as shocking as glen johnson is, manquillo has been worse, so i would definitely play johnson over manquillo at the moment. we've looked a bit better defensively in the last few games as he's realized that gerrard as a holding player only works if players are pressing from the front to give him enough time on the ball. but that's not possible with balotelli/lambert, and without suarez & sturridge. lovren has looked poor, but i'm holding judgment on him, because i think he can turn it around. i did not have that same feeling after watching iago aspas and luis alberto's performances, for example. markovic has looked out of sorts whenever he's played. losing posession too easily, and trying to do it on his own at times.
i can see us finishing 4th, but it will be difficult. top 2 is already cemented, but both 3rd and 4th are up for grabs with manchester united and arsenal. i don't see enough positives to see us meriting a top 4 finish, but i just don't see enough of a challenge at this moment to suggest that we are completely out of it. i think we'd be in a better position simply if mignolet weren't so shit.
can looks like a good signing, and yea, i would play him more. i'm not as harsh on allen as you are, and actually think he's been quite good this season, but once again, only when gerrard is not playing. in the absence of suarez and sturridge's goals, it is clear that we did not replace those goals even slightly. however, there are no goals from midfield in this team to make up for that either. henderson, can, allen, gerrard (the current version), and lucas are all not goalscoring midfielders. yea gerrard scored a few goals last season, but i think almost all were penalties.
i'm going to disagree with you on lallana. he's actually looked our 2nd best signing. he sparks the game into life at times, and has something different. with better outlets (i.e. if/when sturridge returns), he will look a better player. agreed on sterling though. he's the player with the most minutes, and this is after all the assurances that he won't become another michael owen. however, i don't think that's the player liverpool are depending on. liverpool is dependent on suarez, which is almost worse than depending on a 20 year old sterling, because that is just unrealistic. liverpool look so much better when he's playing (in an advanced role, with lucas covering), and clueless when he's not. once again, this goes back to my point of there not being enough goalscoring midfielders.
