Liverpool FC Forum

by **JoeTerp** » Sun Nov 16, 2008 9:13 pm

for me the more interesting question is the affect that having both Torres and Keane fit has on the midfield. A 4 man midfield does not have room for all of Gerrard, ALonso, Mascherano, Kuyt, and Riera.

by **Rush Job** » Mon Nov 17, 2008 3:27 am

I havent cast a vote because for me (and Im sure Rafa) it depends on who we are playing and whether its home or away.
For instance if we are home to Hull I`d go 442 but away to the mancs I would be more inclined to go 4231 which gives us that extra bit of insurance.

by **JamCar05** » Mon Nov 17, 2008 2:07 pm

Rush Job wrote:I havent cast a vote because for me (and Im sure Rafa) it depends on who we are playing and whether its home or away.
For instance if we are home to Hull I`d go 442 but away to the mancs I would be more inclined to go 4231 which gives us that extra bit of insurance.

I agree with this, though I've actually voted Torres alone upfront. The reason I did this was, that otherwise I could not decide what to do with the midfield. Riera and Kuyt should definitely be playing based on current form, and so should Alonso in the middle. Gerrard is also a given though, so that would leave me with the solution to bench Mascher. But he's immense at protecting the backline and one of the reasons Gerrard can roam so freely and Alonso is able to dictate the game a bit further up the field than previous seasons.

All in all I think Rush Job (and others) are right in the fact, that we'll have to accomodate it a bit based on our opponents (which I agree Rafa will no doubt think himself). For some games it will be important to have two strikers upfront, whereas other games will demand more grit and defensive discipline.

by **stmichael** » Tue Nov 18, 2008 12:23 pm

Whatever the formation is (I prefer 4-2-3-1 by the way) the most major question once again is where Steven Gerrard plays. Personally, I'd prefer him on the right of the three with Kuyt just in behind Torres and Riera on the left.

As I've said many times, I don't like Gerrard as a second striker but it says more about Rafa's opinion of Keane that he still persists with playing Gerrard there every now and again, especially away from home against stronger sides. There's no doubt Gerrard is more a central-midfielder than a centre forward, but because of the 1-striker system we use on occasions, sometimes the position he's playing in these days looks closer to centre-forward than centre-midfield.

This means we might be underutilizing half (or more than half) of Gerrard's game: the defensive side. I say more than half because I personally think he's more effective and complete as a midfielder when he's defending than when he's attacking. His tackling is miles better than his passing in my book.

Now that's a personal opinion and very open to debate, but what's more clear cut is this: Stephen Gerrard's neither exclusively a defensive midfielder or an attacking midfielder. He's both.

by **Scottbot** » Tue Nov 18, 2008 3:50 pm

stmichael wrote:As I've said many times, I don't like Gerrard as a second striker but it says more about Rafa's opinion of Keane that he still persists with playing Gerrard there every now and again, especially away from home against stronger sides.

Also down to the fact the manager struggles to leave out Alonso or Mascherano away from home. Rafa is a safety first coach (and alsways will be) who likes his two holding midfielders. I think he sometimes cannot bring himself to leave one of them out.

by **Owzat** » Wed Nov 19, 2008 1:27 pm

Scottbot wrote:
stmichael wrote:As I've said many times, I don't like Gerrard as a second striker but it says more about Rafa's opinion of Keane that he still persists with playing Gerrard there every now and again, especially away from home against stronger sides.

Also down to the fact the manager struggles to leave out Alonso or Mascherano away from home. Rafa is a safety first coach (and alsways will be) who likes his two holding midfielders. I think he sometimes cannot bring himself to leave one of them out.

I think he will favour that extra "security" in Mascherano most away games. I'd rather we didn't chop and change formations just to accommodate an expensive striker who's yet to justify the price tag. We know the 5 across the middle works, it did well towards the end of last season and with a proper solution to the LM problem (at last!) then there's cause for optimism. And it's not as if we're overloaded with strikers to put on the bench, there's N'Gog, Babel and that's about it. We looked thin on the ground in terms of striking options without Torres and Keane still trying to find his right foot. Kuyt can move back into attack, but that would leave a gap on the right and Kuyt may lapse back into the rut he had that caused such animosity towards him in the first place.

by **GYBS** » Wed Nov 19, 2008 1:29 pm

All depends on wether its home or away and who the opposition is .

by **April** » Fri Nov 21, 2008 9:09 am

4-4-2 is good, I think,giving more time to Keane,I believe he will do better!

by **April** » Fri Nov 21, 2008 9:16 am

In my opinion,Keane's running is good,then he can create many chances to Torres and Gerrard.

by **Judge** » Fri Nov 21, 2008 12:35 pm

welcome april? intro yourself properly mate in the, surprisingly apt, introductions thread

by **tubby** » Fri Nov 21, 2008 12:40 pm

Whilst Torres and the rest of the team can score goals if that ever dries up then Keane will come under more scrutiny for not scoring. Hes doing ok so far but fok is not good enough. For 20Mil we need more from him.

by **huang xiangwen** » Sat Nov 22, 2008 3:13 am

stmichael wrote:Whatever the formation is (I prefer 4-2-3-1 by the way) the most major question once again is where Steven Gerrard plays. Personally, I'd prefer him on the right of the three with Kuyt just in behind Torres and Riera on the left.

As I've said many times, I don't like Gerrard as a second striker but it says more about Rafa's opinion of Keane that he still persists with playing Gerrard there every now and again, especially away from home against stronger sides. There's no doubt Gerrard is more a central-midfielder than a centre forward, but because of the 1-striker system we use on occasions, sometimes the position he's playing in these days looks closer to centre-forward than centre-midfield.

This means we might be underutilizing half (or more than half) of Gerrard's game: the defensive side. I say more than half because I personally think he's more effective and complete as a midfielder when he's defending than when he's attacking. His tackling is miles better than his passing in my book.

Now that's a personal opinion and very open to debate, but what's more clear cut is this: Stephen Gerrard's neither exclusively a defensive midfielder or an attacking midfielder. He's both.

I'm very agree with you

by **metalhead** » Sat Nov 22, 2008 8:01 pm

With Keane being out of form, I guess I would stick Torres as a lone striker for the time being in a 4-5-1 formation.

by **tubby** » Sat Nov 22, 2008 8:06 pm

He seems to be ok in Europe so I think you will see the same as today for the Marseille game except with Stevie back hopefully.

by **Rush Job** » Sat Nov 22, 2008 11:54 pm

Judge wrote:welcome april? intro yourself properly mate in the, surprisingly apt, introductions thread

It a girl judge.

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Best formation? - When torres and keane are both fit

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