The wrong Spaniard up front

Fernando Morientes has unquestionably been a top class striker over the last few years in the Spanish League, in European competitions and in the French League. His lack of goals in England is a little puzzling, leading to thoughts that he's either past it or simply can't cope with the pace of the Premiership. He's probably had long enough now to prove himself and unless he bags a few before the end of the season, he's likely to be on his way out of Liverpool.

Another attacking minded Spaniard that Liverpool possess is Luis Garcia. Sometimes criticised for careless play and giving the ball away, there are, I believe a number of reasons why he should be tried in a more advanced on a regular basis rather than just a handful of times he's played just off the striker since his arrival at Anfield 18 months ago.

He clearly has an eye for goal. The most noticeable recent example was his curling shot outside the area against Fulham that was so unfortunate to hit the post. Contrast this to the head-down Milan Baros that would not have had the vision to quickly assess the position of defenders and goalkeeper to get a shot in from that distance.

He can finish. Okay, so the shot against Fulham didn't go in but plenty of others have, and apart from Steven Gerrard, Garcia doesn't have a bad hit rate from where he usually plays – on the right of midfield. The best example of his shooting ability was against Juventus at Anfield last season. Would Peter Crouch have been able to score such a spectacular goal?

His anticipation and quick reactions. Twice in the space of a few weeks against Arsenal, Garcia has shown one of the most fundamental requirements for a top-class striker, being in the right position and being first to the ball. Once was with his head and once with his feet and both times he scored.

His technique and pace. What pace you might say? I'd agree with you, and he's certainly no Michael Owen over 30 metres. However, I'd bet on Luis against Robbie Fowler in a sprint and Robbie's not done too bad over the years with his lack of pace. As for his technique, he's what defenders don't like – he's unpredictable. Contrast this to Harry Kewell up until recently, who never got anywhere against defenders because it was so obvious where he was going to play the ball. Luis has the skill to come up with something out of the ordinary and around the opposition's penalty area is just where you want this to happen, not on the half way line.

A bit of negative reason is that when he does lose the ball by being too flash, it's better to lose it up front when Steven Gerrard might be close at hand to follow up than on the half way line when one of the opposition (usually a winger who has some pace) can collect the ball, sprint down the line and cause problems for us.

I'm not saying Garcia is the answer to all our problems and will bag 25 goals a season but playing with a quality front man (dare I mention Fernando Torres?) he's the kind of player who could do an excellent job for us given the chance.

I'd be interested to hear other fans views on this so feel free to contact me with your thoughts.