Personally, I'd like to see Kenny handed a LONG TERM deal -
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and build the old boot room back up.
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Then on to the squad... A Mass cull is needed, a complete rebuild...
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Your thoughts?
I agree with handing Kenny a permanent deal. 2,3,4... years, I dont care, but make it permanent. Even if we lose every game the rest of the season I'd still want him on a permanent deal. The club desperately needs someone in charge who knows the Liverpool way in and out, on and off the pitch. Who he should add and remove from the coaching staff I'll leave up to the man himself. He knows who he works with best and who is best for the team and club.
With regards to the squad:
1) I have never been a big fan of major clean-outs.
- 10 players in and 10 players out is a major shake up and there are all sorts of risks it will destabilize the squad with too many changes. Also I often find the necessity for these huge changes exaggerated. I much rather have 4 new first teamers and 2 youngsters coming in, while 5 fringe players are sold and some current first teamers are relegated to squad-player status. Do that two-three seasons in a row and you have on hell of a team. Try to enforce those changes during one summer and you may end up with a disaster.
2) I think that for a lot of the players its too early to decide on their future.
- For example some say N'gog should be off in the summer. IMHO, that completely depends on how Suarez and Carroll perform until the summer. We are all high on Suarez right now, but maybe he just had a few good games and will slump into mediocrity. And Carroll may turn out to be an average player who had a good half season in the PL. We dont know yet. If Suarez and Carroll kick ass from now and until the summer, then maybe N'gog as a young 3rd or 4th choice striker will be fine and we should maybe look for an experienced PL-striker for extra cover. If Suarez or Carrol or both turn out to be crap, then we need to reassess our whole attack and N'gog's role in that shake-up I cant predict.
A few things can be said at this point and a few players future can already be decided IMO.
- Aurelio: Sorry, but its game over. Too injury prone at an advanced age. Rafa saw the writing on the wall but Roy didnt and brought him back. This season has been no different to his last 2-3 seasons. Some times solid left back, most of the time injured.
- Poulsen: I generally dont want to judge anyone on his performances under Roy, but I've followed Poulsen for many years due to our shared nationality and I have never rated him. He has improved under Kenny, but still, just not good enough.
The following is general priorities for the team IMO.
Defence: TBH, its a mess! We have very good defenders, but we havent had a consistent back-four for years. When Pepe was picking up golden gloves for fun we didnt have the best defenders in the league but we had a pretty consistent back-four: Finnan-Carra-Sami-Riise. Riise could be a liability defensively and Sami was loosing pace but the most important thing was that those 4 could play together. The situation now? Tons of questions. Is Carra old and done or is he back in top form for good? Is Agger going to continue being injured on and off? Is Skrtel sh*te or is he only having a sh*te season? Is Kelly (impressive as he has been) going to continue being good or is he a new Insua, starting off well and the turning into a disaster? Is Johnson a right or left back? Is he a defender at all? All these questions need to be answered and all the the defenders at the club have until June to prove to Kenny that they belong here. This will decide the look of our defence and the destiny of the returning Degen and Insua. Priority should be to establish a consistent back-four.
Central midfield: Looks pretty good. Mereiles is an attacking midfielder. Gerrard and Lucas are more all-round midfielders. So as mentioned, Poulsen out and a good defensive midfielder brought in. Shelvey is young and good back-up. Only problem is the Aquilani "headache" as it has so fittingly been named. If Mereiles will keep scoring and playing well until the summer, then cash in on Aquilani. If he doesnt then its a hard one for Kenny.
Wide areas: We have Cole/Maxi/Kuyt/Jova who are all not-wingers/not-strikers/not-AM's/not-forwards/not-anything. These kind of players can be usefull, the in-between-the-lines players. But we need OUT-and-OUT WINGERS. Not that they are the solution to everyhting, but we need the option of out-and-out wingers badly! If I were Kenny I'd keep the two of these four who perform best until the summer and replace the two worst with real wingers.
Striking department: As mentioned, all depends on what Suarez and Carroll do from now and until the summer. If they score 10 goals each from now and until the summer, then this department is more or less fine.
As I said, I dont want to judge players too much on their performances under Roy. Take Cole for example. He is supposed to be a creative winger/AM kind of player. Who's surprised he didnt flourish under Roy? Would anyone be surprised if he did 100 times as well under Kenny?
If everything goes well, we have 10 PL games left this season and 7 Europa league games under the guidance of Kenny Dalglish. These games should tell us a lot about who should stay and who should go.
