Liverpool FC Forum

[SouthCoastShankly]

BBC Sport:

Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez is set to start with striker Djibril Cisse to expose Anderlecht's need for a win in their Champions League Group G game.

Anderlecht face the Reds on Wednesday looking for their first point.

"Anderlecht know they must win to have any chance of qualifying and they realise this could be their last chance," said Benitez.

"If they attack high up the pitch, we will have chances to exploit and maybe Cisse will start."

There has been speculation over Cisse's future at the club with rumours suggesting Benitez was prepared to let him go. The France international responded by netting the winner against Blackburn on Saturday after making a rare start.

But Benitez has told him that he needs to continue to prove he deserves a starting berth with plenty of competition for places in the Reds attack.

"There was a lot of talk about our relationship," said the Spaniard.

"Our relationship is a professional one. We have no problems.
"If he works hard for the team he can play more games, but it depends also on his team mates.

"If Fernando Morientes plays well, or Peter Crouch or Florent Simana Pongelle then it would be more difficult for him, and better for me because competition is always good for the team.

"He's a good professional. He's working and trying to play and I must decide on things.

"When you have a lot of strikers you have to make decisions. It's impossible to say a striker will play all the games."

Benitez is remaining wary, however, as he predicted an exciting match against Anderlecht.

"If you look at the players they have in their team, it's clear that they are not a bad team," he said.

"They have a lot of quality to choose from and they attack with pace.

"They certainly play some nice football but sometimes when they go forward, they leave some space open at the back.

"I've watched their game against Real Betis and they created a couple of clear openings before Betis scored.

"They will want to win and so do we so it could be a very exciting game of football to look forward to."

-------------------------------

I'm game Rafa is starting to see the light. Cisse's potential is undeniable and hopefully starts like these will bring him the confidence and scoring touch both he and Liverpool need

[RUSHIE#9]

There is no doubt that playing more games will be beneficial for Cisse and obviously Rafa knows this but we will just have to wait and see; it will be interesting to see whether or not he starts up front as upto know Rafa has seemed to favour one up front for the Champs Lge games.

[LiverpoolMadman]

Well .... it's other good news ...

[metalhead]

There is no doubt that playing more games will be beneficial for Cisse and obviously Rafa knows this but we will just have to wait and see; it will be interesting to see whether or not he starts up front as upto know Rafa has seemed to favour one up front for the Champs Lge games.

i think he will play a 4-4-2 system tommorow night because Gerrard is out so he would use haman or sissoko with alonso in the middle with crouch and cisse up front

its a good idea, because Anderlecht will play with attacking football and we are going to rely on cisse's pace and speed in counter attacks just like how we did against CSKA moscow in the super cup, which we ended up beating them 3-1!

[wrighty (not mark!)]

------------------------Reina--------------------------------


Finnan            Carragher      Hyypia           Warnock

                               
         
           Sissoko           Alonso         Riise

                      Garcia          Sinama-Pongolle

                                 Cisse         

I know a lot of you will be thinking 'WTF!? Sissoko inside right!?But if you look at the formation a little closer, there are 2 ball winners across the midfield (Sissoko,Riise)and you have Alonso in the central position,enabling him time and space to make creative passes.

This formation is with the counter-attack in mind as Anderlecht are bound to come at us with their need to stay in with a shout of qualifying. Think about it, Anderlecht mount an attack and Hamann snuffs it out, either Sissoko or Riise can burst forward and pass it to one of the front men(Garcia,Sinama-Pongolle, Cisse)

With the flair of Garcia and Craig David, their abiltity to weave themselves into dangerous positions can either enable themselves to score or set Cisse up for a smasher.

In the end, it makes sense

                         

[metalhead]

interesting... but the mistake is putting alonso behind. put hamann behind and let alonso have the freedom to give and create alot of good passes. hamann is a good cover up

[wrighty (not mark!)]

interesting... but the mistake is putting alonso behind. put hamann behind and let alonso have the freedom to give and create alot of good passes. hamann is a good cover up

Good point I'll change it

[LiverpoolMadman]

------------------------Reina--------------------------------


Finnan            Carragher      Hyypia           Riise

                                       
          HK      Hamann          Alonso      Zendan                 

                          Cisse          PC/Nando

Sub : Carson, Warnock, Sisoko , Garcia , Djimi Traore , Gonzalez Josemi , Zak Whitbread

[SouthCoastShankly]

------------------------Reina--------------------------------


Finnan            Carragher      Hyypia           Warnock

                               Hamann
         
           Sissoko           Alonso         Riise

                      Garcia          Sinama-Pongolle

                                 Cisse         

I know a lot of you will be thinking 'WTF!? Sissoko inside right!?But if you look at the formation a little closer, there are 2 ball winners across the midfield (Sissoko,Riise)and you have Alonso in the central position, with Hamann behind him enabling him time and space to make creative passes.

This formation is with the counter-attack in mind as Anderlecht are bound to come at us with their need to stay in with a shout of qualifying. Think about it, Anderlecht mount an attack and Hamann snuffs it out, either Sissoko or Riise can burst forward and pass it to one of the front men(Garcia,Sinama-Pongolle, Cisse)

With the flair of Garcia and Craig David, their abiltity to weave themselves into dangerous positions can either enable themselves to score or set Cisse up for a smasher.

In the end, it makes sense

                         

Do you not think your biggest mistake there is trying to change the rules of the game and suggesting a 12 man starting 11?!!



I know we need wins but thats a wind up

[desperado0831]

Let him on. He will spark against anderlecht. Come on.

Liverpool 2-0 Anderlecht
Alonso 20'
Cisse 35'

[Houllier=LFC]

Do you not think your biggest mistake there is trying to change the rules of the game and suggesting a 12 man starting 11?!!



I know we need wins but thats a wind up

I actually read the whole paragraph of his explanation on the formation 

[66-1120597113]

Was chatting to a mate in work today about cisse and raffa's reluctance to play him..
He was of the opinion that raffa just does'nt rate him.
But the more we talked it occured to me that maybe raffa has been holding him back deliberately,knowing full well that as he does cisse's desire to play and score grows more.
Anyone can see that cisse wants to be at LFC and desperately wants to succeed.
It's kinda like greyhound racing,when they put the dog in the trap,it knows full well that soon it will see the hare,but the longer it is in the trap and made to wait,the harder it will run when it is let out and try better to catch the hare..if ya know what i mean

Maybe raffa has been doing this with cisse in the  hope to get the best out of him.
I may be wrong.......just a thought though

[115-1073096938]

Wrighty, you remember a few weeks ago when i said i thought u made an interesting contribution and caused debate and discussion, i take it back.

Football only allows 11 players on the pitch from each team at one time, nice try though mate.

[76-1115222408]

Football only allows 11 players on the pitch from one team at one time, nice try though mate.

Actually Stu, you will find football allows '11 players on the pitch' from EACH team at one time. Nice try though mate

[115-1073096938]

Thats what i said you tw@t