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Liverpool Football Club Thread

glb

By glb
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V3zna

V3zna

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I'd play a false 9 in a 433 from here on in. First choice front 3 of Coutinho as the 9 and Sterling & Lallana ahead. I'd be looking to integrate / rotate Markovic and Borini in there as well. Midfield 3 is obviously any 3 from Gerrard, Henderson, Allen, Can and Lucas. Moreno at leftback, Johnson on the right with Manquillo, Flanagan and Enrique getting games here and there. Centrebacks are impossible to call. Couldn't do any worse by partnering Toure up with someone.

I'd be optimistic this would bring possession and work rate back at least. If we can get the whole team on the same wavelength that would be a start.

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Reidles

Reidles

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Going into the Real game, it makes me remember the confidence I had back in the Rafa days that the team were very difficult to beat. We would be tight, especially in Europe, and invariably nick a result. I don't pine for a return for that, but we were difficult to beat due to how little we gave away.

We were difficult to beat last season as well, but that's because of the lethal attacking mentality (and him) that we possessed. And it wasn't just Suarez, anyway: we did this with or without him in the team. Sturridge, Sterling and Phil all contributed at key moments.

I guess my point is this: while our defending is ridiculously bad, it's not what Rodger's teams are about. He plays quick, penetrating football and has had some pretty decent results with it so far. While we need to improve our defending (by a considerable margin), I am getting a little fed up with every analyst or pundit looking at that as the key problem. Right now, we need more from out creative and attacking players and, for me, this is where the real area of concern is. We haven't looked threatening since the Spurs game. Tightening up defensively won't make up for the loss of Luis's goals.

This is far from a 'oh Liverpool haven't replaced Suarez' lament, but I just feel there's more than one way to be difficult to beat and we should play to our strengths. Under Rogers that's never been a defensive efficiency, why should it be the focus now?

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hmm

hmm

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Because you can't play in the CL the way we played in the PL last season, and our defending is possibly even worse this time around. It's not like it even worked in the PL in the end! That Real Madrid team containing original Ronaldo, Zidane et al just about got away with it, for a short while, but even last season we weren't that good going forward. You have to be capable of playing it tight, closing out a game, etc., and, for everything he's done right, that's just not something BR's Liverpool teams so far have been capable of.

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Gabe

Gabe

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This is far from a 'oh Liverpool haven't replaced Suarez' lament, but I just feel there's more than one way to be difficult to beat and we should play to our strengths. Under Rogers that's never been a defensive efficiency, why should it be the focus now?

It should be the focus precisely because we aren't scoring enough and because the manager himself recognised that we needed to do something defensively, and brought players in. I've said before (during most games, in fairness) that we've lacked any real penetration up front and I agree with you that it isn't just about Suarez per se, but we haven't got any kind of goal-threat right now to mask the weakness at the back (like it did last season).

As I said above, I'm not sure Rodgers knows what his best team is at the moment, because none of the shuffling he's done is really working too well and more than that, I don't believe we can play the way we did last season, with the players we now have so he needs to think of something else.

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dogsout

dogsout

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He is trying something else, though. In almost every game we're lining up in a different way. Today he had Can and Henderson sitting, with Gerrard as #10 in a 4-2-3-1. We couldn't get it into Gerrard at all thanks to a combination of good pressure from QPR and our shambles of a defence. As soon as he flipped the midfield back we looked miles better. But I bet he still tries to fuck around with a 4-2-3-1 again within the next couple of games.

The anxiety is mounting:

- As I've said before, the fact he keeps moving Gerrard about and changing the shape to accommodate him is worrying. If you want to play 4-2-3-1 then drop Stevie or play him as a #10 against shite teams at Anfield.

- Skrtel and Johnson are terrible. At least with Johnson we have Flanagan to come back and Manquillo to fill in. Skrtel sends me into psychosis in each game because he's just such a back-foot defender. The majority of the dangerous play in/near our box came as a result of him backing off and creating gaps in our line. If Sakho doesn't go straight into the team when he's back then I can only assume he has no future at the club. Skrtel needs replacing immediately.

- I really don't share the optimism surrounding Lallana at the moment. I can see he has great technique but he's just so daft. He runs around like a lunatic when he's lost the ball, leaving gaps all over the shop and causing problem for the players behind him. He is incredibly greedy and tends to want several touches where one will do. He's been massively frustrating for me so far.

- Coutinho has to play. I know he's been in poor form of late but his use of the ball is generally excellent and he was the difference today.

- Balotelli is in shocking form. I don't even know where to begin with him. His vertical play was much better today but he's still too static on the whole. The chance where he sandwiched himself between two defenders and then looked at Sterling like he was retarded for playing the ball into the space Balotelli should have been pulling into summed it all up. I don't get what his game is supposed to be... avoid space, avoid passing if you can see the goal, avoid scoring... at all costs? I just don't get how he could be as wasteful as he's been. He's not had great service but they're going to stop passing to him soon because he just ignores every option they give him once he has it.

That is a mega moan. Sorry!

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Gabe

Gabe

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Re: Lallana, I've said many times that having to accommodate him doesn't help the shape of the team but, with that said, he has looked quite creative. That's not to deny he leaves space over the pitch, but I have convinced myself Rodgers allows that in the hope he'll do something positive. He's hardly alone in being greedy, though.

I should point out that I never really understood why we bought him in the first place, but I do think he's been ok so far.

Skrtel: well, I've said for ages he shouldn't be starting games but there you go. Do you think Sakho will play, dogsout? Even when fit he's been reluctant to pair him with Lovren.

Balotelli is the embodiment of a player with real talent, but just completely the wrong mental attributes. I can't remember if I said it in here, but I was remarking to a colleague at work that he is a modern-day Stan Collymore (and I said this before we bought him and nothing has changed since.) He's been so poor in all areas. I guess the hope was that as he was a bit older, the realisation that a footballer's career is quite short would mean that he'd really knuckle-down and apply himself, really work his socks off to make his mark on the game, but it's not happening. He just looks so uninterested at everything going on around him. Perhaps a couple of goals will kick-start things, I just don't know. Regardless, we need a striker in January.

I have no idea how we fix shore up the defence though, because it's more than just Skrtel being not fit for purpose.

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Chewylegs

Chewylegs

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What a shower of shit we were yesterday. The defence Is more comical now than it was last season, but it's ridiculous to see Skrtrl chase the ball around like a school boy while Lovren looks like a player so far out of his depth it's untrue. Enrique = a complete waste of space now.

The defensive coach needs sacking, that might be a start!

People say we over achieved last season, blah blah blah, but we didn't over achieve to the point that we should now look as bad as QPR, or get beat comprehensively by Villa.

BR needs to sort this out quick, his OTT expansive style of play is torturing our defence, if it was Real Madrid yesterday we could easily have been beaten by 6 or 7 goals

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SMD

SMD

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So many of our problems are simply as a result of a lack of chemistry in the squad that it doesn't bother me at all. We don't have a settled back line and our forwards are either new or unused to the midfield we have now.

Lallana, Markovic and Balotelli will benefit immensely from training and playing regularly, which is all you can really do with Suarez gone and Sturridge injured.

Hopefully Valdes coming in will bring some leadership and we can stop pissing about trying to find a six in front of the keeper to mask our frailties.

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SMD

SMD

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Allegedly should be next month but even so, yesterday was the first time in ages that four out of the five from last season's squad played together. And arguably it's not our best defence on paper.

We always do terribly when we have big changes at the back and we haven't had a settled defence since Sami retired.

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Kelthink

Kelthink

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I was saying to my dad yesterday that losing Agger is the biggest concern (outside of Mig). Like I wonder if the defenders ramped up their game when Agger was going to return from another injury to assure their starting place for a partnership. Now there's no pressure there's an even larger lack of concentration at the back and it's frightening.

As we're inevitably going to play Gerrard in every non-League Cup game, I'm starting to think he should be centre-back at this point, 'cos at least he'd be assured in his distribution and commitment.

Mario is a mistake, frankly. He's so off everyone else's wavelength it's unfunny. Yesterday he seemed to believe that the pitch was twice as big as it was. He absolutely doesn't fit the team. I want him to come good but it's not happening at this rate.

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V3zna

V3zna

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This feels like Hodgson again. Clueless team, poorly set up that plays as if it doesn't care. There's enough talent in that squad to be competing for the spots behind Chelsea and City. We where warned, and it's blatantly obvious, team harmony has evaporated.

To be so comprehensively outplayed by the worst team in the league is incredible to see.

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rjpageuk

rjpageuk

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The over-reaction in this thread is pretty ridiculous, I remember similar comments last season when we lost 3-1 to Hull. Remember what happened after that?

We are only 8 league games into the season, we got so many new players in to the team they are obviously going to take time to be settled.

Of course the performance was disappointing but we got 3 points out of it! It seems like some of you guys would rather we lost.

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Adrock

Adrock

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The retelling of the Hodgson era is very wide of the mark.

That team had Paul Konchesky in it and a manager who's instruction to the defence was to get rid at all costs.

Rodgers is battling at the moment with lots of new players and trying to find the system to play them in. At the beginning of the season the team was made up of 4 defenders and only one could be expected to speak good English. Communication must be horrendous at times and that is certainly something that needs time to fix.

Whilst I'm not convinced by Balotelli at all I reckon the rest of the squad needs time. Some pretty major changes have occurred, so let's be patient.

Also, the club have lost Sturridge to yet another injury. His fitness would make a big difference.

Real Madrid is going to be a car crash, can't expect much from the first season back in the tournament though

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V3zna

V3zna

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Why obviously?

Exactly. Considering a lot of our signings came from either within the Premier League or have experience of the league then I don't see why they need time to settle.

There is absolutely no excuse for some of the utter trash we have endured this season.

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rjpageuk

rjpageuk

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It is just such a knee-jerk reaction to a couple of bad performances.

Liverpool havent looked great so far this season and are still 5th. We are three points down on our equivalent results last season I think despite having our key goal scorer injured for a chunk of the season. Both Arsenal and Man U are more points down on their equivalent games last season. We are still very much on for a top four finish based on our results so far which surely everyone here would class as a success for this season.

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Adrock

Adrock

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Exactly. Considering a lot of our signings came from either within the Premier League or have experience of the league then I don't see why they need time to settle.

There is absolutely no excuse for some of the utter trash we have endured this season.

A lot of signings? As in Lambert, Lallana and Lovren? One of those has been brought in as a sub too. The other a bad injury keeping him out for the first month of the season and pre-season.

Can, Manquillo, Markovic, Moreno and Balotelli have all come in from foreign football. Sakho's lack of English doesn't help either.

The overreaction in this thread is nearly as bad as 5live and talksport phone ins.

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  • glb changed the title to Liverpool Football Club Thread

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