Lot's of speculation about who else we're signing during this window.....it's an interesting and critical window for sure. But for me, the loss of Suarez, could be offset by some of the players who we already have stepping up and becoming 'world class'. Namely, Sturridge, Sterling & Couthino. make no mistake, if these 3 step up another notch, we'll have three of the best players in the league and all 3 have potential to be world class. Sterling in-particular imo, has the ability to be one of the very best IF he improves his final ball, decision making and finishing over the next season or two. The additions of Can and Markovic may well add to that list but I'd give them a season to settle in properly before that type of expectation is released. Add to that some very good players (not everyone can be world class!) and the loss of Suarez may be less painful than we fear. Here's hoping
still like to see competition for Migs assuming reina doesn't stay. and also i am hoping to see if iLlori can step up and make an impact as well, been told by others on here he was good on loan but i havent seen him play yet to pass judgement my self. if we have to keep Johnson, like to see Wisdom take his spot and step up. few tweaks here and there and hopefully the loss of luis wont be so painful, not sure if we need another CB yet or not, we need a voice at the back though for sure.
very excellent post. I am in particular looking to coutinho to step up to a far more consistent level of performance over and above last year and in particular in terms of fitness and stamina. In fact we should consider ourselves quite lucky to have those 3 as englands no 9, brazil's should be playmaker (not paulinho) and sterling as englands no 10. Add can as a player of some potential to that and markovic who could be quite special according to danilo and in fact there is a case for typing quite a young side now. example: mingolet Flanagan Lovern Sahko Moreno henderson Can Sterling coutinho Markovic Sturridge Really young team that but quite a bit of both current talent and potential there.
It looks really good and what excites me as much is the experience/talent in depth that we'd have on the bench. Quite a shift away from the last 3 years.
mingolet/Reina (or other) Flanagan/Johnson Lovern/Skerts Sahko/Agger Moreno/Enrique henderson/Allen Can/Gerrard Sterling/Suso? coutinho/Borini? Markovic/Lallana Sturridge/Lambert Even with this squad, we'd still have around £35m budget plus sales to spend. Reus please or Turan to be understudy to Sterling! Others Lucas, Alberto, Coates, ILori, Kelly, Wisdom, Jones, Toure, Ibe, Assaidi who will all likley be offloaded in one way or another.... Promote a couple of the under 21's....Ibe springs to mind..... Easy to say on paper it looks good......let's hope it does in reality! Our squad is nearly where it needs to be.
On paper it looks fine but what I don't see is 2 things: (a) Who is going to provide the spark to make that side come to life. (b) Who can steady the ship when the pressure comes on WE really need a leader and I don't see on in that team!
Both great points. I'd add that we've have also lost an immense player with regards to a winning mentality (sometimes over the top obviously ). All are hard to replace but not impossible.
answer to a is markovic and coutinho. answer to b is you are dead right, its young and uncouth just like our mods....
Obviously I know nothing about Markovic's leadership skills but I can't really say that I saw too much leadership from Coutinho last season. Are our mods becoming more uncouth? Can't say I've noticed any difference.
Watch most games he played in last season and you'll see Henderson has the necessary leadership attributes. He's constantly offering encouragement and picking players up, trying to give a boost to the side and galvanise and push everyone.
Really like the look of that team in theory. I think the leadership issue will resolve itself once Gerrard has gone completely. Because he's not (usually) the big verbal type captain I'd assume others are reluctant to be seen to step on his toes. A Henderson or a Sakho might step up once he's gone. wasn't Hendo captain of the England U21's?
difference between a spark of creativity and leadership!!! i fully expect markovic (per danilo) and coutinho to provide the spark to componsate somewhat for losing suarez but i did comment that leadership would indeed be lacking. its guys who will still want to be on the ball and driving us on when 0-1 in the last 10... thats leadership
I think Markovic and Coutinho were mito's answer to who provides the spark, not who will be a leader. Sakho reckons he himself has natural leadership qualities, but I'd like to see him show more confidence with the ball first.
I don't agree that Srurridge has the potential to become world class. He can become a very good players but he'll never reach the heights of being able to walk into any team or move for £60m+
Markovic, Coutinho and Sterling are potential match winners IMO. Between the three, we have creativity, speed, skill, intelligence and vision. I really do have a lot of faith in these guys - Coutinho and Sturridge will step up further this season without Suarez IMO. They struck up a great partnership when Luis was out previously. In terms of leadership - I think it is great point. There are a lack of leaders on the pitch. Sakho will become a great leader - it was clearly evident during the world cup when he led the back line and had only conceded 1-2 goals when he was actually playing. Again, him being uncomfortable on the ball is myth - one of the best passers and composed defenders on the ball. Henderson is a very good shout in terms of visible leadership skills but I think there is more to leadership than just that. When you're losing 1-0, it's good to have a captain who will try and motivate the team but it's also important to have a leader who wants the ball, calms things down at the right time. Stevie was a leader by example - he would score goals, make things happen etc. However, when he slipped up against Chelsea, he was trying to hard to rectify his mistake. Credit to him, he didn't shy away from it - he wanted the ball and he wanted to make things happen. However, what we really needed was a cool head to dictate the game. P.S - not saying Stevie was a bad leader. just using that one incident as an example of what I think a leaders should be doing.
I think he has more in his locker and could step up again now that he'll be the main man. Last year was his first full season as a first choice at a major club and he scored, what, 24 goals. If the team is now set up to service him, I think he'll get better again. World class potential only. Still relatively young, look at the progress Suarez made between the ages of 24 and 27. But I agree that he may never make it
