fred milne

I'm not sure I buy the idea it was a strikerless formation when Sterling played ahead of Coutinho and Lallana but in any case it can't be a coincidence that the performances have dropped (if not the results until Sunday) since he stopped playing there. (City was a good performance and result but he was played up there again.) Going back to the diamond would certainly suit Sturridge and Henderson but we wouldn't have Gerrard's passing range in front of the defence. Who would we play at full-back?

I'm not sure we're getting the best out of him asking him to play as a central midfielder in the box midfield. It doesn't play to his strengths (making runs beyond the strikers, pressing the opposition) and emphasises the weaknesses in his game (receiving the ball from the defence etc).

He wont beat a man but he has the engine to get up and down the flank and has got a good cross on him. Its not the worst idea.

He clearly works best with a stike partner whereas Sterling appears happy to play as a lone front man. Its a trade-off, Sterling undoubtedly presses the opposition defence better but his finishing isn't as clinical (although someone said he was scoring at a rate of 1 in 2 before Sturridge returned).

Its going to be difficult but its not over yet. I remember Leeds beating us at Anfield around Easter in the treble season and our hopes of Champions League football appeared to have gone but we clawed them back in the end thanks largely to Mssrs Owen and McAllister.

We won at Soton and against Spurs. We also played well in the two legs against Chelsea in the league cup. We did the double against Utd last season with a lot of the same players.

No maybe about it. He is a 20 year old being used as utility player at the moment - up front, attacking midfield, RWB, LB. Its ridiculous. He needs to play centrally. Ideally as a striker, with Coutinho feeding him.

Yossi was quicker and had a better final ball

Spot on assessment. Was underwhelmed when we were linked in the summer and have seen precious little to change my mind since.

That was a big factor.

Whereas Spurs at home, Soton away and City at home didn't?

Garry Monk did the double over Van Gaal so he must be even better.

It's not a slight deficit. Sturridge lack of appetite was worrying (compared to when Suarez and Sterling play up front) and Lallana offers little at the moment.

I don't think we need to get hung up on which position he prefers. At the same age, Gerrard modelled himself on Roy Keane but ended up having his most productive seasons playing at RM then playing behind a lone striker.

The inclusion of a treble-winning, European footballer of the Year in that list is odd. His career may have gone into decline after he left Liverpool but if we are including him then Fowler would figure too.

I agree - both will get sorted out. We have a great nucleus of young players that must be the envy of many clubs (e.g. City). Sterling is the most important of them but the likes of Coutinho, Can, Sturridge, Henderson, Sakho, Allen, Moreno etc have all got their best years ahead of them. Even Lucas and Skrtel have got a good few years in them yet. Clever young manager too. Exciting times for the club.

It won't come down to a choice but Sterling is the most important player on our books.

It shouldn't come down to a choice but if it did the answer is a no-brainer.

You would expect someone like Coutinho to misplace more passes as he is trying to lay on a goal but he was unusually careless last night by his recent standards.

They both faced the same problem yesterday. It doesn't seem unreasoanable to discuss how well they coped.

They have a good keeper and players who can score goals out of nothing. No matter how badly their defence and midfield may be functioning that gives them the chance of a result. That's before you factor in refereering decisions.

Like that game, the key is not to loose the match. Sterling does set the tone with his pressing, in the way Suarez did, so I can also see the case for starting with Sturridge on the bench.

He was guilty of a few mistakes but with his superior touch and ability to play on the half-turn he was much better equiped to deal with Swansea's pressing than Henderson. Henderson tended either to pass the problem back to where it came or gave the ball away. He did better in the 2nd half when we switched to a midfield diamond and he had more space to run into.

I still see him being the key to our future. He has the competitive personality on the pitch that the best players have. He is in their league in a talent sense.

Sterling and Ibe were much younger so their fee is hardly comparable. We clearly believed Alberto had top class potential. I still think he has something about him but there were also rumours about him having a poor attitude last year.