erm... it's a squad game....
Exactly. How can we expect players to really progress and improve if there's no competition for places. Look at Downing last season- had LW nailed down. I'm not saying he didn't try but if he had a (or more often than not, a few) bad game(s), it didn't matter, he would still start the next game.
Put him in competition with Shelvey, Lucas, Gerrard, Henderson, Adam, and Spearing, he'll have to improve and maintain his standard to keep his place.
The result is a team improving as a whole, not one or two star individuals taking their positions for granted!