{"id":528,"date":"2016-06-20T15:38:08","date_gmt":"2016-06-20T15:38:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/?p=528"},"modified":"2016-06-20T17:26:36","modified_gmt":"2016-06-20T17:26:36","slug":"liverpool-football-club-the-premier-league-dream-team","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/liverpool-football-club-the-premier-league-dream-team\/","title":{"rendered":"Liverpool Football Club: The Premier League Dream Team"},"content":{"rendered":"
How do you even begin to explore the idea of a Liverpool dream team? Where do you even begin? Why would you stress yourself out by taking on that challenge? I don\u2019t really know, but I\u2019ve decided to\u2026<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve also decided to narrow down my field of choice. I\u2019d love to tell you all about the difference between Stephane Henchoz\u2019s style of play when compared with Alan Hansen\u2019s, but I didn\u2019t watch enough of Hansen to talk about him with any degree of authority. It would be great to speak of the goalscoring prowess of Billy Liddell, but the only information I\u2019ve got about him is anecdotal.<\/p>\n
I will cheat a little bit, though. John Barnes played for the Reds in the Premier League era but he was a much different proposition from the Barnes that set the league alight in the 1987-1988 season. What I\u2019m allowing myself to do, though, is presume that any player is at his peak for my team, rather than how any player was towards the end of his spell at the club.<\/p>\n
You are free to call me a cheat, but if I mention Steven Gerrard then we all think about the marauding box-to-box midfielder who dragged Liverpool through many a game when the majority of the rest of the squad wasn\u2019t up to his level. We don\u2019t think about the lad who, if we\u2019re honest, had lost his legs by the time the 2014-2015 season came around. Plus, it\u2019s my game so I\u2019m making up the rules.<\/p>\n
One of the trickiest decisions you need to make when considering a dream team is the formation you want to play. It\u2019s tempting, especially with the attacking resources Liverpool have had at their disposal over the years, to go all out attack and be damned with the consequences. Realistically, though, you need to think about the balance of the team.<\/p>\n
My initial instinct, then is to opt for a 4-4-2 diamond formation, but that might change when I have finally nailed down my starting XI. It could be that the attackers, for example, offer a fluidity that would allow me to switch to 4-3-3 reasonably easily, or that the midfielders can transition from a defensive formation to an attacking one quite quickly. Let\u2019s have a look at the team and if you disagree with my choices then do let me know through Twitter or the comments section!<\/p>\n
As far as goalkeepers are concerned there can be only one, surely? Bruce Grobbelaar was what you would happily define as a \u2018character\u2019 and it\u2019s fair to say that he won absolutely everything there was to win at the club, but would his personality really work as well in the \u2018clinical\u2019 world of the Premier League as it did during the 1980s? David James had the nickname \u2018Calamity\u2019 and that about summed up his time at the club, whilst Sander Westerveld was good but never quite good enough.<\/p>\n
Jerzy Dudek might have lifted the Champions League trophy thanks to his incredible heroics in Istanbul, but he didn\u2019t have the all-round game that Reina offered. The Spaniard was incredible during his best spell at Liverpool, arguably being the best goalkeeper in the league at times under Rafa Benitez. Perhaps this was, to some extent, down to Rafa\u2019s defensive mindset and there\u2019s no question that Xavi Valero brought a lot to the table. But Reina is, for me, the top choice of Premier League goalkeepers for LFC.<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t leave it long to make my first controversial decision, did I? Steve Nicol was actually signed by Bob Paisley, though he wasn\u2019t used with any degree of regularity until first Joe Fagan and then Kenny Dalglish took over the managerial reigns at Anfield. He played in the Premier League, though, so he gets into my team through the backdoor I introduced earlier.<\/p>\n
Nicol was perhaps one of the most under-rated players ever to play for Liverpool. Though a utility player at heart, he made the right-back spot his own and I struggle to think of a better candidate for the position. Glen Johnson was top-notch on his day and could offer plenty in attack but he was sometimes found wanting in defence. Nathaniel Clyne might be Mr. Reliable at the back but doesn\u2019t do enough in attack. Alvaro Arberloa is perhaps the one who comes the closest to challenging Nicol, but he just isn\u2019t as good.<\/p>\n
How much would you give to have the big Finn in our defensively line-up right now? A towering presence who just seemed to deal with everything, Hyypia was genuinely brilliant for ten years in Red. He also won pretty much everything there was to win except for the league, which is no mean trophy haul.<\/p>\n
Sami was an important figure at Anfield for a decade and if Steven Gerrard hadn\u2019t been the player he was then Hyypia would have been a worthy captain for all of that time rather just some of it. Compare and contrast with a player like, for example, Martin Skrtel and it\u2019s easy to see just how good Hyypia was. Trusted by several managers and defensive partners, he was a rock.<\/p>\n
Carra made my all-time LFC XI, so it makes sense that he\u2019d be a shoe-in for the centre-back spot alongside Hyypia. Rafa first realised his potential as a centre-back, shifting him in from the right-back slot to work with the Finn, Rafa created a formidable defence that lost just two games and conceded a mere 27 goals. Incredible.<\/p>\n