Every one is talking about DM's and CB's but we are months away from a transfer window, so what do we have to do. The problems are kind of obvious, but the fix isnt. DM - Gerrard not up to every game, Lucas off the pace, Can young and needs time to adjust. AM - Coutinho is off form, Lallana still building fitness. Allen is looking good, but is not an AM. CB - On paper they are good and should fit. But still it doesnt work. Why? Tactically this team from the Spurs game is very good IMO. --------------Mignolet------------ Manquillo-Skrtel-Lovren-Moreno --------------Gerrard-------------- ----Henderson------Allen--------- ---------------Sterling------------ ------Balotelli------Sturridge----- But may struggle against teams that bully us physically. The attack is looses fluency with just 1 injury. The midfield is to slow with out Allen. So, now what?
Rodgers needs to stop being complacent (imo), it's rubbing off on the players and we walk out onto the pitch without any fight or urgency. When we play with a high tempo, we threaten. That and never playing Gerrard and Lucas together - ever.
Starts of games are becoming a problem. The players are not concentrating from the very start, Villa and now West Ham have caught us cold early and then made us chase the game. This used to be our strength, get on top early and win the game
Always a choice. Lallana could have started the first half and then come off in the second if he needed a rest. I'm always against the idea of starting off safe and then bringing on players at the end if needed. Much prefer getting the result early then resting them as teams will shut up shop and make it impossible to score (like West Ham and Villa did). Suso wasn't anywhere to be seen and at least he has legs and can pass forward. Coutinho isn't listed anywhere as being injured. I know he's played poorly of late but still would prefer him over Lucas as he can at least potentially pick a forward pass.
We should have bought Shaqiri. he still hasn't signed a new contract, has he? £20m and a word in the ear of his agent should have done it.
Gerrarson. A two-headed monster of ineffectiveness. Henderson must drop Gerrard and come into his own offensively and contribute more. Let the CB and FBs cover for Gerrard. Can should be groomed as Gerrard's replacement asap. I'm even tempted to experiment with Hendo in DM and Allen ahead of him. Sterling. Should be on the flank of either formation, overlapping with FBs, and switch sides if he gets too much attention. Coutinho. Tip of diamond, or midfield in a 4-3-3. He needs confidence. CBs. We're f**ed here. Maybe the 3-5-2 is the option for away games. Skrtel didn't look in the best shape today. FBs. Flanagan and GJ are my starters. BR. Our strength is speed and directness. 4-3-3 is the best system for that, but for teams who step back it must be taken forward 20 yards through a high defensive line.
Harsh on Lallana who I thought was decent this game. We should bear in mind he hasn't had a preseason so still needs a bit of work. I wasn't in favour of his signing purely because of his price but he;s a good player. We need Allen, Can and Sturridge back ASAP, and we need to bring in Valdes.
I think its quite simple. We have decent enough individual defenders, even if a lot of our full backs are a bit too inexperienced at times. We pick a settled back four. Ideally Johnson, Skrtel, Lovren & Moreno and let them play together as much as possible and let them develop an understanding with each other. And our attack isn't a massive worry at the moment, we've just got our best striker out injured and a lot of our other attacking players are still trying to settle into the club and develop an understanding. And we are still unsure about our strongest formation/starting XI so that'll take time to discover too. I think this massive knee-jerk overreaction is embarrassing and not helping us through this transitional phase. All we need is time!!
If the flaw is diffuse, then it's cause for worry. And it is diffuse: GK, CB, FB, DM, CM, F. If the flaw is deep-rooted, then it's cause for worry. And it is so: Gerrard has deep roots and Brendan has shown no inclination to look at other options. Also, if the flaw still persists after 100 million thrown at it, then it is... cause for worry.
And that really worries me about Brendan's signing this summer. lallana, Lambert, Can, balottelli - these are not quick players. Only Markovic looks quick - but that's all.
I have to say 1. The state of the individual errors is shocking 2. I still have that pasture out back for Gerrard but if this goes on it'll be the glue factory! 3. Badontelly.... Terrible buy does not suit us at all 4. What do we do? It's really this simple..... We go find 3 willing midfield runners and we drop Gerrard. If that means we stick even sahko in midfield I don't care....... We need 3 men who can run and push and harry and press. Then in the end that mean Gerrard steps out. We drop badontelly when sturridge is back and we cut our losses. It's that bad. If he can't learn to get in behind then tough cos frankly he's not good enough to play deep at all So that's the reality, we've got eh we've got and there's way too much sloppy crap going on. Both of thier goals were total flogs. Sort it fn out first
