Liverpool Banter Archive October 13 2013

13 Oct 2013 18:49:51
I posted earlier about making a B team to help develop our younger players to help benefit both ourselves and the national team. But I also have another idea, and your thoughts to this would be appreciated. The idea is basically to start a new league made up of a about ten teams. The majority of these teams would be compiled of many youngsters looking for their chance but also more experienced players who want to keep playing but not at the highest level. The games would take place on a sunday at three (as that's one thing I miss is all games played at the same time), and the idea would use grounds that are already built but for teams that may need extra cash. The benefits to this are that certain areas would get extra matchdays which would help local businesses, the tickets would be far cheaper to allow greater spectator participation and finally it would support young players in competitive environments which is a long term project but would definitley benefit all concerned. In essence, this is all theory as it would need enough teams to want to do it as well as enough people wanting to see the extra game, it would also need a lot of planning!

You already have the Championship, League One, Two, Conference Premier, North, South and all the local leagues. Clubs have reserve teams and underage teams. A new league is a complete no go but mayb the reserve team being allowed to enter at league two or something would be a runner

Erm. They have that, its called the under 21s

13 Oct 2013 12:36:27
{Ed033's Note - New blog by YNWAdam entitled, 'Everything in English Football is Wrong.' now on the Liverpool Blogs page.

Any thoughts on my long post lower down the page Adam?

Cheers

13 Oct 2013 14:21:37
Just doing some thinking in the summer when suarez was suppose to leave we all said a winger will replace him, do you all think that's the case now especially with the new formation or do you think maybe a quality striker any taughts

I think that this new formation is to accommodate suarez so if he were to leave I think another one of those interchangable forwards will be bought and we will likely revert back to another formation.

I think he was talking about Alexis Sanchez but Barcelona have changed their mind about selling him.

13 Oct 2013 13:04:01
I thought I'd give my two pence worth on our current formation, performances and the current pairing in midfield.

Our recent change in formation to the wonderful 3-4-1-2, has changed all sorts of dynamics with our side and in particular the holding/sitting two in midfield. It's worked exceptionally well for me and is something I hope we continue to utilise, along with a 4-3-1-2 or something along those lines.

Mignolet has started the season in excellent form. His shot stopping is as good as anyone in the leagues, which he's demonstrated each week. He's quick off his line and is learning to command his defence. His distribution and dealing with crosses is an area of improvement, but overall on recent seasons form he's a huge upgrade on Reina.

The three at the back really suits our current wealth of centre halves. Sakho and Kolo are working wonderfully in the slightly wider roles, both are confident and composed on the ball and strong in the tackle. The leadership qualities displayed by Kolo is also a huge factor in this seasons success in my opinion, so I just can't see how he, or the ever improving Sakho can be dropped.

Skrtel has also excelled in the deeper central role, which has been a pleasant surprise. Martin seemed to be on the verge of leaving in the summer, but for now it seems he has a place in our side and a renewed lease of life in the formation that best suits his abilities. That said his role will most suit Agger in my opinion. His immense ability on the ball and reading of the game, will work excellently in tandem with Mama and Kolo. He can step out of defence at times and stride forward, which won't compromise our defence and will also boost our midfield two, which right now desperately needs the support.

The wing back role is ideal for Johnson, he's always been touted as a right winger and this will let he shackles off even further. When he's on song, he's a great outlet on the right and with the movement up front, I feel he'll contribute immensely over the coming months. Defensively he's stronger than a lot think in my opinion as he showed against Man Utd.

His counterpart of Jose Enrique on the left, again should be suited to the system. Personally I'm not a big fan of Jose, whilst his defensive play (when in position) is good, even great at times. His ability (or lack of) to pass a ball 5 yards is infuriating, as his is insistence to hit 10 lofted balls over the top each game. Cissokho now fit can hopefully get some game time and rediscover his form of a few years ago, which touted him as being a top class left back.

Our attack in Sturridge and Suarez for me is the best in the league. Their movement both individually and together is excellent. Both are strong, powerful and purposeful runners and wonderful finishers. This system is ideal to incorporate both playing centrally, but also allowing them to drop off and dart wide when required, it's honestly working so much better than I'm sure even BR had hoped.

Behind these two Moses has worked tirelessly and impressively at times. He's a strong dribbler and as shown against Swansea, excellent on the counter. With the return of Coutinho, I'd imagine Victor will be used as an impact from the bench, which works well and Cou tends to tire around the 60-70 min mark. Luis Alberto is the alternative option to replace Cou and personally I'm excited about his development I've the next 12 months. He's get excellent control and vision, is a strong finisher and plays in a fashion that I love to watch, him and a returning Suso next season can become real standout performers for me in coming years.

Speaking of Coutinho, I honestly cannot wait for him to return. Whilst he's not started this season quite as well as he ended the last, his absence before Suarez return clearly demonstrated his qualities and what he brings to our side. His ability to dictate play, pick wonderful passes and walk past players is a joy to watch. Him behind a firing SAS, can only lead to one thing, goals!

I'll discuss the first pairing we've seen this year in midfield, Gerrard and Lucas. My feelings on the two is mixed. Whilst I'm of firm believe that both are excellent players, Gerrard formerly world class. The combination of both together is extraordinarily poor. Whilst that may sound harsh, the goals conceded usually down to a lack of closing down from our midfield in particular Gerrard. The astonishing 5 yellow cards picked up by Lucas already, clearly trying to recover from poor positions. Plus the sheer dominance in that area from Southampton, Swansea (once Cou went off) and for spells against a bottom of the league Sunderland, clearly shows this.

The biggest shining light of our midfield, is a man whose rarely played there, Jordan Henderson. The most improved player in our side over the last 12 months and up there with the most improved players in the league for me. His energy and stamina is vital to our side, he presses harder than anyone else, he goes on 70 yard lung bursting runs even into the 89th minute (see Sunderland) and he proving that mental strength is almost as important as ability. He showed against Palace that he can play that role excellently and has the energy unlike Lucas (who lost at least a yard of pace through injury), to not get caught out. His passing range is improving and his positional play pretty good. Over time he'll make himself undropable in my opinion, if he hasn't already. As a box to box player, next to a strong DM he'll flourish and has shown he has an eye for goal, which will only benefit the side.

The forgotten man to add to this side is Joe Allen. Personally going on pre-season form and the form he showed at the start of last season, I feel he can really excel if given the opportunity. The game vs Swansea, showed that there is always a role for a player like Allen. We literally couldn't keep the ball in the second half for more than 1 minute. Joe is excellent as hassling and harrying, keeping the ball and recycling/re-using extremely well.

For me in this formation I'd like to see Allen and Henderson used together at some point, whether it be in the FA cup, or when resting Gerrard if that would ever actually happen. I'd also like to see those two sit behind Gerrard, with 4 at the back and Cou with a free role behind LS and DS, as I feel they would provide excellent balance to our side.

We've got to start planning for life without Gerrard soon and hopefully we will target a strong DM in January, then rotate that player with Lucas. This would allow Henderson and Allen to develop throughout the year, next to either of the above. We can't expect Gerrard to play as effectively as years gone by, as he's demonstrating this year, so need to think about the team going forward.

Matic is being touted, but surely he's out of our range at the minute. There are alternative options around, Matuidi with only 6 months left on his contract is one, as is Fernando Reges another who I like the look of. I also think we'll look at one or two others. Micah Richards is being linked and we could well be planning longer term to replace Johnson. He wouldn't be cheap, but the sale of Skrtel or Agger would fund this move including their wage. Another more progressive midfielder or attacker will surely be targeted also, as we can't purely rely on Sturridge and Suarez, with Aspas yet to settle. It's a World Cup summer, so loans are common for people trying to cement a place in their national team and their is talent to be had.

I feel we'll be sitting top 3 by Christmas and hope that's enough to keep Suarez until summer. We really need all of our key players on song to compete and feel with a couple of sensible signings in Jan we can really achieve top 3, without the distractions of Europe.

Just a final note on Rodgers. I'm delighted that he's finally winning his critics round. His formation changes are inspired for me and he's really starting to improve tactically with each game. He dealt with the Suarez affair well in my opinion, as he's managed to keep the harmony and spirit strong in the dressing room. He's also instilled a winning mentality and if backed in Jan I hope he can reinforce to push us on for a strong assault of top 4 next year.

Papa G

With regards to our shape, players, injured players to come back and rogers I think your views are spot on. exactly how I feel. good read

13 Oct 2013 17:14:30
Great post mate. Echoes everything I've been saying for months. I particularly liked your point on Enrique and think his time at Newcastle has instilled that 'hit and hope' into his game. Great post though. I too hope to see an Allen-Hendo midfield pairing at some point.

YNWAdam

The longer skrtel's form continues the more his value will start to rise again after last seasons drop. in the summer it looked like the highest we could get for him were 11-12m and already papers are talking about Zenit wanting him for £16m in January. and with Agger, Kelly, Wisdom & Ilori we wouldn't need to dip into the pockets to replace him. that money could go straight into a midfielder like Selcuk Inan, Javier Pastore or a striker or maybe a wide player.

Good post. Agree with your assessment on our defence except I'm a big fan of the idea of Agger getting a spell watching from the bench - he was v poor last year he just wasn't as poor as Skrtel so Skrtel on top form this season deserves to be ahead of him. Agger needs to concentrate on improving and returning to his own standards.

I agree with your take on the current formation and the centre mid/def mid area but there's no way I'd way Henderson, Allen, Gerrard & Coutinho - just drop Gerrard here and have your 2 strikers and see how it goes, we don't always have to play him. On Coutinho he was superb in pre-season and he was poor then since the season started, hopefully he'll improve again and play the way he can as he could be one of the best in the league.

Very good post Papa, and what all this brings, is compitition for places, and all the players have to raise their game, this plus one or two very good new additions in the Jan window, should keep us in the the top four, were we belong .

13 Oct 2013 20:20:35
Great post Papa G. totally agree with you lad. one thing for me is in this current formation the wingbacks are vital to keep width going forward but defensely ie not dropping off inviting pressure on us when we don't have the ball. Onwards and upwards. YNWA

Mikey LFC

Agree totally with the OP, but would also like to throw another option in. What about getting the best of both Skyrtl and Agger by playing big Kolo as the DM in front of a flat back 3? Or for an even better balance, I'd like to see Kolo on the right of the back 3, with Sakho on the left, big Martin in the middle and, wait for it, Agger bringing the ball out of defence in the DM role?

Only other thing I'd add to the OP is that we really need to have at least 2 players competing for each position and we're now much closer to this than we have been for donkeys.

Good post
Glad to see u have positive responses and people agreeing. was trying to speak of midfield in a similar vein in previous posts but encountered a lot of negativity. some people don't appreciate constructive criticism and mistake high aspirations as not supporting the team.
On a positive note. a couple of midfielders (top class) and I really do think we would destroy teams.

Cannot see why Allen is so highly thought of. We should support our players, totally agree, but what has Allen done to earn such unflinching support and praise? It's bizarre considering the treatment of the likes of Borini, Aspas, etc etc. Allen is our 4th choice midfielder and until he is a) fit and b) playing well he should remain as such. Agree with the original poster about Henderson though, becoming a key figure who will be hard to drop. Who does he replace though, Lucas or Gerrard? For me, given the 3-4-1-2 formation, it has to be Lucas, Gerrards passing range is still too important to be without.

14 Oct 2013 11:40:41
Seano, that's not fair. Allen is routinely abused by fans on this site.
He's merely pointing out that for the first three months of his Liverpool career, he carried the side.
The abuse of the other players you mentioned, is warranted in some cases, however most of them haven't ever played excellently for a decent amount if time, with the exception of Sterling, who like Allen has both his critics and fans.

13 Oct 2013 09:03:33
Morning eds and reds
With all the talk of our youth system and the players being brought through and potential future players coming in I have heard lots of names such as Sinclair and rossiter and many others but haven't really heard anything about Harry Wilson.
This week I see he has been called up to the senior Wales side and although they are short of quality any sixteen year old called up to a senior side must have a certain degree of potential and this morning there is some talk of England looking to take him from the welsh.
Was just wondering if anyone had any views on him or insight to what the coaches and staff at the club think of his ability
Cheers

He's another young winger who was called up as a reward for his performances in their u17's. I think unfortunately for him we are well covered for wingers so unless he does something special or the others move on he'll probably fade into the background for us because he won't get an opportunity