Balotelli fits in with mine. Can Hendo Allen Sterling Baloteli Sturridge Alternatively swap Allen for Lallana who has been a lot better recently although I think hes better in Sterling's spot there than a midfield 3.
Except Stevie is a shoe-in to start in that spot instead of Can When you take that into account, you basically could have just agreed with me
The only two instances where a top team used two holding midfielders successfully was Chelsea, at Anfield and Etihad last season when they parked the tank with Matic flanked by mikel and Luiz respectively. That's mourinho for you. I would loathe to see Rodgers attempt any thing of the sort.
Exactly this. It's too simplistic to just say "2 defensive midfielders" is boring. Alonso is a defensive midfielder in that he doesn't burst forward but the guy oozes class and is just as much of an attacking threat by keeping the ball and being a playmaker from deep. Similar with Masch, at the time the best DM in World football in my opinion (and still easily in top 5 if Barca didn't stupidly play him at CB) but he can also be an attacking threat with his distribution which was often overlooked. A team can be set up with 2 "defensive midfielders" but if they allow the other 5 players infront of them to attack then it doesn't become a defensive formation.
The fact that you're going as far back as 2009 and mentioning Alonso (a special kind of pace-setting deep-lying master not shy in the tackle) means that I'm right: it's very rare. Normally, it's a counterattacking setup for in the road against rampant teams.
You're absolutely correct. Two holding midfielders is a formation used usually by teams with low attacking output. It sacrifices mobility and fluidity in the opponents half for stability and numbers in your own. If we played a 4-4-2 diamond with Skrtel and Carragher in the striker positions, the lack of success won't be because of the 2 strikers. It will be because of who we played there. Many managers feel that the modern defensive midfielder is a luxury or new position that isn't clearly defined. However, players can take years to learn to play it effectively. Lucas took since 2007 to learn it and now he is being shuffled to CM as if it were the same thing and Gerrard has done the same with the DM role. Its true that CM's can play in deeper roles but this exposes the defense due to that CM having attacking duties as well. Look at Lucas. When playing in the lone DM role, he rarely ever joined the attack. He'd be outside of the box during corners, waiting to track back. He'd have the room to press an opponent in tandem with the CM on that side and quickly pass it off to a CM who will start the attack. Gerrard meanwhile, focuses on the Alonso aspect of playmaking while he is easily bypassed (partly due to age and partly due to tactical differences). Can needs to play there if Rodgers doesn't believe in Lucas (who I think plays well when he had Henderson and a CM in front of him). Can is young and has played there in the past. He is a better fit than Gerrard.
Well it's dependant on the skill set You can have A donkey A holder A playmaker In front of that back 4. If all you have is Barry or Parker that are cloggers so you play differently, if you have a pirlo etc you play differently
Problem is Gerrard does not want to vacate the DM position to Lucas and compete for one of the CM spots. He thinks he can pull off what his mate Alonso did for Real in a slower league. Meanwhile, this whole thing has cooled Lucas off. Whereas BR will always give in to Stevie's demands, at least until he feels that his seat is starting to heat a little.
I'd like to see Henderson - Allen - Lallana. Lots of legs and no small ability, at least in playing a quick passing game. Our midfield should exist to transmit defence to attack as fast as possible because of the pace we have in Sterling, Sturridge and even Balo to a lesser extent. We looked great v Spurs last season without Gerrard. More energy in midfield would surely allow Moreno to bomb forward too. What does Gerrard really do now? Bring calm? His comers are awful... A few freekicks in the past year or two and a handful of great passes. Surely our other players could do this and more now? We can't have a player solely for penalties, this isn't NFL.
Saw that - ridiculously fickle and unfortunately a trend in football media. Apart from his relative calm Gerrard is done. It's painful but there it is. We could get everything he offers and more from say Pjanic, Strootman etc. Liverpool aren't good enough to let Gerrard pick when he influence play like Lampard has at City, or allow him to concentrate on his strengths alone like Xavi at Barca (now used to calm games down as a sub). And Gerrard himself isn't cut out for it. That said he's still a better than average pl midfielder in terms of ability if not physique.
In his defence, we simply haven;'t got the options at the moment - we will have to wait and see what happens once Can and Allen return.
