Choose Your Army

With our toughest away game of the season almost upon us Kenny’s thoughts will be firmly fixed on what tactics and starting XI will best suit us on Saturday.

 The defence is really picking itself at the moment, Johnson – Skrtel – Agger – Enrique is working well. If Enrique is still out injured then Johnson will move to the left and Kelly will play right back where both did very well defensively on Monday against a Spurs team with real attacking quality on both flanks.

 After seeing how well Utd kept possession in midfield at Anfield last week I think playing three men in central midfield is pretty much a given for us, Spearing for his defensive qualities, Gerrard because he’s so good and either Henderson or Adam. Henderson has the energy and mobility and has looked very comfortable on the ball in recent weeks, Adam has a better eye for a pass and is more experienced which will probably count in his favour and earn him a place in the team. The two wide midfield positions will be very important in creating chances for our striker and in helping to slow down Utd’s attacking full backs. One thing that let us down on Monday night was the lack of a left footer playing on the left meaning we couldn’t whip crosses into the box first time, by the time Bellamy or Johnson had turned inside ready to cross the spurs defence had got themselves organised. I think we should start with Downing and Bellamy out wide, both men are comfortable on either side giving Kenny plenty of opportunities to switch things around as and when the game dictates.

 This leaves the most controversial position to be filled and gives the manager a real dilemma – Carroll, Kuyt or Suarez? All three have good reasons to be included and valid reasons for being left out so it will be very interesting to see who gets the nod. Andy Carroll has shown signs of improvement in performance and attitude lately and his size could be important against a strong Utd back line, on the down side his goalscoring record is poor and chances will be at a premium so anything that comes along must be capitalised on, is Carroll the man we trust to do that just yet? Dirk Kuyt has the energy and workrate to play up front on his own and his goal record against Utd is decent, albeit at Anfield rather than Old Trafford, he has also refound his scoring touch, netting in two of his last three games. Counting against him is his lack of pace and his tendency to drift away from the centre to aid his team mates, not a bad quality in itself but the lone striker role requires a certain amount of selfishness and laziness to ensure the formation functions properly. This all brings us to Luis Suarez fresh from his eight game ban. Suarez is skilful, fairly quick, energetic and his team mates love having him in the team, he can keep hold of the ball until support arrives and he can be direct and go straight for goal when the opportunity arises. There is no footballing reason to leave him out of the team. His involvement in the game will crank up the atmosphere and give the Utd fans a hate figure, a target for their abuse and songs about racism may even take over from songs about murderers! Keeping Suarez on the bench wouldn’t do him or the atmosphere any favours, would you want to be a steward at the front as he warms up in front of the home fans? No chance. Dalglish needs to have a long conversation with Suarez about how he must behave on Saturday and the Liverpool players need to keep an eye on him and keep him calm and help him channel his undoubted desire to perform in this of all fixtures into a matchwinning effort. As long as Luis Suarez behaves with dignity and does nothing to incite the crowd he has done his part, if anybody in the stands or indeed on the pitch goes too far with their treatment of him it will be dealt with but it is not for Luis to fight this cause on the pitch. I believe he should and he will start on Saturday and let’s hope he delivers the performance we know he is capable of.