Liverpool FC Forum

[account deleted by request]

I don't know mate I'm as baffled as you are. I was looking back a short while ago at our formation against Derby (start of our latest blip). I know we won, but after the Portsmouth game where I thought we did well, the Derby game saw us struggling and lucky to win, even after a great start with the early goal by Torres. I can't for the life of me come to terms with the formation we put out against Derby. So I think that may be where we started to lose confidence, but why its so fragile and takes such a long time to come back I have no idea.

The mancs play bad one game, and the next they are stroking the ball around as usual. We have a bad game and we play bad for a while. Admittedly I thought we did ok against Man City just didn't get the breaks or push forward with enough belief (usual formation). Wigan we again struggled (crazy formation)
Luton (crazy formation )About as bad as it could get.

Or perhaps Portsmouth was the blip in the middle of a run of bad results 

[Leonmc0708]

I am not quite ready to throw the towel in just yet though here boys.

I have maintained that our realistic target this season is to be within 2 (and a bit) wins of the league winners, and I still feel we are on course for that.

The game in hand and (albeit a shock) win against United/Arsenal will put us within 6 of the top assuming we match them and we are usually strong in the second half of the season.

[metalhead]

I am not quite ready to throw the towel in just yet though here boys.

I have maintained that our realistic target this season is to be within 2 (and a bit) wins of the league winners, and I still feel we are on course for that.

The game in hand and (albeit a shock) win against United/Arsenal will put us within 6 of the top assuming we match them and we are usually strong in the second half of the season.

Unless, we also get another bad patch, drop more points and see us struggling to get 4th.

But I hope your right leon, we do have strong second half of the season.

[Big Niall]

We rarely beat any of the top three and have all three to play away so I think it is safe to say we won't win the league and will probably be between ten and twenty points behind (again!).

I think Rafa is panicking, he has no idea what formation/team to play so he is just hoping to hit the right formula.

We obviously badly need a centre back so hopefully the new guy works out but other than that I wouldn't give rafa money, he has spent a fortune so why hasn't he got a good enough squad? I'd make him sell at least five players first.

I think we'll have a new manager in the Summer who won't want Gonzalez,Pennant,Kuyt,Vonin,Sissoko, and the many faceless players Benitez bought that offer nothing to the team.

[bigmick]

In fairness there is a possibility we will have a good second half and finish within the parameters of what people said when they nailed their flags to the mast. I said we were good enough to get within about six points or so, some people said eight, some ten or whatever else. I think that's the barometer for everyone really, the judgement on whether our tactics/selection methods/success of the manager in general really does depend on where you personally think we should finish.

The reason I've kind of given up thinking about it too much is that my feeling was and is that we are good enough to mount a title challenge with our current bunch of players. Now even if we were to run on through beaten horses (the LFC factor kind of in reverse if you see what I mean), or if say Man Utd have it won with half a dozen games to go and coast home allowing us to get closer than we are, I wouldn't be dancing in the aisles about a seven or eight point deficit when we haven't ever mounted a serious challenge.

Probably more important, well certainly more important in my eyes is how we shape ourselves in the second half of the season. It seems to me we have two choices. Either we concentrate on the Champions League a little, resting players a bit while ensuring of course that we finish fourth, or we go for it in the League still and see where we can get. I'd quite like us to keep going for it in the League to be perfectly honest, and if we do of course our results against the other top four teams will be a good barometer of where we are. If we can go to any one of Man Utd, Arsenal or Chelsea and win, while getting at least a draw in one of the other games (four points out of the three games) at least that'll be something. At least then if Rafa is still in charge next season, we can approach it with a little more of a spring in our step.

If we achieved that, were competitive away from home against our main rivals then I would be much more impressed by that than I would be three defeats and a final deficit of eight points behind the top. I've been saying for a bit though that I feel the gap will be around twelve points or so between us and whoever wins it, but unless we can get going again soon I fear it might be bigger. As for the rotation Rafa style, well I think it's pretty hard to argue it's done us a huge amount of favours so far. I suppose at the very best you could argue that it's had no significant effect and that we are in a position which is consistent with our ability.

If of course we were to absolutely rip it up in the second half of the season, the so-called "delayed gazelle" effect then I suppose it might reignite the debate for some, but I doubt it somewhat. The final refuge I guess for the most ardent pro-rotationer is the argument that the reason it hasn't worked is not the system itself, but it is simply because the players we are rotating aren't good enough. If we were to buy a few more top players and THEN rotate etc etc etc. I would have thought that's just about the last place to go with it. That for me would be a calamity, to go with another season of Rafa-style, just one last time to make sure, just to see if we can make it work. No, if rafa stays I really hope he continues with the trend of recnetly where he has gone for more settled teams (obviously I hope he actually increases the tendency truth be told, and perhaps sticks with the same formation as well while he's at it).

[Leonmc0708]

In fairness there is a possibility we will have a good second half and finish within the parameters of what people said when they nailed their flags to the mast. I said we were good enough to get within about six points or so, some people said eight, some ten or whatever else. I think that's the barometer for everyone really, the judgement on whether our tactics/selection methods/success of the manager in general really does depend on where you personally think we should finish.

The reason I've kind of given up thinking about it too much is that my feeling was and is that we are good enough to mount a title challenge with our current bunch of players. Now even if we were to run on through beaten horses (the LFC factor kind of in reverse if you see what I mean), or if say Man Utd have it won with half a dozen games to go and coast home allowing us to get closer than we are, I wouldn't be dancing in the aisles about a seven or eight point deficit when we haven't ever mounted a serious challenge.

Probably more important, well certainly more important in my eyes is how we shape ourselves in the second half of the season. It seems to me we have two choices. Either we concentrate on the Champions League a little, resting players a bit while ensuring of course that we finish fourth, or we go for it in the League still and see where we can get. I'd quite like us to keep going for it in the League to be perfectly honest, and if we do of course our results against the other top four teams will be a good barometer of where we are. If we can go to any one of Man Utd, Arsenal or Chelsea and win, while getting at least a draw in one of the other games (four points out of the three games) at least that'll be something. At least then if Rafa is still in charge next season, we can approach it with a little more of a spring in our step.

If we achieved that, were competitive away from home against our main rivals then I would be much more impressed by that than I would be three defeats and a final deficit of eight points behind the top. I've been saying for a bit though that I feel the gap will be around twelve points or so between us and whoever wins it, but unless we can get going again soon I fear it might be bigger. As for the rotation Rafa style, well I think it's pretty hard to argue it's done us a huge amount of favours so far. I suppose at the very best you could argue that it's had no significant effect and that we are in a position which is consistent with our ability.

If of course we were to absolutely rip it up in the second half of the season, the so-called "delayed gazelle" effect then I suppose it might reignite the debate for some, but I doubt it somewhat. The final refuge I guess for the most ardent pro-rotationer is the argument that the reason it hasn't worked is not the system itself, but it is simply because the players we are rotating aren't good enough. If we were to buy a few more top players and THEN rotate etc etc etc. I would have thought that's just about the last place to go with it. That for me would be a calamity, to go with another season of Rafa-style, just one last time to make sure, just to see if we can make it work. No, if rafa stays I really hope he continues with the trend of recnetly where he has gone for more settled teams (obviously I hope he actually increases the tendency truth be told, and perhaps sticks with the same formation as well while he's at it).

LEave it now mate.

[bigmick]

LEave it now mate.

Oh. Ok then   

[Ace Ventura]

I am not quite ready to throw the towel in just yet though here boys.

I have maintained that our realistic target this season is to be within 2 (and a bit) wins of the league winners, and I still feel we are on course for that.

The game in hand and (albeit a shock) win against United/Arsenal will put us within 6 of the top assuming we match them and we are usually strong in the second half of the season.

Its possible but if we are still in the champions league it is more likely that he will then start resting players in the league to make sure they are fit for the champions league resulting in us dropping more points, like last season and the end of the 2005 season as well.

[Leonmc0708]

LEave it now mate.

Oh. Ok then   

You are going to end up a bitter and twisted old man because of the big whoo harr about rotation.

There is no need to fit everyone into one catagory or another.

Let it go mate.

[redtrader74]

LEave it now mate.

Oh. Ok then   

You are going to end up a bitter and twisted old man because of the big whoo harr about rotation.

There is no need to fit everyone into one catagory or another.

Let it go mate.

how will i get to sleep now?    

[stmichael]

A couple of points Saint. Firstly, I think I'm right in saying you are a fairly recent convert to the anti-rotation side of the fence and I would be interested to know what it was if anything that finally swung you that way. Obviously I think you're correct that over rotation is a significant factor in our incosistency, but I'm just curious if it's a conclusion which you have gradually come to or whether there was one particular event which shaped your thinking.

I still think some people go over the top on this rotation business at times but the Reading game changed all that for me. I mean up until that point we had scored  3, 8, 4 and 4  in consecutive games and were looking really good. Then for no reason that I could fathom he changed the formation for the Reading game and we ended up with no width as we had Crouch and Voronin playing wide of Torres in an attacking three. It was never going to work in a million years, just as playing Voronin, Kuyt and an unfit Torres in a three against Arsenal didn't work. Changing the formation doesn't matter as much if you've practiced it in training and you have the right players in the right positions but we just looked lost playing it. Little surprise then that 3 days later we go to Marseille, revert back to basics and batter them of the park.

Anyway, to me our problems start at the back. The loss of Agger was massive as he's the only centre back we have with the ability to bring the ball out from the back and also with the pace to recover a poor defensive situation. As a result two things have happened, we've started to defend deeper and we play out from the back less. This has an impact across the whole team. It makes our slow forwards look even less effective as they're playing further away from the opposition goal. It makes life harder for our midfielders as they're trying to play football from deep and/or have to cover the increased distance between defence and attack.

Benitez's Valencia side were so effective as they played a high line, which enabled them to stifle the opponents in their half, winning the ball in dangerous areas and allowing them to attack as a unit rather than necessarily relying on individual brilliance. We're still far too reliant on a bit of individual brilliance in tight games at the moment and unfortunately we don't have enough players to provide it.

[Leonmc0708]

I still think some people go over the top on this rotation business at times but the Reading game changed all that for me. I mean up until that point we had scored  3, 8, 4 and 4  in consecutive games and were looking really good. Then for no reason that I could fathom he changed the formation for the Reading game and we ended up with no width as we had Crouch and Voronin playing wide of Torres in an attacking three. It was never going to work in a million years, just as playing Voronin, Kuyt and an unfit Torres in a threee against Arsenal didn't work. Changing the formation doesn't matter as much if you've practiced it in training and you have the right players in the right positions but we just looked lost playing it. Little surprise then that 3 days later we go to Marseille, revert back to basics and batter them of the park.

Sorry to be a pedant, but thats tactics and not rotation mate.

[account deleted by request]

Half-term report: Not bad, but need to do better
6th January 2008

It says a lot about expectations at Liverpool, and the requirements for the remainder of the season, that two wins and two draws over the holiday period, from two home games and two away, is seen as some kind of disaster. I remember when averaging two points a game was what you aimed for.

And now there’s more talk of Benítez being a “dead man walking”. The atmosphere, and the pressure, surrounding the club is starting to make it seem impossible to succeed, with its undermining influence - unless some kind of siege mentality can be summoned. Any poor result has the spectre of a larger failure looming, and that’s only going to prove detrimental.

Jurgen Klinsmann - a great player - is again being liked with Rafa’s job, but what has he done as a coach/manager? Really, it baffles me to see him linked with top jobs.

I thought top clubs had moved away from appointing figurehead players as managers? Klinsmann took Germany to the semi-finals of the World Cup. But he did so on German soil, with the fans behind the team. Even England make the semi-finals of tournaments held in this country; South Korea did the same on home soil. How does a career of managing half a dozen competitive games (as Germany were automatically at the Finals) qualify Klinsmann for a job like managing Liverpool?

What is he like at buying players? What are his tactics? How does he man-manage? Does he stick around long, especially when the going gets tough? There is a gulf of difference between Benítez’s proven knowledge and ability and some rookie who’s done virtually nothing in the job, and never managed a club. He could be great, and he certainly has charisma, but where’s the evidence he can manage a top club? I know this is only paper talk, but if there is even 0.01% of truth in it, I’ll despair.

There’s a lot of doom and gloom around, and it’s understandable; another year without a title challenge - or so it seems. I think the Reds can get back in amongst the title race with a few wins on the spin, but not to the point where a real challenge can be made; there’s just no margin for error, and hasn’t been for a few weeks now.

All of the top teams had bad games over Christmas, but United sneaked one more point from their four matches, despite a deserved defeat at West Ham and a poor home performance against Birmingham. And Chelsea got the kind of luck, with Kalou’s offside goal, that Liverpool were not blessed with.

The Reds deserved to win all four games based on possession and clear-cut chances, although the Derby and Wigan displays were clearly substandard. The Reds could have used more luck, but also more inspiration. Having been leading, the Wigan game felt more like a defeat.

These days, drawing against teams like Wigan and Birmingham is as bad as it gets at Anfield; it’s not great, obviously, but prior to Benítez arriving, the Reds lost home games to Bradford, Watford, Charlton, Manchester City, Southampton and Leicester, and to some of those teams on more than one occasion. I’m not suggesting that by not being as bad as that, the Reds are therefore ‘great’, but it’s worth remembering those true low points all the same. These days, only the top sides come away with all three points.

Benítez’s team performed much, much better away at Man City, in the most one-sided 0-0 draw in history. I think it was the first ever time I’ve ever seen a supposed top side defend like that at home: acting like they were a Conference side with the bus parked in front of the goal, but still offering some kind of implied threat, with a lot of pace to hit on the counter.

I wrote a lot about Rafa’s tactics and methods in Above Us Only Sky, and nothing has really changed my opinion: while Arsenal, Chelsea and United may do things differently, there’s nothing inherently wrong with how Rafa works based on the examples I discussed. Two years ago Ferguson had “lost the plot”, and Wenger has also had a lot of criticism for not altering his thinking on certain issues, but once a team starts winning again, it all gets forgotten. (Maybe psychology and motivation are areas where the Reds could improve.)

Things are steadily improving under Benítez, and so many things are better than before he arrived (such as not only qualifying for the Champions League every single season, but also making the knockout stages, and, unbelievably, two finals in three seasons), but other teams are improving too, and the Premiership title is becoming an obsession. Then again, some other teams who’ve spent big, like Spurs and Newcastle, are really in the mire.

The Reds’ home form has been the main problem, but in the previous three seasons it was excellent. The introduction of pace up front has helped the team away from home, but maybe the balance has gone a little awry at Anfield. But that can all change: the personnel is there for the team to be better at home than it has been. Maybe it just needs a little more understanding between the players, and a bit more luck and/or ruthlessness in front of goal.

But it’s been a season beset from the start by problems: a lot of new players to blend quickly into a cohesive team; the fallout with, and departure of, Pako Ayestaran, which could have been either man’s fault (or a bit of both); lack of centre-back cover after the belated ruling regarding Gabriel Heinze; the unprecedented public spat between manager and owners, and the increased pressure surrounding the club as a result; and while not quite an injury crisis, a fair few notable absentees: Agger, Alonso, Pennant, Torres, Aurelio and Kewell have all missed from a fair few games to a handful of months - although the latter two players aren’t surprises on that score.

But all of those listed are technical players, and in the case of Agger, Benítez has been shorn of the one player who can step from defence into midfield and give a move impetus, as well as altering the dynamics of the play. His superb passing from the back is also sorely missed, as are his goals - he was starting to chip in with a fair few. For me he is easily the best footballing centre-back in the country, and while Hyypia has at least matched his defensive abilities, the creative side of Agger’s game is irreplaceable.

Unlike in the previous seasons since the title last arrived, there’s no-one at the club taking (or seriously on) the , or who hasn’t had a lot of good games for the club (unlike real deadwood, like Diao, Cheyrou, et al). The mentality is mostly of winners, individually at least. But one thing you cannot buy, or create, is the assurance that comes once a team has landed its first league title.

There’s still plenty of room for improvement from a number of players, but the nature of a big squad (which is needed) is that some players will flourish and others will stagnate. You can’t give equal playing time to 25 players. And while Rafa continues to rotate, he sticks to a core of his best players.

Of those who have featured more than a couple of times, I’d exempt from blame: Torres, Reina, Gerrard, Carragher, Agger, Arbeloa, Alonso, Mascherano, Babel, Benayoun, Hyypia, Lucas, Hobbs and Finnan. That doesn’t mean all are perfect, or were in form the whole time (Carragher, Gerrard and Finnan certainly had slow starts to the season).

But on the whole I cannot fault their contribution to the first half of the campaign (in some cases when age or settling into English football is taken into account), and see them all as important players for the future. Even Hyypia: after his excellent form deputising for Agger, it’s clear he’s up to another year or two in the squad.

Once he settled back into the team, the Finn, with 22 starts already, has largely been outstanding. I’ve always maintained he can play well into his late 30s, and while I started to get concerned that he might be ready to be put out to pasture early in the season, he has shown it to be merely rustiness. Another centre-back is needed, until Hobbs - who has immense potential - matures. He’s a great 19-year-old centre-back, but it’ll take a few years to be a great top-level centre-back.

Finding a partner for Fernando Torres - someone to play just behind him - seems to be the main concern. It’s a role that Ryan Babel prefers, and in time one he may well make his own; he has the potential to just that, and more. At the moment he lacks the necessary experience, and it’s perhaps better that he adjusts to life in the Premiership on the wings, where there’s more time and space. In the centre, there’s often a crowd.

But another idea is Yossi Benayoun, a player who has always reminded me of Peter Beardsley in playing style and movement; he can create, score and also works hard. He started his career as a second-striker, and at the very least it seems an option worth considering.

I still believe that Benítez has constructed an excellent - and I mean excellent - young spine for this team. Reina, Agger, Carragher (the ‘old man’ of it), Mascherano, Alonso, Gerrard and Torres are all top, top players: gifted, committed, dedicated and born winners. That spine can only get better, and stronger. Lucas is surely another world-class central midfielder in the making, and Ryan Babel can add himself to the list of top spine players, if he matures to become the second-striker many feel is possible.

Were Benítez to be sacked, or walk away, as the press are yet again suggesting, the first concern would be how the Latin contingent would respond. They’re professionals, and paid to get on with it, but it would clearly disappoint and, to some degree, disrupt players like Torres, Alonso and Reina. Then there’s how a new manager would alter things, and the process of learning new systems and introducing yet more new players.

While I am still 100% convinced that Rafa is the right man for the job, and is shaping something that he is best qualified to utilise, I do also think that any replacement, should things pan out that way, would inherit a quite superb nucleus of core players, and a lot of very promising youngsters. But as I write, Rafa is very much still in his job.

Aside from the issue of who to play just behind Torres, the problems lie mostly in the wider areas, as it has for a couple of years. Finnan and Arbeloa are excellent full-backs; no real problem there. Although neither is outstanding going forward, both are good technical players who overlap when the wide midfielders tuck inside, and can play their part in fluid attacks. Elsewhere in wide areas there are a lot of decent to very-good players, and in Babel, one potentially great one, but none who are currently up there with the very best - in terms of consistency if nothing else.

Babel is not yet a totally effective winger, although he has the pace, skill and strength to mirror John Barnes at his best. He’s still two years younger than Digger when he arrived, and unlike the former no.10, has to adapt to a new league at the same time. I really see such enormous potential in Babel, but at present he’s struggling to pull his game together for more than a few minutes here and there, mostly when appearing as a sub - which, in the circumstances, is perfectly natural. He’s on a steep learning curve.

Steven Gerrard is still the most effective and complete wide player the Reds have, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing - in that at least the Reds do have him. In 2005/06 he was excellent out there, and scored a lot of goals; but he doesn’t seem happy with the role.

To a degree I can understand why, but it’s a shame - if he was really enthusiastic about it (rather than doing it as a chore), Benítez could have him marauding up and down that flank as well as cutting into the middle to score goals, with two from Alonso, Mascherano and Lucas holding the fort down in the middle and controlling the tempo of the game. That would make the Reds strong from left to right.

For me, a midfield four of Babel (or a fit, in-form Kewell, if such a thing can still exist), Alonso, Mascherano and Gerrard looks as strong as any around - on paper, at least. But as it stands, by putting Gerrard on the right the manager would have to gamble with a player who will do a job there, but whose heart clearly wouldn’t be in it.

Rafa tried Gerrard behind Torres against Wigan, to get Alonso and Mascherano into the same side, but for some reason Gerrard can’t adapt to the role quite as well as he should.

In theory it’s a dream striking combination - the pair have 28 goals between them by the start of January - but the captain seems happiest coming onto the play from deeper areas, and seems unhappy with his back to goal. Maybe it’s something that can be worked on; with his pace, power and eye for goal, he should be able to become a real force in the position. And as mentioned earlier, Babel has similar qualities, but will need time.

I’m not entirely sure why Crouch hasn’t played more often, but at the same time, I’m baffled why people keep asking me about an agenda against the player from Rafa. There’s no suggestion of a falling out, and Rafa obviously rates him: he bought him, and played him a lot in the previous first two seasons, even when everyone called him insane for doing so. So for me, it’s more a tactical concern.

Crouch is most effective as the main striker - the target man - as is Torres. Neither is at his best behind another striker. And no top team plays two out-and-out strikers pushed up the whole time. In fact, United’s success this season has been without any main strikers: both Tevez and Rooney like to come deep, and neither has the physical attributes to be a target man.

Chelsea were better with just Drogba up front, before Shevchenko was shoe-horned in. Players who can operate in the hole, or between the lines, are essential. Crouch can do this, but it’s not his strong suit. And Torres can certainly do this, but then you lose his pace against the last defender. So that’s a problem.

In his first season, Kuyt really impressed me: a decent amount of goals (all the better considering he didn’t take any penalties, and came close on a number of occasions, hitting the woodwork six times), a good amount of assists, as well as a quite stupendous work-rate. Against Barcelona and Chelsea in the Champions League he was really immense.

But this season, despite some sterling showings and signs of a promising partnership with Torres, his contribution in the final third has gradually wilted, to the point where it’s almost non-existent. His lack of pace is hugely frustrating - an extra yard or two and he’d be right in the top bracket. He has a lot of game intelligence, both in and out of possession, but often gets closed off when he’s about to shoot from a lack of that extra yard of pace.

But he’s a battler, and a winner, and his work-rate does lift the other players. The more totally committed, never-say-die men in the squad, the better. And if he can rediscover his early season form, he looks a good foil for Torres.

Despite this, he currently looks like one of the players who, if a better alternative can be found, will slip down the pecking order. You can’t improve on players like Torres and Gerrard, but you can on Kuyt, even if it’s not easy to find the right man.

Momo Sissoko is another who started his Liverpool career brightly, and appeared to have a wonderful future, only for it to fall away.

Sissoko had two excellent seasons, although the second one trailed off towards the end. With the emergence of Lucas and the arrival of Mascherano, I would have no problem with the manager cashing in on the Malian if the price is anywhere near what has been quoted; unlike a lot of the other players some fans are disillusioned with, he could be considered surplus to requirements on account of the sheer quality he’s competing with. But I still think he’s an underrated player - one where people always focus on what he gets wrong.

It’s really hard to know what to make of Harry Kewell these days. His footballing intelligence is always going to be there - he’s a clever, consistent passer. But the other kind of passing - when it relates to overtaking a full-back - currently looks a thing of the past; at least on any kind of consistent basis. While apparently over his injuries, he needs to find peak fitness and sharpness before any real judgement can be made, and he’s running out of time. The lack of goals is also a worry, as it was his strong suit at Leeds and in his first year at Liverpool, before the curse struck.

Andrei Voronin started his Liverpool career well, and has had a few excellent games, but has recently trailed off into oblivion. Again, it’s hard to know what to make of him, and his lack of cachet amongst the fans makes him an easy target. A decent acquisition as a free transfer, he could just be going through the adaptation process; but as a free transfer he’ll always be regarded with scepticism. It’s hard to see past him being fourth-choice at best.

John Arne Riise’s form has also disintegrated. Never the greatest player, he had a couple of very solid seasons at left-back under Rafa, and has weighed in with some important goals. Maybe he needs a new challenge?

In the same position, Fabio Aurelio has excellent technique, and put in his best display for the Reds at Manchester City. But long-term fitness concerns have hampered his progress. When he plays like he did at the Eastlands you can see someone who is easily good enough, if he can stay fit. Arbeloa is also very good in the role, and perhaps more likely to nail it down, given his good fitness record and extra pace. Meanwhile, 18-year-old Insua may make the breakthrough in the next year or two.

Jermaine Pennant is another ‘nearly’ player. He has pace, good control, can beat a man and deliver a really telling cross. But when not on form his game can fall apart (as it can with ‘confidence’ players), and his lack of any kind of goal threat is clearly a problem. His problem is being compared with someone like Ronaldo - the kind of player you can’t easily get hold of.

Pennant was excellent in the second half of last season, and man-of-the-match in the Champions AC Milan. He started this season well, but his form dipped before injury struck. He remains a good option, but until he finds a consistent end product, nothing more.

Sebastian Leto, meanwhile, has yet to make any kind of impact, but has shown for the reserves that he has natural talent; at just 20, and adapting to life in England, that’s maybe all we could hope for at this stage, from a player who was never bought as a potential world-beater in the first place.

Despite the current state of doom and gloom, I am convinced that the bones of a great team is there, and that a fair bit of it has been fleshed out, too. If the solution to who partners Torres, and how they perform, can be sorted, and Babel can progress either on the wing or in that very role, then that will be another step forward. In the meantime, there may be nothing else to do, other than be patient.

© Paul Tomkins 2008

Tompkins latest blog covers almost everything we have been discussing lately. From Deadman Walking to Jurgen Klinsmann.

[Sabre]

Almost everything but rotation he touches. It's natural because despite Bigmick's long rant I agree with Tomkins it has nothing to do with most our problems.

Maybe the comparison of Benayoun with Beardsley is too generous, I don't think neither the latin contingent would be all that disrupted if Rafa left provided that the new manager counts with them, but other than that I agree most of what he says.

[maguskwt]

great article... abit over-rating Benayoun and Babel IMO but... most of the time fair assessments