Regardless of who is manager next season, - How good is the squad of players?
Posted: Mon Feb 18, 2008 11:20 pmSomething Saint posted on another thread a couple of days ago got me thinking. There was debate obviously on the managers position and whether or not it would be possible to tempt a top replacement, given the state of our finances and the squad which is in place. Obviously even if Rafa stays, our performances and position in the league this season would appear to indicate we are going to need to strengthen if we want to get nearer to the top of the table. Mention was made of the opinion that a couple of our blokes are possibly reaching the twilight of their career, and that in actual fact our squad for next season is in need of surgery which goes a little deeper than the cosmetic variety.
I was just wondering how posters see our squad going forward, not in terms of "we should go out and buy such and such" but more in terms of what we realistically need, and why. If needs be you could mention names of players which probably need to be moved on, but when people (probably correctly) talk of stalwarts like Finnan and Carragher possibly being past their absolute best, there is probably some thinking which needs to be done.
My take is this:
Goalkeepers. I like Reina obviously, but am unsure about the number two. I'd quite like to see us pick up an experienced keeper from the game here in England as number two. Someone who could contribute in terms of morale and spirit, and who would consider it an honour to be on the bench for the club. Behind them I would use the youth/reserve keepers, whoever they are.
Defenders. I like Aurelio, but lets face it the fella's never fit. Arbeloa is a good if not exceptional player IMHO and worthy of a starting slot probably at right back, while Riise and Hyppia are almost certainly in decline. Finnan too looks like he's suffering from the absense of Gerrard on the right and is past his best, while even Carragher could be slightly on the way down. Agger is a good player if we can get him "right" again, while having only seen Skyrtel fleetingly (but feck it I know it's early and all that!) my suspicion is that he's probably a number three centre half rather than one of your first two. I guess longer term (as in next season) I would start the campain with Carragher and Agger as forst choice centre halves, Skyrtel as cover with Arbeloa at right back (Finnan as cover). We probably need though a top quality left back and they don't come cheap. I would then in all honesty probably keep Riise as cover and move Aurelio on to a less physical league. I would keep Sami as centre half number four if he's prepared to do that (and possibly look at some sort of coaching role) and keep Finnan as right back cover. The feeling persists though that at either right back or left back we are going to need to get at some stage somebody who can hurt the opposition going forward.
Midfielders. Assuming they all want to stay (I'm not certain that Xabi will now it appears he's third choice central midfielder, I see it like this. Obviously in central midfield we have our strongest area of the pitch in terms of quality and depth. My feeling is though that while Babel, Pennant and Benayoun are Ok as the "other" winger in a good team, we are going to at some stage need a top quality wide man. By that I mean somebody who scores and makes goals on a regular basis. These don't come cheap but I can't help thinking we need at least one such player. If we are short of cash (which we probably are) I would advocate moving Gerrard out to the right. This would depend of course on him buying into the idea. If we did this, it would free up a spot for Alonso as well as giving us some threat out wide. It's almost certainly the best option IMHO for a number of reasons.
Strikers. Obviously Torres is the only genuine top-quality front man we've got. Crouch is fine as number three choice, and as such would get loads of games with injuries/cups/rotation/substitutions. We do though definately need a top quality striker to replace Kuyt, and another new striker to replace Voronin. We might be able to promote from within for the number four slot, but a purchase for the number two position looks a minimum requirement.
Conclusion-I think I've been on the conservative side in my assessment to be honest. Obviously given the cash I'd love to say we could sign a bunch of players, but my suspicion is we are going to be severely restricted. As a minimum I would have thought we will need a full back and a striker who can instantly walk into the first team. I'd also like to sign a top class right or left midfielder, but we might be able to get around that by playing Gerrard on the right. This is assuming of course that we don't adopt a 4-5-1 or something similar, or that Babel or Lucas don't suddenly blossom into filling one of the positions which need filling. What do you reckon, do we need a rebuild or an ongoing repair?
Disclaimer- I've tried to keep the post pretty neutral in terms of whether or not the manager should stay next season, or be blamed/praised for the current state of the squad. If posters could keep it that way it'd be good as there's lots of threads like that already.
I was just wondering how posters see our squad going forward, not in terms of "we should go out and buy such and such" but more in terms of what we realistically need, and why. If needs be you could mention names of players which probably need to be moved on, but when people (probably correctly) talk of stalwarts like Finnan and Carragher possibly being past their absolute best, there is probably some thinking which needs to be done.
My take is this:
Goalkeepers. I like Reina obviously, but am unsure about the number two. I'd quite like to see us pick up an experienced keeper from the game here in England as number two. Someone who could contribute in terms of morale and spirit, and who would consider it an honour to be on the bench for the club. Behind them I would use the youth/reserve keepers, whoever they are.
Defenders. I like Aurelio, but lets face it the fella's never fit. Arbeloa is a good if not exceptional player IMHO and worthy of a starting slot probably at right back, while Riise and Hyppia are almost certainly in decline. Finnan too looks like he's suffering from the absense of Gerrard on the right and is past his best, while even Carragher could be slightly on the way down. Agger is a good player if we can get him "right" again, while having only seen Skyrtel fleetingly (but feck it I know it's early and all that!) my suspicion is that he's probably a number three centre half rather than one of your first two. I guess longer term (as in next season) I would start the campain with Carragher and Agger as forst choice centre halves, Skyrtel as cover with Arbeloa at right back (Finnan as cover). We probably need though a top quality left back and they don't come cheap. I would then in all honesty probably keep Riise as cover and move Aurelio on to a less physical league. I would keep Sami as centre half number four if he's prepared to do that (and possibly look at some sort of coaching role) and keep Finnan as right back cover. The feeling persists though that at either right back or left back we are going to need to get at some stage somebody who can hurt the opposition going forward.
Midfielders. Assuming they all want to stay (I'm not certain that Xabi will now it appears he's third choice central midfielder, I see it like this. Obviously in central midfield we have our strongest area of the pitch in terms of quality and depth. My feeling is though that while Babel, Pennant and Benayoun are Ok as the "other" winger in a good team, we are going to at some stage need a top quality wide man. By that I mean somebody who scores and makes goals on a regular basis. These don't come cheap but I can't help thinking we need at least one such player. If we are short of cash (which we probably are) I would advocate moving Gerrard out to the right. This would depend of course on him buying into the idea. If we did this, it would free up a spot for Alonso as well as giving us some threat out wide. It's almost certainly the best option IMHO for a number of reasons.
Strikers. Obviously Torres is the only genuine top-quality front man we've got. Crouch is fine as number three choice, and as such would get loads of games with injuries/cups/rotation/substitutions. We do though definately need a top quality striker to replace Kuyt, and another new striker to replace Voronin. We might be able to promote from within for the number four slot, but a purchase for the number two position looks a minimum requirement.
Conclusion-I think I've been on the conservative side in my assessment to be honest. Obviously given the cash I'd love to say we could sign a bunch of players, but my suspicion is we are going to be severely restricted. As a minimum I would have thought we will need a full back and a striker who can instantly walk into the first team. I'd also like to sign a top class right or left midfielder, but we might be able to get around that by playing Gerrard on the right. This is assuming of course that we don't adopt a 4-5-1 or something similar, or that Babel or Lucas don't suddenly blossom into filling one of the positions which need filling. What do you reckon, do we need a rebuild or an ongoing repair?
Disclaimer- I've tried to keep the post pretty neutral in terms of whether or not the manager should stay next season, or be blamed/praised for the current state of the squad. If posters could keep it that way it'd be good as there's lots of threads like that already.
) of threads as this one with similar connetations in them
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