Are we really any stronger or should I be worried?

[bradsdad]

ok i just getting a tad nervous ...are we really any stronger.... and god forbid what if torres gets injured ... there is a massive massive gap in quality between torres and our other available forewards ... surely we should have someone a little nearer in quality to the great one ...christ dare i say it even owen would have been better than nobody ... hope raffa is gonna surprise us at the last minute

[Baracus]

I believe attacking wise we are stronger, defensively we are weaker.

Simply based on the strengths and weaknesses of our purchases and the lost attributes of those we have sold.

[MrMichael]

If rumours about Voronin's departure for a decent fee are to be believed I think there might still be a surprise for us. Hopefully its a good one.

Otherwise, no, I don't think we're particularly stronger than last year as things stand right now. Nor do I think we're really a lot weaker though. Johnson > Arbeloa but Xabi > Aquilani (at least for his first season). Hyppia is a loss in terms of cover but if Agger can stay fit we might well not miss him at all. Given that the 2 sides who should be considered as our major rivals have also had extremely quiet summers, and in ManU's case have lost by far and away their most important player, relatively I think we're in at least as good a position as we were this time last year. And it has been just a really wierd summer.

As for Torres getting injured, I do agree its a worry but then what would ManU do if Rooney is crocked? Owen to lead their line with Berbatov? Give me a break, I'd rather play Kuyt up top. We've got to expect that Gerrard and Torres will start together more than the pitiful amount of times they did in 08/09, and if that happens I'd say we really should be genuine challengers, which is all we can really ask for in this league.

[Marky]

I'm just concerned with the lack of cover for Torres. People can blab on, ah well we got Voronin, N'Gog, Kuyt can play upfront, so can Babel etc.
Come on lets get real our strikeforce is Torres and Torres alone. God forbid if he gets injured or isn't in great form because we'll be well and truly ****ed.

[Marky]

A man on LFC TV suggested Paul Sharner would be a good signing for us in terms of his versatility, can play in defence or midfield.
Had forgot all about him actually, he'd be ideal. Good, solid player.

[EwarWoo]

As it stands now I think we're weaker. Without Xabi controlling distribution we may have problems.

Dunno anything about Aquilani but so that opinion may change.

On the other hand however Arsenal have flogged a couple of their players (1 of them a key player), Chelsea are still unstable (Scholari Mk2 with a but of luck), Mancs have lost a couple of key players.

The only team with notable improvements of players able to make them compete are City, however they'll take time to turn great players into a great team. So not even close to a threat this season.

We still need a back-up striker, and another winger would be a nice luxury (I don't like Babel. We need a back-up for Riera who can be relied upon to do something other than running into a dead end).

Aquilani is far too unknown for my liking. Will he fit in the PL? Will he get fit and stay fit?

We're still in with a decent shout. However I'm not feeling quite as confident and buzzed anymore but.

[Marky]

Yes the City players will have to gel and Hughes will have to come up with the right formation and tactics to accomodate all the new signings. If he can do that and they get off to a flyer then it wouldn't surprise me if they're right up in the mix after the new year. They won't win it but they could have a part to play.

[MrMichael]

Yes the City players will have to gel and Hughes will have to come up with the right formation and tactics to accomodate all the new signings. If he can do that and they get off to a flyer then it wouldn't surprise me if they're right up in the mix after the new year. They won't win it but they could have a part to play.

Hopefully they'll stop capitulating in their derby games now at least, that'll be a nice change

[Tee]

IMO we are weaker right now.

Whilst GJ will give us more threat going forward I am very uncomfortable with him defensively. Arbeloa was a better defender IMO.

Alonso was superb last season ad that is why Rafa was clearly desperate to keep him. Aquilani is going to have to pull something out of the hat to match Alonso, and given that it will be his first season in a new league it would be unfair to expect him to be world class from the off.

Our back-up strikers from the reserves have had another season to mature and will be better if called upon IMO.

Overall though, it would be naive IMO to say we are stronger now than at the end of last season.

[Marky]

Hopefully they'll stop capitulating in their derby games now at least, that'll be a nice change

It would make a nice change indeed. Tevez for the hat-trick
The Manchester derby will be a feisty one this season i reckon with the Tevez malarky, Fergie's remarks about City and wotnot.

[bradsdad]

the arse are deffo weaker as are the scum allthough they still have much better strength in depth than we do ... to early for man city this season ... i think i fear chelsea are the biggest threat of all .... and i think we still need one or two more quality players and deffo more strength in depth for certain

[EwarWoo]

I'm not feeling the hate for Chelsea I used to. They still have some players who should be mercilously tortured with a hot poker (they can make a video of it for Reaper), but post Mourinho and a lot of their plastics leaving I just can't muster the hate I used to feel.

So if it's them or the mancs I'll happily cheer 'em on.

However it will be us so just some silly rambling

[DannyMan2006]

LFC compared to this time last season.

At left back we now have the addition of Insua who has graduated from the reserves, at a cost of zero.

At Right back we have brought in Glen Johnson at a cost of £17m and released Arbeloa at a cost of £3.5m. Improvement, but at a cost of £13.5m.

At Centre Back we have lost Sami Hyypia on a free and replaced him with no one. Youngster maybe looking at stepping up short term. This is a weakness.

At Centre Midfield we have lost Xabi Alonso at a cost of £30m and signed Alberto Aquilani at a cost of £17m. This comes at a profit of £13m. The jury is still out on this one and could swing either way. But with Aquilani currently injured and with a chance he may not adapt - We would have to class this as a weakness at this stage.

At Centre Forward we have lost Robbie Keane at a cost of £13m (maybe more due to Spurs staying up, I heard we got another £3m for that). And a loan return of Andriy Voronin, zero cost. Profit of at least £13m.

On the wings we have also lost Jermaine Pennant on a free and Sebastien Leto for £3.5m. No one has come in, though both players particapated very little if at all. Profit of £3.5m

We've also had Youth players come and go, little movement this year but I think their sales will cover the cost of others who have come in or will come in.

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So overall I would say that at this stage our squad is weaker on the whole. But the window is still open and we are showing a profit of at least £16m on last season.

The owners said they would guarantee Rafa £20m - £40m every season. You do the maths and decide if those press reports were right, or maybe they were right but the Yanks were lying - wouldn't be the first time after all.

[DannyMan2006]

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So overall I would say that at this stage our squad is weaker on the whole. But the window is still open and we are showing a profit of at least £16m on last season.

The owners said they would guarantee Rafa £20m - £40m every season. You do the maths and decide if those press reports were right, or maybe they were right but the Yanks were lying - wouldn't be the first time after all.

Just to add to this, we could also be making around the £10m mark if Dossena and Voronin are also sold. How much money does this leave us with this summer? Even if we only got £7m for the pair that would still leave Rafa £23m in profit on last year.

Incredible.

[Chrono]

We are stronger and we still have a transfer trick up our sleeve which will make us even stronger.