Personally I'd like to see us line up like this at the start of the season:
Mignolet
Clyne Lovren Sakho Moreno
Can Milner
Firmino Hendo Coutinho
Benteke
I know people probably completely disagree with it. But I actually have the willigness to give Lovren and Moreno another chance. Mainly because I've never been a fan of the Sakho-Skrtel pairing, but also because I remember Lovren at Southampton and know that his poor play at this point is all mental - which in my opinion is something that can be overcome with confidence and support. They're Liverpool players, in red, playing at Anfield. They deserve our support. Our CBs were seriously hampered last year IMO by the lack of any real defensive support in the midfield. And if it can't work and they all end up being sh*tty again then I'm completely wrong, but I think they're being written off very quickly - I understand why, but I'm not ready to do that just yet.
Think Can offers more stability than anyone else (except maybe Lucas) in midfield from a defensive standpoint and can be a mobile guardian for the back four while Milner does the box-to-box work. I like Milner, think he'll do a job for us, but I personally am not comfortable with the Milner-Hendo duo as the only DM/CMs and I don't think we'll see any significant improvement in our defense with them there, only slightly due to the fact that they're both more mobile than Stevie was.
Therefore, I'd like to see Hendo up the field centrally, rotating with Milner constantly between b2b and attacking then Couts and Firmino giving width and fluid creativity doing whatever they want on the ball as Moreno and Clyne bomb down the wings as well because they can because the CBs will be supported by a capable DM.
Finally Big Ben up top relishing the opportunity to get fed by the crossing of our fullbacks, the creativity of Couts and Firmino, and the typical offensive support of Hendo and Milner operating just behind him.
However, snapping back to reality, I think this is how we'll actually be lining up more realistically:
Mignolet
Clyne Skrtel Sakho Moreno
Milner Hendo
Firmino Lallana Coutinho
Benteke
Which I'm ok with. Milner and Hendo are good CMs, still don't think there's enough of a defensive presence there. Skrtel and Sakho I don't like together because I don't think either offer the leadership or brain and they're both liabilities in certain areas, but I understand because judging by last season they were the top two. Also think Lallana could end up having a shining season for us if he can find his place in the system this year.
The one thing that I want to see from Brendan is consistency. To give Marko, Lallana, Ibe, Balo a random game then throw them on the bench for the next 5 and mix in completely new sets of players I don't think any of them will ever be able to get any kind of decent form. Pick a set of players and give them consistent opportunities. Also completely destroys the staring XI's ability to gel and know what each other are thinking before it even happens. Similar to what Suarez and Studge had in our prolific season.