Courtesy of the Football 365 Mailbox...
It Turns Out Liverpool Are Better Than Spurs (Despite The 17-Point Difference)
With Sigurdsson choosing Spurs over Liverpool, supposedly for footballing reasons, it made me wonder whether Spurs really are a better side than Liverpool now. Yes, I understand some people may say that he went for the money, but lets assume that what he said was the truth. Personally, I would think the two clubs pretty even in terms of team and player quality, and I reckon the difference in last seasons' performances were just due to a similar quality of new signing (Adebayor v Carroll, Parker v Downing/Henderson) settling in quicker at Spurs than they did at Liverpool, adding to the cohesion of the side, and the fact that before the season, Liverpool had higher expectations than Spurs, allowing Spurs to play with more freedom (we saw what happened when the pressure went on Spurs).
Oh yes, and Lucas/Gerrard were out for much of the season for Liverpool.
Anyway, since it's Friday, I thought I'd compose a Spurs/Liverpool XI to see if one team does dominate, and therefore has more world-class players, as Sigurdsson has suggested.
GK: REINA. I don't really think that people would have many qualms with this, do they?
RB: JOHNSON. He continually gets picked ahead of Walker for England, did a superb job for England in the world cup (I'd say he was one of England's three or four best, along with Gerrard, Terry and Cole), and has been pretty good for Liverpool.
CB (ball-playing CB, so I suppose Agger/King/Dawson??): AGGER. Again he was superb for Denmark in the World Cup, and I don't think there can really be many complaints.
CB (brute): SKRTEL. He had a fantastic season for Liverpool, was supposedly being courted by the likes of City (which Kaboul isn't). Though if you want to pick Kaboul, fine, he had a good season too.
LB: Can't decide. I'd pick Enrique, after his first half of the season (and because I'm a Liverpool fan). You'd pick BAE if you were a Spurs fan. Marginal call, so I'll call it a TIE.
RM: LENNON. Do Liverpool have a real right midfielder? Lennon is far better out wide than Henderson/Maxi anyway. Don't know why I'm bothering to comment.
CM (CDM): Hmmm. I really would prefer Lucas as a Liverpool fan, he can screen an entire back four, break up play superbly, and passes well. Though Spurs fans may think Parker is a better fit for their team, so I might be slightly generous to Spurs fans and call a TIE.
CM (Play-maker): Again, hmmm. I'd argue that Gerrard at the peak of his powers will do more damage than Modric, and single-handedly, though Modric is possibly the better player over a league season (and he's less injury prone and younger). Perhaps Modric just about shades this one, so I could be slightly generous to Liverpool and call this a TIE, or you could go for MODRIC. Your choice, really.
LM: BALE. Though Downing isn't all that bad, honest. But he doesn't compare to Bale last season.
SS (Suarez v VDV): SUAREZ. I know Rafa is a good player, but I don't think there can be many complaints about this from Spurs fans. One player is one of the star performers in the team ranked third in the world and won the Copa America, the other can't get into a side that got 0 points in 3 games in the EUROs.
CF: CARROLL. Not sure who he's up against, really. Defoe? Currently Carroll is playing better than Adebayor anyway, even if he signs, and long term he will be better.
So the only place Spurs have real dominance is out wide. Liverpool shades the centre-backs and full-backs, and has a better front two and back...one also. The two centre midfielders are of pretty similar quality, so Liverpool were pretty unfortunate their two first-choice centre midfielders were out for most of last season.
This leads to one of the problems Brendan Rodgers faces: he's inherited a squad that just came eighth, but other than out wide right (and wide left, if you're a Downing hater), there aren't many places in which serious improvements are needed, or where many Premier League teams have better players. The challenge for him is just to get Liverpool functioning better as a team.
Alex, LFC (in hindsight that's a bit long, so it's okay if you don't post it I guess)
