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Posted:
Sun Aug 05, 2007 3:42 pm
by scoby
I'm beginning to think that Rafa's idea of the evolution of the attacking style and shape of the team might be rather less concerned with width than many fans are.
He's spent approximately £20m on a class striker who thrives on balls into feet, or spinning onto little through balls and one-twos around the area. The two supposed 'wide' signings are actually one player who is better suited to playing behind the striker(s) and another who thinks he is a striker. While Benayoun can play from a wide position, he's clearly going to cut inside and look to thread clever little balls rather than get to the byline and throw crosses in. Babel doesn't immediately look to have the off-the-ball movement of a top striker, he could be best picking the ball up centrally and running at defenders rather than out wide. Kuyt is somewhere between the two of them, and Voronin also looks well suited to clever link up play.
From what I've seen from Torres so far, he seems to have a 'weakness' - or at least an area of his game less noticeably strong than others. He doesn't attack crosses. His movement when receiving the ball to feet, or getting onto the end of a clever pass, is excellent. When the ball is out wide and about to be crossed, he seems unsure of his position and remains static, rather than positively gambling and attacking the ball. Last week against Portsmouth, Pennant cut inside a lot, looking to play (and succeeding several times) delicate through balls. Kewell, even if fit, is not going to be the speedy silky winger of his Leeds' youth, but still has the brains and ability to attack the corner of the box rather than get to the byline.
I think we might be better built for a variety of attacking options, with the wingers and crosses no longer our primary method of attack, but just another option. Perhaps against a side with weaker fullbacks, we'll focus a little more on the flanks. Against a side with less mobility in the centre, we may focus on patient possession, one-twos and the guile of someone like Benayoun. It could explain the lack of expenditure on a big-name winger many fans expected/hoped for; it could also explain the strength in depth in central midfield areas. Using Gerrard/Aurelio/Riise in the wide positions would fit the system better with less change in style from game to game, as the midfield can play narrower (much narrower on occasion, if needed) and focuses more frequently on the area around the edge of the box rather than down the sides of it.
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Posted:
Mon Aug 06, 2007 1:49 pm
by stmichael
The fact about that article is that there are probably some valid points that have been raised about us as a team challenging for the title...but this is Paul Doyle, who - if you've ever read him in the Guardian previously or heard him on their podcasts - obviously has some agenda against Liverpool; whether that's the football team or the city as a whole, that can be debated either way.
So let someone like Henry Winter make the same points in a more constructive way, and - even though I might not agree with them - I'll willingly accept a well written and reasonably argued article about Liverpool's deficiencies than some rant from that tit from the Guardian. Doyle is incapable of such intellectual writings.
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Posted:
Tue Aug 07, 2007 3:09 am
by The Manhattan Project
He's right about the fact that when playing legbreakers like Everscum, we lack that steel that we need. Flair and style isn't going to get it done against teams like that. Sometimes we are also a little too cautious and settle for a draw when we need to be pressing for the win. At home, we destroy everyone. Away we are wet blankets.