Liverpool FC Forum

by **red37** » Mon Sep 25, 2006 11:07 pm

the only doubts id have over this system (which on the whole theres nothing to say we cant employ effectively with the current squad) is the restrictions it would naturally place on Agger (bearing in mind if he plays) and his tendency to want to hold possession and move the ball higher up the pitch. something that must be applauded and is very refreshing to see btw. in essence i see this as one of the present main areas of improvement and it would make little sense to discard it at the moment, in favour of a static 3. at least not if he makes up the left of the trio. and particularly if gonzalez/kewell plays on that side. defensively we could be in trouble if caught out of position. riise on the other hand, and to a degree aurelio would make a better selection for this system to work, primarily away from home.

but yeah, its an oldie but goldie i suppose, if you have the players to pull it off. and at the end of the day its all about horses for courses.

its just nice to be able to start having these discussions about these choices of formations where the team is concerned. and the myriad ways a talented manager like rafa can deploy them. rather than having too many qualms over the personnel that are assigned to the task. which thankfully is now fast becoming a boring topic. long may the tweaking continue for me and lets face it, we arent far away now are we?

i like the barcelona theory rushie.

by **coddy** » Mon Sep 25, 2006 11:09 pm

vlady16.1 wrote:i really like the 3-5-2 as we can get more of our good players on the field. also it is different and will force the opposition to respond to it which empowers us

i really like the freedom it can give gerrard

++

by **66-1112520797** » Tue Sep 26, 2006 3:31 am

Not for me thanks, I noticed Rafa toying with the notion against Tottenham and for the odd game it may work. I dont like the system personally, I'm not keen on the wingbacks role in the system. If your up against a team playing a 4-4-2 formation your wingbacks can either become isolted and find themselves up against the the oppositions winger and their full back and they can double up on him and pin him back so he's offering nothing going forward. Either that or teams would look to exploit the space in behind the wing back, and then stretch the back three.

I prefer the 4-4-2 as the system seems to be more structured and rigid, in this system I think its harder for players to become pulled out of position and dragged up and down or accross the pitch. Also I like the insurance a full back offers to the midfielder infront of him. He can support him and push on or can hold back and offer cover, you dont get that with the wingbacks in the 3-5-2.

Also a partnership is better understood by two rather than three ,be it center mid or center half. Particulary the back two, firstly I think you only need two to fill the center and second they can build up an almost telepathic understanding as there playing side by side. By having the fullbacks either side of them they wont get dragged or stretched accross, leaving gaping holes for forwards to exploit. No, there neatly tucked into the core of the side and protected either side and infront by the CM pairing , who also have an understanding of there own.

Plus with all the stick Rafa's been getting lately on his rotating policy, wouldnt this add to the 'confusion' by chopping your formation around. Maybe when your three nil up as we were to Spurs, he can look at it, but people will be calling for his head if he started with that formation and lost. The team also look as if they're just starting to click and its important we build up the head of steam with something of a settled formation.

by **JBG** » Tue Sep 26, 2006 1:25 pm

If your midfielders are good enough there is no need for 3-5-2 as you can just get your full backs to push up anyway, all be it one at a time with a midfielder covering back. We already have some terrific attacking full backs and I suspect that Rafa wanted Alves for that role.

Three centre halves is not a recipe for success IMO.

by **PabloAimar** » Tue Sep 26, 2006 2:49 pm

all this early-season rotation, and the ability for us to play different systems whenever we please will stand us in good stead in the long run. we'll become an even more unpredictably dangerous team than we already are.

imagine teams lining up hoping to nullify our wing-backs, only to find at the last minute we're actually playing classic 4-4-2. last season and the season before we were a team in transition in terms of personel, however this season, we have a nucleus of a top set of players and they are all very quickly finding their place in rafa's long term plan for lfc.

if this season doesnt see us destroy the world, i'll put my house on our success next season.

rafa is just too clever and tv pundits should really have learnt by now never to doubt him.

by **Sabre** » Tue Sep 26, 2006 3:55 pm

I don't like 3-5-2, I've seen only Barcelona using it with some success and it was back in 1992. Of couse with fullbacks like Sergi and Ferrer (ex chelsea player) that went up and down all the match.

The initial proposal of Michael would make us struggle, our back 3 wouldn't ever go up, and Momo and Alonso would be covering the gaps of weak wings, and perhaps our midfielders would be stumbling each other!

If any, the 3-5-2 formation I'd suggest would be Bad Bob's Gonzalez played as a full back/LB back in Chile, and perhaps he has the stamina to go up and down all the game. But as I said I don't like it!

3-5-2 has the reputation of being more attacking than 4-4-2 and it hasn't to be that way! a 4-4-2 can be very attackant if you have your defence up and the l/R backs helps, at that time it's not a 4-4-2 any more!, meaning that what it counts is the amount of players you have on front of the ball and the players that you summon in attack, not the initial nice picture you can see when kick off!

I laugh when I see some "pundits" calling Rafa defensive. He plays 2 strikers, LFC rarely sits down deep and presses a lot, the LM and RM often swaps position with strikers and they are in the area often (Bellamy falls to the wing, and LG then goes to the center part lurking the area), he's not fécking defensive!!

by **Espionage** » Tue Sep 26, 2006 4:04 pm

We play a 4-4-2 that becomes a 3-5-2 when our fullbacks turn into wingbacks and Xabi Alonso becomes a centreback (though slightly advanced).

Example: Agger can go on surging runs as Alonso just covers his position

by **ivor_the_injun** » Wed Sep 27, 2006 6:55 pm

To be honest, we're more than capable of putting a side out in a 3-5-2 that would have the security of a 4-4-2, while still allowing our central mids the freedom to do damage going forward. The key is to make sure we're defending well up the park. If the back three hang back, it won't work and we'll invite pressure.

Reina

Finnan Carra Agger

Sissoko

Pennant Gerrard Alonso Gonzalez

Bellamy
Kuyt

Basically, so long as the three central mids have the discipline to cover for whoever's moving forward, we can always have a back line of three with a holding midfielder in between. We'll only get into trouble if all three bomb forward and there's a quick break going the other way.

Even then though, with six or seven hard-working, quality attackers right across the pitch, that's one hell of an obstacle just to get outside your own half, let alone anywhere near our defensive third. If our defenders are advanced not far short of the halfway line, opposing sides will need seriously accurately weighted passes through or over the top to allow their attackers to get on the end of them. And it's here that Reina's speed of thought and pace comes into play as well - he's alert enough to almost act as a sweeper in those situations.

I'd love to see it, to be honest. It doesn't work when your defenders and midfielders don't keep their discipline. If they do, and I think ours can, we'd have a really formidable attacking side.

by **ivor_the_injun** » Thu Sep 28, 2006 4:37 pm

Was thinking about the potential clash of styles people have talked about with Crouch and Kuyt. I'm not sure that I agree, but I'm starting to think that adding Garcia into the mix may well be a way of bringing the best out of them...

Example:

Reina

Finnan Carragher Agger

Sissoko
Gerrard Aurelio
Alonso

Garcia

Kuyt Crouch

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