Topic: BBC Sport - Pick your all-time Liverpool XI

[Charlie Adams fried egg]

I think there's a few filters. Games played and trophies won are useful in narrowing it down. Also I think limting teams to players you've seen play makes sense, if only to reduce the pool further.
For me it's difficult to look too much beyond the one with Gerrard Souness Barnes, Rush, Dalglish, Salah. The only doubts for me are Allison v Clemence and Robertson / Joey Jones.

[Jookie]

From what I’ve see in a 4-2-3-1

Alisson

TAA
Hansen
VvD
Robertson

Gerrard
Fabinho

Salah
Mane
Barnes

Rush


Bit of a fudge to get Barnes, Mane and Salah in same team.

Just missed out on seeing Dalglish and Souness so did not include them. Ian Rush is easily the best striker I’ve seen for us. Barnes at his peak the most exciting player I’ve seen for us. Salah and Mane just shade Suarez but are miles ahead of others like Torres, Owen, Fowler, McManaman. Mane/Salah have consistently excelled for us over a longer time than Suarez. Also available consistently.

Gerrard is best ever player i’ve seen for us. Fabinho is a better all round player and more effective than Alonso and Mascherano in their Liverpool careers. Fabinho is not as silky or easy on the eye as Alonso but he’s consistently at a higher level than Alonso was for us over his time at the club. Alonso was a bit up and down.

Defence and GK are relatively easy to pick. Only question was having Nicol as 1 of the full backs. Close call but went with the current 2.

[ScouserAtHeart]

Was Mane not playing when you watched? 

haha just think peak Suarez was a tiny bit better than peak Mane

[RedSince86]

[Ray K]

Yeah, the only question for me at left back was Nicol vs Robertson. Does highlight (no disrespect to those two) that it's not historically been the strongest position.

Did Nicol play that much at LB?  Or is it just a case of great player, versatile, need to stick him in there?

[Realgman]

I know salah should be there, but I couldnt leave the 3 I picked out..
what finishers..
The midfield, full of intelligence and guile
The defence could have been a few different, but  not better..
I loved reina as a keeper, thought he was fantastic, and hated we let him go....but well Alisson

[red1977]

.

[Barrow Shaun]

Any selection that doesn't have Babb as sweeper and David Burrows as left wing-back is just trolling us all.

[RedSince86]

Any selection that doesn't have Babb as sweeper and David Burrows as left wing-back is just trolling us all.

Don't forget Kvarme and Tanner in that back 3.

[RobbieRedman]

[MNAA]

My XI

[Malaysian Kopite]

Who I've watched:

[Nobby Reserve]

I stopped because they wouldn't let me pick Salah wide right in a 4-2-3-1

Snap

Wanted to put all forwards in the 3-1:

Midfield 2 of Gerrard and Souness (more than enough!!)

Salah - Dalglish - Suarez
             
             Rush

We've had some great keepers, defenders and midfielders - but fucking hell have we had way more than our fair share of top, top class forwards over the years.


To think that players with the quality of Mane, Torres, Owen, Fowler, Barnes, Keegan (not to mention Hunt, St John & Liddell) wouldn't make my top 4 is staggering.

[blamski]

Shame there is no Mascherano or Thiago option in midfield, though we're still spoilt for choice.
Feels slightly weird to leave out a few defensive greats but I just think Virgil and Sami would work together really well
There's enough craft and steel in the midfield to control any game, and the forward line is the stuff of nightmares for anybody

[Johnny Aldridge]

Based only on the players I saw in my time:

                               Alisson

Alexander-Arnold      Hansen     Van Dijk    Robertson

         Barnes    Gerard      Souness     Whelan

                        Dalgalish    Rush

[RyanBabel19]

Gonna give this a go tomorrow, STUNNED to see the sheer amount of times Ian Rush misses out in here though, 346 goals!!! Gotta assume its all people who were never fortunate enough to see him play

[RayPhilAlan]

We did this a couple of years ago and my only change to that team is Alisson for Clemence.  At the time I thought that Alisson was probably the better GK, but hadn't played enough games, but now he is even better and has enough appearances and winners medals to justify his place.

This would actually be more of a 4-2-3-1 with Barnes wide left, Salah wide right, and Dalglish in the 'number 10' position, but that wasn't an option.

I'm with Stu-Pid.
I also wanted to have a 4-2-3-1 with Salah, Kenny and Barnes as the three behind Rush, but it won't let you pick forwards in the 3.
My changes to your team are keeper (Clemence still keeps the jersey, just) and in the fullback positions, where I've gone for Phil Neal and (my left-field left-back) Mark Lawrenson. Lawro's just such a good player that he needs to be there somewhere, and his first appearances for us were at left-back.

So that's:
Clemence
Neal
Hansen
Van Dijk
Lawrenson
Souness
Gerrard
Salah
Dalglish
Barnes
Rush

[Johnny Aldridge]

Gonna give this a go tomorrow, STUNNED to see the sheer amount of times Ian Rush misses out in here though, 346 goals!!! Gotta assume its all people who were never fortunate enough to see him play

Rush got stick because he was an out and out striker. But goals win games and he was a deadly finisher. His partnership with Kenny was brilliant.

[Bobinhood]

Hmmmph


wouldn't let me pick Steve Finnan, Deegan or Kromkamp.

[kavah]

Regarding Nicol at left back he was genuinely two-footed, a natural footballer

https://www.lfchistory.net/Players/Player/Profile/389

A good shout as sub too as he had all the skill and the physique to play centre half which he did in the late 80s team.
It's a pity he can be such a prick on ESPN. Kenny says the Scots had built up this image as the master race, better at everything than the English; more intelligent, tougher, faster, better at golf etc. and then Nicol turns up and shatters that illusion in his first ten minutes 

[Timbo's Goals]

Twenty years ago this was a piece of piss. Now, though - especially with this current crop of world class talent including Diaz and Thiago - it’s utterly fucking impossible. And anyone who thinks they’ve cracked it is deluded.

BTW - Vintage mid sixties twin centre back Tommy Smith is the only definite for me. Not even Kenny is certain of a place which shows the futility of even trying 

[Johnny Aldridge]

Regarding Nicol at left back he was genuinely two-footed, a natural footballer

https://www.lfchistory.net/Players/Player/Profile/389

A good shout as sub too as he had all the skill and the physique to play centre half which he did in the late 80s team.
It's a pity he can be such a prick on ESPN. Kenny says the Scots had built up this image as the master race, better at everything than the English; more intelligent, tougher, faster, better at golf etc. and then Nicol turns up and shatters that illusion in his first ten minutes 

I found it hard to leave Nicol out, great defender, pace, great passer and crosser of the ball, he could play a few positions. He was tough too. Perfect sub on my team...

[kavah]

Twenty years ago this was a piece of piss. Now, though - especially with this current crop of world class talent including Diaz and Thiago - it’s utterly fucking impossible. And anyone who thinks they’ve cracked it is deluded.

BTW - Vintage mid sixties twin centre back Tommy Smith is the only definite for me. Not even Kenny is certain of a place which shows the futility of even trying 

I knew you'd fit Tommy in Timbo, and yes it's an impossible task, what a crop of greats we've had under Jurgen

[beardsleyismessimk1]

Suffocate the life out of you

[FlashingBlade]

Suffocate the life out of you

close to mine

[FlashingBlade]

I found it hard to leave Nicol out, great defender, pace, great passer and crosser of the ball, he could play a few positions. He was tough too. Perfect sub on my team...

Brilliant footballer...TAA in most teams here but thats a generation thing...you can only assess those who you've seen play...I'm pretty sure if any eighty year olds  here would have Liddell in their teams...and quote right too

[redmark]

Did Nicol play that much at LB?  Or is it just a case of great player, versatile, need to stick him in there?

He obviously played RB the most, but spent significant time at LB, too - the transition from Neal to Nicol, a few games when Venison at RB was a better option than Burrows/Ablett/Staunton (who was promising but made mistakes and seemed to get some stick from sections of the crowd) at LB, and then more regularly when Rob Jones forced his way in at RB (he, in turn, moved to the left when McAteer arrived, but Nicol had moved on by then). Of 343 games for the club (and without 'appearances by position' stats, to my knowledge, from those days), I'd guess 50+ (maybe as many as 70/80) at LB.

[Linudden]

The BBC formations are a joke and these are getting way too crowded nowadays but mine would be:

Alisson

Trent Hansen van Dijk Robertson

Souness Alonso

Gerrard

Salah Dalglish Suárez

Dalglish would be a false nine and Gerrard would drop back/drift wider to give him space. Salah and Suárez would have free roles to cut inside and do whatever they wanted.

Subs:

Clemence
Neal
Hyypiä
Yeats
A. Kennedy
Fabinho
Henderson
Thiago
Keegan
Mané
Barnes
Rush

I left players from the 60s and earlier out because it's very hard to judge them in modern formations, but I felt Yeats was good enough to make it to the bench regardless. Still, Tommy Smith and Ian St. John aren't in, which they would be at almost any other club. Let alone Roger Hunt who'd be the superstar in the vast majority of PL clubs' all-time XI's. A centre back's role is quite defined either way. Billy Liddell is the hardest to judge of them all, but I don't think he can beat Suárez, Mané and Barnes out either way. For centre forwards, the likes of Hunt, Fowler, Owen and Torres not being in the squad shows how competitive this actually is. Shoutouts to Steve Nicol, Ian Callaghan, Ronnie Whelan, Ray Kennedy and Peter Beardsley who all would've been worthy inclusions in their own rights.

Good luck keeping that bench happy

[beardsleyismessimk1]

close to mine

Could have gone with so many permutations.  Such quality players throughout the years. Can't fit them all in. I'm an 80s kid so those were the best times for me. When you're so much more in love with the game .

[kaesarsosei]

haha just think peak Suarez was a tiny bit better than peak Mane

Suarez in 13/14 (actually mostly the calendar year of 2013) was the best player I have ever seen playing for Liverpool and the best player I have ever seen playing in the PL. That's not enough to get him in an all-time Liverpool XI though because IMO you have to factor in longevity and success.

But for those 12-18 months he was the best player in the world, and the best I've ever seen for us.

[eeekaj]

(My era only)

GK: Alisson

RB: Trent Alexander-Arnold
CB: Sami Hyypia
CB: Virgil Van Dijk
LB: Andrew Robertson

MF: Steven Gerrard
MF: Fabinho
MF: Xabi Alonso

FW: Mohamed Salah
FW: Luis Suarez
FW: Sadio Mane

[Dr Stu-Pid]

Brilliant footballer...TAA in most teams here but thats a generation thing...you can only assess those who you've seen play...I'm pretty sure if any eighty year olds  here would have Liddell in their teams...and quote right too

It's obviously partly a generation thing, but I think it's more that he has completely redefined the full back position, and is doing things from full back that you'd expect to see from world class midfielders.  Back in the day full back was the easiest position on the pitch to play, but in Klopp's Liverpool teams it is almost certainly one of the hardest. Neville may talk a lot of sh*t these days, but he was generally considered to be the best right back of the PL era, and he freely admits that he would be terrible in a Klopp team and would not get a game.  That speaks volumes about the evolution of the full back role.

The pass with the outside of the foot in the FA cup final was something that you would have seen from prime Pirlo or Zidane, and I just don't think that any of the other great Liverpool full backs in the past could come close to it.

[Jookie]

STUNNED to see the sheer amount of times Ian Rush misses out in here though, 346 goals!!! Gotta assume its all people who were never fortunate enough to see him play

Absolutely wild that some people have Dalglish and Souness but not Rush.

If you are old enough to have seen those 2 then surely you must pick Rush.

Sheer weight of number of goals is a reason on it's own. Add in the quality of his finishes and how important a lot of the goals he scored and it's added reasons. Then you add in his hard work. How he defended from the front and set the tone for the team.

Unbelievable player and IMO easily walks into our best XI ever.

[FlashingBlade]

It's obviously partly a generation thing, but I think it's more that he has completely redefined the full back position, and is doing things from full back that you'd expect to see from world class midfielders.  Back in the day full back was the easiest position on the pitch to play, but in Klopp's Liverpool teams it is almost certainly one of the hardest. Neville may talk a lot of sh*t these days, but he was generally considered to be the best right back of the PL era, and he freely admits that he would be terrible in a Klopp team and would not get a game.  That speaks volumes about the evolution of the full back role.

The pass with the outside of the foot in the FA cup final was something that you would have seen from prime Pirlo or Zidane, and I just don't think that any of the other great Liverpool full backs in the past could come close to it.

Think on drawing up lists like these it is mostly about the ability of the individual not team..Suraez gets in min but his team was no way the match of current one..and no one makes it into my team from current one...yet I may think this maybe the best Liverpool 'team' I've seen.

Nicol would excell in this team..in attacking role to defending and link up play. ..no slouch scoring either...scored a wonderful  hatrick at Newcastle away..inc delightful chip....playing right back.

[redmark]

Absolutely wild that some people have Dalglish and Souness but not Rush.

If you are old enough to have seen those 2 then surely you must pick Rush.

Sheer weight of number of goals is a reason on it's own. Add in the quality of his finishes and how important a lot of the goals he scored and it's added reasons. Then you add in his hard work. How he defended from the front and set the tone for the team.

Unbelievable player and IMO easily walks into our best XI ever.

Yeah - I think it's a combination of the BBC formation restriction and needing (or feeling the need) to squeeze Salah in. And also, considering something like a 4411 formation, that right midfield historically has been a slight relative weakness, similar to LB. But a formation with Salah right and say Barnes left feels unbalanced. Which is why this stuff is difficult .

[Jookie]

Yeah - I think it's a combination of the BBC formation restriction and needing (or feeling the need) to squeeze Salah in. And also, considering something like a 4411 formation, that right midfield historically has been a slight relative weakness, similar to LB. But a formation with Salah right and say Barnes left feels unbalanced. Which is why this stuff is difficult

This stuff is all subjective.

Personal opinion whether you think Nicol is better than TAA or Robertson. Whether Hansen is better than Lawrenson. Whether Fabinho is better than Macherano or Alonso. Barens or Mane or who's the best striker out of long list of options.

As someone in their mid 40's I thought Alisson, VvD, Hansen, Gerrard and Rush were absolute certainties. For people a few years older than me, I think you can add in Souness and Dalglish into that list.I'd have expected virtually everyone to accommodate those players.

You are then playing round with 4 or 5 positions and how you fit the formations to match. Salah, Mane and Suarez become the difficult ones since they played in different formations than 4-4-2 we traditionally played with.

[Linudden]

Regarding Rushie, for me it was quite an easy call to choose Kenny as false nine over him. Especially considering that the Rush that got back from Italy was no longer capable of banging in the number of goals prior to his departure. In modern football, having the archtypical #9 is not the end-all-be-all to score many goals. Klopp's team is proof of that. During the Abu Dhabi era, no Man City player has ever broken 34 goals in all competitions.

There are so many other things to consider. Among them is how to balance the midfield. With attacking wing backs like Trent and Robbo, you can't have a cavalier midfield and try and fit both Stevie and Kenny into it. Something has to give. You'll need defensive stability and that's what Xabi and Souness provide. Then Kenny will be expected to play the Firmino role, Mo as himself, Luis in the Sadio role and then you have Stevie in a quasi-free role behind them. It would just be a team acquiring a lot more points than 'whoever scored the most goals fitted in no matter what'. The idea is that Luis in his prime would bang in 30 league goals and Mo probably 25 anyway

Anyway, the player who was the closest to getting in without making it was John Barnes. I think that objectively, he was the best Liverpool player around between Paisley's resignation and Rafa's appointment. World class in every single form of the word. The problem is, I just couldn't find space on the left for him. Luis is the most talented Liverpool player I've ever seen so Barnes ran out of room.

[redmark]

This stuff is all subjective.

Personal opinion whether you think Nicol is better than TAA or Robertson. Whether Hansen is better than Lawrenson. Whether Fabinho is better than Macherano or Alonso. Barens or Mane or who's the best striker out of long list of options.

As someone in their mid 40's I thought Alisson, VvD, Hansen, Gerrard and Rush were absolute certainties. For people a few years older than me, I think you can add in Souness and Dalglish into that list.I'd have expected virtually everyone to accommodate those players.

You are then playing round with 4 or 5 positions and how you fit the formations to match. Salah, Mane and Suarez become the difficult ones since they played in different formations than 4-4-2 we traditionally played with.

Yep, many of my picks hadn't changed in a long time - Hansen, Souness, Dalglish, Rush, Barnes, Gerrard. Though for some reason Rush isn't quite as 'sexy', so you'd consider Fowler, then Torres, then Suarez, but always go back to Rush. VVD is a shoo-in. Trent squeezed in above Nicol (and Nicol can play left). I still plumped for Clemence over Alisson, which is possibly odd because the memory of Clemence is pretty hazy by now.

So yeah, I think 3 positions (in my mind) are in question: left back (Nicol vs Robertson), then a couple of midfielder/forward depending on formation and balance. Which is the toughest bit...

[Black Bull Nova]

Always tricky because younger fans have their understanding of older players like Callaghan, Hunt, Keegan etc filtered a bit so some bias creeps in

[Jookie]

Luis is the most talented Liverpool player I've ever seen so Barnes ran out of room.

All fair points.

I just highlighted this bit because it's the bit I disagree with. I think John Barnes at his peak was the most talented Liverpool player we've had in my time supporting the club. John Barnes in the modern era, which the protection that players are afforded, would be putting up ridiculous numbers. He elevated a club and brought huge excitement to a team that had won everything in the preceding years. Torres is probably the only modern day player who I can think of that brought that immediate buzz and excitement to the club.

I thought Suarez was a brilliant player, who for an 18-24 month period was the best player in the league. Just think he's shy of Barnes for a number of reasons. I'd also have Mane and Salah ahead of Suarez for longevity reasons. Like I said previously players like Owen, Fowler, Torres, Beardsley weren't even close in my thoughts about best ever Liverpool XI despite all being very good players.