Steven Gerrard made as many as 15 signings this summer, and he used his connections with Liverpool well by bringing in the likes of Ovie Ejaria, Ryan Kent and Jon Flanagan. A lot was expected especially out of Kent, but one has to say he is yet to put in a defining performance with his new team. He has featured in 10 games so far this season and has created just one assist playing down the left flank in most of the games.
The winger has good pace and agility, but his final product remains questionable. Now don’t get us wrong, he hasn’t been poor in the games which he has played, but he seems to lack that cutting edge. The sample is also a sizeable one now to judge Kent’s performance as the manager has given him a good run in the first team. Now, we believe after the international break, Gerrard should give new signing Eros Grezda a go in the first team.
The Albanian international was signed as a backup to Jamie Murphy who suffered a season-ending injury. Grezda is predominantly a right winger but is equally good at doing a job on the left flank as well. The Albanian international was impressive when he was with Lokomotiva where he scored 15 and assisted nine goals in 72 appearances. He has a certain sense of directness to his game, and he even played as a centre-forward for his previous sides.
Grezda has also shown willingness to track back and do his defensive duties throughout his career so Gerrard would be glad to have a man like that in the starting eleven. The only question remains whether he would be able to adapt himself to the dynamics of the Scottish football.
Kent was found wanting in the derby against the Hoops, and maybe it’s time for Gerrard to make a change. Having made so many new signings, Gerrard would need to find out his best eleven and best players in their best positions soon to try and mount a decent challenge for the title. They are currently languishing behind at the seventh spot with just one win in 4 games. But admittedly the Europa League qualifiers took a lot out of this team in that time.
Grezda is relatively young as he is 23 and so he can improve on specific facets of his game. We believe the Albanian would be more of a goal threat than Kent who probably needs a goal or two to bring back his confidence. The Gers would be facing Dundee next who have lost all four of their games. Maybe that game would be a good time for the manager to introduce Grezda in the Gers lineup before they take on Villareal next in the Europa league.
