Will Liverpool suffer from 'second-season syndrome' once again?

For the devout and superstitious supporters of Liverpool Football Club, Saturday's surprise 1-0 defeat at home to Aston Villa would have been marked with curious suspicion. Although this Premier League season is only four games young, the defeat to Aston Villa meant that so far in the league campaign the Anfield Club have only taken six points from a possible twelve. At this stage of their league campaign last year, the Reds had amassed ten from twelve.


Prior to the start of this season, Liverpool lost their influential but maniacal talisman Luis Suarez to Barcelona for £75 million. Suarez played a determining role in the club's ascent to second position in the last campaign with 33 goals, winning individual honours such as the Premier League Golden Boot, the PFA Player's Player of the Year award and the Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year accolade too. Much talk in the close-season was if the Reds' form would plummet having sold their best player just as it had happened to Tottenham Hotspur when Gareth Bale had left White Hart Lane to join Spanish giants Real Madrid for a world record transfer fee of £85.3 million. Liverpool may well replicate the season Tottenham endured last year eventually finishing fifth in the league culminating in the dismissals of first, Andre Villas-Boas in December of last year following a 5-0 home defeat to Liverpool, and secondly, his successor Tim Sherwood last May.

In an attempt to lessen the not large but yawning hole that emerged once Luis Suarez's transfer to the Camp Nou had been officially confirmed, Liverpool spent over £100 million recruiting Rickie Lambert, Adam Lallana, Dejan Lovren (all from Southampton), Mario Balotelli, Divock Origi (who has been loaned back by Lille - the club he had signed from), Lazar Markovic, Javier Manquillo, Alberto Moreno and Emre Can over the summer. Whilst Balotelli and Lambert were signed to score goals, Lallana and Markovic joined to add some much needed creativity- another crucial aspect of Suarez's game (accumulating twenty-one assists in the league last season). Inevitably, the Merseyside club's transfer dealings drew similar comparisons to Tottenham's transfer activity last summer when owner Daniel Levy sanctioned the arrivals of Erik Lamela, Christian Eriksen, Vlad Chriches, Etienne Capoue, Paulinho, Roberto Soldado and Nacer Chadli in deals north of £110.5 million. Spurs' season was perhaps characterised by the new signings inability, and to an extent, disinclination to gel together and adapt to new surroundings leading to Villas-Boas and Sherwood's aforementioned departures.

Irrespective of Tottenham's form last year, what would be most pertinent to Liverpool fans is a worrying 'second-season syndrome' decline the club seem to go through the season after they finish second in the Premier League. In the 2001-2002 campaign, Liverpool under the Gerard Houllier regime had finished seven points adrift of Arsenal in the league - their highest league position since 1991. The key to Liverpool's success that season was their strong form when playing at Anfield having amassed more points than any other team at home that season. Michael Owen was also instrumental in the Reds' title push with nineteen goals in the league that season. Owen's unyielding efforts in front of goal are best revealed by the fact that the second highest goalscorer after the him was his club and country team-mate Emile Heskey with nine goals. Robbie Fowler had left his boyhood team to join Leeds United for £11 million midway through that season.

Prior to the 2002-03 campaign, Houllier was expected to significantly strengthen his squad if Liverpool were to be successful in their title push (John Arne Riise was the only notable addition in the 01-02 season). Of the reputable names signed, Salif Diao and El-Hadji Diouf, who both joined from French clubs CS Sedan-Ardnennes and RC Lens on the back of very promising performances representing Senegal in the 2002 World Cup, and French midfielder Bruno Cheyrou had also signed from Ligue 1 outfit Lille, were expected to inject more verve into the team. Nearly everything went wrong however.

Diouf who costed £10 million and was signed instead of making Nicolas Anelka's loan move from Paris Saint-Germain a permanent one after a successful six-month loan deal the previous season, was the striker Houllier hoped would wrestle the title away from rivals Arsenal and Manchester United, as well as easing the goal-scoring burden off Michael Owen's shoulders. On his Anfield debut against Southampton, Diouf netted twice in a 3-0 win. Nonetheless, his next goal did not come until March 2003. During that time, the Reds had gone a morale-crushing twelve games without a win in the league, a run stretching over two months. Diouf finished the season with a disconcerting three goals in twenty-nine games and was shunted midway through the season to the right-flank to accommodate Heskey and Owen's partnership. Liverpool ended the season in fifth place, losing out on a Champions League spot on the last game of the season to direct rivals Chelsea succumbing to a 2-1 loss at Stamford Bridge. The overachievers during that season, Blackburn Rovers, under the leadership of Kop legend Graeme Souness ended only four points adrift of Liverpool in sixth place. 

Six years on from that rather forgettable season and with Diouf, Diao and Houllier firmly consigned to the past (not that the latter was seen as a failure at Liverpool), the Reds were now under the reign of Rafael Benitez. The outspoken Spaniard had won the Champions League in 2005 defeating AC Milan in Istanbul and the FA Cup against West Ham in Cardiff a year later, winning both matches on penalties after 3-3 thrillers after extra time. In the 2008-09 season, Benitez had engineered Liverpool to another strong second-place finish in the league, pushing arch-rivals Manchester United until the penultimate game of the season. With a total of 86 points, Benitez had overhauled Houllier's points record, resulting in Liverpool's most successful season to date since the inception of the Premier League in its current format in 1992.   

Similar to Houllier's situation, avid Liverpool supporters, including Anfield icon Alan Hansen, were expecting Benitez to go one place better and win the title. The £30 million sale of Xabi Alonso to Real Madrid, who was part of Liverpool's impregnable spine from 2004 to 2009 along with the likes of Pepe Reina, Jamie Carragher, Sami Hyypia, Javier Mascherano, Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres had hit Liverpool extremely hard. Alonso was arguably just as important to the Liverpool side as Gerrard was. Unhinging opposition defences with an unearthly talent of phenomenal passing, breaking-up play, and displaying a calm, unflappable demeanor on the pitch, Alonso was instrumental in Liverpool's stirring cup final comeback victories against Milan and West Ham, in addition to Liverpool's second-place finish in 08-09. 

So Benitez replacing his compatriot Alonso with the talented but injury-prone Alberto Aquilani from Roma for £17 million would have never truly gone down well amongst the club's most ardent supporters. Ironically, Aquilani was injured upon his arrival at Merseyside and did not make his league debut until 9th November 2009, coming on us a late substitute against Birmingham City in a 2-2 draw at Anfield. The signing of Aquilani represented one of the numerous amount of problems that was to happen during that season. Liverpool had already started the 2009-10 campaign with a 2-1 defeat away to Tottenham. In their second home game of the season the Reds lost 3-1 to an Aston Villa side inspired by Ashley Young. Their travails away from home were well documented having failed to take a single point at Spurs, Portsmouth, Fulham and Wigan to name a few. Their prolific striker Fernando Torres had suffered lengthy spells in the sidelines though still scored eighteen goals. Furthermore, fringe players such as Albert Riera, Ryan Babel and Yossi Benayoun all became increasingly frustrated with Benitez regarding a lack of game-time opportunities and voiced their deep-rooted concerns to the media.

Liverpool eventually finished the season a lowly seventh position which at the time was their worst season in the league since the 1998-99 campaign. Their away record, which had undermined the whole of their season, read at the end: Played 19, Won 5, Drawn 6, Lost 8. Benitez had his contracted terminated by mutual consent a month later bringing to an end his six-year stay as Liverpool manager and was replaced by Roy Hodgson. Fernando Torres left Liverpool just over six months later to join Chelsea for a then British transfer record of £50 million.

Brendan Rodgers must surely be acutely aware of the examples of both the second-season syndromes Liverpool experienced in 2002-03 and 2009-10 and will be at pains to ensure that the club's promising project does not show any signs of stagnating, particularly after last season's success. Although only four games have been played in the league thus far, Liverpool's performances, aside from the Tottenham result three weeks ago, suggests better performances are needed. In the 09/10 season, Liverpool had collected exactly the dame amount of points from the same amount of games as they have at the start of this season. And in the 02/03 season, after four games, Houllier's side were only two points better off. Perhaps it is too easy to read into such statistics and inevitably the new signings will take time to adapt as they get accustomed to each other, but as recent history indicates, Brendan Rodgers will feel that his side will need to register a win against West Ham at Upton Park tomorrow evening before the club's most loyal supporters start thinking superstitiously.

How will the African nations fair in the the 2014 World Cup?

When the Confederation of Africa Football (CAF) announced in May 2010 that the African Cup of Nations was to be held in odd-numbered years in an attempt to contain the poor performances of the nations representing Africa in the World Cup from 2013 onwards, there was inevitably a sense of both hope and sadness across the continent.

Hope would have definitely been the underlying feeling within many of Africa's leading footballing nations. For years, much had been expected of sides such as Cameroon, Ghana, Nigeria and the Ivory Coast, at the biggest stage of world football over the past decade, with reputable footballing figures such as Samuel Eto'o, Michael Essien, John Obi Mikel and Didier Drogba originating from each of the four respective countries. Never in the history of the World Cup has a country belonging to the African continent made it to a semi-final. Ghana were harshly eliminated by Uruguay in the quarter-final stage on penalties in the last tournament. With no African Nations Cup scheduled  over the course of the next two months, it is now hoped that the continent's four premier nation's, along with Algeria, who will make their fourth World Cup appearance, will make a better account of themselves at this summer's finals in Brazil.

At the other end of the spectrum following CAF's announcement more than three years ago now, was ultimately a sense of sadness, too. Last year the Nations Cup, which was won by Nigeria in South Africa, was the first time the tournament  had not been played in an even-numbered year since the fifth inception of the tournament in 1965. Up until Nigeria had sealed their qualification to this summer's competition by comfortably seeing of Ethiopia last month, it had been nine years since the African Nations champions had qualified for the world cup- when Tunisia saw off Morocco in Tunisia in 2004 (and even that edition of the African Nations was not played in the same year as the World Cup).

This dismaying statistic should be met with particular anguish amongst Egyptians. Undeniably the most successful team in the continent of the 2000's, capturing an unprecedented three African Nations cups in a row, in 2006, 2008, and 2010, it seems a great shame that one of Africa's most  successful teams seem highly unlikely to be denied the fortuity to showcase their capabilities to the world. Key players who had propelled the country to such heavenly and historic heights, Mohamed Aboutrika, Ahmed Hassan and Wael Gomaa have now retired from international football, in the case of Aboutrika and Hassan, or, in Gomaa's case at 38 years old, has very limited time representing his country.

Nevertheless, there is one thing that Egyptians, and the rest of the African nations not participating in Brazil possess that no other continent seem to have, a sense of unity- the 'spirit of Africa' which was experienced in the 2010 World Cup when Ghana were a goal-line clearance (regardless of how legitimate Luis Suarez's interception was) and the width of a crossbar away from reaching the semi-finals, before succumbing to Uruguay via penalties. It is this spirit which is expected to provide the additional boost for impressive performances from Africa's representatives next summer. Below is a breakdown in more detail on how each nation shape up ahead of the World Cup between 12th June to 13th July.

Cameroon

Having won the African Nations Cup four times and qualified for the FIFA World Cup seven times, more than any other team in their continent, Cameroon are one of Africa's most prominent teams. Hence the reason why it is quite bewildering that the team known as Les Lions Indomptables (The Indomitable Lions) have only made it out of the group stage of the competition once, in 1990, when they became the first African team to reach the quarter-final, ultimately succumbing to England in extra time.     

Roger Milla was the star for Cameroon in that competition, and went onto become not just a Cameroonian icon (he already was one), but Africa's most recognised footballer and an unmistakable character universally too. He was named one of the 125 greatest living footballers in 2004 by the Brazilian football legend Pele.

That accolade has long been taken over by Samuel Eto'o, Cameroon's favourite son. Eto'o's achievements is unrivalled in world football let alone Africa. At club level Eto'o has been honoured with fifteen winners medals, which includes three UEFA Champions League honours, three La Liga titles, winning the Scudetto with Inter Milan as well as the FIFA Club World Cup with Inter as well. With the Cameroonian international team, Eto'o has won the African Cup of Nations twice back in 2000 and 2002, and an Olympic Gold Medal in Sydney, also in 2000. He has won the African Player of the Year four times. In addition to being named top scorer of the tournament twice in 2006 and 2008, and the competition's all-time highest scorer, Eto'o is his nation's third most-capped player, after Rigobert Song and Geremi Njitap, with 114 caps, and, inimitably, Cameroon's all-time top scorer with 55 goals. Records aside however, and most importantly to Cameroon, Eto'o remains Les Lions Indomptables talisman.

Despite his powers slightly appearing to be on the wane when playing for Chelsea, the 32 year-old is still Cameroon's best player. Over the past two years Eto'o has developed an 'on and off' relationship with the Federation Camerounaise de Football, Cameroon's footballing federation, following a series of events which commenced in December 2011, when he was banned by the board for fifteen games, after the team refused to play a friendly against Algeria earlier that year, Eto'o was seen as the instigator in that particular case and undoubtedly contributed to Cameroon's inconsistent form over the last two years and their absence from the last two African Cup of Nations in 2012 and 2013.

Controversies aside, it is very hard to see Eto'o and his team-mates replicate the awe-inspiring form of Roger Milla and company 24 years ago. Cameroon are grouped with hosts Brazil, and face stern encounters with Mexico and Croatia. Emerging from that group seems almost impossible when you consider Cameroon's opponents and their form over the past couple of years.

The appointment of the German football manager, Volker Finke, in May of last year, as well as the nous of Eto'o and other experienced players in Jean Makoun, Alex Song and Pierre Webo are essential in order to compliment the fine talents of Nicolas N'Koulou, Jean-Armel Kana-Biyik and Vincent Aboubakar, if Cameroon are to have any chance of reaching the last 16 of the World Cup for only the second time.      

Ivory Coast

Whereas Egypt was the most successful African team of the past decade conquering the continent three times in a row, Ivory Coast were (and arguably still are) unquestionably the most gifted. Having endured the pain of losing two of the last five African Cup of Nations finals by penalties to Egypt in 2006, and then, heartbrokenly to Zambia (losing 8-7) in 2012, time is running out on Didier Drogba, Didier Zokora, Kolo Toure and Yaya Toure, all of whom are on the wrong side of their thirties, if they are to make a forceful impact in world football.

In all fairness, the The Elephants- have been unfortunately drawn in the 'group of death' in the last two World Cups. In their first appearance in the tournament in 2006, and under the guidance of the former French midfielder, Henri Michel,  they were drawn alongside international heavyweights Argentina and the Netherlands, as well as Serbia and Montenegro, ending third and four points of second spot. Then in 2010, and this time led by Sven-Goran Eriksson, the Ivorians were grouped with one of the favourites Brazil, along with Portugal, and debutants North Korea, this time only a point shy of a place in the next round.

This time under the tutelage of Sabri Lamouchi, the Elephants have the chance to make the final 16 of the competition for the first time in their third attempt, though it would not be easy. Colombia, Japan and Greece await them, and although the Ivorians are faced with a slightly simpler task compared to the groups they were sectioned in the other two occasions, qualification would still remain a splendid accomplishment. Columbia, with the likes of Radamel Falcao, Fredy Guarin and James Rodriguez, Japan, with Shinji Kagawa and Keisuke Honda, and Greece, who possess the free-scoring Olympiakos hitman, Kostas Mitroglou, will all be tough tests for the Ivory Coast.

Colombia should prove too strong for the three other sides and are predicted by many to top the group. Conversely, Greece, are seen by many as the underdogs and are expected to end last. That would leave Ivory Coast and Japan to contend with each other for second place. The two nations face each other in their first games of the tournament on 14th June, a contest which has quietly been anticipated by neutrals since the draws for the World Cup were made earlier this month. It is a match which sees Ivory Coast's athleticism come up against Japan's technicians- brawn versus brain.

For the Elephants to progress from this group, the qualities and experience of Drogba, Zokora and the Toure brothers who make up the spine of the Ivorian team are essential and must be inherent in order to compliment the exuberance and enthusiasm of Gervinho, Salomon Kalou and Cheick Tiote, in which their  creativity, guile and aggression will very much be integral to Ivory Coast's cause if they are to progress.    

Nigeria

Amidst the ongoing internal bickering between Nigeria's head coach Stephen Keshi and the Nigerian Football Federation over the former's accusations of unpaid salary throughout much of last year, 2013 has been a very fruitful year for Nigerian football in general. In February, the senior team captured the nation's third African Cup of Nations trophy with a 1-0 win over Burkina Faso in Johannesburg. This was then followed by the nation's fourth triumph of the FIFA U-17 world championships last month, defeating Mexico 3-0 at the United Arab Emirates. Nigerians all around the globe will be hoping for further improvement at the finals next year.

This will be the country's fifth appearance at the World Cup having not progressed further than the last 16 in any of their previous four appearances. Their performance in the last World Cup was personified by Yakubu Aiyegbini's astonishing four yard miss against South Korea in a match they had to win to avoid expulsion from the group stage. One of the most shocking moments in World Cup history.

This time around, Keshi's men hope to go one step further. Grouped with Iran, World Cup debutants Bosnia and Herzegovina, and two-time champions Argentina, there is renewed optimism that the Super Eagles can clinch qualification from Group F, where Argentina, whom Nigeria have now been drawn in the same group with in Nigeria's last three appearances in the finals, are expected to win the group with considerable ease. Iran should prove to be stubborn, but negotiable opponents, meaning Nigeria's game with Bosnia, who boast the talents of Manchester City's Edin Dzeko and midfield starlet Miralem Pjanic (who is in stunning  form for Roma in Serie A), on the 21st June 2014 should become the defining fixture for both nation's respective hopes of reaching the next round of the competition.

If Nigeria are to qualify for the last 16 of the world cup, much will be expected of the Chelsea midfielder John Obi Mikel and Fenerbahce frontman, Emmanuel Emenike. In Keshi's favoured, high tempo, counter-attacking, 4-2-3-1 system, Mikel plays as the most advanced of Keshi's three midfielders, the linchpin in an attacking midfield role, dissimilar to his role for his club side positioned as a holding midfielder patrolling Chelsea's back four.

The powerful yet enigmatic, Emmanuel Emenike, is unquestionably Nigeria's premier marksman. However, for, the Fenerbahce striker to be in top form, much is dependent on the service he receives from Mikel behind him, and the flanks. Though, Victor Moses, Ahmed Musa and Brown Ideye are all blessed with searing pace and that sense of unpredictably to beat an opponent, all three have the propensity to perform consistently inconsistent in the green and white jersey, with their inability to pick the right pass and deliver a telling end product being their major hindrance.

If Nigeria are to advance to the second round of the World Cup, Mikel and Emenike will have to be on top of their games.  

Ghana

Apart from the 3.3 million or so citizens living in Uruguay, it is very uncommon to meet any other football fan that felt Luis Suarez's self-proclaimed "save of the tournament", had deprived not just Ghana, but a continent home to a billion people the cherished opportunity of a African football team advancing through to the last four of sport's second biggest international event after the Olympics.

Late in the second half of extra time in this quarter-final match-up, and with the score tied at 1-1, full-back John Paintsil sent an outswinging free-kick from 30 yards out into the box; Suarez blocked Stephen Appiah's resultant shot on the goal-line. The former then blocked Dominic Ayidiah's following goal-bound header with his right hand to save what would have been the game's winner and was consequently sent off. Asamoah Gyan then agonisingly hit the crossbar with the ensuing penalty, with a relieved Suarez, who stopped to watch, cheerfully celebrating the miss before heading down the tunnel. Ghana, seemingly severely psychologically affected by the drama that occurred a few minutes earlier, lost on penalties to the Uruguayans 4-2. This was the most memorable moment of the 2010 World Cup.

It is often forgotten that, notwithstanding the event that occurred in Soccer City, Johannesburg, Ghana had performed appreciably in the last World Cup. Outperforming their African counterparts for the second time in a row, as they did in their first World Cup appearance in 2006, when they made it out of a  group that had contained Czech Republic (who's team included more than a few of the remnants that had performed so earnestly in the European championships reaching the semi-finals a couple of years before), the United States, and the eventual winners, Italy, Ghana were finally knocked out by a Ronaldo-inspired Brazil in the second round.

If Ghana are to advance through to the group stages and into the last sixteen for the third successive time, they will have to somehow negotiate their way through a very tricky group. One that consists of one of the pre-tournament favourites, Germany, Cristiano Ronaldo's Portugal, and the United States, a nation Ghana will encounter for the third World Cup in a row, having also defeated them in 2010 after extra time in their second round clash.

 Ghana's midfield, with distinguished names such as Michael Essien, Kwadwo Asamoah, Sulley Muntari and Kevin-Prince Boateng will have to perform to the best of their abilities in order to thwart German, Portuguese and American opposition. Boateng is arguably the key player for the Black Stars occupying the no.10 role behind Asamoah Gyan. Critics both within and outside Ghana have questioned the Schalke midfielder's motives having only come out of international exile in November to play in the second leg of the World Cup qualification play-off match against Egypt in Cairo. Before then, the last time the 26-year-old Berlin-born midfielder had represented Ghana was in an African Cup of Nations qualifier against Congo in October 2010.

It is hoped that Boateng, along with the aforementioned experienced midfielders and other quality players who are central to the Black Stars cause, Gyan, Andre Ayew and his younger brother, Jordan, will also have to bring out their best form in order to give Ghana a decent chance of reaching the last sixteen for a third consecutive time.    

Algeria

The one-time African Nations Cup winners and Egypt's fiercest rivals will be making their fourth appearance in the World Cup having not progressed any further than the group stage. In the last World Cup, Algeria were drawn with the United States and Slovenia, and nullified England into a goalless draw in Cape Town, much to the frustration of Wayne Rooney whom infamously shouted towards an advancing cameraman voicing his displeasure at hearing supposed "loyal supporters" booing his England teammates.

More stubbornness will be required by the Algerians in Group H if they are to restrict Belgium, Russia and South Korea, but finishing last for the second consecutive time in the World Cup seems their most likely position.

The former Rangers defender and current captain of Algeria, Madjid Bougherra, is the keystone to the side. Bougherra, who now plies his trade for the Qatari side, Lekhwiya Sports Club, lays the basic foundation to coach Vahid Halilhodzic's team and will be heavily influential in their attempts to frustrate the seemingly inevitable onslaught that will come from the Belgians, Russians and South Koreans. Djamel Mesbah, formerly of AC Milan, and now playing for Parma, naturally an attacking full-back who often looks positionally perplexed when it comes to defending, will ought to have his hands full fending off the attacking threats of Kevin Mirallas for Belgium, presumably Vladimir Bystrov for Russia, and South Korea's Lee Chung-Yong.

In 2010, Algeria failed to score a single goal in the group stages. Les Fennecs, (meaning the Fennec Foxes, the national animal of Algeria), will be reliant on the creativity of Valencia winger Sofiane Feghouli, and the Inter Milan pair, Saphir Taider and Ishak Belfodil. All three players are relatively inexperienced at international level and represent the future of Algerian football. Nevertheless, the nation is heavily dependent on them to provide the goals for their nation. Making an impact at this World Cup for the trio, Belfoldil and Taider particularly, seems a little premature however.