With Lucas's injury ruling him out for the remainder of the year (http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/news/latest-news/lucas-injury-update), Liverpool has a very large hole to fill in the center of the pitch.

The club has already recalled Jonjo Shelvey from his loan spell at Blackpool. With the addition of Shelvey we have Adam, Spearing, Shelvey and Henderson as our fit CM's. Assuming that Gerrard will be unable to play for some time still, the most obvious option as a straight swap for Lucas would be Jay Spearing. While Spearing put in some good performances near the end on last season, I do not like our chances of a Top 4 finish with a midfield duo of Spearing and Adam.

Because of this, I suppose it's fortunate that we are exactly one month away from the transfer window. I do think that Comolli and Daglish got what they wanted over the summer transfer window, but Lucas's injury is an unforeseen setback that could derail the goals of the season if not properly handled. We need to dip into the market, the questions are: "Who should we pursue?" and "How likely/expensive will they be?"

Discuss...

Mohamed Diame or Dean Whitehead

:hungry:

Adam, Shelvey or Henderson are CM/AM. Only Spearing match Lucas as heel-snapping DM.

Other than going to the market, if we are simply looking to cover for Spearing, options can be:

Promoting some one from Youth/Reserve team

Moving some one from his natural position to play as DM

Mvilla(Rennes), Lass(Madrid), fernanado(Porto).

Liverpool should buy one of these guys. It could be a good addition to the squad.

If anyone says Tiote your going on Ignore btw.

( Except Red because i cant put him on Ignore )

I'm personally a fan of the french contingent: M'vila and Blaise Matuidi. However, M'vila will be very expensive and Matuidi just moved to PSG so those are unlikely. Lassana Diarra was looking to get out of Madrid, wasn't he? That's a more viable option, though he still may not be cheap.

All of a sudden those links to Keita aren't quite so far-fetched. He may be 31, but keep in mind that we are not looking for a long-term solution here. He is a quality midfielder and could fill a holding role well for the second half of the season. He has stated that he would put off any decision until the summer, but with the opportunity of immediate and influential first team football, he might just reconsider. Not to mention, we would be eager to acquire his services.

Or we could buy Coloccini and play him at DM. (Just for Immaculate_Mole)

For the next month we have a bunch of players that can replace Lucas. We have Spearing (like most mentioned), we have Shelvey back, we have Henderson that can play there, we have Gerrard hopefully back soon. And we also have Aurelio who can play there (and play there well).

In January if we sign anyone i hope it's just a loan spell. Lucas is our undisputed starter and when he comes back, the spot should be his again.
I don't want us to sign Lass or M'Villa or someone like that will most likely do good and when LUcas comes back he won't have his spot back.

But If i had to choose who to sign....I would like us to sign either Guarin or Hernanes.

Messiakanino wrote:For the next month we have a bunch of players that can replace Lucas. We have Spearing (like most mentioned), we have Shelvey back, we have Henderson that can play there, we have Gerrard hopefully back soon. And we also have Aurelio who can play there (and play there well).

In January if we sign anyone i hope it's just a loan spell. Lucas is our undisputed starter and when he comes back, the spot should be his again.
I don't want us to sign Lass or M'Villa or someone like that will most likely do good and when LUcas comes back he won't have his spot back.

But If i had to choose who to sign....I would like us to sign either Guarin or Hernanes.

Lass has nothing on Lucas.

Lucas is more than just a DM, he is an incredibly smart footballer and it's rare these days to have gem players who are both strong in tackle and recovering the ball IN ADDITION to being good possession players which Lucas is.

Lucas will get his first team spot back when he is fit next August/September, no matter who we sign. The guy is a machine !!

Coquelin would be great.

Lass is Backup RB doubt you'll get him.

Spearing will hopefully be our solution.If we need someone I have to say no to

>M'Villa
>Guarin
>Lol'd at the suggestion of Hernanes.

Preferably someone who can adapt to the pace of the leauge........Sandro isn't playing much at Tottenham .....maybe we could get a loan...........maybe we could even get DeJong on loan from city.That's wishful thinking tho.

Fernandao could be a very interesting option.......

Has Cana been playing at Lazio? he would be another option

Kwado Assamoah IMO would be a good overall investment who would still have a place in the Squad after Lucas returns.

ragbirjosh wrote:Lass is Backup RB doubt you'll get him.

Spearing will hopefully be our solution.If we need someone I have to say no to

>M'Villa
>Guarin
>Lol'd at the suggestion of Hernanes.

Preferably someone who can adapt to the pace of the leauge........Sandro isn't playing much at Tottenham .....maybe we could get a loan...........maybe we could even get DeJong on loan from city.That's wishful thinking tho.

Fernandao could be a very interesting option.......

Has Cana been playing at Lazio? he would be another option

Kwado Assamoah IMO would be a good overall investment who would still have a place in the Squad after Lucas returns.

The reason i mentioned Hernanes was because when Lucas comes back they would actually be able to play together unlike Lass, Guarin, or whatever other DM we might get....If we're going to splash the cash might as well get someone who will be useful when Lucas return and not just become a back-up to Lucas.

Sepi wrote:

Messiakanino wrote:For the next month we have a bunch of players that can replace Lucas. We have Spearing (like most mentioned), we have Shelvey back, we have Henderson that can play there, we have Gerrard hopefully back soon. And we also have Aurelio who can play there (and play there well).

In January if we sign anyone i hope it's just a loan spell. Lucas is our undisputed starter and when he comes back, the spot should be his again.
I don't want us to sign Lass or M'Villa or someone like that will most likely do good and when LUcas comes back he won't have his spot back.

But If i had to choose who to sign....I would like us to sign either Guarin or Hernanes.

Lass has nothing on Lucas.

Lucas is more than just a DM, he is an incredibly smart footballer and it's rare these days to have gem players who are both strong in tackle and recovering the ball IN ADDITION to being good possession players which Lucas is.

Lucas will get his first team spot back when he is fit next August/September, no matter who we sign. The guy is a machine !!

oh Sepi i know Lass, M'Vila or whoever we sign will have nothing on Lucas...His spot is guaranteed, I just don't want us to splash the cash on a bench-warmer (who'll be needed only for half a year).

whats wrong with hernanes?he is a natural DM

Hernanes is not a DM......he wouldn't help at all IMO.....I mean we have Adam who is similar...Hendo and Gerrard whenever he returns.

Not saying that he dosen't have ability....I just think that he won't address the problem sufficently.

@Ganso...are you sure.....to me he is a playmaker who sometimes plays CM.Is he the one playing next to Ledesma ATM or is Cana?

If you're talking about for Brazil......I don't trust Brazil andtheir player placement as being truly representative of a players position.They tend to push some attacking players into deeper roles.

Hernanes is by no means a DM. Even in his last season in Brazil he was a number 10 or the advanced man in a triple pivot.

He was piss poor playing DM at the Olympics 2008.

We have until January to try Spearo-Hendo and Shelvey ..

What im sure is that we might get the best defensive results with Spearo on the field. But if all this fails to pan out, New DM in january it is.

By the way .. Any new news on Gerrard?

Tiote.

Honestly though. Fernando Lucas Martins. Absolute gun. Name's Lucas, plays from the same team as Leiva used to and is a boss like Leiva.

M'vila and Martinez would be my FM/Fifa replacements.

Let's see how Spearing does in the role. Even if he does well and secures his place in the starting XI I'd still like to see us sign a back-up DM as we'd be one Spearing injury/tough run of games away from being completely without.

Keita seems perhaps the most likely. We've been linked several times since the summer, he's spoken about being open to the idea, and he's at the age where he wouldn't be too upset at dropping into a squad role once Lucas returns. He also has the experience to help lead the midfield.

M'Vila and Javi Martinez are fantastic players but signing either would have to be as a partner to Lucas in the long run or a potential replacement as neither would accept losing their starting position once he returned. The other suggestions I've seen in this thread seem to be in that category too, though to a lesser extent. I'd also put the Bender brothers and Ever Banega in that general tier... great players all, and able to give us some measure of cover in Lucas's position but all likely to be expensive and unwilling to play second fiddle upon Leiva's return.

Lass on loan would be an ok option if only to give us depth and see us through to summer. Of course he won't give us the distribution and intelligence that Lucas does but he'd shield the back four well and he knows how to cover the fullbacks when they get forward (something Lucas did very well).

Whitehead and Diame simply aren't worth acknowledging... proper drunkard suggestions there. I'd rather grab McCarthy or Michael Bradley than either of those two.

RedOranje wrote:Let's see how Spearing does in the role. Even if he does well and secures his place in the starting XI I'd still like to see us sign a back-up DM as we'd be one Spearing injury/tough run of games away from being completely without.

Keita seems perhaps the most likely. We've been linked several times since the summer, he's spoken about being open to the idea, and he's at the age where he wouldn't be too upset at dropping into a squad role once Lucas returns. He also has the experience to help lead the midfield.

M'Vila and Javi Martinez are fantastic players but signing either would have to be as a partner to Lucas in the long run or a potential replacement as neither would accept losing their starting position once he returned. The other suggestions I've seen in this thread seem to be in that category too, though to a lesser extent. I'd also put the Bender brothers and Ever Banega in that general tier... great players all, and able to give us some measure of cover in Lucas's position but all likely to be expensive and unwilling to play second fiddle upon Leiva's return.

Lass on loan would be an ok option if only to give us depth and see us through to summer. Of course he won't give us the distribution and intelligence that Lucas does but he'd shield the back four well and he knows how to cover the fullbacks when they get forward (something Lucas did very well).

Whitehead and Diame simply aren't worth acknowledging... proper drunkard suggestions there. I'd rather grab McCarthy or Michael Bradley than either of those two.

cant believe you took me seriously there

Given your track record it's not exactly a stretch, Patellar.

ynwa wrote:Tiote.

Honestly though. Fernando Lucas Martins. Absolute gun. Name's Lucas, plays from the same team as Leiva used to and is a boss like Leiva.

M'vila and Martinez would be my FM/Fifa replacements.

Ignore

Lies. You like me too much to ignore me.

ynwa wrote:Lies. You like me too much to ignore me.

Yep lol i keep clicking the show post thing

RedOranje wrote:Let's see how Spearing does in the role. Even if he does well and secures his place in the starting XI I'd still like to see us sign a back-up DM as we'd be one Spearing injury/tough run of games away from being completely without.

That's it, we're going to have to sign a back-up regardless if Spearing becomes the "next Makelele" or bottles it.

Comoli has been spotted in France, so we may be looking at M'vila but I'd much rather a Javi Martinez or a Fernando Lucas (he is amazing!!!) as they'll have fit in with the team quicker.

I could actually see us going in for an EPL experienced DM though... and Tiote is the only one that attracts the attention. :\

With having to play Manc City 3 times in January, it'll be very hard to bring a player from a foreign country and expect him to play the strongest team in the league multiple times, but then again they may be cup-tied. Going to be a crazy January, that's for sure. Let's just hope we can cope now with Spearing and finish with a strong December. Going to have to win as many as possible... top four is at risk atm.

May be a knee jerk, but Leiva was instrumental on why we've played so good. Let's just hope we don't become the same Liverpool that bottled it after Xabi left. With Kenny in charge though, I can see us overcoming the setback. We've already shown we can do it without Gerrard. :\

Immaculate_Mole wrote:

ynwa wrote:Lies. You like me too much to ignore me.

Yep lol i keep clicking the show post thing

I see how it is.