My greatest LFC Premier League team
I write this with the caveat that this is my personal greatest PL team and accept, may be as much driven by nostalgia as talent, but here goes. For the purposes of my team, I’m going with a 4-3-3, with two sitting midfielders.
Goalkeeper
Alisson
This one is easy. Alisson hasn’t been with us long but is a masterful goalkeeper, who’s biggest trick is making the extremely difficult look routine. Clean sweep of goalkeeping awards last year and you can’t argue. From shot-stopping to distribution, Alisson is the total package.
Honorary mentions to Pepe Reina and who could forget Jerzey Dudek but neither were in Alisson’s League.
Defence
We’ve seen the good, the great and the downright awful in the Premier League years but here is my back four.
Trent Carragher Van Dijk Robbo
Unbelievable that Trent is getting in given his age but I don’t see how he can be ignored. He’s rewriting the rules of RB and breaking records.
Carragher, one of Liverpool’s greatest ever servants. What he lacked in technical ability, he more than made up or in his organisational play and his heart and commitment were like no other. The night we were talking about recently with Garcia’s ghost goal against Chelsea, there seemed to be about three Carragher’s on the pitch.
I don’t think I need to say too much about Virgil, I’d be surprised if he isn’t in everyone’s team and Robbo is widely recognised as the best LB in the world at the moment and equalled the previous assists record, prior to Trent setting a new one. Brilliant going forward and in defence, Robbo is the complete left back.
Honorary mentions for Finnan, Arbeloa, Hypia, Agger, Riise and Aurelio but that’s my back four.
Midfield
For me, this one picks itself as well. As the song used to go – We’ve got the greatest midfield in the world… And we did!
Mascherano Alonso
Gerrard
The perfectly blended midfield. Mascherano the tenacious midfield destroyer, Xabi Alonso the cultured pass-master and the midfield dynamo that was Steven Gerrard. That is a midfield for the ages.
Honorary mentions to Hendo and Gary Macallister for their respective contributions but neither are getting in that midfield over the aforementioned.
Forwards
My forward line may surprise a few but I’ve gone for the three players I think brought me the most excitement when watching them.
McManaman Fowler Suarez
Steve McManaman was one of the most talented players of his generation. A fast tricky winger with an eye for spectacular goals, he was a joy to watch. Went on to win three league titles and a brace of Champions Leagues at Madrid and scored in a Champions League final.
Robbie Fowler was arguably the most natural finisher the Premier League has ever seen. He had a wand of a left foot and scored all kinds of goals, from thunderous volleys from outside the box, to beating goalies from the most acute angles. A born goal scorer who loved the club. Broke my heart when Houllier sold him.
What to say about Suarez… Love him or loathe him, on raw talent alone he would be in the conversation for our greatest ever player, never mind Premier League. Pick any Norwich game during his time with us to see his whole range of goals but it wasn’t just his goals. He used to occupy an entire defence on his own, his work rate made others around him work harder and he drove the team on through that 13/14 season, to heights the squad probably didn’t deserve on merit. Who knows what would have been if he hadn’t missed the first part of that season through a ban. For, erm, biting…
Honorary mention to Torres, in his first season he was nothing short of sensational and a begrudging honorary mention to Michael Owen, our last player to win the Ballon D’or. Nobody was getting in that team ahead of Robbie Fowler though.
Honorary mentions also to our current front three.
So there you have it folks. My all time LFC Premier League eleven. Let’s hear yours and let the bickering begin 😉
Walk on.
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