Revealed - The truth about Fernando Torres’ 20 league goals

Fernando Torres has become the first Liverpool player since Robbie Fowler in the mid '90s to score 20 league goals in one season. It’s a fantastic achievement, but glancing through Torres’ list of league goals, the real truth emerges, and it's not good news...

...for teams that score he scores against! The fact is, if Torres scores in a league game, Liverpool do not lose. His goals stats below illustrate this:

2008

Mar 15 - (H) Reading (W) 3-0 (1 GOAL)

Mar 8 - (H) Newcastle (W) 3-0 (1)

Mar 5 - (H) West Ham (W) 4-0 (3)

Feb 23 - (H) Middlesbrough (W) 3-2 (3)

Feb 2 - (H) Sunderland (W) 3-0 (1)

Jan 12 - (A) Middlesbrough (W) 1-1 (1)

Jan 2 - (H) Wigan (W) 1-1 (1)

2007

Dec 26 - (A) Derby (W) 1-2 (1)

Dec 22 - (H) Portsmouth (W) 4-1 (2)

Dec 2 - (H) Bolton (W) 4-0 (1)

Nov 10 - (H) Fulham (W) 2-0 (1)

Oct 7 - (H) Tottenham (W) 2-2 (1)

Sep 1 - (H) Derby (W) 6-0 (2)

Aug 19 - (H) Chelsea (W) 1-1 (1)

Torres has scored in fourteen league games this season. Ten of those games were wins, the other four draws. So, if Torres scores then the other team can basically forget it - they 'aint winning the game!

The goal stats also reveal that that Torres loves playing at Anfield – 18 of his 20 goals came from twelve home games. Considering there have only been fifteen Premiership home games so far, that’s a brilliant return.

A few more away goals wouldn’t go amiss though– only two so far. Hopefully Torres will redress the balance a little in upcoming games, preferably against the Mancs and Arsenal.

In total, Torres has 20 league goals in 24 starts and I have no doubt that he will make the 25 league goal mark by the end of the season.

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Once again, Liverpool's players are consumed by sycophantic self-love

What is it about Liverpool and public comments?! If it’s not depressing, pessimistic negativity it’s the other end of the extreme – cocky, fawning, self-congratulatory overconfidence. The last week has been filled with this type of tedious eulogising and it's been the same all season.

Every time Liverpool have put together a decent run this season, players have been falling over themselves to proclaim each other the ‘the best in the world’. This has continued in the last couple of weeks, with Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres taking it in turns to stroke each others’ egos.

After the Middlesborough victory, Gerrard fawned:

"He [Torres] is brilliant, fantastic. The best in the world, and I wouldn't swap him for any other striker anywhere”.

After the Newcastle victory, Torres joined in the strokeathon:

"He [Gerrard] is unbelievable. The best player in the world. And he is only going to get better."

A week before that, Gerrard eulogized Torres as ‘Frightening’ in another starry-eyed homage to Liverpool’s top scorer.

Perennial press-whore Dirk Kuyt also joined in the act, describing Torres as the "very best striker in the world".

The same thing happened after the 2-0 victory against Inter Milan’s 10 men at Anfield recently. After the game, Jamie Carragher lauded Gerrard as "The best player in the world”.

In turn, Gerrard described Carragher as 'a legend' and 'one of the best defenders in the world'

Wow. Liverpool apparently have the best defenders, midfields and strikers in the world!

If that's true, how come the team is struggling for 4th place in the league?!

The season has been plagued with this type of premature overconfidence. Indeed, after the victory over Marseille in the Champions League in December 2007, Liverpool players were again out in force, smothering each other with effusive praise, with Jamie Carragher enthusing:

‘He's [Gerrard] is definitely one of the best players in the world. You look at Kaka and Messi, but they probably play for forward’.

Other comments included Dirk Kuyt calling Ryan Babel 'a sensation'; Torres claiming Rafa to be 'One of the greats' and 'more than just a Manager'; Steven Gerrard labelling Torres 'amazing' and Jamie Carragher (again!) salivating that Torres is 'world class'.

This type of fawning is typical of footballers, who think every time someone has a good game they are ‘world class’ or whenever the team plays well it becomes ‘the best’ or ‘one of the favourites’.

Regrettably, this trend for self-obsessed narcissism pervades all aspects of football, with the most pungent example being players releasing autobiographies when they’re still playing. Just like the recent spate of vainglorious comments, such behaviour is jumping the gun.

What happened to being humble in victory? Since when did Liverpool become a club that brags about its success before it’s even achieved anything?!

The club is so full of players boasting about each other’s ability that’s it’s hardly surprising that much of the season has been tainted with mediocrity and underachievement.

There is nothing wrong with having faith in your team-mates, but do we have to hear about *all the time*?!

You never hear the likes of Wayne Rooney or Cristiano Ronaldo bigging each other up like this. In fact, there are no other players in the premiership who boast as much as Liverpool’s players do.

This rampant egotism has to stop. First of all, it is incompatible with what the club is supposed to represent. Second of all, it is completely UNWARRANTED! So a few players have a few good games. BIG DEAL! What has the club won yet or come close to winning?! ZILCH, thus such praise is premature and undeserving,

The likes of Gerrard, Torres and Kuyt should just keep their heads down, get on with the job and keep their sycophantic platitudes in check until they’ve actually *won something*

And if I have to read anymore of Steven Gerrard's tiresome 'rallying calls' before games...

Aaaagh! He is the absolute master of stating the obvious and repeating the same old tired, cliched drivel over and over and over and over.......and over and over.....

I dread to imagine the outpouring of self-congratulatory boasting if Liverpool beat Inter Milan tonight.

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Torres DIVES - Materazzi sent off. Pathetic.

(Liverpool v Inter Milan - 29 minutes gone) Fernando Torres has just conned the referee with a blatant dive and Marco Materazzi has been sent off as a result. Materazzi tugged Torres' shirt, but that didn't force him to go down; Torres stayed on his feet for a couple of seconds and then dived, which is when the referee blew his whistle.

As a Liverpool fan who values fair-play, I am disgusted by Torres' behaviour. If he had stayed on his feet, Materazzi would still be on the field and the game would be a fair contest. Instead, Torres and ref have ruined the game.

Of course, Liverpool 'superfans' will not accept the truth, but Torres dived. End of story.

Even Dietmar Hamann agrees. In his half time comments on ITV, Hamann stated that Torres 'didn't need to go down'. Exactly right.

Very disappointing.

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Keep Reina, Agger, Carra, Alonso, Lucas, Benayoun and Torres - Scrap the rest.

Liverpool’s wretched season reached its nadir against Havant and Waterlooville last weekend, with the non-league minnows embarrassing Anfield's lumbering primadonnas and once again exposing the obvious truth: Liverpool are as far away from winning the premiership as they've ever been, and the club's deadwood is dragging the team into oblivion.

Four years into Rafa’s reign, and the rebuilding process is only just beginning. People may not accept that, but it is depressingly self-evident. In my view, the signing of Fernando Torres heralded the start of the real rebuilding process. Until players of Torres’ standard are consistently bought and developed, Liverpool will continue to wallow in premiership mediocrity.

There are, apparently, 60 players on Liverpool’s books. 60! Unfortunately, 95% of them are not good enough. To my mind, Liverpool have only 8 players who are capable of being part of a premiership winning squad - by that I mean they:

1. Are good enough in terms of quality and technique.
2. Have a positive, winning mentality
3. Do not unbalance the team.
4. Can form part of an effective 4-4-2/3-5-2/4-1-3-1-1 system.
5. Do not symbolise the counter-productive, ultra cautious 'safety first' approach so entrenched in Rafa Benitez's Liverpool.

The list of players Liverpool should keep is below:

Pepe Reina
Daniel Agger
Jamie Carragher
Xabi Alonso
Lucas Leiva
Yossi Benayoun
Peter Crouch
Fernando Torres

The following players should be sold and replaced:

Steve Finnan
A fine servant for the club, but does not offer enough going forward. A very good player, but needs to make way for the new breed of right-back i.e. marauding and offensive.

Sami Hyypia
My favourite player – a true Liverpool legend, but his time has passed. He should stay as cover and hopefully move into the coaching set-up too pass on his defensive genius to younger players.

Fabio Aurelio
Always injured and not reliable enough as a defender or an attacker. Great technique but too often flatters to deceive. Not the solution to the left back problem.

John Arne Riise
How the mighty have fallen. Once a potent attacking threat and a capable defender, but his form has tailed off badly over the last two seasons. Too often a passenger and a liability these days. Needs to go.

Alvaro Arbeloa
Competent, lightweight, unremarkable player who doesn’t really excel at anything, whether it’s defensive duty or attacking play. Sometimes, it’s hard to even remember he’s on the pitch. Doesn’t bring anything special to the team, and in the modern game, an effective right-back has to offer more, especially going forward.

Harry Kewell
He’s past it, pure and simple. It doesn’t matter how much faith Benitez has in him, the Harry Kewell of old died as soon as he signed his Liverpool contract. He’s lost his pace and sharpness and hardly ever beats his man these days. Liverpool don’t have time for him to ‘come good in the end’. The team needs a left wing specialist NOW, not next year.

Jermaine Pennant
Has vastly improved over the last year, but his goal return is negligible, as is his assist ratio. Pennant is a good player, but he belongs at Blackburn or Portsmouth, not Liverpool. Just compare him to a winger like Cristiano Ronaldo. Enough said. That is the quality Liverpool need on the wings. Pennant just doesn’t cut it.

Steven Gerrard
A great premiership player, but if Liverpool want to move to the next level, he needs to go. His presence restricts other players (especially Alonso) and stops Liverpool from becoming a fast moving, technically adept team. Gerrard’s positional indiscipline is legendary, and his inability to pay with his head and dictate the pace of the game is a problem.

Then there’s the perennial conundrum: Where does he play? In the centre; on the right; behind the front-man? Gerrard excels in none of these roles, and wherever he plays, the whole team has to dance to his tune. The bottom line is, if Gerrard plays well, the team plays well. If he has a bad patch, the team has a bad patch.

This needs to stop. Liverpool need all players taking responsibility instead of one player trying to do everything and overpowering the team. Just look at Arsenal after the apparently ‘irreplaceable’ Thierry Henry left. This is exactly the type of change Liverpool need.

The team is stagnating. There is no sign of forward progress in the league. Just look at the current debacle of a season: Gerrard has a purple patch of playing well, the team plays well. Gerrard’s form has dropped off again, the team can’t win!

On top of all this, he is a poor captain, and this has been proven again with the team’s diabolical performances in 2008 and his failure to motivate the team over the last few months.

Gerrard also needs to leave Liverpool for his own benefit – he is not improving as a player, and the problems with his game will not improve unless he abandons his comfort zone and tests himself in a different environment, where he feels the pressure of having to perform, instead of being guaranteed a starting place at Liverpool regardless of his form.

Javier Mascherano
In December I argued why it is madness to spend 17m on a defensive midfielder - my feelings have not changed. Liverpool's priority needs to be creative, attacking players, not more defensive-minded players. Furthermore, spending 17m on a defensive midfielder is indicative of the negative, 'safety first' culture so depressingly evident at Anfield these days.

I don't care how much Man United spend on Carrick or Hargreaves - they can do so because they already have the creative side of the team sorted out.

I have no doubt that Liverpool could find an excellent DM for 8-10m; to suggest otherwise is ridiculous. This would leave 7m left over to put towards creative players. If the club can get Mascherano for 10m all inclusive, then go for it. If not, let him go and find someone else.

Andriy Voronin
A sprightly player who always tries his best but he is just not good enough for Liverpool. Even as a fourth striker, Liverpool need more quality. Taking a player on a free just to make up the numbers should not be part of Liverpool’s buying strategy.

Dirk Kuyt
Has to go. It’s that simple. Not good enough for Liverpool and will never be a free-flowing goalscorer. Who cares if he runs 20 miles a game – his job is to SCORE GOALS, and on the front, he is an utter failure. He reminds me of Emile Heskey, except Heskey (amazingly) scored goals occasionally!

Ryan Babel
Will never make it at Liverpool. The excuses for his dire performances are already verging on the cliché:

‘Thierry Henry took a year to settle’
’Cristiano Ronaldo didn’t set the premiership alight in his first season’
’He just needs time to adapt to the league’
’Next season we’ll see the real Ryan Babel’

I don’t buy it. Babel himself admits that he ‘can’t cope’ with the pace of the premiership. If he doesn’t believe in himself, then Liverpool are in real trouble. Such a defeatist attitude is not what Liverpool need. I haven’t seen anything this season that suggests Babel will be a future success. And if he was so great, why did Ajax sell him in the first place, and why did Arsene Wenger cool his interest?

Spending 11m on Babel was a mistake, as was spending 11m on Emile Heskey, and 10m on El Hadji Diouf.

Rafa (or whoever the club’s next Manager will be) needs to be ruthless - get rid of all of the above players and use the money to buy quality players (especially attacking players) who will fit into a system that will bring league success.

And it’s not just about spending huge amounts of money. Tomas Rosicky and Alexander Hleb cost Arsenal about 12m combined. They are superbly creative, technically gifted players – just the type of quality Liverpool should be buying.

It is possible to find the right players at the right place if you have an excellent scouting system in place. Liverpool clearly do not.

And it’s not even the scouting system that is most important here; Liverpool need a complete change of philosophy. At the moment, the team is built around defensive-minded players, which was also the way under Gerard Houllier.

This needs to change. Like Arsenal, the team needs to be built around attacking players and the emphasis has to be on offensive play.

Until this happens, Liverpool will never win the Premiership.

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Liverpool jumping the gun with their self-congratulatory love-in.

Liverpool players have been falling over themselves to praise each other after the 4-0 victory against Marseille. Despite leaving it to the last game to qualify from a comparatively easy group, the players are acting as if they’ve just won the world cup.

Pepe Reina led the self-congratulatory backslapping, claiming that Liverpool were now one of the favourites to win the Champions League.

‘We have been in two finals in the last three seasons and we are one of the favourites’

Javier Mascherano continued the love-in with his fawning comments about Fernando Torres:

’Fernando Torres is a monster of football. For me he is one of the best forwards in the world’

And Jamie Carragher set about inflating Steven Gerrard’s ego even more (if that’s possible) with yet more bootlicking:

‘He's [Gerrard] is definitely one of the best players in the world. You look at Kaka and Messi, but they probably play for forward’

Carragher didn't stop there, as he lavished even more slobbering praise on Gerrard:

"He'll go down alongside Kenny Dalglish as one of the greatest players ever to have played for Liverpool and at the moment he's probably in the top four or five players in the world."

These are just examples *after* the Marseille game. The whole season is littered with examples of Liverpool players praising the superior ability of their colleagues, including: Dirk Kuyt calling Ryan Babel 'a sensation'; Torres claiming Rafa is 'One of the greats' and 'more than just a Manager'; Steven Gerrard labelling Torres 'amazing' and Jamie Carragher (again!) salivating that Torres is 'world class'.

Someone give me a sick bag.

This type of fawning is typical of footballers, who think every time someone has a good game they are ‘world class’ or whenever the team plays well it becomes ‘the best’ or ‘one of the favourites’.

This trend for self-obsessed narcissism pervades all aspects of football, with the most arrogant example being players releasing autobiographies when they’re still playing. Just like the recent spate of vainglorious comments, such behaviour is jumping the gun.

What happened to being humble in victory? Since when did Liverpool become a club that brags about its success before it’s even achieved anything?!

The club is so full of players boasting about each other’s ability that’s it’s hardly surprising that the first part of the season was so atrocious. Perhaps the players should keep their sycophantic platitudes in check until they’ve actually *won something* this season?

As history proves, bigging-up a team’s chances prematurely more often than not leads to disaster. Just look at the pre-match hype everyone had to endure before the recent Croatia-England game. It was all [paraphrasing] ‘we’re so good’ or ‘we’re too good to go out’ and ‘We’re one of the best teams in the world so we have to prove it’ and ‘We have lots of world class players who will show their worth’.

And look what happened.

Pepe Reina's overconfidence even extends to baiting Manchester United ahead of this weekend's crucial clash:

"We know we must be ready for United but it could be a great game in front of our own fans — and we expect to win".

What purpose do such comments serve, apart from motivating United even more and setting the team up for a fall?!

It’s great that Liverpool are in the second round of the Champions League; It’s fantastic that the team trounced Marseille in such dominant fashion, but tone down the showing off already! It’s only December and there’s a long way to go, and Liverpool playing well for the last 7 or 8 games doesn’t mean a thing in the context of a whole season.

I dread to think what superlatives will be thrown around on Sunday if Liverpool beat Manchester United. The blowing of trumpets will no doubt continue with a fanfare of self-satisfied over-confidence, something, ironically, I’ve always associated with Manchester United.

Of course, this is a purely modern phenomenon and is indicative of the ridiculous hype that pervades the English game. I just wish the current Liverpool team had the humility and sense of previous generations, who always let their performances do the talking.

If the team is still performing at this level in May and there are trophies in the cabinet then *that* is the time to start celebrating. Hopefully, any celebrations will be in the humbler Liverpool tradition, though based on this season’s evidence, I sincerely doubt it.

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Fernando Torres' disappointing and misguided public threat

Last week I criticized Steven Gerrard for failing to provide public support for Rafa. Since then, a host of players have backed the Spaniard, including Peter Crouch and John Arne Riise. There is a fine line though between moderate public support and holding the club to ransom, and Fernando Torres has crossed that line.

Torres’ latest comments are quite simply unacceptable and come at a time when the Benitez/Hicks storm seemed to be passing:

"Benitez has created a team of people who are indebted to him. It's certain if he goes many players will think about their futures”.

That may be the case, but Torres should not be saying it in public under any circumstances. Furthermore, his comments come at the worst possible time: the Benitez/Hicks storm seemed to be passing; the team had responded in the best possible way; the club was refocusing and everything was settling down.

Torres’ divisive comments will just whip up the media frenzy again, and refocus media attention on something that has brought shame on the club in recent weeks.

Simple support in the press along the lines of ‘we support the Manager and will do our best’ is fine, as Peter Crouch illustrated with his recent comments:

“It’s not for me to say who is right or wrong in this situation. What goes on in the boardroom is not our concern. We will keep trying to get results that will keep the manager safe”.

Making a statement that is tantamount to holding the club to ransom is a mistake, and Torres is playing a dangerous game. After all, who pays his wages? It is not Rafael Benitez, that's for sure.

No player or manager is bigger than the club, I don’t care who it is. Torres is a superb player and he has been a revelation for Liverpool. However, this does not give him the right to try and exert pressure on the club’s owners through the media in the form of an ‘if he goes we go’ ultimatum.

I’m sure Torres had the best of intentions, but such behaviour is supremely unprofessional. Additionally, after the Hicks vs Rafa fiasco, it puts the club in a bad light once again and provides the media with an opportunity to spin negative stories about a divide between the club and its players. Torres’ other comments about Benitez were bordering on the sycophantic:

"Benitez is not just another manager. He created a team and put his faith in players that owe him a lot. He’s more than a Manager. He’s one of the greats in their history and people feel that way about him and they show it"

Actually, Benitez *is* just another Manager. He is not god and it is his *job* to create a team and put his faith in the players. Perhaps Torres’ fawning worship of Benitez has clouded his judgement? Or maybe he is just naïve and really believes his comments will help?

Torres’s comments are even more ill-advised given the fact that Benitez brought the whole situation on himself. He displayed his unprofessionalism in that ill-fated press conference and forced Hicks’ hand.

If Rafa had just got on with his job and kept things behind closed doors, this whole sorry mess would never have happened. Rafa was clearly right about the Americans not knowing how the transfer market works, but he should have kept his grievances behind closed doors.

The thing that irritates me about Torres’ comments is this: He is basically saying that the players play for Benitez and not the club. This is not the way it should be. First and foremost, players should be playing for the glory of Liverpool FC, i.e. they should be honoured to play for a club with Liverpool's Glorious history, unique identity and individual philosophy.

In the cynical context of modern football, this may be an unrealistic ideal, but that doesn’t mean that fans should just accept it. If the privilege of playing for the best club in the world is not good enough for Fernando Torres, then let him leave.

Bill Shankly was always very strong on this point: If you don’t want to play for Liverpool, then we don’t want you. That’s the Liverpool way and that’s the way it should be. The club and its history should be the attraction, not solely the Manager. If Benitez is sacked, then Torres and the other alleged rebels should want to continue to play for the CLUB.

If players leave just because a Manager leaves, where is the allegiance to the club –or does that not matter anymore? I expect such behaviour from the mercenaries at Chelsea but not from Liverpool.

If Rafa is ultimately sacked and Torres and a host of top players leave then so be it. This will show categorically that they do not care about the club and I personally don’t want players at Liverpool who do not support the club first.

I have no doubt that a huge number of fans will be applauding Torres for his comments; this is just another depressing sign of how far the standards of fandom have fallen. Supporting Torres means that you support misguided player power over the best interests of the club.

My allegiance is to glory of Liverpool FC first. Players come and go, but the club and what it stands for last forever. Fernando Torres should remember that and stick to what he does best: scoring goals.

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Has Rafa found his best XI?

With ten goals scored in the last two games and Liverpool’s first unchanged team in over a year, is Rafa close to discovering Liverpool’s best XI?

I personally don’t think so. Everything seems positive right now, but there are problems looming on the horizon with the return to action of a couple of Liverpool’s key players, namely Xabi Alonso and Daniel Agger...

This might seem like a blessing for Liverpool, but how is Rafa going to accommodate these players and not unbalance a winning team?

An more pertinent question is how will Rafa accommodate Gerrard, Mascherano and Alonso? At present, the Gerrard/Mascherano partnership has been forced upon Rafa due to injuries, but given the Spaniard’s predilection for rotation, it seems inevitable that changes will be made.

In my view, a winning team should never be tinkered with, regardless of who is waiting in the wings. The one exception to this rule should be Fernando Torres, who should *always* start if he is fit, as he offers skill and creativity that no other Liverpool player possesses.

Daniel Agger’s return to the first team at the expense of Sami Hyypia is all but assured, despite Hyypia's important contribution to Liverpool’s recent solidity. Three clean sheets in a row and a man of the match performance against Fulham should be enough to keep Hyypia in the team, but that won’t happen.

After the last two results, The Steven Gerrard fan club will be out in force trying to convince everyone that his role in centre mid is the reason for Liverpool’s mini-resurgence. Whilst Gerrard has upped his performance level after the humiliation of the Everton substitution, the same old problems of positional indiscipline creative and paucity still exist, disguised by the mask of good results.

Besiktas and Fulham are hardly world class opposition, and until Fernando Torres came on in the 70th minute, Gerrard was once again bereft of ideas. Furthermore, for 10 minutes before Torres appeared, Fulham were creeping back into the match, capitalizing on the huge spaces left by Gerrard as he wandered away from his responsibilities.

Gerrard should be moved to the right to accommodate the return of Xabi Alonso. Given the fact Jermaine Pennant and Yossi Benayoun are both injured, this is a no-brainer. I shouldn't allow my personal feelings about Gerrard cloud my judgment though - he is part of a winning team and should retain his place for the time being.

As for Rafa’s best XI…it MUST contain the spine of the team, which for me means the following:

Reina
Agger
Alonso
Mascherano
Torres

All the other places are up for grabs, but if fit, the above four players must be the first names on the team-sheet. As such, Rafa’s best XI is as follows:

Example 1: Rafa’s current best XI

--------------------------- Reina

Arbeloa --------Agger -------- Carragher ------- Aurelio

---------------------- Mascherano

Benayoun ----------- Alonso------------- Babel

------------------- Torres ---- Crouch

Subs:

Gerrard
Hyypia
Riise
Finnan
Lucas
Babel

This team contains Liverpool’s most technically adept players, which allows for quick one touch football and proper pass and move - the founding principle of the renowned ‘Liverpool style of play’.

With two left-footers on the left, there is genuine balance in the team, something Liverpool have lacked for years. Up front, Crouch and Torres are both major goal threats and their contrasting style complement each other perfectly.

Of course, there will be howls of derision at the omission of Steven Gerrard, but the above team does not need him. Gerrard may be more of a complete player than Mascherano or Alonso, but that does not make him better.

Liverpool need specialists in every role, and Alonso and Mascherano are specialists in their respective roles. Alonso is superior to Gerrard in his range of creative passing and ability to dictate the play, and Mascherano is streets ahead of Gerrard when it comes to breaking up play and protecting the back four.

If Liverpool are to mount a serious challenge for the title, then the team above has to be the template for the future. As I’ve argued many times, Steven Gerrard needs to be sold, with the money being used to buy the best creative players available in Liverpool’s price range.

Using the team above as the template, Liverpool need the following to progress to the next level:

i) A world class/excellent Peter Beardsley type link man.
ii) Two world class/excellent wingers.

With the addition of these players, the team would look like this:

Example 2: Future premiership winning team (4-4-1-1)

----------------- Reina

New attacking RB---- Agger --- Carragher ---- New Attacking LB

----------------- Mascherano

New RW ------ Alonso -------- New LW

----------------- New Link Man

---------------------- Torres

The above team could alternate between 4-4-1-1 and 4-4-2, depending on the opposition. In a 4-4-2, the team would look like this:

Example 3: Future premiership winning team (4-4-2)

---------------- Reina

New RB---- Agger --- Carrgaher --- new LB

New RW ----- Alonso --- Mascherano --- New LW

--------Crouch/New Striker----Torres

As good as Harry Kewell is, he is not the long term solution for obvious reasons. And on the right, Liverpool still lack real skill and guile. Jermaine Pennant has improved a lot, but his goals return is not nearly good enough. Furthermore, Benayoun should be utilized as a link man rather than a right winger, as that is his natural position.

Fabio Aurelio and Alvaro Arbeloa have both done okay since returning to the first team, though there are still improvements to be made in both positions. A rampaging left or right back would add more creative impetus to the team, but for now, Arbeloa and Aurelio must be first choices in their respective positions.

I sincerely doubt we will ever see the team I have chosen (Example 1 above), mainly because Steven Gerrard is bigger than the club, and there is no way Rafa can do anything that doesn't involve him. Mark my words though, Liverpool will not win the league unless the above formation and personnel in Examples 1-3 are adopted.

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