Liverpool FC Forum

[neil]

I hope BigMick reads this thread and remembers the ambush he witnessed me receiving at the start of the current campaign concerning  a certain sissoko. I had the audacity to suggest that this Sissoko was not the best player in the feckin world and could'nt pass wind, though there was potential. Yeah the bandwagon brigade had a field day. Now then, you bandwagon lot can shut up about his bad points and stick to the "this guys better than Viera" s.h1te.

[115-1073096938]

The second best in the league?

A lad that struggles to pass the ball to a team mate with 40% of his passes? Did you think he was great again yesterday? Giggs pulled him to pieces with his passing and movement. He was pulled all over the place and was shocking on the ball.

As i've said 100 times, he has a long way to go.

Bit harsh Stu,

His distribution was worse than usual yesterday, but he still had a pretty effective game.  As the away side our first job was to stop the opposition playing and then build on that, Sissoko won several tackles in the middle of the park that he had no right to win which allowed us to do this.

He didn't get pulled all over the park, it's obviously his instruction to go and win the ball wherever he can.  Alonso is the sitting player and to an extent this gives Sissoko the licence to go and chase the ball.  Giggs was dreadful in that game imo and the reason was Sissoko who never let him settle on the ball.

His passing is woeful, theres no hiding from that, but he was more effective than Gerrard or Alonso in that game, both of whom were well short of top gear.  And if Crouch had finished the chance from Cisse's knock down after Sissoko's lovely scooped through ball then everyone would have been singing his praises and how his passing is getting better.

John, not being funny mate, i have alot of respect for your posts as you usually make good points and suggestions and always post good arguements, but if you think Giggs was poor yesterday mate i think you were clearly watching a different game. He was the only one in the United midfield who looked capable of anything at all and the amount of times Sissoko chased after him and got nowhere him was shocking.

Sissoko needs to learn when to hold and when to chase. He was a headless chicken yesterday and had an awful game. I'm not saying he's a bad player, i do like the lad. I just think yesterday was a game to forget.

[115-1073096938]

I hope BigMick reads this thread and remembers the ambush he witnessed me receiving at the start of the current campaign concerning  a certain sissoko. I had the audacity to suggest that this Sissoko was not the best player in the feckin world and could'nt pass wind, though there was potential. Yeah the bandwagon brigade had a field day. Now then, you bandwagon lot can shut up about his bad points and stick to the "this guys better than Viera" s.h1te.

He's nowhere near what Vieira is Neil and whoever said that is only saying it because he's gangly, black and a defensive midfielder with dicsipline problems, the comparrisons end there. Anyone who knows the game can see that. He'll never get to that level. Vieira at 20 was exceptional. A top quality player.

Sissoko maybe a really good player in a few years, he'll never be class though.

[Espionage]

Rafa brought to him to Liverpool

Rafa would only buy a young player and give him lots of time on the pitch if he was making an investment for the future

Rafa already knew him

Rafa would not bring in a player and invest time  if he thourght that he has no ability to learn how to improve on his current flaws

Therefore: Unless you think that Rafael Benitez is an idiot, shut up

Squad player my  

[dawson99]

stu the red - eternal optimist.

just rememebr, fat frank used to be fat at west ham... now hes fat ina  completely different team, so anything can happen in football

[115-1073096938]

Rafa brought to him to Liverpool

Rafa would only buy a young player and give him lots of time on the pitch if he was making an investment for the future

Rafa already knew him

Rafa would not bring in a player and invest time  if he thourght that he has no ability to learn how to improve on his current flaws

Therefore: Unless you think that Rafael Benitez, shut up

Squad player my  

What are you going on about?

Do you honestly think he'd be in this side ahead of Gerrard and Alonso if we had a quality right sided player?

He'd make alot less apearances thats for sure.

[JC_81]

John, not being funny mate, i have alot of respect for your posts as you usually make good points and suggestions and always post good arguements, but if you think Giggs was poor yesterday mate i think you were clearly watching a different game. He was the only one in the United midfield who looked capable of anything at all and the amount of times Sissoko chased after him and got nowhere him was shocking.

Sissoko needs to learn when to hold and when to chase. He was a headless chicken yesterday and had an awful game. I'm not saying he's a bad player, i do like the lad. I just think yesterday was a game to forget.

Fair enough Stu, everyone's got their own take on the game.  Unfortunately I had the displeasure of watching the game with a United fan yesterday.  He spent a lot of the game, especially the first half, berating Giggs for being wholly ineffective.  It was he who drew to my attention the fact that Giggs clearly didn't have the awareness or positional sense to play centrally against a team like Liverpool.  Normally I wouldn't look so closely at an oppositon player's game, but seeing as I was listening to him take so much abuse I thought I'd give it some attention.

Apart from a few nice touches and one great through ball from Giggs to Van Nistelrooy in the first half, I could see where the Manc fan was coming from.  Giggs got caught in possession a hell of a lot and he can't tackle to save his life.  For me Giggs is still a class player (those who say he's past it are well wide of the mark), but he's no central midfielder and he certainly didn't run the show yesterday.  He may have looked like the only United player capable of creating yesterday, but I think that says more about the state of the rest of their midfield rather than how well Giggs performed.

While I still think you were a bit harsh on Sissoko, I agree with some of your points, he needs to learn how to keep his head and while his enthusiasm in chasing down the ball can be applauded, I agree some of it is unnecessary.  He is far from the finished article, and although playing him week-in, week-out isn't ideal, I see no other option at the moment.  Hamann and Alonso are too immobile together and Stevie is needed out wide right now.  But after playing so many games this season, I think next season you will see a much better Sissoko who will have improved by the quickest method - learning from his mistakes.

[66-1112520797]

I have to admit I think I would still prefer Hamman in the middle screening the back four as he is one of the best players at doing this. This may also give Alonso more licence to roam and play his game more effectivley.
As for Sissoko he is a good player and is still learning his game in England, we musnt forget that.
He still could be the next Vieira, but going back to Hamman, if he was fit ( and its easy to say now) I think Rafa could possibly of got the call wrong by not using Didi his experience and calmness would of been vital in that type of game.

[stmichael]

As I'm not currently the Liverpool manager I can't speak with absolute certainty, but I'd suspect, with a high degree of probability, that the substance of the instructions given to Sissoko when he enters the field of play are not to perform blinding actos of circus brillliance with the ball, exert too much effort running at defenders with the ball at pace, nor indeed attempting defence-splitting, pin-point accurate 40 yard passes everytime he receives the ball.

I assume he's told something along the lines of "get stuck in lad, close down opponents, make some tackles and move the ball on to one of our more "gifted" players at the earlies opportunity". I'd imagine Benitez would use more poetic or European phrasing.... but I'm sure we get the gist.

That saying, his passing can be absolutely horrible and really, let's be honest... he's not likely to suddenly develop Alonso-like passing skills.

but why should he.... we've been blessed by watching arguably the most complete midfield player to emerge from the English game and we seem to think all our midfielders should be like Steven Gerrard.

If only that could be possible... but it's not.

It is possible for Sissoko to be an effective component of our midfield without displaying excellence in passing. I don't re-call Roy Keane being particularly good at passing, and he turned out to be a half decent player.

THere's a reason why Sissoko is getting a game ahead of Hamman, because he adds more verve and movement to midfield.

The idea that Sissoko will improve by spending some time in the stands watching is a poor one. How often have we said thatour young players will only improve with time spent on the pitch.

Having just turned 21, Sossoko will continue to add facets to his game and hone his skills. He certainly does need to improve his passing, but he's contributing enough to warrant selection while Gerrard is stuck out on the right.

While it's fair to note Sissoko's short-comings, heavens above, might it not just be an interesting approach to encourage the young lad in his development.

As for his tackling, he's not the only midfielder we possess that has a habit of flying in for the odd rash tackle. Doesn't excuse it, but it's a common trait amongst young combative midfielders.