I can see the points of the 5 at the back but for me Id have the midfield packed not the defense And I aint anti Carra either, I actually think hes still a better player than Skrts, but after 2 clean sheets, I just dont think you should change it.Id be surprised if we keep a clean sheet v Chelsea,I think we will need to score to get a result, so I think he will defo be back for City anyway
Put it this way, I'm not sure whether I would be as confident to play a back 4 against teams scoring hat loads of goals, so I think 3 at the back is necessary for the next 3 games. I think Carra is still ahead of Coates and Kelly at the moment purely on form and ability. So I'm not picking him just for his organisational abilities. But I do think he will encourage, cajole and bawl out anyone not concentrating and giving their all - against Citeh and Chelski, that'll be key. I'm not sure we have anyone else in the side with sufficient seniority, self confidence and vocality to do that if Carra and Gerrard aren't there - Kuyt perhaps, but I'm not a fan of Captains in the front line...
I think if we do score, whether it is first, second, etc we can have a real go at Chelsea..... another goal let in for them and the crowd will feel it, the team, etc. They might be scoring loads, but they are conceding a lot too.
well i think if we play with a high line, link lucas well with agger, have enrique and johnson there to push on.... gerrard making the plays. downing out wide and suarez in a free role.... with carroll staying up top for the chances... i think we'll play a lot better. put carragher in, pull the line 10 yards back and suddenly you've got carroll isolated and coming deeper, downing hunting infield... the ball being hoofed... pity this logic breaks down when carrgher was missing v swansea pity scapegoating carragher isn't the total answer either.
If we were going to Fulham (14 in 11 games) next, or at home against QPR (8 in 11 games), I'd be more than happy to continue to have Skrtel and Agger retain the shirts, or for Coates to be considered for Skrtel's spot, rather than go back to Carra. But that's not the scenario, and I think we need 3 at the back and this will have to include Carra. What I do not want to see is Carra walking back into a back 4
It's tricky because we've played West Brom & Swansea so not brilliant teams (no disrespect to them) but we have kept 2 clean sheets and surely Carragher should be used much less frequently now then he was before. We've seen with Newcastle's good defensive record that consistency in the back is what you need so I'd suggest sticking with the same defence as the last few games.
carragher was at his best mopping up behind hyppia. skertl looks bad beside carra as he isn't a dominant player... agger is suffering as he's not built to bash up guys. for ne i'd play coates and ask him to go attack the ball and ask agger to sweep up behind him and pass it about. carragher's had a good innings but time has to be called eventually
He is still a good basic defender but his lack of quality on the ball is a problem for you. This was not a big issue a few years back when you had Xabi Alonso in the side. That guy would drop back and pick up the ball pretty deep and set the attack off with his passing. Lucas does not have that range. While Adams, is nowhere near as consistent as Alonso in his passing. This is more of a problem especially when you are at home where you need to keep calm and keep the ball moving when trying to break down teams that sit deep. Not to mention getting it to the wingers with quick long range passes that find their target. Also having Carrol in the team makes this problem twice as bad. You could say, you have Agger to play the role of bringing the ball forward and not hoof but its still a problem when you have one defender that turns over the ball way too much. This type of play, is what teams that defend deep want. They have their CB's pushed back so they can come and head clear. Also in the prem, most teams have CB's that love this type of defending. Quick passes into your midfield, gives Suarez and co time to make runs and catch the other teams CB's on the backfoot.
