Age and league possibly? Markovic will be fine I think, Can will be fine but for the life of me, PLEASE play him as a DM for a string of games! moreno will be and is already good, Manquillo has potential and with Flanno/Wisdom there too, that should be a nice battle for years to come. It is the Balo money, Lovren money, lallana money from the summer I think that hurts us. Lallana has shown some good games btw, but the price quoted was just too much and we fell into that English quota trap...... again. Lovren, my word 20 million for a defender he better be a world cup, CL, league, etc winner! Balo, I think we try to give him the benefit of the doubt but we all saw that coming right? We play a fluid, pressing, dynamic style and Balo wants his service on a silver platter and to do as little work as possible, match made in heaven!
I would love to see Can in the DM role and develop there but he's made such a positive impact on the defence that I rather keep him there rather than bring Lovren back. What really disappointed was how Rodgers was quick to shift Can and Marko around (when Gerrard came off at half time) just to fit Lovren in the team.
seeing nobodys seen lazer since the last game i think surely this has run its course until the lad actually kciks a ball and a new bit of conversation can arise. I would agree however. I'd see no reason bar injuries to shift can for the rest of this season. Getting 20 odd games as RCB if thats what roegders sticks with will be far more benefical to him and to us... anything bar see glen johnson waddle back in at rcb... I don't necessarally agree on the disappointing thing par se. it showed flexibility in thier play. game intelligence to shift positions... even if can was simply filling in. I was more dissappointed the sub on was not manquillo sure... but you have to give lovern at least a chance to show if he has learned ANYTHING sitting and watching the team play in this system.
Well you can be unproven and lack potential. The point you're making is that most of our buys were pretty unproven? Can't argue with that.
Unproven in what sense? Unproven in the PL? I rather have a player who is unproven in the PL than overpay for average midtable players just because they are used to the league. Buying Prem Proven players is the biggest myth in football - it means so little and it should mean nothing when recruiting players.
Marko have potential to develop into a worldie. He may be unproven in England, but he's certainly made his name/reputation playing in Partizan and Benfica. Would I prefer a young lad who has won the league in Portugal, or a player who has a couple of years of PL experience, playing for Soton?
have we gotten back to lazar is still not after playing a game this week so we've "not had another look"
Getting better but still very raw. at least he's getting good experience in his first year and I think he'll really kick on next year.
I just think it was common sense, it was either Allen or Lovren, and with the impact Can was having, it was best to move him to midfield and put Lovren in defence, which would also solidify the team. Also, Lovren needs some game time again to try and re-establish/prove himself before the summer. + it would be nice if we could eventually return to 4 at the back, providing Lovren and Sakho work together.
Compare Markovic to Ibe and Can and you can see he's much further behind these players who are both the same age as him
The thing about returning to a back 4 that I dont like is this: Markovic and Moreno add a whole new dimention to our attack in their current roles and make us a whole lot more flexible, multi dimentional and unpredictable in attack. We have skill, pace, width, narrow, long passes, short passes etc. Attacks flying from every where. With a fully fit Sturridge and Can in the middle we could boss with this system.
Nothing to say they can't continue to operate as wing backs? returning to 2 CBs also gives us an extra player for our midfield, so instead of ---Can----Skrtel----Sakho We get ---Skrtel-----Sakho--- ---------Can----------- Eventually it would be good if Lovren showed us why we paid £20m 343 is working at the moment, but there's a reason no successful team uses that formation on a standard basis. We are winning/not losing at the moment due to pace. Our midfield is non existent! Pace will only get us so far (as we saw last year when we failed to break down teams that sat back). For the remainder of this season, it will do, but long term you need a strong midfield to really succeed.
i think we should look holistically at the 3-4-3. I think it gets the best out of not only the back, or midfield but also attack. coutinho has come on leaps and bounds in a 3-4-3. 3-4-3 made a RF role for gerrard against sides in the cups to push him out of the areas he can't play in. Can has been able to come in and get fitter and integrate in.... markovic was able to who some intelligence and work ethic and also toughnes as both left and right wing back. Moreno looked like he coudl not defend at all as an LB but as wing back he works. Henderson looks twice the player at cm beside lucas running and pressing cos he can come further up. So..... for me I'd still say 3-4-3 and ge thte best 11 in it. If lovern comes in at RCB he might even show something. who knows... if lucas is out sure stick can in there but keep everyone else at thier optimum
