers but their uniqueness in their foot preference in the Liverpool squad was all that distinguished them. The pacey Welshman was at least worth the trouble as, having not cost a cent, he did not have to live up to much. The former Aston Villa man, however, failed to muster a single assist or goal in the Premier League ranking him possibly as the worst signing of the 21st century.
Even Suarez, the side's chief goalscorer and their brightest light of the season, performed well only in patches - adding to striking woes that saw the lowest number of goals scored at Anfield by the home side (24) since the 1903-04 season.
There were mitigating factors no doubt - the biggest being the 38 times the Reds managed to find the woodwork instead of the back of the net, but Dalglish's tactics throughout the season threw up some puzzling questions.
An inability to adapt
Why was Maxi Rodriguez relegated to the bench despite looking so dangerous every time he came on? Why was Henderson employed down the right when he clearly failed at being a winger? Why was Downing given a starting berth time and again despite his inability to make the decisive pass?
And when counter-attacking football led to losses against QPR, Wigan and West Brom, why would Dalglish continue to employ the same tactics against Fulham, the bane of Liverpool?
Only he would know.
The Scot was one of the poorest tacticians of the league this term. He failed to learn from his mistakes or observe the nature of play during games and even employed a high line against Cardiff in the Carling Cup final that saw the Blues steal a surprise lead.
Releasing wingers down the flanks and then asking them to cut back in towards the middle was one-dimensional and with said wingers renowned neither for pace nor guile, it has never amounted to anything of substance. Instead, Liverpool profited most from their Uruguayan striker's willingness to dribble and make space for himself.
The midfielders needed to exhibit off-the-ball running in order draw defenders away and break the shape of opposing defences, but only in the cup competitions was such coordination visible.
Dalglish's use of substitutes was also poor as Carroll was usually preferred over Dirk Kuyt and Rodriguez when greater invention was required.
The fading of the old stars
Another contributing factor was Steven Gerrard's lack of contribution. It was often said this season that Liverpool had failed to win a game with Gerrard in the Starting XI until his hat-trick against Everton and while statistics don't tell the full story, there is no doubt he was not nearly as influential as in seasons past.
Gerrard scored just once from a free-kick this season against Manchester United showing how he is not a threat from distance anymore. While he still has the energy and determination to makes surging runs, he looks a shadow of the player who emerged as topscorer for the club in 2006 and 2009.
The club's other long-seving player, Jamie Carragher, however, contributed to numerous errors and was culpable for Robin van Persie's two goals back in March. And that stalwart between the posts, Pepe Reina, failed to show the form that won him the Golden Glove award from 2005 to 2008.
Off-field fracas
It didn't help that the Reds were embroiled in one of the biggest controversies of the season, the Suarez-Patrice Evra saga. It started on the pitch, but then moved beyond the stadium's confines to become the biggest talking point in English football for months.
Liverpool's response to allegations that Suarez had racially abused Evra was appalling - especially after the player was found guilty and banned for eight matches. Instead of declaring such behaviour unacceptable, the club kept denying the allegations with the weak defence of the cultural ambiguity of the Spanish language.
Dalglish then began a staunch defence of his players and stayed in that mode for the rest of the season. His refusal to criticise his players cocooned them into a shell of complacency that proved disastrous for the rest of the season. Losing Suarez for such an extended period meant that they were always going to struggle to score.
Hope springs eternal
Prior to being shown the exit door, Dalglish insisted that securing a place in the Europa League coupled with the Carling Cup trophy indicated a degree of progress. Clearly, in removing Dalglish from his post, the owners disagreed.
Fenway Sports Group's first priority is of course to find the right man for the job, and then carry out an overhaul to weed out the has-beens. The departure of sporting director Damien Comolli, public relations chief Ian Cotton and several Liverpool players is perhaps start of this process.
Funds are likely to be restricted and Liverpool will probably seek to procure players from foreign leagues as England has proved a disappointing pasture. But with the club's reputation on the wane, it's likely that they will have to go for their second or third choices.
Liverpool did end up with the fourth-best defence in the league, and if, like Newcastle, they can manage to make some canny signings to support Suarez up front, next season might yet turn out to be better.
But the improvements are unlikely to be dramatic despite an optimistic ESPNSTAR.com reader pointing out that Juventus ended last season in seventh place before winning the Scudetto unbeaten this year.
To be brutally honest, Liverpool would be lucky to even secure fourth place next season and it appears increasingly likely that captain Gerrard will end his career as the best English player to not have won the Premier League.
Best player of the season: Daniel Agger was injury-prone this season but looked commanding whenever he did play.
Worst player of the season: Undoubtedly, it has to be Downing and based on his performances this season, he is worth less than a tenth of the sum spent to bring him to the club.
What Liverpool need: A central midfielder to thread passes through to Suarez and Carroll and a clearing-out of the mediocre players at the club.
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