Nothing will do for me...

LFC needs a bit of bite in defence!

I was sitting in the airport last night and thinking about a chat I had earlier in the day with my colleague, a fellow Liverpool supporter. "I'm hoping for a good win against the Villans this weekend, mate...!" I said with the confidence of a man who's team is in the hunt at the top of the league. "Well..." He replies with caution, "There are no easy games these days my friend, and everybody can beat everybody...".

Now as cliche'd as that may sound, the lad has a point and it got me thinking. Aston Villa have only won one of their last five matches, and they've shipped six goals in that time scoring only three. Liverpool on the other hand have scored 11 in as many matches. However, it's at the other end wherein lies the problem. Liverpool have actually shipped seven goals during that time. 

My colleague went on... "Mignolet's having a mare at the moment too". But, this is something I don't entirely agree with. The Red's defensive back four have been, frankly hopeless this season in my opinion. The column marked 'A' in the table shows Brendan Rodger's men have conceded more goals than any other team in the top ten, with the exception of Hull which, with all due respect, is nothing whatsoever to be happy about. 

Thus for me, it's not actually just down to Mignolet. More is the case that his defence is terribly wobbly and offers him and the goal very little protection if any at all on occasion. I can't pin it down to any particular player either. All of them have been poor this season. Martin Skrtel seems to want to change shirts with the opposition at every set piece - regardless of which end of the pitch - and Mamadou Sakho, although accurate in his passing, has about much positional sense as the spinning kid in a game of Blind Man's Bluff. Not to mention Daniel Agger's infatuation with the treatment table.

Rodgers is due to meet the club's owner John W. Henry and Chairman Tom Werner this weekend and despite all the talk of signing Pedro Rodriguez and Mohamed Salah et al, the acquisition of one or two solid defenders has to be penciled into the agenda as the main topic. At the moment, Liverpool cannot be considered serious title contenders until the leaky defence is shored up. This is without question. An integral part of any successful team is a watertight defence and LFC does not have that at this time. 

So as the title of this says, nothing will do for me. Nothing as in come this evening, I want to see a big fat zero for the away team's goal count. It's about time we saw the defence stand up, be counted and become an equal unit to the midfield and attack in terms of reliability and being more clinical. Nothing more, nothing less. And on the subject of nothing, nothing but a win will suffice.

Follow me on Twitter @Mrbengreen

Would you bet on it?

Because he's worth it!

This morning, and every Saturday and Sunday, I do the modern day equivalent of "a flick through the papers", which basically boils down to looking at what's new on the newspaper websites and the prominent footy sights for LFC, transfer rumours etc. This morning, I took a look at Skybet for a quick check on what the bookies think of the current comings and goings in this year's January transfer window. 

 The old saying is that "the bookies are never wrong" and this being the case, then there may well be a couple of interesting additions to the Liverpool squad over the coming weeks. This January transfer window has started very slowly and the usual speculation, even those claiming an "agreement has been reached" are turning out to be completely devoid of anything like truth as we know it. However, my gander at the bookies' pages bring a touch of reality to the proceedings and throw up a few interesting names. 

Many will recall the much mooted "signing" of Henrikh Mkhitaryan. An almost certainty until Borussia Dortmund arrived at the table and well, that put paid to any hope of the Reds getting their man. As with the current "target" Mohamed Salah from FC Basel. With reported interest from Athletico Madrid and Arsenal, arguably two "more attractive" clubs than Liverpool, we've probably heard the last of that also. Salah is a good player but I'm not sure how much of an improvement he'd make at Liverpool. As a Swiss resident I can tell you, the boy's good but nothing to write home about. 

So according to those in the world of high stakes, Brendan Rodgers is 4/11 on to sign Will Hughes.  Who I believe would be a far better signing for the Reds in the longer term. Besides looking like a toilet brush with his untamed mop of blonde hair, against Chelsea last week the 18 year-old seems to have a lot of potential. Perhaps a purchase and loan back arrangement would be best for him to help his development. We'll see. 

Second up from the tipsters is Martin Montoya from Barcelona. The 22 year-old right sided defender looks to be a decent prospect and would make good competition for Glen Johnson and  Martin Kelly. From what I've seen he seems to be a good passer, anticipates well and has a decent shot on him too. I wasn't that impressed with his crossing though. Overall, a bit if a gamble but then we are talking about the bookies' eye view here in any case. 

Finally, they have Pedro Rodriguez penciled in at 5/1. A great prospect in my opinion and a natural finisher. His addition would make for a frightening front line if Rodgers could get this live wire's signature, and at 26 he's the perfect age to come in and play with some experience whilst still having some room to develop. He has a good blend of pace, power and trickery and he would fit in well with the current team. 

So if you fancy a flutter, I think your hard-earned would be better spent backing these guys instead of chucking it away on Salah who, according to those in the know, doesn't have much chance of signing for Liverpool anyway. Let's face it, if he did, his name would be up on the board, but... It's not. No bad thing in my view. 

As for those already at the club and the match away to Stoke tomorrow, my heart says 2-0 to the visitors, but my head says 1-1 given the work ethic of Mark Hughes side and the fact that they've made the  Britannia Stadium a difficult place for away teams. 

Liverpool are still in with a shout for Champions League qualification but as I've said before, fifth or better would be good enough for me. Perhaps with a decent signing or two I might raise my expectations a little higher. 

Follow me on Twitter @Mrbengreen