Liverpool FC Forum

[Toffeehater]

that really is a top post . No i don;t think he would have posted that had we won today

[Sabre]

I haven't seen any of the game so can't comment on that, but I will say this. Some of the people on here need to make their minds up. Fair play to Lando, Sabre, Emerald Red etc etc who are fully paid up, died in the wool happy clappers (and though I rarely agree with them totally I respect them for it). I've had dogs abuse of some others on here though, who on the back of a 0-0 draw are suddenly calling Rafa all the names under the sun 

And they call me fickle

The thing is, Mick, I'm being realistic most of the time. We're obviously not in the best form in the world, but we're still a hard nut to crack at the back, and so long as we are, we've always got the chance to steal games. Performances will improve. They have to. The fact that we're still unbeaten is testament to our character  at the back when we're playing like sh*t. We aren't caving in and leaking goals.

I don't care to sound funny but I consider myself realistic too. 

I just feel some fellow members like Puroresu would only feel content if we played like Barcelona. In fact I'm much more used to see that kind of football than many, and I appreciate it, I just feel some people would never appreciate the kind of football that made us win in Barcelona a couple of seasons ago, defensive rigourness, swiss-clock accurate defensive helps, counterattacks, good pressure, and things well done.

Now I'll also admit that we haven't played our best this weeks, even under our standards. We can do much better.

Now I'll also admit that members like Rushie#9, Rush Job or Andy G have a point when they don't get some substitutions. Fair opinion that.

Now I'll also understand members like S@int being demanding about our football, they are long time supporters of a big club and they expect the league. And to win the league you have to play regularly better than we have done these weeks.

But from that fair criticism, to saying Rafa is on drugs and mad, there's a loooooooooooooong way. That latter criticism is the kind of criticism I don't understand. But since I'm used to it already, I won't be annoyed nor discuss it harshly because of it.

I think we have played better than this even under heavy rotation and I have no doubts that we'll be playing better in one month time. Good news, is that we've coped with mascherano's olympics, Gerrard's absence, and Torres' low start with 7 points out of 9. And that's a good sign, because at some point, every team will have bad moments, like Manchester had last season precisely at the beginning.

[Scottbot]

A good post on RAWK:

"I'm just going to throw this out there.......

... and say we haven't addressed our problems over the close season. At all.

We haven't had a genuine winger since McManaman - I know it, you know it, in fact there's probably people in Siberia who know it.

Now then, playing narrow in the midfield is acceptable if you have two quality, attacking full-backs, who are quick enough and good enough to bomb up and down the pitch for 90 minutes, twice a week. We don't have that. We don't have a Clichy - Sagna/Eboue combination. In fact, we don't even have an Evra - Neville, where one will push forward at every given opportunity and provide overlapping quality, whilst the other can put in a very good cross from almost anywhere in the opponents half. What we have instead is Dossena, who is willing to push forward but doesn't appear to cross a ball that well, and Arbeloa. When Arbeloa signed, I was confused - we had Finnan on the right who was doing Neville's job - putting in good crosses on a regular basis. Arbeloa was shifted to left back, and on the back of keeping Messi in a straightjacket at the Camp Nou, excelled there for a while. He looked adventurous, quick, and generally like a ball-playing, attacking full-back.

I don't know what's happened since those first few months, but his confidence seems to be completely drained - the amount of times he has space in front of him, or is in a good crossing position, only for him to turn back inside and play the safe option is hugely frustrating. With Finnan apparently resigned to the bench or available for a transfer, that makes Arbeloa our first-choice right-back. If that had have been the case after his first few months here then I'd have no problem with it whatsoever, but at the moment he's playing well within himself and that doesn't help anybody.

Going back to the midfield, and the lack of width - it's been our biggest problem for as long as I can remember, and we've not even come close to solving it over the past 5 years. We don't have anybody willing to beat a man on the outside and put a cross in. None of Benayoun, Babel, Aurelio, Kuyt, Gerrard or El Zhar are wingers, yet they're the guys filling our wide positions. Pennant is probably the closest we've got, but for whatever reasons he always seems to lack confidence - we know he can beat people and put a half-decent cross in, he just never does.

Today we started with two centre forwards out on the wings - and say what you like about Keane and Kuyt being 'versatile, clever, willing to play anywhere for the team', but they are both strikers. It's as simple as that. Neither of them are rapid, neither are fantastic at beating their man in a 1v1 situation, neither of them are great crossers of the ball. Yet today, they're expected to do the job of a winger. Confused yet? I certainly am. It's starting to feel like the good old days of having Heskey as a defensive centre-forward, playing out on the left hand side of a midfield of Murphy, Gerrard, Hamann, and McAllister - and it's frustrating to see. I don't want to get too deep into the Robbie Keane thing, firstly because it's a whole new can of worms, and secondly because I'm not quite sure why we actually signed him. But that's a completely different discussion.

Apparently the Riera deal is close to being finalised. I don't know much about the lad at all, so all I'm hoping for is that he is prepared to run down the outside of a full-back and put crosses in from the byline on a regular basis. We can but hope.

So moving on from the complete lack of width from both the defence and midfield, we are left with two problems that have been the cornerstone of the Benitez era - a complete lack of atacking fluidity and a dreadful approach to set-pieces.

Under Benitez, we've had two players capable of playing the old no10 role - Luis Garcia and Yossi Benayoun. Luis was fantastically frustrating, capable of both the sublime and the ridiculous, and Yossi isn't far short. The thing is though, they're both victims of a system that just doesn't suit them. Last year we had untold success with Gerrard playing behind Torres - the first time we've really tried the one-up-top with a supporting attacker free to roam. That position is made for players like Benayoun and Luis Garcia, but instead, too often they're asked to try and be wingers. It doesn't work. Yossi can change a game from the centre of the field, if you give him the ball. He's a clever player with an eye for a pass, but his crossing is woeful. I cringe whenever I see him line up out wide - we may as well play with 10 men, as he just isn't a threat. The game just passes him by. He needs to be in that free role that Gerrard utilised so brilliantly last season, floating around and going wherever he likes. The problem with that is, now we've switched back to a 4-4-2, there is no free role.

With no free role, and a flat midfield four, comes defensive solidity. With defensive solidity rarely comes free-flowing attacking play. Our squad as a whole isn't quick enough to play a counter-attacking game, so we need to attack as a unit. When we play 4-4-2, the two central midfielders are defensive, even when Gerrard plays there. He spends more time in the centre circle than around the opposition box, which is no use to anyone as he's one of the best attacking midfielders in the world. So we have a four-man midfield, two of whom are playing as anchors, and the other two - who are now relied upon to provied creativity from the wings - who are either centre forwards, central midfielders, or full-backs being asked to play out wide. It's no wonder the team is so static. Today we started with two forwards out wide, who both naturally do their best work in and around the edge of the penalty area, and finished the game with a full-back and a central attacker out there. So, for the whole game today, we didn't have a single player at any given time who is naturally used to playing out wide - so more often than not, the team is static and moves break down.

I don't see why we've gone from the Gerrard-Torres through-the-middle combination that worked so well last year, back to a rigid 4-4-2, when we clearly don't have enough quality going forwards for it to work (or rather, I do see why we've changed, it's the Robbie Keane thing, but like I said that's a whole new discussion). The team is still too static, nobody moves to show for the ball, and there just aren't enough options and runners when Gerrard and Alonso pick up the ball in the middle of the park.

Is it starting to remind you of the Houllier era at all yet? Now don't get me wrong - I completely admire Rafa Benitez, and wouldn't want anybody else at all running the club, but I'd like to see more attacking gusto from him. Bringing on a full-back when we're after a goal isn't going to work. Playing said full-back on the wing certainly isn't. We've seen it over the past few years with Riise, I hope we don't start to see it as often with Aurelio too.

Talking of Fabio Aurelio, when he signed he was rumoured to have an immense left peg and a venomous free kick. What a crock of rubbish. Nobody at Liverpool Football Club has been able to strike a decent dead ball since the days of Berger and Redknapp. Hamann was a danger to whoever was in the wall, Riise was a danger to whoever was in row 32, and Gerrard's going to be in danger himself if he keeps taking free-kicks that haven't been teed up for him first. He's great at striking a moving ball, but striking direct free-kicks and corners? Give it up, you can't do it. Neither can Alonso, neither, apparently, can Aurelio. But that's OK, at least in terms of the corners - because we only have one player capable of attacking the ball in the air anyway. Step forward Mr Sami Hyypia. Take a bow. You can attack headers well. Messrs Carragher, Skrtel, Agger, Gerrard, Plessis, and also previously Crouch... go and watch videos of Sami. See how he starts at the edge of the box, then runs towards the goal? See how he jumps? See how he heads the top of the ball so it doesn't go flying over the crossbar? Good. Now, you go and try it. Please. Pretty please.

I'm not sure if the set-piece thing is down to the players or the coaching staff - players should surely be tought where to stand for a corner, who runs where, and where the delivery should go. It really isn't hard. That's why it's so frustrating to see a group of three or four players, all 6' tall, standing under the ball when it's crossed in from a set piece, watching it get cleared by a defender who's attacked it. It really is schoolboy stuff, and something which should've been addressed many, many years ago, but for some reason has been ignored.

The last sentence above, is the important one. We all know what our problems have been recently - no movement, no width, no wingers, no attacking threat from set-pieces... and if we know what the problems are, then the coaching staff do, too. They know much more than us, yet for me, they aren't doing enough to try and solve them.

So far this close-season, we've swapped our left-back for another one, brought in a reserve right back, and spent £20m on a centre-forward. We've spent the whole summer courting a central midfielder despite being blessed with a huge array of talent there, brought in a new backup keeper, and completely ignored the wings.

Did we bring in someone who will get round the outside of their full-back and put crosses in?

No.

Did we bring in anyone who can move between the lines of midfield and attack, make creative runs, and generally break other teams down?

No.

Did we address the dead-ball situation?

No.


Therefore, ladies and gentleman, we still have the same problems as the last few years - problems that buying a £20m centre forward will not fix. As depressing as it is, we're not going to win the league, and we all know why.

http://www.redandwhitekop.com/forum/index.php?topic=227660.0
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Discuss

It's Top Top post in my book. Some really good points.

The comment about the way things are going just now reminding him of the Houllier era is a worry coz I had the same conversation with my mate watching the game today 

[Scottbot]

My take on the game;

Positives

- I would have taken the draw at the start of the game and the draw wasn't a bad result missing our 2 best players

- Dossena had his best game for us. I've given him quite a bit of stick already but the lad put in a few excellent balls and was generally solid all-around today.

- Masch was back with a bang. Comfortably our best player in the first half. We've really missed his energy and agression and it was good to see us competing for the 2nd ball again.

- Carra was excellent. How the fook did Laursen win MOM!?!? He had to mark the woeful Ngog for 80 mins while Carra dealt with Carew alll by himself. Real Captains performance

Negatives

- Tactics killed the game in many ways. We came to spoil and so did Villa. We got a decent point but lose against the mancs in the next game and it won't look so good.

- Rafa's subs. Brought on Ngog and the lad looked completely and utterly out of his depth. I quite liked what i saw of this kid in pre-season but today proves how irrelevent the pre-season really is. Took off our only goal threat (Keane) for Yossi and left Babel on the bench all game. Left me a bit baffled.

- Torres. Please get fit lad, please.......

[rafa09]

HERE WE GO AGAIN!!! We are 5 games undefeated. I KNOW wer playing .But we are getting results.SO WHAT,S THE PROBLEM|??

[Kharhaz]

Like many I thought this would end up a draw before it kicked off, like someone mentioned before, it has draw written all over it, and so it ended as much. In that im pleased, After chasing Barry and listening to O'Neill during this saga it was obvious this was going to be a tough game. The match wasnt the greatest to watch but gradually the players are picking up the pace and at times our passing was really good. However, at times Villa came into it and they started knocking it about. You get the impression from watching that neither manager wanted to lose and so neither were willing to commit men forward in an all out attack. The subs were baffling, I laughed at the Keane off and Yossi on because I had a feeling what the reaction would be on here and I wasnt disappointed !

Its a point in a tricky fixture, wasnt great, but we got a point. United got off to a bad start last season, and not great this one. Once the players find there form we'll be fine. Im not going for the "were still unbeaten", because we were in a similar situation last season and look what happened ! Put it down to the players still having there heads on holiday mode (include rafa also !) and be grateful that we are picking up points, regardless of the perfomance.

[Gerrard30391]

HERE WE GO AGAIN!!! We are 5 games undefeated. I KNOW wer playing .But we are getting results.SO WHAT,S THE PROBLEM|??

The problem is, we havn't played anything like quality teams yet.

[RUSHIE#9]

A good post on RAWK:

"I'm just going to throw this out there.......

... and say we haven't addressed our problems over the close season. At all.

We haven't had a genuine winger since McManaman - I know it, you know it, in fact there's probably people in Siberia who know it.

Now then, playing narrow in the midfield is acceptable if you have two quality, attacking full-backs, who are quick enough and good enough to bomb up and down the pitch for 90 minutes, twice a week. We don't have that. We don't have a Clichy - Sagna/Eboue combination. In fact, we don't even have an Evra - Neville, where one will push forward at every given opportunity and provide overlapping quality, whilst the other can put in a very good cross from almost anywhere in the opponents half. What we have instead is Dossena, who is willing to push forward but doesn't appear to cross a ball that well, and Arbeloa. When Arbeloa signed, I was confused - we had Finnan on the right who was doing Neville's job - putting in good crosses on a regular basis. Arbeloa was shifted to left back, and on the back of keeping Messi in a straightjacket at the Camp Nou, excelled there for a while. He looked adventurous, quick, and generally like a ball-playing, attacking full-back.

I don't know what's happened since those first few months, but his confidence seems to be completely drained - the amount of times he has space in front of him, or is in a good crossing position, only for him to turn back inside and play the safe option is hugely frustrating. With Finnan apparently resigned to the bench or available for a transfer, that makes Arbeloa our first-choice right-back. If that had have been the case after his first few months here then I'd have no problem with it whatsoever, but at the moment he's playing well within himself and that doesn't help anybody.

Going back to the midfield, and the lack of width - it's been our biggest problem for as long as I can remember, and we've not even come close to solving it over the past 5 years. We don't have anybody willing to beat a man on the outside and put a cross in. None of Benayoun, Babel, Aurelio, Kuyt, Gerrard or El Zhar are wingers, yet they're the guys filling our wide positions. Pennant is probably the closest we've got, but for whatever reasons he always seems to lack confidence - we know he can beat people and put a half-decent cross in, he just never does.

Today we started with two centre forwards out on the wings - and say what you like about Keane and Kuyt being 'versatile, clever, willing to play anywhere for the team', but they are both strikers. It's as simple as that. Neither of them are rapid, neither are fantastic at beating their man in a 1v1 situation, neither of them are great crossers of the ball. Yet today, they're expected to do the job of a winger. Confused yet? I certainly am. It's starting to feel like the good old days of having Heskey as a defensive centre-forward, playing out on the left hand side of a midfield of Murphy, Gerrard, Hamann, and McAllister - and it's frustrating to see. I don't want to get too deep into the Robbie Keane thing, firstly because it's a whole new can of worms, and secondly because I'm not quite sure why we actually signed him. But that's a completely different discussion.

Apparently the Riera deal is close to being finalised. I don't know much about the lad at all, so all I'm hoping for is that he is prepared to run down the outside of a full-back and put crosses in from the byline on a regular basis. We can but hope.

So moving on from the complete lack of width from both the defence and midfield, we are left with two problems that have been the cornerstone of the Benitez era - a complete lack of atacking fluidity and a dreadful approach to set-pieces.

Under Benitez, we've had two players capable of playing the old no10 role - Luis Garcia and Yossi Benayoun. Luis was fantastically frustrating, capable of both the sublime and the ridiculous, and Yossi isn't far short. The thing is though, they're both victims of a system that just doesn't suit them. Last year we had untold success with Gerrard playing behind Torres - the first time we've really tried the one-up-top with a supporting attacker free to roam. That position is made for players like Benayoun and Luis Garcia, but instead, too often they're asked to try and be wingers. It doesn't work. Yossi can change a game from the centre of the field, if you give him the ball. He's a clever player with an eye for a pass, but his crossing is woeful. I cringe whenever I see him line up out wide - we may as well play with 10 men, as he just isn't a threat. The game just passes him by. He needs to be in that free role that Gerrard utilised so brilliantly last season, floating around and going wherever he likes. The problem with that is, now we've switched back to a 4-4-2, there is no free role.

With no free role, and a flat midfield four, comes defensive solidity. With defensive solidity rarely comes free-flowing attacking play. Our squad as a whole isn't quick enough to play a counter-attacking game, so we need to attack as a unit. When we play 4-4-2, the two central midfielders are defensive, even when Gerrard plays there. He spends more time in the centre circle than around the opposition box, which is no use to anyone as he's one of the best attacking midfielders in the world. So we have a four-man midfield, two of whom are playing as anchors, and the other two - who are now relied upon to provied creativity from the wings - who are either centre forwards, central midfielders, or full-backs being asked to play out wide. It's no wonder the team is so static. Today we started with two forwards out wide, who both naturally do their best work in and around the edge of the penalty area, and finished the game with a full-back and a central attacker out there. So, for the whole game today, we didn't have a single player at any given time who is naturally used to playing out wide - so more often than not, the team is static and moves break down.

I don't see why we've gone from the Gerrard-Torres through-the-middle combination that worked so well last year, back to a rigid 4-4-2, when we clearly don't have enough quality going forwards for it to work (or rather, I do see why we've changed, it's the Robbie Keane thing, but like I said that's a whole new discussion). The team is still too static, nobody moves to show for the ball, and there just aren't enough options and runners when Gerrard and Alonso pick up the ball in the middle of the park.

Is it starting to remind you of the Houllier era at all yet? Now don't get me wrong - I completely admire Rafa Benitez, and wouldn't want anybody else at all running the club, but I'd like to see more attacking gusto from him. Bringing on a full-back when we're after a goal isn't going to work. Playing said full-back on the wing certainly isn't. We've seen it over the past few years with Riise, I hope we don't start to see it as often with Aurelio too.

Talking of Fabio Aurelio, when he signed he was rumoured to have an immense left peg and a venomous free kick. What a crock of rubbish. Nobody at Liverpool Football Club has been able to strike a decent dead ball since the days of Berger and Redknapp. Hamann was a danger to whoever was in the wall, Riise was a danger to whoever was in row 32, and Gerrard's going to be in danger himself if he keeps taking free-kicks that haven't been teed up for him first. He's great at striking a moving ball, but striking direct free-kicks and corners? Give it up, you can't do it. Neither can Alonso, neither, apparently, can Aurelio. But that's OK, at least in terms of the corners - because we only have one player capable of attacking the ball in the air anyway. Step forward Mr Sami Hyypia. Take a bow. You can attack headers well. Messrs Carragher, Skrtel, Agger, Gerrard, Plessis, and also previously Crouch... go and watch videos of Sami. See how he starts at the edge of the box, then runs towards the goal? See how he jumps? See how he heads the top of the ball so it doesn't go flying over the crossbar? Good. Now, you go and try it. Please. Pretty please.

I'm not sure if the set-piece thing is down to the players or the coaching staff - players should surely be tought where to stand for a corner, who runs where, and where the delivery should go. It really isn't hard. That's why it's so frustrating to see a group of three or four players, all 6' tall, standing under the ball when it's crossed in from a set piece, watching it get cleared by a defender who's attacked it. It really is schoolboy stuff, and something which should've been addressed many, many years ago, but for some reason has been ignored.

The last sentence above, is the important one. We all know what our problems have been recently - no movement, no width, no wingers, no attacking threat from set-pieces... and if we know what the problems are, then the coaching staff do, too. They know much more than us, yet for me, they aren't doing enough to try and solve them.

So far this close-season, we've swapped our left-back for another one, brought in a reserve right back, and spent £20m on a centre-forward. We've spent the whole summer courting a central midfielder despite being blessed with a huge array of talent there, brought in a new backup keeper, and completely ignored the wings.

Did we bring in someone who will get round the outside of their full-back and put crosses in?

No.

Did we bring in anyone who can move between the lines of midfield and attack, make creative runs, and generally break other teams down?

No.

Did we address the dead-ball situation?

No.


Therefore, ladies and gentleman, we still have the same problems as the last few years - problems that buying a £20m centre forward will not fix. As depressing as it is, we're not going to win the league, and we all know why.

http://www.redandwhitekop.com/forum/index.php?topic=227660.0
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Discuss

It's Top Top post in my book. Some really good points.

The comment about the way things are going just now reminding him of the Houllier era is a worry coz I had the same conversation with my mate watching the game today     

Funny you should say that Scott, I had had the same exact thought myself.
Rafa has made some very strange decisions during his tenure here and even more so over the past 3-4 months. He has continually tried to solve problems (some of them very much the same as what Houllier had) by putting the proverbial square pegs in round holes. What troubles me even more after today is that when the most simple solution is there staring him right in the face, Rafa chooses to take the complicated and unconventional route. Torres getting injured was always going to be a bitter blow for us, the simple solution for me (and I suspect many on here) would have been to put Keane in a more natural centre position and bring Babel on to attack the Villa RB but instead we had him persisting with an over complicated and ineffectual system.

The RAWK poster has hit the nail smack bang right on the head with their final couple of paragraphs about the close season. Looking back now on the summer and the amount of time and energy that Rafa and the club spent on the Barry debacle has caused us to miss out on quite a few quality wingers and creative players (there's no point naming them, we all know who they are).
It's a fair point that Rafa has at times had to settle for second choice players and this summer has had to do more wheeling and dealing than Del Boy Trotter but for all of that effort we have very little improvement throughout the squad. The last 4 or 5 games seem to back that up and at times we've looked a long way from the side that powered into the Champions league semi final and dropped very few points after Christmas.

I do believe in Rafa, but with so many baffling decisions like today I just don't see how he's helping himself and he sure as hell isn't helping his players.

[andy_g]

Put it down to the players still having there heads on holiday mode (include rafa also !) and be grateful that we are picking up points, regardless of the perfomance.

if after 3 premiership games and 2 difficult champions league qualifiers the players and the manager still have their 'holiday heads' on they need taking out the back and shooting.

[Gerrard30391]

A good post on RAWK:

"I'm just going to throw this out there.......

... and say we haven't addressed our problems over the close season. At all.

We haven't had a genuine winger since McManaman - I know it, you know it, in fact there's probably people in Siberia who know it.

Now then, playing narrow in the midfield is acceptable if you have two quality, attacking full-backs, who are quick enough and good enough to bomb up and down the pitch for 90 minutes, twice a week. We don't have that. We don't have a Clichy - Sagna/Eboue combination. In fact, we don't even have an Evra - Neville, where one will push forward at every given opportunity and provide overlapping quality, whilst the other can put in a very good cross from almost anywhere in the opponents half. What we have instead is Dossena, who is willing to push forward but doesn't appear to cross a ball that well, and Arbeloa. When Arbeloa signed, I was confused - we had Finnan on the right who was doing Neville's job - putting in good crosses on a regular basis. Arbeloa was shifted to left back, and on the back of keeping Messi in a straightjacket at the Camp Nou, excelled there for a while. He looked adventurous, quick, and generally like a ball-playing, attacking full-back.

I don't know what's happened since those first few months, but his confidence seems to be completely drained - the amount of times he has space in front of him, or is in a good crossing position, only for him to turn back inside and play the safe option is hugely frustrating. With Finnan apparently resigned to the bench or available for a transfer, that makes Arbeloa our first-choice right-back. If that had have been the case after his first few months here then I'd have no problem with it whatsoever, but at the moment he's playing well within himself and that doesn't help anybody.

Going back to the midfield, and the lack of width - it's been our biggest problem for as long as I can remember, and we've not even come close to solving it over the past 5 years. We don't have anybody willing to beat a man on the outside and put a cross in. None of Benayoun, Babel, Aurelio, Kuyt, Gerrard or El Zhar are wingers, yet they're the guys filling our wide positions. Pennant is probably the closest we've got, but for whatever reasons he always seems to lack confidence - we know he can beat people and put a half-decent cross in, he just never does.

Today we started with two centre forwards out on the wings - and say what you like about Keane and Kuyt being 'versatile, clever, willing to play anywhere for the team', but they are both strikers. It's as simple as that. Neither of them are rapid, neither are fantastic at beating their man in a 1v1 situation, neither of them are great crossers of the ball. Yet today, they're expected to do the job of a winger. Confused yet? I certainly am. It's starting to feel like the good old days of having Heskey as a defensive centre-forward, playing out on the left hand side of a midfield of Murphy, Gerrard, Hamann, and McAllister - and it's frustrating to see. I don't want to get too deep into the Robbie Keane thing, firstly because it's a whole new can of worms, and secondly because I'm not quite sure why we actually signed him. But that's a completely different discussion.

Apparently the Riera deal is close to being finalised. I don't know much about the lad at all, so all I'm hoping for is that he is prepared to run down the outside of a full-back and put crosses in from the byline on a regular basis. We can but hope.

So moving on from the complete lack of width from both the defence and midfield, we are left with two problems that have been the cornerstone of the Benitez era - a complete lack of atacking fluidity and a dreadful approach to set-pieces.

Under Benitez, we've had two players capable of playing the old no10 role - Luis Garcia and Yossi Benayoun. Luis was fantastically frustrating, capable of both the sublime and the ridiculous, and Yossi isn't far short. The thing is though, they're both victims of a system that just doesn't suit them. Last year we had untold success with Gerrard playing behind Torres - the first time we've really tried the one-up-top with a supporting attacker free to roam. That position is made for players like Benayoun and Luis Garcia, but instead, too often they're asked to try and be wingers. It doesn't work. Yossi can change a game from the centre of the field, if you give him the ball. He's a clever player with an eye for a pass, but his crossing is woeful. I cringe whenever I see him line up out wide - we may as well play with 10 men, as he just isn't a threat. The game just passes him by. He needs to be in that free role that Gerrard utilised so brilliantly last season, floating around and going wherever he likes. The problem with that is, now we've switched back to a 4-4-2, there is no free role.

With no free role, and a flat midfield four, comes defensive solidity. With defensive solidity rarely comes free-flowing attacking play. Our squad as a whole isn't quick enough to play a counter-attacking game, so we need to attack as a unit. When we play 4-4-2, the two central midfielders are defensive, even when Gerrard plays there. He spends more time in the centre circle than around the opposition box, which is no use to anyone as he's one of the best attacking midfielders in the world. So we have a four-man midfield, two of whom are playing as anchors, and the other two - who are now relied upon to provied creativity from the wings - who are either centre forwards, central midfielders, or full-backs being asked to play out wide. It's no wonder the team is so static. Today we started with two forwards out wide, who both naturally do their best work in and around the edge of the penalty area, and finished the game with a full-back and a central attacker out there. So, for the whole game today, we didn't have a single player at any given time who is naturally used to playing out wide - so more often than not, the team is static and moves break down.

I don't see why we've gone from the Gerrard-Torres through-the-middle combination that worked so well last year, back to a rigid 4-4-2, when we clearly don't have enough quality going forwards for it to work (or rather, I do see why we've changed, it's the Robbie Keane thing, but like I said that's a whole new discussion). The team is still too static, nobody moves to show for the ball, and there just aren't enough options and runners when Gerrard and Alonso pick up the ball in the middle of the park.

Is it starting to remind you of the Houllier era at all yet? Now don't get me wrong - I completely admire Rafa Benitez, and wouldn't want anybody else at all running the club, but I'd like to see more attacking gusto from him. Bringing on a full-back when we're after a goal isn't going to work. Playing said full-back on the wing certainly isn't. We've seen it over the past few years with Riise, I hope we don't start to see it as often with Aurelio too.

Talking of Fabio Aurelio, when he signed he was rumoured to have an immense left peg and a venomous free kick. What a crock of rubbish. Nobody at Liverpool Football Club has been able to strike a decent dead ball since the days of Berger and Redknapp. Hamann was a danger to whoever was in the wall, Riise was a danger to whoever was in row 32, and Gerrard's going to be in danger himself if he keeps taking free-kicks that haven't been teed up for him first. He's great at striking a moving ball, but striking direct free-kicks and corners? Give it up, you can't do it. Neither can Alonso, neither, apparently, can Aurelio. But that's OK, at least in terms of the corners - because we only have one player capable of attacking the ball in the air anyway. Step forward Mr Sami Hyypia. Take a bow. You can attack headers well. Messrs Carragher, Skrtel, Agger, Gerrard, Plessis, and also previously Crouch... go and watch videos of Sami. See how he starts at the edge of the box, then runs towards the goal? See how he jumps? See how he heads the top of the ball so it doesn't go flying over the crossbar? Good. Now, you go and try it. Please. Pretty please.

I'm not sure if the set-piece thing is down to the players or the coaching staff - players should surely be tought where to stand for a corner, who runs where, and where the delivery should go. It really isn't hard. That's why it's so frustrating to see a group of three or four players, all 6' tall, standing under the ball when it's crossed in from a set piece, watching it get cleared by a defender who's attacked it. It really is schoolboy stuff, and something which should've been addressed many, many years ago, but for some reason has been ignored.

The last sentence above, is the important one. We all know what our problems have been recently - no movement, no width, no wingers, no attacking threat from set-pieces... and if we know what the problems are, then the coaching staff do, too. They know much more than us, yet for me, they aren't doing enough to try and solve them.

So far this close-season, we've swapped our left-back for another one, brought in a reserve right back, and spent £20m on a centre-forward. We've spent the whole summer courting a central midfielder despite being blessed with a huge array of talent there, brought in a new backup keeper, and completely ignored the wings.

Did we bring in someone who will get round the outside of their full-back and put crosses in?

No.

Did we bring in anyone who can move between the lines of midfield and attack, make creative runs, and generally break other teams down?

No.

Did we address the dead-ball situation?

No.


Therefore, ladies and gentleman, we still have the same problems as the last few years - problems that buying a £20m centre forward will not fix. As depressing as it is, we're not going to win the league, and we all know why.

http://www.redandwhitekop.com/forum/index.php?topic=227660.0
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Discuss

A top, top post with numerous true statements

[Thewaykokid]

Does anyone else see a 3-0 loss to Manchester united in a fortnight?

[Effes]

I didn't see the game today - could anyone post what team/formation we started with
followed by the formation when Torres went off? Please.

[redbeergoggles]

I watched the game  avidly today , and I will reserve judgement till the transfer window finally closes, I hate the transfer period it fills me with dread at the ensuing  impotence and lethargy of Parry .I was also at Anfield on Wed night and  you could smell the fear amongst the fans ,it hung in the air like a potent gas  not a feeling I would relish reliving again, but the sad thing is its starting to creep in gradually .
As for today's game ,its all about grinding out results without losing whether ugly or glorious ,although I expect the latter to emerge sooner rather than later .I don't intend slating individual players ,as the team as a  whole is under-performing, but i will highlight the glaring fact that Robbie Keanes second and sometimes third touch can be phenomenal ,its a shame his first is often abysmal ,that's why at Spurs he gelled with Berbatov as Berbatov is technically gifted on the ball and created space and time for Robbie don't get me wrong Torres is the complete striker but does not afford fellow strikers the time on the ball ,it has to be quick and intricate thats why he plays better with Gerrard .
I seriously hope I am proved wrong ,and time will tell ,Robbie is a great player and Torres is the best in the world at the moment, but as a partnership I believe Liverpool could have done better and for 20 Million it beggars belief .

[Feeney]

Sorry, but the way Torres went off was a crock of sh*t to me - no way that lad injured, he'll 'conveniently' miss the Spain game and be fully fit for the Scum game - no bad thing, admittedly, but with him off we lost a huge chunk of potential to win the game

[ConnO'var]

The way we played yesterday was UTTER rubbish... and having restrained myself for the 1st 5 games, but after the performance yesterday, I cannot keep this inside anymore.

The way the team was set up was bizarre. We sign a 20 million quid striker and put him out in the left of midfield when we had a natural left footed defender/midfielder in in Aurelio. Played 3 central midfielders without an ounce of creativity between them, though to be fair, Xabi has it but hasn't showed it for yonks.

No width, no heart, no fecking ideas.

Substitutions were nothing short of bizarre against a team we should be attempting to win against rather than play for a draw. If we carry on like this against the big 3, heaven help us....

Last year's excuses are already being drawn up to explain away this utter tripe we're passing off as football. (5 games and still unbeaten, the team is gelling, our best players not playing, the other big 3 are also dropping points..... etc, fecking etc)

After shelling out god only knows how much money, on new players and persisting with this tactical genius for years with no tangible, quantifiable improvements in the league, there is NO way we can justifiably say that the man is deserving of a "beyond reproach" status.

This is now his team.... only Gerrard and Carra are left of Houllier's legacy. So all this "players aren't good enough" bull sh!te doesn't wash either. He bloody well bought them and he's molded them into a team playing with his defensive tactics.

He'd BETTER JOLLY WELL get them to play like a team whose remotely interested in playing for LFC.

We fans pour our hearts and souls into the team and this is how we're repaid? With dross and heartless and clueless performance?

In Rafa We trust? Me @rse.....