Since returning to the club he loves so dearly last January, Kenny Dalglish has spent over £100 million. £35m of that was used to purchase Andy Carroll from Newcastle and although this deal, unsurprisingly, receives the most attention, the below average performances of Stewart Downing have regularly slipped under the radar. Since arriving at Anfield for £20m Downing has dramatically failed to perform at anywhere near a consistent level. Indeed it is this articles assertion that in many ways he has in fact been Liverpool's most disappointing signing and not Carroll.
Although the signings of Carroll and Jordan Henderson have aroused greater skepticism, due to the duos relative lack of premier league experience however these two have one significant factor on their side. Age. Henderson is 21 and Carrol is 23 and the relative youth of these two talents was a major factor in why Liverpool were prepared to invest so heavily in them. This is not to say that Liverpool did not overpay, especially in the case of Carroll, but it is easy to see how both these acquisitions fit into the "moneyball" strategy that has been adopted by sporting director Damien Comolli, both at Liverpool and his previous club Tottenham. Although expensive, both these players offer long term potential not to mention the safety of a respectable resale value when the club does eventually decide to move them on, should they so choose. All these attributes however are noticeably absent from Stewart Downing's CV and that is why he must be viewed in a different light to his colleagues from the North East. Henderson has been practically an ever present this year and the complaint most often leveled at him is that "people don't notice him" during the game yet as discussed before this is not necessarily a bad thing.
Firstly Downing's age; he is 28 this summer and as such must be viewed as being in the prime of his career, he has years and years of premier league experience behind him, first at Middlesbrough and then at Aston Villa. By signing him for £20m Liverpool and Dalglish must surely have expected the finished product and yet he has spectacularly failed to perform. Not a single goal or assist in the league this year is a dismal return for a winger who has managed to become a fixture in England squads of late (and ironically has performed better in an England shirt than a Liverpool one). Upon his signing he was hailed as the key to unlocking Andy Carroll's potential and providing the width that has long been absent from Anfield (see Mark Gonzalez, Jermaine Pennant and Albert Reira as previous "answers" to this problem). Yet he has failed to live up to these expectations so far. Whether playing on the left or right he has offered little threat and seems uncertain of his role in the side.
At Villa both he and Ashley Young knew that under Martin O'Neill their job was to stay wide and aim to get as many crosses into the box as they could yet under Dalglish you wonder if Downing really knows what his role is. His link up play with forwards, whether it be Carroll, Luis Suarez or Dirk Kuyt is pedestrian as is his willingness to run beyond the forwards. Contrast this with Craig Bellamy, whose rise to prominence in the Liverpool team has coincided with Downing's worst run of form, the Welshman regularly runs beyond the last defender and seems to have grasped what Dalglish wants from his wide forwards in Liverpool's 4-3-3 system.
Bellamy is not the only signing that puts the pressure on Downing. Take Gervinho, far from the finished product but he was signed for half the price that Downing was, is younger and has already scored and assisted multiple times this season. Not to mention how well wide men at less fashionable clubs such as Nathan Dyer, Anthony Pilkington, Elliot Bennett, Scott Sinclair (who Liverpool have looked at on a number of occasions) have performed.
Is it a question of Downing not suiting the way Liverpool play or is it something else? In many ways Downing falls somewhere in between the classic stereotypes of wingers. He is neither a David Beckham like player who simply looks to deliver the ball the first chance he gets but nor is he a player like Sinclair who consistently looks to create one v one opportunities and drive towards goal. He is capable of both but simply does not produce to anywhere near the level someone like Antonio Valencia at Manchester United does. If Liverpool go with three in midfield, that leaves three forward positions available, although with Suarez and Bellamy (fitness permitting) really it only leaves one and at the moment Downing finds himself behind others in the pecking order.
It seems likely this weekend that Liverpool will lift their first trophy since the 2006 FA cup and yet expect to see Downing, a £20m pound winger supposedly in the prime of his career, sitting on the bench whilst a Welshman who was discarded by the premier league leaders and a Dutchmen who was signed to be a prolific goal scorer, and is now a somewhat uncomfortable right sided midfielder grace the Wembley turf.
It is not too late for Downing to rescue his Liverpool career but if he and Dalglish do not address his failure to adapt to life at Anfield his future for both his club and his country, with Euro 2012 around the corner, are at risk.
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