Blog: Three to watch next season

It's only early June and already we've been bombarded by story after story of possible signings and departures this summer. Everyone has their opinion on where we need to strengthen and which players would represent good value. It is an intriguing but equally frustrating time for fans as our starvation of football is only aided by token international friendlies and endless sensationalised rumours.

However, before we piece together our ultimate fantasy Liverpool team and become financial advisors for the summer, it is worth noting that there are some players who are ready to make the step up from within our ranks, and make their mark on next season.

COUTINHO

After every game he's played since his debut against West Brom in early February, the San Siro in Milan has been inundated with thank-you letters from gleeful Kopites, foaming at the mouth after yet another mesmerising performance from Little Phil.

Whether it has been on the left wing or in the centre, the little Brazilian has wowed the English game with his precise, intricate football. Coutinho has become that link from the deep lying central players to the clinical finishers up top.

The Brendan Rodgers style game is all about fluidity going forward. In the first half of the season, too often did Liverpool lack any potent threat in breaking through opposition defences. Rodgers deployed many players in the attacking midfield role, trying desperately to find the perfect match.

It wasn't until the January arrival of Philippe Coutinho to Anfield that the manager got his permanent figure for the top of the team's midfield triangle.

Initially on the left wing, Coutinho's ability to let the ball run across his body while facing down the touchline was a piece of incredible intricate skill that gave us only a glimmer of the array of magic he can conjure. Full-backs were constantly turned inside-out, needing help from their winger to stop our new boy from exploiting the channel.

However, it has been in the middle of the pitch where Coutinho has made the biggest impact with his wand of a right foot.

The best example I can give is when Liverpool unravelled Newcastle at St James Park. For Liverpool's second goal of the game (scored by Henderson), Coutinho receives possession after a long ball. It is well controlled and knocked back into the centre by Daniel Sturridge. To the left of Coutinho, Henderson darts directly for goal, forcing the entire Magpie defence to shuffle across. The gap is there to find Henderson yet with the outside of his boot, Coutinho scoops the ball to his right, completely wrong-footing the Newcastle defence, finding Daniel Sturridge who had spun off wonderfully from his initial pass.

It was a moment of sheer class where Coutinho opts for a pass that was even better than the best possible option. It is because of moments like this that the little Brazillian has had his name most printed on the back of the new Liverpool shirts for next season.

STURRIDGE

It is safe to say that the January transfer window was a resounding success for Brendan Rodgers. In Coutinho and Sturridge, Rodgers turned our strikeforce that was incredibly youthful and over-reliant on Suarez into a more dynamic, clinical outfit.

Sturridge could not have had a better start to his Liverpool career. Scoring on his debut, Premier League debut and Anfield debut, all tied up neatly in a bow with a five-fingered salute at Old Trafford.

Against Man City at the Etihad Stadium in early February, Sturridge gave what was in my opinion one of the best centre-forward performances I have seen in a red shirt. Sturridge was positioned right on the shoulder of the centre-backs, always central, always an outlet for his teammates. No matter what kind of ball came at him, Sturridge's fabulous footwork and movement was enough to make him hold up possession and bring other players into play.

Seeing Sturridge master this art with his trickery completely dismissed the preconceived ideas that you need to be an intimidating physical presence to hold up possession as a centre-forward.

If Coutinho was the link from midfield to the forwards, Sturridge was the link from the forwards to midfielders as his hold-up play would bring the likes of Suarez, Downing and Coutinho into more threating areas on the pitch.

However, Sturridge is certainly not a static figure as he loves to get his markers turned and take them on just inside the corner of the box.

Most importantly, Sturridge has found the net on a regular basis. Even when he hit a minor dry spell, he had the aptitude and nous to oust himself from his sorrows and start scoring again - netting a hat-trick at Fulham.

HENDERSON

Henderson's style of play has always been about finding the best pass and using possession as the key to unlock teams, a style of football plenty believe in, inspired by this Spanish/Barcelona generation. This immediately shows that Henderson contains the same mindset as Brendan Rodgers and is on the same wavelength as Philippe Coutinho; making him another important piece in the fluidity puzzle.

His work-rate is something to be admired and is a big part of the reason as to why he turned his fortunes around at Liverpool in a similar way to Lucas. It all started with being a regular in the early stages of the Europa League, where Henderson was given the rare pleasure of a central role to operate in. During the group stages, Henderson was the stand-out performer in the majority of the games. He became the fulcrum to the Rodgers philosophy of possession on European nights, acting as the senior player, knitting everything together from the middle of the park.

In November, Henderson got his first start of the season (after playing 48 of a possible 51 games under Dalglish the previous season) away to Swansea. It was an assured afternoon for the midfielder, if nothing to make headlines - and that, in a way, was the story of his time at Anfield so far.

There was little doubt over his potential - but could he produce it at the constant level Liverpool expected? It is demanded of you at Liverpool to go beyond your simple tasks and deliver a performance worthy of a club steeped in history. Henderson was beginning to show his worth but had yet to 'wow' week in, week out.

This all changed by the turn of the year.

Scoring against Udinese and having two stellar performances against Fulham and QPR, the clamour for Henderson to be in the starting 11 intensified. Henderson started against Norwich at Anfield in January, a game where he played ahead of Gerrard and Lucas, linking up predominantly with Suarez on the left wing. It was Henderson's golden opportunity to lay down a marker and he grasped the opportunity with both hands.

The England U21 captain scored a fabulous goal that afternoon and received a standing ovation from the crowd; a moment that remains the turning point in Henderson's Liverpool career. More great games followed, none more so then against Arsenal where his goal - based on nothing more than persistence and confidence - epitomised the type of player Henderson was turning out to be.

When Coutinho and Sturridge were eventually added to the side, Henderson found himself playing more regularly on the left wing. However there is no such thing as static positions in a Brendan Rodgers team, so he would end up coming off the touchline and into a tiki-taka routine with Coutinho, Sturridge and Suarez. It was a combination that was beginning to ripen as the season ended. It was a combination, that has all us fans excited already about what they can produce in a full season.

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