Liverpool FC Forum

ycsatbjywtbiastkamb » Sun Aug 11, 2013 12:45 pm wrote:

Kenny Kan » Sun Aug 11, 2013 11:34 am wrote:I like what I've seen from Allen Yakka, okay it hasn't been top drawer stuff but I think at this moment in time there is more to Allen than Henderson personally. Henderson (IMO) is a steady Eddie engine, Allen I believe is more livelier and willing amongst the build up in final third than Henderson (although Henderson is a better finisher)

There isn't much between them imo but I'd just give Allen the nod - on style. I'm looking for a spark from midfield and out of our 4 mids, (Gerrard, Hendo, Lucas & Allen) I think Allen's that little bit different from the rest.

i think hendo`s a better player mate, i think he`s more athletic than joe and more likely to get a goal. i havent been that impressed with lucas, gerrard and allen as a 3 in pre season tbh. not enough creativity. i think joe`s best footy was when he was in the side instead of lucas, maybe it`s worth trying that in a cup game or something.

The midfield three of Lucas, Gerrard and Allen last season was awful - that's why Allen was dropped , BR blamed it on his shoulder injury and that's why it's being tried again now. That is the three I think will start but I expect it to struggle and then BR really does have a dilemma in regards the "Welsh Xavi"

Benny The Noon » Sun Aug 11, 2013 11:45 am wrote:

ycsatbjywtbiastkamb » Sun Aug 11, 2013 12:38 pm wrote:i dont think aspas can lead the line in the prem but i can see him playing as a wide-ish forward linking up with the likes of sturridge (and hopefully at some point suarez). i think he`d do a decent job popping up here and there and getting the odd goal. if he played all season i could see him getting into double figures comfortably because he gets himself in the 6 yard box and goalscoring positions a lot.

The problem i see though is getting that time and space in the prem when a player is getting bullied and hustled about. Borini was the same last season - in pre season he looked like he was going to score goals because of the movement and space he could find but when it was against the stronger defences - he just struggled to create that space for himself - see the same yesterday with Aspas - if the space is there he will fill it but he could find it yesterday because the defence was far stronger. He could possibly provide more than Borini but I wouldn't start him against Stoke or in the prem for a while until he gets used to that lack of space.

i think the problem yesterday was that he was leading the line on his own and when you do that you`ve got a big target on your back for defenders to aim at, suarez had problems with that when he first came to the prem and thats why a lot of fans wanted to see carroll next to suarez because suarez intially had problems retaining the ball when it was played up to him. suarez got over the problem by dropping deep into area`s to recieve the ball where defenders dont want to go (he now likes to pick the ball up in that area between midfield and defence).
once you have the likes of sturridge and hopefully suarez up there distracting defenders i actually think aspas will have a field day drifting into goalscoring positions. he strikes me as a john wark type who likes to drift into the box almost under the radar, pretty hard to do that when your up top on your own with a big fvcking bullseye on your back. i didnt want him here but he`s impressed me so far i have to admit, i`d have him in as a starter.

Benny The Noon » Sun Aug 11, 2013 2:09 pm wrote:It was clear that Henderson isn't suited to that wide berth when playing in his first season and last season he flourished through the middle.

You say that players brushed through the middle so why would you move Henderson out and leave Lucas and Gerrard exposed ?

Playing Coutinho in the middle does exactly that - I can remember which game it was but with Coutinho in the middle last year behind a front three left us outnumbered in the middle. Coutinho may sort of play the wide role but he roams a lot around the pitch. Coutinho certainly is being pushed out wide to shoehorn because that's where he has played most of his career and where he was most effective. Henderson certainly wasnt anywhere near as effective out wide. The best results and performances we had last year where based on Coutinho out wide and Henderson through the middle. Not sure why you would want to swap them around Yakka ?

I don't really have a problem with Gerrard and Lucas being our midfield pairing. I think both players have the quality to demand a starting spot and I dont see the lack of mobility or pace (as some put it) in the middle of the park being a big issue for us. I think the main reason why we might seem outnumbered in the middle of park at times comes from the fact that our tactics are designed in a way that provides too much freedom for attacking players like Coutinho and Suarez regardless of their position on the pitch. Ideally, Coutinho, Suarez, and Sturridge would all operate in a more central role with limited defensive responsibilities being placed on the trio. Thats not doable though. Our best chance of getting some balance in midfield imo comes from Downing and the left wide player coming deeper towards the middle of the park to add to the numbers with the forward and second striker doing more in terms of pressing defenders and midfielders from higher up the pitch. 

For me, it comes down to a choice of Coutinho or Suarez in that second striker role and Suarez gets the nod when everyone is available and fit. I dont see a place for Henderson in the side consistently and certainly not in a central attacking role. He could be utilized in a wide role as some have already suggested but I'd prefer it if he competed with Downing for the right wide role rather than Coutinho/Suarez for the left wide role.                 

I'd go with this:

Without Suarez:

                           Mignolet

Johnson        Skrtel         Agger         Enrique

                  Gerrard           Lucas

Downing               Coutinho               Aspas 
                                           
                           Sturridge


With Suarez:

                           Mignolet

Johnson        Skrtel         Agger         Enrique

                  Gerrard           Lucas
Downing                                          Coutinho 
                             Suarez             
                           Sturridge

ycsatbjywtbiastkamb » Sun Aug 11, 2013 11:45 am wrote:

Kenny Kan » Sun Aug 11, 2013 11:34 am wrote:I like what I've seen from Allen Yakka, okay it hasn't been top drawer stuff but I think at this moment in time there is more to Allen than Henderson personally. Henderson (IMO) is a steady Eddie engine, Allen I believe is more livelier and willing amongst the build up in final third than Henderson (although Henderson is a better finisher)

There isn't much between them imo but I'd just give Allen the nod - on style. I'm looking for a spark from midfield and out of our 4 mids, (Gerrard, Hendo, Lucas & Allen) I think Allen's that little bit different from the rest.

i think hendo`s a better player mate, i think he`s more athletic than joe and more likely to get a goal. i havent been that impressed with lucas, gerrard and allen as a 3 in pre season tbh. not enough creativity. i think joe`s best footy was when he was in the side instead of lucas, maybe it`s worth trying that in a cup game or something.

I'm not convinced on either Gerrard or Lucas in midfield. it's too pedestrian for my liking which is why I like the idea of having a little Jack Russell (Allen) scurrying around ankle biting - he does have a knack of winning the ball back higher up the pitch and is better than Henderson at this imo.

The Celtic game reminded me that if Gerrard has an off day (as he did against the hoops) we look very ordinary in the middle of the park - and he'll probably have more of those days as the season progresses. Rodgers imo needs to blood Henderson into Gerrard's role alongside Lucas (feck we've got an ordinary midfield when you think about it!), I'd rather see a steady Eddie sitting deeper and using that athleticism to help the immobile Lucas out.

I would expect a line up close to this -

               Mignolet

Johnson  Toure  Agger  Enrique

         Gerrard   Lucas

   Aspas   Coutinho   Sterling

              Sturridge

I suppose it is a good sign that we are finding it hard to pick the 11 as surely this means we have options?

Coutinho could easily play wide left of a front 3, and use a CM 3 adding Allen or Henderson to Gerrard and Lucas.

               Mignolet

Johnson  Toure  Agger  Enrique

   Gerrard   Lucas Henderson   

   Aspas   Sturridge  Coutinho   


Personally I'd prefer the first line up.

We desperately need a good start, against one of our bogey teams, and hopefully we can win convincingly and get some momentum going straight away.

I'm going 3-0.  Sturridge, Coutinho, Gerrard

less than 48 hours to go 

A good opening test against a "Bully" type of a team ,will see how we measure against thugs this year.

the weather forecast doesnt look too good tomorrow

Well, I was hoping we'd enter the new season with a better squad to be honest, but we've been in a good form in preseason and we're playing at home, so I'm feeling positive. I have some doubts in our front 3 though, especially in Aspas and even Coutinho to break the strong defense of Stoke, and I'm not sure if Sturridge is fit enough, so we might have to rely on our midfielders, especially Gerrard and Henderson, to break Stoke's bunker that I'm expecting to see at Anfield.

This is what I'd go for:


                                       Mignolet

                 Johnson      Toure     Agger      Enrique

                               Gerrard          Lucas

                                       Henderson

                     Aspas         Sturridge       Coutinho

Let's put these motherf**kers to the sword.

We need to come out breathing fire to show the rest of the league we mean business.

C"MON REDMEN.............

After the disappointment of losing to Celtic's B team only a week ago I am surprised (and encouraged) by how positive this forum is about today's game. I am excited about the season finally kicking off, but I am a little nervous about this game. I've no doubt we'll out play them, but will we out score them? I'd love to see Coutinho playing behind Sturridge, but I worry we'll be too weak in midfield. Still, we are playing at home against a Stoke team with a new manager, so I wouldn't be surprised if we'll line up this way:

               Lucas    Gerrard

Aspas          Coutinho           Sterling

                  Sturridge

Rodgers may prefer hard working Henderson in place of Aspas or Sterling, but I think our chances of a victory are improved with Coutinho playing through the middle, so I'd rather Hendo on the flank than Coutinho there.

I think they'll (stoke) pack the midfield and press us. That's my hunch and it will make for a difficult afternoon.

However, get an early goal and that will make the difference.

Kenny Kan » Aug 17th, '13, 05:13 wrote:I think they'll (stoke) pack the midfield and press us. That's my hunch and it will make for a difficult afternoon.

However, get an early goal and that will make the difference.

Yes, this has been an issue in the past where the opposition do this, and LFC can't break. However, I believe BR is building a team that will be able to adapt to any situation, break the opposition down, then get the goals......

Kash_Mountain » Sat Aug 17, 2013 8:15 am wrote:

Kenny Kan » Aug 17th, '13, 05:13 wrote:I think they'll (stoke) pack the midfield and press us. That's my hunch and it will make for a difficult afternoon.

However, get an early goal and that will make the difference.

Yes, this has been an issue in the past where the opposition do this, and LFC can't break. However, I believe BR is building a team that will be able to adapt to any situation, break the opposition down, then get the goals......

Yep. I also think it might give teams the opportunity to attack us a bit more. We seem to have, or use more flair type players these days, I wonder if oppo managers think they'll be able to get at any possible defensive frailty's we have?

That said, I don't really expect Mark Hughes to do this with Stoke today, I can see a bus park for this one.

Mignolet, Johnson,Enrique, Toure, Agger, Lucas, Henderson, Gerrard, Coutinho, Aspas, Sturridge.