Who Would Make Your Cup Final XI?

AFTER Saturdays’ cup semi against Everton was narrowly won by a much-improved second-half performance from Liverpool, there were many questions raised about our starting 11, particularly during half-time.

I was as surprised as anyone by the inclusion of Jamie Carragher (despite a number of high-profile errors in recent months) and the choice to play Daniel Agger at left-back, despite Jose Enrique being available and having been one of our top-3 performers for most of the season.

It very much smelled like an attempt to shoehorn an ageing legend in to what may be one of his last big games before he retires.  What was perhaps more confusing was the exclusion of one Maxi Rodriguez, following a match-winning brace and busy display against Blackburn Rovers mid-week.

With those points in mind, I’m going to look at, what I believe, are the best 11 players for the Reds this season and who I believe should be rewarded with a place in the FA Cup final based on that.

Having had a pretty mixed season, you might believe that it would be almost impossible to find a ‘best 11’ but there have actually been some great, consistent performers this season.  One or two have been good all season long, others in short spells throughout the season, ebbing and flowing but it isn’t really had to choose our best 11:

Pepe Reina – This is easy.  Pepe has had probably his most questionable season in a Red shirt but he is still a standout performer, keeping 13 clean sheets all season so far and making some great saves.  Admittedly, he’s not had a great deal of competition and this has led to a marginal drop in his performances but how do you oust one of the best ‘keepers around?  Perhaps it’s up to the likes of Doni and Brad Jones to make their cases when they’re given a chance.

Glen Johnson – This was a slightly more difficult choice than the goal-keeper position (given that Kelly and Johnson have both had spells in and out of the team) due to the quality of both players.  Kelly is certainly the future but given that Johnson was part of the back line that enjoyed our best defensive spell of the season – and contributes heavily going forward – the England international just edges his team-mate for me.

Martin Skrtel – If Lucas had stayed fit, he probably would’ve taken the award but I believe that the big Slovak is our player of the year by a mile.  He’s come a hell of a long way since last season and, like Lucas, has undergone a transformation of sorts.  These days, any game that we start without Skrtel at the heart of the defence is nervy one.  It should come as no surprise that Skrtel has started more games than anybody apart from Reina this season and 4 goals (and an assist) and a far greater number of tackles and interceptions.

Daniel Agger – Despite a lengthy period of injury Agger has still played over 25 games for the Reds this year and we can only be thankful for that, as the Dane and Skrtel have formed perhaps the most aggressive and effective defensive pairing outside of Manchester City.  The pair are clearly most comfortable when playing together and Liverpool can only hope we can hold on to them both for the next 5-6 years as, like Skrtel, Agger will only get better with age.

Jose Enrique – There wasn’t any genuine competition for Enrique but that hasn’t stopped him being – arguably – our best buy of the summer and one of our most consistent performers all season.  He’s suffered a bit in recent weeks but then, who hasn’t?  The Spaniard is strong, fast and highly competent when he gets forward and, maybe most importantly, he’s still young.   Together with the four players above, he has formed our most impressive area of the team this season and provides some genuine promise for the Reds going in to next season.

Craig Bellamy – He’s been missing in recent weeks, either due to injury, tiredness or a loss of form (depending on who you believe) but you can’t deny his contribution has been telling this season.  He provides that bit of chaos and creativity that we’ve needed so many times this season during stale performances and brings the experience that we lack when it comes to opening up tough and tight defences.  When in tandem with Suarez, Gerrard and Maxi he can be devastating and the only negative is that he hasn’t played more this season.  Despite only starting 16 games, he has still contributed 9 goals and 7 assists for his team-mates, making him vital to what has been a low-scoring Liverpool side during this season.

Steven Gerrard – Like a number of his team-mates, he has spent large spells on the side-lines this season and, despite never once hitting his previous heights, he has still managed to single-handedly win a derby and give the team direction and impetus during games in which both have been lacking.  Similarly to Bellamy, he’s only managed to start 19 games but he’s also added 8 goals and 5 assists.  Our captain’s career is clearly winding down but if his belated return this year suggested anything, it’s that he still has something to give, even if he should no longer be an automatic first-choice.

Lucas – Having only started 15 games this season, this would no doubt appear to be a strange choice for many.  But as far as I’m concerned, even those 15 games warranted the Brazilian a place in our best 11.  Not least of all because, without him, we’ve struggled badly for the past 4 months.  His presence in midfield cannot be understated and before he got injured he was undoubtedly on the cusp of becoming one of the best players in the league.  For reasons for his inclusion see his performances in those 15 games (particularly against Manchester City’s illustrious midfield), the balance he gave the team and protection he afforded to the back four.  On the flip-side, it is a sad indictment that I feel a player that hasn’t played since December 1^st last year warrants a place in this side ahead of some of his under-performing team-mates.
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Maxi Rodriguez – Again, a player that has started few games this season and made less than 20 appearances but if you try to deny his impact when he does get a game then I would question your eyesight.  Despite the likes of Jordan Henderson and Stewart Downing often being preferred to the little Argie, it hasn’t stopped him giving great performances when he gets his chance.  Carrying on where he left off last season, he’s scored 6 goals from 13 starts and laid on a further 4 for his team-mates.  So although he’s started 3 times as few games as Henderson and Downing, he’s still managed to contribute more goals and assists for his side when he has been given the chance.  I’ll admit that I’ll always champion Maxi’s cause while he’s here, so in that sense I’m probably slightly biased.  But given the lax and nervy performances we’ve come to expect from the two Englishmen this season, it’s hard to argue that either one warrants a place ahead of Maxi Rodriguez.

Andy Carroll – This was probably the most difficult choice for me because, while his form has improved recently and he’s beginning to resemble the player we thought we’d signed, I was still torn between Carroll and Spearing.  First things first: I’m not Spearing’s biggest fan.  But there have been times this season when we’ve needed him and he’s – partly – delivered.  If you compare him to the man he’s standing in for though, you come to notice where he is sorely lacking and for every positive (such as his work-rate), there are two negatives (such as his constantly misplaced passes and his inability to keep up with larger, faster players).  That is why I’ve chosen Carroll as, without a handful of the goals he’s scored this season, we’d be up the creek (see Blackburn and the semi on Saturday for two recent examples).  He may only have scored 8 goals this season but they’re 8 goals that we desperately needed, such has been our profligacy.  He still has a lot to prove but he has improved a lot very recently and seems to be beginning to understand what club he is playing at.

Luis Suarez – His place was never in any doubt, surely?  After a lengthy layoff due to his suspension, he came back in and took a while to pick back up where he’d left off but even though he has never been prolific since he signed, he has never given anything short of 110%.  For such a high-profile, highly-strung player, it is surprising sometimes to see how hard he works and, like many talented South Americans, never seems to doubt his own ability, no matter how many chances he misses or opportunities he squanders.  As our highest scorer, he would warrant a place on that alone, having provided 14 goals this season.  But it’s his work-rate and ability to create something out of nothing for himself and his team that sets Suarez aside (he also heads our assists chart this season).  If he can find an understanding with Carroll, or we bring in a suitable partner during the summer, Suarez could become a devastating player for years to come.

So while I’m sure there are at least a handful of choices in there that some may disagree with, I think that is a pretty good summary of the 11 players that have contributed most and provided the best performances this season.  And, with that in mind, my 11 to start the FA Cup final in a few weeks’ time would be exactly the same, if it not for Lucas’s injury.  While I’ve been impressed with Shelvey this year and would love to have seen more from him, he just hasn’t done enough to warrant a starting berth.  Likewise, despite having played almost 40 games this year, I’ve yet to see anything about Jordan Henderson that impresses me and to include him on the quantity of games he’s played alone would be folly.  Which is why Jay Spearing, for all his faults, deserves the final starting place when the Reds take on Chelsea at Wembley because this will be an intense and hard-fought game and we’ll need players that are prepared to get stuck in and work hard for their team-mates and I just don’t have the faith in the likes of Downing and Henderson to do that, at the moment.  So, who would you choose in your best 11 for the season, with just 5 (+ 1 cup final) remaining and who deserves a spot in the team for the final?

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