I am very interested to hear what every one on here thinks is our strongest 11. Its certainly a tricky one. Some players are certain. Lucas, Suarez, Johnson, Agger and Skrtel. At least most will pick Gerrard, Sterling and Reina. But we have some debatable positions to. In midfield: Allen, Sahin, Suso, Henderson, Shelvey, Gerrard. and the front three (other than Suarez): Sterling, Borini, Suso, Enrique, Assaidi, Downing, Cole. Some spots lack options: Left back, wide forwards. Where is Suarez's best position: F9, RW, LW, ST. Where is Gerrard best: CM, Am, DM, RW. Johnson RB or LB. Did I waste my time by typing Downing and Cole? Was Jones run worth a mention. Do the youngsters get in. I know most of my team, but will need to think about a few positions. Share your thoughts.
-----------------Reina Wisdom-----Skrtel-----Agger----Johnson -----------------Lucas -------------Suso----Gerrard --Sterling-------Suarez--------Enrique
Reina Johnson - Skrtel - Agger - Enrique Gerrard - Lucas - Allen Suso - Suarez - Sterling I don't think Gerrard is playing well but he is still our best option. However, if we got a wide attacking player in then I would find it very hard to choose between Gerrard and Suso in the AM role I don't think Sahin is as good as expected. Wisdom, Kelly, Henderson and Assaidi are hard to ignore too although the latter has not been playing well lately. "Did I waste my time by typing Downing and Cole?" - YES!!!
----------Reina----------- Kelly--Skrtel---Agger--Johnson ---------Lucas---------- -----Allen-----Sahin------ Sterling---Suarez-----Enrique
I'll tell you the positions I definitely know. ---------Reina------------ Kelly-Skrtel-Agger-Johnson ---------Lucas------------ ---Gerrard----Allen-------- -Sterling-Suarez-??????---- I am unsure on that LF role. Enrique has been very good there lately, but I am thinking about Borini. But that is the role we most need to sign some one for IMO. But we have enough transfer related threads already...
This would probably be mine too. However, Gerrard on top form would most likely get in. The trouble is, his top form is hard to define. Are his present performances simply a dip in form? Result of tired legs? or is that it from now on? The thing about our midfield 3 is that different players keep having good spells and playing themselves into the team, and then a dip. Sahin has dropped off a bit, and Henderson has come back. In 2 weeks it could be the opposite. Shelvey also has good spells and bad spells. What we do know is that we need a new LB.
Reina in goal, obvious choice. Wisdom at RB, he's very good defensively, possibly better than Kelly in that respect but he can add to his game when he bombs forward and settles in midfield when we push up. Very good player, reminds me of Micah Richards in the way that he plays, but he's only 19 and I think he can really benefit from first team experience. Agger and Skrtel at CB, obvious choices again. Great CB pairing, both are good going forward and they seem to communicate very well, was a little disappointed with some parts of their play together but on the whole looked good. Johnson at LB, he's too good not to play in the first team in my opinion, at LB he's much better defensively and I feel the longer he's left in this role the more he adapts to it and makes it his own. His wing play on the left is good too, but he really needs a good left winger in front of him to help him out. In front of the back 4, Lucas and Allen for me. Lucas is the better player in this partnership but I think Allen's positional play will benefit from having Lucas next to him and Lucas will benefit from having Allen in better positions so it could be a really good partnership. Suso at CAM for me, it was a top up between him and Sahin, but I think that both are equally good in terms of technique at the moment, and should get shared game time considering Sahin is only on loan. Suso's strengths lay in his switch up between the wings and his vision for the through balls can be immense sometimes, but I think he needs to add an extra layer to his game and get forward into the box more often. He reminds me of Modric at the moment, but I think he would benefit more if he were to emulate Ozil and add the mazy dribbling runs into the box to his repertoire. Enrique and Sterling on the wings for me, switching sides every 5-10 minutes. It was a toss up between Suso, Assaidi and the mighty Downing but I think with those two you've got everything you need from traditional wingers, they're fast and strong (though Sterling could do with bulking up a bit, he's doing well so far), they can cross it in (albeit with nobody to cross to) but most importantly they can keep hold of the ball, and hold it up for players to get into the box. They still need to add to their play though, I still think they're lacking the skills needed to cut into the box effectively. Suarez up front, who else? He has the obvious quality, and even when defenders are trying to mark the **** out of him they still fail. His final ball needs working on, and he makes the wrong decision sometimes, but those things would make him one of the best strikers in the world, at the moment he's world class. --------------------Reina------------------------ ---Wisdom-----Skrtel----Agger-----Johnson------ --------------Lucas-------Allen------------------ ----Sterling---------Suso----------Enrique------- -------------------Suarez----------------------- The best team we could put out, the areas to improve have got to be CAM and another world class striker though. As you can see, Gerrard left out. He needs to play less games, and only against teams where he's not going to get lost in the pace of it.
I think Enrique must be our left winger. As good as he is at defending, our attacking threat has improved 10 fold since he moved to left wing. Enrique, Suarez and Sterling seems to click. There is a chemistry between Enrique and Suarez, and Suarez and Sterling (still developing). Enrique has given us that penetration that we've lacked - who would have guessed it? We seem to be creating more clear cut chances and Enrique is usually involved in most of them! He has an eye for a pass and he is a definite starter for me.
Would you sign another LF if given the chance though? Enrique is doing well and has 1 goal (and 1 disallowed goal) in the two games he has played there. But will he get double figures if he plays a full season there? I actually think maybe he could. Could be the new Riise. But I would still bring some one in. Rotation.
Interesting question - but yes I would. Assaidi seems to pick up injuries quite frequently so we definitely need another option. It will also allow us to play Enrique to go back to LB if required (get rid of Downing!!). But I have been pleasantly surprised with Enrique - we seem a lot more direct with him up front.
----------------------Reina------------------- --------------Skrtel--------Agger----------- Johnson-----------Lucas----------Enrique --------------Sahin--------Allen------------ Sterling------------Suarez--------Assaidi I think LW is the weakest, we need an inside forward there of higher calibre, a Mata player. I also think we could do with cover on the right, or indeed a starter.
