Mignolet, Benteke, Lovren/Sakho

Are these the most important players to us in our bid to repeat or better the 2014 season? Discuss?

Benteke: we need a 20+ goal man. Can he be it?

Mignolet: There's a top keeper in there but we need him vocal and commanding his area plus better distribution with the ball. Can he sort out his defence well enough to keep the appropriate amount of clean sheets we will require?

Sakho/ Lovern: whichever of these is chosen to partner Skrtel regularly might just be our most important player. Can either of these 2 step up to be a dominant centre half mopping up any crosses coming in. Is either capable of that last ditch body on the line brilliantly timed tackle when it looks certain there's a goal coming? Can either become a threat for us on set pieces St the other end?

We have a good squad there but unless we sort out the concession of goals well not be too much better off and likewise we need someone's consistently doing damage the other end. That's why for me the above mentioned are our most important players this season

I really think Benteke can score plenty of goals for us. I'm sure that, at the very least, he'll reach double figures at us.

Regarding the defence, i feel much more secure with Sakho in our lineup, rather than Lovren. Lovren always gives the impression that he has 1-2 blunders in him, Sakho feels to be more reliable, and he's much better in the air too.

Mignolet is the one which gives me the most doubts regarding our chances to keep clean sheets. He doesn't seem to inspire confidence in the defenders, and looks shaky everytime a ball is crossed in our 6-yard box. Set-pieces against us have been a nightmare in the last 2 seasons, i hope Brendan fixed some of our shortcomings regarding this aspect.

Also the defence seems to panic everytime there is a bit of pressure on them, and i think the fact that we don't have a strong DM to ease the pressure off them, and to keep them covered, because Stevie left the defence too many times exposed to frontal attacks, and our lads seem to crumble and do all sorts of stupid things when the heat is on them.

For me, it's always about the spine that gives you that consistency and pretty much determines whether a team can challenge the title or not.

Mignolet is the weakest GK of the teams that finished above us last season.Sakho an absolute beast that has the potential to be one of the best in the league... but can he stay fit? Lucas can be just as effective and important as Matic, Coquelin or Schneiderlin, but again, same as Sakho; can he stay fit and does Rodgers see him as a first teamer? Coutinho/Firmino will no doubt be central to our attacks and relied heavily for creativity and flair. Sturridge if fit is probably only second to Aguero, but we all know his situation, so can Benteke fill that roll and prove to be a monster for us?

If we keep Sakho, Lucas, Coutinho/Firmino & Benteke/Sturridge fit and playing regularly, I believe we will have a strong enough spine of players that'll allow us to possibly challenge.

Might throw Lucas in there as well. I think the Lovren/Sakho debate might not be as important if Lucas stays fit and plays that defensive midfield position like he has at his peak.

While I rate Sakho higher than Lovren, if Lucas is on the job then they are probably both up to the task depending on current form.

I may be in the minority here but I still think Sturridge will be our top goal score. Nothing to back up my intuition but I feel he's going to have a big year when he gets back. I think Benteke will also feature quite a lot and we'll be back to having two goal scoring threats similar to the last year Suarez was with us.

F**k knows why, but I'm going to be positive and say Lovren will be much better this season. He was much improved towards the end of the season, and in his second term he should be determined to make up for his blunders.

Big Ben will be our top scorer for sure, the man scares the sh*t out of defenders, he is literally unplayable at times.

Mignolet is never going to be a top quality keeper.  He comes up with absolutely world class saves, but so does every keeper in the league.  Go watch any league game and I guarantee you'll see at least one top class save from keepers even in the relegation zone.

So it's not the reflex worldie saves that set a keeper apart, it's his distribution, how he does with the ball at his feet, how he organizes the defence etc.  Mignolet fails miserably at all three.

Mignolet and Lovren are not good enough to play for Liverpool. Sakho and Benteke are good enough to play for Liverpool.

Migs has done so much better but... Can't shake the Dudek from him. World beater one minute and a fool the next, just like Jerzy was. Lovren I have a small glimmer of hope that he'll come good however the question of Lovren or Sakho shouldn't even be a question in my eyes.

While Mignolet's kicking is awful, and his command of the box not 'that' great, he certainly is able to make it up in the 'saves' department for me. I think he improved slightly in coming for crosses, be it punching or collecting them last season. But I think his saves are easily capable of saving us 10 pts a season. He does turn over possession for the opposition a lot but that doesn't equate to us conceding goals always - it's cheap and often gives the opponents the onus to come at us, but if he is doing a good enough job keeping the ball out the bag, then I am happy enough.

Grobbleraar, James, Westeveld (sp), Dudek, Reina, they all had a touch of the wobbles in some areas of the game (most notably where coming for crosses is concerned).

It's Lovren and his association with the defense that scares the sh*t out of me. 

there are not many GK's around at the moment for the right price, I'm happy with Mignolet just needs to work on his distribution.
Lovren I think has been found out and was only good because he had good cover infront of him with Schniderlan but seems that he's not got the big club mentality.

One more stop start season for Sakho and he will want to go back to France or another club as there will certainly be offers if he's dropped over Lovren. 

For me, honestly this season, I think our front 3 is going to be the most important, we've been leaking goals for fun for two seasons, we haven't really addressed it, so it looks like Rodgers signings again this summer has been about adding goals to the side, you score, we'll score more than you mentality, I hope it works out as 12/13 season was fun even if it ended in heart break.

I think Benteke can score 20 goals easily this season if he stays fit. He'll have Coutinho and Firmino alongside or begind him, he'll get good passes.
The defense will be a concern as long as we don't have  a DM in midfield. When Lucas plays we're much much better. I read that last season we had a win ratio of 50% when Lucas played and 26% when he didn't. Can can do a job too, Milner I don't know.

Lovren is a good CB technically but he does too many mistakes, I think it's a confidence issue. He was excellent for his first games here but after 3-4 games he was a nightmare to watch.
Sakho is much better and is better, Sakho and Skrtel should start but again Lovren can be good(I'm optimistic) and not playing him won't do him any good.

Ideally this is how we should play  IMO
                Benteke
Coutinho                    Firmino
           Hendo           Milner
                 Lucas
Gomez/Moreno                 Clyne
              Sakho       Skrtel
                       Migno

Migno was very good at the end of last season. Not as good as Reina though, it was a mistake to replace Reina by Mignolet.
We have no other choice that to rely on him now.

Are these the most important players to us in our bid to repeat or better the 2014 season? Discuss?

Mignolet and Lovren are liabilities.

Sakho is our best centre-back.

Benteke simply has to get the goals because I can't see anyone else getting anywhere near 20.

Although you highlight those particular areas we have to face some cold hard facts.  Liverpool under Brendan Rodgers will not be a tight ship at the back.  I think it's arguably his biggest weakness not only in terms of coaching but also in terms of recruitment.

The most important part of our side this season is going forward - that the likes of Coutinho, Ibe, Firmino and Milner are all solid contributors not just in assists but also in grabbing goals themselves.  We should be looking at a minimum 30 goals from our non-strikers.

I'd be amazed if we don't score more goals than we did last season but equally I wouldn't be at all surprised if we conceded the same number.

If we're going to repeat 2013/2014 then it'll be along the same lines, if at all.

Attack masking the defensive frailty.

Benteke, Firmino, Coutinho, Sturridge, Ibe.

Milner in mid will need to hit the ground running. (Not sorry)

Clyne at least is an upgrade on Johnson.

Heavens forbid Lovren gets the mid ahead of Sakho.

I don't think we're going to get close to the 100+ goals of two years ago because we simply don't have the players to play that way. I think we'll score more than last year though (that won't be difficult) and am hopeful that we will be better defensively than we were two years ago. The spine is obviously very important, particularly the CB pairing. It seems that Lovren has go the nod to play alongside Skrtel this weekend, how long that lasts will obviously depend on how we perform  like many of you I am nervous about the partnership. I'm bit a huge fan of Lovren, he likes. To play on the front foot but lacks the quickness and pace to make up for mistakes, having said that, he will surely improve on last years showing and if he can get off to a strong start we may see a n improved player. That's me being positive! I suspect Sakho will be back in before long. Mignolet looked a decent keeper for 3-4 months last season from January to April (mirroring the team as a whole) so he showed he can do it, BUT can he reach that level and stay there? The jury's out. As for Benteke's importance, absolutely crucial and not just in terms of him scoring goals, I'm still very interested to see if the team can be as creative as in previous years with the big man up front. Benteke might get 20 but we obviously will need goals from elsewhere. If we can play high tempo, passing football WITH him in the team we will be a match for anyone but let's see if we can.

I am worried about defence, should have kept dagger for sure. I hope Llori gets a go to show what he can do. I have been shortlisted to the last 3 for the post on the Supporters Committee as Season Ticket Holder in Kop for 24 years, would really appreciate your votes: cheers, coxxy/paul wilcox.

www.liverpoolfc.com/fans/lfcsc-voting-for-vacant-positions

I am worried about defence, should have kept dagger for sure. I hope Llori gets a go to show what he can do. I have been shortlisted to the last 3 for the post on the Supporters Committee as Season Ticket Holder in Kop for 24 years, would really appreciate your votes: cheers, coxxy/paul wilcox.

www.liverpoolfc.com/fans/lfcsc-voting-for-vacant-positions

You going to post this in every thread? I count two so far with the same exact post.

I've always been one who thought we needed goals added to this side so for me the key man is Benteke and how he integrates into the side and also how the manager gets the best out of both him and him within the team.

On the defense I heard a point made by one of the lads on The Anfield Wrap about how we conceded 9 goals in the last two games last season which under normal circumstances we wouldn't concede as we were in almost freefall at times in the run in last season. I had a look at our results again and even if you take the games against Stoke and Palace we conceded 12 goals in the four games against those sides which you would hope wouldn't happen moving forward.

What I'm saying is that even if you say we concede a couple against those sides normally then that brings our goals against right down to 38 which is in and around the numbers City, Arsenal and United concded last season and I think that is easily achievable.

I think we will always be vulnerable to conceding under Brendan but if we can shave a few off over the season and add 20, which isn't that unreasonable considering our top scorer in the league last season only had 9, then I really think scoring more goals this season will be a bigger factor than trying to conceded huge numbers less.

I've always been one who thought we needed goals added to this side so for me the key man is Benteke and how he integrates into the side and also how the manager gets the best out of both him and him within the team.

On the defense I heard a point made by one of the lads on The Anfield Wrap about hoe we conceded 9 goals in the last two games kast season which under normal circumstances we wouldn't concede as we were in almost freefall at times in the run in last season. I had a look at our results again and evenif you take the games against Stoke and Palace we conceded 12 goals in the four games against those sides which you would hope wouldn't happen moving forward.

What I'm saying is that even if you say we concede a couple against those sides normally then that brings our goals against right down to 38 which is in and around the numbers City, Arsenal and United concded last season and I think that is easily achievable.

I think we will always be vulnerable to conceding under Brendan but if we can shave a few off over the season and add 20, which isn't that unreasonable considering our top scorer in the league last season only had 9, then I really think scoring more goals this season will be a bigger factor than trying to conceded huge numbers less.

Agree about the defense point.We also managed to keep 6 clean sheets on away grounds which equalled a club record.Hope the goals come this time as we were one good striker away from top 4 last season.

I'm in the Sakho camp and think Lovren was terrible last season and has bee found out, BUT I do think if the manager is willing to let him fight and prove his worth then we should give him the chance to do so. I hope Sakho starts ahead of him in the league but if sometimes he dont I wish Lovren well and hope he comes good as its all for the good of the team. Just cant understand who a player that most if not all of the fans rate higher than an other is not so highly rated by the manager.

I'm also in favour of Sakho alongside Skrtel, however I think Lovren is more assured with the ball than Sakho and its for that reason I believe Brendan gives him the nod first,
I think Dejan knows he has to perform much better this term and given a run hopefully we will begin to see why he was brought to the club,

The spine of any club is important of course but to me any defensive unit starts with the front men, the likes of Benteke, Sturridge, Cou, have to at least prevent or slow down passes from defence allowing our mids to a chance to get into positions to protect the back 4,

This where a top class DM proves pivotal, he can see what's happening and can adjust accordingly, Lucas is our main man for this role but I can see Emre in the role too,

I think as a whole Brendan wants us to get back to scoring lots and not worry so much about conceding, although I'd like to think minimising the amount we concede would be high up in his mind,

Getting back to our CB's, for me it's about decision making, last season more often than not there would be too much F***ing about the 18yard box, as if they weren't sure what or who to give it to, I don't want to see my Cb's hesitating as if they lacked confidence, I want to see the likes of Lovren bring the ball out at his feet and confidently pass to whoever and immediately set us on a attacking move, positivity is the key, it spreads throughout the team,and that starts with the keeper, Mignolet is a decent keeper, but how much more confident would we be had we brought Petre Cech in,

I'm confident enough to say we will be up there challenging, minimum for me is 4th, that and the EL would suffice, but you can throw in the FA cup for a wee bonus too, but only if we can batter the Munts in the final leaving them potless and out of the CL  ,  Happy days.


YNWA

I think this season will be more of a team game, rather than relying on one or two exceptional, individual performances like has been the case over the last few years.  We need to be a well oiled machine, where all the working parts are perfectly in sync and if one isn't upto the task then the new parts will be. 

That for me is more important to maintain a high standard in every game, over the course of the season.  This is very much Brendans squad now, even the 3 who were here before him have had 3 seasons under his coaching.  If they don't understand his methods now, they never will.

So in answer to the OP, they all need to perform.  The 4 mentioned in the post and the other 21 players in the 25 man squad as they'll all be called upon at some stage in the season.

Between this and last season, the difference in human resource is Benteke (going by the title of this thread). It is my belief that new players can add or take away much more value to our play than existing players improving or declining. So between the four players, we really need Benteke to bring in the goals for us for the difference to be made.

I agree that Sakho and Benteke could be key players for us this season but...BR looks like he has no faith in Sakho so if he gets a chance in the first team than he better use it,Lovren should be much better for the money we spent on him,but i dont see that happening,also i dont see Mignolet as a top keeper,just average.Benteke is the brightest spot here,so i hope he can score 20+ or more goals.