Liverpool FC Forum

by **dawson99** » Mon Mar 13, 2006 11:09 am

Dalglish. stats dont lie. they cant, they are stats. all some of us are saying is that it makes sense to say that he scores goals and the others dont in the past, so logically in the future he would score goals as well. even u have to admit him not being even on the bench is not a football desicion but some knid of bizarre personal one.

by **bigmick** » Mon Mar 13, 2006 11:24 am

Lets be brutally honest here, none of our strikers in their current form are good enough. Obviously though, we are stuck with all of 'em until the end of the season so it's about eeking out as many results as possible from our plainly fatigued ranks between now and then.
We need to first ensure we finish in the top three, (I think second may be beyond us TBH) and then give the FA Cup our best shot. As long as we can achieve the former and come somewhere near the latter, then it's fair to say we have made big progress.

The question is, which strikers give us the best chance of achieving that? Those who have read any of my posts over the last few months won't be surprised when I say that I wouldn't consider Morientes for any role whatsoever except for maybe a last minute sub to waste some time. He is a shadow of the player we thought we were signing and is best kept in cotton wool in the probably forlorn hope that he may do something in the World Cup and add a bit to his significantly decreased value.
Crouch's form and confidence are at about the lowest ebb since he joined us I think and he could do with a spellon his erse to consider things.
Fowler has shown that if anything his awareness has increased since he left us, but his pace has lessened even further than we probably feared. I think though it's time to utilize Fowler not as the out and out goal threat, but as the Teddy Sheringham/Dennis Bergkamp type who plays just behind the front man. His subtlety of movement and intelligence would make him hard to mark if he played in the hole, and his little nudges and slides could just put a striker in.
Cisse is rubbish lets be honest. However he is unique amongst our strikers in that he can run twenty yards in less than ten seconds. Pace isn't everything, but it is something which instantly places him ahead of Morientes. It also on current form places him ahead of Crouch. I've said it for a bit now, lets try Cisse wandering about uptop with that manic frown on his chops, with Fowler floating around in the hole trying to get the Frenchman to run in a sensible direction occasionally. We aren't going to change Cisse or make him a good player, but my honest feeling is that he will nick us a goal or two.
The good thing also about Cisse's goals which stats will never tell you is that they invariably come out of absolutely nothing and provide a certain shock value to the opposition. Obviously the reason for this is that he doesn't posess enough intelligence to participate in general team play but whatever, it still stuns the feckers (and us if we're honest) when he scores a goal.

by **Judge** » Mon Mar 13, 2006 1:46 pm

bigmick wrote:Lets be brutally honest here, none of our strikers in their current form are good enough. Obviously though, we are stuck with all of 'em until the end of the season

not if i shoot them with a big gun (apart from fowler), then we can apply to the FA for emergency purchasing of a few quality strike partners for robbie

by **Theo@home** » Mon Mar 13, 2006 10:49 pm

bigmick wrote:Cisse is rubbish lets be honest.

Have to disagree with you ther Bigmick. As part of my stats finding exercise, I revisited some of the compilation videos of Cisse and Nando. There is no doubt in my mind that both these players can definately score goals. Cisse has actually got quite a few crackers in his portfolio including for France.

IMO its all about attitude and confidence at the moment. It's Rafa's job to nurture (or man manage) the players to ensure that they are performing in this area. If that entails getting in a specialist sports psychologist then so be it. Rafa seems willing to bend over backwards to help Nando yet insists on playing Cisse on the wing if at all. If Rafa thinks he's good enough to play on the wing why not in the middle?

Your argument about Henry performing on the wing is slightly misleading. Henry tends to drift to the left as we saw on the weekend allowing him the space to cut in and strike with his right boot and scoring his trademark goal that curls around the keeper and sneaks in at the far post. I seem to remember Cisse doing exactly that at Everton! Neither of them like it on the right IMO. Remember that Cisse claims to model himself after Henry and although he is far from having the natural ability of Henry his play when he is on form and allowed to play his natural game certainly does resemble Henry's in some cases. My argument is that Cisse has not been allowed to do this by Rafa because Nando and Crouch have always had precedence. Although I respected Cisse and his comeback from injury I too thought his petulance and arm waving was a sign of poor attitude and committment. After studying the stats and examining his compilations again, I can only conclude that Rafa has an issue with him that we dont know about. Now though, its time for Rafa to stop being stubborn and swallow his pride (if thats the case) for the sake of team and give Cisse and Fowler/Crouch an extended run up front in a 4-4-2 formation. If Cisse plays the remaining games as CF and doesn't score at least 3 or 4 I'll eat my hat.

Theres no way I'd make that bet about Nando and Crouch though.

by **Cool Hand Luke** » Mon Mar 13, 2006 10:53 pm

If stats are all or what mostly count, does that mean Claude Makelele is absolute garbage?

by **bigmick** » Mon Mar 13, 2006 10:55 pm

Theo@home wrote:Your argument about Henry performing on the wing is slightly misleading.

Theo love your posts mate and broadly agree with you on Cisse's ability to score a gola or two. Just one small point though, I never mentioned Henri playing on the wing. I think I just stated the obvious in that if we had him or one or two other obvious choices, we would be a serious team.
Agree with you though, we should definately give him a go. My personal opinion is that he would go best with fowler.

by **Theo@home** » Mon Mar 13, 2006 11:00 pm

Sorry bigmick, my apologies - it was indeed Dalglish that brought up Henry's ability on the wing.

by **65-1140560321** » Tue Mar 14, 2006 1:10 am

The Stats in the Original post are a load of Baloney.

it does NOT take into account:

1. For a lot of Cisse's appearences he has been on the wing.
2. Of Fowlers Appearences how many in the last 20 mins of a match! he's only played one full game hasnt he?

etc etc.

silly post

by **Alanay** » Tue Mar 14, 2006 3:23 am

This Cisse thing, I don't know why he just cannot drift like Henry. I think Henry spend most of his time wide on the left and use his pace to his advantage. His 1st. goal last weekend is always his trade mark / signature. But he can repeat that move again and again. It seems to me that Cisse's left leg is not usable at all.... too bad...

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