With the Liverpool Daily Post reporting recently that Jay Spearing could well make a loan move to Wolves this season, it got me thinking about some of the imbalances still apparent in our squad. Although there hasn’t been any real news on his predicted departure, Christian Poulsen will also likely depart this summer if a club can be found for him.
With both Poulsen and Spearing seemingly out the door, it will leave Kenny Dalglish with only one realistic holding midfielder in Lucas Leiva. Although there is now tremendous faith in Lucas after his stellar season last campaign, I still think it would be unwise to go an entire season relying on one player to continue in the holding role.
For sure, it could be argued there is no need for another as the Brazilian showed last year he has tremendous fitness levels which saw him play in nearly every match for the Reds. On top of this, there is less matches to play next season with the Reds not being in Europe, so it seems logical that Lucas could cope well on his own.
I would draw the line though at those who think the Reds could go without a recognised holding midfielder at all in some matches this season. Some fans who have suggested their first choice eleven next season have proffered a central midfield trio of Aquilani, Gerrard and Adam, and although I admit this looks very exciting on paper, the likelihood of such a formation working in reality is negligible. For one thing, you would be asking Adam to play as the most withdrawn of the midfield trio, and one thing we know about the Scot last season is that he can’t tackle. His foul count and his reckless lunge on Gareth Bale is testament to that.
In addition, when considering Lucas, you have to consider that he has had a long summer with Brazil at the Copa America and after having only a short break from football he may not be as fresh or fit as he was last season. His form may dip or he could pick up an injury; it is something you really shouldn’t take a risk on by not having a backup option.
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I’m not too sure about the need to sign a new centre half. We have a first choice of Skrtel and Carra and if Agger can stay fit for more than 50% of the season that’s an added bonus then Kyriakos is adequate back up and can be given game time against some of the lesser teams. Don’t forger we have Martin Kelly whose preferred position is in the middle and 2 very promising youngsters in Wilson and Ayala who will hopefully be given season long loans and come back next season ready to challenge for a first team place. By that time I think Kyriakos will be beyond his sell-by date and Carra used as back-up a la Hyypia in his final sesason but still able to do a job.
I don’t know enough about Coady to be honest but if we can promote from within and not have to splash out on back-up for Lucas then all the better, let’s see how he goes in the League Cup, and it obviously is an added bonus that he’s steeped in the club traditions, etc.
This really just leaves left back as the problem area. We saw last year that Robinson was adequate cover when called upon and like Coady can be blooded a bit more in the LC while being a fall back option for any short term injuries. Aurelio as good as he is really needs to be shipped out, being fit for less than half the season ain’t good enough. Insua, I’m not so sure about he was only OK under Rafa and lacking defensively maybe even more so than Johnson on the right and in reality we can only have one attack minded full back. Regarding who comes in, who knows and I don’t want to speculate as that’s really fruitless in my opinion.
Still, there are 3 weeks left before the season starts and I fancy Kenny to have brought in whoever he needs by then. Shipping out the deadwood may be tougher given how most are on monster contracts for what they offer.
‘Robinson was adequate cover’ In how many matches?
oh!!! I forgot the majestic statement – ‘he marked Walcott’, but then, every idiot with pace can mark Walcott. just sayin
there are too many possible permutations to 2nd guess what KK has planned.lets just relax and see exactly who will be in the squad on september 1st.its a bit pointless to do otherwise.talk then about formation and teamsheets.why write another article on it though?
Has anyone considered whether Agger could operate as a defensive midfielder in an emergency?
Christ. you are deadly alright with an idea like that!
daniel agger isnt really someone you can depend on,for any position.he’ll be sitting next to aurelio in the stands probably
We are in desperate need for a LB and a DMC but also a RM, as much as I like kuyt he doesn’t do enough for me on the right flank. Seeing as we haven’t brought a RM yet I’m hoping KK will use Johnson there. I’m sure between him and Kelly on the right this will work perfectly.
Jordan Henderson can also play as holding midfielder !
Soto was a hero against some big rough strikers, but he’s not good enough backup for a top four team. Skrtel is barely good enough for that. It will be a miracle if Agger plays 30 games. Carra is getting on.. All this means we need at least 1 top CB. What if we play 3 at the back??
We are more than covered on right side of field in every position from RB,RWB,RM,RW,RWF. it would be a complete waste of money buying a RW, when we clearly need two defenders.
To understand how much trouble we are in (in short term) at CB, look at mancs 3rd and 4th CBs then look at us once Agger is injured. Not pretty is it?
Talking of Charlie Adam and tackling, even with all his reach tackles, his tackle win rate shames Lucas, who’s tackle success rate is embarrassing enough without a creative midfielder arriving with a reputation for poor tackling showing him up…
Conor Coady is a very exciting talent but he is not quite ready to start Premier League games yet. Kenny should play him in a couple of cup games and see how it goes first. As much as I would like Kenny to bring in a strong and athletic defensive midfielder, I can’t see one coming in unless we get rid of at least 2 midfielders since there are just too many centre midfielders at the moment. Lucas has done an excellent job in this position but it would be quite risky to rely on him for the entire season, especially when he’s just back from the Copa America. Spearing works hard in centre midfield but he just isn’t good enough to be the backup defensive midfielder. If you look at Chelsea they have Ramires, Mikel and Essien while Man City have De Jong, Barry and Yaya. If you look at the depth they have then it would be wise for Kenny and Comolli to bring in a defensive midfielder, someone like Moussa Sissoko.
We need to desperately replace skrtel and carragher. I realise this is not a popular viewpoint, but the truth is we are to vulnerable at the back, we absolutely have to build our team from an impenetrable defence first, obviously there have been holes for upgrading players everywhere and what we have done is risky but huge and i believe our team with kk in charge know what they are doing. If it comes off and we add defenders of significance, like manure did with ferdinand where they spent a lot first on goalkeeper then defenders then built in front of a tough defence. I know kk didnt like the ‘loose’ observation in the East, but we leaked 3 in the first game and a couple in the next. Will our competitors fear our defence? in a word, no. Will they fear our attack? No only if they are extremely naive. So we can expect bus parking and even if our competitors go a goal down they will probably realistically believe they can come back.
We must take that away and we can only do that with significant defensive signings. We leaked 44 goals last season, over 20% more than Chealski 33 and Man City 33 and Manure 37. (ITS TOO MUCH Differential). If you oversimplistically cut out say 6 goals add 2 points for a game conversion in these games to thats 12 points onto our scoreline, we have added firepower, so maybe we can add 5 goals and change results again thats 10 and thats how many we are behind the title. ( as i suggest its a dual success strategy, not just attack, and midfield. We have the same defence as last season and our competitors have all improved their attack…
good point.
but I think Carragher should play a bit part role till he retires. Skrtel wont be a bad backup since Soto will soon leave. I think we need a young pacey, classy and fit defender to partner Agger(If he’s fit). We need a classy leftback who’s defensively sufficient. Even Johnson needs to work on his fitness and Defense.
Everyone needs a wake up call.
maybe sebastian coates from uruguay, he’s young pacey and classy will fit in
I like Kelly by the way and he will be even better this season. If we fix this and we click as a team (particularly Carroll Suarez Downing, under KK I contend we can win this league by 10 clear. Not we will, we can. I don’t understand the Henderson purchase, it must be politics, we cant afford him, he is an expensive luxury for the future we shud have signed next year, we needed to spend similar money on defenders in order to get into the CL. This wud have made us more attractive to a broader spectrum of players. (6 is also a great number for trophies) YNWA.
Slow news day?
Poulsen should not be in the side under any circumstances, ffs. If you think he performs a role, you need your head testing. Personally, we should sue Hodgson for signing him and Konchesky
Coady looks promising but he’ll be lucky if he gets a run out in the Rumbelow’s Cup. We simply have too many experienced midfielders to keep happy.
I’d rather go 3-5-2
if fit and there is a shortage of holding mids i would love to see Agger playing the holding midfield i know its a bit Whaaaat?!!! don’t get me wrong im up for another holding mid, but he has the ability to pass, knows how to tackle, intercept and his elegant with the ball, what do you think???