Liverpool FC Forum

by **Ciggy** » Mon Apr 26, 2010 7:59 am

Now depending on whether Rafa, Gerrard, Torres & Mascherano stay or they leave lets say for a minute that they will all still be here next season.
And depending on what players are brought in my biggest worry for next season is if Lucas and kuyt start every game again we have 4 weakest links in our squad thats Insua, Kuyt, Lucas and no back up striker for Torres.

If we want to be challenging for the league and CL then Lucas, Kuyt & Insua need to be on the bench just how well that will go down with Kuyt is anyones guess and whether or not Rafa will drop him is a very big question and one Im afraid to say I dont think he will

My prefered choice at the momment in midfield is the following:

Maxi Mascherano Gerrard Benayoun

Aqualini

Although we could buy someone who is an improvement on Maxi but Rafa must resist the temptation of playing kuyt on the right wing next season its really holding the team back, its not kuyts fault he is only following instructions but he is a striker at the end of the day and this area needs addressing in the summer.

The same goes for CM this Lucas & mascherano combo has cost us dearly this season that its resulted in Gerrard behind Torres hasnt worked either because of the departure of Alonso spraying balls to them.

The main priority this summer is another world class striker that is a must and we need to change the formation for two strikers to play because if we get one he wont want to be sitting on any bench until Torres gets injured (crosses fingers) other clubs can keep 4 or 5 strikers happy we cant keep two Crouch for instance didnt want to play second fiddle to Torres.

So for next season whats needed is a striker, right winger and left back and maybe a central defender that Greek fella doesnt fill me with bags of confidence either.

I am not having a go at Lucas & kuyt but they should not be in our starting 11 in every single game for us, and Rafa needs to realise this is holding us back.

Ofcourse the money situation comes in to play and if twit & tw@t are still here then we will be lucky if we could sign kevin bloody Phillips as backup for Torres :glare:

What does everyone else think?

by **kazza** » Mon Apr 26, 2010 8:40 am

Sounds good but if you play Johnson at RB then you need someone with more graft than Maxi (and I like Maxi) to cover because that will leave Carra exposed. I like Aquilani as an attacking midfielder and Gerrard as a CM in that midfield. Kuyte has not worked as hard this season as he did last season.

by **Roger Red Hat** » Mon Apr 26, 2010 8:57 am

I think if Rafa stays with us there will be a shake up in the team. I think about 6 players are set to leave/be push out. He will look to keep the core of the team Gerrard, Torres, Reina, Carra, greek, Agger, Johnson and maybe Kuyt but I think the rest are gonna be fk'd off.
Then, some new faces will be brought in, hopefully decent ones.

by **Leonmc0708** » Mon Apr 26, 2010 9:46 am

kazza wrote:Kuyt has not worked as hard this season as he did last season.

Categorically not ture.

by **bigmick** » Mon Apr 26, 2010 9:55 am

It's an intersting one alright Lynds. My own feeling is that if Rafa stays (which I think he will) we will play a genuine 4-4-2 next season. I also wouldn't be surprised if one of the "2" is not Fernando Torres (not blaming Rafa for that, I just think he might be away for big money). If it is 4-4-2, it's Gerrard and Masherano as the first choice central midfielders, Kuyt on the right and someone else on the left. I think we'll spend reasonably big again this Summer, and I think one of the signings might be Kenwyn Jones.

by **JC_81** » Mon Apr 26, 2010 10:19 am

I personally think a switch to 4-4-2 is needed.

The 4-4-1-1 with Gerrard playing off Torres is too dependant on both of them being fit. Substitute Ngog for Torres and Gerrard suddenly becomes ineffective in that position. Also there are few players in the world who can match Torres in terms of the lone striker role, so we miss him even more when he's injured with this system.

The fact that Torres plays around 60-70% of games in a season has to be taken into account for next season. We need to bring in two strikers imo before even thinking about strengthening elsewhere.

by **kazza** » Mon Apr 26, 2010 10:24 am

Leonmc0708 wrote:
kazza wrote:Kuyt has not worked as hard this season as he did last season.

Categorically not ture.

You can only see so much when watching on TV, but lately he has seemed to let players run past whereas last year I did not see it as much. Those that have been going to matches are in a better position than me to judge work rate so I'll take your word for it.

I like what Kuyte brings to the team (spirit) and I've never been a Kuyte-basher.

by **zarababe** » Mon Apr 26, 2010 10:26 am

Rafa will be here next season - and if the right investor comes in - he will lead us to the holy grail.. and more !!!

Bring on next season COME ON RAFA'S RED ARMY !!! :angry:

by **stmichael** » Mon Apr 26, 2010 10:34 am

john craig wrote:I personally think a switch to 4-4-2 is needed.

The problem with that is to play that system you need genuine wide players. Riera aside (who'll probably leve anyway) we don't have any. They're either converted strikers or midfielders who come off the line. Infact you can argue that Johnson would be our best option at right midfield at present.

by **lakes10** » Mon Apr 26, 2010 10:46 am

I dont think new money will come in time for the new season.

due to this i think we might see the big names go....in that case it might be what sort of team should we build to stay in the top 7 or 8,
I would look to build on the back 4, they are almost there but feel we could add a good back up player or replace one of them.

Strikers.....big problem if Torres moves on, there are a few good english players around right now that some of the big teams are looking at, each one will cost around 10mil, we could risk getting one and how they go or we could spend 20mil on a mid 20's striker (age).

It seems this year it might be hard foe many teams to buy the big names due to contracts and how much it will cost to get the players out of them.....shame the teams that are coming in for our players seem to have too much money.

I would like to see a left wing player come in, someone with a bit of a gift for making the runs and good ball control, if we get one then a pop them in striker would be nice........but if that all the job he would have to do then i think we have him in El Zhar

by **zarababe** » Mon Apr 26, 2010 10:48 am

lakes10 wrote:Strikers.....big problem if Torres moves on, there are a few good english players around right now that some of the big teams are looking at, each one will cost around 10mil, we could risk getting one and how they go or we could spend 20mil on a mid 20's striker (age).

Torres won't move on - he ain't that shallow.

by **lakes10** » Mon Apr 26, 2010 11:03 am

zarababe wrote:
lakes10 wrote:Strikers.....big problem if Torres moves on, there are a few good english players around right now that some of the big teams are looking at, each one will cost around 10mil, we could risk getting one and how they go or we could spend 20mil on a mid 20's striker (age).

Torres won't move on - he ain't that shallow.

god i hope you are right.
saw a report on SSN saying that he dont think he can stay in England much longer as it will be bad for for. due to the way we play.

by **zarababe** » Mon Apr 26, 2010 11:37 am

But we play the weay that suits him

is it true that he is now more successful and recognised to be, at Liverpool, then when in spain (the rain stays mainly in the plain

)

even when he plays for spain - he don't look as aewsome as he does for us

by **tonyeh** » Mon Apr 26, 2010 12:02 pm

I don't think that much will change if Benitez stays. Presuming Liverpool does get some investment and presuming Benitez spends wisely ths time on key areas, it still won't be enough to address all of the squad deficit. There's a lot of dead wood and (I sense) conflict in the team.

If Torres and Gerrard stay, I cannot see Mr Roboto moving away from his beloved defensive 4-5-1 system...

...and we'll simply end up with more of the same. Torres'n'Gerrard FC.

Liverpool probably won't have the same type of chronic season next time, but they won't win the league either.

In short, the whole mentality and approach to the game needs to be addressed by Benitez, if any serious challenges for the title are to be mounted.

by **stmichael** » Mon Apr 26, 2010 12:03 pm

tonyeh wrote:...and we'll simply end up with more of the same. Torres'n'Gerrard FC.

do you work for sky?

ffs

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