Best bench

[Razoray]

Going on pre-season the 7 on the bench for the 5 favourites for the title will be something like:

 

Man City

Caballero Kolarov Demechelis Fernando Navas Jovetic Negredo

 

Liverpool

Jones Enrique Sakho Allen Lallana Lambert Markovic (presuming Moreno is done)

 

Chelsea

Cech Azpilicuta Mikel Ramires Schurrle Salah Torres

 

Arsenal

Ospina Chambers Monreal Wilshere Oxlade-ch Podolski Giroud

 

Man Utd

Lindegaard Young Fletcher Cleverley Kagawa Januzaj Welbeck

 

Granted, there will be ins and outs over the next 2 weeks but how do you think we match up?

City are strong everywhere with Sagna, Lampard and especially Milner not even making the bench. Only area for improvement is at CB.

I think it's when you see this that you realise the weaknesses up top and gk in our squad.

Chelsea will struggle up top if Costa doesn't settle, gets injured or (more likely) suspended and have only 6 senior defenders but very strong elsewhere

Arsenal look weak in defensive midfield and have only Monreal and Chambers as cover at the back

Man united look the weakest, especially defensive cover for the 3 at the back

[Bjornebye]

Good to see us having a much stronger bench. 

[Major Tom]

City or Chelsea.

 

But ours is a lot better than last season's Aspas-led farce.

 

Though, Flanagan or Monkeyhole will be on the bench to cover RB. Whoever isn't playing out of them.

[JaminKibbler]

A bench that any of the 6 outfield players can come on and make a difference will be vital this year. Gone are the days of Aspas and whoever else lingered on the bench last year.

[Razoray]

Do people believe Mourinho will play Fabregas in the 2 or the 3 of a 4231? If he is in the 2, they'd be a bit like Ardiles's Spurs. I'd be surprised if the boring one changed style that much

[Boss]

City have got the best bench, they got others as well like Milner, Lampard, Sagna and Nastasic.

 

Our bench is alot better than the Moses / Aspas farce of last season, but the weak areas are Jones and Lambert.

[Bjornebye]

[Mook]

I'm not convinced we've spent £45m on Lallana & Markovic just to have them sitting on the bench.

 

It does look an awful lot better than last season though.

[JohnnyH]

The main thing is that this season we have the ability to change the team during a game and bring on real quality and a threat.  That's a huge bonus.  Also, our team in the early rounds of the Cup comps will be very good; which is nice.

 

But we still need that striker.  Badly.

[Get Carter]

What is your starting 11 with that bench??  I think you have Can starting judging by that and I cant see that happening I think Lalana & Allen will both start ahead of him.

[Chocoholic]

I can't help but think of the strength of our bench when Joe Cole's massive arse was on it. Had to be amazing, that.

 

On more serious matters, with regard to our own bench, as suggested by Razoray

 

Liverpool
Jones Enrique Sakho Allen Lallana Lambert Markovic (presuming Moreno is done)

 

Jones: Suggestions floating about of a deal for Argentine keeper, Romero, with Coates going the other way. It's only Twitter, so it's to be taken with a grain of salt, but backup keeper position is being looked at by all accounts. Jones will be lucky to make the bench this season.

 

Enrique: Presuming Moreno is done, and in as 1st choice left back, I see Flanagan as being the full back option as he can cover both sides, unlike Enrique, whom I wouldn't be surprised to see leaving late in the window. Johnson is also able to cover both sides, and is actually a bit better on the left as I believe he has to concentrate a bit more on his left. There's also far less likelihood of finding a sucker to take Johnson on the huge wages he's on, than there is for Enrique.

 

Will there be enough games in the season for Johnson, Flanagan and Manquillo to co-exist on the right? What I expect to happen is that Johnson may start the season as first choice, but as the season progresses and he ebbs closer towards the end of his contract and the exit door, Manquillo will most likely be settled in better & established as 1st choice then.

 

Sakho: Having gone balls deep for Lovren, Brendan will be playing him on the left side of defence, leaving Sakho on the bench. He is a very strong backup, but he should be on the field, and I can't see him wanting that situation to continue, having left his boyhood club as he was on the bench there. Is there a three at the back formation that will keep all parties happy?

 

Allen is an ideal player to be able to bring on on the hour when things need calming down or keeping control when a game is more or less in the bag. The addition of Can, either as player or sub, means that Lucas is now likey to be missing out from the squad. I don't see Allen starting ahead of Can on any regular basis as suggested above, by Get Carter. Can is far more physical and better suited to starting and 'getting the job done' than Allen is.

 

Lallana is the real show of strength that we didn't have from the bench last season. The difference is, that if he's actually playing, then depending on shape and tactics, either Coutinho or Sterling will be the subs, which gives a real indicator of our improved strength in depth.

 

Lambert will be very much a horses for courses type of sub. A third choice striker and it will be interesting to see when Rodgers sees him as 'Plan B' when we can't break trough by our normal style of play. There will also be times when we're well in control and he'll be brought on to give him a run out and opportunities for a goal here or there to keep his confidence up.

 

Markovic is still as yet an unknown quantity as far as our league is concerned, as he's been unfortunate to pick up an injury in pre-season. That said, what we have seen of him has been exciting and tantalising and fits in with the great reputation he's arrived with.

 

Another bench option will be Jordon Ibe, who might have been expected to go on loan had Lallana been fit and a new centre forward was in. However, in the continuing absence of those players, and paired with the exciting dynamic and direct play we saw from him pre-season, I would fully expect the young lad to stay and continue to make his presence known and felt, much as Sterling did last season.

 

If and when he's introduced from the bench, there will be plenty of excitement and plenty to look forward to. He's a player that opposition with tired legs will not be wanting to see in the last quarter of the game.

 

Gerrard will - as part of a properly time managed season - find himself on the bench from time to time. Before or after champion's League games, where I'd imagine his experience will be more wisely used, he may not even be named in the squad at all. My hope would be that he would play 75% of the 90 minutes in 66-75% of the 50+ games throughout the whole season. Picking and choosing the games he starts in very wisely with Rodgers to maximise his experience and effectiveness to get the result required on the day.

 

He won't be involved in early rounds of the domestic cups and these games, along with his international retirement will afford him vital rest periods in which to recover for his season to be successfully managed

 

If we bring in another centre forward/wide forward as an alternative or supplement to Sturridge, then he will also add to the bench strength, either as a sub, or as a player for whoever of the regular starter he replaces.

 

Last season when we looked to the bench, we had the collective 'talent' of Jones, Toure, Cissokho Lucas Moses, Aspas,

 

Either way, we have  so much to look forward to from this season's bench compared to last  when we hoped beyond hope that either Moses or Aspas had transformed themselves into world beaters overnight. No such luck.

 

As for anyone else's bench... I couldn't give a fuck.

 

We're the only game in town that I'm interested in. The future is bright.

[Paul]

The glaring weakness on our bench as it appears now is a like-for-like for Sturridge and we should deffo go all out for one.

 

However, if we aren't able to recruit another classy striker, BR will have a plan. Lambert can play as the fulcrum for all our tricky young forwards buzzing around/off him or else Raheem can play through the middle as he did in the youth set up occasionally. I fact I think he got five against someone (Spurs?) from there.

 

In short, I'm chilly as fuck about this squad.

[No2]

Our bench looks strong as fuck. Last season we only made a handful of subs that improved or maintained the performance level, when we were 3 or 4 up at home generally 2 from sturridge, sterling and coutinhio were withdrawn, we hardly scored a late goal in any of those games, in hindsight the goal difference we passed up on to save legs probably cost us the league. Which ever attacker we bring on this season will have an impact in these games, infact the goals we get from the bench will probably replace half of suarez's goals. Maybe code knows how many goals our subs scored or even how many goals the teams scored after we made a sub, fuck all would be my guess.

[Phoenix]

Haha, lets not worry about comparing our benches when our first team will be weaker than three of those teams.

 

Talk about clutching at straws.

[moof]

Haha, lets not worry about comparing our benches when our first team will be weaker than three of those teams.

 

Talk about clutching at straws.

Not clutching at straws at all. Last season out bench is what cost us the title. This season out first 11 is marginally less strong but the bench is 10x as strong.

[Phoenix]

Not clutching at straws at all. Last season out bench is what cost us the title. This season out first 11 is marginally less strong but the bench is 10x as strong.

 

This where your opinion differs with quite a few people. For me the first eleven isnt marginally weaker. A lot weaker.

[moof]

Stronger at the back and in midfield. Sturridge, Sterling, Coutinho, Markovic, Lallana is hardly a shit attack is it?

[Phoenix]

The attack is inconsistent. No one is saying its shit.You need all the stars to align and the likes of Coutinho and Markovic to fulfil their potential straightaway to be anywhere near  where we were as a whole team last season. Its getting the first goal.

 

The full backs positions are definitely better. Midfield is better? I'm not so sure.

[Jairzinho]

Henderson/Coutinho/Gerrard is the three I'd pick this year, same as last year. Markovic comes in for Suarez. So much weaker.

[moof]

Of course the midfield is better. Who has left? Plus we've added Can who looks ace. Central defence and fullback is improved, along with the on-field organisation at the back where we were lacking last season.

 

Out fluid attack will work in pretty much the same way just less effective for losing Suarez. We scored over 100 goals in the league last season. Our attack did not need to be improved on in any way, shape or form. Goal scoring won't be a problem.

[moof]

Henderson/Coutinho/Gerrard is the three I'd pick this year, same as last year. Markovic comes in for Suarez. So much weaker.

Yes, if you look at it in that simplistic way.

[JaminKibbler]

 My hope would be that he would play 75% of the 90 minutes in 66-75% of the 50+ games throughout the whole season. 

 

[Grinch]

Our bench should be great since that's where we've spent most of our budget this window.  Pity about the starting XI.

[Arl arse]

Very disappointed no ones posted a picture of a nice garden bench, shame on you all.

[G Richards]

I would say the best bench is Man City, but we are up there now, which will serve us well this season. First eleven is marginally weaker (unless one or two youngsters really step up and have an amazing season) but the squad overall is much stronger.