5 Oct 2012

Molby warns: These four LFC flops are 'fighting for their Anfield lives'...

Liverpool legend Jan Molby has urged several of Liverpool's senior players to stop sulking and start showing Brendan Rodgers that they are worth a place in his team.

Last week, Brendan Rodgers challenged the squad's fringe players to show more hunger and desire on the pitch, and he specifically mentioned Stewart Downing and Jose Enrique in that regard.

The emergence of young players like Suso, Raheem Sterling and Andre Wisdom given Rodgers new options, and their good performances have seen several experienced, highly-paid players pushed down the pecking order at Anfield.

In his column for the Liverpool Echo today, Molby backed Rodgers' stance, and urged certain senior players to stop feeling sorry for themselves. He said:

"There is no doubt the likes of Downing, Jose Enrique, Jordan Henderson and Joe Cole are fighting for their Anfield lives, and I’m sure there will be some hefty bruises to their egos.

"But what are they going to do? Sit and sulk and play the victim, or roll their sleeves up and try and justify the reputation they have.

"One thing’s for sure; it is sink or swim time for these players. And sitting around feeling sorry for themselves will do nothing to prolong their Reds careers".


To be brutally honest, if Liverpool lost those four players it wouldn't make much of a difference. Am I wrong? Would there be any noticeable difference in the way the team plays? In fact, if those four left, their places in the squad would almost definitely be taken by even more young players, and would only be a good thing.

Jordan Henderson probably deserves a reprieve though. He's a good professional, and he tries hard when he's on the pitch, and under Rodgers, he's arguably improving.

I personally wouldn't shed a tear if Cole, Downing and Enrique left though. They've basically already been replaced in the team by Suso, Sterling, Wisdom and Robinson, so why not try and sell them in the summer and makes some money for future transfers?

Jaimie Kanwar


42 comments:

  1. not sure about Enrique and Hendo. They might stay next season too.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anant steveg thakur5:20 pm, October 05, 2012

    well .......i hv to sae dis hendo does deserve reprieve nd so does cole .....he has nt gt a proper chance till nw becoz of injuries nd loan move.....bt i would love to see joe cole performing ........nd he does deserve a chance

    ReplyDelete
  3. Couldn't agree more re: Downing and Cole. Henderson is still young and could develop into a good player. I might have missed something but I don't think Enrique has been that bad. As much as Carragher has been a great servant for many years I'd rather see Enrique's name on the teamsheet than JC.

    ReplyDelete
  4. what a load of rubbish are you a man utd fan

    ReplyDelete
  5. I do agree about Cole and Downing. They do not fit in the new Lfc way and are surplus to requirements. Hope to see the back of them from January transfer window. YNWA

    ReplyDelete
  6. everybody seems to be bad mouthing johnson are you supporters or not.Ithink downings days are numbered as is Enrique,s.thouht downing did,nt track back and help johnson for one of goals.rather youth playing than both these two players.and how come its all none english fans slating team every time things don,t go too well . same problem on bleacher report calling british players .this is England ynwa

    ReplyDelete
  7. Henderson is a good 90 minute player, but not great as of yet, the rest I dont see anyone being interested, so I guess we are stuck with them.
    Downing against Udinese played well, but would need to improve to maintain a place in the squad. Maybe we could get someone to buy them all as a job lot.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Rushdalglish0907 - Be civil when you respond to other posters or don't bother posting at all. Just because you disagree doesn't make what someone posted 'rubbish'.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Rodgers knows that the wages and fee's he could collect from that lot, plus AC would buy him 2 top class players who would in theory be first team regulars.
    Downing and cole are as good as out of the door imo, downing is only playing for a decent move now, cole may not even get the chance to show that, we just want him off the wage bill.
    Enrique may yet be an asset, its not only him making errors so he'll get his chances. Henderson has looked decent in 2 or 3 matches and looks like he really wants to prove he's a decent player-exactly the attitude we want to see.

    After that lot, Johnson and skrtel need to look over their shoulders, they are at their peak, in terms of value, and may well be sold while they have value. id certainly take 30m for the pair of them. i love glenda's attacking play, but he'll never be a proper defender. Alas he should have been a winger.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Personally I think all four could possibly prove doubters wrong, only time will tell. If we get players hungrier and better I doubt anyone will miss them though. For example, I was quite disappointed Kuyt and Maxi left, but the emergence of Sterling, Suso and Jonjo has made me forget them quite easily

    ReplyDelete
  11. liverpool are not the team they were with kd.we won games with kd. br will get sacked very soon i bet befor crimbo fact

    ReplyDelete
  12. Enrique is not any where British. There is no agenda against British players. If you represent Liverpool. The end result; we as fans want is a positive one. Who cares where a player comes from to represent Liverpool? We want results. that is all. I could not care less if a player comes from Timbuk3. As long as he performs to LFC standards.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Don't leave johnson behind now we got wisdom :)

    ReplyDelete
  14. Why don't we sell them the next transfer window. Why continue paying outrageous wages for insipid football? Cut your losses and get out.
    Time we don't have right now. The club is not in a healthy situation and drastic measures must be taken.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Agreed ! All four are surplus to requirements right now..

    The fact is Cole has never really been fit (Darren Anderton Syndrome) and is eating up a huge chunk of change every week for diddly squat.. Even when he has played he's been underwhelming.

    The case for Enrique is one for the X files !!! What happened there ?? Regardless of the answer he is unrecognisable to the player who started his Anfield carrer so well . Probably got til Jan to find some form..

    I don't have any sympathy for Henderson either.. The price tag isn't his doing but you cant get away from the fact we played 17m for a young player who simply isn't developing at anywhere near the speed he has to. Plenty of game time last year under KD, average at best , and doesn't seem to be doing any better this year.. The cries of 'he's young give him time' ring hollow when you see the likes of Sterling, Wisdom, Suso etc stepping up to the plate and delivering.

    As for Downning... Theres nothing more to be said about the guy.. the sooner we get rid the better !!!

    ReplyDelete
  16. tom - talkin. out. of. arse. fact.

    ReplyDelete
  17. I like them all and Downing and Henderson are trying and Cole hasn't really been given a chance, but pull your laces up and justify your wage packet or move on. They must go in the long-run anyway. It's a new dawn and as Liverpool fans we shouldn't expect second best anymore - no chance. Footnote - In Brenden we trust but start attacking the full backs for Godsake. Our abilty to pass in triangles is wonderful & great if you suffer with a compulsive disorder depending on which way you look at it, but i got no patience at the best of times & this is getting ridiculous. Lets start driving the knife in until we get lorrente or hunterlaar or anyone in that mould to do the business in january. We got nothing to lose and if we look at season 2012 as a training exercise then we wont go far wrong and we could get 4th spot. YNWA68

    ReplyDelete
  18. true true true and true. its all good putting the effort in but when they are mentally not up to it which they clearly are not, its like trying to flog a dead horse. downing has no confidence, i cant even remember what position coles meant to play nor does he.
    henderson makes 98% passes back or sideways and cant tackle, looks like a nodding dog on a parcel shelf.
    and enrique, talk about a complement going to your head, starts off like purchase of the season then turns into mr headless who cant defend or attack, offers what exactly in an already dodgy defense that we have.
    never mind attackers we need defenders!!
    now agger has signed i hope this ups his value, he needs to go aswell

    ReplyDelete
  19. i wold agree and i would put downing in to ,looking at last night he was like a rabbit in the head lights he wages can be used to give the younger players more . dont often agree jamie but on this im right behind you

    ReplyDelete
  20. I think that J Henderson and J Cole should be shipped out in January as they have offer squad not much really. And should be taken off wage bill, The owners need to back B Rodgers heavily in January with £80-£100M to bring in the right players. Just because they spent £35M deficit last season on average players due to K Dalglish, as they spent 3115M on players brought in to club, but £80M was brought on players sold out of club. Some serious investment in the playing staff is needed, Our club do not have to do a Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Chelsea, Man City, PSG or Real Madrid and spend £250-£450M in three seasons to get back amongst elite or to stay ahead of competition.

    But the owners do need to spend £80-£150M between now and next year to get club competing amongst the Elite sides in Europe again, as currently we are top 7-18 side in the premiership and to get back to a top 1-4 side this season i feel that £85-£95M in January should be spent on these 6 players:

    1: B Matuidi(25) Of PSG to compete and Cover Lucas as DM for £12-£14M

    2: A Griezmann(21) Of R Sociedad to compete with Assaidi and Sterling as RW for £10-£14M

    3: T Walcott(23) Of Arsenal to compete with Suarez and Borini for FD role for £10-£14M

    4,5 and 6 are three Athletico Bilbao players who would cost a combined total of £55M but would bring in some of the spanish quality we still have not replaced at club.

    4: A Herrera (23) young, Mobile new Alonso type player to compete with Shelvey and Suso for AM position for £14-£17M

    5: I Munian (19) to compete with Downing for LW/LWF position for £15-£18M

    6: F Llorente (27) to compete with Suarez and Borini for Forward role for £16-20M


    These 6 players would bring more class,quality competition and depth to side and would help take the pressure off Gerrard and Suarez.

    These 6 players would bring a minimum of 35-60 goals to side.

    Something we struggled badly to do last season and are even struggling more this year considering we shipped out Adams,Bellamy, Carroll, Kuyt and Rodriguez who scored 40% of our goals last season.

    Those 6 players would cost £85-£100M but they are players who would change dimension of squad and bring more drive fight hunger quality to squad and would take us from currently top 7-18 premiership side to a top 1-4 side again.

    And with these players the club could put out an 11 possible of competing and matching with any elite side in Europe again:

    With those players in squad the first 11 side could look like this :

    Reina GK
    Johnson RB Skrtel RCB Agger LCB Enrique LB

    Lucas DM Allen CM

    Herrera AM

    Griezmann RWF Suarez FD Munian LWF

    Subs/Squad: Assaidi, Borini, Coates,Downing, Gerrard, Jones, Kelly, Llorente, Matuidi, Robinson, Shelvey, Sterling, Suso and Walcott.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Too long of a post mate, but Some of the players you offered are amazing players, who are probably out of our reach - most notably Muniain and Llorente.

    I'm not sure why we would need Matuidi or Walcott. We have Coady getting ready to step up to an overpacked midfield(and we're not exactly playing with a dm anyway), and although I'm a fan of Walcott I wouldn't pay the price mentioned. I think he's out of contract in the summer though, and then we can talk about him realisticly.

    The others I don't know well enough to comment on, but I agree we need another winger. Again, the cm you offered seems not needed with our current midfield options.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Please, if you are going to post a comment, learn how to spell properly, I got a headache trying to read your comment and I know I'm not the only one.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Ok, firstly, have you not heard of something called spending within your means? The owners can't really win can they? Their damned if they do what they are doing now, keeping us without debt and giving a certain amount of cash to spend and they are damned if they give us 85-100mil each transfer window and send us spiralling into debt like H&G did. Would you rather them spend all that money and not get the stadium done? As fair as the players go, we don't need all of those players, our midfield is chocked full of very talented players. I would rather secure a permanent for Sahin than getting Herrera in. By getting in these players, it stunts the development of our young players who have just broken into the first 11. Our priority is getting a striker and as shown by Jelavic for the Bitters, we can get a top striker for relatively cheap, we have to be smart about this. Also, you realise that 3 of the players you have said that we should spend money on, Llorente, Matuidi and Walcott, all players in your estimation for a combined 38-48m, you have on the bench? I'm sorry, but if you spend that much on players, they have to be starters or they are a waste of money that we don't have. Man City and Chelsea can get away with that, most teams, including us, cannot.

    ReplyDelete
  24. I believe Enrique should be kept. He was one of our best defenders last season before he got injured and since then seems to be struggling to get back up to speed.

    Downing, well if he can come up with more chances like the one he created for Shelvey against Udinese then we might just see him stick around. Downing actually put in a very good performance.

    Henderson is a very hard worker but whether he will keep Sahin out of the team this season is yet to be seen. Not sure Rodgers has Henderson in his long term plans.

    ReplyDelete
  25. DANE IS OUR BEST DEFENDER I AM HAPPY HE HAS SIGNED .HOPE HE REMAINS FIT,I WANT HIM TO STAY FOR LONG ,I DON'T UNDERSTAND WHY U THINK HE NEEDS TO GO

    ReplyDelete
  26. i am more worried about suso than anyone .i want him signed,he is next silva and we should not lose him for any prize

    ReplyDelete
  27. so everyone who doesn't speak english as their native language should not be allowed to post??? racist twit...

    ReplyDelete
  28. Wisdom??? he's played a few games.. please.. he is nowhere near ready to be an everyday player.. a team of suso, sterling, wisdom and robinson out there every week would be relegation fodder as these players are just not ready ... people are getting way too carried away with this youth movement crap.. we've won ONE game!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  29. Jamie Caragher definately a legend but his age is catching up to match the young and aggresive players. Enrique can be a good player if he improves a lot. Johnson is a loose cannon and always making silly mistakes. His passing is really bad as his shooting. He seriuosly need to improve these weaknesses. Downing and Hendo will improve under BR. Joe cole is a total waste of money and such a bad professional who do not want to leave the club because of fat salary. I think he is such mercenary and shameless person. The young lads are superb young lions who will lead the club to a greater heights in near future.

    ReplyDelete
  30. Wisdom seems to be way ahead of Johnson when it comes to defending and I would rather have Robinson at LB than Johnson playing there. Johnson is great at going forward but his defensive lapses will cost us more goals if he is not benched.

    ReplyDelete
  31. our midfield is not as strong as it could or should be: Matuidi could match or cover Lucas sufficiently as DM. A Herrera is a young,mobile, quicker version of Alonso and would be an awesome buy. I Munian we could bring to club if we match his ambition and aim to be back in champions league in next two years. The only player out of the 6 mentioned who could be hard to bring to club is Llorente because he is 27 and may want champions league football now not in next two years.
    But the other five players are definately needed, we scored a poor amount of goals last season and i swear even Blackburn who were relegated scored more than us last year. And Adams, Bellamy, Carroll, Kuyt and Maxi scored 40% of clubs goals last season and we still scored a pathetic amount in league. And those five players have been shipped out now and in current side Suarez may get 20-30 goals, Gerrard may get 6-10 and Sahin may get 5-7 goals.

    But where else in side are the goals coming from? Last season we scored 47 goals, if suarez does not score 20 or 30 goals this season we are not getting no 47 goals.

    And 47 goals in league out of 38 games is woeful to say least. When the top 1-6 teams scored 93,89,74,66, 56 and 65 last season.

    Those 6 players would bring more class and quality competition and more importantly Composure class and Goals to side/squad that we have so desperately needed.

    The managers philosophy is working, but he needs class quality attacking players to gain success.

    Lewis Hamilton may be great driver but he could win races if he was not given a top range, top level car simple.

    The same can be said with Rodgers, his philosophy is working just there is not enough class or quality in side or the youngsters would not be used so early.

    The owners need to back B Rodgers heavily in January if we are ever to get back amongst the elite sides in Europe again. And A Herrera, I Munian And F Llorente would bring back some spanish class and quality that we have missed over last few seasons. (Alonso,Garcia and Torres)

    ReplyDelete
  32. We are not Man City Or Chelsea, so the £30M players we will have to stay way from until we get back into playing Champions league football again. Matuidi would cost £12-£14m and the gaping whole we have due to Lucas's absence would be filled. As only Lucas in squad wins back ball and protects back 4 very well, Matuidi is quicker, more mobile and covers ground very well. Having 4 recognised Strikers at club would be ideal, we are not on par with Man City or Man Utd who have likes of Aguero, Balotelli, Dzeko,Tevez, Hernandez, Wellbeck, Van Persie Or Rooney. But if we brought in Walcott and Llorente, we could have Borini, Llorente, Suarez and Walcott for descent striking options. Not just two available

    Its all about squad class, depth and quality: The sides with the best squads win trophies and our squad over last four seasons has been weak, poor to say the least and we still have weak squad in class, quality and depth in all honesty.

    The 6 players i mentioned would take club from currently top 8-18 side as table doesn't lie and get club back in top 1-5 category. Every season we are falling further and further away from Champions League, The football has got better even last season the football we played at times was great but we can't use K Dalglish Excuse of Bad Luck Or B Rodgers excuses now of Bad luck and referees. Yeah some referees have cost us dearly in certain games this season, but if we had more class, quality players in squad. The games we have ended up drawing or lost that we have dominated this and last year, with better quality players in side our club would be out of sight in games before teams could even try get back in games.

    So its not bad luck why we are currently 14th after 6 games with three loses, two draws and one win. 9 goals scored and 12 conceded, its not BAD LUCK. its lack of class, quality in squad simple.

    And those 6 players mentioned would change that. And about your stadium plans, when we are back in champions league and competing for league year in year out. Club need to get back in champions league sharp as thats biggest tournament in world at moment, even bigger than world cup and Euros.

    And i get your point, but just like Hansen, Souness, Barnes, Lawrenson have been saying for last two years or squad is simply not good enough and some serious investment is needed on players. But the right players to take club forward and obviously C Adams, A Carrol, S Downing and J Henderson were not the players they were or us fans were thinking or talking about.

    ReplyDelete
  33. another complete overreaction. racist, really? that word gets branded around way too much and its because people like you why most people have to watch what they say in case others think its racist even if they know themselves not to be. gaz's comment was inappropriate and he neednt have said anything but it doesnt mean he is a 'racist twit'

    ReplyDelete
  34. your 100% spot on with all your comments. its obvious we will have to take big losses on henderson and downing but it will be worth it to clear them off the wage bill and we could still unearth many cheap players who can do a good job like our youngsters are doing. assaidi is an example of someone who is better than downing and cost near to nothing in todays market. all four have to go in my opinion as enrique aside they are only backups anyway, why not have cheapers backups who may actually have what it takes to succeed here.

    ReplyDelete
  35. Personally, I do not want Liverpool falling under the category which has caused Arsenal such problems over the last couple years. Arsene Wegner rightly so put foward a 'youthful' team to replace experienced senior players. Robert Pirez, Berkamp, Viera, Sol Cambell, Thiery Henry, Kolo Toure etc what Arsenal lost were natural team leaders with loads of caps and experience. It only takes one bad game for these foward thinking youngsters and before you know it there growth as a footballer stumbles. Having experienced players the likes of Carragher, Gerrard, Agger, Skrtel, Reina, Johnson, Downing, Enrique & Cole is neccesary for a team as a unit. Selling Downing, Cole, Enrique, retireing Carragher and then selling players because there getting slightly old won't solve anything. It will make the matter worst by thinking the youngsters can pull up the sleeves. What happens if they can't? You will have a youthful team with all the experienced players sold off. That's why FSG must understand building a young team is always good for the future but that means you can not dismiss totally not buying experienced players. Arsene Wenger learnt that having players like Ox, Walcott, Wilshire cannot fill the boots of experienced players as they need to be replaced with equally experienced players.

    ReplyDelete
  36. Freddy Fan since 19752:14 pm, October 06, 2012

    I personally would rather see, Johnson as a winger than a RB or LB , he has made way to Many blunder at the back, and been just great up front. To me, i see him more as a attacker now, i agree with you " Max Is Back "
    Wisdom and Robinson are doin great at the moment, But we need more defensive players in january. Two footed defensive players ! Not older than 25 years of age !

    ReplyDelete
  37. hahaha.....Now our legend agree with me.Downing,Henderson,Joe Cole and J.Enricque need to be monitoring the performance.And more 3rd keeper Doni.They are NO FUTURE with LFC team.Better release out during transfer window opened.No benefit to keep unperformance passenger with low rate score point.

    ReplyDelete
  38. S.Downing should be sell out too

    ReplyDelete
  39. Downing needs to be played out on the left wing, he is a left winger who rarely scores goals from the left wing. So trying to play him on the right wing hoping he will cut in and shot and score regularly is not going to happen, he is an old school winger. He just needs confidence and good quality competition for his place, But he offers pace and speed and width out on left wing. He just needs confidence and to learn how to get at fullbacks more one vs one.

    And if owners could back B Rodgers well in January with Transfer war chest, A Griezmann Of R Sociedad and I Munian of A Bilbao are both young, pacey, quick skillful wingers who like to get at fullbacks one vs one and would show Downing how it is done. Munian would compete with Downing for the LW/LWF position and Griezmann would compete with Assaidi and Sterling for RW/RWF position.

    ReplyDelete
  40. unreliable mainly due to fitness, bit fragile. not a goal threat anymore, ball watches, past his best.
    was a great player and is a great bloke who loves lfc.
    maybe a good sub, but we cant afford that

    ReplyDelete
  41. Agree with 3 out of 4 players.
    The 1 to keep is Henderson, as a lot of people have commented.
    He has game intelligence and positions himself well. Against Udinese he covered for Johnson in the 1st half, who had lost the ball whilst attacking, in such a way that he marked up 2 of their players and the ball was moved to the left hand side of the pitch. The way our luck is going, a Udinese breakaway would have led to a goal.
    Unspectacular maybe, but when he was replaced in the second half we lost composure.
    Also at the end of the season Sahin could return to Spain and Gerard looks an ill fit in the mid field system that Rogers plays - he might be more effective playing further up the pitch. He will also be 33 next season, so more likely to get injured and less likely to play twice a week.
    That leaves 3 mid fielders if Henderson goes and only 2 who can play the more defensive midfield role that is essential in Rodgers system.
    So unless Rodgers reveals another gem from the reserves we will have to buy another midfielder to replace Henderson.
    Allen cost £15 million so chances are any replacement for Henderson will leave the club out of pocket.
    Henderson is getting better, deserves more game time and it makes little sense to spend even more money in order to replace him.

    ReplyDelete
  42. How is his comment racist? The OP spelling is horrible. Not because he is foreign, because he is lazy.

    ReplyDelete