Liverpool FC Forum

[66-1112520797]

Harsh.

[66-1112520797]

Very frustrating

[112-1077774096]

Harsh.

yeah, harsh on donkeys      

[Sabre]

That was so weird last night, watching Momo taking up positions Gerrard should of been in. Gerrard himself was in a " Luis Garcia" position. Thats why I think nothing happened in the final third for us, especially the first half.

I feel sorry for Momo a bit, I think the pressure is getting to him a little. He did perform much better before his injuries but now he looks a little out of sorts, even with simple passing. IMHO Momo wasnt needed in that team selection last night, if Rafa insisted on starting five accross the middle Alonso would of been the better option in a game like that.

I think nobody mentioned the point about Sissoko trying to be closer to the box.

I think you're right.

Probably Rafa doesn't see the initial formation as defensive. If you play 2 strikers one of the midfielders will have less freedom to go up, if you play with one striker and Gerrard behind him, one of the midfielders will have to upper positions.

I agree though, he didn't do well that task, he should have finnished one of the chances he had.

[66-1112520797]

That was so weird last night, watching Momo taking up positions Gerrard should of been in. Gerrard himself was in a " Luis Garcia" position. Thats why I think nothing happened in the final third for us, especially the first half.

I feel sorry for Momo a bit, I think the pressure is getting to him a little. He did perform much better before his injuries but now he looks a little out of sorts, even with simple passing. IMHO Momo wasnt needed in that team selection last night, if Rafa insisted on starting five accross the middle Alonso would of been the better option in a game like that.

I think nobody mentioned the point about Sissoko trying to be closer to the box.

I think you're right.

Probably Rafa doesn't see the initial formation as defensive. If you play 2 strikers one of the midfielders will have less freedom to go up, if you play with one striker and Gerrard behind him, one of the midfielders will have to upper positions.

I agree though, he didn't do well that task, he should have finnished one of the chances he had.

Yep.

First half. Gerrard should of been where Momo was, Momo shouldnt of been on the field (for that particular game). And somebody like Garcia should of been where Gerrard was initially, but he's injured so Kuyt would of done.

Ah hindsight 

[alxy]

That was so weird last night, watching Momo taking up positions Gerrard should of been in. Gerrard himself was in a " Luis Garcia" position. Thats why I think nothing happened in the final third for us, especially the first half.

I feel sorry for Momo a bit, I think the pressure is getting to him a little. He did perform much better before his injuries but now he looks a little out of sorts, even with simple passing. IMHO Momo wasnt needed in that team selection last night, if Rafa insisted on starting five accross the middle Alonso would of been the better option in a game like that.

I think nobody mentioned the point about Sissoko trying to be closer to the box.

I think you're right.

Probably Rafa doesn't see the initial formation as defensive. If you play 2 strikers one of the midfielders will have less freedom to go up, if you play with one striker and Gerrard behind him, one of the midfielders will have to upper positions.

I agree though, he didn't do well that task, he should have finnished one of the chances he had.

I don't think Momo would dare venture up that far unless he was given specific instructions. Which means that Rafa probably told him he needed to go and get himself a goal, which might have given him more pressure.

And though he wasn't happy to be taken off, Rafa's pat on the back was a little more than what he normally gives players coming off. So it's encouraging to see that Rafa himself is egging Momo on.

Let's be clear on my stand: I am NOT anti-Sissoko. I like his work ethic and all that, but cannot stand to see him giving away possession so easily. It's like having a Ferrari that cuts off at 5000rpm... you work hard to get there and just when things start to look good, everything goes flat. I would love to see Momo working on that aspect of his play. He would truly be our Vieira then.

Maybe that's why Rafa told Momo to go forward. Goals do give one confidence. And Momo is lacking that nowadays.

[BOODIDDY]

not so long ago he was viera-esque. Now some are saying he should be sold . Nonesence. Momo is playing poor at the moment but dont every player do this. Carra at the start, gerrard through the middle of season. look at man u, smithy is coming good. What i'm getting at is the give the lad time. He was awesome vs barca, and was a great reason why we are now playing chelsea.

He's only young, will become a destroyer again. He ain't never gonna be mascherano. But certain games need different players. Lets get behind him and against wigan sing his name loud and give him a gee up.

[112-1077774096]

Momo is playing poor at the moment but dont every player do this.

i wouldnt sau his play has changed any, and i wouldnt say he was playing poor at the moment, he is still doing what he does best and that is break the play up.

he looks poor at the moment because he is being asked to do more, he is being asked to be a playmaker and he will never be that, he just doesnt have that talent and its not fair to put him in that position.

he is what he is and nothing more

[stmichael]

No need to attack Momo, we will all be licking his balls after the Chelsea away game, just wait and see. However, there is no need for him in games like the other night where the CM's job is to create and not destroy. There is also no need to play him AND Mascherano in the same midfield.

[redhayesy]

No need to attack Momo, we will all be licking his balls after the Chelsea away game, just wait and see. However, there is no need for him in games like the other night where the CM's job is to create and not destroy. There is also no need to play him AND Mascherano in the same midfield.

st mick i admire your optimism, sorry but i don"t share it! i personally think playing momo against chelsea would be a massive mistake, it"s such a vital game that it would be to risky- & that is what it would be to play him a risk! & one we just can"t afford to do. i do feel for momo at the moment with his horrible injury"s he"s had but there is no sentiment as far as i"m concered in his currant form he does not deserve a place in the starting line up, his performance against boro was so poor words fail me! & to sum it up,if a player is subed during a game for tactical reasons,& they are playing out of their skin you can understand their dis-appoitment etc, but for momo to show he couldn"t understand why he was subed against boro is worrying to say the least. it was no co-incedence that when momo went off,there was more urgency in our play,quicker movement in midfield to feed pennent,& as a result create more chances etc i just think at the moment with momo in the side he likes to slow things down too much, hence when he doesn"t even control the ball let alone pass it 5 yards to a red shirt against a good side like chelsea we could find ourselves in deep sh1t in the semi, if he is lacking in self confidence then maybe he is the type of player who needs to be taken out of the engine room of midfield,if he feels he is being asked to do more than he is really capable of this would have a detrimental effect on his own performance as well as the team as a whole (which is what i believe is happening right now) i hope i"m proved wrong with momo it"s just how i feel right now as i"m generally quite concerned about our creative play,& how we are keeping possesion of the ball in crucial parts of the game. we can"t afford to carry any passingers in a game like the semi.

[stmichael]

st mick i admire your optimism, sorry but i don"t share it! i personally think playing momo against chelsea would be a massive mistake, it"s such a vital game that it would be to risky-

that's tosh. not long ago the guy was man of the match in the nou camp against the current european champions.

[redhayesy]

he may of got motm against barca in alot of people"s opinion, but not everyone"s & that"s what it is all about mate opinion"s! we will just have to agree to dis-agree on this one st mick, but like i said im hope i am proved wrong & would be the first to hold my hand up & say "how wrong was i" as long as we win both semi"s that"s the main thing -with or without momo in the side,but going on recent form i think he just doesn"t deserve a first team place in such a vital match.

[RichardLFC1]

Sissoko is great in some games and dibolical in others. He was great against Barcelona away but sh!te wednesday. He will be good for the chelsea away leg though going in hard on Ballack and Lampard

[Owzat]

I just checked out the stats on winning the Premiership and goalscoring. EIGHT out of the previous fourteen Premiership titles have been won by the team that scored the most goals. Only once has the team winning the title not been at least second top scorer. Liverpool's best Premiership scoring total was 71 in 2000/01 and while defensively Rafa has sorted Liverpool out, we need more goals. As Sissoko can't score and is at times not great with his passing then I think we need to rethink playing him and some of Rafa's defensive approaches. I think the defence is pretty solid, the pros of playing Sissoko probably outweighed by the cons.

Goals Scored/Conceded

FOR

With Sissoko - 110 goals in 71 games (1.55 goals/game)
Without Sissoko - 79 goals in 43 games (1.84 goals/game)

AGAINST

With Sissoko - 57 goals in 71 games (0.80 goals/game)
Without Sissoko - 31 goals in 43 games (0.72 goals/game)

Obviously some of that will be down to quality of opposition and approach. He's played all six games against Chelsea away or in Cardiff and we lost 4-1 in his only home game against them. He's played all the games against the mancs but just once against Arsenal so there is a mixed bag of opponents and results

[Penguins]

Well, I think those stats give a fair reflection of what Momo provides on the field. For being a non defensive midfielder his offensive game is worse than Sami Hyppia.
When we have a tough opponent and want a tight low scoring affair Momo is useful as a ball winner, but in the other games=95 % he is not useful at all since we must be on the attack trying to score goals.
And Momo scores less frequently than Carragher and also gets fewer assists than him...