Liverpool FC Forum

[JBG]

I'm trying to be constructive here and argue 5 major changes to overhaul the Liverpool team.

Basically what I am calling for is as follows:

Goalkeepers: Dudek is far from his best, Kirkland beset with injuries. However, both of these guys are decent keepers and if the defence in front of them improved and the team started performing well, both Dudek and Kirkland would probably raise their form to challenge the best keepers in the land. Our goalkeepers aren't perfect but I don't really see goalkeeper as a problem area. Maybe if Kirkland improved his fitness and took over full time from Dudek we might consider letting Jerzy go and raise some cash for other areas, but in the meantime I don't propose any changes here.
Verdict: NO CHANGES IN THE SHORT TERM.

Defence: First of my five major additions would be a strong powerful centre half with bags of pace to play along side Hyppia. Sammi is a very good player but it is well documented that his lack of pace lets him down. Boumsong might have been a good signing, Mexes could do a job but in an ideal world I would try to poach Gallas from Chelsea, who might lose his place at Stamford Bridge in the summer if Chelsea sign a big name centre back as expected. It might be a pipe dream, however. I'd try to hang on to Henchoz as back up, but he would unlikely stay at Anfield to sit on the bench and its probable that he would leave for the German league.
I think Steve Finnan is over rated and hasn't impressed me at all, and while I rate Jamie Carragher, in an ideal world I would have him as a utility player only, filling in for absentees along the back line. However, I would be prepared to give Finnan, Carragher and Riise another reason to prove themselves with the object of signing 2 new full backs in the summer of 2005 if Finnan, Riise and Carragher don't perform next year.
I would try to flog Biscan if I could and I simply don't see Traore as a quality player in the future, and I would let him go to Bolton or Blackburn, both of whom are interested in him. I would also let Babbel go, but might take back Vignal for one last season to have a look at him.
VERDICT: A NEW CENTRE HALF IN THE £6-10MILLION RANGE, AND THE VIEW TO SIGNING TWO NEW FULL BACKS IN THE LONG TERM.

MIDFIELD: I think Didi Hamman is a fantastic player, but I also think that its time for him and Liverpool to move on. Ideally we should play Gerrard as the principal ball winner with a licence to charge forward like Roy Keane of old or Vieira today. I think that we could probably get a decent price for Hamman if we sold him in the summer. I propose signing a more creative player in his place, someone like Rosicky of B. Dortmund or Juninho of Lyon, both of who are quality players. Replacing Hamman with one of these guys would show a fundamental change in our approach. I might hang on to Diao for one more season if we sold Hamman, as if he re-captures some of his old form he would be a good squad player to have and would give us the option of tightening the midfield when occasion called for it.
The right side of midfield is a major problem and I propose signing someone like Steed Malbranque, who is proven in the Premiership, to play there. Malbranque isn't perfect, but he deserves a chance at a bigger club and I have a feeling that he has the mentality to handle a step up. I would sell Diouff to make room for him. Diouff is a forward, not a midfield player, and he deserves a chance to kick start his career at centre forward. However, I think it would be best if he got that chance at another club.
I would also sell Smicer. Smicer has improved since 1999, but his improvement has been small at best, and in fairness he has had 5 years at the club and its time to move him on and give someone else a chance. In the long term I would think of moving Danny Murphy out of the club and bringing in another creative midfielder in his place.
VERDICT: SELL HAMMAN FOR £4-6MILLION AND BRING IN A DECENT CREATIVE MIDFIELDER IN THE £10MILLION RANGE. SELL DIOUFF FOR ABOUT £5MILLION AND SMICER FOR ABOUT £1.5-2MILLION. SIGN MALBRANQUE FOR £4-6.5MILLION.

FORWARDS: Centre forward is a big problem as while Owen is a fantastic player, he is injury prone, and Heskey has failed as the man to lead the line. I would sell Heskey on and sign a decent centre forward instead. I'm not 100% convinced about Cisse, and other options would include Kezman, Tristan (who has lost his place at Deportivo), Viduka, Smith (although I would prefer not to have the Leeds guys) etc. However, it looks like the deal for Cisse is already done so I suppose I'd go along with that. Owen and Cisse as first choice forwards (providing Cisse lives up to the hype) with Pongolle and Baros in reserve looks impressive enough to me.
VERDICT: SIGN CISSE (IT LOOKS LIKE ITS DONE ANYWAY) AND SELL HESKEY.

I think that the team desperately needs 4 new players to improve drastically, and possibly another fullback if money permitted. However, I calculate that the required quality would cost us in the region of £35-40million, with perhaps £15-20 million coming in from sales of about 6-8 players.

Obviously this is a lot of money and there is no guarantee that we could get Gallas, and there might not be many takers for the likes of Diouff or Biscan (although perversely I don't think we'll have much trouble flogging Heskey as Birmingham and Boro would probably buy him).

The FIFTH and last change is that of manager. I honestly think that while Houllier is a reasonably good manager his day has passed at Anfield and I think that a fresh direction is needed. However, the debate over who should replace him is for another forum.

I think people can argue all they want, but 4 major changes is required to this current Liverpool team to make us competitive again.

[stmichael]

well said. i couldn't agree more.

mexes has said that he has CHOSEN to play for us next season, as long as we are in the champions league. if not then dawson is not a bad shout.
in terms of full backs in the long term, willy sagnol of bayern is an excellent player.

agree about hamann. great player but not so vital for us if we want a more attacking side. heard a rumour of him going to valencia with aimar in a swap. just imagine that. wright-phillips for right wing, especially as man city could go down.

upfront cisse is coming in although whether anyone would want heskey is a different question.

manager- you don't need to ask my views on him.

[LFC #1]

these changes would turn us into a title contender once again, perhaps you should aplly for the manger job JBG   

[stmichael]

i'm starting to wish we applied for the intertoto cup

[woof woof !]

Lots of food for thought, good post JBG.
I can't help wondering how all those players you recommend we get rid of would have performed for us under a different mgr.Looks like we'll never find out.
Hesky goes to Middlesborough and averages a goal a game etc etc
 

[swiss_kopite]

I propose signing a more creative player in his place, someone like Rosicky of B. Dortmund or Juninho of Lyon, both of who are quality players.

Agree, except what you wrote about Rosicky. He's a good player, but I don't think he's good enough to finally bring the Championship (most important to me, after such a long time ...) to Anfield. He's injured quite often and therefore is too expensive...

If I could choose a Dortmund player, I'd pick Metzelder (defender - risky cause he's injured, too) or, instead of Rosicky, Torsten Frings. Frings is Nr. 1 Bayern Munich target, I think that's all there is to say about him ...

[stmichael]

i think if we want a defender, walter samuel of roma would be a good choice. have you seen their financial state? ok they'll get 30m from real madrid for totti but they will have to offload others aswell. same goes for most italian clubs who are bust.

[swiss_kopite]

i think if we want a defender, walter samuel of roma would be a good choice. have you seen their financial state? ok they'll get 30m from real madrid for totti but they will have to offload others aswell. same goes for most italian clubs who are bust.

agree, samuel is great!!! just wanted to say: dortmund has severe financial problems too, so why not...

[JBG]

Yes, I also rate Samuel but I remember Heskey destroying him with his pace a few years ago in the UEFA Cup!!!

[SantaGiveHoullierTheSack]

Good post JBG. Few other suggestions...
1) Zlatan Ibrahimnovic from Ajax? This guy got bags of skill, I rate him very highly.
2) Roy Makaay from Bayern Munich. I think they will be mass clearout there this season and Makaay would be a good catch. 15-20 goals a season type of player.

[swiss_kopite]

makaay is great - among the best strikers in europe - but they will NEVER let him go!!!

[dawson99]

Makaay is a great choice but with Cisse coming it all coems down to what Owen does. Baros is still looking class and Le Tallec an Pongolle have alot to offer. It really does depend on GH. A lot of players admrie hima  lot and will teh young french players be kept on by a nwe manager or loaned out?
Personally i agree we ened aquick defender to go with Sami, with Dawson being my first choice. In mdiefield i wold still like Mendietta but i wouldnt turn down Laurent Robert to play on the left.
What about chevchenko? We give milan Heskey, they give us Chev plus money
If Man city go down wright phillips will join us and if leeds go dow the entire team will be going somewhere.
Id only take a player who does nto say they will only play for us if we get to the CL but im that kinda guy

[JohnBull]

All this is like arguing about what engine you are going to put into a scrap Vauxall Astra, a V6 or a V8?. We DO NOT have a set up capable of winning the Premiership never mind the Champions League and it is not a matter of the players. It is a matter of the Board/Management being clued up enough to become proactive rather than the delayed reactive attitude there now.
What I mean is that with a little luck we will turn things round but we MUST be prepared to bring in changes before matters become out of our control. When the Hansen/Lawro/Gillespie set-up went past its sell-by date we were not prepared. Loads of forwards but no good cover in defence. Under Houllier there were signs,at first, that a change for the better was coming. The problems facing us now are as a direct result of his signings. The wrong players at the wrong time in the wrong positions. I do not have any hopes that Houllier will overcome these self inflicted injuries but in the mean time WE are paying for him to learn from these mistakes. The club needs a major overhaul from the grassroots. There is tons of great potential there, I've recently watched the Under 12s, brilliant homegrown talent, and there are plenty of others on the books but will they get a look in while these wasted signings are being made. Not with this crew in charge.!!!

[JBG]

I don't know John Bull, as bad as we are, 4 quality additions to the positions I have identified: centre back, centre midfield, right midfield and centre forward would certainly put us back on the right track.

If those signings were successful the squad would only need a little tweaking here and there (possibly the full backs and better reserve midfielders than Diao, Cheyrou and Murphy) to turn us into genuine contenders.

All of this depends on the right manager who makes the right signings: buying new defensive midfielders, goalkeepers or young players "with potential" would be madness at this stage.

4 quality signings who actually perform could turn things around dramatically for us.

[The_Rock]

This is my list :

Goalkeepers - Agree. We have 2 excellent keepers. With better defenders our defence will be back to 2001 form.

Defence -
a)Don't really want mexes. For a player playing at club like auxurre, his ego already seems to be inflated (ie..will only join liverpool if qualify for champions league).
b)I rather if the money is invested in Dawson. Once Dawson is bought (say 3 million),  would invest up to 10 million for Gallas.
c)Thus my first choice will be Hyppia & Gallas with Dawson being the long-term replacement for hyppia.
d)I will keep Carragher, Finnan, Babbel, Riise (have to say, he is our best player apart from gerrard for the last few matches), Vignal & Taroe (He has all the 'tools' to become as good as Marcel D). We need as much defensive cover as possible
e)GET RID OF BISCAN. Henchoz allowed to leave if he does not want to sit in the bench.

Midfield -
a)With so much cash spent on defence, there might not be enuff for midfield. I would sign a right midfielder. Really like Pennent & Wright Phillips. If these 2 are too ex, would settle for malbranque.The rest of the midfield will comprise of Gerrard, Smicer, La Tellac, Kewell, Cheryou, Murphy.  Promote John Welsh to first team. Finnan & Riise can play wingers if there is a need.

b)Sell Hamann (hate to say this, but should sell him if we are to move forward), Diao, & Diouf.

Striker -
a)Cisse is coming. So now we have Cisse, Baros, Owen, Pongolle & Mellor. Owen will not last a full season, not really sure how Cisse will perform in the premiership & Baros does not seem to be very profilic.
b)Get rid of heskey.

                                    Kirkland
             Carragher    Gallas     Hyppia   Riise
             Malbranque   Gerrard     La Tellac    Kewell
                        Cisse                  Owen

Subs - Pongolle 
          Baros
          Cheryou
          Babbel
          Dawson
          Smicer
          Dudek
          Murphy
          Finnan
          Vignal
          John Welsh