Liverpool FC Forum

[GYBS]

Woodgates strength isnt his ability in the air though ? its his positioning and tackling and used to be his pace . skittles still got plenty of time to develop.

[metalhead]

one of Woodgate's strength is dominating in the air. He quite threatning in set pieces.

Agreed, positioning, tackling and game reading are other strengths he has

[woof woof !]

GYBS, in the last 2 years he has been fit, basically he put his injuries well behind him.12 games for spurs after the transfer . he is still a massive injury risk . and now too old for such a big risk

he hardly played for spuds last year and for boro - they had to patch him up to get through games just like they did with king then he was out for games afterwards ..

Last year ? , maybe you mean "last season" ?.
He signed for spurs in the Jan window 2008, played 12 games for them , suffering injuries in Feb (ankle) March (hamstring) April (ankle,again). Whilst I agree with Stu that Woodgate is a top defender (when fit), having checked out his post Madrid fitness record I've changed my mind about being happy to see him at LFC.

Just 30 games in 06/07 (all domestic competitions) and 29 games o7/08 (all domestic competions) hardly makes him an "ever present" member of the defense.

[GYBS]

GYBS, in the last 2 years he has been fit, basically he put his injuries well behind him.12 games for spurs after the transfer . he is still a massive injury risk . and now too old for such a big risk

he hardly played for spuds last year and for boro - they had to patch him up to get through games just like they did with king then he was out for games afterwards ..

Last year ? , maybe you mean "last season" ?.
He signed for spurs in the Jan window 2008, played 12 games for them , suffering injuries in Feb (ankle) March (hamstring) April (ankle,again). Whilst I agree with Stu that Woodgate is a top defender (when fit), having checked out his post Madrid fitness record I've changed my mind about being happy to see him at LFC.

Just 30 games in 06/07 (all domestic competitions) and 29 games o7/08 (all domestic competions) hardly makes him an "ever present" member of the defense.

yeah sorry last season -

agree he is a good defender but dont think he is any better than we already have and off course there is the injuries.

[dawson99]

how can you say hes a top defender when hes hardly had amonth long run in the past 4 years without being injured? my nolex watch is broke but twice a day tells the eprfect time, doesnt mean i wear it all the time

[LFC2007]

Seems to be the Woodgate thread, so I may aswell give an opinion while everyone's at it.

I don't agree that he's the second best CB in the country, but he's right up there - hard to say how good in comparison as he's not at a top four club (if pushed I'd say just outside Ferdinand, Terry, Gallas, Toure bracket). But for his injuries he'd probably be at a better club - one challenging for the UCL. It's no surprise Real Madrid signed him, or that Arsenal bid for him whilst at Boro.

[Toffeehater]

hes almost 29, hardly played in 2 years, who would risk it?
fo dne, thats who!!! him and dean ashton and we'll win the title

and the world beater pennant 

[Bad Bob]

Just saw this headline: `SPURS FAIL IN ASHTON BID`

They've already signed Woodgate and now they're in for Ashton?  I think Stu must be Tottenham's chief scout.

[Alonso14]

We may have a weaker defence this season, however I feel there will be more goals this season to counter that.

The 7 man bench will probably favour us the most, we have a large squad with a bit of depth.

[RedBlood]

Obviously at the moment we still have weak links in the side.

I feel upfront, finally we have two strikers who can not only work as a partnership and compliment each others game but are both excellent players and goalscorers. Its a long time since I've had confidence that we have two strikers with the quality to help us win games, I finally feel we have that now and with Kuyt as backup I think we've got a good set of forward players.

In terms of midfield though we still seem top heavy in cental midfield. With Gerrard, Alonso and Mascherano. Now for me, the ideal would be Gerrard back on the right side with Xabi and Mascherano in the middle, Barry signed to play on the left. The thing is, if we sign Barry, I can see him playing centrally at the expense of Xabi, which i think is silly as you would have to have worse players on the pitch to make that system work.

For me though, the real worry is the defence, not a worry we've had for a while. Finnan lacked a bit of form last season, he wasn't at his best, to be fair he wasn't poor either, just not at his usual high standards. Arbeloa isn't good enough either for me, he's a decent squad player at best, but no more. Then theres Degen, the less said the better. On the left, Dossena hasn't convinced me at all, I'm hoping he'll improve as he settles which is a distinct possiblity so on that front we'll cut him some slack, Aurelio is decent back up on that side. But in the centre I feel we're lacking alot.

Hyypia is no longer what he was but for me is still equal to the other centre halfs which shows our weakness in my opinion. I think in terms or arial ability we are a very average side with no-one from the "first eleven" being dominant in the air which is something that worries me greatly.

Our goalkeepers solid.

I think with three top additions we could become a truely outstanding side though.Personally I'd like to see a right back, a top centre half and a left winger. If money was no object I'd look to sign Woodgate (now his injury problems appear to be behind him, Richards (who would add pace, power and arial ability to the defence and Robben who if he could stay fit would provide class down the wing.               

               Torres                               
                                Keane
Robben   Mascherano   Alonso    Gerrard
Dossena Woodgate     Carragher Richards   
                      Reina

That would work for me...

lol Mr. Jonathon "ill be alright after this lastest minor hick-up i promise u will c the old me" Woodgate

woodgate Skrtel & Agger r both better & younger

[RedBlood]

I would like us 2 stop going after Barry keep alonso & use the money 2 get Vanden Borre (Fiorentina) & Silva (Valencia)

they would cost about 30 mill but i figure selling finnan, pennant, aurielo, voronin & leto on top of the barry money would be enough                     


                         Riena

Borre     Carragher         Agger        Dossena


            Mascherano    Alonso

   
       Gerrard         Keane         Silva

                         Torres

Subs

Skrtel
Insua
Lucas
Babel
Nemeth
Pacheco
Benayoun
Plessis
N'Gog
Hyypia
Arbeloa

whoever rafa thinks we need on the bensch at the time at of them lot

[RedBlood]

oh an cavliero aswell

[fitz]

Assuming that Rafa's going for the 4-2-3-1 that served us well towards the end of last season as his preferred formation, it's only really the full back positions that are a slight worry for me.  I think it could well be a big season for players like Babel and Skrtel now that they have had some time to adapt their game to the speed and physicality of the Prem.  Added to this, a full season (touch wood) for Agger and Aurelio (I think we have only seen the tip of the iceberg of this guy's abilities) would do no harm to any title contending side.

Agger, Carra and Skrtel fighting for the two centre back berths, with Hyypia coming in against weaker teams and cups, no complaints there.  I think Rafa likes the two "holding midfielders" to be made up of one "tackler" (ie: Mascha) and one "passer" (ie: Alonso or Barry).  We have an embarassment of riches here in the park, with Lucas and Plessis both pushing for starts in the cups and maybe against the likes of Hull and Stoke in the league.  In Lucas, we have an absolute diamond if what I've heard from South America's true.  Now for the attacking midfielders/support strikers.  In pre-season, Gerrard and Keane look to have a nice little understanding developing between and hopefully this can continue on into the Prem.  Any team facing the thought being terrorised by those two swapping positions and picking out killer balls at will would have a massive problem containing that threat while affording Torres no space as well.  I see Keane starting on the right of the three, but over the course of the game, him and Gerrard changing to create problems for the defenders/holding midfielders charged with stopping them.  On the left, I hope Babel is given a prolonged chance to shine.  He showed some real class at times last season though he was still a little rough around the edges.  I'm sure he'll have worked with Rafa to adjust bits of his game to let his talent shine through even more this campaign.  Apart from those 3, we have Kuyt and Benayoun to provide some depth in case of injury, though maybe we could add here in January if needs must.  There's nothing I can say about Torres that hasn't already been said, although N'Gog looks an exciting understudy from his pre-season form.

That just leaves the full back spots, with Finnan on the right and Dossena on the left being my preferred starters.  Dossena has looked up and down to say the least, but his performance against Rangers was top drawer in my opinion and if he can do that on a consistent basis, he'll be up there with the best in the league.  With Aurelio providing relief, left back looks fairly OK, but right back is a worry for me.  Finnan is great on his day, but his form was a bit patchy last season and that's leading me to believe he might be on the downward turn.  With Arbeloa probably leaving and Degen not even starting right back for Switzerland, this is definitely where I feel we are weakest.  Darby looks a good prospect for the future, but again that's just from form in pre-season and in the reserves last season.  Some people say we can shift Carra over to right back, but the 4-2-3-1 formation demands attacking full backs to provide the opportunity for an overlap when Gerrard/Keane/Babel decide to venture infield.  With all the will in the world, Carra isn't the greatest bombing on down the line and his invaluable skills to marshall the defence could be diminished if he's taken out of the heart of defence.

Saying that now, Finnan or Degen will have the season of their lives and we'll have the title sown up by April!!!

[ConnO'var]

To be honest, I've not been overly impressed with our new full backs defensively, though to be fair, Dossena looks like he could do the job once he settles in. If we're not going for any more signings, I still think that we have a squad that's good enough to challenge if we play our best players in most games.

With the current crop of players available to us, I still think that we're best suited to a 5-3-2 formation as it would get most of our better players on the field at the same time.

                     Reina

          Carra    Agger    Skrtel
Degen/Finnan                    Dossena

         Gerrard   Xabi     Masch

              Torres    Keane

Our current (apparent) 1st choice fullbacks look better bombing forward than defending... so we'll have enough width even if we haven't got proper wingers. Xabi would fare better in this formation as he'd have outlets out wide. Mascherano can hold the line in front of the 3 centre backs. Stevie can resume his box-to-box midfielder role. We have Nando leading the line and Keane to provide a creative presence as well as cover should Torres get injured.

On the bench, Arbeloa can provide cover for 4 of the 5 defensive positions....... He's not good enough to cover for Agger but we could always move Carra back in the middle if required. We have Lucas & Plesis to cover for the central midfield slots in case of injuries. So by and large we're looking ok.....

Where we're a little short is in the striking department. While I've heard a lot of good things about Nemeth on here and from Gerrard's comments in .tv, I can't really comment as I've not seen him play. Perhaps he's going to be the back-up this year and is ready for the step-up? Don't know.... but we're still short 1 striker.

With this formation, I reckon we'll struggle a little defensively early on as the players get to know their new roles but once things settle down a bit, we should be right. Traditionally, 3 centre backs is a little difficult to play with but who knows..... could work well if properly set-up.

If Barry is our last target, the formation still holds as likely Xabi will make way. Still think that we should get a proper winger/wingback for the right side though. If nothing else, it'll give us the flexibility to move back to a 4-5-1 (or 4-2-3-1 whatever you want to call it) as well as going for the classic 4-4-2 at times.

So if we're skint, another striker and right winger is required and cover for the centre-backs is required methinks. If we get another long term injury to one of the CBs, Sammi is unlikely to be able to handle the role on a continuous basis.

If a 4-4-2 is planned, we're short of 1 left winger on top of the list above.

NOTE: I've left out Babel from the equation as I really don't think he has what it takes to be anything more than a bit part player in our team (I pray I'm wrong coz he cost us a lot)..... He's not smart enough and doesn't have the cojones.

[Owzat]

I wouldn't touch injury prone players, you need players who are reliable. Exception I might make is an Owen, top quality and able to make a difference. Woodgate is ok as CB, I wouldn't rate him top two in Premiership or England candidates. I wouldn't touch Ashton with a bargepole, likely to be another Bellamy/Crouch type signing, does much better for smaller clubs. Besides, haven't we already learned from gambling with lower quality, why sign a barely England international quality? He's another in the line of players who find it easy in the Premiership and look like a fish out of water in an England shirt.

I'm losing interest in signing anyone with the ongoing chase for overpriced English player(s), I'd almost rather say "that's it, what we have will have to do" and get on with it. I believe the mancs show the rest the way by making few changes, that's how they won the Premiership for the first time in three years and then retained it. Makes you wonder if the first three or four signings this season were all the best moves