Should the two star strikers be paired together?
After praising Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers, Noel Gallagher may be having second thoughts after his beloved Manchester City were beaten 2-1 by the Reds at Anfield.
Whilst City had their chances, most notably through Sergio Aguero, Liverpool deserved the win and were unquestionably the better team in the second half. They could and should have won by more.
Nevertheless, it was a fantastic day to be a Liverpool fan, especially after the heartbreak in Istanbul. The determination and energy from the players to put that result right against the champions of England, who looked sluggish by comparison despite having two days extra rest and preparation, was fantastic to see and ensured no halt to the Red momentum.
Third, let alone fourth, is now a very realistic target, and perhaps Manchester City should be looking over their shoulders instead of attempting to catch Chelsea.
Captain in-waiting Jordan Henderson was brilliant, increasing his own stature and responsibility and rising to the challenges, culminating in that fabulous opening goal.
Joe Allen gave one of his best performances in a Liverpool shirt, controlling a midfield that contained Yaya Toure and Fernandinho, but the best player on the pitch was Philippe Coutinho, who is increasingly becoming Liverpool’s key player by the minute. His performance was sensational and his goal … was standard as it seems he cannot stop pulling off the spectacular now!
However, one good game doesn’t make a top team and this excellent run of form has to be maintained until the end of the season in order to secure a top four place and Champions League football next season.
Allen cannot turn into Jay Spearing (who memorably muscled Toure off the ball in a 3-0 home victory back in 2011); he and the other squad members who have come in for injured players have to keep performing to maintain their place and possibly their futures at the club.
Yet with each positive result and performance, it will become harder and harder for those injured players, such as Steven Gerrard, Lucas Leiva, Jon Flanagan and now Jordon Ibe to return to the first team. The current starters seem to know each other’s games inside out, the confidence is flowing and everyone is able to link up with each other to great effect.
If everyone was fit, this would be my Liverpool team to start the remaining fixtures this season:
Mignolet has firmly established himself as the Reds number one
Goalkeeper – Simon Mignolet
No doubts about this one, which either emphasizes the lack of competition for the Belgian in goal or his resurgence since being dropped for Brad Jones. With a touch of fortune he quickly regained his place due to an injury to the Australian, despite Rodgers saying that Mignolet would be out ‘indefinitely’, and hasn’t looked back since.
Centre Backs – Emre Can, Martin Skrtel, Mamadou Sakho
Even though he is not a centre back by trade, Emre Can has helped revolutionize the team with his form in the position.
Using his composure, he is able to bring the ball out of pressure situations and help start attacks in a Yaya Toure-esque mode by driving at the opposition.
It is preferable if he does this more in a midfield position, so that should he lose the ball there is cover for the goal but he fits completely into Rodgers’ style of play of ball-playing centre-halves.
Meanwhile, Martin Skrtel and Mamadou Sakho have been in very impressive form in 2015, and even though one is rash and the other sometimes doesn’t seem to know what a football is they are better options than Kolo Toure and Dejan Lovren. Toure is a fine stop-gap for the odd game, while Lovren is on the road back to some form and confidence but remains behind the trio.
Right Wing Back – Jordon Ibe
Sakho appears to have now won over Brendan Rodgers
He might be only 19 but that didn’t stop Raheem Sterling from playing regular first team football at that age. If you’re good enough, you will play and that’s been the case with Ibe since his impressive loan spell with Derby County.
He has been almost a new signing and a breath of fresh air, never afraid to take players on, bombing up and down the flank with his strength and stamina and possesses some defensive discipline as well.
Ibe has adopted to that right wing-back spot like duck to water and has shown more in a few games than £20m signing Lazar Markovic has shown all season (the Serb has regressed again after some promising January form).
With Flanagan set to return from injury soon but unlikely to be at his best until to end of the season, Ibe is the best choice for this position.
Left Wing Back – Alberto Moreno
Glen Johnson, Javi Manquillo and Jose Enrique have all either been injured or shown no form whatsoever this season which has made it fairly simple for Moreno to hold down this position once Rodgers switched formation to 3-4-3.
The 22 year old Spaniard has many similar qualities to John Arne Riise, if still a bit raw in many of them. However, he can bomb up and down the wing like Ibe, his crossing is improving, he does have a great left foot (though still some way to match Riise’s!) and his defending can be suspect at times (remember Riise’s own goal in the Champions League against Chelsea – hopefully no repeat of that), which perhaps is why there were reservations over him at left-back.
Yet at left wing-back he has a bit more freedom with three centre-backs covering and has flourished in the role.
Arguably Rodgers’ best summer signing so far, although others like Can are now running the Spaniard close.
[ffc-gallery]Check out page 2 of Ben’s favoured LFC team.[/ffc-gallery]
