Ok, here I go.
Goalkeepers
25. Pepe Reina - Definitely his worst season for us so far. He has been top class for long enough for me to believe he can get back to his best, and I have faith he will, so I wouldn't be too harsh on him. But he seriously need to look at himself and work harder to get back to his best.
1. Brad Jones - Beautiful story this season, bittersweet game vs Blackburn (penalty save + one of the most horrendous mistakes by a keeper this season), good game vs Everton. Like the guy but as a keeper he's average at best. Decent backup but that's just about it. I hear Gulacsi is better; if so, hopefully he'll be our backup next season.
32. Doni - Don't trust him at all. Had a good game vs Fulham but overall he's an unreliable keeper who I really don't want to see getting too many games. If we need someone to provide serious competition for Pepe, then I hope it's not him.
Defenders
2. Glen Johnson - I'm part of a minority here who actually thinks he's a brilliant player. Not even half as bad defensively as some make him out to be, and is totally adept to playing offensive, passing football. If only we had more organization in the middle, such as Lucas who is great at covering the fullbacks advances on the pitch, he wouldn't be so exposed.
34. Martin Kelly - I used to say I've never seen this lad play a bad game. Well, this season I have. But no one is infallible. I still rate him highly. I have no doubt about who I prefer at right back (Johnson), but I don't have any problems with Kelly playing either. This is probably our best position in the squad.
38. Jon Flanagan - Didn't have as many opportunities, and was thrown in a team struggling, as opposed to last season, when we were in a very good run, and that was detrimental to his confidence and progress. He doesn't still me with as much confidence about his future as does Kelly, but he has the makings of a decent player. Gone backwards this season but I personally haven't lost faith on the lad. Maybe a loan could do him some good.
3. José Enrique - Seemed to be the signing of the season until January/February, but now looks like a different player. Unfortunately, a much worse one. It is difficult to assess which one is the 'real' Enrique, especially cause I have never paid too much attention to him at Newcastle. He was a decent signing to say the least and hopefully will get back to his best once the team is more settled and balanced, something we are far from being at the moment.
49. Jack Robinson - He hardly played this season, hard to say if he has improved enough to provide competition for Enrique. If not, we could always use Kelly on the right and Johnson on the left - not ideal, but it can work.
23. Jamie Carragher - Always loved him as a player and I'm extremely grateful for several years of hard work all over the pitch, but he's definitely past his best. His energy was a fundamental part of his game and it's not the same as it used to be. Playing in a team without a proper DM certainly didn't help the CBs, but I'm afraid I'm not confident about Carra in the team anymore. We tend to play deeper with him, distribution is worse and he has lost his man way too often. Even if he doesn't choose to retire, I would try to keep his appearences limited next season.
37. Martin Skrtel - Player of the season.
5. Daniel Agger - Not much needed to say about him and Skrtel. Both were equally good, Skrtel probably better as he played more. I have the utmost confidence in those two, particularly Agger who I've always rated as one of Europe's best.
16. Sebástian Coates - Not the finished article yet, but not too far from it, I would say. A confident defender who may be a bit ruthless in his tackles sometimes, but I wouldn't expect any different from an Uruguayan CB. Will probably be regarded as a steal in years to come.
Midfielders
21. Lucas Leiva - The fact most of our players never looked the same without him is a testament to his quality and importance in this current team. Not only he was playing as one of the best of his position, his importance is also derived from the fact we don't have good enough cover for him. I think it was a mistake not to bring a DM in January and our form since then has not changed my mind.
20. Jay Spearing - I never thought he was going to be good for the first team, so just by doing so he has proved me wrong before. He was very good last season alongside Lucas and has tried his best to replace him, but he's not of the same standard. For the squad, we are lucky to have a guy like him - but he's not a proper DM, nor anything above average going forward. A decent CM who is decent at nearly every aspect of his game, Jay has a significant role in the squad, but is not a player I would be trusting to be a regular starter, particularly on his own as our only defensive minded midfielder.
33. Jonjo Shelvey - I love this guy. I'm not sure whether he'll make it as a top player, but at the very least he's already a very useful one. In the hope we'll bring at least one more good midfielder in the summer, I would still keep Jonjo as I would trust him a place in the starting lineup more often than I would to the likes of Spearing and Henderson. If he is to be loaned out, hopefully it will be to a EPL club where he can actually play (Blackpool if they go up, for example).
26. Charlie Adam - Not even half as bad as some make him out to be. Adam has serious limitations to his game but has his qualities as well. His set pieces were definitely the biggest disappointment, as he was supposed to improve our play in that aspect, but overall he was a player of ups and downs who still provided more to the team than the majority of the squad. He's kicked when he's down but hardly praised when he's good - he's the only player in the squad people make excuses for when he does something right ("he only made that pass because he was given space") and seems to take the blame for playing in a 2-men midfield, instead of the manager. However his limitations, I think he offers something to the squad and would be happy for him to either stay or go, depending on who we bring for the position.
14. Jordan Henderson - I didn't know what to expect from him before the season as I hardly saw him play for Sunderland, but remember saying I was afraid we were paying the price of a first teamer for a youngster. And I think this season proved that point. I'm one of his biggest critics, but even more of Kenny in that aspect, for playing him too often, and most of the time in a position where his effectiveness is close to zero. I just looked at LFChistory.net and, for my surprise, Hendo is the player with most appearances for Liverpool this season (some of them from the bench, of course, but still an important stat). Is he ready for that? I think he's clearly not. I see potential in him, just not undoubted potential as some. Like Adam, at the moment he is a very limited player, but in his favor it can be said he is a much more regular player. The problem is, he's regularly average or just invisible. Won't make the eye-catching mistakes that Adam will, but doesn't provide the team with the opportunities as Adam does either. I would be more inclined to loan him out before I did the same to Jonjo. The only thing he has more than Jonjo is the transfer fee IMO. Needs to grow a lot as a player before he justifies being a regular starter for a club like LFC.
8. Steven Gerrard - Much like Reina, Stevie is one of our best players but who needs to step up next season. The problem for him are injuries, and consequently the fact he is not playing regularly. It's hard to say if this is gonna continue to happen next season. What is clear is that we can't depend so much on him as we used to anymore.
11. Maxi Rodriguez - A very intelligent player who is unfortunately way past his best. He still justifies his inclusion way more than others of his position in the current squad, but I would be happy not to depend on a player like him in our starting lineup in the future. His contribution to the game is very limited and he disappears way too often. That said, he's intelligent, can play in a pass&move style and gets himself into scoring positions all the time. He can read the game and use his brain which is something the next guy I'll talk about could do with. Wouldn't be sad to let him go, even though I wanted Kenny to have picked him way more than he did this season, but we should be able to do better than Maxi, and sign better players. If we get a player like that, and Maxi stays as a squad option, it's probably even better.
19. Stewart Downing - Probably the worst signing of the season in the EPL. 0 goals and 0 assists in too many appearances speak for itself, no matter how much you try to bring "luck" into the debate. Confidence is a key factor to any football player (dare I say to any professional of any field), but how someone react when things aren't going the way he want is what will ultimately make him a success or not. Downing started well but even then, I wasn't so keen on him. For a player being used with nearly total freedom (he hardly tracked back then), he should be doing better with his chances and final balls. Well, at least at the start of the season he found himself in 1vs1 situations against the keeper and actually looked close to score, which was way better than the majority of the rest of the season, where he was sadly just a shadow of a winger. Different to some, I don't think he has been too different from the rest of his career - sure, he could be doing better, but he always been inconsistent in his delivery and way too predictable (I thought we had learnt the lesson of "most crosses in the league" with Jermain Pennant).
Downing can be a lesson to this forum as well, as his transfer thread was emblematic of the ongoing discussions here through the whole season. Those (like me) who weren't in favor of his signing were deemed negative or just "whining bas**rds". Perhaps we (I can speak for myself only though) were just expressing honest and justified concerns. Most people here didn't want him 6 months before but changed their minds because Kenny wanted him and "Kenny knows better". I'm sure that overall Kenny does, but he is not infallible and the debate was relevant and genuine.
As for Downing going or staying, it depends on a lot of things which I don't feel able to evaluate. I wouldn't think twice before saying "get rid", but it would depend on how much is offered for him and who else we can attract to the club. The problem about keeping him as a squad player (something I wouldn't be against) is that he is probably on high wages. Players who get involved in £20M transfer tend to ask for big wages and it's probably the case here. I just hope he is not on the starting lineup every week next season - for me, he was a mistake and I hold small hope of seeing him prove me wrong. Hope is the last to die though.
39. Craig Bellamy - A very inspired signing. I honestly didn't expect him to have even half the impact he had, so Craig really proved me wrong this season. He still has quality and pace (something we badly needed) and an eye for the big game. The only sad fact about him is that the guy who was probably our best signing this season can't play as much as we need him to, due to his age and knees, which tends to get worse with time, unfortunately.
Forwards
7. Luis Suarez - A brilliant creator and a better finisher than he is given credit for IMO. Yes, he's not Romário in front of the goal, but he isn't a poor finisher either. I believe that, if the burden of creating chances wasn't so much on his shoulders, we would have a far better finisher in Luis, who is often finishing out of balance or after having gone past a few defenders. The ban didn't help either, killing his form and momentum. I think he rushes a few passes in the willingness of playing a one-two and it can be very wasteful of possession sometimes, although beautiful when it works. I would like to see him choosing better the moments he does that, but more importantly I would like him to have players of similar quality and characteristics around him. Hopefully we will, next season.
18. Dirk Kuyt - I wouldn't be so fast to say his time in Liverpool is over. If he wants to leave it's another history, but unless we're bringing a lot of attacking players in the summer, I would prefer him to stay. Kuyt isn't world class and has never been, but he can play in a world class team and be effective, maybe even make them more effective. That's how I saw his great performance in the World Cup for Holland and his performance for us in our best EPL season to date. He's an intelligent player but, being limited in terms of pace and skill, he needs other players to fill these holes in his game, something he doesn't have in Downing, Carroll and Maxi. Definitely not a key player for next season, but one I wouldn't mind in the squad. Had one of his worst seasons but so did a lot of other players, and he wasn't involved as much as he used to.
9. Andy Carroll - Much improved towards the end of the season, although not enough to warrant a team being built around him - that is something I said last year and now find myself saying again. The fact we have won more games with him than without him is an indication that Suarez is not a number 9 type of player, not that Andy has been great. His work-rate has tremendously improved and with that also his football, which is a positive sign for the future but I'm still hoping he will be an option in the squad rather than an 'automatic' starter next season. Even in his best games, I'm afraid his movement, skill and short passing were deficient and I would be more inclined to bring a player who works better with Suarez. Wouldn't make much sense to sell him unless we receive a good offer, and I can't see it happening. He seems hungry to prove he's worth of a number 9 Liverpool shirt though so I wouldn't be against keeping him and seeing how far he can go, but we definitely need options upfront.
Overall, I don't feel confident in saying who should stay or go. There are a number of players (including nearly all of our signings this season, sadly) who I see as good enough for the squad, but wouldn't like seeing as regular starters. As a result, we have a big number of players who are relatively easy to replace, so it will depend on the offers we receive for players and if they want to stay or go (Maxi and Kuyt supposedly don't want to stay as squad players, for example). That said, I think wingers (I would prefer versatile attacking midfielders though, as someone said in another thread), a striker and central midfielder are priorities this summer.
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