Author Topic: Liverpool's Midfield  (Read 1801731 times)

Offline Halcyon Lissome

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Re: Liverpool's Best Midfield Combination?
« Reply #80 on: March 18, 2014, 06:39:05 pm »
Lucas won't be just the DM and waiting for games inbetween Stevie getting a rest. Expect to see him as one of the 2 ahead of him quite often. It's already happened this season before Lucas got injured.
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Offline Miltonred

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Re: Liverpool's Best Midfield Combination?
« Reply #81 on: March 18, 2014, 06:47:50 pm »
Nice to have different looking options, and with the revelation of seeing Sterling play centrally, we now have even more ways in which to beat teams.

I have always been a fan of playing "our way" and having opponents tinker to try to beat us, one of my concerns about Rafa was his constant tinkering, but Rodgers has got me sold on this strategy.

As a result of this Road to Damascus style conversion I refuse ever to speak about our "best XI" anymore, as a general statement. Such things now only apply to the "correct XI" to beat any given opponent.

Glad to see Lucas back. Will his injury problems ever end? I suspect not, and as a result, I think Brendan will be looking to buy a player for defensive mid for next season. Stevie is not getting younger and Lucas's injuries reduce our options.

Offline rickardinho1

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Re: Liverpool's Best Midfield Combination?
« Reply #82 on: March 18, 2014, 10:47:26 pm »



hahaha, if a comparison were to be made, We'd be the black on its hind legs taking charge, City is the vain unicorn, Chelsea is that ugly brown one in the middle, and Arsenal is the little pretty turquoise one :P ... and then theres Everton who are that little green dot on the carpet  ;D
« Last Edit: March 18, 2014, 10:49:08 pm by rickardinho1 »

Offline Livo.85

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Re: Liverpool's Best Midfield Combination?
« Reply #83 on: March 19, 2014, 01:52:44 am »
It's quite disturbing how much you have analysed that pic rickardinho.  :D
« Last Edit: March 19, 2014, 02:01:04 am by Livo.85 »

Offline Another Red

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Re: Liverpool's Best Midfield Combination?
« Reply #84 on: March 19, 2014, 02:36:06 am »
It depends on our opponents and how we want to play. I will say this though: Gerrard has proved he's more than capable of playing that deeper position. He brings an extra physicality to the midfield compared to Lucas and he is irreplaceable given his contributions from set pieces. I don't think we'll be seeing a lot of Lucas for the rest of the season.

I think Henderson is a certain starter too. They may not be competing for the same position now but the implicit rivalry between Gerrard and him is bringing out the best in both players.

The third midfield position could be occupied by Allen or Coutinho. Away from home, Allen gives us a bit more control in midfield. I really like him as part of our midfield. Coutinho's electric turns and creativity are better suited to home games. Either way, they both bring a lot of energy to the midfield, which is what we need for the remainder of the season.

Offline ThePeetmix

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Re: Liverpool's Best Midfield Combination?
« Reply #85 on: March 19, 2014, 02:41:05 am »
Squad player..... But as we've seen, a valuable squad player.... Gerard will play less and less in the future

I doubt Gerrard will play much in the league cup next season either. Lucas will be needed for that, probably FA cup games and whenever Gerrard is injured/suspended.

Offline owens_2k

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Re: Liverpool's Best Midfield Combination?
« Reply #86 on: March 20, 2014, 11:13:42 am »
That's an odd thing to be glad about?
Not really, people needed educating!

Offline redmark

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Re: Liverpool's Best Midfield Combination?
« Reply #87 on: March 20, 2014, 11:23:03 am »
Squad player..... But as we've seen, a valuable squad player.... Gerard will play less and less in the future

I've seen PoP a couple of times say that he thinks Lucas has no more than a year or two left as a Liverpool player, which is interesting (and given his knowledge and experience, the comments have been largely left unchallenged). We can probably all speculate on certain reasons why that might be the case - reduced mobility since his injury, lack of variety to his play, limited passing range. Has he possibly been left behind more than the others, by the changes in our style and shape? Is he 5th in line competing for 3 positions at the moment? If a big European club showed interest (and decent money) in Lucas as an orthodox DM type, might that suit all parties?
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Re: Liverpool's Best Midfield Combination?
« Reply #88 on: March 20, 2014, 11:56:13 pm »
How long do you think Steven Gerrard is going to play for 1.2 maybe 3 seasons playing a full 90 minutes every game in every comp. He may well be a legend and one of the best players ever to pull on a Liverpool shirt, but he is not superman or Immortal. He will play less and less over the coming seasons and if we win the premier league this season who could blame him if he decided to go out at the top, the first Liverpool captain to raise the PL trophy. Brendan Rodgers has already told Lucas that he has a plan for him, so I don't know where the idea comes from that we would let a player like Lucas leave as Gerrard's career winds down. When Lucas came on at Old Trafford Allen and Henderson immediately clicked into a rhythm of passing with him that we last saw against Spurs City and Chelsea. If we get champions league we will need to keep all of our top players and add a few more not sell one of our best, I still think that our display against Spurs was our best midfield performance this year, we look perfectly balanced, fluid and our passing was crisp, quick and accurate, it is fantastic that we have so many options in midfield, long may it continue. So my opinion is our best midfield combination is Lucas Allen Henderson Gerrard and Coutinho or one of the many combinations they give us.

Offline Zelnaga

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Re: Liverpool's Best Midfield Combination?
« Reply #89 on: March 21, 2014, 12:02:52 am »
Lucas, Henderson, Allen.

Have to be honest, as much as I love Gerrard, the trio mentioned played some of the best football Ive seen especially vs Spurs match when Stevie was injured.

Offline danwarb

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Re: Liverpool's Best Midfield Combination?
« Reply #90 on: March 21, 2014, 12:11:15 am »
We also lost the following City and Chelsea games away with that midfield. We've only lost to Arsenal in the FA cup since then, playing a few different combinations. It's not so clear.

Also Spurs were as shite as we were good. Had Paulinho sent off after an hour, we were already 2 up by then.
« Last Edit: March 21, 2014, 12:19:15 am by danwarb »

Offline Coolie High

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Re: Liverpool's Best Midfield Combination?
« Reply #91 on: March 21, 2014, 01:20:48 am »
Was the performance better than the Arsenal or Everton one?

Offline Bobinhood

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Re: Liverpool's Best Midfield Combination?
« Reply #92 on: March 21, 2014, 01:22:16 am »
All of them.

Appropriately.

edit: Just to elaborate, for example last week the question was, can Sterling play in Couhtinos spot?  Answer: Hell Ya. Tactical Analysis: Cool.

and so it goes.

« Last Edit: March 21, 2014, 01:30:00 am by Bobinhood »
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Offline GrkStav

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Re: Liverpool's Best Midfield Combination?
« Reply #93 on: March 21, 2014, 02:01:12 am »
I've seen PoP a couple of times say that he thinks Lucas has no more than a year or two left as a Liverpool player, which is interesting (and given his knowledge and experience, the comments have been largely left unchallenged). We can probably all speculate on certain reasons why that might be the case - reduced mobility since his injury, lack of variety to his play, limited passing range. Has he possibly been left behind more than the others, by the changes in our style and shape? Is he 5th in line competing for 3 positions at the moment? If a big European club showed interest (and decent money) in Lucas as an orthodox DM type, might that suit all parties?

I swear, if I didn't know you as a good poster consistently, I would truly despair.

Lucas lacks variety to his play? Really? Because he's actually done pretty much exactly whatever's been asked of him (except for that one time that he was deployed wide left) to the 't'?

Lucas has limited passing range? Surely you jest. Under Kenny and with Brazil he's demonstrated excellent passing range, without loss of quality.
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Offline Bobinhood

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Re: Liverpool's Best Midfield Combination?
« Reply #94 on: March 21, 2014, 02:01:53 am »





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Offline redmark

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Re: Liverpool's Best Midfield Combination?
« Reply #95 on: March 21, 2014, 10:38:50 am »
I swear, if I didn't know you as a good poster consistently, I would truly despair.

Lucas lacks variety to his play? Really? Because he's actually done pretty much exactly whatever's been asked of him (except for that one time that he was deployed wide left) to the 't'?

Lucas has limited passing range? Surely you jest. Under Kenny and with Brazil he's demonstrated excellent passing range, without loss of quality.

Then don't despair, assume there's something more to the points than the standard "he's shit".

The points about variety and passing range are relative. Can Lucas hit a ball 40 yards? Sure. That doesn't mean he has the 'passing range' (and all that implies, include weight, spin, vision etc) of Gerrard or Alonso. Can he do more than sit in front of the back four and play simple sideways passes? Of course - but that doesn't mean he's equally adept at intricate one-twos on the edge of the opponents area, bursting into the box and getting goals, or Coutinho-esque through balls.

The point (mine, and a guess at PoP's in whatever thread it was) is that all good football teams evolve, and under Rodgers we are evolving quite rapidly and to dramatic effect. There's an interesting point in an article posted today in the Rodgers thread:

There have been suggestions that Rodgers has shifted from a possession-based game to one of pressing, but this is wide of the target. He has always insisted that intensity 'is an obligation' for his players.

At Swansea, there was much more recycling of the ball as outlets weren't always available. With him unleashing the league's most lethal forward line, Liverpool have no such obstacles, and thus aggression in attack is prized over playing keep-ball.

"My idea is to win the ball higher up the field so you are pressing higher and you are in better positions," he explained at his first Anfield press conference. "You win the ball higher up the pitch so you are closer to goal, and when you do that you need people with good skills. If you win it and you can't attack, you recycle the ball and you then go and play."


This suggests (as a number of posters, particularly Juan Loco in an excellent post a few weeks ago) that the supposed 'shift' from possession to counter attacking is false. There is no shift; there is a recognition that possession is a means to an end (with one caveat, to follow) and if you have forwards like Suarez and Sturridge, then there is less need for patient probing. The caveat is that it would still be useful to 'rest on the ball' for spells, which seems likely to be the next development within the team.

This - and what we've been seeing on the pitch - shows a much more dynamic, fluid approach to the game than many seemed to expect from Rodgers. As PoP and others have talked about, it requires (at it's best) players capable of recognising, together, the moments in games to quicken, to press, to attack, to slow, to keep the ball, to rest. In many respects, Lucas fits that very well. But where he might not is that it also requires midfielders to be more 'complete' players; to be capable of calm, patient, precise passing in one phase of the game, then showing creativity in the opposition half, pace and movement, surging runs and goals from midfield in another. People often talk about a given player being suited to a particular type of game; but this approach needs variety within games. It's not ice hockey, where we can sub-in an attacking or defensive set of players during defined 'phases'.

Some posters - amusingly, often those who decided Gerrard couldn't play the deeper role in the first place - assume he's going to retire any minute, or play far fewer games in the quite short term. He might, he might not. I don't know if Gerrard has a year in the role, or five, or whether he'll be Rodgers' equivalent of Giggs, playing for years, but less and less. But I think while it's futile to try and predict Gerrard's longetivity in that role, it's almost equally mistaken to assume that Lucas will remain the primary alternative in that role; or to assume that Lucas (whatever 'plan' he refers to Rodgers having) is going to immediately displace Henderson, or Allen, or Coutinho in the other midfield roles. Equally, it should be said, I think it's flawed to assume (as a number do) that Henderson's improvements, for example, automatically mean he's a fixture in the team and a future captain.

What I think gives the best clue to Rodgers' concept of a midfielder (in range of abilities, if not necessarily absolute quality), is the one (putting Coutinho aside as a more attacking player, though he may increasingly play a 'midfield' role) he actually bought - Joe Allen. We've still perhaps not really seen Allen at his best for a sustained period, but (barring Gerrard, at this stage of his career) he has more variety to his game than our other midfielders. He's almost what you would get if you could combine the best of Henderson and Lucas, at 80-90% of the quality of their attributes; a worthy option for any of the midfield roles, if not quite outstanding at any of them. Energy, pressing, good touch, patient passing, gets into the box and can pick a pass in the final third.

So in the evolution of the squad - this summer, next summer, or later - I suspect we're looking for better Joe Allen's - technical, energetic, versatile. But not so much as an upgrade on Allen, but on players with a less 'rounded' game; Henderson and Lucas. That isn't to say we should, or will, sell those in the immediate future - our first priority this summer will be additional squad depth, not necessarily 'upgrades' - but that it shouldn't be assumed that any additions to our midfield will be for an ageing Gerrard, or whichever player a particular poster thinks is a weaker link. What is Rodgers looking to do, going forward? Our midfield in three or four years may look very different, in terms of personnel.

(This is all a little academic at the moment, and not intended to detract from a marvellous season, a possible title and performances from players in midfield and elsewhere).
« Last Edit: March 21, 2014, 10:40:37 am by redmark »
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Offline Tony19:6

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Re: Liverpool's Best Midfield Combination?
« Reply #96 on: March 22, 2014, 11:38:08 am »
For me its Gerrard, Allen and Henderson, having said that Coutinho has shown more grit to his play in recent displays added to his obvious guile.

Lucas can come on when we are winning a game and want to see it through.

Nice to have these options considering the amount of games we will be playing next season.
« Last Edit: March 22, 2014, 11:40:13 am by Tony18:5 »
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Offline Anywhichwayicant

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Re: Liverpool's Best Midfield Combination?
« Reply #97 on: September 13, 2014, 08:07:15 pm »
So what's the remedy?





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Re: Liverpool's Best Midfield Combination?
« Reply #98 on: September 13, 2014, 08:14:54 pm »
So what's the remedy?

I don't know what we're doing with our midfield so far this season. It's like we're ignoring everything that worked so well for us last season. Twice this season we've gone in with an experimental (for us) midfield. When we play the way we normally do you get results like we did at Spurs. Sure we got beaten at City, but our midfield was doing very well in that game till it all went a bit to shit defensively. However against Southampton and again today the midfield looked slow and laborious, much like it did at the start of last season. Maybe we missed Allen today, but Gerrard-Hendo-Coutinho was our midfield for large parts of last season, and we don't usually look anywhere near as poor. I don't know why they were set up the way they were today.

You look at Chelsea's midfield with players who all understand their role but can interchange and I'm not sure we really have that. I wasn't that fussed about Fabregas when he was brought up in the STF but you look at what he offers for Chelsea and we just don't have that at the moment.

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Re: Liverpool's Best Midfield Combination?
« Reply #99 on: September 13, 2014, 08:21:48 pm »
We didn't need Lallana we needed Schneiderlin. If Gerrard has to start every game then we need two mobile midfielders to work around him. He can't play in a two and Lallana isn't going to do that.
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Re: Liverpool's Best Midfield Combination?
« Reply #100 on: September 13, 2014, 08:24:18 pm »
Henderson-Gerrard-Allen
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Re: Liverpool's Best Midfield Combination?
« Reply #101 on: September 13, 2014, 08:28:49 pm »
Henderson-Gerrard-Allen

This is the one that tends to work best out of what we've tried. Problem for Rodgers is how you fit Coutinho, Lallana and Markovic in the side so we end up with the bullshit midfield two.
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Re: Liverpool's Best Midfield Combination?
« Reply #102 on: September 13, 2014, 08:31:04 pm »
It's better when Allen is in it
That's your start point

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Re: Liverpool's Best Midfield Combination?
« Reply #103 on: September 13, 2014, 08:53:19 pm »
Problem today was that Gerrard was marked out the game and then they got the first goal so they continued to do it. Henderson played deep to try and dictate the play instead but he's clearly better going from box-to-box. We missed Allen.

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Re: Liverpool's Best Midfield Combination?
« Reply #104 on: September 14, 2014, 12:05:01 am »
Problem today was that Gerrard was marked out the game and then they got the first goal so they continued to do it. Henderson played deep to try and dictate the play instead but he's clearly better going from box-to-box. We missed Allen.
Ok I may get slated for this but it has to be said, our midfield this season and last have a problem, Stevie has to be protected, hence starting Lucas in our first game and dropping Henderson back today. Now I am not blaming Gerrard for todays loss, but it was very noticeable till Villa scored that both Henderson and Coutinho were dropping very deep instead of pressing high up. It seems we are afraid to press really high up incase we lose the ball and the opposition get a run at Gerrard. We didnt seem to have any cohesion right from the start today and it cant be a coincidence that this happens every time we play Stevie as part of a 2 man midfield with AN other. Our defence was shocking today and Lovern in particular and we should have started with 2 up front, there are problems that need to be sorted.

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Re: Liverpool's Best Midfield Combination?
« Reply #105 on: September 14, 2014, 04:53:06 am »
Ok I may get slated for this but it has to be said, our midfield this season and last have a problem, Stevie has to be protected, hence starting Lucas in our first game and dropping Henderson back today. Now I am not blaming Gerrard for todays loss, but it was very noticeable till Villa scored that both Henderson and Coutinho were dropping very deep instead of pressing high up. It seems we are afraid to press really high up incase we lose the ball and the opposition get a run at Gerrard. We didnt seem to have any cohesion right from the start today and it cant be a coincidence that this happens every time we play Stevie as part of a 2 man midfield with AN other. Our defence was shocking today and Lovern in particular and we should have started with 2 up front, there are problems that need to be sorted.
Gerrard is the elephant in the room. To say that you have to play two or more midfielders to protect another one is simply wrong, especially in a league like the premiership. Gerrard has undoubtedly been one of the best ever players the club has ever had, but he is no longer that player and hasn't been for a while. Fortunately for him and the club,  last season we had an a unique set of players in front of him which made things much easier for him. However, that is no longer so. The sad part is that the club appear to have no plan to slowly phase him out or replace him.  The next four games will be interesting in terms of how his playing time is managed and the shape of the team. The injuries to  Can and Allen have tied Rodgers hand a bit though.

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Re: Liverpool's Best Midfield Combination?
« Reply #106 on: September 14, 2014, 05:04:26 am »
In all honesty, why exactly did Gerrard have to be protected today? Why did Henderson need to play that 'deep' to begin with?

The 4231 with Gerrard as one of the two offers us the square root of eff all, either defensively or in attack.

4123 or 41212. Forget Gerrard and another, especially in attack, on the same level. It doesn't work.

At some points during today's game Gerrard was effectively on Lovren's toes going forward. What's the point of that?
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Re: Liverpool's Best Midfield Combination?
« Reply #107 on: September 14, 2014, 06:23:53 am »
Think by the end of the team it will be Gerrard, Hendo, Can, Sterling in the diamond. Lallana coming on for Sterling
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Re: Liverpool's Best Midfield Combination?
« Reply #108 on: September 14, 2014, 06:43:16 am »
Gerrard is the elephant in the room. To say that you have to play two or more midfielders to protect another one is simply wrong, especially in a league like the premiership. Gerrard has undoubtedly been one of the best ever players the club has ever had, but he is no longer that player and hasn't been for a while. Fortunately for him and the club,  last season we had an a unique set of players in front of him which made things much easier for him. However, that is no longer so. The sad part is that the club appear to have no plan to slowly phase him out or replace him.  The next four games will be interesting in terms of how his playing time is managed and the shape of the team. The injuries to  Can and Allen have tied Rodgers hand a bit though.

agree with this...if gerrard is there to protect defenders, and he also needs protection from the other midfielder, then basically we have no midfield at all

i love gerrard, he's probably the best liverpool player ever, but rodgers shouldn't start him in every game. I know how much he wants to play and be a part of everything, but sometimes he can be more helpful if he's not playing. Rodgers should do whats the best for the club and for the fans, not whats best for gerrard...

unfortunately i can see Rodgers starting him in every game...i don't think he have cojones to drop him


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Re: Liverpool's Best Midfield Combination?
« Reply #109 on: September 14, 2014, 07:06:31 am »
agree with this...if gerrard is there to protect defenders, and he also needs protection from the other midfielder, then basically we have no midfield at all

i love gerrard, he's probably the best liverpool player ever, but rodgers shouldn't start him in every game. I know how much he wants to play and be a part of everything, but sometimes he can be more helpful if he's not playing. Rodgers should do whats the best for the club and for the fans, not whats best for gerrard...

unfortunately i can see Rodgers starting him in every game...i don't think he have cojones to drop him

Whether it's right or not the reality is Gerrard will more or less start and finish every game if he's fit so we have to work around that. That means we do need two pressing, energetic midfielders around him in a lot of games to carry him because his legs have gone.

That means Henderson and Allen need to start. Hopefully Can will provide that as well so when Allen or Henderson are out we won't lose the midfield.
Could have done with Grujic and even Chirivella to tide us over this season

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Re: Liverpool's Best Midfield Combination?
« Reply #110 on: September 14, 2014, 07:10:33 am »
We didn't need Lallana we needed Schneiderlin. If Gerrard has to start every game then we need two mobile midfielders to work around him. He can't play in a two and Lallana isn't going to do that.

Completely agree with this post.

Schneiderlin would have been exactly what we needed if we intend to keep playing Gerrard as the pivot. A hardworking midfielder who can play.

I've said it repeatedly, our CM options are sadly nowhere near the clubs we are supposed to be competing with. We needed to bolster the CM with a proven player who can come right in and play alongside Gerrard and Hendo while also offering some attacking threat.

Our CM looks slow and ponderous at times, far from the dynamic setups at Chelsea/City.

If we insist on playing Gerrard in a two man configuration, we need to start looking to dominate possession rather than play on the counter.
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Offline b_joseph

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Re: Liverpool's Best Midfield Combination?
« Reply #111 on: September 14, 2014, 07:16:23 am »
Whether it's right or not the reality is Gerrard will more or less start and finish every game if he's fit so we have to work around that. That means we do need two pressing, energetic midfielders around him in a lot of games to carry him because his legs have gone.

That means Henderson and Allen need to start. Hopefully Can will provide that as well so when Allen or Henderson are out we won't lose the midfield.
It's doesn't mean that they both need to start. Obviously against certain teams it would be better for them both to start. But we had tremendous success with Coutinho playing in there with Henderson.
Come to think of it, any midfield three that we have used has worked with Brendan. They only three that hasn't worked, or hasn't been as impressive, has been when Lucas and Stevie have played together.
When the line up was announced yesterday, I thought that Lallana was going to play in a middle three..replacing Allen with a more offensive player.

It's not about having them to protect Gerrard. They are used to push the opposition back and create a threat for us when we have the ball.
But as others have said..for the better part of ten years, it has never been best for Stevie to play in an absolute middle two. It's still weird that it still happens after all of these years....just in reason to even experiment with it at this stage.
« Last Edit: September 14, 2014, 07:19:50 am by b_joseph »

Offline itsgunnabebarnes!

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Re: Liverpool's Best Midfield Combination?
« Reply #112 on: September 14, 2014, 07:17:30 am »
Let's be honest none of the players as a three are that good.

Hopefully Can will improve upon them.
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Offline jonab

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Re: Liverpool's Best Midfield Combination?
« Reply #113 on: September 14, 2014, 07:17:44 am »
Actually dont feel bad for being pissed of at Brendan after last nights result. Dont get me wrong, im a big rodgers fan but bloody hell man. Its trouble everytime we play tne damn 2-1 midfield. It just doesn't work. Hendo needs to be further up the pitch, being a pain in the ass for the opposition. If Gerrard isn't capable of handling the lone defensive midfield role in certain games, then put him on the bench.

Definittely missed Allen last night. Feel like he could've set a higher tempo in our passing game.

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Re: Liverpool's Best Midfield Combination?
« Reply #114 on: September 14, 2014, 07:20:18 am »
Completely agree with this post.

Schneiderlin would have been exactly what we needed if we intend to keep playing Gerrard as the pivot. A hardworking midfielder who can play.

I've said it repeatedly, our CM options are sadly nowhere near the clubs we are supposed to be competing with. We needed to bolster the CM with a proven player who can come right in and play alongside Gerrard and Hendo while also offering some attacking threat.

Our CM looks slow and ponderous at times, far from the dynamic setups at Chelsea/City.

If we insist on playing Gerrard in a two man configuration, we need to start looking to dominate possession rather than play on the counter.

The paradox of that is we look a lot more of a possession side when Gerrard doesn't play. We aren't going to play possession football with Gerrard in the side because he'll always look to play the long ball. They're great when they come off but you will just as often concede possession straight away. Alonso can hit a great long ball but he can also dictate the tempo and keep it simple all day when needs be. Against Southampton all we seemed to do was look for the long ball over the top for Sturridge or Sterling to run onto, like in the days of Michael Owen. Yesterday was just a total clusterfuck in terms of shape and gameplan.

Annoying seeing Chelsea sign Fabregas and Matic this year and City sign Fernando - all players who'd massively improve our midfield. They improve their midfield while ours stands still when we've never replaced Mascherano or Alonso, not to mention losing much of what Gerrard offered a few years ago.

Rodgers has gone out and signed three new defenders who all made their competitive home debuts yesterday and three new forwards also made their competitive home debuts yesterday. But we haven't strengthened sufficiently where we really needed to - in midfield.
« Last Edit: September 14, 2014, 07:22:10 am by Fromola »
Could have done with Grujic and even Chirivella to tide us over this season

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Re: Liverpool's Best Midfield Combination?
« Reply #115 on: September 14, 2014, 07:26:04 am »
Actually dont feel bad for being pissed of at Brendan after last nights result. Dont get me wrong, im a big rodgers fan but bloody hell man. Its trouble everytime we play tne damn 2-1 midfield. It just doesn't work. Hendo needs to be further up the pitch, being a pain in the ass for the opposition. If Gerrard isn't capable of handling the lone defensive midfield role in certain games, then put him on the bench.

Definittely missed Allen last night. Feel like he could've set a higher tempo in our passing game.

Rodgers has got a lot to learn with rotation and freshening things up. He needs to learn when to use Gerrard and when to go with other options. Gerrard restricts us in terms of options because he has to have two other energetic midfielders in with him a lot of the time.

Resting Sterling yesterday smacked of making a point to England but it was the wrong time when it meant three forwards were making their home debuts. Rotating the squad is a skill but Rodgers is too used to playing what he sees as his best team every game. The idea of resting Gerrard for anything but the early rounds of the league cup still seems to be sacrilege.
Could have done with Grujic and even Chirivella to tide us over this season

Offline robgomm

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Re: Liverpool's Best Midfield Combination?
« Reply #116 on: September 14, 2014, 08:14:42 am »
Either a three or a diamond with these players I think. The one absolute necessity is that if Gerrard plays he is the '1'. If he's playing any other role the midfield is half as good at best.

Offline Halcyon Lissome

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Re: Liverpool's Best Midfield Combination?
« Reply #117 on: September 14, 2014, 08:53:41 am »
Actually dont feel bad for being pissed of at Brendan after last nights result. Dont get me wrong, im a big rodgers fan but bloody hell man. Its trouble everytime we play tne damn 2-1 midfield. It just doesn't work. Hendo needs to be further up the pitch, being a pain in the ass for the opposition. If Gerrard isn't capable of handling the lone defensive midfield role in certain games, then put him on the bench.

Definittely missed Allen last night. Feel like he could've set a higher tempo in our passing game.

I don't think Rodgers used Hendo for Gerrard's sake but for the attack's. We usually go for 3 midfielders when we play a 1-2 and in our 4-2-3-1 against Villa Rodgers had anticipated Villa using counter attacks and instead just used a base of 2. It was supposed to be more attacking by having a front 4 but the link-play was very raw and not as fluent - because of new faces.

Either a three or a diamond with these players I think. The one absolute necessity is that if Gerrard plays he is the '1'. If he's playing any other role the midfield is half as good at best.

Huh? The best part of our game against Villa was the midfield, easily.
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Offline robgomm

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Re: Liverpool's Best Midfield Combination?
« Reply #118 on: September 14, 2014, 10:11:18 am »
We obviously are polar opposites on this Halycon. I felt our problems yesterday began with an unbalanced midfield and that led to constant side to sides and knocking the ball wide. Our pressing ead affected as our best presser, Hendo, spent much of the game in his own half. Gerrard was too forward, playing to Villa's tactics as wanted to get tight to him anyway. Coutinho was very disappointing, especially his shooting.

We controlled before but after Villa scored it was gifted to us.

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Re: Liverpool's Best Midfield Combination?
« Reply #119 on: September 14, 2014, 10:15:57 am »
I think either :

                                                Gerrard

                                 Allen                        Henderson

As a midfield trio or :

                                                Gerrard

                                 Allen                         Henderson

                                                Sterling

As a diamond.