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We are in pretty good shape in central midfield.

Lucas Leiva was long bemoaned as a dud and a poor signing, but this season, he has shaken off the shackles of mediocrity and made himself one of the stand-out holding midfielders in the EPL. He is not quick, but he positions himself well, wins tackles with minimal fuss and drama, passes sensibly and accurately and gets forward well when required. He is a very, very good player and we are lucky to have him. His performance rises for all big games, and his recent displays against Manchester United, Chelsea, Manchester City and Arsenal were thoroughly exceptional. He is, in my view, our player of the season.

Jay Spearing is also a holding type midfielder although he seems to be able to drive forward a bit more frequently than Lucas and as such provides a good foil for the more reserved but savvier Brazilian. It is early days with Spearing, but he seems mature and capable, has grabbed his opportunity this season with both hands and looks like a real prospect for the future. His recent displays alongside Lucas have been extremely encouraging.

Steven Gerrard is a top class player—our best by a mile and possibly the best in the league—but this season has been a write off for him. He was in poor form at the start of the season—symptomatic of the overall malaise that had gripped the club—and since the Dalglish revolution, he has been mainly injured. Regardless he is still a world class player and we will be much better off next season when he is fully fit and hopefully back to something like his best.

A deeper issue exists here though in that he is aging and will need replacing in the next few seasons. It might well be advisable for management to buy in a player now to learn from the master when he is still capable of playing at a high level, as I am fairly adamant the long-term replacement for Captain Fantastic is not in the squad at the moment.

Raul Meireles is in my view a central player, so I will discuss him here. He has been a good signing who scored some important goals for the team. He gets forward well, links the play between midfield and the strikers effectively and is not afraid to get stuck into tackles in midfield. His runs to the edge of the box are excellent, and if another advanced winger/attacking midfielder were to be brought into play, it would likely free him up a bit more and give him more room to be creative.

Certainly, his best displays have been when there were wing-backs or another dynamic midfielder like Gerrard on the field, and hopefully, that will be a regular occurrence next season. While I think he was a good signing and was worth the money we paid for him, I am not like some other fans quite ready to proclaim him a genius. He still loses the ball too much and needs to work on this before he can be truly viewed as a top-class player.

Jonjo Shelvey is another promising youngster. He certainly looks like he has the skills, and he certainly isn't shy, but I am less impressed by Shelvey than most seem to be. He seems a little brainless to me, but he is still young. Hopefully he will continue to develop next season.

Aquilani is probably done at Liverpool. While there is this ongoing debate about his price, I think a deal with Juve will eventually get done. I must say I find that very disappointing. Aquaman is a top player and showed a lot of promise last year. I do not know why he wasn't ever given a real chance in the team instead of being shunned and loaned, but it bothers me. Now Hodgson is gone, Dalglish could try and rebuild the bridge, and I can't help wondering whether, if we took him back now fully fit and confident, he would turn out to be £20 million well spent. He is a great player, and he is still young, and I really think we should reach out to him.

Poulsen cost £4.5 million. Konchesky cost around £3.5 million. Rafa Van Der Vaart cost spurs £8 million. Poulsen + Konchesky = Van Der Vaart. Anybody else feel sick?