10 Aug 2015 17:48:36
Play with Henderson and Milner in the middle and you will get exactly that. We will be a bit more solid but our build up play will be uninspiring. These same 2 players have been playing in midfield for England recently with the same result.

Henderson's first touch is backwards 9 times out of 10. He seems scared to lose the ball. He wants to knock the ball into the space behind him. This slows our play down. He also waits too long before releasing the ball. Emre Can showed him how its done yesterday.

Playing in that position is just no not Henderson's game. He's much more effective when he's running on to the ball and has less time to think about what he's going to do. The perfect position for him was when he was playing on the right of a diamond in 13/14.

1.) 10 Aug 2015
10 Aug 2015 18:07:59
agreed! - if rodgers plans to play two CM's, it has to be emra can with either milner or henderson.

2.) 10 Aug 2015
10 Aug 2015 18:18:19
Houns,
Agree, not sure there was a great many alternatives but Mr. Rodgers may find his hands tied having to pick JH now he is named captain. He didn't perform particularly well last season [granted his ban at end of season before that may have had some part in losing the title]but he will now be a guaranteed starter although a better option may be a combination from Milner/Can/Lucas.

3.) 10 Aug 2015
10 Aug 2015 18:54:57
Henderson is not a holding player at all.

4.) 10 Aug 2015
10 Aug 2015 19:02:02
Milner, Henderson works well in a 3-man midfield. A DM behind them let's them get forward where they can dictate the attacking tempo. Defensively, they are both suited to pressing and blocking passing lanes. We saw in preseason how effective this can be.

5.) 10 Aug 2015
10 Aug 2015 19:53:32
Yes Hendo needs licence to roam. Can should play from now on and we slightly alternate our formation to let Milner and hendo press

6.) 10 Aug 2015
10 Aug 2015 21:33:32
Nobody should be undroppable,, captain or not

7.) 11 Aug 2015
11 Aug 2015 00:03:21
Kitt is spot on! BR messed up again by not playing a DM in the first half which shackled Milner and Hendo. Only when Can came in did we get better and take the game to them. He still has not learnt and I hope he has because vs better teams, we will be shown up

8.) 11 Aug 2015
11 Aug 2015 01:15:24
Redohio them two shackled themselves, more so Henderson because Milner actually got involved in positive play. You have to be clever enough to know when you can/should play to the opportunities that come in front of you, but then again henderson doesn't even know what is going on around him when he gets the ball.
Before the pass comes to him he just thinks about the ball and keeping it safe where others will have a quick glance to see what is on. This then forces him to receive the ball in a negative way because he doesn't know he has time and space on the ball and doesn't have a maker on him.
Hopefully Gary Mac can have a positive impact on that aspect of Henderson's game and give him pointers on how to be more spatially aware & to be calmer when receiving the ball in certain situations/positions.

9.) 11 Aug 2015
11 Aug 2015 04:09:26
Hyach, you missed the point. A player cannot hold himself back if the coach doesn't tell him to play against his nature. Hendo is not a DM and playing him there is just stupid. He dis strength is pressing the ball up the pitch and the fact that BR changed the system with Can coming on as the DM, it freed him and Milner up to press Stoke and provide more help to Benteke. Blaming players for the coach's mistakes is just baseless and disingenuous. You cannot blame Hendo for doing what BR told him to do and that is as pathetic an excuse to absorb BR of his initial screw up as there is. And the fact that BR made the switch proves my point and debunks yours, completely.

10.) 11 Aug 2015
11 Aug 2015 09:30:00
there will be games soon when a Defensive Central midfielder will be needed or if not exclusively defensive someone that can screen and play (playmaker) which we unfortunately in the premier league and country as general lack. Spain and Germany/Italy have them such as Alonso, Pirlo was, Busquets, Kroos etc.

maybe and hopefully Rossiter will get a chance and step-up as Brenda doesn't fancy Lucas. At the end of the day, boring game, few chances, you get them, we won and got 3 points so let's go again get 3 in the next one, keep happy and positive everyone.