Liverpool fans will reflect on the 2012-2013 season with mixed feelings. Once again, the Reds were never in contention to recapture their past glory due mainly to inconsistent results, particularly in the first half of the season. They improved later in the season with the arrivals of Danny Sturridge and Phillipe Coutinho in the January transfer window but they didn’t get into their stride before the very late stages of the campaign. They ended in 7th place, behind city rivals Everton for the second season running, and a distant 12 points from Arsenal in 4th. Expectations were high in the Kop after the appointment of Brendan Rodgers, who had taken over in the summer after impressing in charge of Swansea City. The new Reds boss brought in defensive midfielder Joe Allen in his suitcases, along with Fabio Borini from Roma. Other arrivals included midfielder Nuri Sahin on loan from Real Madrid, as well as winger Oussama Assaidi from the Dutch league. With hindsight, a stronger reinforcement would have been needed in the summer. Rodgers was unable to recruit the striker he wanted in late August after the departure of Andy Carroll on loan to West Ham had left him woefully short of options in the attack. Youngsters Raheem Sterling and Suso had good spells in the side early on but soon faded while Fabio Borini’s season was curtailed by an Achilles injury. Most of the goal-scoring burden therefore lay on Luis Suarez’ shoulders in the first half of the season. The Uruguayan didn’t disappoint, reaching double figures by mid-November. He ended only second to Robin Van Persie in the scoring charts this season, with 23 strikes to his name. That was in spite of being reduced to 33 starts by suspension since he also topped the bookings count for the Reds with 10 yellow cards. Miraculously, he was never sent off in spite of repeatedly courting controversy with his diving, aggressive play and general lack of sportsmanship. He went too far on 22 April when he bit Chelsea defender Bronislav Ivanovic and a lengthy ban retrospectively was meted out to him by the FA. Before that, he had been the Reds’ saviour on many occasions, using his skill and predatory instinct to get vital goals. Elsewhere, Steven Gerrard had a commendable season, managing 10 goals in 36 starts. Injury spared the Liverpool captain this season but it still took quite a toll on the squad, with Lucas missing the first part with a severe thigh injury. The promising Martin Kelly was absent for the whole campaign while Reina and Jose Enrique had extended spells in the treatment room. Daniel Agger had a full season in central defense but Martin Skrtel lost his place alongside the Dane to veteran Jaimie Carragher in the final third of the season. Stewart Downing was also a regular starter on the right side. Liverpool struggled to get any kind of momentum early on, and throughout the campaign, and had to wait for their sixth game of the season to get off the mark. They were bested by Arsenal and Manchester United at home in the first two months of the season and their first win at Anfield came only on 20th October against promoted Reading. They remained way off the pace in mid-table in the run up to Christmas with erratic results. Their defense of the League Cup had ended in October at home against Swansea while Oldham were to beat them in the FA Cup fourth round at the end of January. Danny Sturridge gave them a shot in the arm in January, scoring in his first three appearances. The Reds looked vastly improved but dropped points against Arsenal and Manchester City in arguably their best games that far in the season. Still, they strung together three league wins for the first time in February but had left it too late. They had a late push after they were knocked out of the Europa League by Zenit St Petersburg to bring them within sight of Everton, who had been in the top six since the early stages. They were unable to overcome the Toffees in the Merseyside Derby at Anfield in early May and ended the season two points behind them on 61 points.
