by Shei Moin (@sheimo)
No not a crazy new formation! It refers to 5 games in which LFC have conceded 3 goals in each and one player has been Man of the Match in 4 of them.
Well we’ve let in 3 goals in all our pre season games now. Obviously this highlights a need to strengthen the defence. Whether that means putting in extra hours in training, working on more tactics or investing in the squad – there needs to be an improvement. I guess its easy to discount the Galatasaray game as that was a reserve team but that is still LFC and it shows our lack of in depth quality. If we had an injury crisis and these players needed to play we wouldn’t be saying its only a reserve team.
It looks increasingly likely LFC will sign Jose Enrique. Whether he is the best option or not he is better then what we have at the moment and as there aren’t many quality left backs available I would be glad to see him sign.
Another area of concern is centre back. Carragher is magic and should/will be 1st choice but we should expect him to be (slightly) less effective than in the past as he is 33. Hopefully he still has many more years to come. Agger is class but as we all know is injury prone. I like Skrtel but think he should only be a squad player as his tactical awareness has often let him down. Kyrgiakos has been a no nonsense, non complaining 4th choice but surely this is his last season.
We need another quality CB who can step in immediately. My choice would be Gary Cahill. Not because he’s English or anything like that but as he has vast premiership experience, has proven quality and will improve further with a top club. Also he would only play if Carra or Agger were unavailable. Sure he’d cost a lot of money for a 3rd choice but that is the going rate these days. Henderson and Downing are not going to play in every game and they cost a similar amount. It’s all about building a quality squad. Besides if we brought in a cheaper alternative from abroad and they only stepped in when needed it would take them longer to adjust as they may not get a good run of games. Cahill shouldn’t have that much of a problem as he is an experienced premiership player.
Then we come to the midfield. Overcrowded? Yes. Room for improvement? Definitely. With Gerrard increasingly likely to play less and less games we need to ensure we have a strong midfield even without him. That must be one of the reasons Henderson was signed – as a long term (indirect) replacement who can be developed into a proper LFC player. Adam will be a fantastic acquisition as has shown in pre season. Lucas has to be in the starting 11 due to his overall quality and will only get better.
This brings us to Aquilani. Does he want to go to Italy? Probably – but likely because he has been unwanted. He has been man of the match in 4 out of 5 pre season games and I don’t think he played (much?) against Hull. Sure you can only beat who is in front of you but the other LFC players have under performed against the same opponents. I’m almost certain he will leave. However from my point of view it feels like a waste to let such a talent go – especially for much less then what we paid. It comes down to a fight between Aquaman and Raul to play when Gerrard isn’t fit as Adam and Lucas will slot in somewhere. I think and hope we keep him at least until January as this will give us a chance to see if can in fact be a LFC player with the new regime. At that point we can offload either him or Meireles – another player I am a big fan of – if we need to. In January players fetch a premium, especially if they’re not cup tied for Europe as neither will be. Plus teams are more desperate to buy.
In summary Aquilani, if he is willing to fight for his place, should be given a chance considering Raul and Stevie are not yet ready to play. It’s certainly better then loaning him out again. Obviously if we get a really good price for him we should sell to strengthen other areas and hope Meireles doesn’t get 2nd season blues. Even without Gerrard Aquilani/Meireles, Adam & Lucas will make a strong central midfield.
Downing may not play EVERY game, but I certainly think he will be selected whenever he is available. He will end up being our signing of the season, can’t wait to see him and Suarez link up.
We have Martin Kelly for CB.
I think Kelly needs to grow more as a CB as he hasnt had a competitive senior game there and preferably we’d want someone who can come in and play against the big boys straight away. Kelly did that at RB but u have more freedom there and need less discipline. hopefully in future he’ll be 1st choice CB wiht Flanno as RB.
i honestly think Kelly should stick to his RB position…at CB he was terrible imo..just saying what i observed…he is better at RB
I agree with you but hope you are wrong about Enrique I do not want Enrique under any circumstances as he wanted ARSEnal in preference That is NOT the LFC player we want I have two defenders I would like at LFC vargas and godin but I do not think either would want to be reserves
completely agree with you..Enrique shouldnt be playing here pls…what happened to the rumour about Perreira…we have no world class player ..only Gerrard and Suarez
I say keep Aquilani unless we get a really good SALE price on him. All this loaning out will just devalue him further and isn’t great for anybody. He may be the surprise of the season given the chance and if by January he is doing well he will either go for a good price or he will stay and add quality. Worst case he stays and is so so and adds to our depth. surely he can’t be valued any lower than he is now?
Completely agree
Y is Carra 1st choice? Last season showed somethin we hv feared 4 sumtime, tht hez a world class tackler, but cnt pass n dsnt hv th pace whn caught in a counter attack. Also, y is Adams a better choice than Meireles or Aqua?
Why wont downing start every game???
we brought him in cause we had no natural width. We would be back to square one without him. He gets best out of carrol!!!!
I keep hearing people saying we need a new CB. I always thought Martin kelly was a CB but we have been using him at RB instead. We have plenty of young defenders in Flanagan, Robinson, Kelly, Insua & Wilson. With Carragher, Agger, Johnson, Skrtel, Aurelio & Soto too. We have an abundance of midfielders but we only have 3 real strikers, Kuyt, Carrol and Suarez. It is a quality striker that we are in urgent need of acquiring.
Am i the only one to see the problems with our conceding goals is not which defenders or lack of a new defensive signing we need. but its the one player on holiday that has proved a vital contribtuion to the team for over 2 full seasons now ??? that man Lucas.
not only is he an excellent player and massive strength of character, he brings balance to the whole Liverpool team. in my eyes he has got to be the 1st name on the team sheet.
i hope he makes it back in time for the start of the season. we have players to now score goals, we have players that can defend. we also have players that change play, but we dont have a player that can link play and cover everyone. i’d be extremely worried if Lucas were ever injured for any length of time.
YES! I was thinking the exact same thing. During the game yesterday my brother was asking who all we are missing: Suarez, Meireles, LUCAS! Perhaps it is just a coincidence but as someone who really rates the Brazilian, I can’t help but think we are shipping so many goals because he is absent. He really is quality at breaking up the opposition’s play and we have missed that. Lucas is a must in our starting XI for the reasons you mentioned and I think his offensive game will only continue to improve. Just looking at last season he has grown in confidence and has become more adventurous in his distribution. Don’t be surprised if he starts chipping in with a few assists this season.
As for Aqua, keep him. Please. He’s the only player who can add that spark and creativity aside from Suarez and a fit Gerrard. For f***s sake, KEEP HIM!
I sincerely hope aqua and raul are kept. Would love to see them play with Suarez. They would be unstoppable..
I still can’t believe that after the showing of Aquilani in Norway we are STILL selling him to keep a bunch of average joes!
We deserve all we get next season…..
lool very very true..u just said my mind…i mean joe cole has been a mistake of a signing and no one talks about him..but everyone focuses on selling Aquilani…the other day that man john Aldridge says Aquilani didnt play well and joe cole was improving?? lmao that guy must be blind to say that..cole has been one of the worst players so far..
IF DALGLISH SELLS AQUILANI THEN WHATS THE POINT OF SACKING BENITEz?..only to employ a manager that keeps aiming for average players..dalglish has been terrible in the market..with Rafa am 100% we have Mata by now..(rafa may waste money but he wud still buy quality) am sure we might av pushed to sign Aguero with Rafa but nah imagine Dalglish wanted conor Wickham lool omggg!!..i really dont tink he knows wat hes doing but hope am wrong
Pre season games were total blue… Gutted to core… N also saw yossi n torres playin in hongkong..blue square;-(
Pre season games were total blue… Gutted to core… only good thing s aquaman..N also saw yossi n torres playin in hongkong..blue square;-(
Agree with the paragraph about quality CB . and Garry Cahill just excellent ( i pray LFC board will sign him )
SHOULD SELL CARRAGHER,GERARD,KYRGIAKOS,MAXI,COLE,SPEARING,JOHNSON,MEIRELES,
NGOG,ADAM,CAROLL,AURELLIO,AYALA,DEGEN,POULSEN,ECCLESTON,
JOVANOVIC,EL ZHAR,THOMAS INCE,SHELVEY,FLANAGAN,ROBINSON,INSUA,BRAD JONES,GULASCI,DONI ETC
BRING TEN GREAT PLAYERS WITH HEART FOR LFC.GERARD SHOULD BE SOLD NOW TO GENERATE MONEY.
Sanjay, why don’t you support another club mate!
MY FRIEND I AM A DIE HEART ,THAT’S WHY WE SHOULD HAVE
QUALITY PLAYERS A LFC.JUST IMAGINE THE OWNERS HOW MUCH MONEY INVESTED IN LFC NOTHING CONTRARY TO CHELSEA,MU.IT’S TORRESAND BABEL MONEY INVESTED IN THE PURCHASING OF CARROL AND SUAREZ.HOW MUCH INVESTED UP TO NOW SO ONLY ABOUT 50M.
You ManU fans, I swear….
Keep Aqua
okay look at it this way, let me summarise it:
-there are 11 liverpool players on the pitch for the pre season..
-we played about 4 games now or more.
-and of all those games we played Aquilani was our BEST player.
-he was voted man of the match on 3 occasions i think.
-this means that he did perform better than all the other players.including Adam, Carrol, Carragher, Joe cole, Spearing
-have u noticed that all this players are british..BUT aquilani was better than each one of them in the pre-season
-to conclude it if Aquilani can be voted MOTM against a weak team 3 times, and people still say he is not good enough for the EPL, then it must also be that charlie Adam, spearing,carrol etc the british players that are believed to “KNOW THE ENGLISH GAME” but cant even play well againts the weak teams that Aquilani shone should be considered world class then *sarcas*
-joe cole has been a calamity but they dont say anytin coz he british my foot
wats da point sacking Rafa if Dalglish can waste so much $?