Liverpool: 5 MLS Midfielders That Could Improve the Liverpool Midfield

Kenny Dalglish and ex-Director of Football Damien Comolli spent nearly £50 million last summer on a midfield trio consisting of Stewart Downing, Charlie Adam and Jordan Henderson that was supposed to bolster an actually relatively consistent midfield. 

I think we can say this experiment has not worked. 

Out of the three of them, Adam was the only one who looked as though he was worthy of his transfer fee, until he suffered a knee injury that knocked him out of the team for the remainder of the season. 

And let's face it. Once Lucas got hurt, the Liverpool midfield just kind of tanked, and no one really picked up the slack. 

Jay Spearing has been a liability.

Steven Gerrard isn't getting any younger. 

Stewie still hasn't registered a goal or an assist in the league.

Jordan Henderson shouldn't be consistently starting. 

Last week, I wrote an article on MLS forwards that could replace Andy Carroll. Here are five MLS midfielders that could find a place on Kenny Dalglish's team.

Note: Thanks to Sherief Razzaque for the article idea! 

Brek Shea, FC Dallas

He already looks good in red, so we've got that out of the way.

The 22-year-old winger has shown that he is pacy, tricky and capable of filling that role of serving crosses consistently and accurately that Stewart Downing was brought to Anfield to do. His performances on the wing have earned him a call-up to every national team game since Jurgen Klinsmann took the helm. 

While he definitely should spend time in a European league like the Eredivisie before making the jump to the Premier League, he could provide the consistent deliveries for Andy Carroll that he so desperately needs to succeed. 

Kyle Beckerman, Real Salt Lake

Beckerman would've been able to fill the defensive void left by Lucas' injury. While he would've definitely been a downgrade, Beckerman has the football IQ to at least hold his own in the Premier League. 

He consistently beats out the likes of Jermaine Jones and Maurice Edu to start for the national team at the holding midfielder position, both of whom play their football internationally. 

Even though he's not a goal machine, Beckerman consistently pulls the strings in the midfield for both club and country, something which Lucas had just begun to do before his injury. Beckerman would be a suitable replacement. 

Dax McCarty, New York Red Bulls

Dax McCarty may be the most underrated midfielder in MLS.

Dax has started all nine games for the Red Bulls, and has been the unofficial leader of the midfield in each of those games. 

When Thierry Henry went down against the New England Revolution, it was McCarty that picked his team up and was both the offensive and defensive catalyst for the team. The ball flowed through him to his forwards, and he made several key tackles to stop the Revs from scoring. 

This has been the story of Dax's season thus far. 

McCarty would be an upgrade from Jay Spearing; they have similar styles of play, but Dax displays a sense of professionalism that Jay simply does not possess. He can hold down the midfield and create chances in a way that Jay can't. 

Chris Pontius, D.C United

The D.C. midfielder has caught the attention of MLS fans after scoring five goals in 11 games, including a hat-trick against big-wigs New York. 

Pontius possesses speed, agility and an eye for goal. He has been instrumental to D.C's rise to the top of the Eastern Conference.

It would be interesting to see him in a midfield line next to Steven Gerrard and whether he could handle an attacking role similar to Stevie's on the team. I could see him playing behind Suarez in a 4-4-1-1 as the attacking midfielder.

He could also be the answer to Liverpool's problems with accuracy in front of goal. In 11 games so far, he's had 18 shots. Seven of them have been on goal; five of them have gone in.

That's not too bad.  

Landon Donovan, LA Galaxy

You can get into the argument of who is the best American soccer player right now, Dempsey or Donovan (hint: it's Dempsey), but you can't argue that Donovan doesn't deserve to be in that conversation. Landon could possibly go down as the best American soccer player of all time (he won't, though). 

Despite just turning 30, Donovan needs to be playing in Europe; he's too talented to be squandering in MLS. He seems to have found a niche in Merseyside already after two loan spells with Everton, and he has excelled in the English game. 

Liverpool are doing poorly enough that LD could be a major offensive threat of the Reds next season. He still has plenty of gas in the tank, and he's versatile; Kenny could stick him anywhere in the offensive half of the pitch and he would excel. 

I personally would love to see LD in red next season.