Our Squad

[Roboklopp]

Very srtong, but still need that extra bit of flair & creativity. Messi & Alves would do.

[rage]

we are weak at right back, right midfield and left midfield.

finnan & arbeloa are at best solid and degen i've not seen anything that excites me either as a liverpool player or from reports from his previous team

pennant and gerrard on the right - we need a specialist, yossi and babel on the left - we need a specialist. i'm thinking silva could fill in either of those roles.

i'm also expecting great things from lucas, el zahr and ngog this year.

[Reece]

i'm also expecting great things from lucas, el zahr and ngog this year.

Piss taking aside mate, I could have sworn you spent most match threads last year slagging Lucas off, or have I confused you with someone else?

Anyway, not sure about El Zhar, but yeah the other 2 I'm expecting to be pretty good.

[PTP]

i think our squad is as strong as it has been in years - with have many options for sure

in an ideal world - we'd sell Pennant and Voronin - and sign someone like Messi/Kaka/Ronaldo/Robinho etc then i would be really excited - even Joe Cole! would be perfect - then we would have a squad that could really mount a serious title challenge.

If we could and rafa wanted to, then add barry as well

[Nicey]

Lucas looks very comfortable in the middle of the park it has to be said.. I would say he is there already and basically the main reason Rafa is prepared to sell Xabi ... at the right price

[rage]

Piss taking aside mate, I could have sworn you spent most match threads last year slagging Lucas off, or have I confused you with someone else?

Anyway, not sure about El Zhar, but yeah the other 2 I'm expecting to be pretty good.

no your right in regards to lucas, i think he's lightweight BUT my peers on here think he has the ability in which case surely its this year that we see him step up.

in regards to ngog, i actually think he has something about him from the moment i saw him play - i don't complain about everyone you know reece. its clear that ngog will be used as cover for torres.

as for el zahr its now or never for him. he's put on some weight, looks like a man and i do think he is capable of playing regular cup football and cameo appearances in the league and champions league. he clearly has talent and i think he has the ability to unlock defences and even provide cover on the wings or as a second striker.

the 7 subs rule will provide a massive opportunity for these lads. its clear we haven't got the money and we need to develop our own. wenger does it - rafa should be able to do it. this is his 5th season and its time we saw this youth/reserve set up that he's rafalutionised begin to deliver. i don't think thats an over ambitious requirement

[Reece]

no your right in regards to lucas, i think he's lightweight BUT my peers on here think he has the ability in which case surely its this year that we see him step up.

in regards to ngog, i actually think he has something about him from the moment i saw him play - i don't complain about everyone you know reece. its clear that ngog will be used as cover for torres.

as for el zahr its now or never for him. he's put on some weight, looks like a man and i do think he is capable of playing regular cup football and cameo appearances in the league and champions league. he clearly has talent and i think he has the ability to unlock defences and even provide cover on the wings or as a second striker.

the 7 subs rule will provide a massive opportunity for these lads. its clear we haven't got the money and we need to develop our own. wenger does it - rafa should be able to do it. this is his 5th season and its time we saw this youth/reserve set up that he's rafalutionised begin to deliver. i don't think thats an over ambitious requirement

Agree with most of that, although it sounds like I currently hold Lucas in higher regard than you, but it's good to hear you are willing to give him a chance to prove himself further this season.

[MrMichael]

Yep exactly .... Although Benny can play on the Left and Stevie would make most peoples teams on the right .. but I hear you and I agree with .. as would Rafa I would hazard a guess

Rafa - "but clearly we have problems on the left." linky

we are weak at right back, right midfield and left midfield.

finnan & arbeloa are at best solid and degen i've not seen anything that excites me either as a liverpool player or from reports from his previous team

pennant and gerrard on the right - we need a specialist, yossi and babel on the left - we need a specialist. i'm thinking silva could fill in either of those roles.

i'm also expecting great things from lucas, el zahr and ngog this year.

The full back positions are weird ones this year. We certainly have the numbers in both, but its really hard to see who will turn out to be the no 1. choice in each. The left side looks like its got some good potential with Dossena, Aurelio and Insua, but I'm also not sure about the right. Throw Darby into the mix and there's 4 players all of whom could be good there, or all of whom could prove a little wanting depending on how things go. Really hard to call that.

The squad is definitely weak where it comes to genuine wide options. Not sure that'll hurt the best XI too much, but with injuries and formation changes we really could do with one more specialist quality wide player to balance things.

[Roboklopp]

aye

[Joe Le Toff]

No quality out wide for me, the main area of the squad that imo needed addressing in order for us to challenge the top 2.

[dww]

The full back positions are weird ones this year. We certainly have the numbers in both, but its really hard to see who will turn out to be the no 1. choice in each. The left side looks like its got some good potential with Dossena, Aurelio and Insua, but I'm also not sure about the right. Throw Darby into the mix and there's 4 players all of whom could be good there, or all of whom could prove a little wanting depending on how things go. Really hard to call that.

The squad is definitely weak where it comes to genuine wide options. Not sure that'll hurt the best XI too much, but with injuries and formation changes we really could do with one more specialist quality wide player to balance things.

I have a good feeling about the fullbacks. Overall I think we have a very very good squad but with a few remaining weaknesses.

I think without Barry we lack an option as a natural left sided player and we still look a little bit light in terms of defensive heading (although Dossena and Degen look like they might be an improvement in that area).

I think we have nearly all of the tools we need other than that but I do feel someone who can give us the ability to stretch teams on both flanks would be invaluable. Unlike most I could live with that being someone like Barry or Downing who can deliver the ball from deep positions - I think one of Kuyt/Benayoun/Babel should give us an option in terms of a wing forward. Ideally I would like to see a Silva/Iniesta type player but none are available for anything like the money we have.

Another weakness for me is set pieces. You would think that Alonso, Gerrard etc would be capable but we have seen for years that over a season it is not the case despite occasional outbreaks of genius. Again a left footer would be a nice option to have in this area (and again the same players fit that part of the bill).