Football Special Report: Previewing the Liverpool squad ahead of the season
The Liverpool team that went out to face FC Rabotnicki last Wednesday in the Europa League qualifier gave away the answer of the most puzzling selection dilemma that Roy Hodgson faces as the manager of the club, unless it was an unnecessarily-complicated bluff.
Roy Hodgson fielded a team formation of 4-4-1-1 with Steven Gerrard in the central midfield, while Joe Cole was employed in the hole behind the lone striker.
From between now and end of august, Hodgson’s plans might change, especially if he is successful in bringing Juventus’s Cristain Poulsen to the club but the quandary of where to play Joe Cole and Steven Gerrard have been paramount to Hodgson’s tactical musing at the club since his own arrival from North London.
His answer looks to that both the players will be taking central role in his squad with Gerrard in the midfield and Cole playing in the hole behind Fernando Torres. Not a surprising outcome to one of the dilemmas of the season, given the fact the Hodgson used to employ a split striker formation at his previous club and given the fact that both Gerrard and Cole have said enough times already that they want to play in the centre of the midfield.
The question whether Stevie G is at his sublime best in the centre of the midfield quartet or as a second striker can be argued till the end of time but what cannot be argued is the fact that his return to the midfield will pronounce bad news for Alberto Aquilani.
There appears no place for the 18 million pound, injury prone midfielder in Hodgson’s first choice squad thinking that if only the Gerrard-Torres-Cole spine of his team is to be broken, it will only occur when Roy wished to add the spark by bringing in Poulsen, as a direct replacement for Mascherano rather than giving Aquilani a start.
Some people may still argue that Gerrard should partner Aquilani in the midfield given the fact that Daniel Agger does not require a midfielder to scurry back and collect the ball from defence, as Agger’s ability to pass the ball is phenomenal.
Agger’s passing looks even more wonderful when you look at the hit-and-hope approach of Jamie Carragher but the attribute still falls short of being sufficient justification for removing the defensive protection ahead of the back four – especially if the central midfielders playing the game are both attack minded like Gerrard and Aquilani.
Another baffling matter is the inclusion of Milan Jovanovic in the squad. However, the player has played as a striker, a winger previously in his career and it seems more likely that he will be employed on the wide left
Liverpool’s front six can be rounded off by the inclusion of Dirk Kuyt and Lucas Leiva. However, the flip side of the story is that besides his 11 preferred players, Hodgson’s side does not have any depth and the pessimism frets on just how often will the manager be able to deploy his preferred formation with his preferred players.
In comparison to their traditional problems, Liverpool’s squad looks weak and an illustration of the dept of their shallowness is the glaring fact that besides his first choice 11, Roy only has the option to add Ryan Babel, David Ngog, Daniel Pacheco and Maxi Rodriguez. All are sublime talents but untried at the highest level and cannot be banked upon to deliver the title, even as backups in their very first season in the limelight.
At full throttle, Liverpool will be a match for any side in the world. At anything less, they will be struggling for yet another season.
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