da betway： One move that highlighted Liverpool’s current lack of funds and desperation in the transfer market this summer was the £4m signing of English defender Paul Konchesky from Fulham.
da poker： With the club £350m in debt and desperately seeking new owners, manager Roy Hodgson was forced to work effectively without fresh investment during the transfer window, as he looked stamp his mark at Anfield. The former Blackburn Rovers and Inter Milan boss managed to raise £34.9m through player sales, while £22.5m of this was invested in new recruits, or around 70% of the total income generated. Giving the club a profit of £12.4m in the market this summer, a healthy sum which remained unspent.
The Reds made two fine acquisitions in the shape of Joe Cole on a free transfer from Chelsea and Portuguese playmaker Raul Meireles in the close season, yet the arrivals of the aging Konchesky and defensive midfielder Christian Poulsen are questionable.
Despite Konchesky increasing the club’s home-grown quota, was he really the best option available to Hodgson? It seems his old club Fulham got the best deal, pocketing £4m and bringing in Mexican international Carlos Salcido for £1.5m, a player who has impressed with his early performances in England.
Hodgson identified a new left-back as his number one priority back in July. The new manager immediately informed Argentine Emiliano Insua that he was surplus to requirements and the 21-year-old soon departed on a season-long loan to Galatasaray. While the re-signing of Fabio Aurelio highlighted the club’s desperate need for a new left-sided defender.
Liverpool message boards were filled with excitement as the highly-rated Dutchman Royston Drenthe and Bayern Munich’s Danijel Pranjic were both heavily linked with a summer move to Anfield. This proved to be wishful thinking however. Instead, Hodgson opted for Konchesky, his former charge at Craven Cottage, who arrived just before transfer deadline day. A move which raised some eyebrows amongst Reds supporters.
Konchesky is not a bad defender, just an extremely average one. Solid and unspectacular maybe best used to describe the Barking-born left-back. And no matter how much of a miracle worker Hodgson is, he is not going to improve Konchesky at the age of 29. While anything is better than the former accident waiting to happen, Djimi Traore, the defender is unlikely to set pulses racing at Anfield. I would take Norwegian international John Arne Riise over him every time.
The former Hammer has had an average career which has seen him capped just twice for his country, despite over a decade of Premier League service. Even when concerns arose regarding Ashley Cole’s fitness heading into the World Cup this summer, coupled with Wayne Bridge’s international retirement, Konchesky was never a genuine contender for the spot behind rivals Leighton Baines and former Red Stephen Warnock. His arrival only illuminates just how far Liverpool have fallen over the last two seasons.
Hodgson does however know the positives that Konchesky can bring to his side having managed him during his two-and-a-half-year spell at Fulham. The traditional defender was a key member of Hodgson’s first XI and made nearly 100 appearances for the club during his time in West London. The left-back will offer consistency, effort and stability and should be given the chance to prove his doubters wrong.
Unfortunately, Konchesky has yet to finish a league game for the Reds this season, with the early stages of his Liverpool career being affected by injuries and a lack of fitness. In a further blow, the defender looks set to be out until after the international break after suffering a hamstring strain against Sunderland last month.
Konchesky will be keen to show fans what he can really do on his return and prove that he was not just a last-minute emergency addition to the Liverpool ranks by a manager struggling with a minimal budget.
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