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It wasn’t a bad performance from Liverpool against Man United.

All that was lacking was a goalscorer. You needed a Roger Hunt, a Kevin Keegan, a Kenny Dalglish, a Robbie Fowler, a Michael Owen, a Luis Suarez – any one of them strikers would have ensured Liverpool won this game.

The worst thing is they were there for the taking.

When you think about some of the Man United teams that have come to Anfield and been exceptional, that’s what sticks in the throat.

They say it’s a good sign to play badly and win and their manager thinks they’re in the title race but I can’t see it.

Liverpool defended well and the only time we let our guard down led to the goal.

With Liverpool the striking situation still revolves around Daniel Sturridge – what’s the manager going to do? It’s a really bad situation for Liverpool.

With Benteke, the way the manager wants to play it seems he feels the Belgian can’t play that way. But something’s got to be done – we’ve only got 25 goals in 22 games.

Last year Brendan Rodgers used Raheem Sterling as a striker, went three at the back and it improved things a little.

Firmino is not a natural leader of the line but he’s played well in the last few games, with his two goals against Arsenal. He’s more a scorer of great goals rather than a great goalscorer.

He’s starting to settle in, is showing some good touches and just needs to be consistent and realise he can’t dawdle on the ball. He was caught about four times against United when he thought he’d got away from players and he hadn’t.

If Daniel Sturridge is playing we‘ve got 10 more points and are where we want to be. That’s the value of a top striker, that’s why you pay £30m, £40m or £50m for their services. We saw how he scored his goals against Southampton.

We don’t even know how this pre-season has gone. Is he injured again? I understand Liverpool want to guard the situation closely but as a fan you want to know what’s happening.

Elsewhere I thought Lucas was excellent against United and you couldn’t knock the performance of Kolo Toure.

There were some good performances all over the pitch, probably four seven out of tens, but what you want is someone to really peak and win you the match.

In terms of who Liverpool could go and get to change things, it’s difficult. Who’s out there and at what price?

What you want is someone like a good Adebayor from a few years ago.

It’s a real dilemma for the manager and I feel for him.

FA Cup could become very important this season

I’d like to see Daniel Sturridge brought back into the starting line-up for the Exeter game as it feels an ideal game for him, if his body allows it.

Obviously we played the kids down there and they did very well.

But I wouldn’t go overboard on that this time with fourth place in the league looking very unlikely, it means the FA Cup could become very important to Liverpool this season.

Klopp can’t hedge his bets too much and I’d be looking to play maybe three or four of the young lads rather than six or seven.

We’ve also got players who still need games.

Benteke can play again with Connor Randall and Brad Smith at full-back and I’d have played Steven Caulker but he’s ineligible as he wasn’t registered for the original tie.

Milner has been out so should be available to play, Allen should be able to come in and someone like Jordon Ibe should be available.

There are lads who need games and with a home tie waiting ius in the next game – albeit a tough one – we should look to go pretty strong.

A bit of a Mix and Match team is what’s required.

New contract or not, Mignolet likely to face competition this summer

Simon Mignolet has signed a new contract which commits his future to Liverpool for the next five years. As a shot-stopper he’s tremendous and he’s working hard on the other elements of his game.

However I don’t think this news will stop Jurgen Klopp looking to bring in another keeper to battle for the number one position in the summer.

When they brought Adam Bogdan in I thought he would be really good for the club. But what happened at Watford has really hampered him.

The manager will probably go and get a keeper to fight Mignolet this summer for first choice.

Danny Ward could be that man eventually but he’s probably still a bit young at this stage. He’s been absolutely brilliant at Aberdeen though in the Scottish Premier League and he’s one for the future.

What this deal for Mignolet does show however is that Jurgen Klopp has belief in him.

He was probably one of our best players in the second part of last season.

The news that Liverpool and Tranmere have agreed a deal for the Reds to play their U21 and some of their U18 games at Prenton Park is something that I’m really pleased about.

It really is a fabulous stadium and there are such a large number of Liverpool fans on the Wirral who will come out to watch the games.

They’ve been playing some games at Chester and really it’s just a bit too far.

If you look at what’s around and available in the area, this makes perfect sense.

The problem Tranmere have is that teams in their league come to Prenton Park and it’s like a trip to Wembley for them, it’s a ground set up to Championship standards.

For the Liverpool young lads to go there should really inspire them especially if they can get a few more along to watch.