Just when it seemed like we are getting into some sort of form and we have gotten all our players fit again, news hits us that Glen Johnson suffered a medial ligament injury to his right knee during the win against Aston Villa.

Now this is not good news at all as Glen could easily be out for up to 3 months. He is going to see a specialist who will determine exactly how long Glen will be out for. It is always tricky with these type of injuries as they can rule a player out for just a week or two or they can be long term.

Glen has received quite a lot of stick from the fans over the last couple of weeks as he scored an own goal against Arsenal and was at fault against Portsmouth. Let has not hide the fact that Glen has some defensive problems but he is a gem when going forward.

The question now is: Who is going to take over at right back if Glen is out for a long time? The obvious candidate is Jamie Carragher. Rafa could move Carra to right back and then partner Skrtel and Agger in the middle. Jamie is not a fan of playing at right back but he has filled in already there this season. I am not a fan of Jamie at right back as he simply does not have the pace to play in that position anymore. That leaves us with Degen and Darby. I am not a fan of Degen at all!! I would much rather see Darby starting ahead of Degen any day. My problem with Degen is along the same lines as Johnson; he is great going forward but can not defend. Degen also has a serious injury problem; he may be fit for one game and then he gets injured and he is out for two months! If only Martin Kelly was fit, he looked great when he played at right back against Lyon this season but injury has forced him to be sidelined.

It is a great feeling to actually win! Yesterday we beat Everton 2-0 at Goodison Park. We all know we have been going through a really tough patch over the last couple of weeks but hopefully yesterdays win will spur the team on to more success as the season goes on.

They say you need a bit of luck in football to be successful and we certainly had lady luck smiling on us at Goodison Park as Mascherano took a long range shot which was deflected into the Everton goal. I am still not sure if Mascherano has been given the goal or it goes down as an own goal, but for the way Mascherano celebrated that goal, I think they should credit it to him.

The turning point of the game must have come when we were one nil up and Everton were putting on the pressure and then Pepe Reina came up with two amazing saves! For me, those saves won us the game. If Everton had leveled it up at 1-1 we may have been in trouble.

Many people do not give Reina the credit he deserves. Yes he has made some mistakes in the past but he has made more telling saves than mistakes during his time at Liverpool. He literally won us the game yesterday but most of the plaudits will go out to the goal scorers, Mascherano and Kuyt.

It is a pity that Reina is only the second choice keeper for Spain. I believe he should be their number as Reina is the best in the business. Not only is his shot stopping brilliant but he can start off an attack with his quick awareness in releasing the ball. I would pick Reina ahead of any other keeper in the game today.

After Reina’s amazing saves yesterday we then went on to seal the game with a goal from Dirk Kuyt. 2-0 and the game was in the bag. I crossed my fingers that the scoreline could remain that way as I was desperate for us to keep a clean sheet.

We have been leaking goals this season and we have conceded the most number of goals in the Premier League from set pieces. What is wrong with our defence?

A lot of people are bringing up the Zonal marking issue again saying that it does not work. But if you recall a ‘goal’ from a corner yesterday that Everton thought they had scored but their player was offside: that showed the benefit of Zonal marking as we do not have players on the posts during corners.

But even as this season has gone, we have not changed tactics in defence as we still play Zonal marking so what has changed from being the best defensive team to being one of the worst if the tactics are the same? The simple answer has to be the personnel we have now. What has changed then? Glen Johnson has come in for Arbeloa, Carra is still there, Agger and / or Skrtel are still there and Insua has now come in ahead of Aurelio and Dossena. So where is the weak link?

Glen Johnson is not the best right back when it comes to defending so could he be the cause? Maybe, he is new to this whole system and as a player he is not too strong defensively. But then again, not too many goals we have conceded have been through his mistakes. On the other hand take a look at Insua. I have been keeping a close eye on him this season and he has made quite a number of costly mistakes. Yes he is still young but he is a full Argentina international now so he has to be the part. My biggest concern with him is that he is just too short. When it comes to defending set pieces he is of not much use to use if the ball is put high in the box (but then again he almost scored with a header yesterday against Everton). His positioning at times has also been questionable. So is Insua the weak link in our defence? I think so.

But with all the problems our back four may have, we still have what I think is the best goalkeeper in the world in Pepe Reina. So if you get past our faulty back four, you still have Reina to deal with.

Having watched our 6-1 demolition of Hull on Saturday, I was generally pleased with the result and it goes to show that we are headed in the right direction. Yes, it may only have been Hull but lets not forget that we dropped two points at home against Hull last season.

Truthfully, Hull are looking terrible compared to the way the were playing last season but it still takes a good effort to score 6 goals in the Premiership today regardless of who the opposition is.

We can not look back at this game without talking about Fernando Torres. I can not believe that there were some people questioning Torres’ ability at the beginning of the season saying that he is not that great a striker coz he is not scoring the goals. He has quickly silenced the critics by doing what he does best…scoring. His hatrick on Saturday was world class as all the goals were well taken. Now that he has run into a patch of form I just hope he remains fit coz if he does he will continue to bang in the goals.

For me the talking point I want to look at about the Hull game is the way we set out our stall during the game. Stevie G dropped back into central midfield to partner Lucas and this allowed Riera to play on the left, Yossi on the right and Torres operating upfront with Kuyt.

This was a very attack minded move by Rafa and it is clear he has learnt from his mistakes last season and he has decided to go all out and attack these smaller teams at Anfield. There is no way I can see Rafa going out with a starting lineup like that on Sunday against Chelsea. I expect to see Rafa reverting back to starting with Mascherano and Lucas in the center of the park against Chelsea and Gerrard playing behind Torres.

It may be a shock to most of us that Rafa is deciding to start with Mascherano on the bench at times this season but I am very happy with this tactic, especially when we playing at home. Mascherano does not offer us much going forward so rather have Lucas in there and pulling Gerrard back into the middle.

What are your thoughts with regards to the way Rafa is picking his team these days?

Liverpool are 2 – 0 down to Aston Villa and not looking like they can pull anything out of the hat. At that moment I think back to the line up and subs list read out before the game and try to think of anyone we have in reserve to come on and make an impact. To my dismay Reira is the only name I can pick to be a hero off the bench. The bench that day consisted of Cavalieri (GK), Ayala (CB), Kelly(CB/RB), Dossena (LB), Reira (LM), Babel (LM/S) and Voronin (AM/S).
A second glance at the bench allowed me to think back to Babel’s first season at Liverpool when he was a revelation coming off the bench and changing games. Dossena had his impact moments against Real Madrid and Man U last season with two well taken goals. Besides that we looked pretty short on the ground.

Looking at a potential starting lineup, when everyone is fit, of

Reina

Johnson Carrager Skrtel Aurelio

Mascherano

Aquilani

Kuyt Gerrard Yossi

Torres

that leaves us with a bench that looks something like:
Cavalieri
Agger
Insua
Lucas
Babel
Riera
Voronin/N’gog

After making that list I start to reconsider my optimism about our title chances this season. Is this the best we can put out? The answer is yes it is.

An objective analysis of this list reveals that there is actually significant ability, quality and potential on that bench. Ability would refer to Reira and Cavalieri, quality would refer to Agger and potential would refer to Insua and N’gog. I have intentionally left out the controversial Babel, Lucas and Voronin. I think we have debated that issue to death.

In comparison to the subs benches of our closest rivals it is easy to be critical.

Chelsea Man U Arsenal

Hilario Foster Fabianski
Alex Evans Djourou
Ivanovic O’Shea Gibbs
Ballack Anderson Nasri
Zhirkov Giggs Diaby
J. Cole Park Eboue/Wilshere
Kalou Owen Eduardo

Of our rivals it is a close call between Arsenal and Chelsea for the best bench. Chelsea can call on talented and experienced players. Arsenal has quality and pace throughout. A look at the Man U bench though doesn’t fill me with much fear. Man for man it would not rate any better than our bench. They have average players in O’Shea and Park. Anderson is much in the Lucas category of player who has to deliver now or it will be never. Then there is a dodgy keeper and a decent young centre back. On top of that they can call on Giggs and Owen. Both advanced in years but both have the ability to occasionally, or should I say rarely, produce some quality.

It is interesting to note that Chelsea and Arsenal have used two very different approaches to building their respective benches. Chelsea is able to attract and retain top quality players on their bench by paying huge transfer fees and massive salaries. They have a player in Ballack rumoured to be “earning” more than £130,000 per week and another in Zhirkov who cost in the region of £18 Million. Liverpool’s best player and captain actually earns his wage which is somewhere in the same region as Ballack’s and Rafa has been slammed throughout the media for buy a starting (and starring) right back for £17million. Arsenal has used a combination of buying exceptionally talented youngsters for big money and grooming them for their bench and starting line up. Arsene Wenger has been at Arsenal since 1996 and is only now bringing in players from the Arsenal youth structures which goes to show the time needed with this approach.

Both approaches have their merits. Chelsea can at anytime call up a player from the bench and know they are getting a proven performer. Arsenal can bring on any player from their bench confident that the player knows their system, plays to their style and is in sync with the team.

Fortunately the championship is not won by the bench. But our depth is a definite concern. Rafa’s youth recruitment drive has been on the go for a few seasons already. So far the only player to make the step up is Insua but I think we can be hopeful for the future with the likes of Nemeth, Pacheco, Plessis, Spearing and Kelly coming through. It is worth remembering how long it has taken for Arsenal to bring through young players. The beauty of the youth policy is that in a few more seasons the players who will come out of the academy and reserves will have been educated to play the football that Rafa wants. They will fit better into the system.

I’m not holding out for us to get to the point where we can pay for big talents to sit on our bench. We passed up the opportunity for Arab money a while ago. Much has been made about Liverpool’s need for a 20 goal a season striker to sit onthe bench. I simply do not believe we can afford to buy and pay a salary for such a player. Man U turned down the opportunity to buy Tevez for that very reason. In fact in the Premier League only Man City and Tottenham are able to name proven quality strikers on their benches. It’s unjustifiable unless you can count on a constant stream of new capital. We shall leave that to the Chelseas, Man Citys and Reals of this world.

So where does that leave Liverpool bid to win number 19 and end Man U’ dominance and charge towards our record number of championships?

For now we must make do with what we have. But will it be enough?

Liverpool have conceded 7 goals in the four games played so far this season. That’s an average of nearly two per game and it is something that must be concerning Rafa Benitez as it definitely concerns me as a fan. Injuries to Agger and Skrtel have not helped matters, as well as Liverpool legend Sami Hyppia moving on, but if one looks at the goals conceded by Liverpool this season only one has come from open play. Against Spurs the opening goal game from a rebound that resulted from a free-kick. Okay, we can debate whether or not a rebound from a free-kick is open play or not but I would still group it as a goal from a set piece. The second Spurs goal was directly from a corner. Against Aston Villa Liverpool conceded from a free-kick, then a corner and then a penalty. In the most recent game,the opening Bolton goal came from a corner again. Only the second Bolton goal to me is a legitimate goal from open play. Liverpool’s defensive problems can thus be narrowed down to an inability to defend set pieces. I think we can narrow this down further and say that of the set piece goals, three of them were corners. So 3 of the 7 goals conceded by Liverpool this season have been from corners. That’s a significant statistic and one that merits closer scrutint.

Generally speaking, if a defensive system is proving not to work it is either the result of the players failing to execute the defensive pattern effectively, or the system itself being defective. Liverpool uses a zonal marking system when it comes to corners. I am not a coach or a tactician, so my explanation and understanding of what a zonal system is will be rudimentary. But from what I know, this means that come a corner, the players within the defensive pattern are responsible for certain areas or zones within the penalty area. Any opposition player or ball that is in a Liverpool player’s zone must be picked up or cleared by that player. 3 different teams have found a way to break through this defensive system however and we need to ask ourselves why? Is it because the Liverpool players are just not executing the defensive plan properly or is it that zonal marking for corners is fundamentally flawed?

I am of the view that zonal marking within the penalty area is defensive suicide. An opposing player with good movement can drift from one zone to the other and cause confusion amongst the defenders. In the penalty box, that half a second where that man is free can result in a shot on target and quite possibly a goal. The problem is that the defenders cannot abandon their zone in an attempt to “track” their man because that would result in that particular zone being completely open to attack by another opposing player. So when an opposing player moves into another zone, one defender must move towards this player and pick him up while the other defender makes his way back to his zone of responsibility. It means that for a very brief period of time, the attacking player is completely unmarked. Outside the penalty area a zonal system works because in that short amount of time when an attacking player moves from one zone to another zone and is ‘free’, even if he does receive the ball he will be too far out from goal to pose any sort of threat. Now in my example I used the movement of one man; imagine the sort of strain the defensive system is put under where you have three or four runners making pre-planned runs; including sending two or three players into the same zone? Spurs, Villa and Bolton have all figured out that Liverpool’s defense of the corners leaves a lot to be desired, and I fear that if the system is not changed Liverpool will end up dropping more points because of conceding at corners.

It is an old philosophy but I think it is one that is sound. If the opposing players are in the penalty area, zonal system goes out the window and it is simple man to man marking. It is extremely difficult to get a shot accurately on target when there is someone leaning into you or about to put in a meaty challenge. Rafa swears by zonal marking but I think he may have missed a trick here.

It is mornings like this that I hate. I went to bed very angry last night following our 3-1 loss at home to Aston Villa. I have woken up this morning thinking that I am okay and I am over the result but I am lying to myself. It still hurts big time. Where did it all go wrong last night? Everywhere I think!

Going into the match, I was positive that we were going to win following our performance against Stoke and the fact that Villa have started the season off poorly. Where I saw us winning the game was in central midfield as Villa looked very thin there going into the game. They have not been helped by the loss of Gareth Barry. Then when I saw their team sheet and saw that John Carew was not starting or even on the bench, I relaxed into my sofa and expected to see a win for us.

We should have scored very early on in the game when Torres, Benayoun and Gerrard all had an opportunity. That early goal would have just calmed the nerves and we would have probably gone on to score three or four. But the longer the game went and we failed to find the back of the net, the more frustrated the players got. And to make it worse Villa then scored or should I say Lucas scored.

For me, Lucas should be sold or loaned out or sent to the reserves!!! I have never had much faith in this guy and I gave him the benefit of the doubt and thought he should have a chance but last night he did NOTHING for us besides score an own goal. The own goal aside; just in general play, Lucas offered us NOTHING. What is this guy doing in the starting lineup? What really pissed me off was that there were times Mascherano was playing ahead of Lucas. I am sure this was not a tactic by Rafa but rather Mascherano seeing that Lucas is doing nothing going forward so I may as well do it myself.

When Lucas did get the ball, he did not look for a pass going forward but rather looked to spray the passes back or laterally. No forward momentum from Lucas at all. No forward runs by him into the box. So I ask yet again, “What is the guy doing in the team?” MoKo has defended Lucas in the past but I wonder how he will feel today after seeing Lucas’ game last night.

We can not shoulder all the blame on Lucas but I will shoulder 90% of it on him! The other 10% will be split up: Gerrrard had one of his worst games ever last night and he simply did not seem on song. Torres too was not at his best. Even though he got our only goal, he is still far from living up to his tag as the worlds best striker. I would shoulder 2% of the blame of those two and the rest will go to VORONIN and BABEL!!

These two only came on as second half subs but what piss poor games they had. I don’t think Voronin even knew where he was for the time he was on the field. As for Babel he came on and was meant to look lively but all he did was take long range shots at goal which never found the target. Two other players I would sell within a minute if ever I was incharge at Liverpool.

I may be writing this post out of frustration and I may be sounding too harsh or critical but I am pissed off. It hurts me everytime I see Liverpool loose. And now we are already 6 points off the pace. Some will say it is still too early but 6 points behind is 6 points behind and that is a FACT. We need to seriously knuckle down and make a plan going forward.

As drastic as this may sound but we need to do it until Aquilani gets fit: Stevie needs to come back and play in central midfield in place of Lucas. Then we put Benayoun in the hole behind Torres and then Riera wide on the left. This will give us a bit more structure and control in the midfield. For the sake of the team, Stevie needs to come back into central midfield right now, because the longer we keep Lucas there, the more trouble we are going to be in!

YNWA

Looks like we are going to have to replace two if not three key players this summer!

Alonso will now join the Madrid globetrotters who only need Ribery to magically appear now and they will have a full set of the galactico’s that Perez set out for when he became President. Rafa wanted £30m + for Alonso but now will only get around £27.5m ish if you believe the papers…….or is that the amount that we would have got anyway? Look at it this way, once Alonso handed in his written transfer request that removes his loyalty bonus from the transfer, this equates to around £1m. Also the transfer will presumably go through in August 2009, it is now over the five year period since he arrived at Liverpool and we will not have to pay Real Sociedad 10% of the selling on fee, Say £3m.

In total that’s £4m, meaning that by my accounts we are up £1.25m – shrewd business by Rafa, but we would all rather have Alonso on the team sheet!

But now the big question, who to replace Alonso? It is easier to replace a water carrier than a lock pick, that’s why they are a rare and expensive commodity. There will be fans out there that will say that we need to give Lucas a chance to prove his worth. There is no doubt that he has the ability, just look at his record at Brazil under 20’s and also for Gremio. Lucas even became the youngest player to ever to receive Placar magazine’s Bola de Ouro (Golden Ball), given to the best player in the Campeonato Brasileiro — an honour previously won by the likes of Zico, Falcão, Careca, Alex, Romario, Kaká and Tevez. But do we risk our season on this? Ron previously posted in a letter to Lucas to prove he is all that he can be and I think Rafa will maybe give him 20+ starts over all the games of the season.

If I was in Rafa’s shoes I would want to bring in someone and that person would be Christian Poulsen of Juventus and Denmark.

Poulsen signed on a Bosman last year from Seville and has had a terrible time in Italy and this summer has been linked with various mid premiership clubs, Fulham being in the public but could not match his wage demands. Poulsen is in the same Alonso mould and it was that same role that he played successfully for Seville during the Ramos era were they successfully won the UEFA cup back to back along with the Super cup and the Spanish version of the FA cup, so he has more than enough big game experience. Settling in won’t be a problem as Danish team mate Agger is already here and he speaks English competently. Juventus want to sell as they have just signed the Brazilian Melio for that role and if Fulham have bidded and it has been accepted as they discussed terms, then the fee must be in the region of £3m - £7m max, and wages wouldn’t be an issue as Alonso’s previous pay packet would cover that!

So what’s the catch I hear you say, discipline! – He has a reputation for losing his cool, see the link to his Wikipedia page http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_Poulsen . The last time he lost his cool he punched Swedish Striker Marcus Rosenberg in the Stomach!

So Poulsen for Alonso, who’s next to replace………..Sami Hyypia?

Sami left after 10 wonderful years at Liverpool, but so far this summer there has not been much talk about replacing him until today. If you believe them then Rafa is trying to bring in more English players, Mike Turner of Hull being one of them. Maybe a surprise target for some of you but personally he is Hulls version of a certain Jamie Carragher, and we would all love a team of Carragher’s!

Turner would make a solid squad addition to the team and under Carragher’s stewardship would make a fine centre half for many years to come. He is certainly in the mould of Carragher, loyal and committed having played for Hull at every level of the league and did not look out of place last year in the premiership – I feel that this would be a strong signing for Rafa as it would be in the region of £5-7m

And what of the one that hasn’t got away yet – Mascherano! Soon to be leaving on a Jet plan to Barcelona.

The press again today has linked us with Lee Cattermole of Wigan. Cattermole had a steady season last year and had a good under 21’s and his value has sky rocketed from the £3.5m that Steve Bruce paid for him to the figure of around £12m. But is he the English Mascherano and is he worth £12m? Maybe/Maybe not, but he is English and as we have found out with the purchase of Glen Johnson – English means add on a bit extra!

What does his game entail and what do we want him to do –
1. Reads the game,
2. Strong in the tackle,
3. Breaks up play and
4. Makes the simple pass, thus
5. Controlling possession, and
6. Protects the back four!

Ticks all those boxes then.

He does a job that never gets any attention and gets little reward of the glamour and fame.

Was the signing of Cattermole the making of Wigan last year a coincidence? Wigan finished comfortably in 14th, and before the January window were challenging for Europa league spot. Compare this to the previous season when they had to be rescued by Steve Bruce from relegation in January! I think that this is no coincidence and would be a solid replacement for Mascherano.

I think Rafa can work with these aggressive rough Diamond’s like he did with Mascherano as if you remember that time at Old Trafford, he did have a wee bit of a temper!

So with my reckoning, we should receive around the £50m mark for Alonso and Mascherano – not bad business when the two of them cost in the region of £29m (£10.25 for Alonso and approx £18m for Mascherano). And if we can get Cattermole, Poulsen and Turner for £25m who knows, Rafa could blow the other £25m on Ashley Young and that would solve the left sided lottery as well!

Riera, Benayoun, Babel, Dossena, Aurelio, Leto and even Kuyt in the last year have played left side of midfield/forward but no one has made the place their own. In the past we have tried Kewell, Mark Gonzales, Riise and even Gerrard before we found his calling as a second striker but no-one has truly fitted Rafa’s job description for the left side.

Depending on the opposition Benitez has opted for Riera and Benayoun - against strong, in the air defenders he uses Benayoun and plays the essence of pass and move to unlock the door; against average defenders or keepers that are poor on crosses he prefers Riera drill balls into Torres or Kuyt coming in from the right hand side. So is this enough or does Rafa have someone up his sleeve………. or is it play it again Sam?

Earlier in the month we were linked with Ribery, who lets face, who would find a place for in any team but Rafa would never have signed him as he is too much an enigma/free spirit. We have also been linked with David Silva who would have no problem settling into the Spanish Foreign Legion but what we need is that x-factor but with English characteristics of commitment and work rate for the team – I give you Ashley Young.

You put Ashley Young on our team sheet and all of a sudden the opposition have more to think about than Gerrard and Alonso. He is comfortable with both feet, lightning fast and not afraid to beat a man and go for goal, something that we are missing in our squad. Now the next question is can we afford him with the overall current financial situation?

Personally, I feel that the same reasons that we paid over the odds for Glen Johnson apply here – he’s 23 years of age, breaking into the English senior side who will want to be playing the highest level with it being a world cup year, he is nearly the finished article and also as he is English, it will bring our squad nationality quota back into line with the future UEFA requirements. So do we gamble and put all our eggs in one basket on Ashley young or try and wheel and deal and bring in 3-4 players who might make the grade? I think this season its all about finding the missing pieces of the jigsaw.

We all know someone, friend family or foe who has hurt their back/damaged their spine and never been the same since. Well now we have that problem. If Gerrard is the heart of our team then Alonso and Mascherano are the spine that without BOTH of them we will surrender the middle of the pitch to everyone!

Now hear me out, I feel that we are 1 maybe 2 signings away from winning the league and I truly mean that. At last Benitez has 8 world class players that should always be on the starting line up: Reina, Johnson, Agger Carragher, Mascherano, Alonso, Gerrard, Torres and 5 quality first team players of Kuyt, Skrtel, Benayoun, Reira, Insua (who should be left back next season), then the class of “could do better” of Lucas, Babel and Voronin. If all stay fit and Benitez doesn’t play spin the bottle on the team sheet then we will win it………………..IF we can hold onto Alonso and Mascherano.

Alonso is courted by Madrid, Mascherano by Barca and you can understand why they would both be interested but we need to offer them something that they can’t, a place in history.
We heard Benitez in the press conference last week about both having good contracts and they should honour their contracts as Liverpool took the chance and developed their careers. Not the best pep talk in the world after the Alonso/Barry fiasco last year and also considering the tax in Spain is 30% and not the 50% for them in the UK, but this season we must stop the Manc’s from the 19th title.

You take away one you might as well break the team up and start again because they are the spine that allows our team to pass and move. So how do your cure a bad back when you can’t offer the pain relief (wage’s), you offer them something that no-one else can – belief!

If they stay for one season and we win the league then they will believe, believe that they are part of something, the next generation of Liverpool FC!

So Rafa, if you are reading this, show them belief and keep them for one year, hell do the Ronaldo deal of agreeing a ridiculous fee with Alonso/Real for the 1st of July 2010 because if we keep them and they win, then they will never want to leave!

Just a few quick thoughts on priorities for the offseason.

1.  Yes, I think we can all agree that a suitable partner / replacement for Torres is a must.

As we’ve read and heard nearly everywhere lately the Mancs can toss in their offensive pairing of choice more often than not while we’re forced to push the likes of N’gog and El Zhar into the spotlight which is probably not the level they are at just yet.

I think this is the place to put the majority of our financial muscle.  We need folks that can put the ball in the net.  How many times can we watch poor first touches, scuffed shots and poor passes slow and thwart our attacks, especially from the wide places?   You get what you pay for most often when it comes to that special level of class so let’s not skimp.

2.  Can we also all agree that Gareth Barry is not the most important signing of the offseason?

His main quality as far as I can see is his habit of funneling the ball to Stevie when the two are together on the pitch.  Unfortunately for us, our captain is most often heavily marked and is forced to make moments out of what space he can.  This isn’t to say it’s not a good linkup for us, I think it would work wonders against lesser opposition, but let’s not put 3 more months and 18 million quid into this fella again.  There are more important matters at hand.

3.  It’s time to start thinking about it……Sami’s Exit and Carra’s impending retirement

As to the second point, I know it’s not imminent, but in another two seasons this will be smack in our face.  Agger and Skrtel are both able center halves and worthy of their places in the squad, but as we all know there is strength in depth, and that depth is exactly what we’ll need in our challenge to win on all fronts in the years to come.   Now with Big Sami making his farewells, it’s time to find his replacement and with his position being such an important one, I think it’s best to find a younger option who will grow and peak with this team as it’s being built to do.

This seems to be Rafa’s specialty, finding cheap young center backs primed to excel in English football.  Here’s hoping he can repeat that success again.

4.  It’s about damn time Rafa got control of his transfer policy.

If he is who we believe best to devise and execute both our selection and tactical decisions, then how could we believe any less when it comes to knowing how best to fill the positions he himself is creating for us?

This only makes sense, as he just like anyone must be allowed to sink or swim on his own merit.  At the very least it has streamlined our process of player acquisition such that we can be more fluid in our actions as situations dictate.  That can only be a good things going forward.

YNWA