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Arsene Wenger has prided himself on the 15 consecutive years that Arsenal have qualified for Europe’s most prestigious cup competition, the Champions League. Further than priding himself, the Gunners boss has used the impressive feat as a justification for the club’s inability to keep up in the title race over the past five years; although failing to get past the round of 16 for three campaigns in a row is hardly anything to write home about.

In addition to the glory and pride that comes with playing in the Champions League, comes huge financial rewards in Television revenues, which is calculated by a rather complex formula to divide UEFA’s overall earnings accordingly between each club based upon domestic standing as well as which round they reach in the European competition. Additionally, there are win and draw bonuses, and fixed fiscal prizes for each stage.

For example, in the 2011/2012 season, according to The Guardian, UEFA cashed in  €1.1billion in selling TV rights and sponsorship deals. 79% is then divided between all of the participating clubs, and the rest is kept by UEFA to cover the tournament’s running costs. The remaining €865 million (79%) split between the clubs is divided into two pools, firstly the fixed rewards, such as €3.9million for reaching the Group Stages, plus €550K per win, and secondly for their final standings domestically and in the European competition.

Perhaps the £25million Arsenal earned from the Champions League in the 2010/2011 season is not as much as one would have first thought, and although it creates a big difference between the clubs at the bottom of the table in the Premier League, it is still a fraction of the club’s overall revenue; 11% in fact for the year in question.

But along with the financial rewards of the Champions League itself, comes a number of commercial opportunities for exposure and sale of merchandise. Essentially, being in the competition gets your club’s name heard around the world, as it’s broadcasted in 220 different countries, and therefore boosts your profile globally, allowing for independent sponsorship deals to be made.

So how have Tottenham Hotspur, a club with a single year of Champions League experience under its belt, come to eclipse their local rivals in terms of league standing as well as quality in their roster, despite the obvious financial rewards and commercial exposure Arsenal have benefited from for 15 years straight?

I am not arguing it is the end for Arsenal, or that they will now and forever always be a lesser team than Spurs, but excluding Theo Walcott, Santi Cazorla and Jack Wilshere, would any of the Gunners starting XI be guaranteed a hypothetical place in the Tottenham first team? Furthermore, whilst Arsene Wenger possesses a squad full of injury-prone-has-beens and lacklustre flops, Andre Villas-Boas is spoilt for choice in defence and midfield, with a balance of young and old, and a natural pecking order established at White Hart Lane.

The Arsenal wage structure has come under scrutiny this season and it’s easy to see why. According to The Independent, the club’s total wage bill is verging on the £150million mark, whilst Tottenham’s stands at just £90million. The difference is more understandable when taking into consideration the contracts of players like Marouane Chamakh and Sebastien Squillaci, who are both on £50k per week deals for literally making up the numbers at the Emirates and doing nothing more.

Squillaci has made just a single league appearance over the past two seasons, whilst Chamakh has now been farmed out, along with Johan Djourou, Denilson, Andre Santos, Park Chu-Young and Nicklas Bendtner, but all are on deals that vastly surpass their roles at the club considering none have been first team regulars for quite some time. Of course, Champions League clubs are held to ransom by agents demanding Champions League wages for their players, but considering much of the Gunners roster are now not Champions League quality, the club’s wage structure, which has been described as “socialist” by a number of the newspapers, clearly isn’t providing value for money.

Furthermore, some of the blame has to be attached to Arsene Wenger. His lack of ambition in the transfer market has left the squad deteriorated in depth, and similarly the first team have depreciated in value and quality over the past five years. Without Robin Van Persie carrying out a talismanic role up front this season, the rest of the team has been shown up for its widespread lack of talent compared to the likes of Chelsea, Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham.

The club’s record transfer fee is currently the £16million spent on Santi Cazorla in the summer, whereas Chelsea’s is £50million, City’s is £37million, Liverpool’s is £35million and United’s is £31million. Out of the five clubs, who have all been Champions League regulars at one time or another, Arsenal’s is by far the least, and is even £2million less than Tottenham’s record fee of £18million for Luka Modric. It’s clear that whilst other clubs have taken advantage of the additional revenues and commercial exposure provided by the Champions League, the Gunners quite frankly have not.

Arsene Wenger has used the building of the club’s new stadium as a justification for his reluctance to spend big in the past. But now that all debts are paid, he should have a free reign in the next transfer window, and has already discussed an apparent £80million transfer and wage kitty that will be at his disposal in the summer. However, it could easily be a case of too little too late if the Gunners miss out on a Champions League spot to their local rivals, which will seriously hurt the Arsenal supporters.

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Whereas in the past, Wenger had the opportunity to pay large fees for players desperate to play European football, which he turned down, he may find recruitment for the 2013/2014 season much harder should the North Londoners fail to qualify. Similarly, he will now have a group of players on Champions League wages, who aren’t Champions League quality, without the additional revenues of the tournament to cover their salaries.

Of course, being in the Champions League is no guarantee of success. Liverpool won the competition in 2005, and have since slid down the Premier League table and now find themselves squandering in the middle order of the English top flight. But the fact that Tottenham’s rise has collided with Arsenal’s decline highlights just how the inefficiently the club is being run, with the majority of profits being sucked up by the wage bill alone, leaving little left for transfer funds. Furthermore, and most importantly, it symbolises how Wenger has failed to take advantage of his 15 years of success, and has now allowed local and league rivals Tottenham to better him.

[post_link url=”https://www.footballfancast.com/premiership/the-10-transfers-tottenham-arsenal-should-snap-up-to-challenge,https://www.footballfancast.com/premiership/tottenham/the-10-transfer-priorities-for-tottenham-this-summer,https://www.footballfancast.com/premiership/arsenal/a-mistake-for-arsenal-to-cash-in-on-him-this-summer,https://www.footballfancast.com/premiership/arsenal/the-top-10-transfer-priorities-for-arsenal-this-summer,https://www.footballfancast.com/football-blogs/bale-suarez-robin-van-persie-deserves-it-more-than-anyone” target=”_blank” type=”grid”]

Gareth Barry says he loves life at Manchester City and is hoping to commit his future by signing a new contract.

The 32-year-old has just under 18 months to run on his current deal but he is keen to stay well beyond 2014 and is hoping to open talks with the club over a new contract in the summer.

Whether City will offer a player of his age anything long-term remains to be seen, but Barry has no thoughts about moving on and would love to put pen to paper.

“I am happy here and very settled,” Barry revealed. “I spent 12 years at Villa and I’ve spent four years at City and I’m not really one for moving around. I’d like to stay as long as possible.

“For a player to feel settled and feel very comfortable, you generally want to be playing regular football – and I’ve been lucky enough to feature in a lot of games this season.

“That’s one reason why I am happy to stay.”

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Norwich will pitch fit-again keeper John Ruddy in to face West Brom at Carrow Road on Sunday following his five-month injury absence.

The England international has battled his way back from a long-standing groin problem and, despite being fit in the past few weeks, boss Chris Hughton was unwilling to throw him back into the first-team too soon and risk doing any further damage.

However, it seems Ruddy will get the nod ahead of Mark Bunn for Sunday’s visit of the Baggies, as the Canaries still require a win to be almost certain of Premier League football next season.

Winger Robert Snodgrass has recovered from cramp which saw him substituted in last weekend’s late 2-1 home defeat by Aston Villa, but centre-half Michael Turner is still sidelined with a groin injury.

Meanwhile midfielder Anthony Pilkington insists the squad is in good spirits ahead of the game as they look to secure only their third win in 20 outings which would take them six points clear of third bottom Wigan.

“Everyone’s been positive around the dressing room, all around the club, and everyone’s behind each other,” said Pilkington.

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“Everyone was disappointed and gutted after the defeat to Aston Villa. But the boys have picked each other up and the staff have picked us up as well.”

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With this season in many ways marking the end of an era for Manchester United, following the retirements of Paul Scholes and Sir Alex Ferguson, incoming Red Devils boss David Moyes will be keen to start a new period in the club’s history from the start of next season.

But before we get to the opening fixtures in August, the former Everton manager has the summer transfer window to contend with. Whilst many will be looking at whom he will attempt to bring in, citing former Toffees’ players and one of Europe’s top strikers up for sale during the off-season, he will also have to balance out his new recruits by shifting some of the deadwood at Old Trafford.

Just in case Moyes is not yet well acquainted enough with the United roster, we’ve complied a list of the Five players who’ve become surplus to requirements for Manchster United.

Click Here or on Anderson to reveal the FIVE players that David Moyes should ditch this summer.

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Luis Suarez’s absence has brought about a number of positives in the Liverpool camp, one being the obvious desire from Daniel Sturridge to step forward and take responsibility at the tip of the attacking sword.

It’s far too early and certainly too much of a long shot to say that Sturridge is the internal solution to the Suarez issue over the short term. Despite holding a place at two big clubs in the Premier League is his career prior to Liverpool, the England forward has never really had an opportunity to show his worth on a regular basis, bar one season at Chelsea. Falling down the pecking order was routine at both Manchester City and Chelsea, though now there is a clear path for him to forge his own legacy at a club who are more than willing to place confidence and faith in him.

Sturridge’s two Premier League goals in two games hold a lot of promise. Whatever happens with Suarez and a possible replacement, Brendan Rodgers knows he has a forward in his ranks who is good enough to lead the attack and make a difference. But even the most optimistic of supporters shouldn’t over think the good performances thus far. We’ve seen nothing to suggest Sturridge is a striker capable of 30 goals in a season. His form may be good, and it certainly is, but is he the type of striker that will go through dry spells? We simply don’t know that yet. The almighty upside, however, is that he is still only 23 and already looks like a player who is completely at ease with the demands of playing for a top club every week.

What can also be said about Sturridge is that he is a player with a point to prove. As talented as he may be, he hasn’t delivered at international level with the England U21s or the Olympic team of last summer. He has his flaws, including his desire to go it alone rather than looking for a teammate. But the environment at Anfield currently is clearly one he can thrive off. The focus is elsewhere and the team are set up to offer younger players the opportunity to build towards something in the future. It doesn’t matter if he isn’t a 30-goal-a-season striker now, Liverpool are focusing on their youngest and brightest, and Sturridge clearly falls into the category alongside Coutinho.

The important factor of all of this is that the club cannot rely solely on Sturridge for goals. If he’s going to develop into a leading striker for a top club, that transition phase clearly needs to take place – a transition which is likely to happen this season and builds on his 10 league goals for the club last season. But supplementing the attack remains paramount to achieving the club’s objectives. Without Suarez, Liverpool have put together a run of six games in which they’ve only lost once. It can be done without the Uruguayan, but complacency shouldn’t be allowed to set in.

For now though, Strurridge looks to be fulfilling the potential that was so often held back in previous seasons. The clinical striker Liverpool need over the long term could certainly be sitting in house.

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Is Sturridge good enough to take over the reins from Suarez over the long term?

Join the debate below

Olivier Giroud has worked his whole career to defy those who have said he wasn’t up to the task, starting in the lower divisions of French football.

The price tag dictated the general attitude towards him as a player. Giroud, a title winner in France’s Ligue 1 and a scorer of 21 league goals, the most that season, was deemed not good enough when Arsenal spent £10 million on him in July 2012.

The thing is he was being judged against the class and calibre of Robin van Persie – an unfair comparison for almost any striker in English football. Instead of asking what a new-look strike force could do for Arsenal, one which included Lukas Podolski, people were questioning whether Giroud was yet another bargain signing from French football.

It’s nothing new, though. People will question anything. Like whether Neymar is just a YouTube sensation. You have to wonder whether they believe what they’re saying or if they’re just out to ruffle a few feathers.

Nevertheless, Giroud, like most, was owed a period of adaptation to the Premier League. Memories of van Persie would have flashed across most people’s minds in last season’s opening game against Sunderland when Giroud missed a good opportunity for his first league goal. Yet even as the season progressed and he earned himself 17 in total and a place in the hearts of the Arsenal faithful, the overtures towards Luis Suarez and Gonzalo Higuain this past summer were wrongly labelled as indirect attacks on the Frenchman rather than what they were – a club looking to bolster its attacking options.

This season we’ve seen another set of defiant performances from Giroud. He doesn’t have the grace and fluidity of van Persie, Dennis Bergkamp or Thierry Henry, but that doesn’t matter. Giroud has made Arsenal’s Plan A stronger by adding the elements of a different way of attacking. He offers the powerful target man approach without ever compromising the team’s preferred style of play. If there is a doubt about his technical ability, take a look at his involvement in that Jack Wilshere goal against Norwich.

Can he finish? Many good centre-forwards go through scoring droughts, including van Persie; four club games is no cause for alarm. With 10 already in all competitions, there’s no reason why Giroud can’t register 20-plus goals for Arsene Wenger’s side. As a reference, seven of those 10 have been in the league. The league’s top scorer, Sergio Aguero, has 10.

Giroud’s desire to prove that he belongs has forced him onto a long table seating Arsenal’s most improved players. Of course, there was never anything really wrong with the former Montpellier striker. That first season in English football, however, a bridge as I like to think of it, has done wonders for his overall contribution and confidence.

He looks like a player who is enjoying the responsibility, never buckling under its weight. Against Manchester United at Old Trafford, Giroud was one of the few who seemed unfazed and wholly determined to put in a shift, closing down and harassing the backline. He won’t force his way through defences in the way Luis Suarez can – they’re completely different players. Yet his work rate cannot be questioned this season.

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As a player still short of breaking into that category of world-class strikers, there shouldn’t be any lasting concern. A far more fitting comparison for Giroud would be to look at his similarities to Didier Drogba, another alumnus from Ligue 1 who was seen as a late bloomer.

Arsenal’s lack of success in finding another striker in the summer may be seen as something of a positive. They now know what they have in Giroud. The player himself is full of confidence and knows what he’s capable of. There is room for improvement for both club and player, but the trust instilled in Giroud is proving to be invaluable in his transition and further development as a high-end striker.

Former Manchester United defender Gary Neville was forced to explain his commentary from last night’s Champions League fixture after he implied that Mesut Ozil has some work to do.The Sky Sports man was brutally honest as he set the record straight as to the work needed in order for Ozil to reflect his efforts for Germany in the 2010 World Cup.As is typical with the pundit, he linked current events to his experiences at the Old Trafford club and openly used Ji Sung Park as an example of the work-rate Ozil must mirror.It seems Mesut cannot sit back and ‘Park’ the bus anymore!

For such a proud footballing institution, Newcastle haven’t half become a laughing stock over the last few seasons. After suffering the ignominy of relegation from the Premier League back in 2009, Mike Ashley has seemingly done everything in his power to bring farce and controversy to the North East.

From renaming the stadium, to selling off their best players; nothing it would seem could come close to the shock appointment of Joe Kinnear as Director of Football last year.

The former Republic of Ireland international was to answer only to Mike Ashley on all things football Kinnear reacted to the appointment by claiming he “could open the door to any manager in the world” and asked fans to judge him on the signings he made.

Since then we have seen just a couple of loan signings in Loic Remy and Luuk de Jong, and an inability to find a suitable replacement for the outgoing Yohan Cabaye. The amateurish nature of his work doesn’t stop there, the man that professes to being a master of the game somehow managed to recommend one of Newcastle’s own players in Shane Ferguson while the youngster was out on loan at Birmingham. Add to this his inability to pronounce any vaguely foreign sounding name and you begin to wonder whether this man is just a complete fraud?

After Saturday’s loss to Sunderland, Pardew made it clear he was unhappy at the club’s lack of transfer activity:

“If I was in charge, solely, of transfers, things might be different but I’m not,” he said.

“I think I’ve made my opinions very clear this week and all the rest of it is confidential.”

The conspiracy theorists have always surmised that Kinnear has something on Ashley, because to the face of it his involvement is nothing short of a joke. Ever since the resignation of Derek Llambias the club has been run, at least in footballing terms, by a clown.

The most bitter of pills to swallow for Newcastle fans was the departure of Yohan Cabaye at the back end of the January window. Newcastle shouldn’t though be castigated for such a move, in the end the lure of PSG was too great and the money on offer huge for a club of their current size. The actual lunacy here was in the inability to line up a replacement, with moves for Lyon’s Clement Grenier ending in failure.

Newcastle legend Alan Sheared summed up his feelings for Match of the Day 2:

“It was a strange appointment in the first place. When you sell your best player three days before the transfer deadline you have to have a plan.

“Maybe him resigning is a way of saying he didn’t do his job, but I’m not sure what his job was anyway. Saturday’s defeat against Sunderland was as poor a performance as I’ve seen for a long time. They were lucky it was only 3-0.”

Even Kinnear’s departure was scattered with controversy, with Newcastle clearly left in the lurch. The failure of the January window could well have spelled the end for the Irishman, but to leave his club without a replacement or indeed contingency plan is borderline cowardly for a man that supposedly cares so much.

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Newcastle fans will be glad to finally be rid of the man that has brought them so much ridicule. A tenure that will be remembered for his media gaffes and transfer window hash ups above anything else, you would hope his departure would now open the door for someone that will actually take the role seriously.

Fans will be praying it’s an end to the comedy sideshow at St James’.

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We can establish the kind of person Robin van Persie is by analysing and comparing his most recent outburst against his club or teammates with what has happened in the past. There’s previous and there’s symmetry. It’s now no longer bitter Arsenal fans who are rifling criticism at the Manchester United striker.

Were van Persie’s comments about his teammates after the loss at Olympiakos taken out of context? Is there a frustrated team player in there who is struggling to gel in a new setup created by a new manager? That’s the easy conclusion to hold if he hadn’t done this sort of thing before.

The story away from van Persie individually is that David Moyes has lost the dressing room. Based on the way the team have been playing, it’s difficult to argue that point.

But van Persie has a method of getting what he wants from a football club, first getting his much-desired exit from Arsenal to a club closer to title honours, and now creating tension and raising questions as to his position at Manchester United. An exit during the summer is very much a talking point.

For footballing reasons (heh) there is a case to be made that Manchester United should move on the Dutchman anyway. He’s a better player than Wayne Rooney, unquestionably, but those two simply aren’t working as an attacking one-two punch. Seeing as the club committed to one via a ludicrously-sized new contract, it leaves van Persie as the odd one out and the easier individual to usher out the door.

You can’t help but think that talk of a new contract or wanting to see out his career at Old Trafford is an act to take away from the reality of the situation. Van Persie may be scoring – though not to the same effect as his previous two campaigns – but his interest in being at United looks to be up.

For the club, it’s not the end of the world. They’re capable of reinvesting and replacing; regardless of on-pitch difficulties this season, this isn’t a club who will struggle to attract very good players.

For van Persie, however, other clubs around Europe may be asking if the reward, which may or may not come, is worth the risk. This isn’t a player who is approaching his prime with plenty of time left at the top of the game; depending on fitness, he may only have a couple of seasons left at the very top of European competition.

And it’s hard not to believe clubs or long-standing managers won’t be concerned about his attitude and behaviour. There’s been a lot of criticism for Rooney and for the club handing him such a sizeable new contract, but Rooney doesn’t need much motivating to go out and perform. The same can’t be said for van Persie, who allegedly kept himself away from first-team action this season, prolonging his stay on the treatment table, because he wasn’t happy with life under Moyes.

He has a record now of kicking up a fuss. He won’t play for the current manager, if news on his lack of interest to return from injury is to be believed, and his teammates certainly won’t have appreciated his comments post-Olympiakos if their interpretation of it was the same as everyone else’s. And this is completely discounting his horrendous injury record at Arsenal.

It’s telling that very, very few came in for van Persie when he publically confessed to his desire to leave Arsenal. Perhaps he was thinking Real Madrid and Barcelona. Maybe even Bayern Munich or PSG. Instead, the only serious interest outside of England came from Juventus, who failed to meet Arsenal’s asking price. And this is at a time when he was arguably Europe’s best out-and-out striker, firmly in his peak years.

It never made much sense for United to retain Rooney and van Persie now that Juan Mata has joined. It will make even less sense if Adnan Januzaj is to improve even further and perform as a regular in the No.10 role at the club, and they go on to spend heavily on attacking players in the summer.

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There is sure to be another striker merry-go-round this summer, yet how many clubs capable of spending will be interested in van Persie, 31 in August, who can’t be relied upon to get his head down when the going gets tough?

His Champions League comments following the loss in Greece smacked of apportioning blame elsewhere; at Arsenal, it was the club who couldn’t match his ambitions, despite Arsene Wenger regularly being without van Persie for prolonged spells throughout his time in north London.

For a player is perceivably can only perform to a world-class standard when happy, van Persie is doing a lot of damage to a brand which needs to extract as much from these final few years as it can.

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With the World Cup over and the transfer window in full swing, the 2014/15ÂPremier LeagueÂcampaign is nearly upon us. In fact it’s just 23 days away, which is probably just enough time to watch all the highlights from last season to remind you how amazing it was.Luckily, next term could be equally as exciting, with Arsenal finally splashing the cash, Manchester City determined to produce a much better title defence than last time,ÂManchester UnitedÂwelcoming a new manager in Louis van Gaal andÂChelseaÂseemingly only growing ever stronger under Jose Mourinho.Around Liverpool too, there is a great sense of intrigue. Can the Reds match their runner-up finish from last season? Can they compensate for the loss of Luis Suarez to Barcelona?Only time will tell, but to give you some idea of how the Anfield side’s season might pan out, we’ve taken a previewed look of their potential starting XI next season.

[ffc-gallery]CLICK ON BRENDAN RODGERS TO REVEAL

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GOALKEEPER – SIMON MIGNOLET

Simon Mignolet may have committed a few costly mistakes last season – most notably against Manchester City – but overall the £9million signing has proved an effective purchase forÂLiverpool.

The Belgium international is an impressive all round ‘keeper; confident with his feet, comfortable in the air and a consistent shot stopper – this save against the Citizens being a classic example:

With Pepe Reina returning from loan to provide some much-needed competition for the No.1 jersey, the Reds will expect an even higher level of performance from the 26 year-old next season.

RIGHT BACK – GLEN JOHNSON

It remains to be seen whether contract rebel Glen Johnson will still be at Anfield come the end of the summer. The England international’s current deal is set to expire in 2015 and there are now rumours he could be on his way to QPR:

But as things currently stand, the 29 year-old remains Liverpool’s resident No.2 for next season. Furthermore, the former West Ham and Chelsea defender’s performances weren’t half as bad as they were made out to be last term, just take a look at his vitals from the 2013/14 campaign:

Johnson’s complete full-back style, offering in both defence and attack, is vital to the Reds’ progressive philosophy. This assist to Wayne Rooney at the World Cup wasn’t too bad either:

But Brendan Rodgers is already preparing for the worst. Not only does he have the highly-rated youngster Jon Flanagan waiting in the wings, but the Ulsterman has also wrapped up a loan deal for Atletico Madrid’s Javier Manquillo:

CENTRE-BACK – MAMADOU SAKHO

Mamadou Sakho’s first campaign in England was by no means an easy ride. The France international looked a little out of his depth at times and his performance against Crystal Palace – a match which arguably cost Liverpool the title – was particularly poor.

But Brendan Rodgers invested £15million in the 24 year-old last summer and will be keen to give him the chance to impress, especially following a strong World Cup campaign with Les Tricolores where Sakho made four starts, earning two clean sheets.

Furthermore, despite widespread assumptions otherwise, the 6 foot 2 centre-back can actually be quite productive on the ball, just check out his passing stats from last season:

These kick-ups aren’t bad for a big and burley centre-half either:

CENTRE-BACK – DEJAN LOVREN

It’s no secret that Dejan Lovren has become the object of transfer desires on Merseyside, with the Southampton defender handing in a transfer request some time ago.

The Croatia international joined the South Coast outfit from Lyon last summer and has since proved to be a major coup, with his 2.7 interceptions per match only bettered by three Premier League centre-backs…

Offering relative pace, comfort on the ball, an astute reading of the game and dominance in the air, the 24 year-old is an incredibly impressive, complete defender, as demonstrated in the video below:

//www.youtube.com/embed/dzENWWAoIlU

Despite Liverpool’s well-documented interest however, Saints boss Ronald Koeman insists the club are yet to receive a refreshed bid for Lovren:

LEFT-BACK – ALBERTO MORENO

Securing a resident left-back is a must for Brendan Rodgers this summer, and evidence thus far suggests his priority target is Sevilla starlet Alberto Moreno:

The 22 year-old has enjoyed a sensational twelve months, muscling his way into the Spain senior fold, notching three goals in 29 La Liga outings and claiming the Europa League title with Los Palanganos. Here’s the vitals from his 2013/14 campaign:

And a quick look at the Roja international in action:

//www.youtube.com/embed/bdY6ls0SpQM?rel=0

But with Sevilla seemingly holding out for an incredible offer, whilst Real Madrid and Chelsea have also been linked, it’s alleged Brendan Rodgers could switch his attentions to Blues left-back Ryan Bertrand:

CENTRAL MIDFIELD – STEVEN GERRARD

The first name on the team-sheet for the last 15 years, Liverpool’s Captain Fantastic may have reached the ripe old age of 34 but he’s as integral to the club’s successes as ever.

The now-retired England international was in unbelievable form last term to earn a spot in the PFA Team of the Year for the eighth time of his career, as detailed below:

Gerrard has found a new lease of life in a more refined holding role, freeing him from the physical requirements of his more traditional box-to-box style.

Also adding vital experience to an incredibly young and ambitious roster, although the Anfield icon will eventually have to pass the mantle to someone else, he will remain a key figure in the Reds starting XI for at least next season.

Here’s a look at his highlights from last term:

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CENTRAL MIDFIELD – JORDAN HENDERSON

Jordan Henderson finally begun to pay back some of his £16million transfer fee last season by producing a number of impressive performances with incredible consistency, as detailed below:

The Geordie work-horse proved himself a good partner for Steven Gerrard too, compensating for the Anfield legend’s declining pace and stamina. There were also moments of sensational individual quality – this assist to Daniel Sturridge being a classic example:

Most tellingly, barring a three-game absence due to suspension, the 24 year-old featured in every minute of Liverpool’s domestic campaign, finishing up with the third-most appearances:

Things are changing quickly on Merseyside but Henderson remains an ever-present, now intrinsic figure.

CENTRAL MIDFIELD – PHILIPPE COUTINHO

In the more important games, Brendan Rodgers may feel it necessary to consider more defensive options in the middle of the park.

But Brazilian playmaker Philippe Coutinho was a vital influence on Merseyside last season, providing the quality to link the midfield with the attack.

He may lack output in comparison to other Premier League No.10’s, but the 22 year-old’s overall contribution to build-up play cannot be overstated, as detailed below:

Continued Premier League exposure can only further improve Coutinho’s game, but there are concerns that he could soon become overshadowed by Liverpool’s new signings Adam Lallana and Lazar Markovic, both of whom can adopt a similar role.

RIGHT FORWARD – ADAM LALLANA

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Brendan Rodgers wasted no time in launching a swoop for Southampton’s Adam Lallana this summer and clearly has high hopes for the England international’s future on Merseyside.

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No doubt, the 26 year-old was in incredible form for the Saints last season, as detailed below:

This solo effort against Hull City was a particular highlight:

An elusive, fluid and versatile playmaker, Lallana is a perfect fit for Brendan Rodgers’ breakneck paced attacking philosophy.

For this Xi, he’s featuring on the right hand side, but expect Brendan Rodgers to use the £25million signing in a variety of positions throughout the season.

LEFT WING – RAHEEM STERLING

After a captivating season for Liverpool and an impressive World Cup campaign with England, it seems logical to assume that Raheem Sterling will be given a regular role in the Reds’ starting line-up next season.

The 19 year-old really came into his own last term, scoring and providing regularly as detailed below, and offering the Reds unique pace to make them particularly proficient on the counter-attack:

His dribbling at the World Cup caused Italy and Uruguay huge problems, and it also completely bamboozled Manchester City’s defence last season:

There is some debate however regarding how Sterling can be best utilised. As viewable below, his ultimate position remains unclear:

STRIKER – DANIEL STURRIDGE

Liverpool may have lost one talismanic striker to Barcelona in Luis Suarez, but they’re still privy to the exceptional goalscoring skills of Daniel Sturridge.

As viewable below, the 24 year-old was the second-top scorer in the Premier League last season – and the highest-scoring Englishman:

He also netted for the Three Lions at the World Cup against Italy:

With his SAS partner now departed, Brendan Rodgers will expect an even bigger contribution from Sturridge next season.