Liverpool are stronger than ever

Balotelli won’t replace Suarez’s but adds to a packed forward line

It seems obvious to say, but we really benefited from not being in Europe last season. Of course I’m thrilled to be back in the Champions League now, but this year we’re prepared for it. Last year, we wouldn’t have achieved what we did if we were in the Europa League. It would have wreaked havoc on our squad.

Our starting XI was fantastic. Apart from a couple of positions that needed working on (Glen Johnson I’m looking at you), we had one of the best teams in the league. The only problem was the bench. It was noticeable that in the final months of the season, it was clear that the only options we had to come on were Joe Allen and Phillipe Coutinho/Raheem Sterling, depending on which of the latter who had started that week. Rodgers knew it too.

We’ve made some serious inroads to overcoming that problem this summer. With the acquisition of Javier Manquillo, Johnson looks in danger of losing his place at right back for the first time since he joined the club. Either Manquillo replaces him, or Johnson gets the kick up the arse he needs and his form skyrockets. Either way, it’s a win. If Alberto Moreno proves to be as good as we all hope he will be, we’ll finally solve our left back problem, with Enrique needing to up his game and Flanagan will be desperately trying to break into the team again after his fantastic run last season.

Markovic adds real quality to Liverpool’s wing play

The midfield looked incredibly light last year. If Gerrard was injured, only Lucas and Allen could really take his place. Henderson had to keep his place further up the field so the other two were the only options he had, and the jury was out on both of them (although Allen did a lot towards increasing his standing with the fans). Now we have Emre Can, who supposedly can not only fill in for Gerrard, but is capable of playing further ahead in midfield as well. We actually have a utility man playing in any of the midfield positions, which is a much bigger deal than it was a few years ago.

Coutinho will be forced to play more consistently this year, as now he’ll have to contend with Adam Lallana for a starting spot in attacking midfield. Sterling will have to work on keeping Lazar Markovic out of the team, who looks to be a very quick and tricky winger. Ricky Lambert is a fantastic upgrade on Aspas (not that that’s saying much) and a fantastic option as third choice striker, and while it’s doubtful that Mario Balotelli will score enough goals to fill the void of Suarez on his own, it’s a decent replacement for the money he cost and it keeps the forward line packed.

If one of these players gets injured, another will step up and cover for them. And they’ll do a damn good job of it too. If we had this squad last season (plus Suarez of course) we would have won the league. This year, we’ve made sure we’ll be contenders again.