The case for 5 in the middle

Andy Carroll is a decent player. He did well for Newcastle last season and is a full England international.
He doesn't do it for me as a Red's striker just yet. He did score in a dour Merseyside derby but that was ..erm.. last month.
Everyone's singing Suarez's praises (I'm giving him 5 more matches before I start bickering on how he doesn't score enough) and this makes Andy look even worse. KD has given Andy a run in a few games by playing both of them in a 4-4-2 and this has resulted in home draws against newly promoted sides. Normally I'm an advocate of two upfront at home then the lone striker away from home but it doesn't seem to be working for us at the moment. It's got to be time to play a lone striker at home and flood the midfield in a bid to dominate possession and create more chances. It also has to be said that without Andy the ball is played on the ground much more and the team looks more threatening and fluid (flash back to the game against Fulham last season and Chelsea this weekend)

Arsenal are a side who I think play the 4-5-1 with aplomb. Agreed they've got RVP who has been a monster goal scorer. RVP isn't your typical lone striker though and in some ways he reminds me of Suarez. He's skillful and also looks to play with those around him hence his healthy assist record.

The question then becomes which midfield five? It's got to be two wide players and three in the middle. It now depends on if you want to play two holding midfielders and one attacking/creative midfielder or three in the middle that can interchange. My ideal setup will be Kuyt and Bellamy out wide, Adam, Lucas and Gerrard in the middle. With Gerrard currently out, I'll probably need to have Henderson in (ouch). Hendo is not a terrible player I just don't think he's ready yet. Maybe the price tag doesn't help but he hasn't looked half as convincing for 'Pool  as he did for Sunderland.

Everyone keeps saying we've got a better squad than last season. It's surely a more expensive squad but I'm not convinced about the depth especially in the attacking midfield position. Aside from Stevie G and perhaps Hendo there's nobody else. It makes you wonder why we let so many guys go out on loan. We could have done with an Aquilani or even a Cole (don't laugh! he's doing swell @ Lille) at the moment.