At times, I think we're OK in CM. And then I think we need to improve. I reckon we're missing a Mascherano type of player. A physical, quick, aggressive player who can pass the ball.
The concern I have is Allen. I know he's played well recently, but I still see him as our weak link in CM. If we want a defensive player, we play Lucas. If we want an allround player, we pick Henderson. If we want a pure attacking midfielder, we pick Coutinho. Leadership? Assists? Goals? We never turn to Allen first, so for me he's a backup. No need to trade him for another backup, but if we could find a new first pick, I'm all for making the trade. The main priority though, is to get another goalscorer and that's not a CM.
I don't think that Allen is necessarily such a problem, he is backup, good backup. I tend to think that firing, our midfield can be excellent, and there is development room in all of the players. however.....there are lots of shouts for clones of Alonso, mascherano, gerrard from 10 years ago, etc, and my concern lies here. those players had periods when they were criticised, and no one player is ever universally praised for his influence on the team or is irreplaceable....however, each of those players was an automatic pick to an extent, and if the backup was a drop off, that was not the concern as the backup was there for injuries and to provide rotation and was not expected to be of the same standard.
this is not meant to denigrate our midfielders, but I don't any as influential as those players, except in that they are the ones there.....Henderson is an excellent player, and continues to get better, and may be a player we look back on after his career and say he was truly influential and top quality but he is not there yet. lucas is an excellent player, and much as I like him and trust him in the side, he does not bring as much as either mascherano or Alonso, and whilst that is not the only measure I tend to feel what lucas brings is not sufficient to make him part of a midfield that is the envy of the league or one I think we can't improve on, allen is certainly not significant in his presence, and whilst we have great attacking prowess, coutinho, sterling continue to develop and will peak in a few years.
so unless they all peak together - along with can, markovic, Moreno - and soon, then we will carry the risk that the passing of time provides. failures, injuries, players moving on, other squad improvements, etc. the reality is we need to constantly improve to continue to compete and that means if we can improve our midfield than we should....but it needs to be players who work for us, AND are quality....not an easy combination t find in a budget!!!
it is a nagging doubt only for me, and I may well be wrong, but I do think we need an addition next season, someone who can be our main man in midfield now - not in a couple of years, not someone who can contribute if needed, but will contribute regularly and influence on the field as much as Henderson does and more...we talk about leaders all over the pitch, another one in midfield would not go amiss in terms of shaping play, reacting, being the manager's conduit on the pitch much as Alonso was benitez' initially