Tougher challenge

Liverpool Football Club - General Discussion

Postby A.B. » Wed Sep 29, 2004 9:51 pm

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[*]Well now we are the only English club that have not gotten a point in matchday two of the Champions League. Chelsea beat Porto 3-1 and now we have to face them on Sunday.

It will be interesting on what kind of game plan Benitez will come up with. Will he go with the 4-5-1 formation as always when we play away or 4-4-2? Will he have Cisse and Baros up front from the get go or will he bench Cisse and have Garcia and Baros in front?

Rafael Benitez vs. Jose Mourinho
UEFA Cup Manager vs. Champions League Manager
Tactician vs. Tactican
Liverpool vs. Chelsea


Jerzy Dudek isn't horrible but he really shouldn't start against Chelsea. This is the time when we use Christopher Kirkland. I think he has waited long enough for his start of the season. Even in the pre-season in America Kirkland was better than Dudek and I think it is important that we have a good keeper against the likes of the Blues.

If Hyypia wants to be a leader of this team he needs to step-up once again like he did when he was captain before Gerrard. Finnan shouldn't be played against big clubs, and this is the time to bench him.

Harry Kewell doesn't deserve a start. To me he doesn't want to be here, it seems that he doesn't really care whether we win or lose. Considering that Duff will start for Chelsea, we can't afford to play Kewell.

Cisse will have to stop being offside, it is very irritating. It will take him to settle here but his the 2nd ranked player with the most offsides in the Champions League as of now [7 total].

This has to be the day for Alonso to shine, not just against Norwich but against big and tough opponents.

I don't know what to expect, it's up to the players whether they are really eager to bounce back. Super Stevie isn't here to rescue us, time to do this on our own.
Last edited by A.B. on Wed Sep 29, 2004 9:53 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Postby taff » Wed Sep 29, 2004 11:15 pm

Id go Cisse and Garcia and hope Garcia drags their midfield back as were still away and the onus will be on Chelsea to attack us so Hamman needs a good game sitting in front of the back four.

Finnan is the only option we have on the right flank to be honest but at least it will be defended.

We have to look at the rest of the midfield to push the game forward

I reckon the key here is Garcia and link those gaps between midfield and attack
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Postby Paul C » Thu Sep 30, 2004 12:17 am

I agree with what everone says, the team needs to put good prerformances in aginast the 'big teams' before we start getting carried away with promissing games against Man City, West Brom and Norwich :;):
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Postby A.B. » Thu Sep 30, 2004 12:30 am

taff wrote:Id go Cisse and Garcia and hope Garcia drags their midfield back as were still away and the onus will be on Chelsea to attack us so Hamman needs a good game sitting in front of the back four.

Finnan is the only option we have on the right flank to be honest but at least it will be defended.

We have to look at the rest of the midfield to push the game forward

I reckon the key here is Garcia and link those gaps between midfield and attack

I do believe that Warnock should play, he's not ready for European football but he can play in the Premiership. Thats just my opinion though.
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Postby Live4pool » Thu Sep 30, 2004 1:24 am

Benitez is frustrated with his team and said that it's all down to mental (mentality) problems which affects confidence. He felt that the players are not reacting to changes fast enough. Actually it's hard to teach old dogs new tricks. Expect more old mongrels to make way for new pedigrees soon.

It is well-documented that Benitez prefers 4-4-1-1 for away fixtures. No prize for guessing but I suspect he will play safe and go for :

Dudek
Josemi,Carragahar,Hyppia,Riise
Finnan,Hamman,Alonso,Warnock
Gracia
Cisse

Chelsea has a problem breaking down packed defences as can be seen from their recent EPL matches.

Our game plan is to leave Cisse as the lone striker with Gracia
roving in the middle half. We will hit on the counter attack with Finnan and Warnock ready to support the 2 front-liners.
Otherwise we just sit and frustrate Mourinho's mercenaries.

We have seen enough of "ugly" losses, for once let's go for an "ugly" win.

Realistically, a draw will be an achievement, a 0-1 will be a huge bonus.
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Postby LFC #1 » Thu Sep 30, 2004 1:27 am

Chelsea are starting to play well, but that doesn't mean we can't beat them , after all we did last year. :)

A point would be a good result though, and a win brilliant.

It's a shame Gerrard isn't playing, it would be great if he scored the winner. :D
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Postby A.B. » Thu Sep 30, 2004 1:36 am

It is well-documented that Benitez prefers 4-4-1-1 for away fixtures. No prize for guessing but I suspect he will play safe and go for :

Dudek
Josemi,Carragahar,Hyppia,Riise
Finnan,Hamman,Alonso,Warnock
Gracia
Cisse

Chelsea has a problem breaking down packed defences as can be seen from their recent EPL matches.

Our game plan is to leave Cisse as the lone striker with Gracia
roving in the middle half. We will hit on the counter attack with Finnan and Warnock ready to support the 2 front-liners.
Otherwise we just sit and frustrate Mourinho's mercenaries.

We have seen enough of "ugly" losses, for once let's go for an "ugly" win.



Thats not a good game plan, its the same as always when we play away. And every time it has backfired, all it has made us do is defend all game. Something that you can't do in the Premiership, you have to balance out attacking and defending.

I don't like Garcia-Cisse partnership, I rather see Baros-Cisse upfront and Garcia in the midfield because in my opinion we play better like that.



after all we did last year.


Here's the thing mate, Chelsea have a whole different squad.
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Postby Live4pool » Thu Sep 30, 2004 2:03 am

AB, in the games against Manure and Olympiakos, were we playing in a defensive or attacking mode ?

As far as I can see, neither. The players were confused. If it was an attacking formation, they weren't going any where. If it was defensive, it was apalling. Benitez is frustrated because our players were not able to adapt to the oppositions' play.

That's way our players must be told distinctively to play defensive with a defensive formation. Sadly, each player must be instructed what to do. It will be an ugly game, though.
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Postby A.B. » Thu Sep 30, 2004 2:44 am

If we play like we played against Manchester United and Olympiakos, we will lose again.
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Postby whylongball? » Thu Sep 30, 2004 5:59 am

agree with AB, its abt balancing the defence and the attack. I'd go for 4-4-2 with Cisse and Baros upfront. Two central defensive midfielder should be sufficient.
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Postby flombs » Thu Sep 30, 2004 6:30 am

hi all,

i agree with most here that we need to play with two strikers namely cisse and baros, for more attacking options and to start to get them to gel together, they never will learn to play if they dont together. playing one lone striker and then bringing on the other when we are down i do not think is the best idea. the other thing is we need a new right midfield with some more flair, i like finnan but not suited, the other thing is we deffo need some new backs (hopefully in january) who can build up the play and defend with some grit!

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Postby Live4pool » Thu Sep 30, 2004 8:32 am

whylongball? wrote:agree with AB, its abt balancing the defence and the attack. I'd go for 4-4-2 with Cisse and Baros upfront. Two central defensive midfielder should be sufficient.

Yes, it is ideal - text book stuff.

But against Chelsea, whatever the formation with 2 strikers or 1+1, we must play defensive and counter-attack only when we have the opportunities.

Honestly, I hate negativity but while the ability may be there, our players currently don't have that confidence to be that creative away from home and against a technically superior team like Chelsea.

Chelsea may be hot in europe, I suspect that they will still be spluttering against defensive teams in the EPL.

It will be interesting to see how Benitez respond to this.
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Postby azriahmad » Thu Sep 30, 2004 12:16 pm

I hate to point out this, but Chelsea has the best defensive record in the Prem so far and Maurinho's team play defensively like Houllier's but the difference is that their game is effective with the defense being more coherent than ours is.

I don't have much hope and if we get a draw, it can be considered as a good result.
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Postby taff » Thu Sep 30, 2004 12:43 pm

I dont agree the game will be won or lost in midfield and Cisse and Baros together is not the answer

Our main threat will be to link midfield to attack via Garcia
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Postby Redrider » Thu Sep 30, 2004 1:08 pm

Can't see a way out of this one. Rafa, might play the same side that started Olympiacos but swap Warnock for Diao to help protect our left flank.

Moral will be about 1/2 inch off the dressing room floor, if the attitude was bad on Tuesday it will be worse by Sunday. :(
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