21 Dec 2015 09:04:17
Eds do you not rate Nathaniel Clyne? And could Lovren not partner Sakho, or do we need a right footed centre half? Thanks.

{Ed001's Note - I do not rate Clyne, I said it before we signed him and my opinion has been reinforced since he signed. I was hoping he would be like Finnan and prove me wrong, I thought Finnan was merely ok when we got him, but he turned out to be a fantastic player. Clyne has turned out to be worse than I realised. He is weak defensively, regularly gets caught chasing across to the centre man marking, leaving us completely exposed on the right and has no awareness. He is always having to react to movement, there is no anticipation to give himself a head start.

Going forward he has pace, but that is all. His passing is poor, his crossing is abysmal and his movement is even worse. When he should wait, he charges forward, when he should get forward he waits. I have been particularly disappointed by him as a player we brought in over the last couple of summers. I really hope he can improve, as he does try at least.

Lovren is right footed and potentially could partner Sakho, but for me the pair would present similar problems to partnering Sakho with Skrtel. We need someone more composed, as Sakho is always going to try and win the ball and Lovren is rash. We need someone who anticipates what Sakho is going to do and positions himself accordingly. Lovren is not that player, he needs one like alongside him to get the best out of him as well. He had that in Fonte at Southampton.}

1.) 21 Dec 2015
21 Dec 2015 09:31:32
Completely agree regarding Clyne. We sell a talented right back who couldn't be bothered to play and replace him with a player who even when trying his hardest isn't much better. I'd rather have kept Wisdom. Rodgers really was clueless. Another thing on Clyne that you missed Ed is the amount of times he burns forward with the ball 20 yards before realising he's ran down a blind alley. So he turns around and passes it back to Skrtel. It frustrates the hell out of me.

{Ed001's Note - I was trying to limit the criticism to keep it balanced with his good points. Not easy though. Just have to hope he can learn, the way Finnan did. He was an average winger, converted to an average full back, then he signed for us and became a top right back for us. The more players bought to replace him, the better he became.}

2.) 21 Dec 2015
21 Dec 2015 09:34:29
So do we need a leader at the back? Or can Sakho fill that position? Also, would you have Lovren or Skrtel in your squad? Thanks.

{Ed001's Note - Sakho is fine as a leader, but you need more than one leader really. You need the fiery leader to get the players up for the game and working hard. You also need a leader who stays calm and leads with his mind rather than his heart. We had that in the past, we don't right now. Agger was probably the only calm head we have had in recent years, we need that kind of calming presence now.}

3.) 21 Dec 2015
21 Dec 2015 09:54:00
Agree again Ed. Carragher was always that fiery leader and he was blessed with two world class partners in Hyypia and then Agger who offered that calming presence and excellent reading of the game. I think Sakho can replace Carragher as the fiery player. Toure imo would be a good stop gap as he is a calmer more level headed leader.

Long term though we need to find a player who can partner Sakho and I think Gomez is that man. Which means we need a player to come in who can improve on Toure and give us 3 years at the top of their game whilst Gomez develops and gets back from injury.

Someone like Howedes would be ideal.

4.) 21 Dec 2015
21 Dec 2015 10:05:57
A player not been mentioned before who had always impressed me is Kamil Glik. Not sure if he would be an option.

5.) 21 Dec 2015
21 Dec 2015 10:35:54
If only there was another Sami hypia what a player or Alan Hansen
Up the pool.

6.) 21 Dec 2015
21 Dec 2015 09:30:50
I do not rate Clyne. Johnson at 24 was miles better than Clyne, Johnson could cross Clyne simply cannot.
The two player we should have bought from Southampton were Fonte and Schinderlin.