Liverpool FC Forum

[Scottbot]

Has anybody contemplated 3 at the back and 5 in the middle. It allows two attacking wingers (Pennant/Babel/Kewell/Yossi) if we have two defensive midfielders (Alonso/Momo/Mascheranho) and it allows Gerrard to bomb on from central midfield where he's at his best. Our wingers wouldn't need to track back as much if we had two defensive midfielders just sitting in. It puts Gerrard back in the middle and it gives us two attacking wingers. So when we're on the attack, which we will be for most of the season, both home and away, we will have 4/5 players all getting forward. Can't fail to score with 5 players all getting forward.

It's been thoroughly and tirelessly considered on here mate! My thoughts on 3-5-2 (and others) are in this thread (see below)

http://www.liverpoolfc-newkit.co.uk/viewtopic.php?t=21050&start=20

[god_bless_john_houlding]

I have never been convinced that Benitez will stick to 3-5-2. His formation is 4-4-2, and I see this staying this way.

[barnesrush]

pennant to get about 15 assists this season and you can quote me on that. he will also score alot more goals if he gets a couple early doors as his confidence will allow him to aim for the corners rather than simply aiming to get it on target through fear of blazing wide. the lad can definately shoot, could do with a bit more work on his left foot tho as he often cuts inside then has to run round the ball to put it in with his right

[Wilhelmsson]

I messed up re Duff as he is left wing not right.

We could have got him for £12m a few years ago but that fool GH went for those f**king African players instead. What a chump

I think Duff is top class - he wasn't a regular in a fantastic Chelsea team that walked two leagues and then lost when he left for nothing. Did nothing at Newcastle as injured.

I'd love it if we got him - MUCH better than anything we have on the left.

IIRC Blackburn wanted £17m and Houllier refused to pay such a sum of money. Though with hindsight it might have been better to pay that much for Duff and correct me if I am wrong didn’t Houllier sign Kewell in the same summer?

If Kewell fails to impress and remain away from the treatment table, then if I was Rafa, I’d place a bid for him.

Niall, do you know what is happening with Duff at the moment? Is he still injured or is he back for Newcastle’s pre-season?

[stoney]

If we really want to become a TOP team, Pennant cannot be in our long term plans. A good player but doesn't have that star quality that is needed in the attacking department.

[Wilhelmsson]

1. Clearly he struggled with expectation and his own form early doors last season

2. His confidence and willingness to run at players (instead of taking the safe option) picked up gradually and his performance against Chelsea in the Semi-final at Anfield should be what he aims for on a week to week basis. I still think he will conitinue to improve, he looks on fire and full of confidence this pre-season so there's a good chance he'll go into the season firing on all cylinders.

3. I agree he needs to provide more of a goal threat and i think he is capable of scoring a few more. He does lack composure when he gets into shooting positions and often passes when better placed himself so this is obviously something for Rafa to work on.

4. It's also worth pointing out that Kewelll only scored 3 goals after playing the whole season on the left a couple of years back but very few of us were berating his lack of goal threat at the time.

5. As for Pennant crossing into the box when no-one is there i'd say the problem lies with our strikers and it's nit-picking a little to have a pop at the winger when the far bigger problem lies with the frontmen.

6. I'm not sure how many assists Pennant provided last season (anyone?) but i'm sure it would have been far higher had our strikers been up to it.

7. Remember the Newcastle game at St.James last season? Bellamy scored one but missed two absolute sitters. All three were laid on by Pennant.

8. Also worth noting that Pennant and Crouch link up very well but do/did not play in the same side often enough (Rafa take note).

1. Pennant surely had knowledge of the weight of expectation that would be attached with a move to the club. Pennant for half of last season at least looked like he was punching above his weight (or so to speak).

2. Pennant has improved gradually with confidence, IIRC I mentioned this in one of my previous posts in this particular discussion. Pennant should be looking to have an accomplished and positive game every time he plays.

Pennant has looked a lot better in this pre-season a far cry from his performance in the CL final. I hope he is able to keep this up and improve further, if he can do this, then I might be convinced that is worthy of a position within the team.

3. IMO Pennant should be looking to slot home between six or seven goals a season, ideally these goals will come in the league. He clearly has the ability to score goals, and I am repeating myself again, but the goal he scored against Chelsea was remarkable, the technique he displayed is not a trait of a poor player by any means.

The point about composure is a good one, I am not sure if Rafa can fix this in training, IMO it’s a physiological problem which only Pennant can be in control of fixing. I cannot help but think it’s related to his lack of confidence, which leads me to believe that perhaps, a step up from minnows Birmingham to a juggernaut such as Liverpool was too much, too soon for a relatively inexperienced player.

4. Kewell is the most talented wide player we have and he scored three goals all season because he has been injury plagued constantly. Hopefully this season, the team will get the best out of Kewell and when Kewell is on form, he is clearly one of the finest LW’s in the league. IIRC, didn’t Kewell score 11 goals in his first season here, which is the season he played the most part in? I might be wrong here though.

5. It is the responsibility of the strikers/midfielders is to be in/around the box when the ball is crossed in from the wings. However Pennant should not cross the ball into the box when realistically no team mate is going to get on the end of the cross. It’s wasting possession.

IMO it would be better if Pennant held the ball up/cut inside or carve a chance on goal for himself. Pennant clearly needs to use a bit more intelligence in such situations and its not unfair to criticise him for this.

6. Pennant probably would have had more assists had the strikers been firing on all cylinders, however they weren’t and neither was Jermaine for much of last season.

7. Anyone can select one game in which to pass comment on; I can pick out games where I thought Jermaine was impressive and games where I thought Jermaine was terrible. On the collective, Jermaine didn’t have the best of seasons for me, despite signs of gradual progress and improvement, both mentally and in his play.

8. This is true and I have advocated that I wish to see Crouch start more matches this season, however Jermaine needs to be familiarising forging a good understanding with all the players and not just forging a good understanding with one particular player.

As I have said before, if Pennant progresses and if Pennant plays well and builds upon this good pre-season he has had then Pennant will no doubt convince me he is good enough to play for this club. At the moment, I am undecided on this.

[Torres 2007]

Don't rate him.

Thing is.. he's a decent player, but not A "great" player!.

He is not the next John Barnes.

If you wathc Pannant when he plays, his crosses are not that good. He sort of.."Hits and hopes" rather than his crosses meet their targets. Hence the reason when peter crouch and Kuyt are having not many chances in front of goal.

I think he is a liability

[66-1112520797]

Bit part for me.

I dont know if Babel or Yossi will get games over him this season, but I dont think Jermaine Pennant can sustaine a quality level of football on the right wing for a good length of time. Okay he did well from January onwards last season, but when I mean quality that also means 'end product' which Pennant doesnt have.

I think he's capable of coming on as a sub, or for a few run of games to have more of an impact that way. I think any longer in the team and he'll become more predictable in his play. I think he is the kind of player that is, when kept on his toes is likely to produce something when an imapct is needed or a change.

[stmichael]

Don't rate him.

Thing is.. he's a decent player, but not A "great" player!.

He is not the next John Barnes.

If you wathc Pannant when he plays, his crosses are not that good. He sort of.."Hits and hopes" rather than his crosses meet their targets. Hence the reason when peter crouch and Kuyt are having not many chances in front of goal.

I think he is a liability

I think you're being harsh mate.

To be honest I'd hate to be a winger in our side as whenever they get a cross in you've got one striker going into the area and the rest of the team hanging around on the edge of the box for a knockdown.

Our movement in the penalty area is quite frankly embarassing at times.

[Bad Bob]

I think Pennant will feature quite a bit this season and I hope he kicks on from his end-of-season form and really becomes a weapon for us down the right.  As our only real out-and-out winger, he offers a dimension the team lacks elsewhere on the pitch.  It would be fantastic to see Rafa play him more with Crouch, to see what the big man could do with some of those crosses into the box.

[murphy0151]

I think Pennant will feature quite a bit this season and I hope he kicks on from his end-of-season form and really becomes a weapon for us down the right.  As our only real out-and-out winger, he offers a dimension the team lacks elsewhere on the pitch.  It would be fantastic to see Rafa play him more with Crouch, to see what the big man could do with some of those crosses into the box.

Id have a few quid on him heading them near'er to the corner flag then towards the goal. 

[Bad Bob]

I think Pennant will feature quite a bit this season and I hope he kicks on from his end-of-season form and really becomes a weapon for us down the right.  As our only real out-and-out winger, he offers a dimension the team lacks elsewhere on the pitch.  It would be fantastic to see Rafa play him more with Crouch, to see what the big man could do with some of those crosses into the box.

Id have a few quid on him heading them near'er to the corner flag then towards the goal. 

Maybe true but how's he going to improve if he never gets to practice?

[YAWL]

For me if Pennant plays as he did after Christmas last season he should be more of a regular.  He offered width, kept the ball, took on defenders and most importantly would have a final ball for the strikers.  He got lots of assists and should have had more, if our finishing was better at times.

What I like about him is he performs in the big matches as well as the smaller ones.  Against Chelsea in the league last season scoring that fab goal, the Champs League semi having a cracking game, vs Bolton in the league (who were third) setting up two goals with a man of the match performance, not forgetting the Champs Leahue final where I thought he was our best player.

The one area where he needs to improve is by scoring more goals.  I'm sure he'll get more than one this season.  But if he keeps getting as many assists as he did last season after Christmas, I won't be bothered about the goals, as he'll be contributing in a big way.

[Wilhelmsson]

Don't rate him.

Thing is.. he's a decent player, but not A "great" player!.

He is not the next John Barnes.

If you wathc Pannant when he plays, his crosses are not that good. He sort of.."Hits and hopes" rather than his crosses meet their targets. Hence the reason when peter crouch and Kuyt are having not many chances in front of goal.

I think he is a liability

This post is inaccurate and harsh IMO and this is coming from a Pennant critic. Firstly, the comparison between Pennant and Barnes is not needed and adds little to the discussion. Secondly, Pennant is IMO a decent player who will do an adequate job, he has been improving since Christmas, which is a positive sign, but like you I too believe that Pennant will always be a decent player and never a great player.

I understand your point about Pennant hitting and hoping, IMO he has done this at times, if I am brutally honest, Pennant is a fantastic crosser of the ball, he just needs to use his intelligence when he is advancing down the wing (see previous posts) and on the same token the strikers need to get in the box and play to a high tempo consistently. Kuyt needs to get in the box more along with the other attacking players.  Pennant cannot hope to find a target within the box when there is a lack of attacking personnel to receive the ball.

Pennant is far from being a liability, however is far from being Liverpool material IMO, but of course, he could prove me wrong, only time will tell.

[YAWL]

Wilhelmsson you don't have to have a team full of great players to win the league.  Arsenal won it with Parlour for example who was effective, just as Pennant is for us.

I disagree with the expectation arguement, why Pennant started the season poorly.  That fact is last season everyone started poorly, particularly Reina, Carragher, Alonso and even Gerrard.  However somehow Pennant was the scapegoat more than the other names.

Any coincidence that his form picked up once the other did?  I think wingers need to be in a confident team to do well. 

I like him.  He might not be the most fashionable winger around, however he's a tidy player, who keeps the ball well, offers width and he contributes to the team with lots of assists.

By the way, the booing Pennant received last season by some fans at Anfield was disagraceful.