Our Squad

*From the General section.

donttreadonred wrote:

ynwa wrote:Jovetic will play in the PL next season. Manc City making him their top target but Jovetic really wants to play for Arsenal.

Yohan Modric wrote:---------Lucas---Gerrard
---Sturridge--Eriksen----Coutinho
--------------Suarez

If we can somehow replace Sturridge with another player I'd be ecstatic with that. Iturra can be a back-up for Lucas / play with Lucas when we play against the likes of Stoke etc.

Supposedly, Liverpool have had scouts at the last couple of PSG games. Most interestingly, the subject may not be Gameiro. It's rumored to be Menez. To be honest, I'm not quite sure how I feel about this one. I've followed Menez for several years now, and I had high hopes for him. However, in the last few seasons (since leaving Roma) he's somewhat stagnated. Perhaps a new club and a new system will revitalize him, but he's simply not the goal-scoring threat I would've hoped for. Then again, we are talking about replacing Downing here...

We've been rumoured to be looking at Sakho mate. He's having fights with Carlo at the moment. So rumours to be sniffing around him.

ynwa wrote:Suso will never be a winger. He's in the mold of the likes of David Silva / Juan Mata where they start on the right and are always looking to drift in.

As for other youngsters, I feel Teixeira and Coady will feature next season. Maybe even Ibe. Sterling and Suso will be rotated and Wisdom has also shown he can play a game or two if needed if Glen has to go out on the left to cover Jose. Jack Robinson can also play as a back-up to Jose. He's been injured quite a bit this season and I'm certain we sent him out on loan for fitness reasons. He might even be back at the club.

___
Not sure who Dede is, but I'd rather we sign Lovren or Sakho over the likes of Williams / De Vrij.

I don't rate Williams AT ALL. He's average in my eyes. He struggles at a mid-table club, how exactly is he going to perform at a team that wants to be playing Champions League football? Has no experience what so ever and I struggle to see how he's any better than Martin. Skrtel is head and shoulders better.

De Vrij is a fine player but he's not what we need. We need a pure defender. Someone that is great in the air and has some pace on him. Agger is already our "footballing" defender. Unless we sell Agger, De Vrij shouldn't be signed imo.

Kelly for me should stay out on the right. He's played there consistently for 5 seasons or so now and looks comfortable out there. Wisdom or Sama are the future CBs if we look at the academy.

Yes, Suso will never be a winger. He's AM through and through and will be making a career in that area in the future; however, playing him in the wing in his development years isn't such a bad idea imo. Sure many people think it can hurt his development as an AM but I think that's bullocks with any Spanish AM. They've all molded that AM system of play in their DNA's and will always know how to play it, playing him on the right cutting in a couple of times a season would do him and us wonders in the future me thinks.

I feel very sad for Yesil and Pelosi, both were in an amazing form when they got injured. And Inglethorpe said in an interview that both were in the talks of featuring in the first team at the end of the season. I think Teixeira is a massive talent. He might even be as ready as Suso is right now. I agree that next season he will definitely break through. Another player I'm confident will feature a bit in the team is Adorjan (especially if Shelvey is loaned, which I think he should be). The lad looks head and shoulders above reserve players when we play and he's got an amazing shot technique that I would love to see more of.

Dede is a very talented Brazilian CB. At the moment his form has dipped but he was playing some sensational stuff last year. And I think it takes work to look good for a defender in the Brazilian league with the amount of talented attackers there. But to be honest I would take any of De Vrij, Lovren, Dede, and Sakho over Williams. I'd cry myself to sleep if we sign him, but obviously I'd support him if he comes (albeit halfheartedly).

I do hope Kelly is converted to CB permanently next season. We've got sufficient cover at RB with Johnson, Wisdom, Flanno and McLaughlin (who btw has been amazing). Carra is gone. Coates if he doesn't become a starter here is much better off loaned out as he won't get much better from sitting on the bench. Seba will benefit ten folds starting for a relegation fodders next season as he will feel pressure and will play mostly. I hope we keep Skrtel, love the guy to death. He didn't just become a shite defender after 8 months. He's still easily among he top defenders in the league, he's just having problems in the system at the moment but our whole defense has been shite so he shouldn't really take the fall for everyone. Now Kelly could potentially even be the answer to our RCB position. I hope we start the season with Enrique-Agger-Kelly-Johnson even if we do sign another CB.

Not too sure about Kelly as a CB imo. I would much prefer him as a RB. He's one of the better young players in England in that position and is our most solid defender out of all Enrique, Johnson and Wisdom in terms of our fullbacks. He hasn't played CB in over 5 years, and the last time he did he was playing in a very deep line.

Coates I feel will be sent out on loan and I fear Skrtel will be sold. :X

We definitely don't need to go out and search for fullbacks. Like you've said, we've got a lot of talent there. We have cover for Enrique in GJ and Robinson and we have 4-5 players that can play RB!

Getting someone that can play on the right hand side in the front three is key. Then we should be looking at ONE defender. Then, Eriksen. Because I've convinced myself he's coming.

Not too sure about Iturra but apparently he's a destroyer type. Will be classy if true as he's on a free in his prime years and is rated by a few people. Then again, I really shouldn't believe everything I read on the internet. But many believe he should be enough to help Lucas against the more physical sides.

We'll potentially have Gerrard, Henderson, Lucas, Allen, Iturra, Eriksen and Jonjo in the middle next season. So I'm with Messiah in saying I wouldn't mind Shelvey going out on loan. With that said, it should strictly be a loan so he can get some games under his belt. No "potential fee" bullshit or putting him up for sale. He has a future at this club.

If Shelvey & Coates are loaned, then I'm pretty sure they will be sold next season. All the players we have loaned (Aqualini, Spearing, Pacheco, Carroll, Cole) failed to win a place in the squad. Also, these two are not that young.

Signing Itura (!) would be a good thing as we have nothing to cover Lucas. However, I'm not sure we should sign a player (Shako) who clashes with the manager.

Do any one know any thing about the Russian LB Shenikov (!)!!!

But they won't be sold. Maybe Coates, but Shelvey shouldn't.

He's rated a lot by many from Liverpools coaches and Rodgers.
You look at everyone you brought up. The likes of Aquilani, Carroll, Pacheco, Spearing were too old and/or not good enough. Carroll was unfortunate he doesn't fit into the style.

That relates nothing to Jonjo.

Also, Sakho's clash with Carlo is because Carlo prefers to play older players. He doesn't play youth. Sakho should be PSG's captain yet he's always benched.

Whom do you loan-out!!! Either players surplus to requirement and unable to off-load or players who need some competitive games but not ready for your first-team.

Shelvey is neither. For one and half season he has been kept to beef-up the team. Yet he rarely played and barely impressed. Perhaps he can do a Lucas. But we had the same apprehension about Pacheco too.

You simply don't clash with your manager. You talk to him. You talk to other officials or peers. At worst you hand in transfer request.

Even with a casual review, you wouldn't find any good players having a history (incident) of clashing with his manager.

I don't see Kelly playing too much at RB under Rodgers. I just don’t think he’s good enough going forward. Sure, he’s capable of bombing forward if needed, but it’s very direct and as soon as he gets in the opponents third, he begins to look unsure. Under Rodgers we’ve really played with wingbacks more than fullbacks. While I rate Kelly as a full-back, I don’t necessarily want him to provide the majority of the width on a side. Johnson and Enrique, despite their faults are very good as wing-backs providing width.

Kelly’s ability on the ball makes him a very good option as a foil for Agger, and a replacement for Carra. As I stated before, he will need a little time to acclimate which is why we still need another CB and preferably an experienced leader. I personally think Williams could do this job. The thing that worries me slightly is that he is the only name linked that seems to be experienced, a leader and physically dominant (does anyone else remember when he nearly killed RVP?).

How is Williams experienced, dtor? There's A LOT of differeneces between playing for Swansea and Liverpool. I don't mean no disrespect to Swansea but that's a fact.

Williams has never played in Europe. He's never played at a top club. He's basically only played 2 years in the BPL. He's only ever played one final...

Cavani said it would be a hard decision for Suarez to move away from Merseyside and the Premier League, with the 26-year-old admitting Suarez has been trying to convince him to make the switch from the Serie A.

"I know it meant a lot when Liverpool stood by him through some tough times and he has a lot of love for the club and their fans," Cavani said.

"When I speak with Luis he speaks with admiration about Liverpool and the Premier League."

"He even encourages me to play in England."

Luis trying his best to get us Cavani

Liverpool are the youngest team in this season's Barclays Premier League, according to Opta stats.

The average age of Brendan Rodgers' side this season has been 23.22 - slightly younger than Arsenal and Southampton.

http://www.liverpoolfc.com/news/latest-news/lfc-are-premier-league-s-youngest

Need to sign a couple of mature age players or people with experience in 'em.

Games 1-5: 2/15 points
Games 6-10: 9/15 points
Games 11-15: 8/15 points
Games 16-20: 9/15 points
Games 21-25: 8/15 points
Games 26-30: 9/15 points

Oh how that first 5 games f*cked us over

Messiah "Aggerswagger" wrote:Games 1-5: 2/15 points
Games 6-10: 9/15 points
Games 11-15: 8/15 points
Games 16-20: 9/15 points
Games 21-25: 8/15 points
Games 26-30: 9/15 points

Oh how that first 5 games f*cked us over

Yeah. Imagine 6 points from Arsenal & ManU games! That would put us (54 pts) one point away from CL. However, we had chances to make-up for the poor start but messed that up (Southampton, Wigan, WBA, Stoke) too.

Yeah but if you look at how consistent we've been at picking up 8/9 points every 5 games after that miserable start shows that with a little bit of luck we are capable of 4th spot form at the least.

Messiah "Aggerswagger" wrote:Yeah but if you look at how consistent we've been at picking up 8/9 points every 5 games after that miserable start shows that with a little bit of luck we are capable of 4th spot form at the least.

Yes, but we needed to make-up for that bad start. When you lose to FOUR bottom-six/relegation prospect teams in quick succession, it's anything but luck.

That 12 points would have put us third place. Seven points would have got us fourth. It's specially painfull because we lost these games after the arrival of Sturridge & Coutinho.

Messiah "Aggerswagger" wrote:
Oh how that first 5 games f*cked us over

We weren't automatically going to pick up points. Most of the players at the club have had to play 5 different systems in the space of 5 years. It was always going to take time to settle in. It would have been nice to pick some more points up, but it hardly "*bleep* us over". If anything it put us in a better position for the rest of the season.

Those first five games were always going to be difficult. With a new coach, a new system, and new/young players, it was going to be difficult. That said, we were a bit unlucky in a few ways:
- West Brom came out of the gates on fire. I don’t think anyone quite expected them to make the start to the season that they did. Moreover, Zoltan Gera scored a wonder-goal that really broke our confidence/spirit.
- Manchester City… Well, we had that game won, didn’t we? Then, out of nowhere, Skrtel forgets what color shirt he’s wearing and plays a perfect assist to Carlos Tevez.
- Arsenal still remembered how to defend at that point in the season, and Diaby looked like a beast in the midfield.
- Sunderland made the most of their one real chance, and we were wasteful with our chances. Apparently we were still shaking off the 2011-12 syndrome in front of goal.
- Against ManU there was “THAT” red card, Rafael’s amazing strike and a very soft penalty on Glenjo.

I don’t mean to blame everything on our luck. We had plenty of problems and didn’t do ourselves any favors. However, we really couldn’t catch a break, either.

Next year is vital.

BR's system has had a year to bed in, he's had 3 transfer windows by then, and we can obviously see Arsenal/Spurs/Chelsea ARE catchable...so top 4 next season has to be priority from day 1. I think we'll finally have a manager in charge for 2nd season in a row since Rafa's days, and this consistency should on paper get us to a good start.

I've been thinking about what we need in summer...and I think overall

2 Cbs
1 CM
1 Right Forward
1 CAM
1 versatile back up defender for CB/FB

since we are unlikely to be in Europe next season, we MUST loan out our kids, so they won't stagnate.

However, I think in summer we may have some unexpected departures (no, not Luis. I mean lesser players)....will be a very interesting/important summer this one.

2 Cbs
1 CM
1 Right Forward
1 CAM
1 versatile back up defender for CB/FB

I doubt we'll do this much shopping. Question to everyone: What do you estimate will be our net spending in the summer?

I think two confirm signings (in terms of position), if the discussions in this forum and rumors & analysis in media is any thing to go by, will be CB & AM.

Then the back-ups for Enrique & Lucas are also pretty urgent. The combination of Borini, Assaidi (if not sold) & Rahim isn't adequate either and a RW/RF is essential.

We will, in my view, see 4-5 new signings in this summer.

Art Morte wrote:

2 Cbs
1 CM
1 Right Forward
1 CAM
1 versatile back up defender for CB/FB

I doubt we'll do this much shopping. Question to everyone: What do you estimate will be our net spending in the summer?

I think £20-30m net is a likely total. It's around where we've been in recent windows and it's what many of the papers have suggested (well, £20m before the television deal).

2 CBs
1 Right Forward
1 Defensive Midfielder / Destroyer type (ala Sissoko)

And the rest is bonus.

Thats when we look for the replacement of Reina, Eriksen, back-up for Enrique etc.

I'm pretty sure we won't be looking for a Reina replacement at any time in the 3 years (possibly longer). He's only 30, and I doubt we'll find many better keepers for cheap.

Brad Jones won't be here for another 3 years.
Gulacsi isn't really good enough if Brad Jones gets the nod ahead every time Reina has to sit one out.

Signing someone to compete with Reina (so these half-arsed performances in the last couple of years can stop), or merely just replace him as a whole should be looked at. His picked up his form a little in the last month or so but he's still not the same player he was in that 08/09 season. He needs competition / a threat like Downing's if he's going to be here for another 3 years.

Sure I never said we won't be looking for other keepers to compete for that number 1 spot. But we won't go into the market planning on selling Reina and buying a direct replacement. He's still one of the best goalkeepers in the world with his feet (exactly what Rodgers wants/loves) and still a good keeper although prone to the occasional mistake.

PS I disagree on Gulacsi, I think he has good talent to be better than Jones is.

"prone to the occasional mistake." is exactly the problem, though.

Not too sure about Gulacsi man. I've only ever seen him play in the pre-season games in Asia last year really and you can't really judge him there. I'm yet to see him play in the PL. Jones whilst is okay, is not the best and constantly gets the nod over him. Time will tell, I guess.