Arsenal’s Mikel Arteta has hit out at the Premier League and TV companies for scheduling their game with Manchester City just 60 hours after their Champions League clash with Napoli, according to the Telegraph.
Arsene Wenger’s team only returned from their draining Champions League fixture in Naples in the early hours of Thursday morning, and are set to travel to Manchester today ahead of a 12.45pm kick off with Manuel Pellegrini’s side tomorrow, due to the match being screened live on BT Sport.
Manchester City hold the advantage of being able to play on Tuesday night, as Pellegrini rotated seven of his first team regulars for the trip to Bayern Munich with City already having qualified.
The likes of Vincent Kompany, Yaya Toure, Sergio Aguero, Samir Nasri and Alvaro Negredo are set to head into the top of the table clash with a full weeks rest behind them, whilst Wenger’s sides preparation will revolve around being able to recover physically.
“The mood is fine, the recovery time is very tight,” said Arteta. “I don’t understand why we play Sunday afternoon [against Everton], Wednesday evening [against Napoli], get back at 4am and then play again on Saturday morning in Manchester.”It will just be about recovery. It’s not ideal. We will have a late warm down, try to get our legs back for Friday, travel on Friday and be as well prepared as we can. They will be ready for us because they rested seven or eight players in Munich.”Arsene Wenger has bemoaned the fixture schedule frequently in the past, and whilst Arteta acknowledges is it hardly ideal, he insists the team cannot use it as an excuse.”We have to be ready, no excuses,” he said. “We want to win there and we have to be prepared. We know it can be a big statement if we get a good result there.”
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Even though Manchester United were English football’s top spenders with a total of around £150m splashed to land new talent over the summer, the club are still in need of additions.
Some likened their business to a patient in need of heart surgery being given breast implants, with the majority of the signings made addressing non-existent concerns up front, while the engine room, the real problem, was left untouched.
Louis van Gaal and co did attempt to get in targets to sort out their midfield and centre-back problems, and it looks likely that there will be efforts to get such deals over the line in January if results continue to disappoint.
Here are FIVE players we at FFC Towers believe United could/should go for in the New Year.
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CLICK ON MATS HUMMELS TO REVEAL THE FIVE
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Kevin Strootman
Although Arturo Vidal was the man United chased for much of the summer, rumours often suggested that Strootman is actually the player LVG wants. The former Holland boss made the Roma enforcer a key member of his Oranje team in the run up to the World Cup, and was left gutted when injury woes forced him out of contention for the trip to Brazil.
A deal during the last window was deemed as not doable given his fitness concerns, but there has been talk of a £20m+ offer for Strootman when January roles around. With energy, tenacity and quality in his locker, the 24-year-old appears to be the major missing link in the club’s engine room.
//www.youtube.com/embed/_Wq8cQ-ldJo
Mats Hummels
Rumours of a late move for the World Cup winner during the transfer window just gone have surfaced recently, and despite the disappointment United may re-visit Hummels in 2015. The Dortmund centre-back is seen as one of the very best players in his position on the planet, and would certainly bulk out to the club’s shaky rearguard.
BVB are desperate to keep him, but, as has been shown in recent years, they will sell for the right price. Hummels himself could also be tempted by English football, but much depends on United’s chances of a top four finish.
//www.youtube.com/embed/cOlTY9h1IsA
Arturo Vidal
Perhaps the great transfer saga of 2014 could rumble on again next year. United chased Vidal for much of the summer, but failed to get a deal over the line, despite claims that a contract had been agreed with the player. Juventus held firm to keep their midfield general in Turin, but an offer of £40m+ in January could sway them.
The Chile international has the barnstorming playing style not present in any of the Red Devils’ current options, and could be the man to turn Van Gaal’s troops back into title contenders.
//www.youtube.com/embed/r8iKLIacxxw
Sami Khedira
If United are looking to cut back on their spending, Khedira could be a cost-effective option to plug their midfield gap. The German ace – who helped his nation to World Cup glory – is currently in the last year of his contract, and looks likely to run down his deal ahead of a Bosman move.
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However Real Madrid are likely to accept offers of below £10m in January just to get some cash in for their man, which could allow United to pick up a bargain. Not a natural holder, Khedira offers something different to other targets on Van Gaal’s radar thanks to his tireless style and box-to-box nature.
Marco Reus
Football – Bayern Munich v Borussia Dortmund – 2013 UEFA Champions League Final – Wembley Stadium, London, England – 25/5/13Bayern Munich’s Philipp Lahm in action with Borussia Dortmund’s Marco Reus (R)Mandatory Credit: Action Images / John SibleyLivepic
Even though Angel di Maria and Radamel Falcao have been signed to give United more guile up top, Reus could be a target for the club in January. The German star is one of Europe’s premier attacking talents and is expected to leave Dortmund in the not too distant future as interest in his signature mounts.
A £20m release clause will kick in next summer, but United could pounce early to tempt the Bundesliga giants with a bigger offer. With Arsenal, Liverpool and Man City loitering, bagging Reus while he’s available may be something LVG would consider.
Football may not be a game renowned for its long memory, but even by the Premier League’s standard, the change in fortunes that Scott Parker has suffered in little over 12 months at Tottenham Hotspur feels incredible.
As we headed into the final straight of last season, the former-Charlton Athletic man was already well on course to pick up both the supporters’ player of the year at White Hart Lane, as well as a starting berth for his country at the European Championships.
Yet fast forward to the March of 2013 and it seems hard to believe quite how altered Parker’s standing within first team affairs feels this season. Because where as he last season he represented something of a priceless commodity, this time around, he feels more of a clunking component in a stuttering machine.
Of course, it’s easy to overplay what many have perceived to be a season of regression for Parker in the white half of North London.
A near on four month absence with an Achilles issue has cast an overwhelming shadow over the midfielder’s season and where as ideally he would have been eased back into first-team proceedings, the season ending knee injury to Sandro hyper accelerated his return to the fore.
Indeed, the 32-year-old had amassed only an hour of Premier League football before his season was effectively jump started at QPR in January and the lack of options in the Spurs engine room ensured that Parker had to find his form the hard way.
Yet with only eight league games remaining this season, Parker heads into the final straight with his influence upon Andre Villas-Boas’ side a real talking point within the home crowd.
Superficially, when looking beyond Spurs’ recent hiccup of form, it feels difficult to justify a lot of the negativity that has surrounded Parker’s performances. Out of the 20 games he’s featured in for the Lilywhites this season, the England man has only played on the loosing side four times, with three of those losses coming in the last three games. Certainly, if he has been struggling to replicate the form of last term, it’s hardly had a detrimental effect upon the results.
But while Tottenham have hardly been floundering with Scott Parker in the side, they’ve not often felt like they’ve flourished in his presence, either.
It would be cruel to proportion the weight of Spurs’ often-jagged performances in recent months solely on Parker’s shoulders, although you can’t help but feel that he serves to represent a motif of the side’s collective inability to sustain any real rhythm to their play.
Should Spurs claw their way to Champions League qualification this season, supporters aren’t likely to worry too much about how they got there; just as long as they do. But despite going on a 12 game unbeaten run, while Villas-Boas’ side played some great football in patches, it was hardly a sustained free-flowing exhibition of attacking football.
In the games against Norwich City, Newcastle United and especially the two legs against Lyon in the Europa League to name but a few, Spurs managed to avoid defeat, but they certainly didn’t make life easy for themselves. The result has ultimately always been ground out, but at times Villas-Boas’ side have rarely managed to hit the high gears for more than a 10 or 15-minute spell.
And perhaps few have tended to look quite as laboured as Parker has done within the side, when things haven’t necessarily been free-flowing.
Some will point to the fact that the usual barometer for a good Parker performance last season was when you barely heard his name mentioned at all, as he mopped up loose ends and went about his business both quietly and efficiently. This season however, while he’s still performed that role well, the remit for his midfield play has encompassed a slightly larger scope under Villas-Boas.
The anchor midfield pairing in the Villas-Boas system requires an awful lot more dynamism and interchangeability than the relatively singular role Parker was asked to play alongside Luka Modric last term.
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Where as last season, the England man was given the sole task of sitting and sweeping up, this time around, he’s had to offer a presence in the final third for the first time in his Spurs career. When Mousa Dembele sits, Parker has to move forward and consequently, he’s often looked painfully exposed when approaching the edge of the penalty area.
So is Scott Parker really a fading force or more an unfortunate victim of accelerated change? Whichever way you look at it, the role he’s being asked to play by Villas-Boas hasn’t made it easy for him to stand out in this team.
Yet on the other side of the coin, while he has tended to look like an awkward component in the Tottenham machine, the core attributes of his game have still remained a priceless asset in the newly found steel the side have developed in recent games. Calls from some supporters to drop Parker’s industry for the technical excellence of young Tom Carroll aren’t without gravitas, but as we’ve seen so often throughout the 32-year-old’s career, subtracting his skillset from your side often tends to do more harm than good.
Having had both Sandro and Scott Parker plying their trade in this Andre Villas-Boas system, there can be simply no arguments that the Brazilian remains the better fit and perhaps the overall better player. But with Sandro out the picture following injury, regardless of his limitations in the Portuguese’s system, Parker has done an admirable job within the starting XI. A long term option he may not be, but over the next eight league games, he still has a massive part to play.
The recent publication of this year’s Deloitte Football Money League review was hardly met with untold worry by Tottenham Hotspur fans, but the news that the club had posted an overall loss in revenue would have certainly provoked a universal grunt of frustration.
You don’t need to have anything in the way of an economics degree to figure out why the club’s total revenue took a £19.3million hit during the 2011/12 season, with the glaring absence of Champions League football proving an inescapable demon for all connected with the club.
The frustration on missing out on another chance to dine on Europe’s most exclusive table was always going to hit the club’s bank balance as much as it left its supporters dreadfully disappointed. The doors that Champions League football opens in terms of both financial luxury and player recruitment hardly need preaching to a set of supporters who are reminded almost daily about its merits.
But it was within another statistic within Deloitte’s annual review that bears a similar level of perpetual frustration, yet an even more harmful word of caution to their long-term financial prospects.
Deloitte’s description of ‘capacity constraints at White Hart Lane’ might serve to do Spurs’ hallowed old ground something of a disservice, but as is always the case when the Football Money League is wheeled out, a glance down the road to fierce North London rivals usually tends to bring a brutal sense of perspective.
Because although a £20.6million disparity in broadcasting income between Spurs and Arsenal can be accounted for amongst their failure to gain Champions League qualification, a staggering £54.1million difference in their matchday income, most certainly cannot.
It’s the elephant that’s been in the room for several years now in North London and after what feels like a lifetime of struggles to get their long-awaited Northumberland Development Project off the ground, talk of the new White Hart Lane has a touch of the taboos about it.
Not because fans harness anything in the way of anger towards the project; most supporters are well aware of the delicate need to attain naming rights before phase two of the development (the stadium itself) can even begin to be thought of as a reality. Yet with there being no immediate news in sight from a club who continue tend to give very little-away in regards to stadium developments, some have felt it easier to simply just put it to the back of their minds.
Although for however far your head may have been in the sand in regards to Spurs’ stadia-based woes, this latest round of financial figures should leave you with little doubt as to quite how important attaining an increased capacity stadium is to the club’s future.
Because while they might be on the same plateau of competition with Arsenal in the Premier League this season, financially, the Gunners are in a different postcode. And regardless of whether Andre Villas-Boas’ side achieve their target of qualifying for the Champions League this season, without the eventual development of White Hart Lane or the less-likely arrival of a sugar-daddy in N17, that fight to attain elite European football may become unsustainable.
There is a school of thought amongst some sections of fans that following their Uefa Champions League adventure during the 2010-11 season, that chairman Daniel Levy was hiding a nice chunk of money behind the White Hart Lane sofa for him and ENIC head-honcho Joe Lewis to sit upon.
Yet for all the lavish financial gains that their run to the quarterfinals brought to the club, it also brought its fair share of financial pain as well, primarily to the tune of a 36% increase in their wage bill from £67million to £91million. If you consider that the total of Spurs’ additional revenue as a result of their Champions League run was estimated to sit at around £37million, the hit they took in wages hardly equates to peanuts.
Should Tottenham qualify for the Champions League again next year, they will of course be able to look forward to a similar slew of riches that will fall their way, although those expecting a change in attitude from Levy towards a summer of excess on transfer fees and wages are likely to yet again feel disappointed.
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The supporters know better than anyone just how volatile qualification for the Champions League may be. Some will argue that you have to speculate to accumulate and show ambition to get there in the first place. Although it’s worth noting that Chelsea harness a £170million wage bill and still finished outside the top-four last year.
Of course, they still eventually qualified for the competition. Although should that hypothetically happen to Spurs next season after splashing out on couple of big money transfers tied down to £100,000-a-week contracts, they haven’t got a Russian billionaire to balance out the books when the Champions League party reneges for another season. The point is here that while Champions League football is absolutely vital to the club in both the long and short term, it doesn’t represent a secure means of income of which to finance the sort of financial boost the club needs to take them to the next level.
As the club have proved in recent years, you don’t need a relatively gargantuan wage bill to compete for a top-four finish, yet as they continue to loose financial ground to their rivals, it’s going to become increasingly difficult to do so. Qualifying for the Champions League this season would be a massive stepping-stone en route to further success both on and off the pitch. But without securing the funding for a new stadium, the chances are their Champions League pushes are likely to become fewer and further between.
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Nobody knows when the term “world class” crept into the language of sport – or who first qualified for the distinction – but I imagine it must have been more than 50 years ago, coinciding with developments in football that made it truly international. It is a description used so often and so loosely today that if the author still lives he may feel a burden of responsibility for corrupting the minds of sports followers.
A friend of mine suggested that “world class” is a rating often heard as a basis for negotiation. “People use it all the time,” he said, “and I wonder how they arrive at the assessment. Surely, to argue that anyone or anything is world class is purely a matter of opinion and has no definable substance.”
This brought to mind remarks once passed by Sir Alex Ferguson shortly before the start of a Premiership season which are no less appropriate as another campaign has just begun. Manchester United’s manager recalled being at Hampden Park, Glasgow, in 1960 when 135,000 spectators, the great majority Scots, hailed the thrilling virtuosity displayed by Real Madrid when overwhelming Eintracht Frankfurt 7-3 to secure a fifth successive European Cup. In the context of that enthralling performance, Ferguson addressed the issue of greatness. “The description ‘world class’ can only be justified if a player has had success in World Cups,” he said.
This is one way of determining the completeness of a footballer, but is inevitably flawed. It would, for example, rule out one of Ferguson’s all-time favourites, Eric Cantona, who never took part in the World Cup finals for France, and Ryan Giggs who has yet to enjoy the experience with Wales. It also disqualifies George Best, who was unfortunately denied an appearance on the ultimate football stage, which may help to explain why his career went into rapid decline when Manchester United’s European Cup-winning team of 1968 broke up.
You can go on and on like this. In golf, I suppose, the clearest, most obvious way of electing a player to world class is to go for those with major championships to their names. A number of cricketers stand out as much for their presence as statistical evidence. All the gold medallists at next month’s Olympics in Athens will be accorded world class status, although there are examples in history of outstanding athletes who, for one reason or another, didn’t come through on the day. When there were only eight weight divisions, world class status in boxing was clearly defined. Now there is such a proliferation of world titles that the term has no real meaning.
At some point in last week’s informal debate in the pub, I introduced a list of footballers held for some time in my head and acceptable to managers, past and present as irrefutably world class. It includes, of course, Pele and Diego Maradona, who were jointly honoured by Fifa as the outstanding players of the 20th century. In no order of preference, there are seven others – Alfredo di Stefano, Best, John Charles, Ferenc Puskas, Johan Cruyff, Franz Beckenbauer and, the most recent entry, Zinedine Zidane. By their towering standards others are judged.
We hear and read so much about the supposed scale of excellence in modern football that it might not be a bad idea at this stage of proceedings to suggest that things are not necessarily a great deal better than they were and that people should not be deceived into thinking otherwise. Nobody is obliged to share this point of view, but whenever questions crop up about greatness in football, some of us keep seeing faces from the past.
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Interestingly, of the players mentioned above (plenty of others come close) only three, Pele, Maradona and Beckenbauer, managed to become World Cup winners. Puskas (1954) and Cruyff (1974) appeared in a World Cup final but ended up on the losing side. Di Stefano, once described by Sir Matt Busby as the best player he had ever seen (“Magnificent. The complete footballer”) and Charles, who was rated the most valuable player in Europe when he appeared for Wales in the 1958 finals, were denied the ultimate stage. More recently, the hotly-debated enigma of Lionel Messi has also struggled to win trophies on the international stage, yet has been hugely successful at Barcelona.
Doubtless, any number of players operating in the Premier League this coming season will be rated world class. It depends, of course, on how you look at things; curious how often that consideration crops up.
Having shipped fifty goals in the Premier League last season, Brendan Rodgers is understandably in the market for defensive reinforcements this summer. Along with Alberto Moreno and Ricardo Rodriguez, Rojo is another name that has consistently been linked with Liverpool over the last month. The 24 year old netted the winner against Nigeria in the final group fixture and is expected to start against Switzerland this afternoon.
The Argentine made the move to Spartak Moscow in 2011 but evidently struggled to settle, moving on to Sporting Lisbon after just one season. However, the left back has thrived in Portugal and as well as impressing Liverpool’s scouts, the 24 year old is reportedly attracting attention from the likes of Barcelona and Juventus.
Predominantly a full back, Rojo has deputised centrally for large portions of this season. The 24 year old was a key component of a defence which only conceded 20 goals in the Primeira Liga. Standing at 6’1″, the Argentine uses his physicality to contest for the ball and unsettle his opponents. In possession, the 24 year old remains composed even in tight situations. Having netted four times in the league last season, the defender also clearly poses an offensive threat from set pieces.
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However, although he was deputising in central defence for large periods, the failure to record an assist in the Primeira Liga suggests a potential deficiency in the full back’s offensive play. As ludicrous as it sounds, the Argentine may be deemed somwehat too conservative for a modern full back. In Rodgers’ attack-minded Liverpool side, the manager would expect Rojo to contribute much more in the final third.
If the reports are to be believed, Moreno is Liverpool’s preferred target but the Reds’ are baulking at Sevilla’s £20 million valuation. With Sporting willing to accept a fee around the £10 million mark, Rojo provides a much cheaper versatile alternative to the Spaniard. The Argentine would provide a strong presence in the Liverpool backline but concerns remain as to whether he possesses the required attributes to succeed offensively in Rodgers’ attack-minded formations.
Fulham boss Martin Jol has claimed that he believes Brede Hangeland will sign the new deal that he has been offered and that he is happy at the West London club.
Hangeland’s current deal is set to expire at the end of the season and Fulham fans may be fearful of losing their key defender, but the manager has put their fears to bed.
The Norwegian giant has been a rock for the Whites since arriving at the club from Scandinavia and big clubs’ interest in the past has been quickly dismissed so a long term stay at Craven Cottage may be in store.
Jol has confirmed that talks have been on-going to tie Hangeland down to a new deal and he is hopeful of finding out the outcome after Fulham’s clash with Newcastle on Monday night, where Hangeland returns from suspension.
While Jol is confident the extension will be signed, he maintains that it is still all up to the player.
“It only depends on a decision so if Brede says yes it is okay,” Jol told Sky Sports.
“If he says no, then we have to wait, talk and negotiate.
“I will ask Alistair [Mackintosh, chief executive officer] what the situation is after the game again.
“I am confident he will sign because he loves it here. He is a Fulham player.
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“We took him from Scandinavia and I think he loves it here and we offered him a good contract.”
Calm is the operative word at the Emirates Stadium nowadays. Such has been the Gunners’ excellent start to the season that the naysayers who wrote them off as title contenders before a ball had even been kicked are now picking humble pie out of their teeth. Arsene Wenger has ridden an almighty storm in the wake of Robin Van Persie’s acrimonious departure and came out unscathed to steer his side through August and three quarters of September unbeaten and playing an attractive brand of football that became synonymous with the club during the Invincible’s era. Wenger has even gone out on a limb to stress that his current squad is far more well rounded than the one that navigated an entire Premier League season without incurring a single defeat. Another milestone was achieved in mid-week as Oliver Giroud finally opened his goalscoring account, albeit against lower league opposition, with many expecting the floodgates to open for the Frenchman. For Wenger the objective now is to ensure his players remain grounded and focused on their objectives for the campaign.
This week on FFC are the Gunners a more resilient unit than in previous years and would this Spanish star suit a move to the Premier League?
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Shareholders Letter – Ivan Gazidis talks Arsenal financials – Le Grove
Iron out the little problems Arsene….. – Highbury House
Russia Captain Rumour Has Premier League Big 4 On Red Alert – Transfer Tavern
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Quote of the Week
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“We want to spend our money in the right way. We are not scared to spend the money. With some clubs we can’t compete on certain players – and for the rest, we only want to bring in players who add something to our squad and give a chance as well to the young players we have. We have good players, because to buy one more, we have to get one out.” Arsene Wenger says he is not afraid to splash the cash at Arsenal if necessary
A host of Premier League clubs are interested in signing Yoan Gouffran from Bordeaux, The Metro reports.
Gouffran has endured a difficult time at the Stade Chaban Delmas, scoring just 24 goals in 150 appearances since arriving from Caen in 2008.
The 26-year-old is in the last year of his contract at the club and has already made it clear that he will not sign a new deal, meaning he could be available for just £3million in the January transfer window.
Everton were reportedly interested in signing the player back in August, but it is understood they were put off by the French side’s £5million asking price- although news of a lower price-tag is likely to attract the attention of David Moyes.
Liverpool are also keen on the former France Under-21 international, with both clubs seemingly happy to sign him on a free transfer next summer when Gouffran’s contract expires.
Brendan Rodgers in particular will see the player’s versatility as a real asset, as Gouffran can play on either wing or at wing-back.
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The likelihood of a move to Anfield is increased by the Frenchman’s long-term admiration for the red half of Merseyside.
Newcastle could express interest in Gouffran if Demba Ba decides to leave Tyneside, with his agent not ruling out a move away in the near future.
Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers could be forgiven for already counting the days until the January transfer window opens after his side’s reliance on youth in the early stages of this season and the somewhat threadbare nature of his first-team squad, but with resources tight, where will he need to focus his attentions the most?
The 39-year-old has spoken of ‘operational issues’ hindering him in the past, with a clear and knowing nod to the way that the club managed to somehow let Andy Carroll leave on loan in the final few days of the transfer window without a guaranteed replacement lined-up, with Ian Ayre unable to negotiate successfully for either Daniel Sturridge or Clint Dempsey.
Indeed, Rodgers has even spoken this week about the need for reinvestment when the earliest opportunity presents itself, telling TheDaily Mail: “There are still areas we want to reinforce — and we have to reinforce as soon as we can. Our best team are comparable to any team in the Premier League. But we’re a very thin squad and we are having to challenge on a lot of fronts. I’ve had good conversations with the owners and they understand where we are at as a team.”
In light of Fabio Borini’s recent fractured foot injury that he suffered while on international duty with Italy’s U-21 side, it only served to compound their transfer failings in recent times, despite the lack of clarity over whether he is best utilised in a wide or central role. As a result, Rodgers looks extremely short on numbers up top, with the burden now falling even heavier on Luis Suarez to perform and provide a consistent stream of goals.
The only other options available aside from the controversial Uruguayan are youth-team players Samed Yesil, Adam Morgan and Daniel Pacheco and none of them can be relied upon to provide ample support to Suarez just yet, with Pacheco in particular in danger of missing the boat completely in terms of his ability to be a relied upon member of the squad.
It becomes clear that despite the midfield weighing in well with their fair share of goals so far, that Liverpool are going to require first and foremost another striker in the transfer window, with Demba Ba and Gary Hooper the latest names rather understandably linked with a move to Anfield in recent days. No other position in the squad offers the same paucity of options and dearth of recognised and established talent and Rodgers may even exercise the call-back option on Carroll’s loan move to West Ham if nothing else materialises.
In midfield, the likes of Gerrard, Sahin, Allen, Henderson, Shelvey and Lucas when he returns from injury provides a more than healthy competition for places, with each player showing a run of form at some point this season and even with the side playing three in the middle of the park, the squad would seem to be well set there.
Next up on the agenda may be another winger and while talk of moving for someone such as Cristian Eriksen may be fanciful at this point, it’s clear that Stewart Downing’s future is in doubt at the moment after a very public falling-out with Rodgers and Sterling and Suso, by virtue of their age and inexperience, along with Assaidi in his first year in England, are going to require some support further down the line.
The recent links to Angelo Ogbonna and Diego Lugano are also completely understandable, with Daniel Agger playing injured at the moment and the jury still out on whether Jamie Carragher can force his way into Rodgers Premier League plans. Quite where this leaves Danny Wilson at the moment remains to be seen, but the presence of the burly Micah Richards mark 2 that is Andre Wisdom means that this can be seen as less urgent for the time being at least.
Finally, Jack Robinson’s run-outs at full-back in the Europa League so far this season have been hugely promising, as has Wisdom’s elevation into the first-team, with Glen Johnson a versatile option, but Jose Enrique’s slump has now become the norm and he could be moved on if a replacement is found, while Martin Kelly is still a long-term casualty.
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Liverpool’s squad is full of promise and potential for the future but there’s a suspicion that just a few more injuries during the busy festive period, where the fixtures pile up every year, could leave Rodgers extremely short in several key areas, namely up front and out wide, while more depth at full-back would also be understandable. With the side still competing on four fronts, proven experience is the order of the hour, but whether he’ll be given the budget to bring the quality that’s required into the club is another matter entirely.
Realistically, who would you like to see Brendan Rodgers bring into the club in January? In your opinion, where do Liverpool need to strengthen most?