Liverpool FC – Season 2019/20 Hero and Zero
The LFC File welcomes a new contributor this week in Matthew Hardiker. Today, he looks at the players he considers Heroes and those he feels are Zeros… In every league and across every football team in the world, there will always be the heroes, and those who disappointed supporters – the zeroes. This season, Liverpool have been no exception.
With the Premier League set to return on June 17, let’s look into 2 players who have had completely contrasting seasons for the reds so far – one who went above and beyond what the fans expected of them and another who did the polar opposite.
Hero – Adrian San Miguel
Replacing Belgium International Simon Mignolet, Adrian joined the reds at the beginning of the season from Premier league club West Ham United having made over 150 appearances for the Hammers.
Many expected the 32-year-old to warm the bench for the majority of the upcoming season (a minor cup game here or there) similarly to Simon Mignolet after he was replaced by Loris Karius and eventually Alisson Becker in 2018. But this was not the case. When Alisson picked up a calf injury on the opening game of the season vs newly promoted Norwich City, it came to Adrian to step up to the job as he ran on to the beaming Anfield pitch – greeted by a thunderous standing ovation by the kop above him.
This was the first of four league games that Adrian started over a period of 2 months whilst Alisson recovered and the Spaniard’s impact towards Liverpool being able to secure all 12 points from their opening games of the campaign cannot be understated. During this time, Adrian also featured in the final of the UEFA Super Cup and saved the final penalty to beat Chelsea in Istanbul.
Adrian has also made 3 appearances in the Champions League this season but has been unable to keep a clean sheet in any of these games – conceding a total of 8 goals. Most recently, Liverpool’s new goalkeeper made an error in extra time of their last 16 game vs Atletico Madrid – leading to the visitors putting one past him before following up with another two within just 15 minutes. In knocking the reds out of Europe, it’s easy to argue that Adrian has tarnished the reputation which he worked so hard to build up amongst the supporters earlier on in the season and it could be a noticeable amount of time before many put their trust in him again when the season resumes.
Despite this blunder however, it’s important not to forget how Adrian’s heroics at the beginning of the season helped to kick start this Liverpool side towards one of the most remarkable and record breaking seasons in Premier League history and, for this, he the hero of this Liverpool side.
Zero – Naby Keita
The 2019-2020 campaign could have been the season when Naby Keita took to the spotlight and made a name for himself amongst supporters at Anfield.
The Guinean international has been plagued by injuries during his time at Liverpool after joining the club for £48m in 2018 and this season has been no different. Although we might have seen Keita in the best form of his Liverpool career following his third successive goal against Monterrey in December, it was not long before Keita picked up another injury on January 2 which kept him side-lined for another 22 days.
When it looked as though Keita was set to return against Watford in February, it was announced shortly before kick-off that he was out of action with a sore hip – further dividing supporters as to whether or not Naby would ever be able to make it on Merseyside.
There has been a selection of high points for Naby this season however – for example, he linked up brilliantly with Salah when the reds faced Bournemouth away from home and got himself on the score sheet – showing what a creative, attacking threat he can be going forward for Liverpool. But whenever there seems to be a buzz around Keita, it seems as though the next injury is never too far away which makes him a frustrating watch at times.
There’s no doubt that Jürgen Klopp and the fan base and put their trust in Naby and the idea that he will eventually come good for the reds, with Klopp stating just last February that there was “so much more to come” for him at Liverpool. But if Liverpool want to sustain the level of success that they have experienced over the past couple of years, then the reds will need players that can play on a more consistent basis, and questions will need to be asked about him.