Guys, I've been hearing rumours surrounding the future of Raul Meireles. I've been hearing that he may be off this summer due to his lack of fitness and, in turn, we will be bringing Charlie Adam in. Personally, I think this is complete rubbish. Raul Meireles has no problems with fitness as far as we are aware and there is no reason Kenny would want to sell him after his impressive first season. Many think that we are trying to bring in too many central midfielders however this is not the case. We will/have bring/brought in two more central midfielders this summer (Adam and Henderson) and, in turn, we will sell Christian Poulson and may we will loan Jonjo Shelvey out for the season so he can develop as a player and get first team experience. So, our central midfield options for next season will consist of Steven Gerrard, Lucas Leiva, Raul Meireles, Jay Spearing, Jordan Henderson and Charlie Adam(Provided we bring him in). Of corse, this is provided we loan out Jonjo Shelvey. Last season, our central midfield option consisted of Steven Gerrard, Lucas Leiva, Raul Meireles, Jay Spearing, Christian Poulson and Jonjo Shelvey. You can cleary see that we are likely to have the same amount of options in that position available, it is not the number that has changed, but the quality of our squad has improved significantly.
Just posted this on another thread. I see Adam used like this...... - Lucas - Gerrard - Adam or - Lucas - Gerrard - Mereiles Shelvey loaned, Spearing as cover, Henderson cover for Kuyt RW and can play in the middle if needed. Poulsen Sold and cover for Lucas bought. So I don't think we are that overloaded if we sell Poulsen.
Our CMs in order of quality Gerrard Aquilani Meireles Lucas *Adam Shlevey/Spearing Henderson should play on the right
I think we'd all agree we should have 2 quality players for each position. We are likely going to play 3 in the middle. We will loan Shelvey out Aquilani and Poulson will be sold That leaves Defensive midfielders - Lucas, Spearing Midfielders - Adam, Henderson Attacking Midfielders - Gerrard, Meireles Thats 2 players for each position in the centre of midfield Wheres the problem?
The future Liverpool midfield is: LW - Downing/Maxi CM - Gerrard/Adam CM - Lucas/Spearing RW - Henderson/Merieles You could add Nzogbis to the list too, this gives futher options on either flank, and cover for wing forward in 4-3-3 (should Suarez or Kyut be out). Shelvey will go out on loan, either Wigan as part of Nzogbia deal, Bolton, or possibly Newcastle as part of Enrique deal (though think Enrique is now 3rd choice LB) All other first team midfielders will be shipped out, Aquilani, Cole and Poulson will raise around £20m (pays for Nzogbia and Downing)
We've got Kuyt and Henderson for the right wing & Suarez and Maxi for the left wing. Gerrard Aquilani Meireles Lucas Shelvey/Spearing For the centre I don't see the point of Adam really
i don't see us playing 4-4-2 so not sure if a 4 man midfield is the way to go. I personally see a midfield 3 and then a front three with suarez, carroll and kuyt as the men (pre signings) henderson, gerrard, lucas,meireles. thats 4 midfielders before shelvey and spearing are added to the mix... all in all enough. i don't see what adam brings to the party if gerrard and meireles are fit. I think everyone ought to go look to the opta stats on meireles. 1. he ran consistently the furthest of any of our players, working the hardest in other words 2. he did this even with being taken off a lot. think about that. for me meireles has been kicked round the park so i don't see injury prone like say agger, or indeed aquilani here.
I think Adam is better than Miereles. I have doubts about him. Apart from his little goalscoring run he hasn't impressed me that much. He is a decent player but I feel Adam is better at controlling a game, is better at passing and then there is his set pieces. I would take Adam over Meireles.
for me i think meireles is way better than adam! his work rate is simply massive and this sor tof off the ball work goes unnoticed. for me adam's few corners and frees don't impress me that much either. I dop hope those other three go first though
The only thing Mereiles doesn't do and he does everything else,is put his foot in. There is a couple of reasons why and this is only my opinion that Kenny may sacrifice him. 1.He's overloaded with midfielders and Adam will increase that. However the answer to that is offload Poulsen,Jovanovic,Cole and Aquilani. 2.Maybe Kenny wants the side to play a different style thats more aggressive.Maybe Mereiles can't do that.However neither can Aquilani,Cole,Poulsen or Jovanovic.
Yeah if Mereiles could tackle properley he would be some player but I just find he's a bit of a blouse and jump's around the place a bit too much. I don't think we should sell him though he had a good season for his first season should be even better next season.
KK is looking to build a flexible team with depth, lets be honest you have 18 quality players at the most, the rest are poly filler. I think that KK will adapt his team to his oppolents playing 4-3-3 against weaker teams, and 4-4-2 against stronger teams and away at the likes of Stoke ect where you expect a battle. as a 4-3-3 with cover you would have Gerrard/Spearing Lucas/Adam Henderson/Merieles Suarez/Downing Kyut/Maxi (or Nzogbia) Carroll/ Wickham or 4-4-2 Downing/Maxi (or Nzogbia) Gerrard/Spearing Lucas/Adam Henderson/Merieles Kyut/Carroll Suraez/Wickham For quality and depth you need Adam (or another) plus Merieles
i think n'zobia is a glorified full back (like bale) good but really a good option in a 4-3-3? not sure. I do agree 4-3-3 will be us but against the better sides, not weaker ones. we get blown away man for man in midfiled and in my opinion lucas looks good wehn having more time and less work to do. gerrard will be the same. we need the bodies i nthere to compete... For i think 18 quality players is a stretch lol.... in fact to compete for top 4 i'd put the number a lot lower.... however i guess thats not strictly the point of this article. I totally agree that meireles aint tough i nthe tackle but come on guys lets face it... mr scholes who's retiring can't tackle, just poleaxe.... the 4 players lists for us as surplus can't tackle either mostly cos they are woeful and can't get near people.... meireles is good, high quality, lots of ability and work rate.... gerrard can be great if he giet fit again, lucas can do a job with them in a defensive role, suarez is real quality, reina is class but everyone else is either up and coming, injury prone (agger) on the way out... or worse AVERAGE. the most important thing for me is effort, what separates players with some talent from those at the top is pure effort. IMO.... example; 0-0 at home side defending deep... do you assume you're good enough and stroll about thinking you'll score or really go for the jugular and out work these sides? meireles will give you the effort day i nday out.... lucas doesn't, neither does gerrard. whats to say adam will?
I think Johnson is top class and one of our very best players. And no, you can't convince me otherwise.
citycityhull. I agree that KK is looking to "build a flexible team with depth". Where I disagree is with the rigidity of formations. If you listen to Kenny then he never talks about formation and certainly is no slave to rigid ones.
I feel Adam though is more likely to play that killer pass, or bang a free kick in. I am a fan of Meireles but Adam has more ability I think.
foredeckdave, i used them purely as examples, your right, Daglish plays a fuild system, however all teams have a "basic" set up, this is where you formulate tactics from (ie who marks who). The players been brought in support Kennys versitile approach
4-4-2 -----ADAM HENDERSON-MEIRELES ---GERRARD SUAREZ--CARROL 4-3-3 ------LUCAS ADAM --------GERRARD SUAREZ-CARROL-DOWNING There's just two examples of they could be employed (and that does make Downing look like the last left-sided piece of a nice jigsaw...him n Suarez pretty interchangeable width wise)...they will be another 2 or 3 variations of this. Yes, fluidity and back-ups, KEY. I see Lucas, Kuyt and Maxi becoming more and more peripheral and the new boys find their feet.
Poulsen Aquilani OUT ferchrissakes. Perhaps this is the season to loan out Spearing?...and leave Shelvey under Gerrard's wing, so to speak. Maybe keep both. I'd like to keep Cole - but you can't justify those wages. And as I say, Kuyt, Maxi, Lucas...back-ups...interchangeable. This is a good midfield set-up. Plenty of competition. This I like.
