Liverpool FC Forum

[AB's Red Army]

Crouch and Voronin will get more luck in a brothel than they will against Birmingham.

Play Torres and Kuyt if we have any ambition of winning this game.

Alonso and Agger are injured according to LFC.tv, which is why neither of them played yesterday.

[Gracias King Rafa]

What are the odds on us conceding another penalty?

[glenbuck patriot]

I'd play

                                        Reina

Arbeloa         Carra              Hyppia               Aurelio


Babel            Alonso            Mascherano         Riise


                          Kuyt         Torres


Different balance i'll admit, especially in defense...... reasoning too many players looked half a yard short or carrying a knock (Gerrard & Finnan spring to mind), also Babel is naturally right footed i'd like to see what he could do on the right against the inexperienced Matthew Sadler

[Cool Hand Luke]

Best team out, rest players midweek in the league cup.

[OneHotRed]

I wouldnt rest anyone to be honest, Birmingham know this could either go one of two ways, either they are going to get a paggering or its going to be an awkward game.

I'd put out best team out and rest in the CC cup

                     Reina

Finnan   Carra    Agger(Hypia)   Arbeloa

Yossi    Gerrard     Masch         Babbel

           Voronin     Torres

If agger is injured still.  Rather annoying people are talking about resting players so early in the season

[thegreedo]

Best team out, rest players midweek in the league cup.

Have to say I'm with Luke all the way on this one!!

[Red Dotty]

Need to get 3 points in this one just for the midweek dip in Porto although I did think Porto played a good game.

My team for this week would be.

Reina
Finnan
JC
Sammi
Abol
Benny
SG
Mashca
Babbel
Torres
Kuyt

3-0 win

[Ydde]

Erm, is it just me or did anyone detect a high degree of sarcasms in Bigmick's post? You are all replying as if he's serious!

Or am I the dunce here...

[bigmick]

Sorry mate but I was actually being serious   I've always said that if you are to achieve a Tompkinsesque 2.3 players a game average, it doesn't mean you have to change 2.3 players a game if you get my drift. It means largely that you do what we did against Villa and Chelsea, if you must you rest the odd player (and I mean odd) here and there, you have a mass feck about against the poor teams at home, and then do as we are going to have to do now and cover for injuries and suspensions. You'll soon get to your average of 2.3 changes a game don't worry about that, and you'll still be able to field very close to your strongest team in nearly every game. I AM NOT THOUGH SUGGESTING FOR ONE SECOND THAT WE PLAY THE SAME TEAM IN EVERY SINGLE GAME. SIMILARLY, I AM NOT ABOUT TO BE CONVERTED TO ROTATION IN THE SAME WAY THAT MANY WERE TO ZONAL MARKING. Just thought we'd get that in before we get the inevitable.

Now depending on when Pennants suspension comes through, we are like as not going to be at least three players short of Rafa's current best team, four if Gerrard isn't up to it. This could be for a period of three or four weeks. It just goes to show, these silly little restings, rotations, swivels, switches, permutations and feck abouts every week are largely pointless. They are pointless because the "you need to use the whole squad" mantra which gets trotted out would happen entirely of its own valition anyway. They are pointless because as we have seen over these last couple of games, they do nothing for fluency (it really is something to see those who stoutly defend rotation claiming now that the players not training/playing together for a week is adversely impacting on the performance of the team. That's kind of been the whole point of the doubters all along). The third reason it's pointless is of course this silly notion that if you rotate more you get injured less. It's true to say we've had a reasonable run with injuries over the last few years but it really is stretching the point to put it down to the players being rotated. If that were the case, Terry, Lampard et el would be injured all the time. As it is it's only very recently that they've started to miss matches after extended unbroken appearance records. Just like the fact that we've picked up a couple of metatarsal injuries on top of each other doesn't mean that we are kicking the ball too hard in training, because we've had a decent run with injuries isn't down to rotation. Both are due largely to the same thing, namely luck.

Clearly however, when you have a squad the size and quality of hours you have to give the lads a game sometime. Firstly because they would start to get p!ssed off if they didn't get a chance, secondly because you want to see how good they are, and thirdly of course just in case you do need them at least it means they are somewhere enar ready and have some experience. My contention is it is far better to do this en masse, be it in the Carling Cup or against Derby (where we correctly did rest a couple) or against Birmingham (where we should). All the changes I've suggested are with the future in mind. We may well need the Argentianian winger or Lucas if things get any worse, Hyppia of course we do need now and IMHo we need Babel now to be a deputy for Torres as a striker. Finnan will have to be rotated sonner or later (poor little fecker, resting doesn't apply to him) and Aurelio needs game time at left back.

No mate sorry, I meant it. The fact that nearly everyone things I'm off my rocker is neither new nor important   

[Sabre]

I AM NOT THOUGH SUGGESTING FOR ONE SECOND THAT WE PLAY THE SAME TEAM IN EVERY SINGLE GAME. SIMILARLY, I AM NOT ABOUT TO BE CONVERTED TO ROTATION IN THE SAME WAY THAT MANY WERE TO ZONAL MARKING

Rest assured this is understood.

About reason to be silly number one,

They are pointless because the "you need to use the whole squad" mantra which gets trotted out would happen entirely of its own valition anyway.

Now that Alonso has been injured you have an inmediate player to substitute him that you can't say about him he lacks match fitness. He's ready to replace him and has games in his pocket, he wouldn't have those games, if no rotations were applied and he had been warming the bench. Rotation has a point in keeping more players ready to first team football and to lessen the impact of injuries.

About number two

They are pointless because as we have seen over these last couple of games, they do nothing for fluency (it really is something to see those who stoutly defend rotation claiming now that the players not training/playing together for a week is adversely impacting on the performance of the team. That's kind of been the whole point of the doubters all along)

This point is fair enough. I do think that if Gerrard and Mascherano would have played together more this season alongside the same back four, we could have been more accurate as a team in a game like the Oporto one. I think rotation can affect the team at the start of the season more than later, but you have a point.

About reason three, about injuries, not that your reasoning is not correct, it's strong. But I swear that many football health medical authorities have defended (and studied) the benefits of rotation to avoid muscle injuries. Like in everything probably other authorities will say otherwise, but at least it's debatable.

[roberto green]

I would go for the same team to midweek apart from pennant who should be swapped by benayoun,pennant needs to be taught a lesson he is to big headed for my liking and needs to brought back down to earth!!

[red37]

You know it could work one of two ways. Pennant will receive some stick from the travelling support and you'd like to think (same as we thought against Arsenal) that that alone would stoke the boiler up and produce a performance of merit.

Shame of it is though and i suspect the reality. Is he simply hasn't yet matured enough to translate that kind of negative 'incentive' into many positives in his game. That may be totally unfair...there is a chance that it might well fire him up and he plays a blinder. But the issue is, when things go the other way, how far he allows himself to remain under due control of his emotions. And i could just as easily see the lad losing it again in an ugly situation.

So, perhaps it is best for Benayoun to step in. Awkward shout that one in any case. Bit of man-management and a friendly ear, or thrown into the lions den and left to adapt his own devices towards the cause.

We are already compromised in Defence, the last thing anyone needs is another deficit in the one true area of the park we hold complete superiority in. Yes, even against Birmingham.

[LFC2007]

Sorry mate but I was actually being serious   I've always said that if you are to achieve a Tompkinsesque 2.3 players a game average, it doesn't mean you have to change 2.3 players a game if you get my drift. It means largely that you do what we did against Villa and Chelsea, if you must you rest the odd player (and I mean odd) here and there, you have a mass feck about against the poor teams at home, and then do as we are going to have to do now and cover for injuries and suspensions. You'll soon get to your average of 2.3 changes a game don't worry about that, and you'll still be able to field very close to your strongest team in nearly every game. I AM NOT THOUGH SUGGESTING FOR ONE SECOND THAT WE PLAY THE SAME TEAM IN EVERY SINGLE GAME. SIMILARLY, I AM NOT ABOUT TO BE CONVERTED TO ROTATION IN THE SAME WAY THAT MANY WERE TO ZONAL MARKING. Just thought we'd get that in before we get the inevitable.

Now depending on when Pennants suspension comes through, we are like as not going to be at least three players short of Rafa's current best team, four if Gerrard isn't up to it. This could be for a period of three or four weeks. It just goes to show, these silly little restings, rotations, swivels, switches, permutations and feck abouts every week are largely pointless. They are pointless because the "you need to use the whole squad" mantra which gets trotted out would happen entirely of its own valition anyway. They are pointless because as we have seen over these last couple of games, they do nothing for fluency (it really is something to see those who stoutly defend rotation claiming now that the players not training/playing together for a week is adversely impacting on the performance of the team. That's kind of been the whole point of the doubters all along). The third reason it's pointless is of course this silly notion that if you rotate more you get injured less. It's true to say we've had a reasonable run with injuries over the last few years but it really is stretching the point to put it down to the players being rotated. If that were the case, Terry, Lampard et el would be injured all the time. As it is it's only very recently that they've started to miss matches after extended unbroken appearance records. Just like the fact that we've picked up a couple of metatarsal injuries on top of each other doesn't mean that we are kicking the ball too hard in training, because we've had a decent run with injuries isn't down to rotation. Both are due largely to the same thing, namely luck.

Clearly however, when you have a squad the size and quality of hours you have to give the lads a game sometime. Firstly because they would start to get p!ssed off if they didn't get a chance, secondly because you want to see how good they are, and thirdly of course just in case you do need them at least it means they are somewhere enar ready and have some experience. My contention is it is far better to do this en masse, be it in the Carling Cup or against Derby (where we correctly did rest a couple) or against Birmingham (where we should). All the changes I've suggested are with the future in mind. We may well need the Argentianian winger or Lucas if things get any worse, Hyppia of course we do need now and IMHo we need Babel now to be a deputy for Torres as a striker. Finnan will have to be rotated sonner or later (poor little fecker, resting doesn't apply to him) and Aurelio needs game time at left back.

No mate sorry, I meant it. The fact that nearly everyone things I'm off my rocker is neither new nor important   

For fecks sake, you could have just put:

'I don't like rotation'


That would do, honest.

[roberto green]

You know it could work one of two ways. Pennant will receive some stick from the travelling support and you'd like to think (same as we thought against Arsenal) that that alone would stoke the boiler up and produce a performance of merit.

Shame of it is though and i suspect the reality. Is he simply hasn't yet matured enough to translate that kind of negative 'incentive' into many positives in his game. That may be totally unfair...there is a chance that it might well fire him up and he plays a blinder. But the issue is, when things go the other way, how far he allows himself to remain under due control of his emotions. And i could just as easily see the lad losing it again in an ugly situation.

So, perhaps it is best for Benayoun to step in. Awkward shout that one in any case. Bit of man-management and a friendly ear, or thrown into the lions den and left to adapt his own devices towards the cause.

We are already compromised in Defence, the last thing anyone needs is another deficit in the one true area of the park we hold complete superiority in. Yes, even against Birmingham.

The only thing with Pennant is that he thought he must learn from his sending off but then said he thought he shouldnt of been sent off(when he should of).
Like last year midway through the season before he had played well he thought he had a good season(when he never)up to then.He has also been singing his own praises for his England chances.I personaly dont like his attitude and can see him becoming a problem.

[AB's Red Army]

Pennant is a thick bloke. Everyone knows that. His cousin admitted it, Carra admitted and his comments yesterday verified that.

He's clueless. Since the opening game he's been having a go at refs and making stupid challenges. Carra had a right go at him that game.