KopTalk.com Forums Football Liverpool FC Forum Just how attacking will our line-up be..?

If the deals are completed tomorrow, Liverpool may well have finished their dealings. There is still a chance Given will come in. A few youngsters are almost certain. There is also still a chance that another marquee will follow but I'm not posting this to feed hysteria or proclaim FSG, or Rodgers, or anyone...

I'm posting this to discuss my feelings on our potential squad.

As things stand, Mignolet is our No. 1 Keeper. Jones our back-up, until Given potentially joins. Mignolet has proven useful already. With a lack of character towards the end of the game leaving every 2nd half display this season a little more edgy than necessary, he has done well in covering for some inconsistencies. Reina may have been our old hero, but Simon is already accepted as a good replacement in most quarters. Greatness, we hope, will come with time...

Our right back options still seem a little light, but no doubt first-choice option Johnson is a long-serving and accepted great player in the team. He may get questioned by some for defensive duties. Anybody that watches him regularly knows that when he does defend well, nobody wants to mention it! Kelly is second-choice. Most will expect him to improve and keep fit. Skrtel can cover, but more on him later on.

At left back, our problems seem to have been resolved. Cissokho and Enrique both competing to start, and a fair chance that Sakho and Ilori can both cover.

At centre-back, the latter two are most definitely options. Sakho is most definitely a high-calibre name. Whether he is worthy of being a "marquee" signing is down to each and every fan. I see him as one. Ilori has a lot of potential (according to the reports) but it appears his chances will all depend on him pushing hard. Both Toure (who looks like a real coup right now) and Agger are at the club too. There was a suggestion that Skrtel will stay too, but to me that seems unlikely.

DM is a position a lot of fans voted as top priority. Interesting then that Rodgers doesn't see it that way. Few people have been linked. Lucas is most definitely first choice, Toure can cover, so can Gerrard and Allen... Gerrard is better, right now, further forward. Allen and Henderson are also fighting for this middle berth. AM is a position we all want to see Coutinho commanding. Alberto was signed to play here too, replacing the underwhelming Shelvey. There a rumours a young Hocko may be added here too, alongside Danilo (though unable to join until February).

Now we move on to the main event...

Moses is looking likely to join tomorrow. It'll mean that Liverpool will have, Sterling, Ibe, Moses, Aspas, Sturridge, Suarez and Borini competing for a place in one of 3 positions... A lead striker (which Suarez, Sturridge, Aspas, Borini and Moses can play, a Second Striker, where the 5 can also play (with Sterling), and as a winger, where (to me) it appears Moses, Suarez, Ibe and Sterling can play. Coutinho and Henderson could cover. Zivkovic appears like a young prodigee that could join from Groningen, and there is still hope that we might still sign another, like Konoplyanka, Yarmolenko, Dzudszak... Someone.

So what that leaves me thinking, is that our front 3 is fast becoming purely alternative types of strikers. All of those aforementioned have played in a striking role (even Ibe as a second striker I believe) and none of them appear likely to run to repeatedly attempt to put in crosses (unlike Assaidi and Downing),,,

This pure winger has made way for an aggressor, much like Suarez could be in my eyes...

So how attacking are we becoming..?

The club was already creating chances galore. The problem, lied in the lack of players to clinically finish. One of Suarez' weaknesses is his ability to convert regularly. Sure, he had little help for extensive periods, but other top PL players (like RVP) find a way to score even when they have been loosely utilised for extensive periods of games. If he dropped into a position a la Coutinho last season (as the wide man), then Sturridge could continue to lead the line, and another second striker could be signed (in time)...

If Suarez drops in behind Sturridge, and the club do actually sign Yarmolenko (or an equivalent), we may be one of the most enforcing, high-pressing, chance creating AND clinical teams in the PL. Lots of these players have the ability to interchange positions in the game. Lots of these players can alternate attacks, create space, create chances from nothing, and with Coutinho potentially playing centrally permanently, our creative midfield of Gerrard and Coutinho may just be able to pick any of the 3 out on the break. We already have 2 very attack minded full-backs integrated in the formation as well, even if some fans hope Cissokho proves better than Enrique. There is potential for this team to make real headway this season. Other competitors appear to fear us, have commented on how difficult games against us have been, and few bad words have come from journalists working abroad in the countries that we've signed players from. Aspas, Alberto, Cissokho, Ilori and Sakho have all come with pedigree, lets hope they're given the time to settle!

Lets not get ahead of ourselves and think we're world-beaters... Lets not fall below ourselves and think we're mid-table... Even Moses, Suarez and Sturridge doesn't look that bad on paper... We may well have witnessed one of the most mind boggling transfer windows to date... Not just ourselves, but many teams signing lots of players, and others little to nothing. Irrespective of a late marquee signing, this window, to me, has been a success. Time will tell whether all the deals become better than just good on paper, but the squad is certainly beginning to look a lot more like a BR team. It increases pressure on him, but he at least can rely on players he sees have quality... plus... many of the underwhelmers are now gone. Time for the club to press on.

Good read JJ. Thanks for the post.



I am not sure I agree with that part. Not sure if it's true, but i read somewhere that Gerrard had more assists from the deep DM position last season, than in any previous season in his career. He has lost some pace and that power in his shot, he still has power, but not like a cannon like he used to. His lack of pace means he finds himself in fewer and fewer chances to let loose, and for this reason I think he is better utilized deeper nowadays.

From the games i have been to you can see when on the attack Gerrard usually drops back into the space between Toure and the RB who is usually sprinting down the touchline. He then picks up the ball and if no short build up passes are there he will smash a ball out the the far corner and get us up the pitch which is what i think he is most affective at. His range of passing is unbelievable.

I have to agree JJ, if we can sign these 3 i don't see for once in a long time where we are light. Although another creative player and a winger would help i feel.

Personally think Sakho and Moses will be 2 cracking signings, really like the look of Moses before he joined Chelsea and i see him being a success at Anfield. Sakho too is gonna be a beast, as FIFA describes him he is a "leader of men"

I maybe should have put just slightly further forward. It does make it sound like I mean he is attacking. He is a centre-midfielder. He drops back like a deep-lying playmaker, but still makes runs forward when needed.

I would agree with that assessment.

Still not convinced this problem is solved. And I don't think Yarmo would solve it either, even though he'd score more than Downing for sure. This is why...

Personally I don't think we need to sign someone to solve it, but we would have to get Sturridge to change his game slightly - he needs to stop dropping off for the pull back and be the one charging to the near post/infront of the keeper every time. We have other players arriving late for a pull-back(Hendo/Couts mostly), but we often lack a striker hanging around the goal-mouth for a tap-in.

If we don't want to change Sturridge's game, then I would suggest signing Jackson Martinez when we have the funds, or someone like him. Neither Sturridge nor Saurez is this type of striker, and Borini isn't good enough to get selected at the moment - not sure he ever will be.

So bringing in a more direct winger would not solve our problem that we don't have another guy in the box at all times?! I'm confused...

Suarez and Sturridge together is something we rarely tried last season. Add a non-Downing, suddenly that improves exponentially to me. While 1 has the ball, the other 2 can make in roads into the box, while Coutinho and Lucas/Gerrard can support from deeper, with both full-backs pushing up?! I don't get how Sturridge has to change his game... More about support in my eyes.

You've never played as a winger have you jj...

You can't expect someone playing on the side of a front 3 to be the man attacking the near post, or tapping-in in front of the keeper, it doesn't matter how good he is.

Since reading your posts i think i've seen all of Yarmo's goals from the last 3 seasons - hardly any are tap-ins. In fact, they're nearly all starting with him out wide right, cutting in on his favoured left and finding the corner of the net from just inside the box.

Watch a clip of Jackson Martinez' goals last season - you'll see the difference.

Sturridge always drops off for a pull-back even when he has Couts and Hendo charging in behind him. It's why we didn't hit Stoke for 6. Go back and watch the whole game - you'll see what I mean, honestly.

Answer to your first question... Yes... I was a Carragher in reverse. I played in most areas back to centre midfield. I was like Allen in one way, but I had pace to burn, and could take players on. I also scored goals. Hope that clarifies things. I wasn't a great player, but if I hadn't moved I would have been captain of my local county when I was about 12.

You think that we don't have players that can push on and get into those areas?! It is like you think the restrictions in the team now are unmoveable. If Suarez and Sturridge both play, then one of them is that guy. If the wide man is direct enough, of course he'll get into the box.

Martinez is a good player, no doubt about that... But we can't lose part of our chance creation at the expense of signing a striker. Coutinho is a creator, and our midfield have helped create too. Change Martinez for one of those midfielders, and we're suddenly all strikers and less chances. The player still needs to have an eye for a pass. Martinez doesn't fix that in my opinion.

I don't need to re-watch it. We didn't score the chances we did create, which just means we need to improve on that. It doesn't mean we need to completely rework our striker and his position, as well as drop Suarez back...