by aCe' » Fri Sep 13, 2013 2:39 pm
You over-complicate things by trying to dissect it as much. I think generally, you have standard attributes you'd want all your players regardless of position to have. Things like strength, work rate, stamina, concentration, awareness, and at the very least a decent first touch. Past that, for me its down to the position that a player holds.
For CBs for example, the main things besides the obvious physical traits needed are high concentration, good reading of the game/movement of opposition, aerial ability, and a sufficient amount of bravery. What makes a top CB past the presence of such attributes from there on depends on their level of acumen in these attributes. Generally speaking, being brilliant at only one of the attributes but standard at the rest would make you a good CB but not a top one. Agger for example is a very god reader of the game but isnt brilliant at any of the other attributes. Decent, even above the average threshold or marker I'd set, but not top bracket. Players like Hyypia, Vidic, Ferdinand, and Carvalho on the other hand combine that excellent reading of the game with at leastanother attribute that they're top bracket at (Vidic: aerial, Carvalho: Concentration, Ferdinand: top or close to top bracket at all the attributes you'd need and then some etc.).
Same could be done for different positions. Thing is, sometimes you'd have a player who is absolutely brilliant at one aspects but perhaps average at the rest of attributes and they'd still be a top talent or a very valuable player in the side. Kuyt was a top player for us but you'd find it hard to get him to tick any of the boxes you'd want for a wide player. You could say something similar about Ramirez, Walcott, Lavezzi..etc.
What it comes down to is the utilization of the talent you have. And to bring the conversation back to Liverpool and the side we have now, I think we have a few outstanding players (which we've had for a number of years now despite perhaps some of the names changing) in the squad and the problem we have atm is that we're yet to get the right players around them/utilize the specialties of such players like we did under Rafa with the likes of Kuyt, Mascherano and Arbeloa. Granted, I think theres still a gulf in quality between Kuyt and Henderson, Mascherano and Lucas but the concept is the point I'm trying to make. Henderson has a good engine but nowhere near as effective or invaluable as Kuyt was in his heyday. Same with Lucas despite his importance to the side increasing by the day.