Should our controversial Italian be given one final chance to prove his worth…?
5) Steven Gerrard to bow out gracefully…
The fairytale FA Cup final was just not meant to be, sadly. But Gerrard can still impose his ability and his leadership on our outside chances of a top four finish. We need him to show significantly more than he has done so far this term, but he’s got more than enough ability and experience to do just that. We have six matches left, with our final home game against Crystal Palace, and the last game of the season versus Stoke City. While the Anfield reception will be monumental, it would be great to see the Stoke fans give Gerrard the respect his 17 years of Premier League service deserves, too. We’re not holding our breath, mind.
4) A return to football, and a new contract for Jon Flanagan…
Glen Johnson’s contract is up in the summer, and if he hasn’t been offered an extension yet, we can’t see him extending the deal. Flanagan’s entire season has been decimated by an injury, but he’s training with the first-team now, and it would be great to see him back on the pitch from now until the summer. Long-term, this would be far more beneficial than using Johnson at right-back should we continue with the 4-3-3. Flanagan can play at left-back too – and with Alberto Moreno poor recently, it wouldn’t be a travesty to see the 22-year-old Scouser at left-back, either. The England international’s contract is up this summer too, and we hope he commits his future to the club.
3) One final chance for Mario Balotelli…
The Mario Balotelli gamble has so far not paid off. Not by a long-shot. The Italian’s notched one Premier League goal since his £16m summer move, and been given a lowly eight top flight starts all season. His performances have probably not warranted many more minutes than this – but in very occasional glimpses, Balotelli’s showed why he’s always been rated as a potentially world-class player. It would be great to see the striker deployed up top alongside Daniel Sturidge – like Luis Suarez was last season when we were at our most fluid and most dangerous. Sturridge’s injuries have meant this has been mostly impossible, and it’s only happened once in the Premier League all term – back in August away to Spurs. We won that game 3-0… If he continues to flop when given a chance in the upcoming Premier League fixtures, then we can accept any summer departure – but if he remains on the bench – it will continue to be a case of ‘what could have been’.
2) If top four proves elusive, it’d be great to see some youngsters blooded…
We’d obviously rather that we’re competing for fourth spot right up until the final game of the season – but a run of Manchester City victories could make this impossible, and leave us with nothing to play for with a few games of the season left. If this does happen, we want to see some of our best academy players given some minutes in the first-team. Harry Wilson, Cameron Branagan, and even the fit again Samed Yesil are very highly rated, and are likely to play heavy parts during pre-season. Should our last few matches mean nothing – let’s give the best kids a run-out.
1) Sterling to prove his worth…
So Sterling wants more than £100k-per-week (via Mail Online)…? Fine. But he needs to prove it. Since his contract debacle started being consistently published in the media, the wonderkid’s not been at his scintillating best – bar his lovely goal against Newcastle. He’s registered just one goal and one assist in his past eight matches – which is by no means outstanding. We want Sterling to stay and sign a new deal – but he needs to show to the manager, but more importantly the fans – that he’s worth the sums his advisors are after.
