Liverpool FC Forum

by **stmichael** » Wed Dec 29, 2004 4:46 pm

in recent weeks it has been duff more than robben who has been doing the damage at chelsea. i agree that they are the main threat. however i have a good feeling about this game. we stepped it up a gear when we needed to against arsenal and i can see us doing similar again.

it will also be interesting to put the gerrard-lampard argument to bed. as much as i like lampard as a player, if gerrard keeps performing as he has been, lampard will get nowhere near him.

by **anfieldroad** » Wed Dec 29, 2004 4:49 pm

redman25 wrote:
anfieldroad wrote:whilst Alonso is clearly a super catch for LFC, my thoughts on Nunez are out at the moment, however, Luis Garcia, for me, has been left wanting for most of the season, and looks a little lightweight. i mean, why was he sucking his thumb the other day?

i know he's only a little guy, but there are plenty of folk like him who get stuck in, its frustrating. he has oodles of talent but little bottle. he's not doing it for me at LFC, get rid and buy shaun wright-phillips

yeah why not!! He would only cost around 20 million!! Suppose we could just get the money from the money tree

so u think he's a good player and buy then, ok then where's the money tree

joking apart, until we know what clauses there are in wright phillips contract, then the 20 million you talk about is pure speculation. i reckon 7 to 10 million more likely, remember it depends on contractual agreements.

if you want to try and rip my statement apart, please think before you do, however, i'm not saying that you dont have a valid point, but your comments seem a little hasty

by **whylongball?** » Wed Dec 29, 2004 4:49 pm

John Barnes' Granny wrote:The key to stopping Chelsea is to reign in Duff and Robben. I watched the extended highlights of the Portsmouth/Chelsea game last night and Pompey marked Duff and Robben out of it by doubling up on them as much as they could. Pompey were unlucky to lose as their game plan worked for 75 minutes.

Playing Diao at right back would be an absolute disaster, as would Troare, as both of them are not capable of handling Chelsea's wingers.

Keep the game tight and force Duff and Robben down cul de sacs and I think we will get a good result.

I'd play 5 in the middle, with Pongolle raiding from the right ala the game v. Arsenal. His pace will ensure that Chelsea won't be able to have a free hand down their left hand side.

Agree with u. Alonso and Hamann should be able to relieve the pressure on defence by closing down Duff and Robben. Cinama and Kewell if played at all should press back the fullbacks to cut their support and SG chase around- it should be enuf to cut their att. But its far more important to keep hold of the ball and make them chase around and wait for the right moment to hit. got to play patient game...like chess!!

by **bigmick** » Wed Dec 29, 2004 4:49 pm

The key to beating Chelski for me is to play the game in a similar fashion to them. Keep it tight at the back, don't give anything silly away and don't allow Robben to run half the length of the pitch without being challenged like Villa did the other day.
Pretty soon, and the game against us may just be the start of it, they are going to get into a 'must-win' situation every game as they go all out for the title. Same as when when we play the Mancs, nothing short of a win will do for them. I say lets capitalise on their desperation, a draw in both games wouldn't be a disaster for us. Keep it tight and see what happens, two glorious defeats are no good to anyone. Lets not get carried away though, neither Chelsea nor man U are as good as the Arsenal team of last season and the first part of this.

by **anfieldroad** » Wed Dec 29, 2004 4:51 pm

the key to beating chelsea is simple - outscore them

by **JBG** » Wed Dec 29, 2004 5:02 pm

I'm not sure about the fitness situation of Baros, Kewell and Finnan, but if all three are fit then this is the team I would play:

Dudek

Finnan Carragher Hyppia Riise

Hamman

Pongolle Gerrard Alonoso Garcia

Baros

Riise did an excellent job against Sean Wright Phillips at Anfield and he is far better equiped to deal with Duff or Robben than Troare, who is really a centre half and I cannot see him get to grips with Chelsea's wingers out wide.

Despite Riise tremedous form lately playing further forward I think this is a game where we need him to defend.

Chelsea will play 1 up front and I think Carragher and Hyppia will handle either Drogba or Gudjohnsen.

Midfield is interesting, although we clearly shade it in the centre. Lampard is in a terrific vein of form, but to be perfectly objective, he is limited in certain ways and has none of Gerrard's or Alonso's vision and passing range. While he has a terrific engine, his game is about popping up at the edge of the box, and if the game is kept right, Lampard will struggle to compete as was shown in the England game v. Spain, when he barely got a touch of the ball due to the sheer dominance of Alonso and particularly Xavi. If the game opens up Lampard is extremely dangerous, as he can score from in and around the box.

Hamman should mark Lampard tightly.

I know Carvahello, Gallas and Terry look invincible so far, hbut I think Milan Baros is the perfect kind of forward to combat them as he will drag them about and they might lose their shape, allowing Garcia and Gerrard in at their goal.

I think we have a really good chance of getting a result against Chelsea as the pressure is on them, they are beginning to complain about being tired, and they are due a beating. We have the second best home record in ther league (after them) and I don't think we'll roll over and allow them to beat us. However, it will be a huge task, but nullify Robben and Duff and we have a real chance.

by **The_Rock** » Wed Dec 29, 2004 5:07 pm

garcia ahead of a fit kewell......... JBG ?

by **JBG** » Wed Dec 29, 2004 5:11 pm

I know what you are saying Rocky. Its a hard one to call. Garcia doesn't really look that comfortable as a wide player (he's best when played in the hole) and a fit and fully loaded Kewell might cause them problems at right back, but my thinking with my formation is that I'd try to get Garcia and Gerrard to burst through holes that I'd expect (hope!) Baros would make.

by **andy_g** » Wed Dec 29, 2004 5:19 pm

but defence-wise, i still favour traore ahead of riise. we all know his distributions not so good recently but he's quicker than riise and a better tackler. to stop robben coming in from that side we need someone to be able to physically stop him and once djimi's clattered himk a couple of times he might think twice about it. if he then decides to try coming through the middle he'd got to deal with didi.

the tricky thig is though that if kewell is fit what do you do with riise. you'd have to put kewell on the wing but riise is really up for it at the moment.

by **The_Rock** » Wed Dec 29, 2004 5:21 pm

John Barnes' Granny wrote:I know what you are saying Rocky. Its a hard one to call. Garcia doesn't really look that comfortable as a wide player (he's best when played in the hole) and a fit and fully loaded Kewell might cause them problems at right back, but my thinking with my formation is that I'd try to get Garcia and Gerrard to burst through holes that I'd expect (hope!) Baros would make.

well you're the moderator. I won't argue against u.

My take is, as long as we play hamann, alonso & gerrard we should be ok.

by **The_Rock** » Wed Dec 29, 2004 5:22 pm

andy_g wrote:but defence-wise, i still favour traore ahead of riise. we all know his distributions not so good recently but he's quicker than riise and a better tackler. to stop robben coming in from that side we need someone to be able to physically stop him and once djimi's clattered himk a couple of times he might think twice about it. if he then decides to try coming through the middle he'd got to deal with didi.

the tricky thig is though that if kewell is fit what do you do with riise. you'd have to put kewell on the wing but riise is really up for it at the moment.

Traore is an accident waiting to happen. He was ok against mid-table teams. But against chelsea, duff will take him to the cleaners. Risse is a better choice.

by **Kenc** » Wed Dec 29, 2004 5:28 pm

The best bet is to play Risse and Traore and double up on Duffer. He's too good to leave one on one with anyone let alone our Left backs. Besides, playing 5 across the middle will allow Gerrard, Alonso and Didi to slide across and help out against Chelsea's winger, similar to what they did to Henry and Pires.

To beat chelsea see Arsenal game.

by **The_Rock** » Wed Dec 29, 2004 5:34 pm

comeon guys just because we won against arsenal playing one way, does not mean we will win against chelsea if we do the same........

Arsenal plays 4-4-2. From what i understand, chelsea plays 4-3-2-1 (with 2 support strikers in duff & robben).

Against arsenal we suffocated their midfield and won. Against chelsea we have to neutralise duff & robben.

by **andy_g** » Wed Dec 29, 2004 5:36 pm

thats why i suggest playing traore. i think he'd be better at stopping robben. and i'd probably use riise ahead of him to keep their defence busy and support traore when necessary.

by **yckatbjywtbiastkamb** » Wed Dec 29, 2004 6:02 pm

as portsmouth nearly showed yesterday the responsibility to keep the wingers quiet lies not just with the fullbacks but the whole team.
when ever duff and robben got the ball pompey players surrounded them, and it nearly worked but for a speculative deflected shot.
like the arsenal game we need to work hard all over the pitch so these players dont have time to dwell on the ball, keep them on the back foot by pressurising them in their half, and with a bit of luck i fancy us to get a win.

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