In my opinion thus far Liverpool has certainly made the wrong signings. Whilst I applaud the criterion set by FSG and King Kenny for wanting to buy top young British talent, I personally would have and still would buy differently. The positions where Liverpool certainly needed strengthening were the wide areas. What has been endemic within Liverpool sides of the past decade is the lack of width and creativity in the wide areas to help break down teams of lesser stature, often forcing us to play narrow and rely on the exploits of Steven Gerrard and “Judas” Torres.
As well as addressing both wide areas, I felt Liverpool certainly needed a left back, as this position has plagued the club with no real reliable left-back since John Arne Riise departed from the club under Rafa Benitez’s watch. These three positions were what needed to be immediately prioritised for the club. Now given the scope that the players had to be young and British with a greater sell-on value, personally I would have gone for Adam Johnson of Manchester City and Aaron Lennon due to the youthfulness and talent that they possess. Given that we have been throwing silly money away, a tempting offer may well have prised these two much sought after commodities.
The left-back solution is somewhat of a predicament when seeking young English talent. Whilst there is Kieran Gibbs and Ryan Bertrand of Chelsea, both who seem set to have bright futures, realistically speaking, one would not have been able to buy them. Gibbs is likely to fill the void left at Arsenal by Gael Clichy and Bertrand has only recently signed a new contract at Chelsea, tying him down to the West London club for five years.
Had the scope been widened to foreign players, without hesitation I’d have bought Juan Mata to play on the left, Ibrahim Afellay to play on the right and Aly Cissokho at left back. They probably would have cost far less than the players we have brought thus far, due to the lack of inflation in foreign markets compared to the English one.
The players who have been brought thus far in essence are not required. With Lucas coming on bundles, Jay Spearing proving himself in the holding role last year, we have central midfielders in abundance, not to mention with the added quality of seasoned internationals such as Raul Meireles and Alberto Aquilani who has without doubt been the standout performer during pre-season. Talk of him being sold is ludicrous in my eyes. Jordan Henderson and Charlie Adams are both central midfielders and Stewart Downing at best is premiership class who is twenty seven years old. A pale in comparison compared to Adam Johnson who is more direct, dynamic and affective in the wide areas, not to mention younger.
Two other areas which may need strengthening but are not an important priority are centre-back and up front. Every team needs four top strikers; we only have three thus far. If pre-season has exposed anything it has been our frail defence, which has leaked an average of three goals a game. With Carragher aging, Agger still injury prone, Skrtel and Kyrigakos about as subtle as wrecking balls in a glass-house, somebody composed and reliable is required. Scott Dann in my opinion would be the ideal option for three reasons. His composure on the ball is second to none, his aerial ability interspersed with his timed tackles make him a complete defender and finally the boy’s a lifelong Liverpool fan. Who better to replace the great “Carra” than a lad who could quite possibly become a legendary centre back for Liverpool in his own right?
ThisisFutbol.com are seeking new writers to join the team! If you’re passionate about football, drop us a line at “thisisfutbol.com@snack-media.com” to learn more.
Click here to have a look out our predictions for the 2011/2012 Premier League Season!
Or have a look at the ten strikers that we think will lead the race for the Golden Boot next season
are you havin a laugh or are you being serious? if your being serious then you really should go and bang your head very very hard against a wall and see if it knocks some sense into it you mug. do you not think kenny knows a million times more than you wot hes doing.
This piece was written by an absolute moronic tw@t!! Will hide this site from newsnow!
There is a strong chance our right sided witdh will come from Luis in a 433 formation interchanging with downing
I think that may be the case as well if he opts 4-3-3, which is fine but I really think we need somebody pacey and direct on the right hand side of our midfield. Someone that can win matches thorugh a moment of brilliance or that skip past a few players. I’d rather see suarez in behind carroll, pulling apart defenders.
Right so you say Cissokho for LB – mata on the left and afellay on the right???
Are you serious mate?
We are trying to break into the top 4!! We ain’t trying to win the league!!!
Get with the program like all these other fools have!
We’re not trying to win the league? Am i reading right? lol i can;t believe you said that. this is liverpool mate. shanks said “2nd place is the first place for losers” Liverpool always aim for first place ands with those signings I think we could have. bUT NO let’s settle for your view and “aim for a top 4 champ league spot”. what a flop you are.
I was taking the piss Haider lol
I was referring to our signing only being good enough for a top 4 fight… And had we of signed the obvious players you mentioned we would be fighting for the league!
A player dont have to be good… dont have to be famous… but as long as they can fit into the gameplay, the signing is as good as anyone.
Have yo uheard of Alonso when rafa signed him?
A player doesn’t have to be good? mate if a player ain’t good he won;t be playing for Liverpool football club or he shouldn’t be playing for them. I actually had heard of xabi Alonso when there were murmuing s of him coming to Liverpool. I watch a lot of spanish football and tend to think I know quality when i see it. I’m not necessarily saying, Hendo, Adams and Downing are shite players, just saying we could have signed better, in my personal and humble opinion.
All of this talk about Aquilani is doing my head in. Yes, he is a quality player, absolutely no doubt about that but look at all of the rumours about him moving and has he even ONCE come out and said that he wants to stay at Liverpool. No because he obviously wants to leave. So please answer me why a manager would plan on having a player in his team who doesn’t want to be there. Can you now see why we needed to strengthen the midfield or are you really that blind.
Rumours ain’t concrete fact are they? And you tell me how you would feel after being shipped out on loan for a year, just so you could have christian poulsen come in and replace you? wouldn’t you feel demoralised? Players need to be handled right and since he’s been here he has been treated like dirt. Now I’m hoping that will change under king kenny. And am I blind in stating we need to strengthen our wide positions as opposed to our central midfield where we have Stevie G, Raul, Alberto, lucas and jay spearing? not to mention connor coady coming through the ranks. Use your head and not your heart.
Gerry mate we got Raul, Lucas, Gerrard, Spearing all can play in the middle don’t they?
So even without Aqua no I don’t see why we needed strengthening in those areas!
But even then I’ll concede for £6-£9m Adams was worth getting and doesnt break the bank…
But henderson at £16m-£20? where is the sense in that?
When we need another winger and possibly back up striker?
It’s money we didn’t need to spend when players like Mata are available and better value for money though more expensive!
I can’t see Henderson passing a straight ball this summer let alone winning us games single handedly, but someone like Mata is a match on any given day!
Whoever refers to our FRIENDLY game against Valencia as a measure to what he can do hasn’t got a clue….
Carroll touched the ball twice against gala shall we judge him on that?
We never had this top 4 mentality under Rafa and I’m sure hoping that under it’s the same…
But our choice of signing are questionable, I mean £50m on just strengthening a squad?
I thought that money was to better our First 11?
Only Downing has done that while Adams and Henderson don’t seem like they will IMO. Though they most certainly will beef up the squad.
Lucas and Raul are our first choice in the middle when fit!
And the wings are taken by Kuyt and downing, with Gerrard just off Suarez hopefully!