Liverpool FC Forum

by **vlady16.1** » Tue Mar 14, 2006 3:24 am

i concurr completely with the thought that exhaustion is setting in. stevie's error on sunday is just a clear example and doesn't crouch just look knackered out there.

though it pains me it may be the time to give cisse a run of games-- we aren't scoring anyways so how much worse can he do and partner him with fowler who also is fresh

kewell hasn't played a number of game so he should be fine, maybe give anderson a run of games -- i know he isn't ready but his youth may just shake things up.

what i'm afraid of is hyppia and carra -- man sammi has played alot of games over the last 4-5 years and face it he ain't getting younger -- aggar is going to need to step up big time

rafa knows what he is doing and must be aware so something will be done

by **TheoRacle** » Tue Mar 14, 2006 3:55 am

vlady16.1 wrote:i concurr completely with the thought that exhaustion is setting in.
what i'm afraid of is hyppia and carra -- man sammi has played alot of games over the last 4-5 years and face it he ain't getting younger -- aggar is going to need to step up big time

I agree. Although our strike force is not pulling its weight at the moment, I'm more concerned with our defence. The absence or Riise and dip in form of Carra, Hyppia and Finnan (all understandable and probably due to fatigue by the way) has much more dire consequences than a couple of strikers who are struggling for form. Lets face it, there are 8 other players on the pitch who can score from set pieces or even open play and if we can keep our levels of posession up we are at least in with a good chance of a draw or a 1-0 win.

If we cant keep a watertight ship at the back our problems up front are suddenly compounded.

(note "dip in form" as it is used in relation to Finnan, Carra and Sami above is used for want of a better term as I don't think we've really seen this happen yet - more of an occaisonal 'off' game)

by **stmichael** » Tue Mar 14, 2006 4:10 pm

The defence isn't that good at keeping the ball on the ground, Jamie Carragher and Big Sami are guilty of hoofing the ball when really they should try spreading the play to Finnan or Riise. I actually like it when centre back's go on the odd run here and there, because as mentioned it opens up chances. They shouldn't however do that to often as it is very very risky. This is why i cannot wait to see Daniel Agger given more of a chance, the lad likes to keep the ball on the ground - instantly different to Carragher or Hyypia who 'hoof' the ball up to Crouch way to many times.

Our problem is we have so much possession which means that we are bound to hoof the ball abit more because the opposite team will be sitting back. The other day against Arsenal our best movements came amazingly when we kept the ball on the ground.

Gerrard has fallen into that pattern of trying to do too much, which means other players aren't doing enough (something we know). Gerrard is a big player for us though, and sometimes he is guilty of maybe doing too much. The fact is Gerrard has the passion and drive to win us games and if you can get Gerrard or Xabi on the ball they'll make things happen for us. I think some of our set pieces have been awful to say the least, most of our corners end up being cleared with ease, and sometimes our players in the box miss the chance. Its shocking.

We keep talking of the strikers, we have to accept that these are our strikers until the end of the season at least. Im a huge fan of Robbie Fowler, but can he really do the business upfront, I guess he needs more of a chance and whilst im pleased that he made a return i think it could all go tits up. Fowler however has looked the most likely to score out of our current bunch.

Peter Crouch seems to be Rafa's new pet, he'll play many games but what suprises me sometimes is how commetators act like Crouch is the best thing to happen, Crouch might be able to 'hold the ball up' but he's playing far too deep and with his back to goal all the time. Overall, it's disappointing that he has failed to score more goals than he has.

People talk of wanting a goal scorer upfront, whilst that is obvious you could argue that we want a player that brings more than just goals to the team. Also if Crouch is now regarded as first choice we need someone that can actually link up with him. The most important thing for a forward is speed of thought. Top strikers can read the game and are able to anticipate how the ball is going to arrive and see how the move is developing.

by **redmikey** » Tue Mar 14, 2006 4:46 pm

the problem is that when the long ball is held up and the midfield link up it makes for complete domination of other teams by planting you firmly in there last third.

at the moment the ball is not sticking up front and the midfield look lost for idea's because the goals aren't going in.

personally i would like to see more shots from mid field we have SG and xabi yet they seem to have very few attempts on target per game, if opponents think they are going to shot they would have to close them down quicker, at the present we are just getting the ball wide and lumping the ball in the middle, which would be fine if we had naill quinn up front but crouch is not the best in the air.

fowler would be picking up goals from deflections and rebounds because his brain is working qucker in the box that most players, and garcia has a knack of being in the right place at the right time,

all in all things need to be a bit fresher idea's wise role on fulham

by **EddieC** » Tue Mar 14, 2006 5:01 pm

Anyone else noticed the goals have completely dried up since the media kept going on about our strikers? Rafa was right before, it doesn't matter who scores as long as we're scoring. Since the press started about the strikers, a few times lately I've seen Stevie G in positions where he'd normally have a crack at it, but instead he's tried to play the ball to a striker in a cr*p position. It's in the back of his mind that the striker needs a goal cos of all the media attention on the subject. We need to ignore the press and get back to playing like we were at the start of the season. That said though, the strikers have still had plenty of chances. Bring back Mighty Michael!

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