7_Kewell » Tue Dec 09, 2014 12:19 pm wrote:Our squad isn’t terrible, far from it.
I think we’ve got some talented lads and amazing prospects in the squad, it's the old faces that are letting the side down. Mignolet, Johnson, Skrtel and Gerrard (in the DM role) are poor, poor players. Which begs the question, why the feck do they walk into the squad each week, without question? It reminds me of the Souness era.
BR needs to back his prospects and play them or go find a new job. His halfway house of management is getting him nowhere and he needs to grow a pair and back the players he signed by playing them week in, week out.
Id' go with
Mignolet
Manquillo Touré/Sakho Lovren Moreno
Henderson Can/Lucas
Sterling/ Markovic Coutinho/Gerrard Lallana
Balotelli/Sturridge
Well said 7_Kewell.
We don't actually have such a bad side, we just need to replace some key players and our fortunes can actually turn around very,very quickly.
Firstly we need to find a quality keeper as quickly as possible because Mignolet is a complete and utter spud.
If we were to bring in a quality keeper the entire dimension of our play from the back would change. This would utilise our quicker defenders such as Moreno and Enrique a whole lot better. Also we need to bring back Illori from Spain, as he needs game time at Liverpool as there are many pundits over there saying he will be an elite defender, when he reaches his peak. Johnson will also need to be replaced at the end of this season.
Next our attention needs to move to acquiring a world class CM that Stevie can pass the mantle to when he retires. I think having players like Henderson, Allen and Lucas all stiffle our creativity and create a massive wedge with our more attacking midfielders in Coutinho and Lallana. I'm sorry but if I was the manager I would sell Lucas as soon as I could and bring in a better DM while I would try and get the best price for Allen and Henderson as they just aren't good enough to take us forward.
Lastly we need to sell Borini as quickly as possible as spend some cash in bringing in a player that can dart into the box and finish off Sterling, Coutinho and our midfielders through-balls, a quality South American player or nimble /agile / quick player would do the trick as Balotelli and Lambert already give us height and strength when required.
This would leave us with the following:
GK: [Vacant 1st choice Goalkeeper] and Mignolet
Defenders: [Vacant 1st choice RB], Manquillo, Lovren, Sakho, Toure, Skrtel, Illori, Moreno, Enrique
Midfielders: [Vacant 1st choice DM], [Vacant 1st choice CM], Gerrard, Can, Lallana
Wingers: Sterling, Markovic, Coutinho
Strikers: Sturridge, [2nd choice striker], Balotelli, Lambert
Over the next season or two you would need to replace Toure, Gerrard and Lambert as they end their careers. Illori would be the natural replacement for Toure and Origi for Lambert, but my gut feeling is that we will need to break the bank to bring in a Reus or Vidal that could replace Gerrard.
Bringing in 2 or 3 quality players over January and the summer would turn our fortunes around but I have no confidence that we have the current manager, structures, management and scouts to make this possible.