Our Squad

iftikhar wrote:

ynwa wrote:Sturridge will be 10 times better than Downing as a winger/inside forward role... lol

Perhaps. But he will be only one-tenth of what he could be as striker.

Again. This isn't about Sturridge. It's about the team. Sturridge can do a role on the right flank. He's shown he can do it under AVB. He's 10 times more of a threat than Downing where ever they play in the final third. The team performance and getting the result is much more important than Sturridge's self performance. It's not as if he'll find himself constantly on the wing anyway. Sturridge's movement will find himself in central postions and get opportunies to score whilst Suarez collects the ball from deep.

But we've already seen that the TEAM CAN PERFORM WELL WITH STURRIDGE AS A STRIKER.

Suarez is equally effective as a free wide forward and a center forward... some would even argue (and have a solid case) that he's MORE effective as a free wide forward or supporting striker with another forward to pull some of the defensive pressure (like, say, Sturridge). You aren't arguing about the team playing better, you're arguing about a single player, great though he may be, playing in a position you've personally decided is best... even though performances don't necessarily back up that conclusion.

The team can perform WELL - well, when we have three midfielders, I can agree with that. But the team plays BETTER with Suarez in that position and is the main figure of the attack.

I've already agreed that Suarez can play anywhere in the final third because he is that good of a player. And go back 6 or 7 months ago and I'd say his best position was on the right hand side in a front three. But that's not the case anymore. He's developed a lot this season and has shown time and time again that he should be playing in a central position at the club.

Sturridge on the right WILL support him. As will Coutinho on the left. They will move inside channels and Daniel will play off the shoulder of players to stretch their defence - something he does now centrally. He'll just do it from wide so he can cut into his favoured foot as his right foot isn't the strongest.

Suarez won't struggle with the extra defensive pressure. He's shown from the start of the season it doesn't affect him. The fact that we had NOBODY else in the final third to help him in the pre-January was the problem. We've now fixed that in the summer. So I don't understand why we've moved him to help Sturridge settle or changed formation to let Downing stay in the team.

And the team will play better with Suarez up top. There was nothing wrong with many of our performances when Luis was leading the line. The fact that he was the only attacker and had no support was the problem.

Yeah, I don't want Suarez playing out wide, he is our best center-forward and our best center-forward should play in the center.

Fine to shuffle it around during games if things are not working out, but Suarez should mostly be kept in the middle.

Art Morte wrote:Yeah, I don't want Suarez playing out wide, he is our best center-forward and our best center-forward should play in the center.

Fine to shuffle it around during games if things are not working out, but Suarez should mostly be kept in the middle.

Isn't he still playing in the middle! My point being

----------Sturridge----------
Coutinho-Suarez-Downing

is more effective & efficient than

Coutinho-Suarez-Sturridge

and can be further improved with a new quality RW.

Also the CSS formation will tend to have all three plus an AM cluttered in the middle and wide areas left to the WBs.

He isn't and hasn't played out wide though, even when Sturridge starts at center forward. This notion that Sturridge as a striker means Suarez HAS to play in a wide role baffles me, especially given that we've seen that it simply isn't true multiple times already.

He's played on the left hand side atleast 3 times since Sturridge has been at the club. The team should be based around him. Luis in the centre and the focal point is our strongest side. He's one of the biggest X factors in the game, there is no way he should be sent out towards the left hand side.

Even when he does play as a SS behind Sturridge, we've only ever won one game... against Swansea where Swansea were obviously uninterested and had their eyes on the Carling Cup final.

iftikhar wrote:

Isn't he still playing in the middle! My point being

----------Sturridge----------
Coutinho-Suarez-Downing

is more effective & efficient than

Coutinho-Suarez-Sturridge

and can be further improved with a new quality RW.

Also the CSS formation will tend to have all three plus an AM cluttered in the middle and wide areas left to the WBs.

We get dominated game and game again when we play 4 upfront. We're way too unbalanced and we can't string two passes together. And then we revert to playing on the counter. Our defence is also vulnerable on every wave of attack from the opposition and our midfield has no link to the attack which keeps everyone unhappy.

We need 3 people in the centre of the pitch. Downing is not good enough regardless of what everyone says on here and he's improvement on his last season blah blah. He should be dropped and out front trio should be Coutinho, Suarez and Sturridge. With Lucas and Gerrard playing with either Shelvey and Henderson until the seasons over.

Yeah, for example in our previous match against Soton, Suarez was playing a lot on the left wing (and didn't pose much danger from there).

And I also agree with LiverYnwa that while it's possible to play Sturridge up front with Suarez behind him and Coutinho and Downing in the wings, we seem to end up struggling further down the pitch in midfield. No good having an amazing attack if we can't get the ball there.

Maybe could try Henderson in place of Downing and see if he can run so much that he'd be both the third CM when needed and the RW when needed.

Rumors going around that we've put in a 12m bid for henrik mkhitaryan of shakhtar. They're rumored to be looking for 15m. He's a 24 year old AM with a great goal to game ratio this year. Anybody know anything else about him other than he sounds like a character out of ASOIAF?

stevieg8 wrote:Rumors going around that we've put in a 12m bid for henrik mkhitaryan of shakhtar. They're rumored to be looking for 15m. He's a 24 year old AM with a great goal to game ratio this year. Anybody know anything else about him other than he sounds like a character out of ASOIAF?

He looked all right in the Chelsea v Shakhtar match in CL group stages, but that's all I've seen of him. 15 million (pounds, euros?) sounds quite steep, but they probably haven't got much need to sell, so..

When looking at his stats it's good to keep in mind that he plays for Shakhtar Donets who do what they want to 90% of their domestic league's teams.

Linked to Eriksen again... his contract ends at the end of next season. I really do feel we need 2-3 players before him but if we get him on the cheap I won't argue. My only complaints was that I felt (well, feel) we'd splash the cash on him despite needing players in other positions. I've never had an issue with the player himself before someone mentions 4-5 pages ago.

ynwa wrote:Linked to Eriksen again... his contract ends at the end of next season. I really do feel we need 2-3 players before him but if we get him on the cheap I won't argue. My only complaints was that I felt (well, feel) we'd splash the cash on him despite needing players in other positions. I've never had an issue with the player himself before someone mentions 4-5 pages ago.

I am fearing this year the Rumor Mill is going to to go absolutely bizark on us!! Its only March & we have been linked to players who can make up TWO FULL SQUADS!!

Also reports are that Liverpool Scouts have gone to multiple PSG games would be interesting to see who we are interested in!

Reports say it was Sakho that we scouted. Not really sure though. Menez's name has come up multiple times, so has Gameiro's.

Messiah "Aggerswagger" wrote:Reports say it was Sakho that we scouted. Not really sure though. Menez's name has come up multiple times, so has Gameiro's.

Yea recent reports have circled on Sakho prominently . . CB seems pretty much a priority for us. Also rumors of Vasco Da Gama CB Dede circulating. .

The Eriksen rumors are heating up in a single day like wild fire. With comments from Ajax Director Overmars regarding LFC's interest & also Eriksen suggesting he might not renew his contract!!

A very long saga i would say!!

Of course these are merely rumours, but regarding attacking players I think we should buy a winger before an attacking midfielder.

Art Morte wrote:Of course these are merely rumours, but regarding attacking players I think we should buy a winger before an attacking midfielder.

Well there has been a lot of talk regarding HBA too . .

Fahim89 wrote:

Art Morte wrote:Of course these are merely rumours, but regarding attacking players I think we should buy a winger before an attacking midfielder.

Well there has been a lot of talk regarding HBA too . .

If the price is right, then why not, but I've a feeling it won't be right.

Generally speaking I'd rather buy from abroad this summer. We've been posting big losses for two years running now and Premier League clubs are all growing their revenues thanks to the new, improved TV deals. Meaning they can hold out for bigger transfer fees for their players, because they'll be in a stronger financial position. So I'd like us to look abroad where we should be able to find deals that offer better value for money.

Art Morte wrote:

Fahim89 wrote:

Art Morte wrote:Of course these are merely rumours, but regarding attacking players I think we should buy a winger before an attacking midfielder.

Well there has been a lot of talk regarding HBA too . .

If the price is right, then why not, but I've a feeling it won't be right.

Generally speaking I'd rather buy from abroad this summer. We've been posting big losses for two years running now and Premier League clubs are all growing their revenues thanks to the new, improved TV deals. Meaning they can hold out for bigger transfer fees for their players, because they'll be in a stronger financial position. So I'd like us to look abroad where we should be able to find deals that offer better value for money.

Well another name being heavily linked today is Henrikh Mkhitaryan Armenian Shakhtar Donetsk player. Another CAM it seems . . . Seen some of the videos seems pretty goal hungry & great at making runs in the box.

Then again most of the recent rumors have been foreign based.

Eriksen, Ben Arfa, Mkhitaryan the candidates for AM.

Dede, Williams, De Vrij for centre back.

Some of the names making the circulation in more or less trustworthy journos . .

Ben Smith on BBC confirms Liverpool's interest in Eriksen, Ben Arfa, Markovic, Williams and Bruno Martins

I would be beyond ecstatic if our Attacking signing in the summer were Eriksen and HBA. They would improve the attack ten fold (not that it needs much improvement). I like Markovic very much has well. Would be a marvelous one for the future. He's got potential to turn into Jovetic type player .

But we can all agree CB is top priority. My favorite name floating around is Dede.

Eriksen rumours really sparking up. It'll be a steal if we get him for around 10m. Nothing over 15 though as again, it's not really a priority. We need to work on the defence and a player that can play on the right hand side of the front three.

So, our recently linked players make for an interesting picture of our squad and set-up for next season. It seems we're looking at 3-4 major signings (as confirmed by BR himself): CAM, CB, RW and LB

Prominent Targets:

CAM - likely signing only one
1) Eriksen - my choice for impact signing, as most of you know. Love this kid.
2) Mkhitaryan - Not a bad second option. Personally think he's a more pure AM than Eriksen, and maybe less likely to track back. However, I admit that's from a very limited sample.

CB (could sign 2, especially if Skrtel is sold)
1) Ashley Williams - I'm beginning to like this rumor more and more. He's a stout and solid defender, who is capable of organizing a defense. He won't be a club legend, but he would be a good option to bridge the gap between Carragher and a younger CB who we may or may not bring in this summer.
2) Stephen De Vrij - He seems to be the closest thing to a right-footed Agger that's out there. I would love to see him brought in, but I'm not sure if he could come in and settle well enough to plug the Carra shaped hole in the defense. Would be a great #2 signing. Him and Williams would be pretty much ideal for me.
3) Dede - I put him at 3, because I really don't know too much about him and the rumors have seemed a bit wishful surrounding a potential move for him. Something tells me that these may have originated out of hope more than reality. That said, I've heard good things about the player, but can't speak for him first-hand.
4) Dejan Lovren - Linked to him in the past few months. He seems to fit the mold of a larger, more physical CB, and young. However, my concerns with De Vrij apply here too. He's done well for Lyon, but I'm not sure he can fill the void right away. Another great #2 option.
5) Martin Kelly - The cheapest option, as he is already at the club, I think Kelly has all the tools to be a very good CB if he's fully committed to the position. With Johnson, Wisdom, Flanno and McLaughlin coming through at RB, we don't need more cover there. A potential route for the club to take is to bring in Williams and integrate Kelly as the 3rd-choice CB.

LB
1) Bruno Martins Indi – I hear we’ve been scouting him quite a bit. I don’t honestly know much about him as a player. Therefore, I can’t speak to his comparison (better or worse) than Enrique.
2) Luke Shaw – we supposedly have interest in him, but so does every other premier league squad in need of a young LB. This could be the biggest reason to root for Southampton to get the drop. If they stay up, he’s all the more likely to stay for another season. I really rate this youngster, and I think a few years rotating with Enrique could turn him into a great LB for us.

Would think this would make our line-up something along the lines of:
-------------Sturridge
----Coutinho---------Suarez
------------Eriksen
--------------------Gerrard
Enrique--------Lucas--------Johnson
----------Agger----Williams
---------------Reina

Width would obviously need to be provided by the full-backs, but that’s nothing new in a BR system.

Suarez would likely retain his license to roam, with Eriksen and Gerrard drifting to cover his flank at times.

Kelly would be the third choice CB. Williams being flexible enough to play on either side makes the rotation relatively easy.

Sterling could again come in at either the Suarez or Coutinho role, as could Suso. In fact the “inside-forward” role suits Suso far more than the “winger” role he played at times this season. I just don’t think he has the pace to play a true wide role in the Prem.

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.

*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.