Five Questions Left to Answer

By: Ed | August 11th, 2011

We haven’t taken it upon ourselves to do too much in terms of season previewing—we figure most of you are already up to speed on how this is the season that Joe Cole makes his impact and the restorative properties of Christian Poulsen’s alice band. By force of habit, though, we’ve put together a few assorted ramblings; Noel wrote this non-preview for SBNation a few days ago and organized a roundtable with other Liverpool bloggers earlier today, so this will serve as my supplement to those posts—you’ll notice a few similarities between the questions asked and answered in this and the roundtable post, so go ahead and chime in wherever you’d like.

1) Are Liverpool done in the transfer market?

With the fee for José Enrique agreed earlier in the day, it seems like Liverpool are closer and closer to wrapping up their summer activity, at least on the way in. At the outset, there was general consensus that the club needed strengthening in the wide areas and at the back; bolstering the midfield and attack were secondary considerations for most, with a lack of depth and reliability in defense causing concern.

As it turned out, we got the bolstering of the midfield first, with Jordan Henderson and Charlie Adam joining, followed by the signing of Stewart Downing from Aston Villa and back-up keeper Doni from Roma. Today sees the need for consistency at left back addressed with Enrique’s arrival, and there’s talk of either Scott Dann or Gary Cahill arriving soon as well.

There’s been far less activity going the other way, with only Milan Jovanovic and Paul Konchesky confirmed as exits. Joe Cole, Christian Poulsen, and David Ngog have all been part of the discussion, with more urgency surrounding the former pair. Talk has thankfully died down about Raul Meireles’ exit, although the club did apparently turn down a bid from Udinese. Outside of that, it’s been a summer surprisingly lacking in major exit talk, which either means nothing’s happening or the next few weeks are going to be busy.

2) What’s the best eleven?

Many of you have already shared your thoughts in previous posts, and other picks were posted earlier in the day, but I figured that I might as well open things up again and include my own preferred eleven. Ignoring current fitness concerns, a first-choice matchday squad:

Reina
Johnson Carragher Agger Enrique
Meireles Lucas Gerrard
Kuyt Suarez Downing

Bench: Doni, Skrtel, Kelly, Aurelio, Adam, Maxi, Carroll

I don’t think Alberto Aquilani will be around for too long, even considering his recent statements, and I’d given up on Emiliano Insua’s Liverpool future even prior to the Enrique signing. In terms of personnel I think this is the strongest in terms of ability and experience; Aurelio and Enrique may prove interchangeable if the Brazilian stays fit, and there’s no question that Charlie Adam and Andy Carroll will have more than a fair share of starts. Any way you pick it, Liverpool are going to have a matchday squad full of talent, and depth will be more than just a pipe dream. At least until everyone gets injured.

3) Do any of the summer signings have a major impact?

This will go a long way towards determining the answer to the first question—of the five that have arrived so far, the lowest expectations are for Doni, and that’s more a product of the role for which he was brought in rather than ability. Jordan Henderson is the promising and expensive youngster, Charlie Adam is the impact player looking to transition to a bigger club, Stewart Downing is the answer to the club’s need for a talented and reliable wide man, and José Enrique is the left back to cure Liverpool’s ails of the season gone by.

Which all combines to set the bar relatively high for the new boys, each of whom will be looking to simultaneously settle in and assert themselves as capable of having an impact. The easiest choice out of the gate is Stewart Downing, who’s a nailed-on starter for most, and who also has the least competition for a spot. The others are certainly capable, and may prove to be plenty influential in their own right, but as far as potential goes, Downing’s shown the most thus far.

4) What does Kenny Dalglish do with a full season at the helm?

We saw the recovery effort last year—replacing Roy Hodgson after a dismal winter saw the club slip further and further down the Premier League table, struggling to find footing in the first few matches, and ultimately guiding the club to the second highest points total from early January through the end of the season. Late losses to Spurs and Aston Villa saw the club knocked out of European contention, but on the whole it was a remarkable turnaround.

With a full season to look forward to, you’d hope for more of the same, and that the personnel additions will all have their fit into whatever system Dalglish and Steve Clarke plan to use. In January Dalglish spoke about the need to be removed from the romanticism that accompanied his return, and while some of that faded by season’s end, the start of the coming season is the perfect time to see the emphasis shift from being content at feeling good to challenging at the top.

5) What happens in a season without off-the-pitch drama?

It’s almost a foreign concept to consider a season without high drama for Liverpool. The football’s unfortunately been relatively benign over the past two seasons, but it’s taken place in the midst of ownership struggles and managerial turnover. Over the past few years it seems like we’ve yearned for the days of being able to focus solely on the actual matches; the first few months of last season saw a drawn-out transition in ownership followed by a change in manager at the turn of the new year. Both necessary, and both welcomed in their own way, but both things that served to distract our attentions.

The 2011-2012 season serves as one of the first in recent memory that, unless I’m missing something major, we don’t need to account for how the club survives some sort of off-pitch psychodrama. Now’s the time to get the answer to the question about what Liverpool can achieve when all the front office pieces are settled—the owners, manager, and staff seem to be perfectly placed, leaving our focus firmly placed on the football.

As usual, this’ll be relevant until the first match, at which time everything changes and we re-write the script. But for now, we’d love to hear your thoughts and any other questions you’ve got rattling around, and remember to visit Noel’s preview at SB Nation, and the earlier roundtable with Mike from Avoiding the Drop, steven. at Paisley Gates, and nate over at Oh You Beauty.

Some Related Liverpool Posts:

Category: Team News

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Smitty_w

Fourth bullshit we would have made fourth last year without 6 month's of Woy. With an extra 50 mill spent over the summer we should be looking to do better than that, second for me first if Agger can play 90% of our games
redtrev73

Good lad. With you on that
Hoffa

My eleven:
Reina
Johnson Carragher Agger Enrique
Aquilani Lucas Gerrard
Kuyt Suarez Downing

Position in May: 2nd

Bench: Doni, Maxi, Adam, Meireles, Carrol, Aurelio, Henderson
(i know i'm missing a centre back but this is my bench without considering form, tactics etc. and yes i think Aquliani could be a HIT for us..)

I think that eleven and a bench with that depth can provide some real quality football.

Very promising that on top of that we have Skrtel, Kelly, Spearing, Ngog, Flanagan, Robinson, Shelvey, Wilson and more.

Come on Reds !
NotTooXabi

Off the pitch drama worthy of back-page glory: The Stadium Conundrum & Moneyball: The Other Side...Everyone chatting about the players we buy being filtered through FSG's "value" algorithm. What about the players we might sell? Come next summer - assuming good season with European football to come - who are the assets that bring home the Fenway bacon? Who are the top 5 Moneyballers at Liverpool?
1. Lucas 2. Suarez 3. Reina 4. Kelly 5. AggerAs quick as they are to buy...FSG won't let assets diminish in value before selling (especially if they believe they can replace at less cost). Be warned: Statistics aren't personal. "Just business."
Ravenilli

What's with the big advertising spot of SB Nation and none here what's that all about then
Ed

Pardon?
Ravenilli

I thought at this stage someone would like to advertise here as there is plenty of people coming through here and it's a great blog.
Noel

If you mean why do we have the SBN badge on the side and not an ad banner there, it's because SBN bought the Offside back in the spring so we're one of their blogs now (hence my appearance over there with the Liverpool preview).

As for the full-page background advertising like they sometimes have on SBNation proper, I suppose that could happen when we move to their platform, which we're currently (slowly) in the process of doing (ie., our Twitter icon is the logo for when the blog moves to their platform, and hopefully one of these days we get the blog to go along with it).
Ravenilli

I did wonder about the SBN badge on the side right enough and that seems to have cleared that one up thanks.

Wouldn't be a big fan of adverts but because of the cost of space on he internet these days adverts have to come into to keep things going so was just puzzled as to why the offside didn't have one.

Well Ed the kind words were also placed to the people in the comments section too as no offence meant but sometimes the comments are as good or better than the posts. Having said that since I found this blog on my phone I have been back to it everyday since.
Ed

Oh absolutely, really good point. Much more enjoyable when everyone sharing their thoughts is respectful and articulate.
Ed

Oh, what he said, and thanks for the kind words.
Douglas Seacord

asfd
Douglas Seacord

Oops, sorry. Was just experimenting with Disqus log-ins and didn't mean to post that. Sorry.
Ed

Don't sell yourself short, you're a tremendous slouch.
Justin

1.) Transfer Market: I think I fall in line with pretty much everyone else in thinking that we are all but done in the transfer market this summer. I have a hard time seeing us pick up another player until we offload at least one more. However, if we do get another player I suspect it will be a CB, a position at which we could still use another top quality backup.

2.) Best XI: Same as Ed's, except I don't think Aquaman is going anywhere this summer. So, for me he makes the bench over Kelly/Aurelio.

3.) Summer Signings/Impact: Downing and Adam both have potential to be great signings for us. I suspect Enrique is going to be a bit of a revelation as well, especially once he gets to play with Downing and Suarez. IF we do get another CB, I'd be excited for that prospect as well.

4.) WWKD?: I think we should all be expecting a top four finish this year and (cross-fingers) a decent cup run. I think we have the depth for it, and some silverware would be a nice way to cap off the season for Kenny and co.

5.) No drama?: It's unlikely for me that there won't be any drama of sorts this season. The Aquilani saga is bound to drag on. Poulsen still needs to go and I, for one, am dreading the day when his agent starts being more proactive. Also, we have to keep in mind that Gerrard is going to likely be in and out of the team this year, making our midfield makeup always an issue for discussion and never-ending player prodding.

6.) My take: I'm exceptionally excited for the upcoming season. What gets me most excited is the prospect of an injury-free first XI, which, I think should be pretty close to one of the best in the world on their day. I look forward to sharing more thoughts and experiences with you all on these forums as the season ticks on. Come on you Redmen!
Ed

I like that you took to the spirit of things, but then you pissed it all away by adding a sixth.

Did you have to show me up?
Justin

This certainly isn't the first face-saving opportunity I've pissed away, and most certainly won't be the last.
Paulcrokerlfc

Reina
Johnson carragher agger enrique
Lucas adam
Suarez gerrard downing
Carroll

Reina
Kelly cahill skrtel aurelio
Meireles spearing
henderson aquilani maxi
Kuyt
Milo

This is the formation I think Dalglish will play a lot this season, and I think it's the wisest choice with the current squad.

Carroll
Downing - Suarez - Kuyt
Lucas - Adam
Enrique - Agger - Carragher - Johnson

A 4-2-3-1 formation with attacking fullbacks, Lucas as defensive midfielder, Adam controlling the passes, Downing and Kuyt attacking down the flanks (and both can cut in-field), Suarez in a free role in the middle, and Carroll up front.

Some notes:
- King Kenny has invested a lot in Andy Carroll, both money-wise and reputation-wise. He will not put his golden boy on the bench, only if the lad hasn't scored once come christmas.- Aurelio can play against ManUnited/Chelsea/ManCity/Arsenal if he's fit, since he may be slightly better defensively than Enrique. Enrique's attacking qualities will be handy against the rest of the teams.
- Kelly will probably play as many games as Johnson. Flanagan will likely start as well, since Kelly and Johnson are both injury-prone.
- Skrtel will fill in for an injured Agger in only half the games, if we're lucky...
- Lucas may be put to the side in favour of Spearing, since he's British.
- Gerrard will play some games in Adam's or Suarez' position.
- Henderson will play some games in Kuyt's position
- Downing will be rested and Meireles/Maxi will play then.
- Kenny can also rest Carroll and put Suarez or Kuyt up front.

The players that I have not mentioned here will not see much action this season.
CheekyFellow

Everything except the Lucas part...
TheTurnAroundKing

Dude! Err, Joe Cole!!!
Balfy

Really, with the injuries we have right now and the players available right now this is my preferred with either Henderson or Mirieles coming on for Aquaman if he is not feeling it and Kuyt as back-up striker for the season unless injuries bring him back to the right.I like that side a lot and with Gerrard and hopefully Cahill coming in we are suddenly looking strong. Some great youngsters too and some experience on the bench.
Carragher Agger
Kelly Lucas Adam Enrique
Aquilani
Downing Suarez
Carrol

Downing and Suarez both cutting in and then swapping and giving downing a chance to hit the byline. Come on you Reds!
TheTurnAroundKing

Mate, if Dirk is fit and doesn't start i'll get the train down to Tottenham and set fire to a few cars and shit.
CheekyFellow

lol, the footnotes in the SB Nation article.
interminan

So Carroll doesnt start and Henderson isnt even in the squad? Seriously?
Ed

For me it comes down to having Maxi in the squad over Henderson right now, and Kuyt in the eleven over Carroll. I'm really high on Henderson's potential and think Carroll will make a big impact, but for me that's the best eleven.

Not completely opposed to either's place, just think that there's a better chance of being successful with that personnel.
CheekyFellow

I think it's pretty understandable why Henderson isn't in there, no?
Bill

David Moyes sent his looters out with a shopping list of new players he
wanted, but all the players on the list paid the looters to go away and
the existing squad asked to be looted themselves.
Noel

Somewhat surprisingly given that I wasn't on the same page as anybody in the roundtable, 1) that also happens to be my preferred XI, and, 2) at no point did Ed ask me what my preferred XI would be.

Then again, combining Twitter and the occasional comment around here, my opinions on the matter might be fairly obvious. So maybe he's just humouring me.
Ed

This entire post was just an elaborate way to get your opinion, so get to the answering already.
Noel

Stop psychoanalyzing me, you monster!
Tom Foolery

I think the SB Nation post shows pretty clearly what Noel thinks of answering/telling.

Ramble on.
Gryffin

for the most part it comes down to two major questions, do you like Kuyt or Carroll? do you like Miereles or Adam?
Kkkersh

question 6. are we gonna win the league
Ryan

I think a Gieco car insurance commercial can be made out of that one.
Noel

Always.