Liverpool FC Forum

by **Wendi Richter** » Wed Dec 17, 2003 2:42 pm

(PS mods Im sorry this was meant to go in the players lounge. Please move. Thanks.)

Didi is a fine player. Ill say that upfront.

However, he is essentially a defensive midfielder that sits in front of the back 4. Thats OK too. However I have always had my doubts about his value when we are behind, and lets face it, we are behind at the half frequently these days.

The game v Southhampton I thought was typical of where Didi can be an achilles heel for us in this respect. Sitting back when mostly the ball was played in the opposition half, which is fine if we are in front, no help if we are behind as we were after the first minute.

If he pushes up too far however, the danger is he will get caught on the fast break when the opposition counter, and lets be honest, Hamman is not the quickest player on the park is he.

I was not surprised to see him come off on the weekend when we were behind.

More and more in todays football I think pace is important, as is the ability to be both offensive and defensive. I think he still adds value to the side, probably more so when Kewell and Owen are playing, amd we are up and running, but I also think he can be a liability when the side is not travelling well as we are at the moment.

by **Owzat** » Wed Dec 17, 2003 2:47 pm

I believe Hamann inhibits Liverpool, Gerrard would be more suited in the holding role. I think Hamann is better than Batty but I seem them both as more or less one dimensional players who are not attacking enough so they give a defensive look to the team. This is ok away from home but at home we need to be more attacking and a player sitting in front of the back four restricts us. I am probably being unkind on Hamann but I just feel he has his limitations, probably why we got him and not manu or Arsenal (or even Madrid)

by **whylongball?** » Thu Dec 25, 2003 12:42 pm

Owzat wrote:I believe Hamann inhibits Liverpool, Gerrard would be more suited in the holding role. I think Hamann is better than Batty but I seem them both as more or less one dimensional players who are not attacking enough so they give a defensive look to the team. This is ok away from home but at home we need to be more attacking and a player sitting in front of the back four restricts us. I am probably being unkind on Hamann but I just feel he has his limitations, probably why we got him and not manu or Arsenal (or even Madrid)

i dont quite agree with u on this. Steven G cant actually play a better holding role like Didi. Didi's tackling and positional sense seem to be better cos he knows when to tackle/cover and his ball holding is excellent..not many can take the ball away from him. S.G sometime shows 2 much aggression in tackling which is not necessary. He's better in going forward and i think the pair provide a very good balance in the midfield. S.G should improve on his goal rate though. Frank Lampard's tremendous improvement presents competition for S.G in england and i think he should try to improve somemore.

by **azriahmad** » Sat Dec 27, 2003 5:20 am

Hamann has been very good in the past, this time round he seems less effective. perhaps it is because he is yet to reach his peak and the other midfielders lose the ball too much and hence Hamann's responsibility to win balls and cover the defence becomes more burdensome. We can't continue to have planks like Smicer, Diao (when he plays), Diouf, Murphy and sometimes even Stevie G making stray passes or losing possession way too easily like they tend to nowadays, and hope for Hamann to cover for their shortcomings every time.
Liverpool's other midfielders need to be more alert and make more intelligent passes rather than make speculative ones and keep getting hit on the counter attack or losing possession when trying to go forward and conceding goals because the defence is sooooo slow and cumbersome.
I think Hamann is a very good player, he is definitely better than Jeremies of Bayern Munich who plays in a similar role, just that we have to acknowledge that he is not a speed demon and have the others play more responsibily instead.

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Hamman - His value when we are behind?

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