Liverpool's missing man.

You know I could have sworn that we made a really big signing in the summer, but I can't for the life of me remember who it was. Not Glen Johnson, I won't forget his overhead debut goal for a loooong time. What was his name....

Oh yes, now I remember. Alberto Aquilani. Whatever happened to him?

Seriously though, Alberto came to Liverpool with an injury and we all knew that it would be a while before we saw him in action. We were promised by Roma's medical staff that he would be fit for our game against the chavs at Stamford Bridge. Two months after that game we heard that he was training with the first team. Three weeks after that and we saw him in a Carling Cup game. Then he flitted in and out of the setup before vanishing into oblivion.

Wish I could say I was surprised but I'm not really. Personally I've seen enough from the man to conclude that he's pretty damn good. He has the killer pass that we've lacked since Xabi left and Stevie moved to 2nd striker. In fact his passing is so good that he often fools not only the entire defense, but our offense as well. The rest of the team have not yet built the necessary understanding to be able to make the most of Alberto's footballing brain.

This may sound a little surprising, but I think Aquilani is probably one of our most intelligent players together with Benayoun and Torres. Gerrard gets honorable mention here as well. Yet we just don't seem to be able to take advantage of that.

This whole situation is making me very nervous. Aquilani must have been keen to strut his stuff in the hope of getting into the Italian national setup for the World Cup, but he surely hasn't played enough games to get into the squad let alone the starting 11. He must be gutted. I remember an interview earlier in the season where Aquilani told the press that he needed to play play play something like five times.

Still, Rafa has decided that he's not ready yet. Perhaps he's right, after all he did come from the slowest league in the history of the world (ie Serie A) and come fresh from a long term injury into one of the most savage in the world (ie our own dear Premier League). If Rafa is right, then I would expect Aquilani to benefit hugely from a good solid England pre-season. If not, then what we've seen is probably as good as we're going to get.

I'm pretty sure that I'm not the only fan who has thought of this, but my ideal starting line-up would have Mascherano and Gerrard partnering in the midfield with Aquilani up front knocking his piercing passes through to the lone Fernando. If the game is going well, then Gerrard can sneak up and take a place next to Aquilani or even ahead as a second striker.

I hope to see this line-up next season. Please, oh please, let Aquilani not get pinched before we truly get to see what he can do. I really don't want to see another Robbie Keane scenario. It's messy and makes the club look like amateurs. Give the man a chance Rafa!