Liverpool FC Forum

by **JBG** » Sat Jul 31, 2004 2:50 pm

Gerrard, or at least the way he played under Houllier, needs a guy alongside him to win ball and cover back, as Gerrard likes to bomb forward.

Look at England at Euro 2004 where Gerrard was expected to play as a holding player and see what happened.

I like Hamman, but I'd prefer a more energetic and kinetic player in his place, a guy like Maniche or even Costinha.

Gerrard and his new midfield partner could share defensive and attacking duties, so you'd have a situation where you wouldn't be depending on a one particular player to do a particular job.

As Stu and Daglish rightfully said, when Arsenal miss one of their players the team continues to play its normal game and be effective, yet when Liverpool lost Hamman the whole "holding player in midfield" concept went out the window and unbalanced the team.

by **jim_morrison_supported_liverpool** » Sat Jul 31, 2004 3:06 pm

thats cos the tactics were rigid, and to play that "solid" team game, it does need a player like hamann. a player like hamann can only be that good in that type of play, after having played him and the team game continuously.it has to be worked at. there was too much focus on building this team, with hamann a crucial part of it.right from the start, different tactics should have been integrated, and then we wouldnt have had to rely on hamann. we wont need to rely on him with Rafa by the looks of things as he seems to have more variables. that is also when dealing with injuries becomes easier. if you have more variables then squad rotation becomes easier as the players are happy with getting games, confidence is boosted and the team works!!!
so many players didnt function under Houllier for these reasons.

by **charwell** » Sun Aug 01, 2004 1:20 am

Two good players. Let's get rid of the dross before we start replacing the hard working ones who will defo still do a good job for this season at least.

by **Dalglish** » Sun Aug 01, 2004 1:28 am

charwell wrote:Two good players. Let's get rid of the dross before we start replacing the hard working ones who will defo still do a good job for this season at least.

Says it all as far as i'm concerned

What we talking about replacing solid consistent performers for when we have players like Traore, Biscan, Diao and Diouff :suspect:

by **akumaface** » Sun Aug 01, 2004 4:02 am

Couldn't agree more Dalglish. Hamann is not flashy but out of all LFC players, he has more good games than bad. WHen He was out last season, we stink. He is very important to this team. He did all the garbage work. I think he can be creative if he is asked to do so. But of couse if Rafa doesn't think so then, we might need somebody else. This doesn't mean he is not good enough, just mean different style. I think as for the team, Hamann is not the problem, we need a right midfield with someone who has pace and can cross from the baseline.

Its interesting to see our fans here would be considerable enough to give second chance to people like Diao, Biscan while wanting Hamann be replaced.........

by **LFC #1** » Sun Aug 01, 2004 5:06 am

Hamann ahead of Diao anyday, but i think ppl are saying that perhaps under a new manager Diao and perhaps Biscan will get another chance and may show us what GH saw in them.

With our lack of depth in midfield, we need signings, but if they aren't made then we can't afford to get rid of the likes of Diao and Biscan in case of injuries to Hamann, Gerrard etc.

by **The_Rock** » Sun Aug 01, 2004 5:26 am

Hamann is a world-class midfielder, but for hamann to show, what he can do (i.e....goal against Portsmouth), we need a pacy & versatile defence.

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