Liverpool FC Forum

by **7_Kewell** » Mon Feb 23, 2009 4:15 pm

Mascherano has been very disapointing this season

by **Zidane** » Mon Feb 23, 2009 5:32 pm

Riera has been so bad lately I can't believe how his form has dropped and it hasn't been able to go back up again. This is where Rafa's man management comes into play he has to get the guy feeling better about himself somehow. His confidence is shot he better be up for the Madrid game he is spanish so I assume it would mean a lot to him, don't go out and play like sht.

by **akumaface** » Mon Feb 23, 2009 5:44 pm

loopyliverpool wrote:Pato from Milan!! Funny man. If Kaka was going to cost City £100m Pato is going to be there or there abouts! Top top player but we don't have that kind of money, not if we sold five Masscherano's!

I know Pato cost a lot and it was just an example. If we can get someone decent like Pato but cost less, let's go for it. There must be some portugese or brazilian winger with flair out there somewhere to be found. Anyway, my point is sell Mascherano and maybe carra and then get a winger.

by **redhayesy** » Tue Feb 24, 2009 12:20 am

stmichael wrote:He's starting to concern me a bit if I'm honest.

Don't get me wrong I like him, but when he first came he started off as a winger who stayed wide and ran at his fullback. He gave us a balance that we hadn't seen since Kewell was fully fit in 2005/6. Now he seems to be playing deeper and closer to the central midfield.

I just hope he keeps his shape more against Madrid. Sergio Ramos is good going forward but isn't the best defensively and I think Riera can get at him.

good point you made there mate, about playing deeper, also like i said in the why lucas? thread -is that yesterday because of lack of creativity in midfield going foward, he had to come inside more to try & recieve/retrieve the ball to get attacks going as a result he found himself providing passes down the wing for dossena,who couldn't catch a cold. so he was drifting into midfield more throughout the game,to get into it & was un creative himself as a result. fwiw i do rate him, but the balance of the team wasn't right yesterday. he needs the right service to maximise his potential in games.

by **stmichael** » Tue Feb 24, 2009 12:53 pm

redhayesy wrote:
stmichael wrote:He's starting to concern me a bit if I'm honest.

Don't get me wrong I like him, but when he first came he started off as a winger who stayed wide and ran at his fullback. He gave us a balance that we hadn't seen since Kewell was fully fit in 2005/6. Now he seems to be playing deeper and closer to the central midfield.

I just hope he keeps his shape more against Madrid. Sergio Ramos is good going forward but isn't the best defensively and I think Riera can get at him.

good point you made there mate, about playing deeper, also like i said in the why lucas? thread -is that yesterday because of lack of creativity in midfield going foward, he had to come inside more to try & recieve/retrieve the ball to get attacks going as a result he found himself providing passes down the wing for dossena,who couldn't catch a cold. so he was drifting into midfield more throughout the game,to get into it & was un creative himself as a result. fwiw i do rate him, but the balance of the team wasn't right yesterday. he needs the right service to maximise his potential in games.

This comes back to Rafa's philosophy and what he wants from his players.

The main problem is, our wide players have f#ck all freedom. They play in an invisible 10 yard cell.

by **Toffeehater** » Tue Feb 24, 2009 1:48 pm

7_Kewell wrote:Mascherano has been very disapointing this season

I thought masch has been slowly getting back to his best these last 5 games or so . His tackling was superb against city . Yes he was poor at the start of the season , seems to be recovering now .

@AkumaFace
And sell mascherano , you've got to be joking

by **GYBS** » Wed Feb 25, 2009 12:57 pm

Zidane wrote:Riera has been so bad lately I can't believe how his form has dropped and it hasn't been able to go back up again. This is where Rafa's man management comes into play he has to get the guy feeling better about himself somehow. His confidence is shot he better be up for the Madrid game he is spanish so I assume it would mean a lot to him, don't go out and play like sht.

think reira is now playing like i expected (not wanted) him to play - didnt rate him as highly as others and is now prob worth he is price tag

by **Rockthekop** » Sat Feb 28, 2009 11:41 am

Riera is by no means a bad player but he needs to up his game sharpish, he's not giving enough to the team on current form.

GYBS we are probably in the majority thinking that Riera is now playing the way we expected him to.

I thought he started off very well but then his form started to dip. He hasn't reached those dizzy heights again.

I'd like to see a quality LW brought in, Riera is not bad but he isn't great, we can do a lot better. Useful squad player though.

by **bigmick** » Sat Feb 28, 2009 11:45 am

Unlike a few posters whi I've read recently, I actually thought he played fairly well against Madrid. I don't think Riera is too much of a problem, I actually think these last few weeks he's doing Ok again TBH.

by **Owzat** » Sat Feb 28, 2009 11:55 am

Toffeehater wrote:@AkumaFace
And sell mascherano , you've got to be joking

I can see logic behind it, he could fetch a fair bit of money and frankly do we really need a DM? We leak the odd goal even with Mascherano in the side, what we need is to score more goals. Our team seems a little to defensive in mindset at times, Mascherano and Alonso with our wide players expected to work back as well. Where's the flair, where's the creativity?

I had the same reservations about Sissoko, it's almost deja vu as I type this because I had nothing against him either other than his one dimensional game and in a side that doesn't score enough that is a killer. It almost pains me to see so many Liverpool fans love a good tackle at the expense of more goals. I don't suggest we go gung-ho, but out of our midfield and attack only Torres, Kuyt and Gerrard contribute enough to the attacking cause and mostly through their goals. I was quite pleased to see Benayoun trying to prove some of us doubters wrong recently. Ask yourself WHY do we draw too many games? We could find the cash from elsewhere, but I say the DM should be first sacrificed when chasing a game, and a lot of the time we should be looking to win and not need one in the side to start with - shouldn't need one at home except maybe the 'big four' clashes. Probably the same applies away when looking to win games in order to win league titles. Carrick for the mancs has a lot more about him

And why did you pick up on that in particular when he also suggested maybe selling Carra?!? I can see logic behind selling Mascherano, not so much arguably our best CB and fill-in full-back.

by **Sabre** » Fri Mar 13, 2009 1:22 pm

bigmick wrote:Unlike a few posters whi I've read recently, I actually thought he played fairly well against Madrid. I don't think Riera is too much of a problem, I actually think these last few weeks he's doing Ok again TBH.

I agree.

Similarly, it was spot on to say that he needed a bit of bench due to him dropping his form before these decent games he has done as of late.

No matter if his form dropped because of tiredness, or simply dropped, the bench was necessary.

What a pity that the one waiting for the chance hasn't taken it in this while, that has been a problem. To be fair, Babel did a good game against Madrid, but he hasn't taken his chances when Riera was benched like Benayoun did, for instance.

In the case of Yossi, I saw a player telling the manager in the pitch "I'm a better option than the regular starter in the right".

In the case of Babel, I couldn't say that.

by **Owzat** » Fri Mar 13, 2009 3:46 pm

bigmick wrote:Unlike a few posters whi I've read recently, I actually thought he played fairly well against Madrid. I don't think Riera is too much of a problem, I actually think these last few weeks he's doing Ok again TBH.

I think the way our team is set up that we need more from players like Kuyt and Riera - or whoever plays those wide positions - and that's perhaps asking a bit more than Riera can give. Kuyt gets flak for poor touch, passing etc - sometimes jusitifably so - but he pops up with goals and assists.

We simply don't have that many attack minded players, why Rafa brought in Dossena and Degen as attacking FBs (that worked out didn't it!) We ain't going to get much attacking out of Mascherano, except occaisionally or if he plays RB, and Alonso doesn't get as far forward as he could sometimes. That leaves Gerrard, Torres, Riera and Kuyt of whom Torres and Gerrard do enough.

According to FPL :

GOALS (MINS PLAYED IN BRACKETS)

9 Gerrard (2012)
8 Torres (1001)
7 Kuyt (2323)
---------------------------------------------------------
3 Alonso (1933), Benayoun (1273)
2 Riera (1476), Babel (729)
1 N'Gog (273), Arbeloa (1870), Hyypia (996), Aurelio (1235)

I'm not suggesting Riera, Babel, Alonso and Benayoun should score as many as Gerrard, Torres and Kuyt, but we have limited attacking options and goals have to come from somewhere

ASSISTS

6 Gerrard
4 Aurelio, Benayoun
3 Kuyt, Torres
2 N'Gog, Riera, Alonso, Agger (just 900 mins!)
1 Carragher, Mascherano, Arbeloa, El Zhar Lucas

That tells a story, Gerrard 15 assists or goals, Torres 11, Kuyt 10 and Benayoun next on 7. Goals have got to come from somewhere, more of the midfield need to be creating them if they ain't going to score themselves. You might excuse Mascherano, but Alonso and Riera have 1440+ mins each (16 whole 90 mins) and only five goals and four assists between them.

The way the side is set up almost dictates the side needs more from players other than Torres and Gerrard (and Kuyt) Those three have contributed 12 of our 29 Premiership assists (41.38%) and 24 of our 38 goals (63.16%). Keane would account for five goals, not sure about the assists as FPL is not letting me look at his details

by **Alex G.** » Sat Mar 14, 2009 6:21 pm

Today he was poor.

by **tubby** » Sat Mar 14, 2009 6:29 pm

He doesn't seem to take anyone on these days. I think the last decent game he had must have been against Preston.

by **Bad Bob** » Sat Mar 14, 2009 6:40 pm

Alex G. wrote:Today he was poor.

Yes, he was struggling today, IMO. He'll need to fight for his place with Babel looking more of a player and Yossi stepping up before his injury. Funny, though, how a 4-1 win against that lot makes every shortcoming seem inconsequential.

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