Liverpool FC Forum

[woof woof !]

Week in week out many of us submit our 11 for the upcoming game.

Thought it might be interesting to see what team the Newkit collective see as their best 11.

Never mind whether it's the prem, fa cup or CL . Assume all the current squad are fit and give us your best 11 that you'd field week in week out for the rest of the season  (we'll assume they all stay fit and in form). I'll total up the nominations next week and post what WE think overall is our best team.

My choice.

.                                 Reina

.  Finnan          Carragher       Agger         Arbeloa

. Pennant         Gerrard         Masherano    Kewell

.                       Torres       Crouch

[red37]

REINA

FINNAN   CARRA     AGGER    ARBELOA

PENNANT   GERRARD  MASCH   KEWELL

             BABEL      TORRES

[account deleted by request]

Reina

Finnan      Carra     Agger    Arbeloa

Gerrard      Mascherano  Alonso    Kewell

                  Babel     Torres

[Bammo]

Assuming everyone's fit and confident (will this ever happen )

                           Reina

Finnan        Carra          Agger      Arbeloa

                                  Alonso
Pennant      Gerrard                      Babel

                 Torres        Kuyt

[murphy0151]

Pepe

Finann CArra Agger Aurelio (When fully fit)

Babel  Gerrard Mascherano Kewell

Torres   Kuyt

Benny
Arbeloa
Xabi
Itandje
Crouch

Id ave to say this for me.

[JoeTerp]

who are our best XI footballers? certainly Gerrard, Carra, Reina, and Torres make the list.  I think most people would have to include both Mascherano as well as Alonso in that list as well. that is 5 or 6 players that are locked down. leaving 5 or 6 more to go. Assuming a 4 at the back formation:

1 of which must be a CB partner for Agger:
Hyypia has played well, but its obvious that he has lost a step and that if Agger ever gets fit he will play ahead of him. 

2 of which must be fullbacks
Its hard for me to tell out of Finnan, Arbeloa, and Aurelio or Riise which combination of the 2 is best.

then 2 or three for the rest of em:
Deciding between Yossi, Kewell, and Pennant, and then choosing between Kuyt, Babel, Crouch, Voronin, and if you want 3 of that group to play you have to choose to sit Alonso.

I think when picking the team, the Gerrard issue becomes a big deal.  Because he is our best  player should we automatically play him in his best suited role and as such build the team, or choose his partners based on his needs.  I think that this thinking is what gets us into our relying too much on Gerrard and Torres problem.  Stevie is probably the most versatile player on our team, and even when he plays out of position and you say he didn't look like himself today, he can still play those roles better than pretty much anybody else on the team can.  So what would happen if we made our best XI assuming Gerrard wasn't fit, then decide who the weak link in the chain was, and replace it with our best player, turning a weakness into a strength instantly.

But I have grown fond of this new experimental lineup than I thought of yesterday, and it is based on an idea I got form BigMick's post about Lucas, as well as the assumption that Skrtel will live up to what his transfer fee says he is worth:
                                              Reina
                Skrtel                      Carra                     Agger
                                           Mascherano
    Gerrard                                                                       Aurelio
                                               Lucas
                       Babel                                       Kewell

                                               Torres

Subs: Itandje, Arbeloa, Yossi, Alonso, Riise

[Scottbot]

Reina

Finnan   Carra   Agger   Arbeloa


Gerrard  Alonso  Masch   Kewell


       Crouch     Torres

[andy_g]

here's  mine. based on what we've seen players do and not what we hope we might do if they played in a certain position (hence no babel up top even though i like him a lot). i don't see how our current best 11 can include players in positions they're not used to. that's how we got in this stupid blip in the first place IMO


.                  reina

. arbeloa   carra   agger   aurelio

.pennant  masch  gerrard  kewell

.         torres      crouch

[Mark 23]

It all depends upon who we play, so this thread is just a huge waste over everybodys time. Let talk about who would should sign, as if real life is as simple as Football Manager  2007

[JamCar05]

It all depends upon who we play, so this thread is just a huge waste over everybodys time. Let talk about who would should sign, as if real life is as simple as Football Manager  2007

Not everyone believes it depends on who we play though. Some believe we should always put out our strongest eleven and not worry about the opponent, whereas others believe we should accomodate our lineup to whichever opponent we are up against (Rafa surely belongs in this group  ). Anyway, this thread also clearly specifies, that you are to name your personally favoured team assuming everyone is ready and fit and not caring about what game it is, but only caring about fielding the strongest possible team in your eyes - the team you think most other teams should be worried about playing (at least that is my interpretation of the thread  ).

Anyway, I'll post mine up later.

[bigmick]

Mine would be this.

                                                                      Reina

                                                 Arbeloa        Carra   Agger      Aurelio

                                                 Gerrard        Lucas   Masherano  Kewell

                                                             Torres           Crouch

[Bad Bob]

Ahhh, the semi-regular 'name your best 11' thread which always seems to demonstrate that, while most of us can name a core of nailed-on starters, we rarely see a strong consensus for a complete best 11.  Which, of course, makes the persistent "FFS Rafa, just cut out this rotation lark and play your best 11" shout from some quarters (not you, Big Mick, I know... ) ring a little hollow.

In the spirit of things, however, I'll name the 11 players I'd like to see take to the pitch for us at the moment (subject very much to change).  I've put the nailed on starters in bold--the lads I want to see in the team every week.  I rate the rest of those chosen but their natural limitations/changeable form from week to week makes me more willing to see them rotated as form and circumstances dictate (depending very much on the quality of their replacement, of course).  I've included the subs I would consider rotating into the team in place of the non nailed-on lads, in order of confidence:

                       Reina

Finnan    Carragher  Agger     Aurelio


Gerrard   Alonso    Mascherano      Kewell


                Babel       Torres

Subs:
Arbeloa (for Finnan or Aurelio)
Crouch (for Babel up top or for Kewell, with Babel moving to LM)
Pennant (for Alonso/Mascherano, with Gerrard moving to CM)
Lucas (for Alonso/Mascherano...but would he offer more?)

So, bottom line, that's 15 core players I've selected to work with, preferably in at least a loose 4-4-2 almost all of the time (you've won me over, Saint ).  We have other lads (Benayoun, Hyypia, Riise, Itandje) who are useful but maybe shouldn't be getting a game bar injuries (Skrtel's probably in that list too but he's an unknown quantity at this point).  We also have some lads (Kuyt, Voronin, Sissoko, Leto) that probably shouldn't play for us again.

I don't know if my preferences fall into the rotation "Rafa-style" category but I think they illustrate why at least some rotation makes sense--until we start buying/cultivating some more 'bold-worthy' players, that is.

[Mark 23]

It all depends upon who we play, so this thread is just a huge waste over everybodys time. Let talk about who would should sign, as if real life is as simple as Football Manager  2007

Not everyone believes it depends on who we play though. Some believe we should always put out our strongest eleven and not worry about the opponent, whereas others believe we should accomodate our lineup to whichever opponent we are up against (Rafa surely belongs in this group  ). Anyway, this thread also clearly specifies, that you are to name your personally favoured team assuming everyone is ready and fit and not caring about what game it is, but only caring about fielding the strongest possible team in your eyes - the team you think most other teams should be worried about playing (at least that is my interpretation of the thread  ).

Anyway, I'll post mine up later.

Its too general this question i'm afraid, it should have more context, as in 'your 11 against [insert variable]'.
The variable could be struggling side, european side, a group of fouling , etc

[Cool Hand Luke]

I would play:

                          Reina

Finnan     Carragher     Agger     Aurelio

Gerrard   Mascherano   Alonso    Kewell

                  Torres      Crouch

[Mark 23]

I would play:

                          Reina

Finnan     Carragher     Agger     Aurelio

Gerrard   Mascherano   Alonso    Kewell

                  Torres      Crouch

That would be a quality team at home to a lesser side, good post, just lacking the variable