Liverpool Analysis

Of all the teams in the Premier League, Liverpool must be the most disappointing. Two seasons ago they were my second favourite club to watch (Chelsea again being my favourite, particularly under Hiddink) but last season they were simply woeful.

This season the club have a new manager and things are looking as if they may well improve, though I am less convinced than many. For me, there are just so many problems, the squad seems to lack cohesion.

Here is the first team squad according the the site

Diego Cavaliera (GK)

Glen Johnson (DF)

Alberto Aquilani (MF)

Daniel Agger (DF)

Fabio Aurelio (DF)

Steven Gerrard (MF)

Fernando Torres (FW)

Joe Cole (FW)

Daniel Pacheco (FW)

Milan Jovanovic (FW)

Sotirios Kyrgiakos (DF)

Maxi Rodriguez (MF)

Dirk Kuyt (FW)

Ryan Babel (FW)

Javier Macherano (MF)

Lucas (MF)

Danny Wilson (DF)

Jamie Carragher (DF)

David N'Gog (FW)

Pepe Reina (GK)

Jay Spearing (MF)

Christian Poulsen (MF)

Krisztian Nemeth (FW)

Charles Itandje (GK)

Nabil El Zhar (MF)

Stephen Darby (DF)

Jonjo Shelvey (MF)

Martin Kelly (DF)

Stephen Irwin (DF)

Martin Skrtel (DF)

Lauri Dalla Valle (FW)

Nathan Ecclestone (FW)

Daniel Ayala (DF)

Martin Hansen (GK)

Peter Gulacsi (GK)

Dean Bousanis (GK)

Victor Palsson (MF)

Thomas Ince (MF)

David Amoo (MF)

Gerardo Bruna (MF)

Jack Robinson (DF)

Emiliano Insua (DF)

Brad Jones (GK)

Damien Plessis (MF)

That is 44 players. That's a very big squad and to be honest, I haven't even heard of half of those guys. But it seems as if this squad just doesn't have any direction, particularly if you consider there are seven goalkeepers.

To be honest, I don't really want to comment on Liverpool at the moment, simply because we don't know what direction the club will take with the new management. There are some positions which seem to be sorted, like the holding midfield position. Macherano and Poulsen are both excellent players, and having cover in that position is imperative for a team competing in multiple competitions.

At the same time, there are other positions which are over populated, like the attacking midfield position. Gerrard, Joe Cole and Aquilani seems too much, and then in a central midfield / deeper lying playmaking position there is no one.

The real question will be how Hogson decides to line the team up. At Fulham he played a 4-4-1-1 but the Liverpool setup was based on a 4-2-3-1 with Gerrard behind Torres. How he will fit the two together, we shall have to wait and see, but here's how I'd set it all up.