Liverpool FC Forum

stmichael wrote:tonyeh I agree with you with regards to Rafa's tactical inflexibility this season whether we're chasing a game or closing one out and to be honest it's baffling me somewhat.

good attacking options on the bench are ignored in favour of defensive or, at best, like-for-like changes where as last season we were being a lot more bold and reaping the rewards. even the likes of el zhar were coming on and making a difference.

stmichael wrote:even the likes of el zhar were coming on and making a difference.

Ciggy wrote:

stmichael wrote:even the likes of el zhar were coming on and making a difference.

In what games did El-Zhar make a difference? no disrespect to the kid but he is never going to make it here and he should not have been given a new contract.

wigan at home last season when we were 2-1 down he came on and set up riera for the equaliser.

listen i'm not saying the kid is good enough. what i'm saying is he was an attacking option. i don't us bringing on attacking options at all this season unless yossi is ridiculously left on the bench.

voronin doesn't count

stmichael wrote:

Ciggy wrote:

stmichael wrote:even the likes of el zhar were coming on and making a difference.

In what games did El-Zhar make a difference? no disrespect to the kid but he is never going to make it here and he should not have been given a new contract.

wigan at home last season when we were 2-1 down he came on and set up riera for the equaliser.

listen i'm not saying the kid is good enough. what i'm saying is he was an attacking option. i don't us bringing on attacking options at all this season unless yossi is ridiculously left on the bench.

voronin doesn't count

stmichael wrote:

heimdall wrote:

stmichael wrote:tonyeh I agree with you with regards to Rafa's tactical inflexibility this season whether we're chasing a game or closing one out and to be honest it's baffling me somewhat.

good attacking options on the bench are ignored in favour of defensive or, at best, like-for-like changes where as last season we were being a lot more bold and reaping the rewards. even the likes of el zhar were coming on and making a difference.

Do you not think another manager could do those things better because I do?

no not really.

despite the fact that i'd like to see us be more bold at times, at the end of the day it comes down to players not systems. we could play with 5 forwards but if they can't pass to a red shirt then it matters little.

heimdall wrote:

stmichael wrote:

heimdall wrote:

stmichael wrote:tonyeh I agree with you with regards to Rafa's tactical inflexibility this season whether we're chasing a game or closing one out and to be honest it's baffling me somewhat.

good attacking options on the bench are ignored in favour of defensive or, at best, like-for-like changes where as last season we were being a lot more bold and reaping the rewards. even the likes of el zhar were coming on and making a difference.

Do you not think another manager could do those things better because I do?

no not really.

despite the fact that i'd like to see us be more bold at times, at the end of the day it comes down to players not systems. we could play with 5 forwards but if they can't pass to a red shirt then it matters little.

arghh but that's my point, another manager could get the lads fired up and playing properly again.  Come on how often have we all seen a new manager coming into a club and breathing a new sense of life into the team and getting them to play properly again to be able to save themselves from relegation(too many teams to mention) or just give them a boost (e.g Chelsea), plenty of times so why not for us?

The Real Deal wrote:Europa league with Everton etc is just making us a laughing stock to be honest. 5 times winners etc. the mancs are grinning.

for me for Rafa to keep his job, 4th place is the minimum requirement. City and Spurs etc will be fancying their chances.

Another manager is not neccesarily a bad option, as they would prob play a 4-4-2 instead of this silly 4-2-3-1, too defensive "sideways" playing holding midfielders and only one striker. home and away game after game. the "we are scared to get beat" formation!

A different manager would utilise the players differently. I would play Kuyt and Torres up front most games and a midfield of...babel (RM) Gerrard (CM) Mascha (CM) and Riera.

5th place, he has to go, and I think he would walk anyhow. i don't really care how we do in the Europa league. it has no significance.

Just not Jason Macateer/ John barnes to replace him.

Our problems lie deeper. Rafa has made several bad buys and we don't know if there will be any more big summers left in terms of spending. The squad overall is lacking in flair and quality needed and until that is addressed you can having Mourinho here and he still wouldn't win us shyte.

bavlondon wrote:

heimdall wrote:

stmichael wrote:

heimdall wrote:

stmichael wrote:tonyeh I agree with you with regards to Rafa's tactical inflexibility this season whether we're chasing a game or closing one out and to be honest it's baffling me somewhat.

good attacking options on the bench are ignored in favour of defensive or, at best, like-for-like changes where as last season we were being a lot more bold and reaping the rewards. even the likes of el zhar were coming on and making a difference.

Do you not think another manager could do those things better because I do?

no not really.

despite the fact that i'd like to see us be more bold at times, at the end of the day it comes down to players not systems. we could play with 5 forwards but if they can't pass to a red shirt then it matters little.

arghh but that's my point, another manager could get the lads fired up and playing properly again.  Come on how often have we all seen a new manager coming into a club and breathing a new sense of life into the team and getting them to play properly again to be able to save themselves from relegation(too many teams to mention) or just give them a boost (e.g Chelsea), plenty of times so why not for us?

Examples?

If you want to use Chelsea rememeber that they have always had a strong squad since Abramovich arrived. When Scolari arrived a few players went off him, threw a strop and refused to give it 100%.

and we don't have any players having a strop do we 

Come on there are plenty of examples of managers coming in and turning clubs around instantly, more so in bottom table teams just becuase there is a higher churn of managers there plus the managers they get are foten worse.  Of the top of my head I can think of Middelsborough when Venebales came in and saved them from relegation, ok not as manager but more or less, then there was Pompey two times under 'Arry.

stmichael wrote:another manager could get the lads fired up you say? so what you're basically saying is that the current players are cheating the current manager then?

if players need a manager for them to get "fired up" for the big games that we have week in week out then they're poor professionals imo. the likes of gerrard, carragher, mascherano and kuyt would run through walls for any manager.

you see this is another myth perpetrated by people in the media who know nothing about football. collymore said that mourinho would win the premiership within two years at liverpool "guaranteed" because players would "run through walls for him". yeah because it's as simple as that isn't it stan? players can just turn themselves on and off as they suit like robots?

bavlondon wrote:Give me an example of a top team mate not a shyte team that is now relegated from the premiership. You probably wont be able to come up with any becasue it doesn't work like that.

FFS If Rafa has been allowed to spend what he was initially promised we might have had that extra bit of creative flair we are lacking and we may well have found a better replacement for Alonso.

Yes Rafa has made some mistakes but so have the owners. They are the root of the problem, a problem that needs dealing with ahead of any pet peeves people have with our manager.