Liverpool FC Forum

[LFC1990]

Napoli were at their best with 3 at the back. Saying that that same period was when they had cavani and lavezzi in his prime

[ycsatbjywtbiastkamb]

We played 3 at the back away from home somewhere last season and got our @rses handed to us, I forget where it was now but we reverted back to 4-3-3 in the second half and dominated the game from that point on so we are obviously a lot more comfortable with the 4-3-3.
It's just that we have a different squad now and 3 at the back may be a useful vehicle for us to get more of our creative players out on the pitch as opposed to sitting on the bench.
There would obviously be problems early on as players grappled with the system but if we did manage to master it we could potentially have ball players like Agger, Gerrard, Coutinho, Lallana, Sturridge, Sterling and Markovic all on the pitch at the same time in a functioning system.
It will be interesting to see wether Brendan tries it again this year.

[RED BEERGOGGLES]

Interesting.. in our behind closed doors friendly with Burnley this afternoon, Coates is playing the holding role in midfield

There are some suggestions that we are playing with 3 at the back against Burnley as well. Brendan experimented with that formation a couple of times last season (without much success I seem to remember) but it does seem to be coming back into vogue again, Van Gaal for instance used it at the World Cup (and against us in pre season) with some success.
In theory it might suit us, 3 at the back allows you to flood the midfield and to fit more attacking players into your starting XI.
We are at our most effective playing a 4-3-3 but when you consider our current attacking options (Sturridge, Markovic, Sterling, Lallana, Coutinho, Ibe, Lambert) picking just 3 of those will leave a lot of talent on the bench.
Another reason why 3 at the back might suit us is that we have a lot of CB's who can pass the ball well, a lot of teams are put off playing that style because their defenders aren't comfortable on the ball but we don't have that problem.
It would be a lot easier to carry Gerrard playing with 3 at the back as well because with more numbers in and around the midfield area he wouldn't be so exposed and It would suit Agger too.
It might be worth thinking about.

Contrasting reports about the Burnley game ,but most over on RAWK are saying it finished 2-1 with Lambert scoring both. 
Here's an attacking version of the 3 at the back that we could play against some of the lesser lights of the division at home, it allows us to get Sturridge, Sterling, Markovic, Lallana and Coutinho in the team at the same time, obviously away from home you could flood the midfield with the likes of Can and Allen etc.


                                                     Mingolet

                            Sakho/Skrtel       Lovren          Agger
           
                                          Gerrard         Hendo

                    Sterling                      Lallana                   Markovic

                                             Coutinho

                                                    Sturridge

[eds]

We played 3 at the back away from home somewhere last season and got our @rses handed to us, I forget where it was now but we reverted back to 4-3-3 in the second half and dominated the game from that point on so we are obviously a lot more comfortable with the 4-3-3.
It's just that we have a different squad now and 3 at the back may be a useful vehicle for us to get more of our creative players out on the pitch as opposed to sitting on the bench.
There would obviously be problems early on as players grappled with the system but if we did manage to master it we could potentially have ball players like Agger, Gerrard, Coutinho, Lallana, Sturridge, Sterling and Markovic all on the pitch at the same time in a functioning system.
It will be interesting to see wether Brendan tries it again this year.

It's suicide playing 3 at the back when you have Mignolet in the side.

He just isn't good enough on the ball (to sweep anything up) and would cause all sorts of problems for our center backs with his dodgy distribution.

[ycsatbjywtbiastkamb]

We played 3 at the back away from home somewhere last season and got our @rses handed to us, I forget where it was now but we reverted back to 4-3-3 in the second half and dominated the game from that point on so we are obviously a lot more comfortable with the 4-3-3.
It's just that we have a different squad now and 3 at the back may be a useful vehicle for us to get more of our creative players out on the pitch as opposed to sitting on the bench.
There would obviously be problems early on as players grappled with the system but if we did manage to master it we could potentially have ball players like Agger, Gerrard, Coutinho, Lallana, Sturridge, Sterling and Markovic all on the pitch at the same time in a functioning system.
It will be interesting to see wether Brendan tries it again this year.

It's suicide playing 3 at the back when you have Mignolet in the side.

He just isn't good enough on the ball (to sweep anything up) and would cause all sorts of problems for our center backs with his dodgy distribution.

I'm not sure playing 3 at the back would put his kicking under any more strain than when we play with 4 at the back mate, his kicking is awful though.

[C-R]

Coates to Sunderland loan complete

[aCe']

Good loan deal. I dont understand why we dont send more of our fringe players to PL sides rather than La Liga or Championship sides. Some of them are good enough and perhaps waiting a bit longer before shipping them out would allow for such opportunities.

[ycsatbjywtbiastkamb]

Yep, good move for him, playing week in week out in the prem will really bring his game on and the manager is a compatriot of his so he should feel at home.
Good luck Seb, see you in a years time.

[damjan193]

Good move, glad we didn't sell him, there might be hope in him yet. Good luck to him.

[woof woof !]

Yep, good move for him, playing week in week out in the prem will really bring his game on and the manager is a compatriot of his so he should feel at home.
Good luck Seb, see you in a years time.

When does his contract with us actually expire ? Seems like he's been here forever without actually playing   

Like you Yakka I'm hopeful things come good for him at Sunderland and maybe we finally get the player we all hoped he would be.

[C-R]

Coates was good for Sunderland after a shaky first 5 minutes. Keeps a clean sheet and he didn't cost £20m 

[ycsatbjywtbiastkamb]

Coates was good for Sunderland after a shaky first 5 minutes. Keeps a clean sheet and he didn't cost £20m 

He only turned 24 in October and CB's don't reach their peak until their late 20's and early 30's, if he continues to do well for Sunderland I'm sure he'll get another opportunity here.

[RED BEERGOGGLES]

Coates was good for Sunderland after a shaky first 5 minutes. Keeps a clean sheet and he didn't cost £20m 

He only turned 24 in October and CB's don't reach their peak until their late 20's and early 30's, if he continues to do well for Sunderland I'm sure he'll get another opportunity here.

It also seemed to escape Rodgers that he was head and shoulders our best defender through pre- season ,if he didn't see it then, he is highly unlikely to be gauging the lads
progress at the Mackem's with a view to his inclusion in the future .... Truth be known mate, I don't believe he attaches any real importance to our defence ,albeit for offering his critique of them when we concede.

The world and his wife can arrive at the conclusion we desperately need to introduce a defensive coach ,but Rodgers adamantly refutes the suggestion ,in fact he pours
scorn on it every time he is confronted with the idea ,his solution to supposedly rectifying the conundrum was to remove our first choice keeper and replace him with
Jones who makes our defence even more porous .....Its mystifying mate.

[red till i die!!]

Honestly fail to see how we could be any worse with coates and wisdom over lovren and sakho. It does bug me that Seba wasn't given a chance seen as he was good in preseason. we are spending vast amounts on potential when 3 years ago he was one of the hottest talents on the go. At the time i think we beat off serious competition for him with City being one of them.

You only have to go back to the start of this thread to see how highly rated and excited most of us fan's were when he signed. Its just a shame rodgers doesn't see it as he could have got a top player for that £38 million he spent.

[The_Rock]

Coates looked more composed than all our CBs combined this season. Why is that ?

I remembered when Coates was getting man-handled by some league 1 striker in a FA cup tie (during Rodgers 1st season here). At which point he dropped Coates indefinitely.... Why is that ?

The reason is because the way this team is set up.....no matter who the CBs are, they will play like a bunch of school boys.

There is just no running away from this fact. Pulis or Fat Sam would have made Sakho & Coates the best damn CB partnership in this league. But we have to make do with the british version of Ossie Ardile ....