And also, buy quality defenders and midfielders and you'll see the impact it has on the attack. Attackers and CM's can play with more freedom knowing they have protection behind them.
@Jimmy Squarefoot Would you seriously be happy if we bought defenders and midfielders but no forwards so we had to go into next season with some sort of combination of Mario, Lambert, Borini, Studge and Origi, possible Aspas and Ings too?
Of course not - I did say attack needs strengthening. But I would be equally annoyed if we go into next season with Skrtel, Lovren, Henderson, Lucas, Allen as our starting defence/midfield.
Defence and midfield. We papered over these two areas last season and with the help of a truly world class player, we only managed 2nd and that was without distractions of European football and with Chelsea and United both having new managers which created the perfect storm for us. Unless you can buy a player like Luis Suarez or better, then you're not going to get the same results as last season. I think that by improving defence/mid, you increase your chances of success.
So you would accept going into the season with those strikers I highlighted then? Afterall, prioritising something means that is the main focus to the detriment of all others. It means risking not getting others areas addressed if dealing with the priorities takes all your time up. PS...you still didn't say one area either
If we'd been able to score goals this season, we'd have gotten top four again. Look at this seasons results and look at how many games we dominated and created chances but didn't score. There will be at the very least the eight point deficit to the mancs! I'd imagine it to be a lot more than that though, I'd guess at around fifteen points (and no, I'm not saying we'd be in second place)
Its tricky cos you could say it for any team but reality is 5-6 more goals in games where we took a 1-0 lead then lost 2-1 or Drew could easily have seen us gather 9-10 more points. Goals win win you things and are far more exciting to watch!
Thing is, the priority stuff is just something fans say really. Some fans would prefer to see the mainly defence improved (Jimmy), others fans (everyone else) would prefer to see us buy strikers. However, we'd all like to see both areas improved. In reality, we need half a dozen quality players to not only improve the first team but to give the squad a boost too (buy first teamers and the squad takes care of itself). When all fit and on form, I think we only really have one player that we (Liverpool fans) unanimously agree is good enough for the first team; Coutinho! Every other player as issues or critics of some description.
We've actually scored in majority of the games this season. As I said before, I think fans are being greedy and want 3 or 4 goals every game like last season. 1 goal is enough to win a game and we're scoring 1 goal most of the time. Is it boring? Yes it is, but build from the back first. Build a defence so 1 goal is practically a win. Then you build the attack.
Its ****all to do with scoring 3 or 4 a game or wanting to win games 5-4 every week, it is about wanting to see us have strikers that take the opportunities they are given. you're saying one goal is enough which is fair argument but we have to create a dozen chances to get that one goal!
Just seen this and thought it would be appropriate for all the Flanno haters... please log in to view this image
The fact is, we are scoring goals. You're right - we can be wasteful but we have scored goals. I know you don't agree but the problem isn't just finishing chances. It's also creating quality chances...
For once, I'm going to point you to stats... That's how many goals have been scored by those teams. Not good enough. Goals conceded... Also not as good as we'd like but not miles away bar Chelsea!
We would have made top 4 with a better striker this season no question. You need look no further than how many points we dropped at Anfield due to profligacy. Sunderland Hull -Keeps reminding me of Balotelli's miss at the end of the game Leicester Everton - Balotelli misses at 1 nil Everton score a worldy equalizer last minute Arsenal Those are games we had the upper hand and just couldn't convert the chances we created. In fact the 0-3 loss to United is a game where De Gea won man of the match because we just werent clinical enough. Our goal difference was scandalous too. I have accepted Rodgers will never be the best coach defensively so I do not see why he should even bother adding more defenders when it is pertinently obvious that our lack of goals cost us more than our conceding of goals.
The best managers build from the back first. Yes, we need to improve in attack but not at the expense of defence/mid. You're right - our defence isn't that far from competitors - but that's because we're comparing to other poor teams defensively. This whole league (bar chelsea) is awful for defending.
