Liverpool FC Forum

woof woof ! » Wed Sep 17, 2014 9:59 am wrote:

Red Focus » Wed Sep 17, 2014 3:34 am wrote:A win is a win but a stronger side would have severely punished us.

I am giving an explicit opinion of Brendan. His attacking football tactics, diamond formation etc are good, that's why we were probably the most exciting team to watch in Europe. But, his defence set ups are his Archiles' heel.

Can only hope that one day BR realises that a specialist defensive coach would be a welcome addition to our backroom staff. However the problem with employing a (imo badly needed) defensive coach is that his instructions would no doubt be in conflict with BR's attacking philosophy, which is probably the reason why we no longer have one   :( .

Get Steve Clarke back.

Personally i think that the problem is more with the system in defense rather than the personnel. It needs to be sorted out because it just isn't working and hasn't been working since last season. Lovren, Skrtel, Sakho, Agger are all good centrebacks so i can't help but feel that something must be wrong with the defensive system.

I think that would be a brilliant idea...but I doubt steve clarke would come back... something needs done with the defensive midfield , we are paperweight in there ,, totally non existant , i hope we are sorted before the Madrid game - i fear for us

whe need sum1 in the hole.  Last 2 games weve been lagging in that area.  Balotelli is not like suarez coming deep spinning off defenders  suarez would always make it easy for the midfielders to find him.  To be fair i watched balotelli  and hes abit lazy off the ball wereas suarez was always on the move. So we need to fit sterling in the hole or i know brendans been keeping tabs on lavezzi who would be ideal in that position

stmichael » Wed Sep 17, 2014 10:30 am wrote:

woof woof ! » Wed Sep 17, 2014 9:59 am wrote:

Red Focus » Wed Sep 17, 2014 3:34 am wrote:A win is a win but a stronger side would have severely punished us.

I am giving an explicit opinion of Brendan. His attacking football tactics, diamond formation etc are good, that's why we were probably the most exciting team to watch in Europe. But, his defence set ups are his Archiles' heel.

Can only hope that one day BR realises that a specialist defensive coach would be a welcome addition to our backroom staff. However the problem with employing a (imo badly needed) defensive coach is that his instructions would no doubt be in conflict with BR's attacking philosophy, which is probably the reason why we no longer have one   :( .

Get Steve Clarke back.

Personally i think that the problem is more with the system in defense rather than the personnel. It needs to be sorted out because it just isn't working and hasn't been working since last season. Lovren, Skrtel, Sakho, Agger are all good centrebacks so i can't help but feel that something must be wrong with the defensive system.

I used to think there was something inheritantly wrong with the system myself but I'm coming around to the view that the system, whilst asking a lot of the players, is theoretically sound.
We are struggling to make it work defensively ATM but using a bit of poetic license imagine we took to the field with this line up yesterday -

                                                      Mingolet

            Manquillo                 Lovren               Sakho               Moreno

                                        Mascherano           Mascherano

                          Sterling                Coutinho               Lallana
   
                                                       Balotelli

Would we have looked more solid defensively if we had a pair of 25 year old Javier Mascherano clones sitting infront of our back 4? For me the answer would be undoubtably yes, so whilst the system is demanding I do think some of the blame has to lie with the players too. Some of them are just not up to it.

ballotelliman » Wed Sep 17, 2014 3:09 pm wrote:whe need sum1 in the hole.  Last 2 games weve been lagging in that area.  Balotelli is not like suarez coming deep spinning off defenders  suarez would always make it easy for the midfielders to find him.  To be fair i watched balotelli  and hes abit lazy off the ball wereas suarez was always on the move. So we need to fit sterling in the hole or i know brendans been keeping tabs on lavezzi who would be ideal in that position

suarez's relentless movement was such a key to our success last season. when he was in the side it was so hard to keep track of our front line as they all were peeling off on runs and causing problems which gave a little freedom behind for coutinho to operate in. without him the movement is non existent and lethargic thus leaving coutinho with less time and an expectation to pick a liverpool player out of a crowd with an inch perfect pass. he is a good passer of the ball and can well play that role but need's some help from his team mates to make that movement happen.
suarez was also a world class footballer who probably gave defender's nightmare's several days before they faced us. we have no one else who put's that kind of fear into players. he gave us and that side much, much more than just goals and assists
it will get better for us but in the meantime some players need to step up and take on a bit of extra responsibility.
coutinho at times last season looked absolutely phenomenal and unplayable. he has shown his quality but unfortunately not his consistency and spending more money to fix what isnt broken will only cause more problems.

We played ***** ... we won.
Next game...

After finally watching this game, have to say right now playing Coutinho and Lallana  with our defence is a disaster. We got over the line....just but if you increase the quality of opposition but a fraction we are losing all 3 points.

We made Ludogorets look really good. That really tells where we are at right now...

Lallana looks rusty as expected and struggling to fit in. Totally understand that.

Coutinho was hopeless, rushing passing, everything pass getting blocked or just getting caught on the ball. More importantly he did the disappearing act again when we really needed him.

Balotelli obviously needs more balls into the box and less passing to be honest. He is a goal poacher and needs Gerrard to provide him with the passes, none of our other lads seem to posses that vision.

The positives out of this game came from the fullbacks, two attacking fullbacks that were relentless in getting up the pitch. Unfortunately our defensive setup redefines the word *****. We actually looked better when Lucas came on, LUCAS of all people!!

In my mind right now this is how I would change the team for the next game:

                               
                              Mino

Manquillo       Lovren      Skrtel/Toure       Moreno

                  Lucas         Henderson

   Markovic          Gerrard              Sterling   
                         
                          Balotelli


You get Gerrard back to what he does best and it will make a difference even if he can only last 45 mins in that position. He will find Balotelli in the box.

Lucas? Are you unwell ?

Does Lee want to do a West ham match thread. I dont want to get in trouble again

I wouldn't play Gerrard and Lucas in the same team against premier league opposition, that's just asking for trouble.
Incidently did anyone see the highlights of the Madrid v Basel game? The game wasn't quite the one sided blowout that the score line suggests, yes Madrid looked very impressive but Basel created 3 or 4 great chances themselves and Casillas made a string of great saves.
This group isn't quite turning into the cakewalk that some of us thought it would be, Ludogorets showed enough at Anfield to suggest that they will be a right handful on their own patch and Basel are no mugs either.
We'll need to up our performance level if we want to get out of this group

Even though we were nowhere near our best, I still thought we had enough good chances to have put the game to bed a lot earlier. The problem we have is almost the same as last year, not enough protection in midfield for our defence and also even though we have strengthened the squad, if we lose a player like DS we do not have the quality to come into the team, we have Borini or Lambert. Until Danny is back we should go back to the diamond with two up front, I would rather see lallana up with mario rather than just Mario

ycsatbjywtbiastkamb » Thu Sep 18, 2014 7:27 am wrote:I wouldn't play Gerrard and Lucas in the same team against premier league opposition, that's just asking for trouble.
Incidently did anyone see the highlights of the Madrid v Basel game? The game wasn't quite the one sided blowout that the score line suggests, yes Madrid looked very impressive but Basel created 3 or 4 great chances themselves and Casillas made a string of great saves.
This group isn't quite turning into the cakewalk that some of us thought it would be, Ludogorets showed enough at Anfield to suggest that they will be a right handful on their own patch and Basel are no mugs either.
We'll need to up our performance level if we want to get out of this group

I wouldn't play Lucas ever again, he's seriously lacking and it's no coincidence that his "good season" coincided with our downfall to midtable obscurity.

Aston Villa, Stoke and Hull...that's Lucas' level. Not a top 4 LFC

I agree Kewell. I like Lucas but he simply isn't good enough these days which is a shame.

We were sh!te, plain and simple. Ming still looks dodgy, Balotelli has shades of Andy Carroll about him when he first gets the ball and tries to bring it under control, Lallana needs to adapt quickly and Sakhos first touch is insanely bad.

It was a must win game, if anyone drops points to those they will finish third imo

bunglemark2 » Thu Sep 18, 2014 6:38 am wrote:Lucas? Are you unwell ?

My sanity is in decline after the Villa defeat but trust me it will work...

I started this thread and we won, what more proof do you need?