Liverpool FC Forum

dawson99 wrote:yeah because most of the anti-alonsos wont post in here.

I hope you're wrong about this, Daws--we want the fullest possible spectrum of views in here.  The cry goes out frequently for Rafa to play his best 11 and I think it's time for people to put their cards on the table on just what they mean by that.  If we all more or less agreed I'd be very surprised so I'm curious to see in what areas of the pitch there's a consensus and in what areas there's a diversity of views.  Who knows, it might get us closer to a middle ground on the rotation issue by identifying the perceived untouchables vs. the perceived rotatables! 

LittleHobo wrote:mascherano is probaly best in a midfield 3 as he is best winning the ball and passing it 5 yards

in a midfield 2 he has responsability to create and do something other than pass 5 yards

actually i would like to see 4-5-1 system again, playing gerrard in the aimar role, valencia style

................................Reina......................................

finnan.........carra.......................agger...............riise


....................alonso........................Mascherano


..................................Gerrard............................


Pennant..........................................................Benayoun



................................Torres..................................


wingers pushing quite far up field and gerrard as high up the pitch attacking mid

Smeg wrote:Alvaro Arbeloa: Good squad player who can fill in anywhere across the back four. Under no circumstances though should he be a first choice. He lacks the ability on the ball and lacks the intelligence to overlap. One of my main critisism's of Finnan in comparrison to Babbel was that Babbel used to fly, up and down the wing, Finnan doesn't do it enough, Arbeloa even less so. For more proof, watch the Birmingham game were we actually missed Finnan's overlaps, he overlapped Pennant once because Pennant screamed at him to do so. Still, fine where he is as a backup full back.

John Arne Riise: People bang on about his long balls and say he can't defend. Rubbish, he can defend. Ok he's no Maldini or even Finnan, but he's solid enough, can win a header, put a tackle in and generally does a decent job. He's also capable of scoring a goal and overlapping should the player infront of him actually have any quality. He clearly players ALOT better when Harry Kewell is infront of him. He's a useful squad player at worst due to his versatility.

Jamie Carragher: Heart and soul, defends like a man possessed. Awful on the ball, always has been... will never be the quickest but he gives Liverpool what they need and wouldn't swap him for anyone.

Daniel Agger: Good player who's strengths aren't defending. Yes he's very competetant at the back but he's not a great centre back for me. He isn't the quickest, is weak in the in air and really struggles against strikers with physical presence. Alot of teams tend to play one upfront these days which allows him to get away with it, I think once they cotton onto that he'll be on borrowed time in Liverpool's first team, unless of course the rest of the team becomes that good it doesn't really matter.

Sami Hyypia: Still for me a better player than Agger and by quite a distance. People often accuse Sami of aimless hoofs, from what I've seen of him over the years I disagree, he tends to hoof when the midfield don't show for the ball. Alonso, takes the ball of Hyypia alot from the defence and I firmly believe that not having a natural left winger and Alonso not in the side often leaves Sami short of options other than to hoof the ball. At the end of the day, he's still the strongest and most arially dominant centre half we have, by some distance.

Jermaine Pennant: His form's been good. His crossings excellent and he's causing the opposition problems when he plays. He links up well with Finnan and he basically gives us width and more or less exactly what I thought he would. People may say he doesn't score enough, they're correct. He doesn't, not something that will ever change, I'd be suprised if he scores more than 5 in a season, but he gives us things that alot of other players don't. For me definately worth his place in the starting line up despite his lack of ability to put the ball in the net.




Babel: I'm sorry but not an £11,500,000 player. Pacey, fairly strong... thats about it. Awful signing.






Momo Sissoko: A good fourth choice midfielder. The Momo machine hasn't always been at his best the last two seasons, some rediculous statements like he'll become world class, he's the new Vieira and all haven't really helped as the expectation on him was to high. However, he's still good at what he does (even though he had a mare against Marseille) and will be a useful player over the coming seasons.


Dirk Kuyt: The workhorse. Good player, good alround, links play quite well and finds space well and never stops running. Not the best player in the world but can do a job and a player I'd be happy to see as a third choice striker.

Crouch: Not good enough, never has been, misses to many chances, doesn't win the headers he should, lacks strength and mobility. Crouch is nothing more than a decent player who came in to replace four players and give us the style of player we needed at the time. Thanks for the contribution, time to move on.

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