Finally a bit of variation in the Liverpool squad

With the summer acquisitions provided by manager Roy Hodgson, for me, Liverpool now have a bit of variation throughout the squad, culminating in the possibility for Hodgson to play a fair few different starting elevens as well as a number of different formations and styles of play. The sale of Javier Mascherano has been seen as many as a step back for Liverpool, however, I am not necessarily in agreement with this suggestion as I believe that, with the sale of the Argentine holding midfielder, it allows Liverpool to become a more attacking force, contrary to last season where ex-manager Rafa Benitez often favoured two holding midfielders; which frequently restricted the team as an attacking unit, especially at Anfield, when the majority of possession tends to be with the team in red.

The defence has always been a strong point of Liverpool and has generally, with last season being an exception, been consistently solid. There has never been much variation in who has played in defence for the club when everybody is fit, however, if needs be, there are suitable alterations available to the manager. Whoever out of Johnson, Kelly, Carragher, Agger, Skrtel, Kyrgiakos, Aurelio and Konchesky will be first-choice is for Roy Hodgson to decide, nonetheless there are options available to Roy if he fancies a change. If I was manager, my first-choice back four would be Johnson, Carragher, Agger, and Konchesky. Agger, for me, edges out Skrtel slightly because of his style of play. The way in which Dane brings out the ball from defence and has a dangerous left foot is well complimented by Carragher’s style of aggressive last-ditch defending. Glen Johnson is an automatic at right-back due to his pedigree and his impressive attacking style of full-back play. Konchesky, in my opinion, is and out and out defender with an eye for a tackle, something which Fabio Aurelio has always lacked. The fact both players have a sweet left-foot means Konchesky sneaks in at left-back with his more combative style of defending.

For me, the midfield is by far the most flexible position for Liverpool’s current squad. With the additions of Raul Meireles, Christian Poulsen, Milan Jovanovic and Joe Cole during the summer transfer window, Hodgson has at his disposal an array of choices in terms of a midfield 4/5. Early signs suggest that, if Raul Meireles is in fact a direct replacement for Mascherano, the gaffer’s first choice midfield will be Dirk Kuyt, Steven Gerrard, Raul Meireles, and Milan Jovanovic with Joe Cole playing just off the striker. With several other midfielders available in the squad such as Maxi Rodriguez, Lucas, Poulsen, Jay Spearing and potentially Ryan Babel and Dani Pacheco there is plenty of room for Hodgson to fluctuate with his team. This is a far cry from last season where it seemed as though, when all the players were fit, only the player who played on the left side of midfield was ever in question with Lucas, Javier Mascherano, Dirk Kuyt and Steven Gerrard more often than not on the teamsheet. I, for one, am happy to see that, with the midfield being often a weakness for Liverpool over the past few seasons, there are now a few options available in order to change the fortunes of the club.

In terms of our strikeforce, with the failure of Hodgson to bring in a further striker on transfer deadline day, it is the position with the least options. On the other hand, now that the manager has recognised Ryan Babel as more of a striker than a winger, it could be that Babel is re-born as a different and hopefully significantly better player. There is no questioning the fact that Fernando Torres is our number one forward, however if, like so many times in the past couple of years, our number nine is unfit, there are a few options to replace the Spaniard. David Ngog, who has started the season well, is more than likely the number two striker at Anfield, however, there is the possibility of Ryan Babel, Dani Pacheco or even Dirk Kuyt taking the striker position in the 4-2-3-1 formation that has been part of Liverpool’s system for some time now. Finally, there are different options for the manager to look at and variation and strength in depth is positive for any club and can help in search of success and silverware.

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