Liverpool FC Forum

by **Kharhaz** » Sun Nov 23, 2008 3:42 am

aCe' wrote:
Kharhaz wrote:I raise my eyebrows to you raising an article from the scum that you raised. I would remove it if I were you.

i didnt get it from the sun...

theres a few articles out there talking about it... his interview was with the sun i guess so i see no reason to remove it...

If there are a few articles then raise the others as creditable, im wasting my breath in any event, enjoy the repercussions.

by **Owzat** » Sun Nov 23, 2008 10:25 am

Beggars belief how he didn't get picked vs Fulham and a Lucas-Mascherano pairing was preferred. Not least because Gerrard and Alonso are supposedly our main set piece takers

by **NANNY RED** » Sun Nov 23, 2008 12:21 pm

Owzat wrote:Beggars belief how he didn't get picked vs Fulham and a Lucas-Mascherano pairing was preferred. Not least because Gerrard and Alonso are supposedly our main set piece takers

Maybe he was a bit done in from the Spanish game he worked his ar.se off in that match . Maybe we should of been good enough to beat Fulham without him. It Makes me laugh now because loads on here were made up When we were gonna sign Barry an Xabi was gonna go . Ok i know he wasnt playing his usual standard of football what we came to expect off him. But now when he is rested or on the bench some of the same people who preferred Barry are saying were better with Xabi in the team.

by **Sabre** » Sun Nov 23, 2008 1:13 pm

NANNY RED wrote:
Owzat wrote:Beggars belief how he didn't get picked vs Fulham and a Lucas-Mascherano pairing was preferred. Not least because Gerrard and Alonso are supposedly our main set piece takers

Maybe he was a bit done in from the Spanish game he worked his ar.se off in that match . Maybe we should of been good enough to beat Fulham without him. It Makes me laugh now because loads on here were made up When we were gonna sign Barry an Xabi was gonna go . Ok i know he wasnt playing his usual standard of football what we came to expect off him. But now when he is rested or on the bench some of the same people who preferred Barry are saying were better with Xabi in the team.

You're right Nanny.

Plus, it's not only he played 90 minutes in wednesday, it's the accumulation of games this season which have been quite a lot.

by **Fo Dne** » Thu Nov 27, 2008 2:27 am

Make no mistake Barry is slightly the better alround player. Xabi however compliments Gerrard superbly and you can see the two of them enjoy playing together and have a superb understanding.

Xabi has been fantastic so far and the only player who could even be considered player of the season other than Steven Gerrard.

by **Sabre** » Fri Nov 28, 2008 1:01 am

“I know that some people try to put us down and say that we are too defensive or not as attractive as other sides,” acknowledged Alonso, “But everything we have achieved this season disproves that nonsense.”

Despite their lofty position in the league, the Reds have been outscored by the likes of Chelsea, Manchester United, Arsenal and Aston Villa - and trail Chelsea by a goal difference of 15.

Yet Alonso insists that winning is the most important consideration and that his side need to play effective rather than entertaining football.

“We do not need to play super-elaborate football like Arsenal or Barcelona,” he claimed, before adding, “If Liverpool was such a defensive or sterile team as some people seem to claim then we would never have won as many matches as we have this season.”

It looks as if Xabi's been reading newkit and is answering to the press.

I guess that by some people he means the press.

Anyway, I find a bit Un-Xabi to dismiss opinions describing them as nonsense. I can't really remember he has done such a thing before. And it's true that during these 5 years, the mantra about our team being defensive or negative has been said in the press and by more than one fan.

I do agree what he says, not being as elaborate as Arsenal or Barcelona doesn't mean "worse football" nor a negative approach to football.

I'd like to know what people think about our style, whether people think we're too cautious or too direct.

Myself, I like the Liverpool style, I don't want to play like Arsenal or Barcelona as much as I like watching them. I appreciate our way to press the rivals as a team, the best of Europe IMHO. Yes, I know we could be more lethal on front of the goal, I agree that, but I'm talking about the style of football to get on front of the goal.

by **Quadrophenia** » Fri Nov 28, 2008 1:07 am

We play too many long balls especially when we have Keane up front who isn't gonna win many headers lets be fair. Far too slow and far too robotic. There's no pass and move, it's pass and stand still. We zonal mark and zonal play.

I'm not saying we're over defensive but we are too slow.

by **Bam** » Fri Nov 28, 2008 1:34 am

Generally I dont mind our style of play, its very patient and probing in attack and pretty solid in defence. Sure we dont open up teams like Man.United or Arsenal do but in that respect we're far less prone to conceeding a goal on a counter attack or anything like that. I've come to the conclusion of not getting to frustrated in watching us "try" and break teams down. Years ago I'd be screaming at the players if it was 0-0 and 70 mins had gone. But now I know watching our style its very patient, thus we may only create one proper clear-cut chance during a match. When you play like this its imperative you take those chances as we dont carve out open opportunities like Arsenal and Manchester U do.

Our style of play certainly thwarts the bigger teams in the league and in Europe to, its perfect for playing your Chelsea, Man.U and Barcelona's as we're a well drilled unit and probably one of the best and efficient teams at making our opponents work in getting the better of us. It does have a slight downfall though when playing the likes of Stoke and Fulham, teams you're "supposed" to beat. Like I said before we dont create that many chances like Arsenal and Man.U do, and when the opportunity arises its paramount you're strikers are clinical infront of goal. Keane had the best opportunity against Fulham where looking back in hindsight, their keeper came rushing out of goal made himself look big Keane shot straight at him. Hindsight is a wonderful thing but he should of rounded the keeper when the Goalie ws coming out so quick.

Our style isnt bad, not atall. It has its downfalls if you're strikers arent clinical enough as previously mentioned. But it has its strengths and we are quite a formidable side because of it. Though our form at the moment isnt really doing our style justice, in saying that though had we the "Arsenal" style of play and our form had dipped to what it has now, we'd be much more sucseptable to dropping more points and even loosing games, just like Arsenal are doing now.

by **Quadrophenia** » Fri Nov 28, 2008 1:40 am

To be honest Bam, when those sides we "should" be beating start to frustrate it's imperitive we start having a few digs from outside the box because we aren't gonna break them down, we just don't have the flair players to do that. That's where our robotic style costs us because our holding midfielders are still stuck on the half way line and 9.9 times out of 10 you're not gonna score from there. We need to move our midfield about 10 yards further forward on those days, like we did against Bolton in the first half. We tore them apart, second half Masch and Xabi sat deep and they give us a scare. The Stoke game was a one off where we did have several chances from outside the box but just couldn't score. If we do that more frequently then goals against these "lesser" sides will start to come. That's where our style costs us in my opinion, unprepared to try something different because we're so rigid.

by **LFC2007** » Fri Nov 28, 2008 1:47 am

I would agree with Bam.

It depends on the level and intent of the opposition to a great degree of course, but generally we're a very disciplined side that's tough to break down. Offensively, we're patient, probing but often far from fluent.

by **Bam** » Fri Nov 28, 2008 1:55 am

Quadrophenia wrote:To be honest Bam, when those sides we "should" be beating start to frustrate it's imperitive we start having a few digs from outside the box because we aren't gonna break them down, we just don't have the flair players to do that. That's where our robotic style costs us because our holding midfielders are still stuck on the half way line and 9.9 times out of 10 you're not gonna score from there. We need to move our midfield about 10 yards further forward on those days, like we did against Bolton in the first half. We tore them apart, second half Masch and Xabi sat deep and they give us a scare. The Stoke game was a one off where we did have several chances from outside the box but just couldn't score. If we do that more frequently then goals against these "lesser" sides will start to come. That's where our style costs us in my opinion, unprepared to try something different because we're so rigid.

Maybe, but if you're going to start consistently to take pot-shots from outside the box, thats where the oppositions defence will grow in confidence I feel. If you're reduced to taking shots from outside the box more often than not, and dont get me wrong I'm not saying you shouldnt ! Mix it up by all means, but by playing probing football like we did against Bolton in the first half is the way to go. Pressure and panic their defence, ask serious questions of their defence rather than just shooting from 25-30 yards all the time, its a better way to go about it.

I know we've come up short many times before trying this style (probing away) and havent often enough carved something decent out. But thats got to be worked on at Melwood as I think its the best way to go in beating teams.

by **Bam** » Fri Nov 28, 2008 1:59 am

LFC2007 wrote:I would agree with Bam.

It depends on the level and intent of the opposition to a great degree of course, but generally we're a very disciplined side that's tough to break down. Offensively, we're patient, probing but often far from fluent.

F.ucking hell, thats gotta be a first. :Oo:

by **Quadrophenia** » Fri Nov 28, 2008 2:07 am

Bam wrote:
Quadrophenia wrote:To be honest Bam, when those sides we "should" be beating start to frustrate it's imperitive we start having a few digs from outside the box because we aren't gonna break them down, we just don't have the flair players to do that. That's where our robotic style costs us because our holding midfielders are still stuck on the half way line and 9.9 times out of 10 you're not gonna score from there. We need to move our midfield about 10 yards further forward on those days, like we did against Bolton in the first half. We tore them apart, second half Masch and Xabi sat deep and they give us a scare. The Stoke game was a one off where we did have several chances from outside the box but just couldn't score. If we do that more frequently then goals against these "lesser" sides will start to come. That's where our style costs us in my opinion, unprepared to try something different because we're so rigid.

Maybe, but if you're going to start consistently to take pot-shots from outside the box, thats where the oppositions defence will grow in confidence I feel. If you're reduced to taking shots from outside the box more often than not, and dont get me wrong I'm not saying you shouldnt ! Mix it up by all means, but by playing probing football like we did against Bolton in the first half is the way to go. Pressure and panic their defence, ask serious questions of their defence rather than just shooting from 25-30 yards all the time, its a better way to go about it.

I know we've come up short many times before trying this style (probing away) and havent often enough carved something decent out. But thats got to be worked on at Melwood as I think its the best way to go in beating teams.

Of course mate, but when plan A doesn't work, I feel we lack a plan B which is where a few efforts from long range wouldn't go a miss.

We constantly play the patient game and that's ok but when it gets to the panic stations, i.e. last fifteen minutes, the likes of Gerrard and Alonso have to take responsibility and have a some efforts at goal from outside the box, you never know it might deflect into the path of Torres. It wouldn't harm Mascherano to chip in with a few more either.

I'm not saying shoot on sight from the word go, but we have to have a few more long range shots when the patient game isn't working. Other than free kicks (or laid on free kicks) what was the last goal we scored from 25 yards plus? Probably Babel's against Chelsea in the second leg of the European Cup last year, and that was another :censored:

up from Cech.

by **Bam** » Fri Nov 28, 2008 2:11 am

Quadrophenia wrote:
Bam wrote:
Quadrophenia wrote:To be honest Bam, when those sides we "should" be beating start to frustrate it's imperitive we start having a few digs from outside the box because we aren't gonna break them down, we just don't have the flair players to do that. That's where our robotic style costs us because our holding midfielders are still stuck on the half way line and 9.9 times out of 10 you're not gonna score from there. We need to move our midfield about 10 yards further forward on those days, like we did against Bolton in the first half. We tore them apart, second half Masch and Xabi sat deep and they give us a scare. The Stoke game was a one off where we did have several chances from outside the box but just couldn't score. If we do that more frequently then goals against these "lesser" sides will start to come. That's where our style costs us in my opinion, unprepared to try something different because we're so rigid.

Maybe, but if you're going to start consistently to take pot-shots from outside the box, thats where the oppositions defence will grow in confidence I feel. If you're reduced to taking shots from outside the box more often than not, and dont get me wrong I'm not saying you shouldnt ! Mix it up by all means, but by playing probing football like we did against Bolton in the first half is the way to go. Pressure and panic their defence, ask serious questions of their defence rather than just shooting from 25-30 yards all the time, its a better way to go about it.

I know we've come up short many times before trying this style (probing away) and havent often enough carved something decent out. But thats got to be worked on at Melwood as I think its the best way to go in beating teams.

Of course mate, but when plan A doesn't work, I feel we lack a plan B which is where a few efforts from long range wouldn't go a miss.

We constantly play the patient game and that's ok but when it gets to the panic stations, i.e. last fifteen minutes, the likes of Gerrard and Alonso have to take responsibility and have a some efforts at goal from outside the box, you never know it might deflect into the path of Torres. It wouldn't harm Mascherano to chip in with a few more either.

I'm not saying shoot on sight from the word go, but we have to have a few more long range shots when the patient game isn't working. Other than free kicks (or laid on free kicks) what was the last goal we scored from 25 yards plus? Probably Babel's against Chelsea in the second leg of the European Cup last year, and that was another up from Cech.

You're probably right there.

by **Quadrophenia** » Fri Nov 28, 2008 2:18 am

Bam wrote:
Quadrophenia wrote:
Bam wrote:
Quadrophenia wrote:To be honest Bam, when those sides we "should" be beating start to frustrate it's imperitive we start having a few digs from outside the box because we aren't gonna break them down, we just don't have the flair players to do that. That's where our robotic style costs us because our holding midfielders are still stuck on the half way line and 9.9 times out of 10 you're not gonna score from there. We need to move our midfield about 10 yards further forward on those days, like we did against Bolton in the first half. We tore them apart, second half Masch and Xabi sat deep and they give us a scare. The Stoke game was a one off where we did have several chances from outside the box but just couldn't score. If we do that more frequently then goals against these "lesser" sides will start to come. That's where our style costs us in my opinion, unprepared to try something different because we're so rigid.

Maybe, but if you're going to start consistently to take pot-shots from outside the box, thats where the oppositions defence will grow in confidence I feel. If you're reduced to taking shots from outside the box more often than not, and dont get me wrong I'm not saying you shouldnt ! Mix it up by all means, but by playing probing football like we did against Bolton in the first half is the way to go. Pressure and panic their defence, ask serious questions of their defence rather than just shooting from 25-30 yards all the time, its a better way to go about it.

I know we've come up short many times before trying this style (probing away) and havent often enough carved something decent out. But thats got to be worked on at Melwood as I think its the best way to go in beating teams.

Of course mate, but when plan A doesn't work, I feel we lack a plan B which is where a few efforts from long range wouldn't go a miss.

We constantly play the patient game and that's ok but when it gets to the panic stations, i.e. last fifteen minutes, the likes of Gerrard and Alonso have to take responsibility and have a some efforts at goal from outside the box, you never know it might deflect into the path of Torres. It wouldn't harm Mascherano to chip in with a few more either.

I'm not saying shoot on sight from the word go, but we have to have a few more long range shots when the patient game isn't working. Other than free kicks (or laid on free kicks) what was the last goal we scored from 25 yards plus? Probably Babel's against Chelsea in the second leg of the European Cup last year, and that was another up from Cech.

You're probably right there.

There's no probably about it mate, come to football I'm always right (providing I'm being serious which isn't always the case)

(just for those whose computer doesn't yet have a "define sarcasm" icon I'll tell you here and now this is sarcasm. Hopefully in future you'll get the gist of sarcasm)

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