The Best Midfield and Strikeforce Liverpool Have Ever Had. No Hyperbole!
Genuinely, no hyperbole (but a little context)
A couple of weeks ago, before the Reds were clear at the top of the league (and right before thumping West Ham 5-1), I started drafting this piece.
And I don't think it's hyperbole, if assessed in the following manner.
The midfield of the mid-2000s with Steven Gerrard, Xabi Alonso and Javier Mascherano is probably the best I've seen play in the flesh (and almost certainly the best trio to play together for the Reds), and before them, any midfield with Graeme Souness at the heart would strike fear into the opposition.
But this (if including Trent Alexander-Arnold) is the best pool of midfielders I've seen at the club, with a combination of new signings and youngsters maturing into a near 10-deep roster. And it includes a very promising young player out on loan, too, as well as one who has just returned from one.
I think this has proven true in the games that have followed; and I also think it's true that it's the best pool of attacking talent the club has ever had.
Again, there have been better front threes, or twos, or fours – but this five, from which three are permed (and a fourth sometimes starts as the no.8) is special; the greatest depth.
Since I said it was stupid to focus on them not scoring for a few games, they've scored loads more, and they're at 48 goals for the season by the end of January 1st 2024, with some of them not playing too many minutes.
And the midfield – which now includes Alexander-Arnold (even in the lineup at times) – has 15 goals.
So I think people (who maybe don't read TTT) have quietly failed to notice how good Liverpool's squad has become, without masses of spending; and that includes the defence, which perhaps lacks the depth of the other areas, but again has been boosted by a young local lad.
(But even I was surprised by just how good Jarell Quansah, one of my tips for the top, has played aged 20, when I was thinking more about next season.)
So, in this piece I'll analyse why I think this is the best midfield and strike fore the Reds have ever had, if not necessarily the best XI.
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