Liverpool Blog
While one story of Liverpool doesn’t seem to get any better, the part of Daniel Sturridge picking up yet another injury, there is some good news for the Reds with the likes of Jordan Henderson regaining his fitness and giving an option to the club in midfield.
Henderson didn’t play a part in the 2-0 loss at Newcastle as he is nursed back from injury, but he is an important cog for Liverpool as Jurgen Klopp tries to get some momentum for the Reds after the surprise loss at St. James’ Park.
Liverpool do have a lot of options in midfield and when the entire team is fit, it certainly will be a problem for them to accommodate almost everyone. There are various permutations and combinations that Jurgen Klopp can deploy but which one would work the best for his Liverpool?
A German tank and an English runner?
Joe Allen, Emre Can, Jordan Henderson, Lucas Leiva and James Milner are the five players vying it out for the two spots in the starting XI for the Reds. Jordan Henderson might have been a sure shot to start under the previous manager Brendan Rodgers, but that isn’t the case this time around.
The Englishman has been injured quite a number of times and under Klopp, the likes of Emre Can and Lucas Leiva has emerged in their midfield roles. Certainly Can has upped his game under the management of the German and was at the heart of everything good for Liverpool in their midfield.
In the 6-1 win over Southampton in the Capital One Cup, Can was imperious and he was responsible for a couple of goals thanks to a couple of great flicks and passes. The German has established himself as a perfect box to box midfielder and should actually be regarded as the perfect replacement for Steven Gerrard in the future.
Lucas also has seen his role grow at the club and was one of the better players until recently when the trio of Allen, Milner and Leiva were played at Newcastle. What this did was allow Newcastle to get at them and the pair of Allen and Lucas didn’t really do the running and going deep into the Newcastle defence as a Henderson and Can would do.
Milner seems set to spend more time out on the wing to give Liverpool some balance in defence and attack, especially when the likes of Firmino or Coutinho play, the Brazilian’s certainly don’t do enough tracking back and that would have to be taken care off by Milner.
Liverpool need drive in their midfield and they certainly need someone who can run from one box to the other. Can is the perfect candidate for this, he can even play the deeper defensive role if needed and thus must be the first choice in the pairing. In all honesty, Jordan Henderson should be the other player in this role since he can complement Can in the running and energy department.
The future of the likes of Allen and Lucas are the biggest issues with Liverpool at the moment, for all we know, Allen still hasn’t gotten the correct position that he so craves at Liverpool while Lucas looks like a world class player in one game and the goes missing in another.
A German and an English pairing is the perfect pairing for Liverpool at the moment, hopefully, they can stay fit long enough to build Liverpool some steam in the upcoming Christmas fixtures.