Liverpool's old man team

It's very clear that Liverpool in 3-4 years the reds will have a markedly different line up.

Liverpool have an old side now.

I have listed the 12 senior players (who do play games) all 28 or over.  5 of these 12 we actually bought this summer.  All of these players can now be considered to have a relatively poor resale value.  I'm not saying they are worth nothing - but they are almost certainly amongst the club's highest earners and account for over 50% of Liverpool's payroll.

Brad Jones (28)
Pepe Reina (28)
Paul Konchesky (29)
Fabio Aurelio (31)
Jamie Carragher (32)
Sotirios Kyrgiakos (31)
Maxi Rodriguez (29)
Joe Cole (29)
Milan Jovanovich (29)
Christian Poulsen (30)
Steven Gerrard (30)
Dirk Kuyt (30)

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Here are the 14 players (27 and under) either in the first team, squad or fringes with the best chance (currently) of being involved in the future squads of Liverpool. 

Glen Johnson (26)
Raul Meireles (27)
Martin Skrtel (25)
Daniel Agger (26)
Martin Kelly (20)
Daniel Ayala (20)
Lucas Leiva (23)
Ryan Babel (23)
Fernando Torres (26)
Jonjo Shelvey (18)
Danny Wilson (18)
David Ngog (21)
Daniel Pacheco (19)
Nathan Eccleston (19)

In my view, any of the first group who want to leave, Reina and Gerrard apart, should be allowed to.  Although unlikely to get a large transfer fee, the removal of their wages can be better spent on the 22-26 age group of players coming in to the club.

While I am consistently disappointed in Babel, age does appear to be on his side.

Very interesting post JD. With the owners' longer term view in mind, it makes sense to start releasing the 'senior' players on a staggered basis, start playing the younger ones with some senior players and we continue our search for more young talent. This will prepare liverpool with a younger squad that will have more pace with skills going forward.

Actually, this brings us to the Arsenal model. Arsenal's young team has really improved over the last 2 years and there are playing really beautiful football. Love to see Liverpool come to that level i.e playing good and beautiful football.

Good post there JD mate, which i thoroughly agree with.

and didnt JH say when he took over that he wanted to base LFC on a similar model to Arsenal?

Just imagine how much money would be raised by either selling the top list players barring stevie and pepe and also how much savings the club would make on wages,that alone should cover cost for new player recruitment at reserve level and also youth development.

Last year we were second only to Arsenal in terms of youngest squads. Roy has a lot to answer for

I didn't realise Brad Jones was that old. Don't suppose it's such an issue for a keeper though.

Of that top list i would keep Pepe&Soto as both have passion&commitment.
I'm not saying the rest don't,but in the 2nd list there are like for like replacements
to bring on a new generation.JonJo,Wilson,Dani,Suso etc. Bring it on NESV that's
the future.

It's perhaps 6, if you count Aurelio as he was resigned.

It a bit strange seeing it written down like that because you know the first group are that age but then when you see all the names together and realise how many senior players we have it shows we need to change.

Reina I'm not worried about, he really could be around for another 10 years.

At least we do have some promising youngsters to look forward to seeing, and as mentioned before some suitable replacements- (if they do get played) the likes of Shelvey, Wilson, Pacheco, Suso.

10 players needing replacing in the next 2/3 years plus looking to improve the squad how much is that going to cost.I agree we shouldnt be signing players that cannot be sold on at the end of their contacts, signing players 29 years old dosent seem to be good sense at all.

It's very clear that Liverpool in 3-4 years the reds will have a markedly different line up.

Liverpool have an old side now.

I have listed the 12 senior players (who do play games) all 28 or over.  5 of these 12 we actually bought this summer.  All of these players can now be considered to have a relatively poor resale value.  I'm not saying they are worth nothing - but they are almost certainly amongst the club's highest earners and account for over 50% of Liverpool's payroll.

Brad Jones (28) Englush rule and a solid back up.
Pepe Reina (28) Could go on to his late 30's and would be worth the same amount in 5 years.
Paul Konchesky (29) Doesnt deserve a place in the team or anywhere near the city. He just need to go, letting 2 gd players go and 4 ish million is a joke. Hes hot worth 4 houses.
Fabio Aurelio (31) To injury prone plus he only has 2 more years of legs.
Jamie Carragher (32) Running out of legs however would keep him as we did with Sami Hyypia as a 4th centre back.
Sotirios Kyrgiakos (31) Solid but we have kids.
Maxi Rodriguez (29) Don't like him even though hes scored lately. Hes just not the future.
Joe Cole (29) Loved him before he came and should give him a mentoring role to young players.
Milan Jovanovich (29) Waste of money for his age.
Christian Poulsen (30) Don't get me started. 4 year deal is enough said.
Steven Gerrard (30) Heart of the club.
Dirk Kuyt (30) We would be able to get 10 mill for him which is a steal, however I love him.

I agree with JD 100% , we need to get rid of this old wood and bring in some new kids with the other new kids.
I have highlighted the players i would keep and next to them why i would.
And the other i have said why i wouldn't.

We need to get the wages down and have a average age of 25/26 for the squad.

It's very clear that Liverpool in 3-4 years the reds will have a markedly different line up.

Liverpool have an old side now.

I have listed the 12 senior players (who do play games) all 28 or over.  5 of these 12 we actually bought this summer.  All of these players can now be considered to have a relatively poor resale value.  I'm not saying they are worth nothing - but they are almost certainly amongst the club's highest earners and account for over 50% of Liverpool's payroll.

Brad Jones (28)
Pepe Reina (28)
Paul Konchesky (29)
Fabio Aurelio (31)
Jamie Carragher (32)
Sotirios Kyrgiakos (31)
Maxi Rodriguez (29)
Joe Cole (29)
Milan Jovanovich (29)
Christian Poulsen (30)
Steven Gerrard (30)
Dirk Kuyt (30)

---

Here are the 14 players (27 and under) either in the first team, squad or fringes with the best chance (currently) of being involved in the future squads of Liverpool. 

Glen Johnson (26)
Raul Meireles (27)
Martin Skrtel (25)
Daniel Agger (26)
Martin Kelly (20)
Daniel Ayala (20)
Lucas Leiva (23)
Ryan Babel (23)
Fernando Torres (26)
Jonjo Shelvey (18)
Danny Wilson (18)
David Ngog (21)
Daniel Pacheco (19)
Nathan Eccleston (19)

In my view, any of the first group who want to leave, Reina and Gerrard apart, should be allowed to.  Although unlikely to get a large transfer fee, the removal of their wages can be better spent on the 22-26 age group of players coming in to the club.

While I am consistently disappointed in Babel, age does appear to be on his side.

Very interesting. I agree totally with you and hope John Henry also looks at this.

To be honest the second list of players should be given a shot to be honest, let's get the youngsters playing. Get some balls and let them off the leash

I got the impression after watching the phone in that John Henry is not pleased with some of the contracts these older players are on as he talked about mistakes in the current payroll and some players being paid too much.

Good post. I never realized our squad was so old !

Out of the 12 seniors I only envisage Pepe playing at a high and consistent level in 4 years.

Scary.

I got the impression after watching the phone in that John Henry is not pleased with some of the contracts these older players are on as he talked about mistakes in the current payroll and some players being paid too much.

Agreed. I think we'll find the loyalty shown to older players will diminish increasingly with these owners. I don't think they would have given Carragher the contract he got.

And agreed, I think that Pepe will be the only player in 3-4 years still playing at a high level. Gerrard has a chance cause he is a freak of nature, but I wouldn't count on it.

Good post JD, and makes very interesting reading, I didn't realise how old some of the lads were, surprised that Maxi was 29, thought he was only about 25 

Obviously you need a blend of experience and youth in the team to balance it out, but we're going to be in dire straits if Roy keeps signing 'older' players.

In the next year he really will need to give some of the up and coming youngsters a proper chance, not just a bit part every now and then in some League cup or Europa Cup game, a proper run in some tough Premiership matches, if we're not careful we will end up with a team of oldies 

Mind you...hopefully he won't be here by then.

Out of the 12 seniors I only envisage Pepe playing at a high and consistent level in 4 years.

Scary.

It means an extraordinary change in bringing on the youth talent we have or a massive investment.How much will it cost to buy a player of Stevies influence.

I agree totally how old the squad has got and posted something similar in a different thread a few weeks ago.

I can remember saying to my fella during the 08/09 season what a fantastic YOUNG squad we had yet we've replaced those who've left with older not younger players.

Also think JH was referring to the summer deals done by Roy, not just Carra's contract but the others he brought in.  Ridiculously long contracts for players at the end of their playing days.

Yet another situation we can see as a problem - let's hope Camolli gets his way with which players we add and which players go.

I agree totally how old the squad has got and posted something similar in a different thread a few weeks ago.

I can remember saying to my fella during the 08/09 season what a fantastic YOUNG squad we had yet we've replaced those who've left with older not younger players.

Also think JH was referring to the summer deals done by Roy, not just Carra's contract but the others he brought in.  Ridiculously long contracts for players at the end of their playing days.

Yet another situation we can see as a problem - let's hope Camolli gets his way with which players we add and which players go.

Agree entirely Debs, apart from paying unrealistic money for aging players and giving them retirement challenging contracts the said players have proved to be well below the standards expected at LFC.
What beats the hell outa me is why doesn't RH get the bullet for not performing his duties to an acceptable standard  as in any other occupation?

To be honest I don't think age is a biggest problem as long as that player still have his quality as we can see in Giggs, Scholes, Maldini etc. Most important for the old player is he must love and loyal to the club as love and loyal are the greatest things can motivate him to help the club such as develop the young player and play as good back up for the team without moaning around for first team etc.

For our squad I think it's the wages of senior players is matter now, for example I believe that signing of Joe Cole is really a blind stupid, his wage is of course amongst the highest in the club, who don't know for his injury prone ?, and his English player status just can give us a problem, it's not easy to motivate him to play in position he didn't like, his abilities is no doubt too much over rated, his present limited the chances of our young players and most important is how can we sell him out as nowhere want to pay high wage for him.

I agree totally how old the squad has got and posted something similar in a different thread a few weeks ago.

I can remember saying to my fella during the 08/09 season what a fantastic YOUNG squad we had yet we've replaced those who've left with older not younger players.

Also think JH was referring to the summer deals done by Roy, not just Carra's contract but the others he brought in.  Ridiculously long contracts for players at the end of their playing days.

Yet another situation we can see as a problem - let's hope Camolli gets his way with which players we add and which players go.

As a question that many do not want to discuss, with this current team at what time do you attempt to cut-bait and get something before some of them are worth nothing. Who do you build around for 5 years out?

The think that strikes me almost every match is we seem slow against everyone...it's not an effort thing it's 21-23 year old opposition wearing out our 30 somethings. For as bad as we have played and I would have much rather seen Wilson and Kelly and some of the younger guys playing...what they lack in experience they make up for in stamina.