tweaks or an overhaul?

[FrenchEyeGlass]

We need a striker and two wingers.

 

We may need a CM but will make fourth place without one.

[kelster]

Tweaking...we have the basis of a good squad,just need 2 or 3 in to up the ante a bit..ignore the obvious for a minute,we're light up front,we're light in the centre and we're light on the right.A striker,a Attacking centre midfielder and someone on the right is needed.I expect the likes of Carroll ,henderson and Downing to have a different season next time round..We might also get Steven Gerrard match fit which will be like a new signing,he's never looked fit this year.

 

Just two or three players away. I think that record has been playing for the past 20 years.

[zico]

We need to players replace spearing and Adam - I'd suggest Banega and Martinez....

 

We need to world class wingers to replace maxi(who for some weird reason is out in the cold)/downing(would do as a back-up)/Henderson(needs to play centrally or be sold)/Kuyt(decent back-up both wide and as a forward) - I'd love gaston Ramirez/Ibrahim Afellay and Eden Hazard/Lucas Moura...

 

We need a forward or two - I'd love to see Cavani and Damiao at liverpool, and falcao/wolfswinkel/higuain/mathias Suarez could probably also do the job...

 

We desperately need creativity in the side and there is a relatively cheap option in Diego Riebas from Wolfsburg, currently on loan at Athletico.... Other than him ganso is a good alternative...

 

Now over to FSG..... Show us the money!!

[gumps]

A fucking goalscorer would improve the team no end!

 

For the most part, we've played some good stuff this season without any end product. It's no secret we're the worst finishers in the division, and that's our problem right there.

 

We've seen how good Suarez can be at international level, but that's because he has help, Cavani, Forlan or whoever. I though Carroll could be a good buy, but the fact that he was English and a last day but forced the £35m millstone around his neck.

 

Me? I would spunk whatever budget we had on a goalscorer, pure and simple.

[CWD82]

Ideal world

 

Carroll, Adam, Cole, Aquilani, Aurelio and Maxi all gone

 

Eriksen, Llorente and Hazard (or Jovetic)

 

Play Suarez on the right Llorente in the middle and Jovetic on the left with Eriksen, Gerrard and Lucas central.

 

It's absolute fantasy football manager bullshit I know and the signings would cost £60m but financially you could have got Llorente for Carroll, Eriksen for Adam and Henderson and Jovetic for Downing.

 

Hazard is proper pie in the sky.

 

It's so frustrating though because we could afford those players and we could pay there wages I'm convinced of it.

[PaulMcC]

We need a left winger desperately. A centre forward with a good touch, pace, movement and finishing ability. A centre midfielder to play with, and cover, for Lucas. A right midfielder too.

 

Promote Sterling to be left wing understudy, sell Downing. Shelvey to be centre midfield cover, sell Adam.

 

Spend nothing on the defence unless we've loads of money. Have Coates as back up to Agger and Skrtel, Flanagan and Robinson as cover for Johnson, Enrique and Kelly.

[thompsonsnose]

A total refit of the midfield and attack.

All of them are complete dogs.

Kenny should use the rest of the season to see if any kids can make it.

We simply can't get any worse.

 

However the point is moot, i don't think Kenny should be given any fresh cash.

He's wasted millions i'm afraid, and most on here with a nice red bar next to their name, saw it coming.

Under what circumstances could ANYONE think Downing, Henderson, and Adam would be the players to turn Liverpool around? Staggering stuff.

I (and others) wanted Parker signed in the summer, got slaughtered for it, too old, cockney caaaant etc, and yet there he is having the season of his life and he cost less than Adam.

I dont really rate Lucas.

YES we have missed him, but all his absence has meant, is that we drop from borderline 4th place material to confirmed mid table mediocrity.

He was never gonna be a cog in a side that was genuinely challenging.

Sorry Lucas lovers. Its doubtful he will be the same player now anyway.

Loads of whoppers on here saying we didnt need a player like Parker cos we had stacks of midfielders.

Yes we do have loads of midfielders, and most of em are shyte. Lucas wasnt bought to do the job hes ended up doing. Hes done a reasonable job, thats all. We did not replace Mascherano. Parker would have been a great cut price replacement. Theres simply no argument with that.

We've been treated to the sight of Norwich and fucking Swansea running straight through our midfield this year. While ADAM huffs and puffs about slamming in to the back of people about an hour late.

Fucking embarrassing really.

 

Fans are being conditioned to accept 4th place, i say fuck that, this is Liverpool Football Club we are talking about.

So if the owners still have genuine ambitions for the club, i say we need to sack Kenny and also get new scouting team while we're at it.

Because that has been a spectacular failure, year in year out.

Think we should have our eye out for a new keeper too.

Pepe has lost his edge this year. No doubt about it.

 

The problem for Kenny is that he chanced across a workable system last year, that might have had us nearer the top four this year, (still a mile from winning the league mind) but chose to dismantle it, for the stunted, wretched, bollocks we are now witnessing.

So i'm afraid i question his judgement, on his system, and personnel.

No plan, no direction.

Please dont wheel out the Carling cup as proof of anything.

 

 

Pardew anyone? Or maybe we'll just hire his scout and get Rafa back.

Never thought i'd be saying that.

But Kennys time has passed.

Flame away you haters. Lots for you to snack on i'm sure.

But please get your fucking heads out of the sand.

We are fucking diabolical right now. All our rivals are weaker, as evidenced by their poor European campaigns, yet we still find ourselves a mile off.

I doubt we'll hit 50 points this season.

And the league does NOT lie.

[Anubis]

I wondered when the slobbering, retarded mong element would show up. And you've arrived!

[thompsonsnose]

I wondered when the slobbering, retarded mong element would show up. And you've arrived!

 

Didnt want to disappoint.

Enjoy the slide to mediocrity.

Get that head back in your hole.

[Guest TK-421]

Tweaks. A couple of adjustments here and there and a prolific striker would transform this stuttering fuck of a team.

[Anubis]

Didnt want to disappoint.

Enjoy the slide to mediocrity.

Get that head back in your hole.

 

You never disappoint. Take your head out from up your arse.

[thompsonsnose]

You never disappoint. Take your head out from up your arse.

 

Sorry im not a super fan, looking for super fan points and a nice green bar next to my name.

We're a mile of where this club should be.

If you choose not to see it then fine.

[Anubis]

I'm not a superfan. I simply exercise some perspective.

[Guest]

It's hard to know.

 

You look at last Saturday's performance against Arsenal and think that the addition of a cold-blooded goalscorer would make us a great side.

 

Then you look at yesterday's performance against a mediocre Sunderland team and the "not good enough" list starts to grow again.

 

Honestly, I think that nearly all the top teams in England are relying on a few great players with a lot of decent ones just filling in beside them.

 

That's why I think that the addition of a striker who could score near to 30 goals in a season would make such a difference.

 

In the perfect world, we could probably improve on just about every player in the squad, but I don't think you need a squad full of Messis to win things.

 

I think you just need a handful of special players and a lot of good players playing to their potential.

 

As someone said earlier, look at the way we destroyed teams at the end of last season when Lucas and Spearing were in midfield and Kuyt, Meireles and Maxi were supporting Suarez.

 

Someone brilliant (even if it is only at putting the ball in the net) would in my opinion raise everyone else's performance levels and take a lot of the pressure off the shoulders of the likes of Suarez, who is in effect having to play about 3 positions now.

[LFC64]

Tweaking...we have the basis of a good squad,just need 2 or 3 in to up the ante a bit..ignore the obvious for a minute,we're light up front,we're light in the centre and we're light on the right.A striker,a Attacking centre midfielder and someone on the right is needed.I expect the likes of Carroll ,henderson and Downing to have a different season next time round..We might also get Steven Gerrard match fit which will be like a new signing,he's never looked fit this year.

 

Saved me a bit if typing as I agree with the above. Whist it's reasonable to have hoped we would be in better league position at this stage I think it's just as unreasonable to expect the finished article after one transfer window, a window in which the planned partner for our new forward went out the door Suarez was coming in on the same day.

 

I think we do have the nucleus of a good squad, and if our DOF and manager can identify and land the required quality then I think we push on next season.

 

FSG can't and won't pay Man City / Chelsea / Man Utd wages and we are near certain to be without the attraction of CL football again so I think any summer additions will need to be wise acquisitions because I doubt if we'll be cherry picking Europe's elite.

[King Emlyn]

Overhaul, but we don't have the necessary, so we'll have to tweak.

[ngogswilly]

Buy a proper CM to partner Lucas and replace Adam.

 

Buy a winger capable of chipping in with 5-10 goals a year and capable of putting the fear of god into defenders with pace and skill. You see the Mancs with their shitbag wingers, they arn't world class but they make the opposition shit themselves because they are fast, skillful and each one of them is a goalthreat.

 

Buy a striker. A good one.

 

That would make us a very good team. Problem is we'd need to buy top class in each position and we probably can't afford that.

[JohanH]

We had a team that was built around Reina/Carra/Xabi/Gerrard/Torres and we have been trying to tweak that for years now. Problem is- this was the last chance for that to work as all but Reina are now sold or past their peak. So now we need to replace not just players, we need to find a new fundament to build the team on- new leaders on the pitch.

 

We have plenty of players that can do a job in a top 4 team, and in that list I would include maligned players such as Henderson, Downing and Carrol depending on the style we play. But- we do not have a spine as a team.

 

So - major overhaul time.

[silverlining]

Complete overhaul, but we can't really afford it on any level.

 

Our big signings Carroll, Adam, Downing, Henderson should all be shipped out, along with those players who aren't good enough, never were/ never will be:

 

Spearing, Aurelio, Cole, Maxi et al.

 

But there's no way Kenny, Commolli and FSG are going to admit they've fucked up as badly as they did, so we'll be stuck with them for a while yet.

 

The only players I would not sell are:

 

Skrtel, Reina, Agger, Enrique, Johnson, Kelly, Suarez and Gerrard

 

That says it all.

[stringvest]

It's not easy to see where the money is coming from. Getting rid of any of the big signings is an admission of failure - difficult for KD to suck up. Getting someone to buy them would be harder, and getting them to move may be impossible. In order for us to fix this shit, we have to ship at least some of the kackers out.

 

As always, the players we want to hang on to will be the easiest ones to shift out.

 

Carroll, Downing, Kuyt, Cole would all bring a decent fee or would remove a significant pay drain on the coffers. Maxi is obviously going, as will Aurelio. Spearing and Adam will stay.

 

More importantly, these games we're entering in to now are the opportunity to try out some of the players on the periphery. I would keep Coates in the team until the end of the season, I'd play Shelvey until the end of the season, and get some of the young forwards in from the reserves. We will never get a better chance to do this. It's do or die for those young lads too.

[Gym Beglin]

The big problem, for me, is Gerrard.

 

Wait, don't get upset so easily, at least give it a minute to rattle around in that head of yours and then react.

 

 

EVERY offensive player that we buy has been done whilst thinking about how they would dovetail with Gerrard. Of course, the big problem is that

a) He doesn't play every week

b) He seems to play a slightly different position everyweek

c) He's not quite as good as we'd like to admit anymore.

 

I think we should build a brand new team on that defence, a defence which is already very good. And I don't think that Gerrard should have any say whatsoever in where he plays. But the problem is that some people still rate him very, very highly, whereas other's don't. I get the distinct impression that Kenny rates him very highly, obviously.

 

Quite simply, we cannot afford to build a team around Gerrard anymore. He's not fit enough, he's not effective enough when he is fit to build a team around, he's not Messi or Ronaldo. He has to fit INTO a system, he cannot BE the system.

No more of this "he's not disciplined enough to be a proper CM", fuck that, he doesn't play CM then. Unless he gets better than Lucas at playing DM then I don't see him playing anywhere other than RM. I'm a bit tired of it now to be honest.

 

People compare Gerrard and Lampard, and will say that Chelsea built a team around Lampard.

Well it's a bit different, Lampard isn't as injury prone as Gerrard, despite being roughly the same age.

 

Lampard has made 740 club appearances and scored 222 goals.

Gerrard has made 575 club appearances and scored 145 goals.

 

The only observation being made here is that Chelsea COULD build a team around Lampard historically because he was always available and fit to play in those sides, whereas in the last two years especially we have suffered through our infatuation with Gerrard who has only played a part in 43 games in all competitions in the last 18 months. If you then factor in how many of those games he was still not match fit, it's not good.

 

So, my answer to the original question would be 'overhaul', because there needs to be a change of emphasis away from having a big name saviour to build a team around. We need a system and a style of play, and we need players in with real hunger and desire to achieve success.

 

The likes of Hendersonm, Carroll and Adam dont seem to have any hunger about them, I think that's a real pity, but that's just the way it is. Sell them. In fact, a bit harsh on Adam, but still sell. He's a third wheel, he's destined to be a Le Tissier or Lee Trundle for a middling team, not bossing the midfield in a top team. His lack of mobility will always hidner him at this level, unless he learns how to play DM and tackle and chase, which he won't. Right now Adam is standing in the way of Shelvey, and I don't see much difference between them except we'd get £8m for selling Adam and we'd get £2m for selling Shelvey. No brainer.

Then you have Kuyt, Bellamy, Maxi and Gerrard, all pushing the door around 30 or so. As much as I'd like to keep Kuyt for his enthusiasm, I'd sell him while we can still make some money from him. His lack of pace for someone playing a wide or striker position is not helping him, and he's not got the natural ability of a Sneijder or VdV to be able to play in the hole. Sell.

Bellamy, keep, for one year. He's much like Kuyt, but does have the pace, for the moment.

Maxi is apparently off anyway.

Gerrard, keep obviously, but only under the proviso that he stops thinking he's Zidane. He needs to realise that this is his last go at winning some more silverware with us. He needs to realise that he isn't going to win a World Player of the Year award anymore, and the best chance of winning anything is if the team wins something, so he needs to contribute to that happening.

 

I'd keep Lucas, Spearing, Shelvey, and Suarez.

There is confidence there, there is ability there, and there is desire there. How we deploy them is another question, but none of those players will harm this club.

It's galling to think that I'm talking about selling two central midfielders, and yet we really dont need to replace either of them.

 

I think it's time to pick a formation, you cannot buy players for a team unless you know what formation you want to play.

I think 442 is dead, it CAN work but only if your wingers are incredibly gifted players willing to work back and also get forward and still have enough in the tank to skin their full back time and again. Those type of players cost a lot of money, forget it.

 

4231 everytime. It allows you to buy players like Suarez and play them virtually anywhere across the 3, like he should be. It also means you don't need wingers, you just need clever players with good movement, like Bilbao or Barca show us.

 

People battered Rafa because he used 4231 against the lesser teams at home and we didn't win those games. I don't think it was as simple as that, I think the likes of Enrique and Johnson now add that width against those teams so that you dont lost width at all in the attacking areas.

 

But there are some things that are important for 4231 to work, and that's a good, quick partnership pairing. We have that with Agger and Skrtel, but I'm still not sold on Coates, I dont think he's mobile enough. You need someone like that Thiago Silva who, as it goes, is supposedly on his way to Barca this Summer.

You need a choice in the middle two in midfield, either you can play two destroyers or you can play one destroyer and another player who can do that but also get forward and offer something offensively when needed. You could argue that Shelvey or Gerrard can do that, IF they can do the defensive side of it well enough when needed.

Personally, I'm loving the look of the lad Baio in the youth team, he's going to be a cracker in that position, he's reminding me of a raw Essien type.

 

We DO desperately need a couple of clinical strikers. I forward Steve Fletcher of Wolves, and then someone else with a bit more pace. Fletcher is the type you'd use at Anfield where the defence is so deep that you can basically just lurk in their box for 90 minutes. The other striker is for away games where there is a bit of grass to run into behind the defence.

 

So endeth the lesson. But the Gerrard thing is very real.

[beejay]

Complete overhaul, but we can't really afford it on any level.

 

Our big signings Carroll, Adam, Downing, Henderson should all be shipped out, along with those players who aren't good enough, never were/ never will be:

 

Spearing, Aurelio, Cole, Maxi et al.

 

But there's no way Kenny, Commolli and FSG are going to admit they've fucked up as badly as they did, so we'll be stuck with them for a while yet.

 

The only players I would not sell are:

 

Skrtel, Reina, Agger, Enrique, Johnson, Kelly, Suarez and Gerrard

 

That says it all.

 

I guarantee that this time last year neither Skrtel nor Johnson would have been on your retained list. Which just goes to show that players can improve even more so when the players are young like Henderson.

 

Most non-demented people on this thread are saying the same thing : defence is sound, leave well alone; invest in a centre & right midfielder and a striker. I would actually go for 2 new strikers.

 

So that's a tweak in terms of the number of new players.

 

Then concentrate on a grooved playing style with the ball moved quicker, a higher tempo, more pace in the side and committing more players into the box.

 

Now THAT would be an overhaul, but to my mind that would make the difference between our current decent cup-side status and a consistent, strong top 4 team.

[Gym Beglin]

We have to get away from the mindset where we think 'attractive' football is 'effective' football. I'm more excited by 3 points than another breathtaking performance resulting in a draw.

 

This is Kenny's last chance to get this right IMHO, because we've been here before. In effect, we're talking about removing almost all of his signings last Summer and starting again like nothing happened. No other manager, ever, has gotten this treatment from fans. But that's awesome I suppose, but strictly as a one-off thing. We can't do all this again in 2013.

 

The type of forward we need is in the Dzeko mould, that sort of jack-of-all-trades centre forward with pace and physical presence. Not Dzeko himself, obviously, but that ilk.

 

In terms of players who could play in the '3', even the likes of Shane Long would be a great addition. He CAN score goals but his job in that 3 would be to be a pain in the ass and cause the defence problems with his pace. Doesn't have to cost the earth, but very effective when in tandem with a proper system.

 

Player sales:

 

Henderson £10m

Adam £7m

Downing £7m

Kuyt £4m

 

Players in

 

Joe Allen £10m

Shane Long £8m

Mathieu Valbuena £12m

Ibrahim Affelay £8m

Steven Fletcher £7m (post relegation)

Klass Jan Huntelaar £20m

 

 

I reckon Reina will also be on that players sold list as well.

I'd give Brad Jones a chance for a while. After what he's been through with his son dying, to see him play the ressies the other day goes to show what strength of character that lad has, he deserves a chance to show us what he's got, I want people around the team with that sort of mental strength and perspective.

[silverlining]

 

I guarantee that this time last year neither Skrtel nor Johnson would have been on your retained list

 

 

Johnson would have. I've always loved Magic. Skrtel probably not, no.

[xerxes]

We have to get away from the mindset where we think 'attractive' football is 'effective' football. etc...........

 

 

So it’s an overhaul!

 

On your wish-list, I think that there is long term value In Henderson, and Kenny will not want to concede a mistake so quickly.

 

Downing will be very difficult to off-load because of his wages.

 

Adam is saleable- but at a modest loss to a Blackburn/Bolton/Wigan outfit

 

Allen, Long and Fletcher will have some on here reaching for oxygen.

 

Affelay is hardly going to swap Barca for Anfield – a very good player though.

 

Valbuena is really just Joe Cole with better French

 

I doubt whether Huntelaar would come here.

 

What is frightening is how few of our players are saleable (age and contracts) for good money to raise funds.