Liverpool and Benitez need to improve, desperately
If you’re rational and objective, you can understand that Rafa Benitez is not a muppet and he’s actually trying to do something good with Liverpool’s squad of player. His strategy at the Emirates (playing cautious in midfield to hold Fab while using Gerrard and Gonzalez to cut in and attack) was admirable as well, even if it didn’t work out for Liverpool.
But something’s got to give, and if your players aren’t performing properly it’s time to get things right in training. On Sunday night Gerrard’s body language was way off and he didn’t get as involved in the game as he should have. It was the same at Old Trafford, and Liverpool paid the price then as well.
Saying that Gerrard’s position is not the problem isn’t going to cut it - If Gerrard isn’t involved in the game you’re wasting two positions on the pitch - the right midfield and the cenral midfield place where he should be playing, at least if Sissoko isn’t there. That’s not very smart tactics.
A team without any drive from the midfield isn’t going to go very far, and at this rate Liverpool will have to battle for 4th spot, let alone 2nd spot.
What do you think? Where can Liverpool improve, and what should Rafa be doing to help them do it?
And realistically, where will Liverpool finish in the Premiership this season? I don’t see them doing any better than 4th, and even that looks to be a tough battle.
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They are an absoloute DISGRACE!, Beneitez is not the man lets face it, and im a die hard red.
But we best get used to it cos the board wont sack him so be prepared for this for the next 4 or 5 years, and you can FORGET the Premier league title!….theres just NO CHANCE of winning that, and probably nothing else either.
I just KNEW for a fact that they would lose yesterday that i put £500 win on Arsenal at even money, it was buying money!
Rafa is a great manager; but clearly he is doing something wrong. His Liverpool team is too innately defensive; Alonso and Sissoko don’t score goals and neither does Pennant or Gonzales or Zenden. Gerrard and Garcia are our only reliable midfield goalscorers while Kuyt now seems to be a 3rd reliable goalscorer. Crouch isn’t reliable in front of goal despite a good patch this year. But we need more. We need our whole midfield capable of scoring crucial goals at any moment so the responsibility isn’t on one or two.
Xabi Alonso has to go this summer. I love his talent and skill but in reality he is taking Gerrard’s place in the team and he is not as good as Gerrard in that position. He rarely scores goals. His play is only useful if Gerrard scores; Alonso won’t ever get us back into games if we go behind because he can’t really go forward. As for Sissoko, he needs to improve technically so he can pass the ball better when he receives it from the centre backs thus the need for Alonso would be lessened anyway.
I also think Finnan should be challenged for his place as his performances can be very average yet he still plays all the time. Alves would have been great but there are others. Not sure about the nutter Lucas Neill, though.
We don’t look like a fluent football team when we play; we look like a hard working organised team with only one or two top players and the rest are workers. We need more real quality like Michael Owen used to be. Constantly buying squad players like Pennant and Gonzales is not really helping the 1st team improve because these guys are only bench warmers in championship teams. We have too many and Zenden is top of the list.
I think the earlier we get stevie happy the better for the club.If stevie had played in the middle we still wld av lost.The earlier rafa gets his tactics right the beta.I would like to propose a 4-5-1 formation on our travels with agger playing holding midfielder and gerrad playing behind kuyt.That should be the solutiön.Someone should post this to rafa quick.Toye,nigeria.
The midefield is what linkes the defense to the attack, the integral cog in the team machine. Like you said you need some drive and neither Alonso nor Sissoko/Zenden can provide that. Gerrard is that man, but if the team is fucking up then play him where he can be most offective, in the centre! That is the main problem and add that to a constantly rotating team and the sheer lack of desire, you get what you have now, a team thats going to struggle to 4th if not worse. Give Rafa till the summer, if things dont change soon, someones going to leave, be it rafa or the their talisman.
The problem is twofold: playing Gerrard on the right in a 4-4-2 formation. Last season, Liverpool were playing 4-2-3-1 with Gerrard having a free role on the right. This worked well: Stevie could go where he liked and Finnan could go down the space on the wing because either Alonso or Sissoko would cover the space left behind.
Now Liverpool are playing 4-4-2, every time Gerrard comes inside there is no-one on the right wing to provide an outlet too. Finnan can’t go forward all the time because no one will cover him and we have only one half of the pitch to attack from. How many times did Zenden, Gerrard or Alonso pick up the ball in the centre of the pitch last night, look to play a ball out right and then stopped because no-one was there?
I reckon Liverpool should go back to 4-2-3-1: it’s flexible enough to change to a 4-4-2 in attack and the likes of Bellamy, Fowler, Kuyt and Garcia can play 2nd striker. Kuyt and Crouch can play as the holding striker and Gerrard can either play out right or back in the centre.