JAMIE CARRAGHER: Liverpool have been so poor this season... now they need to step up the intensity in the Merseyside derby
Where are the Liverpool of last season? It is a question that has been asked of Brendan Rodgers almost every week since this campaign began.
Having seen their team come within a whisker of winning the Barclays Premier League, the anticipation supporters would have felt during the summer has, after three defeats in five matches, started to be replaced by apprehension. They feel like they have been here before.
In some respects, they have. Given the changes that have taken place since last May, it is impossible not to draw parallels with what happened in 2009, when Liverpool finished runners-up to Manchester United but failed to take the final step.
For the sale of Luis Suarez to Barcelona this summer, you had the departure of Xabi Alonso to Real Madrid back then. No matter how brave a face you try to put on the situation, you cannot under-estimate how damaging it is to lose part of the spine of your team.
Suarez, with his 31 goals, was clearly more vital to what Liverpool achieved last season than Alonso was in 2008-09 but the perception around both transfers is the same: you know you are losing a world-class talent and the team no longer looks right.
Our problem in 2009 was the fact Alonso’s replacement, Alberto Aquilani, arrived injured and struggled to make an impact. This year Rodgers has seen his band’s lead singer move on and, so far, it seems as if Suarez has been replaced with backing singers.
Liverpool, however, have spent more than £100million. With nine new faces arriving, there will be a period of adjustment and we have heard how they will need time to settle. I used to feel, though, that you could gauge within a couple of months about whether a signing would be successful.
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