A player of unbelievable quality and a proven goal scorer one minute, to a player of inconsistency and a goal drought the next, Shane Long has divided opinion.
Since that one season at Reading where he reached double figures for goals scored in the Championship, Long has failed to soar to the heights that many would have expected of him. Since then, The Tipperary native has had spells at Hull, West Brom and now Southampton and with the Liverpool treatment room full to the brim with strikers, rumours have circulated linking Long with a big money move to Anfield.
However, is he the right striker for the Reds and Jurgen Klopp?
Risky business?
You really have to wonder if it would be a huge risk. Although Long is as honest a player as you will get in the striker role nowadays, the jury remains out on if he is the proven goalscorer with the instinctive strikers' touch that Liverpool need. He scores some wonderful goals, there is no doubt about that, but people have argued that they are not often enough.
Klopp would have seen Long's goal against Germany in the Euro 2016 Qualifiers and the ease in which he drifted off a quality player in Mats Hummels. usually, the Borussia Dortmund man would be regarded as a world class centre-back but looked pretty ordinary that night as Long's pace seemed to trouble him.
International struggles
Nevertheless, strangely, the 28-year-old has still failed to nail down a first team spot in his country's first XI. Oddly, he is underused considering his talent, but this is partly down to Robbie Keane monopolising the striker position down through the years.
In one way we can understand this, Keane is more of a proven goalscorer who can put the ball in the back of the net when any sort of a chance is fashioned. Many people feel Long doesn't do this on a regular enough basis to lift himself to the top. Although you could argue that a lot of his managers have played him out wide and limited his preferred central role, there are indeed suggestions that he isn't in fact prolific enough.
Most believe that a goal-scorer should be able to find the net regardless of their position in an attacking sense. However, Long just seems to have this clinical nature missing.
Is he too old for Anfield?
Another factor is that at 28, Long is getting older and that lightning pace will soon start to disappear. Liverpool could probably do with a younger player with more potential if Klopp is looking to bring the club to glory within the next 5 years. The Irishman then could be viewed by many as a short term solution to a long term problem.
So, at this age, could he just end up as a rotation or impact player resigned to the bench or would he be a core part of Klopp's plan?
A team player
On the other hand, what Long lacks in his goal scoring consistency he really makes up for in his hard working and determined demeanour. Southampton won 3-0 the other week at West Brom and although Long wasn't on the score sheet, he was heavily involved in the goals and was one of the best players on the park against his former club.
Klopp will like this about him; his ability to play well in important games and this is where the best players always shine through. When you look at his previous clubs, the standard of football he has been playing has been much lower than Liverpool and we have to question if his true potential would come out if he had better players around him. Would the likes of Origi/Sturridge and Long be a good partnership?
Long has proved he is a great link man with Saido Mane and Graziano Pelle at Southampton and his understanding with the former was evident in the Saints' dominating 4-0 win over Arsenal on Boxing Day. Therefore, could he really fit in the Liverpool attack?
Conclusion
It is clear that Liverpool need a goal-scoring striker and they need one quick. Before the United game at the weekend, Liverpool were positioned sixteenth in the league with a 12% chance conversion rate while incredibly, were ranked 1st for number of chances created.
One can assume this only got worse after the United game following their host of missed chances. As a result, the fans are crying out for a new striker and surely it's only a matter of time.
So, do you think Shane Long is the man to fulfill this role?
