Borini & Assaidi vs Aspas & Moses

We know well the situation of Aspas and Moses. Aspas sadly could not settle in the league but may prove on to be a solid back up to our strikers in case we qualify for CL in the next season. We have seen in preseason and in one of the cup games, he has got good shooting boots.

Moses, at least I do not want to see him in RED shirt again, but that is just because I get irritated to see him. But he is actually a decent player, can finish few chances which can be created by our STAR creators, but I say instead of getting him in the team, we already have Suso, Ibe and other young players coming up. The only con there is, they are not experienced as Moses in EPL.

Assaidi, can prove on to be a very good sub, imo. He likes to take on defenders and shoot. But I do not know if he can be a first team satrter even as a back up if someone needs to be rested or gets injured. He is having a good season as of now, we can easily earn some profit by selling him to Stoke, they love him over there at Britannia.

Borini, had a very disrupted season at Anfield last year. Some of his finishes for Sunderland are what have helped them to earn points after points, with performance of Johnson who is also doing good recently at Sunderland. I would like to give him another chance at Anfield next season.

It is clear that we will buy someone in the bracket of WC player/potential (in case we qualify for CL) or a player like Konoplayanka. So we can not keep all of them at Anfield next season, I think out of the above four, at least two will be shipped out.

Discuss.......

Why did you pair them up like that, just for fun?

I think it's clear that Moses will be returned to Chelsea. I know Brendan has said some, umm, encouraging things about him, but that's probably to keep him motivated. I don't think he's a bad player, though, but if you have this difficult a start at a big club it will be hard to put yourself back in the picture again. Verdict: Gone.

Aspas, I don't know. He's looked too... pondering somehow on the pitch. If that's a proper expression to use, I don't know. Usually I think too much is made of the "adjusting to a new league" argument, but in Aspas' case that actually seems to be true. Verdict: Gone.

Borini, his work-rate and attitude is great and he can shoot all right. A bit too much a jack of all trades and master of none. I wouldn't mind him as a sub, replacing Aspas. Verdict: Stay.

Assaidi, he's been the most baffling case to me. Why did he get so few chances to showcase his skills to begin with? I wouldn't have minded having him at Liverpool this season, but since it looks like we're after a left-winger I don't think Assaidi is in any way in Rodgers' plans. Personally I would have liked to see him more in the Liverpool shirt, but I guess the verdict here is: Gone.

Art Morte wrote:Why did you pair them up like that, just for fun?

two on loan and two at home   

Raheem-Coutinho-Suarez
--------Sturridge--------


Assaidi-----Suso-----Borini
----------Aspas----------

I'm actually writing a bit on our squad for next season but since this issue popped-up, this is how I feel.

Borini and Aspas, along with another signing up top and the return of Suso, and we'll have depth across competitions.

Sell off Assaidi, I think he's a midtable level player, and let Moses return to Chelsea.

Assuming we make CL...

-Borini will definitely have a role next year. His movement from the left is very underrated, and it looks like he has his confidence / adapted to the pace of the PL now. I hope we keep our faith in Borini (after all we DID invest quite a bit for him and he's finally "ready") than just spend another 10-15 on Kono.

-Assaidi to be sold. Think he'll want first team, and he'll be a rotational / back up here.

-Suso will play a role and should come back. (As should Wisdom.)

-Aspas will probably stay as the back CF for Sturridge/Suarez unless he decides he wants first team football. Don't really think he's been given a chance in that role either, tbh. He's played as the number 10 there and looked lost and just out of it, but that's not his position.

-Moses to go back to Chelsea and probably sold to someone like Sunderland as he won't make it there. Hope we don't sign him. Decent player, potentially to be class, but it's clear he doesn't really care about Liverpool and is only in it for himself/for Chelsea during his loan stint thus far.

What is the point of having players for the sake of numbers if they are never used? Thats the case with Aspas, I don't think he's good enough, and I don't think Rodgers rates him highly either testament to his reluctancy to bring him on when we are need of a goal. So far he's even opted for a teenage left back as an option in attack rather than Aspas (Brad Smith). Sad part is I don't we'll be able to recoup anywhere near the money we paid for him even though he's only been removed a year from his valuation that we paid for him. You can use the new league excuse as much as you like but it's not going to make him any better. Verdict : Gone

Please take Moses away, waste of the wages we paid for him tbh. Sure he may have some sort of talent but he doesn't give a rats ass about us and never looks to even exert 10% of his energy. Verdict: Gone

Assaidi, meh Rodgers doesn't rate him, can't even start for Stoke anymore, not good enough for a club of our stature. Verdict: gone

Borini is the only one I'd definitely keep. He's actually benefitting greatly from the loan spell. Starting games and looking one of the best players for a bottom level team. Bring him and Suso back and make some actual signings for the starting XI which would then displace at least one current starting player to the bench subsequently making our depth better.

Think Ibe, Alberto and Teixeira will be even more ready to contribute further in the first team next season. Kind of like Sterling did last season.

Borini, Suso, Ibe, Teixeira, Allen, Alberto, Lucas is good depth for attack and midfield. Especially when all will be a year older and more mature.

Make 2 actual quality first team signings in the summer (midfielder and a wide forward) which would hopefully displace two of Hendo/Coutinho/Sterling from the starting XI adding them to our bench depth.

That's only talking about the midfield and attack. Hate the notion that we need to make actual depth signings to improve our depth. Improve the goddam first XI and that in itself takes care of depth.

If we make CL, we're going to be playing 2-3 games a week. Aspas WILL get more game time assuming we make CL. If he gets sold, we WILL need a replacement for him.

McAgger wrote:

Borini, Suso, Ibe, Teixeira, Allen, Alberto, Lucas is good depth for attack and midfield. Especially when all will be a year older and more mature.

Make 2 actual quality first team signings in the summer (midfielder and a wide forward) which would hopefully displace two of Hendo/Coutinho/Sterling from the starting XI adding them to our bench depth.

That's only talking about the midfield and attack. Hate the notion that we need to make actual depth signings to improve our depth. Improve the goddam first XI and that in itself takes care of depth.

I don't know... I kinda wish our bench would pack more of a punch in attack than just Borini and some AMs / wingers. Then again, that would probably mean too little game time for Borini, so I guess the most sensible option for next season is to have Borini as our 3rd choice striker - but in the long run we could probably do better, depending on how Borini develops.

I don't think you read the whole thing, like I said if we sign 1 or 2 starting player, it moves two of Hendo/Coutinho/Sterling to the bench making it stronger. Think that list with 2 of them added there is pretty good.

I was thinking mostly from a striker point of view, is Borini enough. I'm happy / would be happy with AM and winger options in your scenario, but when you're really in need of a goal, do we have goalscorers on the bench, people for whom one chance is enough to put the ball in the net. I'm on the fence whether I think Borini is good enough for that.

Assaidi is a very good squad player. Having him (along with few others) will allow us to field strong teams in Cup games (and some weak league teams) and rest key players.

well I think Borini is fine, but I am not sure if both of them are competition for one place. Borini can always start from left hand side and Aspas can be given few chances as CF in next season before Jan window and we will see how he does.

I would sell Assaidi for 6-7m and try to invest that into a signing like Kono or another WC wide forward/winger.
Moses, I dont like him.

Some top teams don't even have 1 one WC strikers. We boast two and yet we want a better third choice. Borini is a great third choice imo. Don't think he's any worse than Hernandez tbh.

Uh-oh... that's pushing it, man. Hernandez has scored at least 10 PL goals for three seasons in a row, without playing more than 1500 minutes (less than 17 full games). This is the first weaker season for him.

Maybe Borini will be good enough a third-choice striker for us, we'll probably see it next season.

so what's the final verdict on these players?

Moses: OUT
Borini: IN
Still Undecided on Aspas & Assaidi, but wouldn't shed any tears if they leave.

McAgger wrote:Make 2 actual quality first team signings in the summer (midfielder and a wide forward) which would hopefully displace two of Hendo/Coutinho/Sterling from the starting XI adding them to our bench depth.

That's only talking about the midfield and attack. Hate the notion that we need to make actual depth signings to improve our depth. Improve the goddam first XI and that in itself takes care of depth.

I agree with most of your post, but why would you want to displace two of Hendo, Coutinho or Sterling? These guys are young and blossoming into some of the better players in the EPL. If we can bring in quality that is even better than they are that's good, but they're already developing into star players -- and have starred for the best Liverpool team in years that is challenging for the PL title up to the very last day of the season. Our starting XI's biggest question is on the back-end.

I do still agree with the notion of buying first XI quality players though to improve the depth of the team. Guys like Rakitic, Konoplyanka and Lallana could compete with our current first team players for spots and that adds strong depth. We have other players coming back from loan, too, and youngsters that are right on the edge of being ready for some first team action. Also worth not forgetting about Alberto who is still young and will be given more of a chance next year I think.

As for those mentioned here...Aspas, Assaidi and Moses OUT, and Borini VERY IN. Borini is going to surprise a lot of people he's got top class potential.

Yeah Aspas, Moses, Assaidi all out.

Only Borini IN

McAgger wrote:Yeah Aspas, Moses, Assaidi all out.

Only Borini IN