Liverpool FC Forum

by **66-1112520797** » Wed Dec 06, 2006 1:36 pm

At the high risk of sounding like a broken record, and the fact that this might bore most of you. I was wondering after the Wigan performance whether Benitez is seriously toying with the idea of the "3-5-2". I personally dont like it, but stairing Rafa in the face are three good CB's, three good CM's and capable wingbacks. Its obvious to me Gerrard, (oh Gerrard I hear here you say) is best suited in the middle of the park, as again he had another top performance in that match. Equally though we have Momo and Alonso who also warrant starting positions, maybe the boss has come to the idea of starting those three in the middle from now on. Why else would he of gone for that formation against Wigan? Maybe he matched it to their formation and thought we'd get outnumbered in midfield, but its not the first time he's used it, and with Gerrard showing recent form maybe its given him something serious to ponder over, is he toying with the idea for the future, I wonder.

As said I'm not a fan of it, reason being are the fullbacks, if they get caught out of position and at the same time lack pace wingers will usually always find acres of space to work in down the flanks. Then the possibility of having your CB's drawn across leaves the others in isolation and gaping holes. Its not solid, defensively for me and I cant think of to many English teams that have used the system effectively, but in saying that I would say that we do have the three perfect CB's in Hyypia, Carra and Agger with Palleta as back up to at least TRY this system. I know many will say stick with what we've got dont change etc etc, and I'm in that basket too (is that a contadiction or what

)
but the players are drilled in training sessions using more than one formation, I wouldnt say the players only know one formation, apparently this is the problem with "English" players, their lack of adaptability. And although it was used against a very naive Wigan side on Saturday it could certainly well bode thought for the future.

by **account deleted by request** » Wed Dec 06, 2006 1:43 pm

While not many teams have won anything playing 5-3-2 or 3-5-2 many top teams now play 2 defensive midfielders, one of whom is a centre back who can fill in when a defender is out of position whilst giving better balance to the team when its attacking. Real Madrid and Barca have both employed this tactic with great success in recent years.

by **stmichael** » Wed Dec 06, 2006 3:33 pm

I like the 3-5-2 system against certain teams away from home because it get's the best out of our central midfield. Look at the game Saturday and the game against Newcastle last season. They were probably our best two away performances in the last year or so.

I think that against the lesser teams of this world we can play with 5 in the midfeild which makes loads of room for the xabi, momo, stevie axis. However against the top 3 teams we definitely need Momo and a more traditional 442.

by **Leonmc0708** » Wed Dec 06, 2006 3:36 pm

I think that you will find that Rafa's teams are extremely fluid in their formation, and in fact often change about throughout the 90 mins.

I like the idea of playing Sami and Agger, Carra just in front, Momo and Alonso, and Gerrard in a free role, with Riise and Finnan at wing back and 2 up top. I think it works really well.

by **ConnO'var** » Wed Dec 06, 2006 4:12 pm

Bamaga man wrote:At the high risk of sounding like a broken record, and the fact that this might bore most of you. I was wondering after the Wigan performance whether Benitez is seriously toying with the idea of the "3-5-2". I personally dont like it, but stairing Rafa in the face are three good CB's, three good CM's and capable wingbacks. Its obvious to me Gerrard, (oh Gerrard I hear here you say) is best suited in the middle of the park, as again he had another top performance in that match. Equally though we have Momo and Alonso who also warrant starting positions, maybe the boss has come to the idea of starting those three in the middle from now on. Why else would he of gone for that formation against Wigan? Maybe he matched it to their formation and thought we'd get outnumbered in midfield, but its not the first time he's used it, and with Gerrard showing recent form maybe its given him something serious to ponder over, is he toying with the idea for the future, I wonder.

As said I'm not a fan of it, reason being are the fullbacks, if they get caught out of position and at the same time lack pace wingers will usually always find acres of space to work in down the flanks. Then the possibility of having your CB's drawn across leaves the others in isolation and gaping holes. Its not solid, defensively for me and I cant think of to many English teams that have used the system effectively, but in saying that I would say that we do have the three perfect CB's in Hyypia, Carra and Agger with Palleta as back up to at least TRY this system. I know many will say stick with what we've got dont change etc etc, and I'm in that basket too (is that a contadiction or what )
but the players are drilled in training sessions using more than one formation, I wouldnt say the players only know one formation, apparently this is the problem with "English" players, their lack of adaptability. And although it was used against a very naive Wigan side on Saturday it could certainly well bode thought for the future.

Mate,

You're not the only one that sounds like a broken record..... I've been doing the same thing too..

I echo your thoughts on most of the points you raised.

1. It would get Gerrard back in the middle where he belongs imo...
2. We have 3 quality Centrebacks who should be able to fill the role quite well..
3. With 3 in the middle, we should be able to counter the more physical and unpleasant teams.
4. Major problem is in the wingback position as the ones we have right now do not have sufficient pace and energy to do both the required attacking and defensive duties. Riise cannot cross the ball that well, Aurelio does not seem to have sufficient pace and Finnan may no longer have the legs to run up and down the field all day.
5. Alonso, who is a brilliant defensive midfielder, does not have enough pace about him to cover up the holes left behind by our wingbacks to prevent our centrebacks from being drawn out wide..

Else, we should be do more than ok with this formation....

A formation for which I am am very fond of...

by **woof woof !** » Wed Dec 06, 2006 4:23 pm

Leonmc0708 wrote:I think that you will find that Rafa's teams are extremely fluid in their formation, and in fact often change about throughout the 90 mins.

I like the idea of playing Sami and Agger, Carra just in front, Momo and Alonso, and Gerrard in a free role, with Riise and Finnan at wing back and 2 up top. I think it works really well.

Think the key (certainly in our case) to that formation is the quality of the wing backs , Finnan and Riise do a decent enough job in that role but those two aside I don't think we have anyone else who could combine offensive and defensive responsibilities effectively .

Ok for the occasional game but (imo) at the present time we don't have the personnel in the aforementioned positions to make it our preferred tactic .

by **Lando_Griffin** » Wed Dec 06, 2006 5:14 pm

I've been a fan of 3-5-2 ever since Rafa used it in the second half against Ac Milan.

It plays to our strengths as a team.

by **67-1161385641** » Wed Dec 06, 2006 5:21 pm

Lando_Griffin wrote:I've been a fan of 3-5-2 ever since Rafa used it in the second half against Ac Milan.

It plays to our strengths as a team.

For this formation to work efficiently and well we need better players.

by **Lando_Griffin** » Wed Dec 06, 2006 5:23 pm

CharmlessMan wrote:
Lando_Griffin wrote:I've been a fan of 3-5-2 ever since Rafa used it in the second half against Ac Milan.

It plays to our strengths as a team.

For this formation to work efficiently and well we need better players.

Such as?

by **67-1161385641** » Wed Dec 06, 2006 5:26 pm

For starters we need another wing back for the right hand side, so Alves and a striker who can score well oevr twenty goals a season. We need a striker in the mould of Owen.

by **Lando_Griffin** » Wed Dec 06, 2006 5:30 pm

CharmlessMan wrote:For starters we need another wing back for the right hand side, so Alves and a striker who can score well oevr twenty goals a season. We need a striker in the mould of Owen.

Here's one for you - Craig Bellamy.

He's better than Owen - he's not a selfish, greedy tw*t.

Plus he can run.

Kuyt and Bellamy are easily capable of 20 goals each this term.

Finnan can play the wingback role, as he is a decent crosser, and has about a year's worth of running left in him before he has to stick to being a right back.

Riise, despite being a p*ss-poor leftback, is actually one of the best wingbacks in the game today.

Funny that.

by **67-1161385641** » Wed Dec 06, 2006 5:39 pm

Bellamy's a good player, so is Kuyt, but they are footballers, not natural goal scorers like Owen is. Owen didn't hold the ball up, he didn't link up play. He just put the ball in the back of the net. We need a striker who can do that, someone who can produce something from nothing. Man Utd had Van Nistelrooij, Chelsea has Joe Cole, we had Owen, and we need to replace him. Crouch, Kuyt and Bellamy are good footballers who score goals, who are capable of scoring twenty goals a season, but they have a hard work ethic, they are footballers, they are not like Owen. They are not natural goal scorers who can produce something out of nothing. Certainly not on the level Owen did for us. If we sign a natural scorer, we will have a great strike force. We have three options; we need another option which will be very beneficial to us.

Finnan would make a great RWB, but we don't have any other alternative, Alves is an alternative and Chelsea is after him now. He would be a welcome addition of a wing back formation. We're covered on the left with Riise and Aurelio. I've always said that we would get the best out of Riise in a wing back formation.

Alves and a striker in the mould of Owen is what Rafa should go for in January.

by **SouthCoastShankly** » Wed Dec 06, 2006 5:51 pm

I don't mind us playing three at the back as long as one of the CBs isn't Paletta. That boy seriously needs to improve basic skills and decision making.

by **67-1161385641** » Wed Dec 06, 2006 5:58 pm

He's an Argie, South Americans don't believe in defending.

So he takes one step forward and two backs, he won't get far like that, his kind of footie won't ever last.

by **Rush Job** » Thu Dec 07, 2006 12:49 am

CharmlessMan wrote:Bellamy's a good player, so is Kuyt, but they are footballers, not natural goal scorers like Owen is. Owen didn't hold the ball up, he didn't link up play. He just put the ball in the back of the net. We need a striker who can do that, someone who can produce something from nothing. Man Utd had Van Nistelrooij, Chelsea has Joe Cole, we had Owen, and we need to replace him. Crouch, Kuyt and Bellamy are good footballers who score goals, who are capable of scoring twenty goals a season, but they have a hard work ethic, they are footballers, they are not like Owen. They are not natural goal scorers who can produce something out of nothing. Certainly not on the level Owen did for us. If we sign a natural scorer, we will have a great strike force. We have three options; we need another option which will be very beneficial to us.

Finnan would make a great RWB, but we don't have any other alternative, Alves is an alternative and Chelsea is after him now. He would be a welcome addition of a wing back formation. We're covered on the left with Riise and Aurelio. I've always said that we would get the best out of Riise in a wing back formation.

Alves and a striker in the mould of Owen is what Rafa should go for in January.

What striker/strikers "in the mould of Owen" do you have in mind? Not an easy possition to fill.

Liverpool FC Forum

Just a thought - The boomerang topic

Who is online