Liverpool FC Forum

[maypaxvobiscum]

i've been thinking about the left back situation lately and i reckon the one player whom we should go for is Maynor Figueroa. he may be 28 but its ok because by the time he is 31 or 32, it will give Robinson enough time to develop and claim that position. it makes sense to have him here and he is a really good player as well.

[Raoul]

i've been thinking about the left back situation lately and i reckon the one player whom we should go for is Maynor Figueroa. he may be 28 but its ok because by the time he is 31 or 32, it will give Robinson enough time to develop and claim that position. it makes sense to have him here and he is a really good player as well.

I like FSG's focus on youth development, and purchasing players who we've got a good chance of making our money back on if/when we sell them. It is smart business. In saying that, I think breaking that principle makes sense in cases like these. If he is someone Robinson will be able to learn from then why not?

[desmdlow]

I think we need a good offensive lb and an understudy for Carra.. I wish to see Enrique at our left back.. We may even end up with 2 wb formation.. Enrique on the left & Johnson on the Right with Carra, Skrtel & Agger at the heart of def. That is if we still lag width.

[maguskwt]

I'm not as worried as reviously regarding our defender situation... we got Kelly, Flanagan and Wilson now... I'm especially impressed with Martin Kelly. I would actually play Kelly as RB and Johnson as LB. Strange as it may sound Johnson seem to be better at LB than as RB.

And Yes agree on the fact that we need another class CB... would take a look at one of Dortmund's defenders... but doubt they will come here... Agger is frail and Skrtel should be more of a backup than first choice...

[stmichael]

I think it's fair to say that this is now the main area that still needs addressing. I still expect Enrique to happen (although how close to the deadline is anyone's guess), and I still think we'll see a centre half come in aswell.

[The Good Yank]

I'm Trying to make some sense of what has been going on across the back.  Could it be possible that the defenders have been told to not put in tough challenges in the pre-season?  More than a few of the goals we've been letting seem to be given up on shots that our defenders have allowed to be taken when they have been in the position to close down and put in a challenge. 

The same can be said for fullbacks not doing enough to stop crosses coming in.  It almost seems as if they are nearly there to stop dangerous crosses, and with a little more effort they could stop them.

[7_Kewell]

I think it's fair to say that this is now the main area that still needs addressing. I still expect Enrique to happen (although how close to the deadline is anyone's guess), and I still think we'll see a centre half come in aswell.

Enrique would be a great signing and solve our left back problem overnight.

[Lando_Griffin]

Out of interest, where is Aurelio these days?

[alwayslfc]

I'm Trying to make some sense of what has been going on across the back.  Could it be possible that the defenders have been told to not put in tough challenges in the pre-season?  More than a few of the goals we've been letting seem to be given up on shots that our defenders have allowed to be taken when they have been in the position to close down and put in a challenge. 

The same can be said for fullbacks not doing enough to stop crosses coming in.  It almost seems as if they are nearly there to stop dangerous crosses, and with a little more effort they could stop them.

I hope you're right on this mate. Conceding 15 goals in 5 games is just plain awful defending and against 2nd rated sides add more blushes to the red of Liverpool

[SouthCoastShankly]

Right I realised my analysis on the defence throughout pre-season wasn't the best. Mainly because it only judged a defender per game not per minute, in terms of goals conceded.

So here are the better stats that show average mins per goal conceded -

CB
Agger - 30.2 (3 games, 6 goals)
Ayala - 22.0 (2 games, 3 goals)
Carragher - 32.7 (4 games, 7 goals)
Kyrgiakos - 27.6 (4 games, 8 goals)
Wilson - 33.3 (3 games, 4 goals)
Wisdom - 17.3 (2 games, 3 goals)

FB
Flanagan - 35.4 (5 games, 7 goals)
Insua - 29.5 (3 games, 6 goals)
Johnson - 34.5 (1 game, 2 goals)
Kelly - 28.3 (5 games, 8 goals)
Robinson - 27.9 (5 games, 9 goals)

GK
Doni - 22.8 (2 games, 4 goals)
Gulacsi - 29.7 (2 games, 3 goals)
Hansen - 9.5 (1 game, 2 goals)
Jones - 53.7 (4 games, 3 goals)
Reina - 30.0 (1 game, 3 goals)

Note: the figures are based on 90 mins only, I can't find match reports that show how much time was added on. I don't think it matters much.

[jacdaniel]

We need to defend as a team.  Its too easy to pick out defenders and use them as scapegoats for shipping in goals.  In the first half yesterday, we weren't pressing high enough up the pitch and were allowing them lots of time on the ball.  The midfield were just as responsible as the defenders.   

The key is to press harder which im sure will come as the players fitness levels return.  Of course we could still do with buying a couple of defenders but I just think its a bit short sighted to blame them entirely.

[stmichael]

I think it's also glaringly obvious that we miss Lucas really badly when he's not in the side. Yes the defence has been shaky but when Lucas isn't there we really badly miss someone to patrol infront of the back four and provide some form of protection. Spearing and Adam don't have anywhere near the positional discipline that Lucas has.

All in all I'm not going to whinge about the defensive display last night. It hasn't changed anything that we didn't know before the game anyway. It just reinforced it.

[SouthCoastShankly]

Stand out stats -

Brad Jones - 4 games, 3 goals (53 min average) best keeper stats by far. Obviously you wouldn't replace Reina with him but he clearly stands out as best backup keeper.

All the defensive were poor but it looks like Robinson suffered the worst, 5 games, 9 goals (27.9 average per goal). Maybe unlucky as other players may have individually been at fault but regardless more goals were shipped when he was on the field. Really poor.

[Kenny Kan]

I haven't seen the pre-season games, don't need to, don't really want to. I've always believed pre-season is largely about fitness and cohesion - not results. And even though I haven't seen by all accounts our soft defending - central defense has had me concerned for a while now. This issue hasn't just cropped up over our pre-season it's been lingering around for a while and really needs addressing.

[stmichael]

I'm Trying to make some sense of what has been going on across the back.  Could it be possible that the defenders have been told to not put in tough challenges in the pre-season?  More than a few of the goals we've been letting seem to be given up on shots that our defenders have allowed to be taken when they have been in the position to close down and put in a challenge. 

The same can be said for fullbacks not doing enough to stop crosses coming in.  It almost seems as if they are nearly there to stop dangerous crosses, and with a little more effort they could stop them.

Johnson looked particularly complacent but he does sometimes. It was his first pre-season game so it was hardly surprising that he looked rusty. Same goes for Carragher who I love but still don't see as an automatic regular starter this season.

At this stage I'm putting the lapses down to a lack of fitness rather than the quality of the players we have. Last season after Kenny came in, from then until the end of the season we conceded 13 league goals (less than any other team in the league). If we are still conceding 3 a game at the end of August then I'll be concerned.