Liverpool FC Forum

[NANNY RED]

Last nights game and the other game ive seen is just what ive watched loads of times last season ,watching the ressies play, they played a similar style and tempo, nothing to write home about and nothing that had me on the edge of my seat ,as it was and looked like a good work out , nothing more nothing less ,

[stmichael]

One big difference I think we will see is what Roy does with Gerrard. Where as Rafa rarely played him in a central two because he didn't feel he was particularly disciplined enough it wouldn't surprise me if Roy dropped Gerrard back into midfield on a more frequent basis and tries to turn him into a role like Murphy plays for Fulham. From that position he can dictate games with his passing more whilst still having the odd burst into the penalty area to get on the end of things. Infact against the weaker sides at home I wouldn't be surprised to see Gerrard and Aquilani in the central two at times. Hopefully we'll see Joe Cole in the hole instead of being lumped out wide all the time aswell.

[In and Out]

Look, apart from the fact Hodgson holidays in Wales it IS to early to see the difference between how the sides line-up.

Still, I'm grateful that Rafa has gone and Roy is here, his football of which I have no doubt will be a breath of fresh air; and I reckon he'll give the youth a chance something our previous manager could never envisage.

After a few games I'll come back to this thread and I'll call it AS I SEE IT. Until then Llandocllanglocklan  Roy     In English that translates to.... Viva Roy 

[Owzat]

They both won their first games 2-0 away to cr ap opposition, it's Rafa in disguise I'm telling you...........................!

re Lucas. Doesn't he always look quite impressive when the opposition are rubbish?

[supersub]

It will be interesting to see if the returning internationals will be able too force their way back into the reckoning or will Roy keep a winning formation together...we don't want to return to the bad old days of rotation and all the threads to go with it.....

[In and Out]

It will be interesting to see if the returning internationals will be able too force their way back into the reckoning or will Roy keep a winning formation together...we don't want to return to the bad old days of rotation and all the threads to go with it.....

fair point, perhaps you should start a poll Supersub?

[supersub]

It will be interesting to see if the returning internationals will be able too force their way back into the reckoning or will Roy keep a winning formation together...we don't want to return to the bad old days of rotation and all the threads to go with it.....

fair point, perhaps you should start a poll Supersub?

what kind of poll ?

will this team play next week
will this team start the season
will this team ever play together again
will rafa buy this team and make  it Inter's first 11
Is it too early to make any comparisons with anything
Is this a pointless thread now July 30 but it may have legs a few months down the line

the sooner the season starts the better 

[Benny The Noon]

well, it *could* have been an interesting thread if people hadn't retreated to the trenches so quickly

Comfortably the best post in this thread.

I think this place is quite possibly doomed as a decent place to talk football. It's become a hotbed of veiled digs, over-reaction and incessant bickering.

Will disagree mate as you now have best post in the thread

I decided to stop posting until the season started because the forum was awful and certain people were lording it up alround the forum and deriding and belittling anyone who dared to have a different view .

Was sick of people labelling posters in little groups - pros,antis wrist slashers etc when i thought we were just supposed to be liverpool fans but people cant just leave it at that .

As for the thread starter staying he wants to just talk football and not go on about the previous manager etc - i think he needs to take a hard look at himself as there is numerous threads on here where he goes against both of those - new members have arrived recently to be subjected to his belittling with him bring up the old AK-47 cr.ap and seems obsessed with certain things . If the thread starter wants to just talk about football and nothing else then stick to his word as the majority of time his posts contain more digs than a JCB and tbh i was sick of it .

If your not going around claiming the new manager and players are the messiah and if your not saying we will sweep all before us then your labelled doom and gloom . Sick of it tbh .

As for comparing the manager with previous manager - well it is going to happen - its natural and the previous manager will get mentioned - if people cant handle that then dont comment . The previous managers record is what Hodgson has to compete against - that is the benchmark - the forum is full of " If rafa was still here such and such wouldnt of played " when there is no basis or fact for it .

Now for the topic itself

I believe we are going to play one up front for most of the season - main reason - Torres - its the way he plays and the way he flourishes . He loves the space and loves to link up with a deep lying midfielder . If Torres is to leave - yes it could still happen - then we need to get Two quality strikers , if he stays we still need one as back up but where does the money come from . Ngog is still young and raw and learning and does well at times but not consistent .Babel will never be a striker IMO and Kuyt just doesnt have the game and pace to play up front on his own .

Now to the defence - for me it will be a straight back 4 from

Johnson and Kelly - RB
Carra,Agger,Skrtel,Wilson - CB can see Greek going
LB- Insua as back up and we need a quality starter - seems its goes to be a punt at Figuroa - lets see how he dows.

Midfield .

IMO this is where the mixing and matching will go depending on oppostition and players available

we could play a DM and a CM in front of back 4 - either Lucas,Gerrard and Aqualini to fill any of those roles plus Masher mainly for the DM role or his replacement if he goes . Then we have the wide areas with Maxi,Kuyt,Cole,Jovanovic,Babel and maybe Amoo able to play those roles in either a 4-4-1-1 or 4-5-1 or 4-2-3-1 .

Then there is the slot behind Torres - Gerrard ,Cole,Kuyt and Pacheco can play there .

In summary i believe our strongest line up against most opposition is 4-2-3-1 which could move into a 4-3-3 with

                                      Pepe

Johnson          Carra                 Agger            Figeroa ?

                    Masher/Lucas      Gerrard/Aqualini

      Kuyt                    Gerrard/Aqualini            Cole

                                     Torres

[supersub]

well from its early beginnings i reckon roy will win the europa league in the his first season, finish 6th, and win nowt for the rest of eternity , just like rafa

what he says but without the Europa league,we finish higher than 6th and we will win something again eventually...so I disagree with judge

[Thommo's perm]

well, it *could* have been an interesting thread if people hadn't retreated to the trenches so quickly

Comfortably the best post in this thread.

I think this place is quite possibly doomed as a decent place to talk football. It's become a hotbed of veiled digs, over-reaction and incessant bickering.

"Veiled digs"? What are trying to say?
"Over-reaction"? Get to absolute fu'ck!!
"incessant bickering"? Whos doing that eh? Eh?

For the record lets get something straight.
Im not happy Rafas gone. Im Fu*king overjoyed!
Its like a massive weight has been lifted and the clouds have cleared to reveal a sunny blue sky.
Lets wait and see what the Royvelution brings by all means. But lets do it with a smile!

[maguskwt]

Yes it IS your imagination

I don't know what to say bigmick... it's only one game and it certainly IS early...

You should try watching the game Magus. I don't mean looking at it, I mean watching it.


People on here amaze me. If it's too early for you to see anything, too soon to consider such things as how we set up, what we do when we haven't got the ball, how we press etc etc then that's lovely. Why though is it a crime for somebody else to have a think aloud about it?

Just because a thread doesn't offer un an excuse to get the fake goatee on it doesn't by definition mean it's pointless.

Okayyyy BM.... 

But seriously what do you mean by fake goatee? From what I can guess you are probably refering to something to do with Rafa but I don't understand what you mean by 'to get the fake goatee on' or whatever.

You would think that the divide created by the so called pro and anti Rafa would have eased up by the time we appointed a new manager but it seems that most people on here are content even willing to be grouped as one category or another and still taking swipes at each other so much so that proper discussions and debate are getting impossible.

Yes I was a pro Rafa and I was very disappointed that the club let Rafa go and still think that it may be the biggest mistake that the club has made. Yes I was disappointed with the appointment of Roy and felt that we have taken a step backwards in terms of the manager. However, since then I have felt more optimistic by the way Roy has behaved himself and also by our acquisition of Joe Cole. Roy certainly has all the right gestures until now. And also, I must admit, when you enthusiastically explained that Roy might be more suitable than Rafa for this league because of his approach, etc etc etc, I have started to buy into all of that. Because it is better to be optimistic than pessimistic. Rafa is gone and as much as I liked Rafa, Roy is now our manager and we should get behind him. Especially when he's starting to show that he is definitely not a Yes man that the bank suits have employed. Also another nice gesture by Roy in crediting Rafa for the team balance something which some on here would not admit uless hell freezes over.

Having said that there is nothing wrong in people still having doubts about Roy. From having a manager who has won 2 la liga titles, 1 Uefa Cup title, 1 Champions league title and 1 FA Cup, we now have a manager who's track record isn't as impressive; he won several Swedish league titles in the 70's and 80's and after that nothing much else. People have the right to question the current manager's credentials and they have the righ to have doubts without being typecasted as a pro Rafa. They also have the right to be cautious about how we will perform in the league.

The pro and anti Rafa typecasting and jibes should stop now. Not all pro Rafa's are anti Roy's and vice versa even though it seems that in some cases it is definitely true 

[In and Out]

Okayyyy BM....   

But seriously what do you mean by fake goatee? From what I can guess you are probably refering to something to do with Rafa but I don't understand what you mean by 'to get the fake goatee on' or whatever.

You would think that the divide created by the so called pro and anti Rafa would have eased up by the time we appointed a new manager but it seems that most people on here are content even willing to be grouped as one category or another and still taking swipes at each other so much so that proper discussions and debate are getting impossible.

Yes I was a pro Rafa and I was very disappointed that the club let Rafa go and still think that it may be the biggest mistake that the club has made. Yes I was disappointed with the appointment of Roy and felt that we have taken a step backwards in terms of the manager. However, since then I have felt more optimistic by the way Roy has behaved himself and also by our acquisition of Joe Cole. To tell the truth BM, when you enthusiastically explained that Roy might be more suitable than Rafa because of his approach, etc etc etc, I have started to buy into all of that. Because it is better to be optimistic then pessimistic. Rafa is gone and as much as I liked Rafa, Roy is now our manager and we should get behind him. Especially when he's starting to show that he is definitely not a Yes man that the bank suits have employed.

Having said that there is nothing wrong in people still having doubts about Roy. From having a manager who has won 2 la liga titles, 1 Uefa Cup title, 1 Champions league title and 1 FA Cup, we now have a manager who's track record isn't as impressive; he won several Swedish league titles in the 70's and 80's and after that nothing much else. People have the right to question the current manager's credentials and they have the righ to have doubts without being typecasted as a pro Rafa. They also have the right to be cautious about how we will perform in the league.

The pro and anti Rafa typecasting and jibes should stop now. Not all pro Rafa's are anti Roy's and vice versa.

That's a sensible post mate, if you have your doubts of Roy to begin with that's fair enough, nowt wrong with that. On the other hand I think a change was as good as a rest where management was concerned.

Who knows what Roy will do, he may not do a lot, he may surprise some. But it's the start of his tenure and like Rafa he should get ALL the support he can. We saw after six years with Rafa we were going nowhere fast, possibly backwards even and the fans WERE patient. Let's hope Roy gets the ample time and patients Rafa was given as he deserves that if nothing else before people start chastising him.

[bigmick]

That's actually a really good post Magus. I just wish everyone (including me if you like) could move on. I just get really frustrated when you start a thread which is entirely innocent as far as pro and anti is concerned, and instantly people want to make little references.

No problem though, perhaps Bav's comments were kind of in context and meant in good faith, but they were besides the point of this particular discussion. We all want the team to do better, and obviously to do so we are going to have to change some things from last season. This thread was about tracking the managers attempts to change things, successfully or otherwise.

[maguskwt]

so by the way how many Swedish titles did Roy actually win?

WTF is the difference between Allsvenskan title and Swedish football champions? 

[dawson99]

How can you speak of the difference before the team has even played? The difference will be in the head, not in the feet