Well for me Riera is absolutely vital in the side... We lack width and him and Johnson are the only 2 in the side capable of providing natural width down the flanks.. The 2 wide positions upfront are pretty much the only 2 spots up for grabs at the moment, with our CBs and benchwarmers being the main worry for the time being with everyone fit...
Johnson Carragher Agger Aurelio
Mascherano
Benny Aquilani Gerrard Riera
Torres
If Rafa wants to stick to the one upfront formation, we'll need to bring in a top top winger capable of providing goals and making a difference... Kuyt and Riera both lack in certain departments and while Yossi has been impressive and has tons of quality, he's far too inconsistent to be relied on over the course of a season... This lineup leaves us with
backup FW: Kuyt
backup RW: Babel
backup LW: Dossena
Backup CM: Lucas
backup RB: Degen
backup LB: Insua
backup CB: Skrtel
backup GK: Cavalieri
Problem is, we need more presence inside and around the opposition box especially with Gerrard playing a little deeper to cover for Aquilani.. Essentially that means that the likes of Riera, Benny (or Kuyt) and Aquilani need to start getting themselves in advanced positions more often when we get on the ball ... I think we can do better, someone like Henry, Silva, Mata, Robben..etc playing down the flank would stretch opposition backlines and would give us more time and space on the ball to commit more bodies forward rather than have Torres isolated...
For me, a right winger and a top CB are needed to get our starting 11 sorted at both ends... backup FW i expect us to sort out in January... Hopefully when adding new players to the side, we wont have to sell our important players