The Contenders for 2012-13 Season: Part 2 by Tushar Sharma @tushsharma

Liverpool F.C

In spite of a Carling Cup win, Liverpool’s 2011-12 was nothing short of a disaster, with almost all of Kenny Dalglish’s high profile signings miserably failing to make an impact.

Brendan Rodgers’ arrival at Anfield promises to make the Liverpool we see with the upcoming season a more forward thinking side, and will look to play some  high tempo football, with Rodgers’ trademark 3-up front set-up. This is just what Liverpool needs this season. After scoring just 47 goals in 38 games last season, an inexcusably low number for a team of Liverpool’s aspirations, they’ll look to step it up in the final third of the pitch.

Rodgers’ first signing Fabio Borini, no stranger to Rodgers or his style of football will look to make a quick impact. The new system will also suit Luis Suarez who may be deployed out wide and he will look to improve his finishing this year.  With Dirk Kuyt and Maxi Rodriguez leaving Stewart Downing will have to up his game after quite a ridiculous season. 

Craig Bellamy’s future looks uncertain but if he stays on he will be the man to provide pace out wide.  Liverpool looks fairly secure in the center of the park with Lucas Leiva, Steven Gerrard. Alberto Aquilani seems to be staying put at Anfield this season and while he may suit Rodgers’ short-passing game, whether he can finally adapt to Premier League football is uncertain. 

Charlie Adam will also stake his claim in center midfield but he likes to take his time on the ball and a high-tempo set up may not suit him. It will be interesting to see how Brendan Rodgers handles Jordan Henderson, after Dalglish failed to figure out where, and how to play him.

Rodgers will look to make more signings in the next few weeks – a forward and maybe a CM more suited to his tactics. He has quite a task on his hands, not to mention figuring out what to do with Andy Carroll, who doesn’t seem to be the man to spearhead Liverpool’s attack. 




Tottenham Hotspur F.C

Tottenham Hotspurs endured a mixed 2011-12 season, from being in a position to challenge for the title while playing some thrilling fast-paced  football , they suffered a massive drop in the league in February – the turning point being the 5-2 loss at the hands of Arsenal, where the Gunners ran them ragged.  To add to it, Spurs narrowly missed out on Champions League football following Chelsea’s triumph. Soon Harry Redknapp was confirmed to be leaving the club and Luca Modric also decided he wanted to make a move to a bigger team where he was more likely to get his hands on silverware.

In the close season, Spurs have done some good business so far, with the signings of Gylfi Sigurddson and Jan Vertonghen for a combined 18.5 million. With Rafael Van Der Vaart staying on and Gareth Bale signing a new deal, it appears Spurs’ only major loss will be Luca Modric, and he is a major loss indeed. With his departure to Real Madrid , which could be finalized any day now, Andres Villas Boas will look to reinvest Modric’s transfer fee in another midfield maestro, reportedly Joao Moutinho, who seems to be the right man to step into Modric’s shoes. Emmanuel Adebayor’s arrival  seems to be imminent and that too in a cut-price deal,  so Spurs fans will be quite happy with this transfer window. With Louis Saha’s future role at White Hart Lane uncertain, AVB may look in to bringing another top forward and mount a serious title challenge this year.