Lucas Leiva who is unfortunate to operate in a position that will always remain unsung did the job of breaking Bolton's play up and did so very well. This allowed the likes of Adam, Downing and Henderson to pick up the pieces with quick interplay getting the side on the attack immediately. The understanding between Kuyt and Suarez flourished again as they seem to know what each other's next move is to be. Enrique and Kelly offered support to the wide man and overlapped many times to cause the opposition problems time and time again. Many Liverpool fans, like myself, have faith in Kenny Dalglish and the signings he has made but many of us have wondered what they will add to the team and how we will play with them integrated into it. For me the game versus Bolton showed me just that. With the roaming Downing, Adam looking for ball and immediately looking for that killer ball, Henderson looking to take players on, Suarez dropping off deep and offering support and collectively the neat one touch passing and movement really has opposition midfields struggling to stem the flow. As unfortunate as Kelly's injury was we have ample cover to step in, the method is the same. Full backs, comfortable on the ball who look to get forward and get down the byline. A creative midfield full of players who can turn a game in an instant, blended with tough tackling of Lucas to give opponents no time to dwell on the ball. The wealth of creative players in our midfield now cancels out the negative in only playing one striker.
Add to all of that the fact our bench included players who can really add to a game from the bench against tiring legs. With the end of the transfer window we saw Liverpool add Sebastian Coates and Craig Bellamy to the ranks, in my eyes improving on the 'cover' from the bench. With Coates it may not be a shock for him to capitalise on a first team chance and stay there for the rest of the season but Bellamy I think has been brought in much as a squad player but in my eyes a definite improvement on David Ngog. With Ngog, Poulsen, Meireles and Degen leaving Liverpool permanently and Cole and Aquillani completing loan deals, there has been a lot of movement at Liverpool. The Meireles transfer was probably the strangest of all with a written transfer request going in very late on and then a deal being struck soon later. For a player who in the summer when rumoured to be leaving stated he wanted to stay at Liverpool this seems a quick change. Maybe linking up with a certain Spaniard at his new club is quite ironic in more ways than one. Meireles was never a match winner, more of a grafter and evidently didn't fit into the new formation as he has spent both games he was fit for on the bench. It would have been nice to have him there as a squad player, but he played his trump card in forcing a transfer.
For me looking at the Liverpool squad now I do feel we have cover in all areas. This will considerably strengthen when Steven Gerrard returns to full fitness. The big thing now is for the current squad of players to gel as quickly as possible although this has already begun with the majority. With two tough away games coming up against Stoke and Tottenham there is little time with the international break to do so, so the ball is with Kenny to work his magic. One thing is for sure from the position we were in this time last season, if you had offered me our current position/squad/staff/financials I wouldn't have believed it possible. Liverpool fans have plenty to be positive about and with Kenny's leadership this could be a very interesting season with Champions League football returning to Anfield.