LM – Downing v Young: Both new signings; both from Aston Villa and both very talented. Time will tell who turns out to be the better value signing. At the moment though, it’s fair to say that Young is the slightly better player but Downing could turn out to be the more valuable signing though, as he is more consistent and contribute more to the team. So for the time being, I’m sitting on the fence on this one: Downing – 8 v Young – 8
DM – Lucas v Carrick: Anderson has played more this season but Carrick is United’s first-choice when it comes to the defensive midfield role. He is supposedly a great passer of the ball and was once thought of as England’s great midfield hope. Back in the real world we all know he’s just an average player who makes 1-in-10 passes look good; he is everything that is wrong with the England tea, in that he is picked repeatedly whilst better players than him are left by the wayside. On the other hand, Lucas has won over pretty much all of his detractors within (and without) the club; he is now happily sitting atop the list of the League’ best holding midfielders and, should Liverpool get back in to the Champions League this season, probably also Europe in the future. This one is easy: Lucas – 9 v Carrick – 6
CM – Gerrard v Giggs: While Charlie Adam has played every game so far for the Reds, there can be no doubt that Gerrard will be back in the side when fit and it’s likely to be Charlie Adam who loses out. Giggs – let’s be honest here – is a total legend. A cheating scum-bag but a legendary footballer and not even the most hardened Red could deny it. Likewise, Gerrard is one of the greatest midfielders that we’ve ever had. If he wins even one League title with us before he retires, he will rightly be held on the same level as a player like Giggs. But given that Giggs has been a fading force for a couple of seasons and that he’s used sparingly and likely to be used even more so this year, you have to give Gerrard the edge here: Gerrard – 10 v Giggs – 9
RM – Kuyt v Nani: This is a more difficult position to look at as both have hugely differing styles. Nani is the archetypal winger while Kuyt is a converted forward with lots of energy and a workhorses attitude. One runs the wings the other has a tendency to drift inside or cross from deep. But they’re both equally as effective for their respective clubs: Kuyt – 8 v Nani – 8
CF – Suarez & Carroll v Hernandez & Rooney: While Berbatov would be most people’s choice over Hernandez, it appears he has been frozen out at OT in recent games so given how highly thought of ‘little pea’ (or whatever his ridiculous name is) is, he completes the pairing with Rooney. Both are very dangerous on paper but both still have some flaws and need bit of work. Individually, though there’s no doubt that these are four of the best forwards in the League. Even as for me, it’s hard to admit but on his day Rooney can devastate teams on without any help from his team-mates. With what we’ve seen of Suarez so far though, the same can be said of him. With Carroll and Hernandez though, they’re both very much rough diamonds and works in progress. The talent is certainly for both of them but they must be honed into complete players by their clubs: Suarez – 10 & Carroll – 7 v Rooney – 9 & Hernandez – 7
Bench: It’s on the bench where the battle is likely to be won or lost from either team as both teams are stronger than their counterparts in certain positions. Going with the 7-man bench that is standard practise in the Premier League now, this is what I believe is strongest Liverpool’s bench: Doni – 8, Skrtel – 7, Aurelio – 8, Henderson – 7, Meireles – 9 , Adam – 8, Ngog – 7 v Lindegaard– 7, Fabio – 6, Jones – 8, Anderson – 7, Cleverley – 7, Valencia – 8, Berbatov – 9
Having taken all of these ratings into consideration (and I haven’t been doing it strategically, I’ve just rated players based purely on how good I think they are out of 10) and totalled them up, the final overall ratings of each squad is: Liverpool – 147 v Manchester United – 139 with each club having an average score of 8.16 and 7.77 per player. So in my opinion, Liverpool currently have the edge over the League Champions in terms of overall squad and also starting 11’s. At this moment in time though, Liverpool are a much ‘newer’ team, while United have the mentally they’ve built up over the years and know what it means to win. The positive thing for the Reds is that their players are there to overhaul them sooner or later, and should we bring in a couple more quality signings in the next few days, then I can see no reason for why that can’t be sooner.
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Hilarious article. Please, i want more of this kinda stuff coming from Liverpool. Gives me great satisfaction to know you simply gutted to see what a great team we have., that gutted you give us special attention.
Thanks and keep up….Sorry, you can’t keep up, can you!
Hahaha that was well worth a chuckle ! Been raiding the medicine cabinet I see ! Howard Webb looked a gooner yesterday tbh and that’s only cause he’s afraid of the bitters crying into their pints with excuses why they’ve been dominated for decades ! Suarez would get into the united squad ! The rest aren’t a patch !
A absolute quality article. I like how you symbolise ‘sarcasm’ throughout – much like I have in my first four words of this post.
Seriously fella, an absolute joke. I look forward to title no 20 and the fact that I have and will always have the same number of Premiership winners medals as Steven Gerrard…
lol carrigher an 8?! in what world???? im not manc scum but i can tell you should probably take of your red tinted glasses there fella. your team is fairly pony except for suarez yet you rate your attackers very highly for some strange reason?? and lucas a 9?? seriously??
how can doni be 8 and de gea be 7 when donis never played in the premiership :\ proper good laugh reading this though
is it supposed to be ironic? :S
you should write for the beano mate HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Oh Dear! I hope you’re taking something for your delusion.
Wow. Just…wow.
Liverpool fans in absolute delusion shocker.
You guys are always great for entertainment.
i am a liverpool fan but i think you are dreaming. case in point — you rated aurelio 8. aurelio is only an 8 when he is asleep (ie dreaming). this one rating basically discredits every other. and doni an 8 — another one for the dreamers.
be serious. and be truly objective. if this is one for your personal fantasy, keep it for your personal journal.
haha u serious ?
spent well u say?
adam 6m good buy and enrique
suarez is good for 22m
but CARROLL FOR 35M HAHAHAHAHAHAHHA
DOWNING FOR 20M WHEN YOUNG COST 16 HAHAHAHAHAH
HENDERSON FOR 20M HAHAHAHAHAHHA
very good spending…….
Best Article Ever. Great analysis. I read it 19 times. GGMU
are you serious with your tatings, if you are then your a fool.. rafael trumps kelly no question for a start.. nani trumps kuyt easily. and to say agger and carragher are in the same league as ferdinand and vidic is beyond a joke. clearly your just bias towards your team.
want proof? ngog and hernandez are rated the same
you’ve overated lucas, ashley young is twice the player downing is statistics show that.. if suarez is a 10 then so is rooney no to ways about tht.
and you’ve got berbatov the same as rooney when every pundit and fan will tell you rooney offers more to the team than what berbatov does so clearly rated higher.
dont try to give your liverpool team so hyped up about your squad being great, its not henderson is overrated too. how you’ve got to these conclusions is tragic and you clearly need to watch more football from your own team let alone uniteds.
Watching the game as a neutral i really don’t understand this talk of Howard Webb being the 12th man for United. From what i saw yesterday he gave Arsenal a very dubious penalty and could of arguably gave Arshavin 2 straight reds. As for Liverpool being as strong at United at the moment is pretty laughably they have a good team Suarez is world class, Kelly looks a great prospect for Liverpool and England, Adams is looking strong and relishing it at Anfield, but Carroll and Henderson for a combined cost of something like 55m albeit its early days i am less than convinced about. I think they need to strengthen the center back area and on the wings.
Love all the plastic Mancs coming on here, gobbing off.
Haha. Obsessed much, lads?
If a single one of you were capable of lateral, non-biased opinion I’d have a debate with you, but you ain’t.
You’re all from Surrey or bloody Timbuktu, whining on and on, 19 this, 19 that..get over it.
You’re still not as successful as Liverpool Football Club. End of argument. No comparisons can be drawn. Fact.
I’d have a tenner on none of you mouthy commenters ever having been anywhere near Old Toilet too. Plastic, glory hunting little no-marks.
(Cue the ‘I’m from Manchester ar’kid’ responses – to which I’ll preemptively reply: No. You’re not.)
Good article though, some odd scores, some fair ones, but an interesting read.
At least you LFC fans still have a sense of humour
It’s that famous Scouse wit.
Without going through each others squads, let’s comtemplate the 2 meetings since King Kenny’s return. First meeting at OT 1-0 to United awarded by Webb from a dubious penalty and Stevie G sent off, yet Liverpool deserved a draw. Second meeting at Anfield, Liverpool with Suarez totally outplayed United no helping hand from any referees just pure class from a superior side on the day. Liverpool have beaten all of last season’s Top 4 since Kenny’s return, so Liverpool can do it, even more so now that they have strengthened. The question is can Liverpool beat the mid-table teams who so often frustated us!! We will see!! If we can then we will definitely be in with a shout for the title at the end of the season.