Maxi Rodriguez – Where have all the goals gone?

When Maxi Rodriguez arrived from Atletico Madrid on a free transfer back in January, I was really excited that Rafa Benitez had brought in such a gifted and vibrant attacking talent to the club at no real cost. It seemed a great piece of business for Liverpool, especially with the current financial constraints at the club, and I felt that the Argentinean international could bring an extra dimension which was much needed to the Reds attack. I have been following Maxi for a long time since he joined Atletico Madrid from Espanyol in 2005. Where he stood out for me was his ability to both attack opposition full backs with his forward runs, as well as being a prolific goalscorer.

Especially compared with the likes of Dirk Kuyt, Maxi focus is much more on wing play and he loves making forward runs with the ball at his feet. It is something certainly that Liverpool Assistant Manager Sammy Lee believes he brings to the team:

“Maxi is a class footballer. He has come here and settled very quickly. He has been great to have around the place and he is very focused. He is a great professional and it is a great pity he is not available for us in the Europa League. One of his best assets is he likes to get the ball forward quickly and get us on the attack. That’s the first thing you should always think about when you get the ball – to pass it forward – and he does that. Maxi makes some great forward moves and he has done a great job for this football club.”

What Maxi was also known for though was his goals. One of his most memorable goals came in the last 16 encounter against Mexico in the 2006 World Cup. It was the winning goal in extra time when he controlled a cross from Juan Pablo Sorin on his chest and volleyed it into the top corner of the net, sending Argentina through to the quarter finals. He also scored twice during the 6-0 drubbing of Serbia & Montenegro in the tournament, in a match which was an exhibition of how football should be played.

At club level, Rodriguez has always been consistently scoring near 10 goals a season. In his last season at Espanyol, he scored 15 goals in all competitions, for Atletico he scored 11 goals in his first season, 6 during a campaign when he played only 10 games due to a serious knee injury, and 8 this season when playing a bit part role for Atletico Madrid. Since joining Liverpool though, in 14 matches, he has not scored once. He has come close a few times, hitting the bar against Birmingham City a couple of weeks ago, but he has yet to contribute goals since joining the Reds in January.

A lot of this can be said to be down to playing in a new league. The Premier League is a fast and furious affair a lot of the time and maybe Rodriguez doesn’t get the time on the ball or the space he needs to unleash an unstoppable effort on goal. Like all players coming to a new country, time will be needed to settle into a new style of football but it was really time the Reds couldn’t afford him to take this season. The drought of goals from midfield has been staggering this campaign, even more so considering Fernando Torres has been absent for large parts of the season. Neither Javier Mascherano nor Lucas have scored Premier League goals this campaign while Steven Gerrard’s tally of six is way down on what is normally expected of him. We really needed Maxi firing on all cylinders from the off when he came to Liverpool but it hasn’t been the case, and although he does contribute many other things to the Reds side, one of his primary aims of scoring goals has not been fulfilled. Let’s hope that turns around next year.