Comolli eyes Europa silver as Dalglish gets Reds back on track
The Frenchman claimed that the arrival of Kenny Dalglish as coach has already changed the mentality around the club and targeted winning the Europa League as a realistic aim for the season.
Comolli also added that despite Liverpool’s perilous league position, he is not looking to overhaul the squad.
“There has been talk of crisis at the club but there’s no sense of such a crisis inside the club,” Comolli told French TV station Canal Plus.
“I had the good fortune to join just after the new owners and therefore I didn’t experience the turbulence of the previous owners’ regime.
“But there’s no sense of crisis – on the contrary, there is a certain serenity with everyone looking to the future.”
Liverpool take on Wolves this lunchtime just over three weeks after Mick McCarthy’s side won 1-0 at Anfield.
Comolli did not say revenge was the target this weekend, but he pinpointed that defeat as the moment he knew the team needed a lift.
“When results don’t go your way, obviously confidence is hit, and we could see that in the game against Wolves on December 29. When we went behind, no-one seemed to want the ball, and that’s about confidence.”
That, and the World Cup hangover, are the two reasons that Comolli believes are responsible for Liverpool’s position of 13th in the Premier League, just four points away from the relegation zone.
“You have to remember that Liverpool is the Premier League club which had the most number of players at the World Cup. We had 18 players coming back from the World Cup (Liverpool actually had 12 player in South Africa compared to Chelsea’s 15): several of them were exhausted, mentally and physically.”
But the Frenchman, whose remit at Anfield includes responsibility for the academy, the medical department as well as the club’s recruitment, believes that Liverpool have turned the corner since Dalglish arrived two weeks ago, and that confidence is already on the up.
“Kenny is addressing that and you can tell that when you look at our first half against Everton [last week], when we played really well.”
This week is a big one for Liverpool: after Wolves, they play their game in hand against Fulham, also struggling in the bottom half of the table. While keen to avoid setting Dalglish a specific target for his six months in caretaker charge, Comolli believes the team can still win a trophy this season.
“What interests us is climbing back up the table, and getting away from the zone we don’t like,” he said. “The Europa League would be a major goal for us between now and end of season.”
Liverpool have been drawn to face Sparta Prague in the last 32 and, if successful, will then play the winner of Lech Poznan and Sporting Braga. Manchester City are favourites to win the competition while the leaders in Portugal (Porto), France (Lille), Holland (PSV) and Russia (Zenit) are still in the competition.
Comolli added that Liverpool’s target for the January transfer window was to buy a forward with pace and that while the club was interested in Uruguay international Luis Suarez, “for the moment there has been no dialogue with Ajax”.
There has, however, been dialogue with Blackpool with Liverpool having a £4 million (€4.7m) bid for Charlie Adam turned down by the Seasiders
Sought-after midfielder Adam has been heavily linked with a move away from Bloomfield Road during this month’s transfer window, with Aston Villa having already had two offers for the 25-year-old rejected.
Holloway has continuously stated that Adam is going nowhere this month, stressing his desire to keep the highly-rated midfielder at the promoted club.
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
