Its not often that you play 4 games in a row where all 4 teams are of equal ability, but we have that coming up now Everton away Manchester United home Norwich home West Brom away
I'm not going to say anything along the lines of 'MUST WIN' or 'The next four games will show us where we are', 10 games do not dictate a season of 38. I believe we can win all games though, but the team selection will have to be better than previous.
We need to be wary of including Adam or Henderson in the team. Carroll would be good against Everton, his first derby game. His got the physical presence that we'll need in the box. Henderson needs to be eased in slowly, I don't think we're doing him any favours by putting him straight into the first team. Stick Kuyt on the right, Spearing in the middle instead of Adam. Basically, this should be our team: Reina Kelly - Carragher - Skrtel - Enrique Lucas - Spearing Kuyt - Suarez - Downing Carroll Subs - Doni Coates Flanagan Adam Gerrard Maxi/Henderson (I'd probably not drop Henderson out the entire team though, could give out the wrong signs) Bellamy
Sorry if it were me I wouldn't include Adam or Henderson in the game against ''that club'' on October 15th. Adam is a loose cannon and is likely to get sent off, those games are pressure cooker games, and he will be singled out to disrupt and annoy. I also reckon for the same reason Andy Carroll should not start. What we need is clever players. If it were me, I would go with a midfield trio of Lucas, Gerrard and Maxi, with Gerrard and Maxi alternating as the ''spare man''. Theres a reason for this, as its obvious Ferguson will go with a flat 4-4-2 with us,and with the extra man in midfield we can nullify their threat from wide areas. This in turn will ensure that Rooney ends up playing where he normally plays against us and that is full-back. We are going to have to dominate posession like we usually do. Lucas is going to be key for this reason. However we're going to have to up our performance levels by approximately 200% to what they were today in order to get the win. The OP said that the four teams are of a similar standard, he's right to some degree, all four of them have crap central midfields.
That's the team I'd go for. I'd like to see Maxi and Bellamy coming into it at some point too. Both offer good movement and use of the ball.
The 15th is a day before my birthday so I hope god gives me a nice early present... I hate watching us play united I always become a nervous wreck.. Hope he doesn't play Henderson in that game maybe bring him on if all is going well and we r smashing um.. Think it's gonna be a really good game, united edge it on performances thus far but we always step up to the plate when playin um... Do u think we should risk starting stevie or have him on the bench for back up ?? Guess he still won't b 100% match fit by then ....
The key to beating them is outnumbering them in the centre of midfield, if we can dominate them there, then their attacking threat is useless. Its like last week against Spurs, they dominated the central midfield, our attacking threat was nullified as we couldn't find the space. Its all about denying space and dominating possession,. If I were Kenny I would go with a 4-2-3-1 formation.
The key to beating them is to do exactly what Stoke did. Stoke have been the only side this season to press and bully them. They did it brilliantly. Stoke refused to allow them to play football, they knew if they did, they would get killed. They also did it against us, and we weren't able to break them down thats our fault,not Stokes. We've got more firepower than Stoke, so we must dominate posession and swarm all over them and do exactly what we did in March. Go for the throat from the off.
Thing is with a 442 it means that even if the other team dominate the midfield the wingers can still hurt you.
You don't get it. If United go in with a flat 4-4-2, the thing to do is not ''fight fire with fire', stick in a spare man, they cannot handle it. It adds to the attack and you have the security of two sitting midfielders. Its what Barcelona did in the CL final. Barcelona played with one recognised centre back, Mascherano is a defensive midfielder who was asked to do a job at centre back. In order to protect Mascherano, Barca put in an extra central midfielder. They went with a 4-2-3-1 formation with a ''floater'' ie Iniesta. Thats why I reckon Kenny should go with Gerrard and Lucas sitting like the last time and allow the spare man ie Maxi to go whereever he wants.
What are you all taling about! These are 4 very different games against very different sides. No one side is going to be the 'right' one for all of the games. So why try and construct one? We all know that the Derby match is a lottery. Desire to win (will) is probably far more important than individual skill. Everton will play without a recognised striker and will try to play aggresively in midfield. United are a different matter. For this game it is us who have to be the agressor. We have to own the midfield. Norwich will be organised and will need to be broken down. West Brom is likely to be a far more open game. So for this run of games, it will certainly test KK and SC's skill and resolve in using the full squad available to them.
Even if you control possession they can still get you on the counter which is where they are strongest. But I agree that a 433 or 3 at the back formation is the best way of combating a 442.
You're all wrong! 3-5-2 is the way to go in this match! Kuyt and Suarez up front; Gerrard, Adam, Lucas in the middle. Aurelio (more of a LWB than a LB) and Kelly on the wings. Carra, Skrtel and Coates at the back.
