Liverpool concluded their pre-season tour of the Far East yesterday after securing a 1-1 draw with a Malaysian XI and while that particular result wasn’t the best, the Reds can look back on their preparations favourably with the tour ultimately proving a success.
Jordon Ibe scored a thundeerbolt yesterday serving to suggest that he may be able to step up in Raheem Sterling’s absence and elsewhere for the Reds, the likes of Danny Ings and Divock Origi enjoyed successful run outs.
Liverpool have been busier than most sides this summer swooping to sign James Milner, Danny Ings, Adam Bogdan, Nathaniel Clyne, Roberto Firmino and most recently Christian Benteke so our resident Reds fans have been glued to Sky Sports News on our projector all summer long.
While new big name signings such as these are exciting of course, Brendan Rodgers will now have the task of gelling them into a successful unit and having failed with the likes of Lazar Markovic and Mario Balotelli last term, there will be more pressure this time around.
Nevertheless, Rodgers’ signings appear far more sensible on paper this time and in Benteke, they’ve just landed an absolute brute of a forward who has already proved he has what it takes to succeed in English football.
The question remains whether Liverpool will play to his strengths and with only time telling whether they will, we’ve taken this moment to devise what we believe to be the Reds’ strongest eleven with everybody fit.
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Click on the image below to reveal what we believe to be the best starting XI Liverpool can field under Brendan Rodgers next season.
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Simon Mignolet
You may forget that Liverpool did actually bring in a goalkeeper this summer in Adam Bogdan who arrived from Bolton Wanderers but we don’t expect to be the number one barring another fall from grace for Simon Mignolet.
The Hungarian international is expected to be effectively Brad Jones’ replacement as number two but as we’ve seen from Mignolet last term, he can be prone to lapses in concentration and subsequent errors.
In fairness to Mignolet, he turned his form around at the mid-point of the season and if Liverpool fans see his early season form of 2013/14 again, it’ll be too soon.
Nathaniel Clyne
One Liverpool signing who is expected to take to life at Anfield like a duck to water is Nathaniel Clyne who has been a standout player for Southampton in recent seasons.
Attacking with flair from right back while not forgetting his defensive duties, Clyne has got steadily better and is now a fixture in Roy Hodgson’s international plans with England.
Brought to Merseyside for just £12.5 million this summer, given transfer fees are spiralling out of control in football, this looks like very good business on the face of it.
And lets be honest, he can’t do much worse than Rickie Lambert and Dejan Lovren can he?
Martin Skrtel
Liverpool’s best defender on their books right now is probably Martin Skrtel and he will again be entrusted with protecting the Reds’ back four after signing a new deal earlier this summer.
The big Slovakian is always up for a battle, notably with Chelsea’s Diego Costa and his rugged style has proved a hit with Liverpool fans in seasons gone by.
Not faultless by any regard, Skrtel can still have off days but when he’s performing to the peak of his powers, he’s an extremely capable defender.
Mamadou Sakho
The 2015/16 season will be a big one for Mamadou Sakho with the former Paris Saint-Germain defender harbouring ambitions to break into Didier Deschamps’ plans for France ahead of Euro 2016 which will be taking place next summer.
Battling it out with the likes of Raphael Varane, Laurent Koscielny and Eliaquim Mangala, Sakho needs to get into Brendan Rodgers’ starting eleven on a consistent basis while producing his best performances.
Rated ever so highly in his time spent at the Parc Des Princes, Sakho has done an ok job at Anfield so far but he’ll have to get better.
With Kolo Toure and Dejan Lovren representing the other options in the position, we think Sakho has what it takes to get ahead of that pair long-term.
Alberto Moreno
Alberto Moreno’s standout moment in a Liverpool shirt in his debut season was his fine marauding run down the left flank away at Tottenham before slotting the ball home past the hapless Hugo Lloris as the picture above shows.
More than adept at bombing on down the left, Moreno has plenty of attacking prowess in addition to being a fairly resilient defender.
One of Rodgers’ better purchases of last summer, Moreno will need to continually improve in order to convince Reds fans he’s the man to take the left back slot for the foreseeable future with Jose Enrique having been retained in Rodgers’ plans.
Lucas Leiva
We could’ve easily selected Emre Can for this position but we’ve gone with Brazilian Lucas Leiva who is something of a Premier League veteran now having chalked up just shy of 200 appearances in the English top flight.
Liverpool’s win percentage is significantly higher when Lucas Leiva is playing and although he doesn’t often stand out, he’s one of those underrated pros that any successful team needs in their squad.
Simply concentrating on breaking up opposition attacks and feeding those in front of him, Lucas completes an important job for the Reds and given his experience, this is why we’ve gone with him over Can on this occasion.
Jordan Henderson
Liverpool fans; what’s missing from the photograph above?
A captain’s armband that’s what. From this season forth, Jordan Henderson will be Liverpool’s full captain after Steven Gerrard’s departure to LA Galaxy and in fairness, the former Sunderland man relished in the role when given the armband last term.
Taking on much more responsibility nowadays, Henderson has improved in a way similar to Aaron Ramsey at Arsenal after a slow start to life at Anfield.
Now getting more goals into his game, Henderson’s energy levels are the attribute that’s often praised when talking about the England international.
He’ll be dead set on continually improving to convince Reds fans that he is indeed Champions League class.
James Milner
Liverpool’s first signing of the summer, James Milner will probably come out of the 2015/16 season as one of Brendan Rodgers’ best purchases.
The simple matter of fact is that you know what you’re going to get out of Milner – committed displays and a hard work ethic that Liverpool fans will love.
Playing primarily on the wing in his time spent at Manchester City, expect Milner to be utilised back in his favoured central midfield berth when he can dictate the play while getting stuck in at the same time.
Roberto Firmino
Liverpool’s most exciting summer signing perhaps, the Reds broke the bank to make Roberto Firmino their now third most expensive purchase ever at £29 million behind both Andy Carroll and Christian Benteke.
Arriving from German football and Hoffenheim of course, Firmino boasted an incredible assisting record in that division and given he can play as an attacking midfielder and also a forward, he’ll give Brendan Rodgers something different to think about.
Effectively brought in as a replacement for Raheem Sterling, Firmino will also now be able to link up with Brazilian international compatriot Philippe Coutinho and this is a combo Liverpool fans will be hoping is as good as cheese and chips!
Philippe Coutinho
The go-to man when it comes to sparking Liverpool attacks, Philippe Coutinho took his form to new levels in 2014/15 and following Luis Suarez’s departure, it seems even more importance has been placed upon the Brazilian’s attacking play.
Capable of scoring sublime strikes as well as threading through those eye of the needle passes, everything Coutinho does is intricate and at times, simply brilliant.
A bargain buy from Inter Milan for just £8.5 million a few transfer windows back, we wonder what the Brazilian would be worth now in the current climate?
Christian Benteke
Liverpool’s latest big name purchase is Christian Benteke who has arrived from Aston Villa as Liverpool’s second most expensive signing at £32.5 million.
Reinvesting the £49 million they received from Manchester City for Raheem Sterling right away, most Reds fans are happy about the signing of the Belgian international but others are still wary that they won’t play to the big man’s strengths.
A lover of crosses given his aerial ability, there will be an onus on both Nathaniel Clyne and Alberto Moreno to bomb on while providing Benteke the service he thrives upon as a 6 ft something striker.
Only time will tell whether Benteke proves a hit but there’s a certain level of pressure on his shoulders given Daniel Sturridge’s injury record and Mario Balotelli having been a disaster of a striker so far.
