Liverpool FC Forum

by **GLB1** » Wed May 17, 2006 1:17 pm

Isn't Riquelme a central midfielder ? Just wat we need for the right wing.

by **Bad Bob** » Wed May 17, 2006 4:44 pm

0asis wrote:
Imkhawx wrote:Momo's gonna be a gem for us...... I am however a little worried bout how he'll fit into the team on a regular basis once we get ourselves a proper right winger..... he's probably 3rd choice central midfielder for us and opportunities will be fewer in the coming season once we have the right side sorted out... at his age, he's gonna need games to hone the skills he already possesses well and to work on his passing.... If we continue to play a conventional 4-4-2, likely he'll miss out...... If we decide only to play 1 upfront, then more opportunities will come....

Damn, gave myself a headache just thinking bout this...... The gaffer'll figure it out...... Doesn't stop me worrying though....

Rafa will more than likely use squad rotation for that position. But the centre mid partnership does look likely to be Alonso & Gerrard, leaving Didi Hamann and Momo Sissoko on the bench.

Sissoko will spend very little time on the bench next season...the lad's too vital to the side. End of.

by **bigmick** » Wed May 17, 2006 4:56 pm

Bad Bob wrote:Sissoko will spend very little time on the bench next season...the lad's too vital to the side. End of.

Absolutely right. He must be currently one of the first names on the team-sheet and is the absolute opposite of what I said about Garcia on another thread. Whereas Garcia makes an impact despite being unsuited to the Prem because of his physical shortcomings by virtue of his extreme technical ability and flair, Momo makes a massive impact despite his technical shortcomings precisely because the man is absolutely made for the Premiership.
As first seasons in the English top division go, I am at a loss to remember anybody who has improved to quite such a dramatic extent so quickly. He'll be on the bench only when suspended in my opinion.

by **alessandromagno** » Wed May 17, 2006 5:00 pm

Rafa certainly knew what he was doing when he brought this gem to Liverpool.

by **s.ward** » Wed May 17, 2006 5:09 pm

alessandromagno wrote:Rafa certainly knew what he was doing when he brought this gem to Liverpool.

Hes 22 and he's already 1 of the best defensive midfields in england
thats good :nod

by **48-1119859832** » Thu May 18, 2006 8:29 am

Bad Bob wrote:Sissoko will spend very little time on the bench next season...the lad's too vital to the side. End of.

Well it depends on what formation we use doesn't it? Because we can play a 4-5-1 with Gerrard, Alonso and Sissoko all in central midfield. If we sign a right winger, then Gerrard will go back to centre midfield, therefore if we play a 4-4-2 then it's more than like Alonso and Gerrard will start.

I still think it will be a squad rotation system used in centre of midfield because we still have Didi Hamann as well and he can still hack at it at the top level.

We could play Gerrard behind the main striker but A) I doubt that's Gerrard strongest position B) If we do sign two new strikers we will have four. (As Cisse, Morientes, Pongolle and LeTallec all look set for the chop). Therefore only playing one striker up top will create problems with the new signings and indeed Fowler and Crouch also.

But I agree Sissoko will play, just maybe not as much as he did this season but I agree he is a vital member of our set up, but you just don't know what's gonna happen so it's no "End.Of"

Benitez will have problems if he does sign two new strikers and a right winger. Squad Rotation will have to be used on a more frequent basis. Especially in Midfield....End. Of! :laugh:

by **Bad Bob** » Thu May 18, 2006 3:07 pm

0asis wrote:
Bad Bob wrote:Sissoko will spend very little time on the bench next season...the lad's too vital to the side. End of.

Well it depends on what formation we use doesn't it? Because we can play a 4-5-1 with Gerrard, Alonso and Sissoko all in central midfield. If we sign a right winger, then Gerrard will go back to centre midfield, therefore if we play a 4-4-2 then it's more than like Alonso and Gerrard will start.

I still think it will be a squad rotation system used in centre of midfield because we still have Didi Hamann as well and he can still hack at it at the top level.

We could play Gerrard behind the main striker but A) I doubt that's Gerrard strongest position B) If we do sign two new strikers we will have four. (As Cisse, Morientes, Pongolle and LeTallec all look set for the chop). Therefore only playing one striker up top will create problems with the new signings and indeed Fowler and Crouch also.

But I agree Sissoko will play, just maybe not as much as he did this season but I agree he is a vital member of our set up, but you just don't know what's gonna happen so it's no "End.Of"

Benitez will have problems if he does sign two new strikers and a right winger. Squad Rotation will have to be used on a more frequent basis. Especially in Midfield....End. Of!

Mate, beyond the evidence on the pitch that Sissoko is vital to the team, all of Rafa's comments have underscored how highly he rates the lad and how essential he sees him as being.

I'm certain that the formation will be altered a lot more next season to accommodate all 3 in central midfield. Should we, however, revert to 4-4-2 on occasion I think it will be more likely that Gerrard plays on the right than through the centre (allowing, of course, for injuries/suspensions/etc.).

As for unsettling our strikers by playing 4-5-1...they'll just have to get over it--the team comes first. Our opponents do it all the time and, while I don't expect that the likes of Crespo, RVN, Saha, Jose Antonio Reyes, Bergkamp or Van Persie love spending so much time on the bench, most of them are quite professional about it, as I would expect our forwards to be.

by **48-1119859832** » Thu May 18, 2006 4:14 pm

Bad Bob,

You are very much correct with your statement. Benitez and anyone connected with Liverpool knows how much Sissoko means to the team. When he's not played we haven't done very well e.g Benfica and Arsenal and it's no coincidence that when he returned we thumped Birmingham 7-0, so he does bring a balance to the team and he does help us massively which is quite remarkable in his debut season and for someone to be so young. A traversty is the fact Rooney was named PFA young player of the year and not Sissoko.

It's all well and good altering a team to accomodate everyone in the squad but you run a big risk of disrupting the flow of the team by changing it every two games etc. Especially if you bring new players in as well and keep chopping and changing. Chopping and changing is largely blamed for Liverpool's inconsistent performances and results under Ged.

Yeah I know, footballers are supposed to be professionals but when a player doesn't get a long haul playing on the pitch they will become unsettled and unhappy. Every player has their own ambitions e.g representing their countries in a major tournement or just genuinely want to play for the team on the pitch and they are averaging 30 appearances a season and 10 of those are coming on in the last twenty minutes of the match, they aren't going to be happy and you can see with the likes of SWP & Defoe that sitting on the bench is costly. It's cost them an inclusion into England's 23 man World Cup squad.

And no matter how much squad rotation you do; there will be some players who do not get a regular look in. So that creates a dilema in itself. This is going to be a big problem for Benitez and any top club manager, because top class players want to be playing every game and if we sign someone like Bellamy who has a short fuse an outburst of some sort could have crippling affects on team morale and team chemistry.

But Rafa is not a stupid man, I'm sure he'll realise the pros & cons of squad rotation and will be able to handle it.

by **007** » Thu May 18, 2006 4:21 pm

He is definitely a very good player but he can improve more on his passing, shooting and positioning.

If he can achieve that, Liverpool will have a hell of a player...

by **48-1119859832** » Thu May 18, 2006 10:33 pm

Sissoko does need to work on his passing but not on his positioning or his shooting. He is everywhere and anywhere on the pitch, breaking up opposition play. His shooting is also good, I read somewhere that he was orginally a striker in the Auxerre youth team and he scored 50 odd goals in 70 odd appearances before Benitez and Paco shaped him into a hard tackling centre midfielder.

So who knows maybe if he gets a chance to have a pop at goal he'll take it and score.

by **Cool Hand Luke** » Thu May 18, 2006 10:39 pm

Sissoko’s shooting is awful, anyone who can say, “his shooting is good”, is completely brain dead.

You need help mate.

by **48-1119859832** » Thu May 18, 2006 10:41 pm

I think you need to shut the :censored:

up.

by **Bad Bob** » Thu May 18, 2006 10:46 pm

Cool Hand Luke wrote:Sissoko’s shooting is awful, anyone who can say, “his shooting is good”, is completely brain dead.

You need help mate.

Yes, I seem to recall him missing a couple of gilt-edged chances in front of goal this season. The Charlton game at Anfield comes to mind for some reason but if someone remembers definitively, I'd love to hear the details.

Oh, and I sense an Oasis trip down nonsense lane coming on. You've thrown down the gauntlet, Luke--he'll be telling us that if Sissoko was English he'd have scored more than Owen, Rooney and Shearer combined this season! :laugh:

by **48-1119859832** » Thu May 18, 2006 10:51 pm

It's good to see someone with so much football knowledge like yourself ignoring my post to you earlier Bob, you should read it, maybe you pick out a few weak links in my post. :laugh:

by **Bad Bob** » Thu May 18, 2006 10:52 pm

0asis wrote:Sissoko does need to work on his passing but not on his positioning or his shooting. He is everywhere and anywhere on the pitch, breaking up opposition play. His shooting is also good, I read somewhere that he was orginally a striker in the Auxerre youth team and he scored 50 odd goals in 70 odd appearances before Benitez and Paco shaped him into a hard tackling centre midfielder.

So who knows maybe if he gets a chance to have a pop at goal he'll take it and score.

I somehow doubt he scored 50 goals in 70 appearances...even in a youth side!

For the record, in his last two seasons with Valencia, he's scored exactly 2 goals--1 per season--in all competitions. Hardly prolific but that's not what we count on him for.

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