The Liverpool squad, what is really missing?

[DannyMan2006]

My breakdown of the squad, using the Rafa formation.

Gkp: Reina/Cavalieri

- Question marks against Cav as we haven't seen enough, but no great need to spend.

RB: Johnson/Degen/Kelly

- Johnson needs to do better, but there aren't many better than him. Staying injury free and a settled back 4 would work wonders for him. Degen is not good enough. Kelly looks good, but needs to stay clear of injuries. I wouldn't say RB is a priority, but I wouldn't say we are sorted either............

LB: Aurelio/Insua

- Aurelio is injury prone and looks to be leaving on a free. Insua is still learning and nowhere near the level to be considered first choice. We are in desperate need of a first choice LB. As we are also short at RB I would then look for another full back who can play left and right to a good level.

CB: Carragher/Agger/Skrtel/Kyrgiakos

- Carra is getting on but is still our best CB. Aggre is a great foil but is injury prone. Skrtel has been off form and injured and able back up. Soto probably isn't good enough tbh. I would probably say we need one quality CB to challenge Carra and Agger for first choice.

DM: Mascherano/Aquilani/Lucas

- Mascherano is world class, one of 4 in our team. Aquilani looks a good foil once adjusted, but it may be a risk to rely on this prospect. Lucas is a good back up to Mascherano, as the more defensive minded DM, but lacks the creativity to partner him. Whilst I would like to see Gerrard dropped back, this isn't going to happen. As such I think we are one player short in this area. We need someone to really push Aquilani for a place alongside Mascherano, someone with a real sense of creativity but one also tough in the tackle.

LM: Babel/Riera

- Whilst I would say either would be decent back up, neither Riera or Babel have shown enough to suggest they should be a regular first choice. Problem area that has cost us for a while now.

RM: Kuyt/Yossi/Maxi

- Again, I am not convinced by either. Yossi is a good player to bring of the bench and offer something different. Kuyt is a willing worker who is handy to have when you are in a tight corner. Maxi is good, but needs time to see if he can do it. But neither tick all the boxes. Same as LM, it's an area in which I feel we lack a top attacking talent.

CAM: Gerrard

- One of the best players in the world when on song. Surround him with quality and you will see a truly great player. A wasted talent at present. He is also the only one who has shown any signs of being convincing in this role. Lucas, Kuyt and Yossi have all had the odd good game there in the past, but it's safe to say that without Gerrard behind the striker we have struggled at times. It's also a possibility Aquilani could play this role. But all others mentioned here have already been assigned roles in the squad. Move any of them to this area and it brings holes elsewhere in the squad. For all these reasons, it is an area in which we need another player.

ST: Torres/N'Gog

- One is the best player in the world, one is average at best and still learning his trade. Is there any wonder that Liverpool struggle when Torres is out injured? At the very least one back up striker is required. In an ideal world, I'd bring in two and loan out N'Gog to get experience. If we were to get two I guess we could also keep on N'Gog. This would give us four strikers and I guess also cover for Gerrard.

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We also have a few youth players that could prove usefull in time. But none are good enough to be depended on. Only kelly I think is capable of playing some regular football for Liverpool FC.

Having gone through the squad we are probably eight players short. That is a massive hole:

First choice LB.
Back up LB/RB.
Top class CB.
Top Class DM with creativity.
First choice RM.
First choice LM.
Back up CAM.
Back up ST.

There is no doubt we could get away with not filling all the required positions. We could probably get by with the following:

First Choice LB.
First choice winger.
Back up striker.

But that's still a big hole in terms of finances required to get the above three positions. Probably £40m and upwards. And two of the positions mentioned have no players within the squad who we could sell. We have only one LB on a contract (Insua) and no back up striker - N'gog would still be needed as 3rd choice.

In reality we would only be able to sell one winger without leaving further holes in our squad. Sell two wingers (Riera/babel) and we would need to bring in two wingers, as opposed to one.

[SB]

I'll get to the rest when I have time but I thought I read that Cavalieri wants out ?

[SB]

I'd settle for

A good striker
A good left mid
A good left back
A good Attacking Mid

[dww]

I'll get to the rest when I have time but I thought I read that Cavalieri wants out ?

I think even if he didn't with the new squad limits we would be looking to bring in an English trained reserve keeper to allow us more flexibility elsewhere.

[Shaggy]

I think even if he didn't with the new squad limits we would be looking to bring in an English trained reserve keeper to allow us more flexibility elsewhere.

Yeah, the young lad Hennessey from Wolves would seem a good option to me.

[-V-]

Is there any point in fixing up the squad if we don't have a manager who can understand that the 1 striker system only works with Torres? The same Torres who is injury prone.

We need proper strikers first and foremost. We still haven't replaced Crouch ffs

[Nicey]

My breakdown of the squad, using the Rafa formation.

Gkp: Reina/Cavalieri

- Question marks against Cav as we haven't seen enough, but no great need to spend.

RB: Johnson/Degen/Kelly

- Johnson needs to do better, but there aren't many better than him. Staying injury free and a settled back 4 would work wonders for him. Degen is not good enough. Kelly looks good, but needs to stay clear of injuries. I wouldn't say RB is a priority, but I wouldn't say we are sorted either............

LB: Aurelio/Insua

- Aurelio is injury prone and looks to be leaving on a free. Insua is still learning and nowhere near the level to be considered first choice. We are in desperate need of a first choice LB. As we are also short at RB I would then look for another full back who can play left and right to a good level.

CB: Carragher/Agger/Skrtel/Kyrgiakos

- Carra is getting on but is still our best CB. Aggre is a great foil but is injury prone. Skrtel has been off form and injured and able back up. Soto probably isn't good enough tbh. I would probably say we need one quality CB to challenge Carra and Agger for first choice.

DM: Mascherano/Aquilani/Lucas

- Mascherano is world class, one of 4 in our team. Aquilani looks a good foil once adjusted, but it may be a risk to rely on this prospect. Lucas is a good back up to Mascherano, as the more defensive minded DM, but lacks the creativity to partner him. Whilst I would like to see Gerrard dropped back, this isn't going to happen. As such I think we are one player short in this area. We need someone to really push Aquilani for a place alongside Mascherano, someone with a real sense of creativity but one also tough in the tackle.

LM: Babel/Riera

- Whilst I would say either would be decent back up, neither Riera or Babel have shown enough to suggest they should be a regular first choice. Problem area that has cost us for a while now.

RM: Kuyt/Yossi/Maxi

- Again, I am not convinced by either. Yossi is a good player to bring of the bench and offer something different. Kuyt is a willing worker who is handy to have when you are in a tight corner. Maxi is good, but needs time to see if he can do it. But neither tick all the boxes. Same as LM, it's an area in which I feel we lack a top attacking talent.

CAM: Gerrard

- One of the best players in the world when on song. Surround him with quality and you will see a truly great player. A wasted talent at present. He is also the only one who has shown any signs of being convincing in this role. Lucas, Kuyt and Yossi have all had the odd good game there in the past, but it's safe to say that without Gerrard behind the striker we have struggled at times. It's also a possibility Aquilani could play this role. But all others mentioned here have already been assigned roles in the squad. Move any of them to this area and it brings holes elsewhere in the squad. For all these reasons, it is an area in which we need another player.

ST: Torres/N'Gog

- One is the best player in the world, one is average at best and still learning his trade. Is there any wonder that Liverpool struggle when Torres is out injured? At the very least one back up striker is required. In an ideal world, I'd bring in two and loan out N'Gog to get experience. If we were to get two I guess we could also keep on N'Gog. This would give us four strikers and I guess also cover for Gerrard.

------------------

We also have a few youth players that could prove usefull in time. But none are good enough to be depended on. Only kelly I think is capable of playing some regular football for Liverpool FC.

Having gone through the squad we are probably eight players short. That is a massive hole:

First choice LB.
Back up LB/RB.
Top class CB.
Top Class DM with creativity.
First choice RM.
First choice LM.
Back up CAM.
Back up ST.

There is no doubt we could get away with not filling all the required positions. We could probably get by with the following:

First Choice LB.
First choice winger.
Back up striker.

But that's still a big hole in terms of finances required to get the above three positions. Probably £40m and upwards. And two of the positions mentioned have no players within the squad who we could sell. We have only one LB on a contract (Insua) and no back up striker - N'gog would still be needed as 3rd choice.

In reality we would only be able to sell one winger without leaving further holes in our squad. Sell two wingers (Riera/babel) and we would need to bring in two wingers, as opposed to one.

For me, nearly all our woes you could trace to our wing backs,

Insua is too young, gets turned inside out too easily and has some way to go it would seem, fantastic squad player but only time will see if hes good enough.
Aurelio obviously is made of glass, great player but spends way too much time on the table and not on the pitch.
Johnson, is like Ace King suited, looks pretty but gets you in trouble, sensational going forward, still a weak link at the back.. needs to move up the pitch to RM I think ..
Degen showed flashes of technical ability but nothing amazing
Nearly all of our pivotal goals conceded can be traced to our WB's
Babel is not cutting it, lets face it ... perhaps a great player who knows but he is not at liverpool, I say sell whilst his stock is reasonable
We obviously need a LM, LB, RB and lets see how this new CF does

[dww]

I think there is more in the squad than people realise but that we have few players who complement one another. Obviously we need greater strength in depth and actually we have a few players who can help reduce the number of players we need with their versatility.

Key for me is the ability to have defensive fullbacks as alternatives, we need another body in central midfield who is a progressive passer and we need more goals and width in the squad. A second defender capable of consistent passing would be good.

I'm not sure that some of these problems don't have solutions in or around the first team with the likes of Kelly being possible utility defenders. Carragher could play right back if he is willing. Ayala has promise in the middle.

I would consider looking for replacements for Riera, Babel, Skrtel, Benayoun, Cavalieri and Aurelio. I would probably also sell Degen, although I don't think we necessarily need to look for a replacement with Kelly and Carragher capable of covering.

Unlikely though it seems that it will happen I think we need two or three more players in teh squad next season to substantially improve.

[Resu]

For CB we have both Ayala and San Jose looking like decent players, and with that Rangers guy coming in we don`t have to spend that much.
In CM we have the Shelvey coming in, he`s still young but should be able to compete for a squad place.
Isn`t Jovanovic coming in as a experienced striker?

[dww]

For CB we have both Ayala and San Jose looking like decent players, and with that Rangers guy coming in we don`t have to spend that much.
In CM we have the Shelvey coming in, he`s still young but should be able to compete for a squad place.
Isn`t Jovanovic coming in as a experienced striker?

I think the Rangers guy is left sided and might be thought of as a defensive option at full back.

Shelvey might compete but without seeing him at PL level I think it is hard to put him as a prime candidate as first reserve for Gerrard.

In a way both signings might be indicative of the types of gamble we will have to make this summer if we hope to reinvigorate our squad. I still think we lack experience of league winning in the squad and that is a problem that will be hard to address.

Not sure about Jovanovic as there was lots of talk about whether he would play left side or up front and promises made by Rafa of both were rumoured. Either way I think he does add cover/goals to our attacking options.

[SK]

What we need depends on rafa staying and us playing the same 4231 fromation next season.

But never mind the formation we need and experienced left back and a skillful&fast left winger. The right hand side imo is good enough with johnson and maxi as first choice and kuyt&kelly as backup

now we've apparently signed jovanović and shelvey which should increase competition for the backup stirker role and in the midfield area.

i personaly don't want to see gerrard playing behind the striker but would prefer someone more effiecient there as i think steve's not cut out for that role. someone like joe cole would do just fine (if he managed to stay fit for the majority of the season)

[red g]

a manager with a less defensive approach or at least one that works!!

[The Birdman]

Confidence and a kind fixture list at the start of next season to get momentum going.

However the worrying aspect for me is I think we're bringing in Shelvey and Wilson because we don't have money to spend on 6-10m 'squad players' so we have taken a punt on younger players with more experience than the players in our reserves, more promise and the all important sell on value to bridge a gap.

If Rafa stays I can see Babel(8m), Riera(5m), Degan(2m), Kyriakos(3m) or Skrtel (8m), El Zhar(500k) and maybe Aquilani(10m) going with a left back, striker and hopefully another wide left player coming in

[calvoboy]

I reckon we need a LB, LW and Striker. All three of which need to be top class = £50m min.

We might even be OK with 2 out of the 3 for c£30m. A lot depends on how good Jovanovic turns out to be. If he's decent, then Torres, him, Kuyt and N'Gog might just about do for a season if we get the left winger and left back. Alternatively if 'good' Babel shows up more often than 'bad' Babel next season, then we might be OK with just a striker and a left-back?

Either way though we're looking at spending at least £30m, and I'm not sure we've got anything like that to spend.

[the rev leeroy brown]

a left back
a left and right winger
a striker

these are a MUST if we are to be successfull next year.

insua is not good enough and fabio is offski
babel is not a winger and riera is offski
kyut is not a winger and yossi and maxi are both impact players who drift central
ngog is no where near good enough

IF aqua stays then perhaps he could play more advanced and allow ste to play central mid if we cant afford to buy a proper playmaker to finally replace xabi.

again If we have money left over / available then i'd also consider a new centre half as carra is getting on, skittles has faded and zorba is a stop gap.