Over the last 10-15 years, right wing has proven to be one of the most problematic positions for Liverpool to fill, and it's fair to say that since Steve McManaman left the club in 1999, he has never been replaced. Dirk Kuyt and Jordan Henderson cover the role for Liverpool at the moment, but it is abundantly clear that they are not the long term solution. Former Liverpool defender Tommy Smith is concerned by the issue, and he has suggested that Kenny Dalglish take a closer look at one of the Premier League's most promising wingers.
I still find it staggering that Liverpool have not been able to find a successful right winger for the last thirteen years (!). How difficult can it be? With all the thousands of players that were available *worldwide* during the post-McManaman period, I can't believe that there wasn't ONE player out there who could've come in been a success.
Speaking to the Liverpool Echo, Tommy Smith highlighted Swansea's Nathan Dyer as a player Liverpool should be looking at to fill the right wing position. He argued:
"I see Swansea’s Nathan Dyer is being linked with a possible England call-up soon. I’m not suprised that more and more people are starting to sit up and take notice of him.
"He’s fast and tricky but never seems to get subdued even if things sometimes don’t come off for him.
"I think every successful team needs fast wingers and if Dyer ever does come on to the market, I’d love to see us go in for him"
Dyer was one of the stars of the show when Swansea played Liverpool off the pitch at Anfield earlier this season. As Smith suggests, Dyer's most important attribute is pace, and that is a commodity in desperately short supply at Anfield right now.
I find it quite funny that Craig Bellamy - the oldest outfield starter in the squad - is also the fastest player in the team, and this is despite having a recurring knee problem (!)
That tells you everything you need to know about the level of pace in Kenny Dalglish's squad, which is why signing a player like Dyer would make sense.
Jaimie Kanwar
I still find it staggering that Liverpool have not been able to find a successful right winger for the last thirteen years (!). How difficult can it be? With all the thousands of players that were available *worldwide* during the post-McManaman period, I can't believe that there wasn't ONE player out there who could've come in been a success.
Speaking to the Liverpool Echo, Tommy Smith highlighted Swansea's Nathan Dyer as a player Liverpool should be looking at to fill the right wing position. He argued:
"I see Swansea’s Nathan Dyer is being linked with a possible England call-up soon. I’m not suprised that more and more people are starting to sit up and take notice of him.
"He’s fast and tricky but never seems to get subdued even if things sometimes don’t come off for him.
"I think every successful team needs fast wingers and if Dyer ever does come on to the market, I’d love to see us go in for him"
Dyer was one of the stars of the show when Swansea played Liverpool off the pitch at Anfield earlier this season. As Smith suggests, Dyer's most important attribute is pace, and that is a commodity in desperately short supply at Anfield right now.
I find it quite funny that Craig Bellamy - the oldest outfield starter in the squad - is also the fastest player in the team, and this is despite having a recurring knee problem (!)
That tells you everything you need to know about the level of pace in Kenny Dalglish's squad, which is why signing a player like Dyer would make sense.
Jaimie Kanwar
Dyer looks a good player. He loves to take players on, especially the full back and does it well. Miss that at Anfield, that element of a player simply just taking a player on out on the wing, instead of unimaginative sideways passing and hoofball. Feel for his club though, for possibly taking a player off a small but very impressive Swansea club but thats the food chain for you. Of course, he is British, so right up KK's street.
ReplyDeleteAnother former Southampton youngster eh!
I would love Iker Muniain here. Outstanding young talent. Can play in any attacking midfield position as well as up front. But even if Bilbao (they play some lovely stuff, with Bielsa as manager. Worth a watch.) don't make it into 4th place, Muniain would probably be far too expensive for us. Got a good core in Martinez, Llorente and Muniain and they aren't exactly in the twilight of their careers either. Susaeta is pretty good out on the wing too. If people like watching La Liga, certainly recommend Bilbao. Any team that has Bielsa as manager is always interesting to watch to say the least.
Swansea did not play Liverpool off the park they bossed 30mins in the second half where they created a few chances that they could have scored but they did not by any means play us off the park. I seem to remember their keeper Vorm having the match of his life as many other keepers who have come to Anfield this season! What is with you Jaimie? I appreciate and respect your honesty but it seems like you only post stories if they are controversial
ReplyDeletebellemy would-be the quickest in most teams. bit of context needed!
ReplyDeleteWell said IRON MAN - 13 Miserable years to find a decent winger - i only this lot remembered Finney or even our own PETER THOMPSON - could potential wingers at Blackburn and Blackpool - keep watching
ReplyDeleteIf Kenny wanted to buy English youth players he should at least go for the talented ones like Oxlade Chamberlain instead of Henderson etcDyer would excite the fans..
ReplyDeleteSunderland's Mcclean looks a talented lively winger, if KK is after more young British players
ReplyDeleteMilos Krasic is most similar to Macca in terms of look and style of play for resonable price.Exciting right midfielder who is made for premier league.
ReplyDeleteNot for me.....lets get Hoilett and S.Sinclair in and give Downing some much needed competition.
ReplyDeletehoillett would be the one for me.
ReplyDeletewe've had some shite over the years-nunez,pennant,gonzalez.dossena on the wing.rafa had a thing for putting finnan there and playing that shite josemi at fullback.i remember kronkamp playing wide right a few times,makes me shudder.
Sinclair is average,Hoilett is promising and good because he is free.Worth a shoot.But my favourite free agent would be hugo Rodallega,brilliant striker to suplement Luis!
ReplyDeleteSinclair is very much 'hit and miss' kind of player. Inconsistent. A good player but don't think he will ever be consistent enough for a big side.
ReplyDeleteHoilett is the obvious one of course as he is available on a free in the summer.
Hoillet definitely. We should be onto him like a rash to get him to sign. Not only will he be free in the summer but he played great against us last season and I watched the Arsenal thrashing of Blackburn at the weekend and he looked like one of the best players on the pitch, even in a 7-1 thrashing. Takes some doing. He can run with the ball and we seem to have very few that can do that. Chamberlain cost just over half what Henderson cost, is younger and has far more attacking intent. We need players who are a bit more direct.
ReplyDeleteDidn't we have our own Chamberlain in Tom Ince but was never given a chance to prove himself.
ReplyDeletehe good but for crying out loud kenny sign arda turan then carroll will bang in goals for fun
ReplyDeleteHoilett and Sinclair are like younger versions of Nzogbia and Downing. Proper wingers, but ordinary wingers. Can't say Ashley Young was a huge miss for us either. I'm made up we should be using a striker as a winger to offer more of a goal threat and better movement in and around the box.
ReplyDeleteMcClean is Irish
ReplyDeleteIrish passport, declared for Ireland
Bellamy is one of the quickest players in the league so no wonder that is faster than a lot of Liverpool's squad. Enrique would match him
ReplyDeleteDyer woulda been good in January, any hint of Liverpool's interest and price doubles
Ashley Young has had two or three spells out injured already this season. What is our Downing's excuse? I wouldn't starting giggling yet about the mancs' purchase of Young.
ReplyDeleteLooked pretty good and lively initially for the mancs, fitted in with relative ease, before he got injured the first time round and since then, been in and out of the side because of injuries again. And oh, now Valencia is on fire.
The mancs have two pairs of good wingers, whereas we struggle to get even one decent one in the squad in the last decade.
Oh I thought he was born in Northern Ireland and N.I. was part of Britain.
ReplyDeleteI guess he has become another one of those players who has 'switched sides' to ROI.
Raheem Sterling and Toni Silva, in a couple of years time, will be bombing down the wings for us. Maybe there's a reluctance to splash more cash when we've a crop of promising youngsters only a year or two away from the first team?
ReplyDeleteMuch to my depression Turan has already gone to Atheltico Madrid....Playing awesome. Iker Muniain is too high profile to end up at LFC at the moment. If I were Dalglish I would seriously SERIOUSLY be thinking about bringing Suso and Sterling to Anfield games. Give us that bit extra when we need a result. Front three of Sterling, Suarez, and Suso WOULD work, I have no doubts.
ReplyDeleteWe definitely need pace, not sure Dyer is the answer, not yet that is. Hoilett has got to be a priority, can play anywhere in the final third and would offer us something similar to Bellamy but with lovely knees.
ReplyDeleteShaqiri, as Jaimie has pointed out, would have been brilliant.
Also, not sure when Swansea played us off the park. They had some good periods in the game but Vorm played a blinder to keep them in the game.
That's probably because Jaimie was watching Gillette soccer Saturday and Merson was commenting on the match I had it on too while a friend had the Liverpool vs Swansea match streamed. At least I'm not the only one to pick up on the fact Swansea did not play us off the park
ReplyDeleteGood Friday Agreement recognises the "birthright" of all the people of Northern Ireland "to identify themselves and be accepted as Irish or British, or both", is also recognised, as well as their right to hold both British and Irish citizenship
ReplyDeleteI've never watched Gillette soccer saturday in my life, and Swansea *did* play Liverpool off the pitc, you just don't want to admit it.
ReplyDeleteYep, I hear ye :)
ReplyDeleteWe made a couple of chances but in terms of possession, they had a lot more of it and were better at it....and that was Anfield
ReplyDeleteWhy would LIverpool go for Dyer, hes black
ReplyDeleteWe Lack pace,creativity and goals for years now!
ReplyDeleteTo me, Young and Downing don't offer anything different. Young is just a year younger. No surprise he would start performing sooner for them though, Man U likes playing with 2 wingers going up together like he did with Downing at Villa. That's not the way we play. We never have players flying down opposite flanks at the same time.
ReplyDeleteIt's high time Valencia came good for them! He was the invisible man in his first season there, and for the last, he had been a utility man. Certainly gives us hope about our own signings, and yet another reminder that it could take more than 2 seasons before a league proven signing comes good.
We actually have a proper pair of wingers in Downing and Maxi, Maxi being a right footer and frequently hugging the lines for Atletico and Argentina previously, but like I said, we just don't use the flying wingers counter.
If Downing starts the next game, have a look at where he receives the ball most of the time. If he's on the right flank, it's nearer the halfway line. If he's on the left, he's always in the opponent's third - there is no way he is going to run past anyone from that position. Wingers ought to be starting their runs at least around the halfway line to get enough momentum, like where Bellamy starts his runs in the first halves.
Downing should really take his cue from Maxi and actually get into the midfield to pick up the ball, and give himself more space to run into. It is unfortunate Maxi has no pace, but he is a fine example of how a winger can contribute to the team, other than just waiting at the touchline in the opponent's third.
Suso is not a forward. He is a great wide player to use if we want an extra distributor operating from the flanks. What he's best at are those Adam/Gerrard/Alonso long passes across the field, except he plays sideways, as in he probably sees goal to goal. Would love to see him crack the first team though. Sterling isn't enough of a team player yet, brilliant as he is, and as such, it would be hard to start him, because the team hasn't even gelled properly/fully yet. If we have an attacker that would fit immediately, it would have to be Adam Morgan.
ReplyDeleteTom Ince is on loan at Blackpool and getting his chance to prove himself, as well as Danny Wilson. Tom Ince is about two years away from getting near the Lfc first team. Though is playing well at the moment.
ReplyDeleteWe need a player with pace,who can cross the ball very well. dribble, shoot. player on the right or the left when required as well as play a supporting striker role. Lastly he needs to be able to work for the team like Kuyt does. 30 mil should do it.
ReplyDeleteNo, I think Kenny should go in with at least a 40m offer, He's British, so that means he's worth it.
ReplyDeleteWe have 3 such players, Jordan Henderson, Craig Bellamy and Glen Johnson, and if we want to count reserves, there's also Raheem Sterling. You've effectively described all of them.
ReplyDeleteInvisibile in his first season? Odd, as I recall Rooney giving massive credit to Valencia and his crosses for his goalscoring exploits in 09/10. For me, he was predictable but very effective in his first season for the mancs. I know we hate the mancs and hard to give credit when its due but come on, its getting silly.
ReplyDeleteI'd love to have had Downing hit the ground running like Valencia did in his first season at the mancs but that hasn't happened, not even close. A pity as we need that for Carroll.
I have watched Atleti ever since Torres left them (they brought in some good players afterwards. On a good day, they were brilliant and on a bad day, absolutely awful!!! Falcao looks a brilliant striker for them at the moment, with Simeone getting them going again now) and Maxi was rarely used like a winger. He was a attacking midfielder that played in any attacking midfield position for them. He isn't a natural out-n-out wide player at all, let alone a winger. He is essentially a 4-2-3-1 player, i.e., plays in any position in the 3 and floats inside from the wings, doesn't like to be pinned a lot out wide. Never has been one to take on players like a true winger. He That was more Reyes, Simao, etc, at Atleti. So I don't see how we have a 'proper' winger in Maxi at all. He has always been a floating attacking midfielder, albeit not a great one.
Rafa tried again and again to incorporate wingers into his side, with the likes of Riera, Pennant, Bellamy, Babel, (even used Kromkamp out on the wing...awful, absolutely awful!) etc. But gave up after all those failures and brought in a attack-minded full back to compensate, Glen Da Johnson (and also Degen to a lesser extent). So we have certainly tried to use wingers (although not always two at same time, like the mancs) but simply failed tactically or they weren't good enough.
Again NATO (No Action Talk Only)
ReplyDeleteSuso isn't a wide player, even though hes played there a few times, he plays at his best when he plays just off the striker (attacking mid?) in my opinion.
ReplyDeletelol Jaimie
ReplyDeleteLook if he's Black or Foreign Kenny wont sign him also Any player kenny signs must pass sideways or back and not be capable of beating a player or applying a killer pass.
ReplyDeleteFinally just so we are clear he must be British and he must cost a fortune when compared to any other players on the market
Mate I was at the game a swans fan also support Liverpool , we did outplay you , in fact i have never seen anfield so quiet it was like a library if it weren't for the swans fans singing you would have thought u had gone deaf, was really good of Liverpool fans to clap the swans players off at the end tho
ReplyDeletesterling is too lightweight. he need to add some strength.
ReplyDeletewas not referring to him but obviously you were. Well if you think he fits your bill. I must be honest I have not watched him that closely and if im not mistaken he is a 10 mil buy
ReplyDeletewas actually thinking the same thing last month
ReplyDeleteSteve Mc Manaman is overrated, couldn't shoot, couldn't cross, best thing he could do was dribbling, certainly won't live be long in the memory...must be said, probably the best of a bad bunch(not included Robbie Fowler of course). it's fair to say you have to go further back to truly find a winger worth talking about. As good as Dirk Kuyt can be at times, and have to say his workrate and attitude are top class, and his goals against United exceptional(delivers when it matters) to truly be a good team we need two out and out wingers...Bellamys been great, but going forward and for the future we need to invest in two top quality wingers, who can cross, shoot, and dribble. We still look like we lack confidence going forward apart from Bellamy, Gerard & Suarez, who take on the responsibility and shoot when abandon...either players like Spearing, Downing & Henderson Adams pick up the slack or be replaced. Think some of them are young and need time(not too much), others need to step it up a gear now and improve pure and simple, they been good, but they weren't bought to be good, they were bought to excel and bring the club back. Hopefully the finishing improves and attacking threat, best of luck tomorrow, come on the Pool
ReplyDeleteWe sold Ince to Blackpool along with Bruna. Ince will be 22 by the time you would given him a chance if he was still playing for us, surly him and others like Amoo should be given a chance from 18/19 years to prove themselves and keep them biting at the bit to prove themselvs something they can't do in the reserves or out on loan at lower league teams.
ReplyDeleteWouldn't say a team played us off the pitch when we still managed to create 18 chances and Carroll to miss a sitter.
ReplyDeletePlayed off the park would mean they stopped us playing kept our chances down to a minimum, but Swansea were a real threat more then we expected when they had the ball they kept it and moved it better then us on the break, has they have shown since they are no push overs and the big teams need to treat them with respect.
Didn't they name was it one or two Wembley Finals after him 92/95? Wasn't Mc Manaman's assist record only second to Giggs when he left the Premier League? (46 goals and 112 assists) He should have scored more! The best thing he could do was dribble the hardest skill in football ???????
ReplyDeleteHow many players in the Premier League do you see dribbling with the ball at their feet and not kick and rush like they do now a days ?
We have a great prospect in Martin Kelly at right back, really been impressed with his performances......Why not try Johnson as a right winger for the rest of the season until the transfer window opens. I think he would offer more pace and crosses than Kuyt or Henderson.
ReplyDeleteSeems like the bottom line is that it's probable most wingers won't work out for us. Be it the centrally focused continental style of Rafa or Kenny's pass and move, unless we have a genius of a winger, we may as well not have one. Barca is doing fine without a winger for large parts. It's Man U and O'Neill's Villa, or Mourinho's Chelsea who only used them sparingly, that made wingers look like such a must-have.
ReplyDeleteYes I agree But I have seen him play wide of a front three and he has done very well there. I think he would work well with Suarez and to be honest I am scared of losing him....LFC seems blind to talent sometimes.
ReplyDeleteAnd another thing. I hate the way C Adam tries that long field pass every bloody time he gets the ball. About one in five get to the player but the rest just waste possession. Agger does just as good of a pass from a similar position. What I liked about Alonso was that he also new how to thread the ball between the defense. Suso shows that trait very well and the sooner he is in the first team the sooner we will start to benefit. Wait too long, and he will start to wonder if he really HAS got talent and lose that confidence that youth players often have.
ReplyDeleteThis obsession with crossing from English fans kind of frustrates me. Liverpool have had no troubles crossing the ball. What we struggle to do (especially when missing Suarez) is beat the defense, get to the byline, and play the ball back across goal. THAT is the way the modern game is played. Creates much better chances, instead of these half chances fired in constantly at Andy Carrol. Whats even worse is that the crosses are from deep not even square of the strikers, making it much harder to score and easier for the defenses. No wonder we have created so many "chances" without scoring. Our tactics at the moment are a joke.
ReplyDeleteWhats even worse has been when Downing plays on the left and Enrique will run up to him, and pass the ball from two yards with out continuing his run past Downing as another option. Its like a bloody relay instead of football. Enrique has a much better game when Maxi or Bellamy (right footed players) play on the left because there natural tendency is to cut inside, leaving room and options for the overlapping run from the full back. And same deal with Johnson on the right. Downing has looked best IMO this year when he has played on the right.
I love KK but sometimes I wonder if some of his tactics are a bit old fashioned. For me crossing (the way we've been doing it) should be a different option tried when nothing else is working as a way of varying our game. And it should be employed by the full backs mostly. We definitely need players with pace that can run at defenses. James Woods saying Mc Manaman is over rated is a joke. He is EXACTLY the sort of player we should be looking at. For me we also need a new midfielder. Adam and Gerrard doesn't work. They do not seem to think the same. Gerrard and Henderson looks much better to me. I would love to see someone like Lucas Moura at LFC.....dreams are free. Rant over YNWA
i agree that sterling isnt ready yet. both for the reason you gave and also if he comes up againts the wrong players he can get set back a few years and then become a championship winger.
ReplyDeleteimagine him againts stoke. at his size they would maul him.
but yes im for Morgan getting a go againts low teams if we still arent scoring.