aCe' wrote:tonyeh wrote:aCe' wrote:when torres isnt available i dont think that we have many other options but to play him up there and hope for the best...
Agree about bringing him off every game not doing his confidence any good...
He's obviously got talent and while he's been struggling to prove his abilities in a red shirt, i dont think its the time to be leaving out another attacking option (limited as he may be - in any sense of the word) only to bring on another midfielder and look to change our shape and tactics...etc etc
We need as many attacking options as we can get in pretty much every game and from where im sitting, scoring or not he seems to be better than what we got bar Torres when we'r going forward.
I dont know about the stats but it sure would be interesting to compare the number of goals we'v scored when having two strikers on the pitch withe numbers when we'v only playedd one... i know it worked against chelsea and to some extent against ManUtd but still...
I think we need to start playing 2 upfront more often ..
I agree completely.
There's nobody liverpool can REALLY rely on for regular goals when Torres is out of the show. It's that simple. Keane was a strange buy for Liverpool, I have to confess. I said it before the season started and I'll say it again. Rafa bought Keane because David Villa was off the table. I shook my head in disbelief at the 20 million price tag, but there you go.
As for a single striker up top or Liverpool...that makes me wince every time I see it (even when it is Torres). I know some disagree, but I think it's a terribly negative approach, especially when they are playing "weaker" teams like Spurs. If Liverpool are serious about the title, they need to start with two up top and use those attack options for the vast majority of their games. I understand maybe strengthening the midfield at the expense of the attack for the likes of Chelsea, but in most games, no way.
Take the Spurs game for example, Kuyt (or Babel) and Keane should have started up front and probably the game would have been sown up by half time.
Sometimes I wish Rafa would just leave things alone as the game progresses. I fail to understand his subs in the Spurs game at all and it did liverpool no good at all. Taking Keane off for Babel.........no.
What gets under my skin is that when we play the 4-2-3-1 we basically end up looking like a side playing 4 defenders...3 central midfielders, an out of position centerback playing down the right flank, a proper winger (now that riera is here) and a top top striker in torres...
Take torres out of that equation and we'r just a team set out to stop opposition from playing their game and trying to rely on the quality of the player we have to nick a 1-0 or 2-1 win..
Its pretty dissapointing and even depressing at times watching our players playing the weaker sides and struggling to break them down... we dont even create enough chances or look the better side without doubt in most of our games..
the tottenham game where everyone was talking about all the chances we missed and how we should have been 5-0 up byb halftime ?! if the chances we had were that good we should seriously consider selling half our lineup as theyr obviously incompetent footballer to say the least.. i know that being a liverpool supporter i probably wouldnt consider our chances to have been that great as compared to how a say tottenham supporter would see things but still... by that logic Arsenal should be winning every game and scoring double digits while doing so !
I think its time to try and go back to basics when we'r playing the smaller sides... 4-4-2 with 2 wide men and Gerrard and Alonso in the middle and two out and out strikers... Our defense is pretty solid to say the least and going forward against such sides we'd always be expected to score more than they do... wouldnt mind seeing more 4-2s as opposed to 1-0s cause ultimately once you get your strikers going and scoring goals its alot easier to try and stitch up the defensive errors..
The whole chelsea playing a lone striker discussion is a whole different issue... chelsea have better playerxs than we do in every department... Hell id even go as far as saying that the only player in our side who would actually impove their team is probably Torres... Gerrard less so but Torres with chelsea would be scary to even think about...
Chelsea do set up in a very familiar 4-2-3-1 (4-1-3-1-1 or whatever you wanna call it) but the difference is that they have Deco, Lampard, Essien, Ballack , Mikel who fill out the central positions.. every single one of those players (maybe Mikel less so with the role he's given) is a goal threat and contributes to the teams attacking play...
We have Gerrard, Alonso and Mascherano, Lucas too... Of the 4 Gerrard is the only one who goes forward and has any sort of impact on our direct attacking play...
We'r very limited in many ways and our movement off the ball leaves alot to be admired...Our central players (Alonso and Masherano more so) never seem to be up for the pass and try to take a better position higher up plays and seem satisfied with playing the pass and sticking to their positions... this is mainly why we struggle to break down weaker sides... You never see the Arsenals, ManUtds, and Chelseas doing that...
Too predictable at times and very much lacking in flair and creativity from the central areas... if we wanna keep playing this way i think that playing Pennant and Riera down the flanks is a must ... 2 players upfront is a must.. can see us dropping more and more points against the smaller sides if we persist with our negative tactics and setups.
You're correct. Liverpool are very weak at times and I think the Spurs game has washed off some of the glamour that the wins over Chelsea and Utd have put on some people.
Honestly, I had some conversations with Liverpool fans saying that they were going to win the league based on the Utd result!!!
Truly amazing when you consider the silly goals that won the game for Liverpool, one of which was an OG. Likewise the win over Chelsea came from a lucky deflection.
Take the luck involved in those goals out of the equasion and those games are a loss to Utd and a draw with Chelsea.
Again, I agree about the quality issue regarding Chelsea's midfield and their decision to one striker up front. I posted pretty much the same thing about a week ago. But another thing Chelsea have in their favour is that their players are given free reign to roam the pitch. They are a more fluid team than Liverpool and that's that.
It's a seriious time for Liverpool at the moment and the loss at the weekend has compounded that. As well as Chelsea being top again, Utd are finding form and are only a few points behind, with a game in hand.
People going on about not slitting wrists, because it was only one game nad it happens blah blah. The point is, it was a CRUCIAL game for Liverpool to win to consolidate the gap between the biggest threats to getting the title this year.
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