redwarrior – agreed with what you said on page 4, we don’t have a decent spine, it is severely compromised. I don’t even rate Firminio as a striker, yes he works hard but I wouldn’t put 20 pounds on the bookies for him to get 20 goals. In midfield, we have no Coutinho as the only real genuine game changer. Can and Lallana have their moments with regard to game-changing but they never consistently have the ability to arrest the game when we are down in the dumps. Defence is easy, no leaders at the back, no communication or telepathy.
Keita next season will help but we are resigned to selling Coutinho now as he probably won’t sign an extension to his contract so might as well cash in on him.
Keita is the benchmark, we need players who are GOOD enough to play next to him.
Sell Lovren and Klavan, invest in two quality at CB leaders at the back and we will improve the spine.
I do like Firminio but maybe he should have competition and share the striking spot with a ‘true’ workhorse striker. Solanke could be that guy but I feel that we might have to also invest.