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Spine

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beejay

beejay

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Note to Transfer Committee : That's what we are lacking.

Dominant keeper : x
Commanding centre back : x
Enforcer centre midfielder : x
Go-to dependable striker : x

To be fair to Rodgers, he has tried to fix it now with Kolo, Lucas & Lambert but we need longer term, better options.

Maybe Lovren will grow into the CB role and Can eventually in CM as well.

A strong spine makes everyone else look better, the rest of the squad suddenly looks pretty good after all.
 
Id say the dominant goalkeeper and midfielder are the priority, being weak in those position has a destabilising effect on the team
 
Strange, I could have sworn the first three were positions we were hoping to strengthen for the 2013-2014 season, and all four positions just this summer too.
 
So what is that's changed in 10 months.

Either we had this last season and that's why we were successful or we were successful without it last season. Which is it?
 
Wizardry said:
So what is that's changed in 10 months.

Either we had this last season and that's why we were successful or we were successful without it last season. Which is it?
Click to expand...

Suarez and Sterling papered over alot of cracks but even last season we were conceding tons of soft goals, additionally Mings form has gone into meltdown and opposing teams have figured out how to neutralise Gerrard and Coutinho
 
I don't fully buy that.

If it's true then really you don't need a good spine - you just need one great player in the right position.


I personally think that to have a truly balanced team you need a great spine but a really balanced team doesn't mean you'll win the league. People may disagree with it but I don't think Barca had a particularly balanced team a few years ago - they just had an amazingly talented, possession keeping midfield and front line. Their back 4 looked deeply suspect - Mascher at CB is absurd. But nobody got to test that backline enough because they couldn't get enough of the ball.

I'm not saying that a balanced team isn't a means of success. I think the Chavs have a remarkably balanced team just now - about as balanced a team as I've ever seen being managed by Jose. What you need is to have an outstanding strength, one which is extremely hard to counter.

When Madrid won the CL last season they didn't have a particularly balanced team but it was almost impossible to stop their counter attacking play. When the Chavs won a couple of titles under Jose on his first visit to England they didn't have a very balanced team but their defense was seemingly impregnable.

To build a truly great, balanced team costs an absurd amount of money. I don't know what it is but I'm pretty sure that Pep has spend a fortune on Bayern - with good results. Madrid now are approaching a similar level of balance. They're lethal on the counter but can play possession football as well - albeit not to the level of Bayern or Barca under Pep.

I doubt we've got that kind of money so, while I'm not arguing against having good players in the spine, I think the most vital thing for us is to have a strength that's almost unstoppable. Last season our attack and, specifically, the movement was almost unstoppable. Suarez was a big part of that and the question, IMO, before Rodgers is what is going to be our strength. Is it going to be possession, is it going to be a truly mean defense (assuming he can build one), is it going to be great attacking quality and/or superb movement?

I'm sure some blert will try to misquote me but I'm not saying disregard any area of the team - just that financially, at this point, we can't compete with Madrid or Chelsea etc. Therefore I think the focus needs to be on one particular aspect of the team and everything else is built simply to support that.
 
Good points, Wizardry.

The spine doesn't have to be the answer if you have great players in most positions. But when you are building a side and can't compete with the clubs where money is not an issue, it should be part of the plan to have leaders in key positions.

Our transfer policy was expressed to be about finding leaders and Lovren was often described as that type of player and although it hasn't worked out yet, I still have hope that he and Sakho can grow into these roles.

But Mignolet will never be in that mould and neither will Balotelli (or Sturridge for that matter).

At the moment, our spine is very weak and that leads to an over-emphasis on failings in other areas where, in fact, if we had a proper base most of these players would be able to step up to the mark. We are fixating on Sterling supposedly not at the same level as last year, the full backs out of position, Henderson out of form, the new signings making no impact, Coutinho being peripheral etc but they would all be perfectly fine if we could rely on a strong spine.

Like I say, Rodgers is now addressing this with Kolo, Lucas & Lambert who whatever their deficiencies, can be relied upon in those positions. I hope he stays with it for the moment, until we can find some permanent, top class replacements.
 
It's not all about having leaders so it doesn't matter if Sturridge isn't one, Messi isn't either. He does what he needs to do extremely well, with pace. We need someone to complement him up front. Lambert could do that, though he is a short-term stop-gap. With Sterling & Coutinho behind that is a very very good front line. Our issue is when Studge is out there is no-one who can slot in and so as a team we can't replicate that style of play. Arrivederci Balo.

In the centre we still have Gerrard, and despite what is said by the fans about him, re. not leading, the players seem to think otherwise, he is simply not so overt. Henderson isn't the answer for me because he isn't, or shouldn't be, guaranteed a slot. We need a powerful DM who is also a leader. Can is too young.

At the back Lovren was supposed to be our remedy. He clearly isn't but other factors may be affecting that. I still, however, can't see him developing as a player and he makes far too many errors, so that should mean he isn't guaranteed a starting place either. Sakho may be a solution but language is an issue at present. Unlike others I can see him growing into the position and role though.

Goalkeeper. Ming would be a good #2. Bring in Cech who would be brilliant for 3-4 years and could coach the attributes into Ming and control the defence. End of.
 
I think its far to early to write off Lovren. He was excellent last season and could still step up.
Definetly need a goalkeeper and a midfielder.
Sturridge is obviously good enough to be the main man upfront.
 
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