Liverpool FC: Ranking the Many Midfielders

Everyone who supports Liverpool knows that there is a logjam in the midfield—with Gerrard, Lucas, Aquilani and Meireles, the new recruits in Henderson, Adam and Downing, the fringe players in Cole and Poulsen and the youngsters, Shelvey and Spearing.

That is an awful lot of midfielders vying for a place in the first team. What I am going to do is rank the midfielders in five categories: tackling, passing, dribbling, shooting and consistency out of 10. These rankings are based on the past season.

Feel free to comment!

Steven Gerrard

Captain Fantastic. God for Liverpool fans. How many times has Steven Gerrard brought Liverpool back from the brink? Anyway, that's not important now—let's get ranking!

Tackling: seven out of 10. Can tackle when he wants to.

Passing: nine out of 10. One of the best in the world.

Dribbling: six out of 10. Prefers to pass or shoot.

Shooting: eight out of 10. Terrifying.

Consistency: four out of 10. Not what it used to be.

Total: 34 out of 50.

Lucas Leiva

Liverpool's player of the season and holding midfielder. Lucas had one of the best seasons of any of these players. Now, let's get down to some ranking.

Tackling: nine out of 10. One of the best in the league in my opinion.

Passing: seven out of 10. Adequate.

Dribbling: six out of 10. Not one of his stronger points.

Shooting: six out of 10. Not often used.

Consistency: nine out of 10. Fantastic.

Total: 37 out of 50.

Raul Meireles

A player that many people see as Roy Hodgson's parting gift, this player was rejuvenated under Dalglish.

Tackling: six out of 10. Good.

Passing: seven out of 10. Very good.

Dribbling: eight out of 10. Very useful.

Shooting: seven out of 10. Can be amazing.

Consistency: seven out of 10. Can be injured.

Total: 35 out of 50.

Alberto Aquilani

One of Liverpool's most underrated players in my opinion. I will rank him on his season with Juventus.

Tackling: four out of 10. Weak.

Passing: eight out of 10. Exceptional.

Dribbling. seven out of 10. Excellent.

Shooting: seven out of 10. Also very good.

Consistency: five out of 10. Poor.

Total: 31 out of 50.

Joe Cole

Joe Cole arrived at Anfield with a big reputation and Liverpool fans saw it as a great move by Roy Hodgson. Unfortunately, it didn't work out the way Reds fans hoped and now most fans are demanding Cole leaves.

Tackling: four out of 10. Stays away from 50-50 tackles.

Passing: six out of 10. Not what it was.

Dribbling: seven out of 10. Cole was fantastic.

Shooting: six out of 10. Average.

Consistency: four out of 10. Disappears from games and gets injured.

Total: 27 out of 50. 

Christian Poulsen

Christian Poulsen was brought in to replace Mascherano by Roy Hodgson. However, Poulsen was removed from the team by Dalglish as soon as he took over and replaced by Jay Spearing. Liverpool fans want him out but Poulsen wants to stay and earn his place in the team.

Tackling: six out of 10. His strongest point.

Passing: five out of 10. Inaccurate.

Dribbling: four out of 10. Bad.

Shooting: four out of 10. Also weak.

Consistency: six out of 10. Rarely injured.

Total: 25 out of 50.

Maxi Rodriguez

Maxi Rodriguez was brought in by Benitez on a Bosman transfer but never really lived up to his reputation. Once the King returned. Maxi went through one of the most amazing purple patches I have ever seen, scoring multiple hat-tricks.

He was still speculated to be leaving Anfield but most people can't see that happening. Let's do some ranking!

Tackling: five out of 10. Nothing special.

Passing: six out of 10. OK.

Dribbling: seven out of 10. Good.

Shooting: eight out of 10. Knows where the goal is.

Consistency: seven out of 10. Was consistent at the end of the season.

Total: 33 out of 50.

Jonjo Shelvey

Jonjo Shelvey was brought from Charlton Athletic on the cheap and has performed OK. However, Kenny sees something in him, as he has often given him minutes at the end of a game.

Tackling: five out of 10. Fine.

Passing: seven out of 10. Good in my opinion.

Dribbling: six out of 10. OK.

Shooting: five out of 10. Mediocre.

Consistency: seven out of 10. Fine as well.

Total: 30 out of 50.

Jay Spearing

Jay Spearing was brought into the first team to replace Poulsen. In his first game he was fantastic, and kept his spot right up to the end of the season. He may find it harder to get into the team with the influx of midfielders.

Tackling: eight out of 10. Exceptional.

Passing: five out of 10. Nothing to get excited about.

Dribbling: five out of 10. Same as above.

Shooting: six out of 10. Good.

Consistency: eight out of 10. Excellent.

Total: 32 out of 50.

Charlie Adam

Charlie Adam was a long-term target for Liverpool and they attempted to sign him in January but to no avail. However, when the summer came around, Dalglish took advantage of Blackpool's relegation and signed him for £7 million.

Tackling: six out of 10. Makes bad mistakes.

Passing: eight out of 10. Fantastic.

Dribbling. six out of 10. Fine.

Shooting: eight out of 10. Can take a free kick.

Consistency: eight out of 10. Rarely injured.

Total: 36 out of 50.

Jordan Henderson

Henderson had a sensational start to the season and even had an England call-up in November, but his form dipped after January. He was targeted by Manchester United (grrrrrrrrr!) but Liverpool managed to take him from under their noses. If there was a "potential category," Henderson would win hands down.

Tackling: seven out of 10. Runs a lot.

Passing: seven out of 10. Very good.

Dribbling: six out of 10. Good.

Shooting: six out of 10. OK.

Consistency: four out of 10. Can be non-existent in games.

Total: 30  

Stewart Downing

Liverpool have been in need of width for years. Many have tried, but most have failed. Ryan Babel anyone? Anyway, Dalglish has finally addressed that problem in the form of Stewart Downing, one of the best crossers in the league.

Tackling: six out of 10. Tough enough.

Passing: eight out of 10. I would find it difficult to find a better crosser in the league.

Dribbling: eight out of 10. This man is fast.

Shooting: seven out of 10. Good record for a winger.

Consistency: nine out of 10. Didn't miss a game last season. Enough said.

Total: 38 out of 50. 

The Scores

The results are in! I hope you enjoyed the slideshow, and please comment.

Stewart Downing: 38 out of 50.

Lucas Leiva: 37 out of 50.

Charlie Adam: 36 out of 50.

Raul Meireles: 35 out of 50.

Steven Gerrard: 34 out of 50.

Maxi Rodriguez: 33 out of 50.

Jay Spearing: 32 out of 50.

Alberto Aquilani: 31 out of 50.

Jordan Henderson: 30 out of 50.

Jonjo Shelvey: 30 out of 50.

Joe Cole: 27 out of 50.

Christian Poulsen: 25 out of 50.