A lot has happened at Liverpool in the last 12 months. It was not long when Liverpool were trading punch for punch against Manchester City for their first League title since 1990. Things however, are rather going downhill for The Reds if last season would be taken as the benchmark.
Liverpool are languishing at 7th position in the league and look like struggling to get in to the much coveted Champions League place. It would not be harsh to say that manager Brendan Rodgers went out and bought players this season at skimmed valued and amazingly high salary.
Fair to say Liverpool squad as a whole has under performed this season and some of the salaries for the Liverpool players do not justify the amount of work they are putting on the field.
Earlier we highlighted the overpaid players at Manchester United. Continuing our theme of revealing the players who steal their livelihood from the club they play for, we present the players who can be rightly called “Bank Robbers” at Liverpool.
Mario Balotelli: £110,000-a-week
Mario Balotelli at £16 Million, well that sounds like a bargain when you consider the potential and skill of the man but when you rake his off-field activities, attitude and baggage that the Italian bring with himself, deal looks massively overpaid and incredibly risky.
Liverpool went ahead and signed Mario with a hope to replace Luis Suarez. Balotelli has so far scored 3 goals for Liverpool in 22 apearances. It was just last week when Balotelli scored his first league goal this season. It does not represent any value for Liverpool to pay £110k-a-week to Mario who just cant be trusted to perform week-in-week-out.
Glen Johnson: £90,000-a-week
Days of Glen Johnson being called a defender are long passed now. Johnson fails to perform his first line of duty, i.e defend. Johnson has turned in to a liability at the club and fans are right in asking for his exclusion from the club.
Despite all the protests, Brendan Rodgers seems to offer Glen Johnsson a one year extention at the club. It will be interesting to see the salary fro Johnson after his new contract. I will be damned if he gets his current figure of £90k-a-week retained, simply because he is not worth it.
Jose Enrique: £65,000-a-week
Another Liverpool star struck with injury and poor form. Enrique missed bulk of Liverpool’s charge towards totle last season. Since his return, Enrique looks a mere shadow of himself from his good days in the League with Newcastle and Liverpool.
Some segment of the viewers would find it harsh, but the fact is Enrique is getting paid way too much for a player who is just sitting on the bench in recent times. Alberto Moreno’s rise to the first team means Enrique will further go down in the pecking order. I do not see any reason to justify Enrique’s £65k-a-week salary with Liverpool.
Dejan Lovren: £70,000-a-week
Statistically Dejan Lovren is the most error-prone defender in the league this season. Brendan Rodgers brought Lovren with a view to be the new Jamie Carragher for Liverpool but sadly it has turned in to a rather nightmerish season for the former Southampton player who moved to Anfield for a whooping £20 Million in the summer.
Lovren’s continuos errors on the pitch have seen Rodgers drop him and change the entire formation at Liverpool byy going with 3 men at the back. It says a lot when the manager is opting to switch Emre Can at the back who is a midfield player and not trust Lovren to do the job.
On top of everything there is a salary of £70k-a-week which can not be ignored for long and if Liverpool do not fancy him in their plansm he should be sold and get somene who can actually defend for The Reds.
Fabio Borini: £60,000-a-week
Another Liverpool striker on the list, that goes to show how ar Liverpool have failed to replace Luis Suarez’s departure from Anfield. Borini was the very first purchase Rodgers did and since then injury driven seasons and loan spell at Sunderland have been the only things Liverpool fans can remember about Borini.
Brendan Rodgers twice had the chance to relieve Borini of his horrible Liverpool stay. First it was Sunderland who wanted to sign Borini on full term bassis for £10 million, then it was West Ham who came with a massive £14 million bid for the Italian. Surprisngly both the bids were declined by the club and Borini is still there and taking a hefty salary of £60k-a-week with club.
Honorable mentions: Joe Allen and Rickie Lambart @ £45,000-a-week.
Read how we revealed the bank robbers at Manchester United