If any of you Red fans out there managed to watch the Liverpool Adelaide match earlier today, you have to say that James Milner from what we have seen so far looks to be a wonder playing in central midfield, while right-back Nathaniel Clyne looked as though he had been playing at Anfield for years add to this the hunger of Danny Ings and the desire of Jordan Ibe to take on players and the Reds look to be a big threat going forward.
Once Christian Benteke is added to the mix, you will see the big Belgium open up all kinds of space for Liverpool’s attackers ensuring a goal tally we hope will double last season’s poor result.
When asked about how Christian Benteke would fit into the squad, manger Rodgers refused to be drawn in by the question.
“It was just clear we needed to score more goals,” he said.
“But I wouldn’t want that to be taken as that the other side isn’t important. I believe that our defensive organisation is critical to allow our talents to flourish.
“You’ve seen on this tour already the idea – our pressing game, the intensity to get the ball back quickly. We can do that when we have all the tools in the squad to score goals and create them.
“A few years ago we needed to improve our goal tally and we did that and it gave the team a little bit of profit. I feel it was the same this summer.
“We were down on our goals. Overall it is the balance we need to improve offensively and defensively and the players that will contribute to both.”
Rodgers believes the Reds’ summer spending spree has given him a real selection headache with the big kick-off less than three weeks away.
But he knows that depth will come in handy as he attempts to juggle the demands of the Europa League as well as domestic assignments.
“People can see the quality of the players that are coming in and the ones that were already here,” he said.
“Once we get that combination together we can go into each competition and put out a really strong team.
“There is no player that has come to the club and is guaranteed to play every single game. We aim to do well in all competitions and it is a squad being built to cope with it.
“The Europa League shouldn’t have any real detrimental effect because of the quality of players that I have.
“The priority is arriving back into that top four again and we want to look to get a trophy this year. Every player will contribute towards that.
“We have got a big squad and we will be fighting to improve this year. If you are playing well and working well, you will be playing games. It is as simple as that.
“When you’ve got new faces and new players coming in it always adds that competition.
“Competition in anything in life whether it is football, business or sport is healthy and the new players coming in have brought a freshness.
“When we go back to the UK we still have Firmino to join, Emre Can and young Coutinho. It all bodes well for the competitions going forward and it is going to be competitive for them all to play.”
Liverpool managed to beat the Adelaide by a score of 2-0 despite the Australians playing a very defensive minded game.
