How our team may look next season

Before i start sorry for the length, im not expecting you to all read it as it is alot, i hope a few people do though and give their opinions on my choices and my reasons for the choices.

                                     Reina

Arbeloa/Degen  Carra/Hyypia Agger/Skrtel  Dossena/Aurelio

                       Mascherano/Plessis  Alonso/Lucas

Bentley/Benayoun             Gerrard           Silva/Barry

                                    Torres/Babel


My ideal line up for next season given the funds we have and players we have been linked to. First name is the starter and the second a likely back-up/competition for that position. Arbeloa should start as the right back, I will wait to see how degen does and he has to prove himself like any other player should have to. Carra obvious choice, the rock of our defence with sami as his backup seeing out his last season I cant see him getting as many games as this season but I hope he gets quite a few he showed this season why he is a liverpool legend and stepped up exceptionally to take Aggers place when Agger picked up that unfortunate injury.

Agger first choice partner for Carra, they work so well together, covering one another and Aggers distribution from the defence is sensational, he links up our play so well and we saw this season that it goes unnoticed by alot of people and you see the real effect he has on games when he isnt playing. Skrtel has been a fantastic addition and an absolute rock in the defence, I think he will eventually become Carars replacement but I think he will be rotated between the 2 CB positions next season so I put his as Aggers backup/competition. Left back I chose Dossena as first choice mainly due to Aurelios injury problems, I think that will be a good battle for the LB position and will be positive for the team.

In the midfield, RM Bentley, with Hughes having gone to man city (I think its almost been confirmed) the likelihood of us landing bentley seems to have raised. Hughes will want to take him to man city BUT Bentley wants CL football, Its only us chelsea and tottenham in for him so tottenham are ruled out because they arent in the CL (even though bentleys a tottenham fan I dont think that will be enough to sway him their way), Chelsea are currently in a bit of a sticky patch with the whole ownership problem and mourinho the new inter boss looking to dip into chelseas squad and choose who he wants to take to milan, that just leaves us and I think we will snap him up once the Dossena deal is tied up (hopefully today, the Dossena deal will be done). Yossi as his backup/competition, had a great first season imo, such a creative little player and creates goals with a mazy (sp?) little runs and reminds me of hleb/garcia in the way he knows how to pick out little through balls and passes in behind the defence. Good goal return too for his first season, very influential player, underrated imo. RDM Mascherano, the obvious choice, monster masch no arguments there I think he is the best DM in the world. Plessis as his back-up, showed in the chances he was given he is a fantastic player in that position, great left peg and his first game was against cesc fabregas, pretty impressive if you ask me.

LDM, XABIIII. I dont want him to leave so I hope he will still be a red after the window slams shut.  Lucas as the backup, had a good first season, can improve and I think rafa will make sure he knows he can. Had his bedding in season so we'll see how he does the coming season, hopefully we get to see him attack more like he was used to doing at gremio. LM, I want silva as our LM would be ideal and Valencia are reportedly ready to listen to offers for him and will let him go if the right price comes in. Sounds familiar to what Guillem Balague said and I didnt believe it when I first heard he had said that but maybe he was right, I will be delighted if he is and we snap up Silva for around £17 million. Barry as his backup/competition. If Alonso leaves he will be in the DM position but I wouldnt mind him on the left he is creative and has great delivery could prove to be good but we shall see what happens. A deal looks close judging by the speculation.

Stevie Obvious choice, Captain fantastic, no problems with him, the partnership with Torres is phenominal and brings so much attacking force to our game. If he got injured (god forbid) I would choose either benayoun in the way arsenal use hleb playing just off the striker like stevie does, Lucas, sounds strange but the through ball to pennant for pennants goal against fulham was a great indication of how good he is at playing those through balls to an attacking player in and around the box, he used to do it all the time at gremio and I think we will see more of it soon. Alonso, for the creative factor and the excellent ability to judge the weight of a killer pass or barry, his through ball to stevie against USA shows how good he is at making short through balls.

Striker, Torres another obvious one, absolutely stunning first season, we couldnt have asked for anythig more to be honest. Countless records broken, only beaten to the golden boot and player of the year by 'him'. Backup/competition is Babel as I think they have similar qualities and Babel deserves a chance upfront, he will play LM quite a bit I think so he will be there too. His first season was good imo, showed alot of promise, amazing creativity with his goals against derby and besiktas, fantastic shot power many times, his ability to get away from his marker with his goals against marseille and arsenal and with the power in his shots outside the box ala CL semi vs chelsea, imagine keepers coming up against those shots with babel inside the box.

Sorry again for writing so much, just thought I would throw a few ideas out there and give some reasons for my choices. I think next season will be very promising, we can do very well and definately challenge. I havent even included the other reserve players who could make the step up e.g. Insua, Nemeth.

IRWT

Well in Lil Cisse it was a good post I did read it thoroughly and it makes alot of sense to me.

The Agger/Skrtel battle will be interesting and yes alot of people bypassed the importance of Agger in our link up and build up to attacks from defence.

According to a mate of mine who is a Juventus fan, he said Dossena was a very good left back and better than our current first two, Riise and Aurelio. It'll be interesting to see how Insua progresses though.

Great post lil cisse, I enjoyed reading the in-depth analysis.

Just a thought that crossed my mind, not saying it's gonna happen or anything, but you never know. I haven't really seen much of Dossena or Degen but by all accounts they're more attack minded than defensive, we have three centre backs that are all quality & one more than useful backup, and we have a wealth of central midfield talent but are still going for Barry. Anyone think we might see:

                  Reina

        Carra   Skrtel   Agger

Degen                          Dossena
             Masch  Barry

        Gerrard          Babel

                  Torres

Like I said it's just a thought, but the players Rafa seems to be going for would definitely fit this system, and he has been known to play a 3-4-2-1 like this in the past on occassions.

Ah, thats a very good thought Eddie. That side looks extremely strong. I think we still need an extra top class player or two, but that side is capable of achieving results.

You just contradicted yourself with the middles sentence mate. Dossena was bought for the first team too. With Riise as good as gone and Aurellio injured and will be getting back to fitness, who would you have? The Italian national or reserve LB? I based mine around strategy and not just because he was bought for the first team. Degen has to prove himself before being a starter.

No I didn't infact I was using Dossena as an example as many have used him as their first choice but not Degan and then you target me for chosing Degan first choice when others including myself have also chose Dossena who no one knows about.

Guessing that Rafa sticks to his 4-3-2-1 formation I'd go for this team:

------------------Reina
------Degan---Carra--Skrtel---Dossena
-------------Masch---Barry
-------Bentley---Gerrard----Babel
------------------Torres

Degan - probably an improvement on Arbeloa or the ageing Finnan, but I have to watch more to judge.
Dossena - Obviously an improvement on Riise but on Aurelio? Maybe as Aurelio gets injured time to time.
Barry - Surely a big improvement on Alonso. Barry is a player who'll play blood and guts for us! At his peak too.
Bentley - Well he'd be an improvement on any right winger we've got right now.

So these four players? Yeah they'd improve us but would they really make us real contenders? We have to ask ourselfs that!

Il pass on barry. otherwise it looks good. Id rather see us fielding another good forward/striker to support torres

Thanks Dadorious and Wellzy appreciate you both reading it all and your comments too. Thats true Dadorious he is very underrated outside our fanbase. Hope your mates right Wellzy, would be good to see a new LB especially if he's better than both Aurelio and Riise.

Good post EddieC could work well with Degen and Dossena being known as attacking players. Interesting line up.

                                  Renia

 Degen       Carragher       Agger        Aurelio           

                       
                             Mascherano     

           
              Bentley       Gerrard       Barry   

                             
                        Aguero        Torres


Slim chance we could sign aguero !!

                    Renia

Degen    Carragher    Agger   Aurelio


            Mascherano Alonso

Bentley      Gerrard        Barry/Babel

                 Torres

I'd like to see lucas play more again and kuyt.

Hopefully Arbeloa will get a look in still too.

Degen will play second fiddle to Arbeloa - who can also back-up for Aurelio.

             Reina

Arbeloa Carra Agger Aurelio
           
           Masch
               Barry or Alonso
Milner or Bentley      Babel
           Gerrard
                     Torres

Subs from: Itandje, Nemeth, Insua, Muntari, San Jose, Plessis, Kuyt, Lucas
           
         
         

Good team don, only bad points i can really see rare Milner and none of the other competitors for the first team e.g.  Skrtel, Dossena, Degen, Yossi or Sami even making your squad where the reserve players do. I'd take muntari though great player.

Good team don, only bad points I can really see rare Milner and none of the other competitors for the first team e.g.  Skrtel, Dossena, Degen, Yossi or Sami even making your squad where the reserve players do. I'd take muntari though great player.

I personally cannot believe we are in for the likes or Milner ...very, very average player... but our budget must be pants this summer, that is all I can think.

Thanks Parry...yet again mate.

Seeing that Quaresma is on the market for 12mill then i think bently can be discluded quaresma i a much better player IMO and i no about his attitude but really its becauce:

a) He wasnt playing (barca)
b) He is at a small club and wants to go (porto)

None of these will be an issue at a club like ours. So anyway the team next year i would like:

                                                             Reina

Arbeloa                            Carra                          Agger/Srktel                              Dossena


                                            Mash                    Xabi


Quaresma                                           Gerrard                                                Babel

                                                         Voronin

........


i joke i joke Torres up front

i no about his attitude but really its becauce:

a) He wasnt playing (barca)
b) He is at a small club and wants to go (porto)

Sorry mate, but I think you're just making excuses for him there. Plain & simple, he publicly refused to play for Barcelona unless they changed manager, you just don't do that. I don't buy the excuse about him being at a small club either, a player should be giving it their all regardless of who they're playing for. If him & Bentley are both available at the same price I would take Bentley any day of the week.

Reina

arebloa (wing back)-carra-agger-skrtel-dossena (wing back)

gerrard-mascherano-plessis (unless we sign barry)

torres-babel

Reina is a given. Even though I've said previously nobody can be picked on merit, Reina is the best we've got or likely to have so he's a certain starter.

Simply because I couldn't find suitable players to play in the 4-2-3-1 formation I've went for two wing backs and three centre halves. Arebloa isn't the greatest defensive right back but he loves to bomb forward and can put a decent cross in. Dossena I don't know much about but he's costing a fair whack so he must have something about him. It also fits all three centre halves in. I've got Agger in the middle because he's the one who'll be able to spread the play most easily.

Gerrard on the right of a three man central midfielder with Plessis on the left. Again it's a balanced midfielder having a natural right and left footer either side of a world class player like Mascherano. It gives Gerrard the freedom to do what he likes. Sit deep and dictate play or go forward and bag himself another 20 goals in a season. Plessis can only benifit from playing with Gerrard and Mascherano reguarly. He's looked confident on the ball both for reserves and first team and he isn't affraid to throw in a tackle. As for Mascherano well he speaks for himself really. Next year he'll do what he's done this year. Sit deep and break up play. If he's got two ball playing midfielders beside him and a ball playing centre half behind him then he can do the simple and donkey work for the side.

Up front Torres has cemented a place in the side, but he has to prove himself again. Prove he isn't is a one season wonder. Next season I expect him to prove that he isn't a one season wonder and get himself another twenty plus goals in the league. There'll always be chances created with our midfield so as long as Torres is there, goals shouldn't be a problem. I'd stick Babel up top as well because it's where he wants to play, defenders then have another worry and he's got a hell of a shot on him. Those two up top give us the choice of going long over the top or into their feet as both like to run at defenders. Goals shouldn't be too difficult to come by with those two up top.

This is obviously an eleven based on the current squad.

Sorry mate, but I think you're just making excuses for him there. Plain & simple, he publicly refused to play for Barcelona unless they changed manager, you just don't do that. I don't buy the excuse about him being at a small club either, a player should be giving it their all regardless of who they're playing for. If him & Bentley are both available at the same price I would take Bentley any day of the week.

I think i posted this somewere else but ill say it here aswell

Quaresma is a match winner so he is - We finished 11 points off this year - Thats 6 draws converted to wins - In theory then its 6 goals - I think quaresma can get into double figures and could be the difference. Im not saying he will be and before i thought that 20mill was too much of a gamble but at least with 12mill you can ofload him for the same price. If bently flops he hasnt prooved himself enough to have that status IMO

I personally cannot believe we are in for the likes or Milner ...very, very average player... but our budget must be pants this summer, that is all I can think.

Thanks Parry...yet again mate.

True indeed he is. I dont think we'll go for him though, i really hope we dont.

How come you left out so many first teamers from your squad ? or did you just mean they would be competing for places with the ones you put in the first team ?

I think I posted this somewere else but ill say it here aswell

Quaresma is a match winner so he is - We finished 11 points off this year - Thats 6 draws converted to wins - In theory then its 6 goals - I think quaresma can get into double figures and could be the difference. Im not saying he will be and before I thought that 20mill was too much of a gamble but at least with 12mill you can ofload him for the same price. If bently flops he hasnt prooved himself enough to have that status IMO

He is match winner, when he can be arsed. Just not impressed by his play and attitude compared to someone like Bentley.

                                                    Reina
Degen/Arbeloa          Carra./Skrtel             Agger/Hyypia              Dossena/auerlio/Insua
                       
                                          Masch.                           Barry/Lucas
Quaresma/Bemayoun                                                                              Babel/?
                                                          Gerrard
                 
                                                          Torres

A lot of the suggestions I've read here for the new starting line up are interesting, but I keep wondering to myself if someone gets injured (god forbid) then the whole system collapes. When I say "someone" I mean Gerrard, Torres, and Mascherano. For me noone else in the squad can replace the role they have, and especially in a sort of 4-2-3-1 formation that Rafa has been playing this season, if Torres gets injured the whole system collapes. Equally to have the two central midfielders that play a more defensive role, well noone can do that better than Mascherano, and where might Mascherano be going at the beginning of next season? (Olympics). The system Rafa played last season was brilliant, but all the pressure is on the star players, who will replace Gerrard's role in this formation, or Torres, or Mascherano? The system is almost built around them, built to their strengths.

I personally dont think Rafa will stick to a formation that heavly relies on either one player to be fit or on form because all the pressure will be on them. Also one injury could cause a big blip in the season in terms of the rest of the teams form.