Topic: Bolton v Liverpool Saturday 29th 15:00 hours (sharp)

[Batukop]

I think Dalglish and Beardsley should play. With Molby in the hole picking out lofted passes to wide players like Johnston on the right and Barnes on the left. Oh fuck.....*wakes up*.........Yea, just hoof it and hope.

[liverpoolfc73]

15.00 hours (Sharp) ? really? not a minute sooner or later?


3 points please. dont care how we get them - whether we play awful and Bolton score an OG, or the referee allows us a wrongfully scored goal, or we score off a deflection or we go out and twat them - dont care !!

3 points is all i want - doesnt matter how we get them, we just need to get them

[Bangers N Masch]

I'd play

Reina

Johnson Skrtel Carra Insua

Masch Lucas

Gerrard Yossi Riera

Torres

with Gerrard and Yossi interchanging a fair bit, but Yossi predominantly the man in the hole. Why no Kuyt? Because he's been awful against Spurs and Villa and in all honesty he was average against Stoke as well despite his goal. Give him a rest, and bring him on around the 65 mins mark to inject some further energy in the side.

But I think Rafa will play the same team as against Villa but bring in Riera for Benayoun.

[Emlynevermore]

When did "You'll Never Walk Alone" become "You'll Never Walk Alone--Unless You Lose And Fail To Impress Me, In Which Case I Shall Boo; Paid For A Match Ticket, I Have"? 

Cracking chorus on the new version, though.

The proper supporters making the trip will undoubtedly do the rest of us proud.  Hopefully, so too will the boys.

Make us dream again, fellas.

[James B]

It wont be an easy game but we will win.

Team changes:

---------------------------- Reina --------------------------------------

Insua ------------ Carra --------------Skrtel --------- Johnson-----

----------------------------- Masc ---  Gerrard  -----------------------

Riera ------------------------------- Yossi------------------------- Kuyt

---------------------------- Torres-----------------------------------------

Or 4 - 4 -2 with Babel up front and Torres

Kuyt on the left and Riera on the right???

[relahni]

Nice to see the sweaty cockneys take us of the back pages.

Bolton match - line up

Reina
Johnson
Insua
Skrtl
Carra

Mascherano

Gerrard
Yossi

Kuyt
Torres
Riera

get rid of this two holding midfielders nonsense.  Gerrard in centre of midfield. Yossi behind Torres - drifting wherever - Kuyt and Riera on the flanks.

[Jizz Capuchin]

On the plus side, that dirty fucker Nolan with his forearm smashes is not there any more. Don't care who plays for us as long as they kick the fuck out of them, because we'll be on the receiving end of all their shite. Just fucking beat them Redmen!

[Irakla]

Starting line-up against Bolton

---------------------Pepe-------------------
--GJ------Carra------Soto----------Emi
---Duracell--Masch-----Steve G---Riera
--------------------Benny---------------------
----------------------------Nando---------------

[mikeb58]

I can sense an angry Liverpool side stuffing these fuckers.

[relahni]

I can sense an angry Liverpool side stuffing these fuckers.

Yep, it usually happens.  IF we can create 24 chances again, who knows, we could get 5?

[GBF]

gerrard will tear them into pieces and media will call us 1 man team again!

[robbie96]

I'm not picky how they do it, but THREE POINTS PLEASE!

[carling]

Reina

Johnson - Carra - Kyrgiakos - Insua

Benny - Lucas - Mascherano - Albert

Kuyt - Babel


Yes, I would like us to start with Gerrard and Torres on the bench. They have been awful so far, and it would make a clear statement. Our squad is good enough, and if you play poorly, you're out of the team, no matter what your name is. Never going to happen though.

Aye, only scored or assisted in 4 of the 8 goals scored so far.

[exiledintheusa]

Don't give a shit how the game plays out as long as Liverpool win. 3 POINTS!!!

Edit - Followed by 27 from the next 10 games at the very least!

[petko]

Aye, only scored or assisted in 4 of the 8 goals scored so far.

I'm fully aware of their contribution so far, but to be honest their display against Villa was shocking. We are more then capable of beating Bolton without them, and I think that this is the right time for us to show that to the rest of the league. It would send a clear message to beat Bolton with 2-3 goals without Torres/Gerrard, don't you think so? It would be a great moral boost for the rest of our squad as well.

I know it's a risk, and Rafa would look like a fool if we failed to win, but I just don't see that happening.

[MidwestWool]

The only thing that is keeping me faithful of our support is the Travelling Kop. The lads never fail to impress. Always fucking boss! Kudos to you.

I hope the team repays the faith that the people travelling show in them. Come on, you Redmen! Make us proud!

[Misholino108]

I'd play

Reina

Johnson Skrtel Carra Insua

Masch Lucas

Gerrard Yossi Riera

Torres

with Gerrard and Yossi interchanging a fair bit, but Yossi predominantly the man in the hole. Why no Kuyt? Because he's been awful against Spurs and Villa and in all honesty he was average against Stoke as well despite his goal. Give him a rest, and bring him on around the 65 mins mark to inject some further energy in the side.

But I think Rafa will play the same team as against Villa but bring in Riera for Benayoun.

I like that line up.

[Bangers N Masch]

I'm fully aware of their contribution so far, but to be honest their display against Villa was shocking. We are more then capable of beating Bolton without them, and I think that this is the right time for us to show that to the rest of the league. It would send a clear message to beat Bolton with 2-3 goals without Torres/Gerrard, don't you think so? It would be a great moral boost for the rest of our squad as well.

I know it's a risk, and Rafa would look like a fool if we failed to win, but I just don't see that happening.

We beat the league champions last year without Torres and Gerrard. I'd say that was a pretty bold message.

But only because we had to do it. How ever shit they play, they are near-undroppable because they are our match winners (hate that phrase, but its true). They've been poor on the whole, but Torres has already scored 2 and Gerrard has assisted 2 (?), and scored a penalty. That's not too bad for players that have been poor.

They'll come good again soon enough. They're too damn good not to.

[timiano]

No changes at all, apart from a change of attitude and buck your fucking ideas up.

Stevie and Nando need to sort their shit out or I'd drop one of them for the next game. Stevie especially - can you drop the captain?

[carling]

I'm fully aware of their contribution so far, but to be honest their display against Villa was shocking. We are more then capable of beating Bolton without them, and I think that this is the right time for us to show that to the rest of the league. It would send a clear message to beat Bolton with 2-3 goals without Torres/Gerrard, don't you think so? It would be a great moral boost for the rest of our squad as well.

I know it's a risk, and Rafa would look like a fool if we failed to win, but I just don't see that happening.

Well perhaps it would send out that message.

But when you snap back to reality you realise without them two the likelihood of us scoring decreases dramatically and then the whole world will bang on about Rafa cracking up - and actually be right about it this time.

[carling]

Stevie especially - can you drop the captain?

Of course we could - if we were completely bonkers.

[robbie96]

I'm fully aware of their contribution so far, but to be honest their display against Villa was shocking. We are more then capable of beating Bolton without them, and I think that this is the right time for us to show that to the rest of the league. It would send a clear message to beat Bolton with 2-3 goals without Torres/Gerrard, don't you think so? It would be a great moral boost for the rest of our squad as well.
I know it's a risk, and Rafa would look like a fool if we failed to win, but I just don't see that happening.

Interesting idea .....but, to be honest I didn't see us losing to Villa!

[petko]

Neither did I mate, but when is the last time we lost two league games in a row?    Perhaps I have a selective memory, but I can't recall that happening during Rafa's time here.

Something needs to be done, because we are playing without the belief we had last year. It doesn't look like our players are as determined to win as they were last year. We lack the belief and the confidence we gained last year through some solid results in pre-season and the first couple of games.

Last season we were really focused on getting a good start, and we got one. This year on the other hand the Alonso saga took away our focus and combined with the "pre-season is only about match fitness, we'll be ready for Tottenham" crap has really come back to bite us in the arse.

Perhaps starting with both Fernando and Steven on the bench would be pushing our luck, but if it meant that the rest of our players got a moral boost and the belief that we can and should win every game, then perhaps it would be worth the risk. For the greater good, you know.

But I can just try to imagine the headlines if we failed to win comfortably...

[Phil M]

                        Reina

Johnso   Carragher    Kyrgiakos   Insua

                 Mascherano Lucas

Benayoun         Gerrard               Riera

                          Torres       

Davies will be at his bullying best, perhaps this game would be the ideal time to pitch in the big Greek as Carra & Skrtel will surely be put under a huge deal of pressure aerially and physically and let's face it of the two CB's Carra is the least likely to be dropped so I envisage something like the above line up but saying that our back four needs to regain
some confidence after conceding three at home, a clean sheet and 3 pts away to this lot would work wonders I reckon.

[Riedles Reds]

Same team v Villa   

                   Torres

   Benayoun----Gerrard----Kuyt

         Lucas----Mascherano

Insua----Carragher----Skrtel----Johnson

                       Reina

Subs; Cavalieri, Kyrgiakos, Riera, Dossena, Spearing, Voronin, Kelly

Rafa should simply say to them, "Lads, go sort this mess out"

[Hazell]

I'd stick with the same team as against Villa, with the same formation. We can't just change the way we play after a couple of bad results.

None of our front 4 played well against Villa. They need to improve because we got the ball up to them, it was a case of them giving it away/making the wrong decisions.

Maybe playing away from home, against a team who may allow us to have the ball would mean we're not in a rush from the off, allowing us to retain possession and make the right pass, instead of Gerrard/Yossi trying to get the ball up to Torres as quick as possible, will benefit us.

I can't wait until Saturday. It's awful after a defeat, waiting until the next game to put it right.

[IMPredator]

For me the team should be
Team changes:

Reina
Insua
Carra
Skrtel
Johnson
Masc
Gerrard
Riera
Yossi
Kuyt
Torres

Lucas - Has had his chance, put Gerrard back in midfield and use Yossi behind Torres and use a diamond in mid we don't need 2 use holding midfielders....

[barnseysbarmyarmy]

Might be forced to mutilate my own genitalia if we dont win on Saturday... Would definetly like to see Riera give us width on the left hand side and other than that, I think our lads need to find the joy in playing together, as it has seemed very laboured in the previous games. This especialy applies to Gerard and Torres.

[freddwarf]

Nice to see the sweaty cockneys take us of the back pages.

Bolton match - line up

Reina
Johnson
Insua
Skrtl
Carra

Mascherano

Gerrard
Yossi

Kuyt
Torres
Riera

get rid of this two holding midfielders nonsense.  Gerrard in centre of midfield. Yossi behind Torres - drifting wherever - Kuyt and Riera on the flanks.

I agree as I posted this line up yesterday and called for Rafa to move Gerrad back to C/midfield (his best position) once Alonso was sold.Gerrard was only able to play second striker as we had a world class player in Alonso feeding the attack.

I like Lucas but he is still learning at this level and the jury is still out on whether he will be able to cut it long term.For Rafa to ask him to take on the role of play maker was asking to much. Mash is at best a destroyer,he puts out fires and covers the back 4,a job he does well enough but he needs a creative world class midfielder alongside him to feed and create.

With Gerrard back in midfield he would still score his fair share and you get his full repertoire of skills.The bonus is Rafa can then match the best to play up with Torres or even the attacking front 5 that we both put forward , i.e. Torres,Kuyt,Benny,Riera,Gerrad, with Mash in the holding role. When the new kid gets fit Rafa will have a very strong midfield as opposed to the mish mash it is now.

[hesbighesred]

CM is NOT Gerrard's best position.

Anyone who thinks that he can be 'better' than he is in a position where he now regularly approaches 20 goals plus 20 assists is absolutely nuts, in my view. Gerrard is the best no 10 in the world. There is no-one better, or at least, I wouldn't swap him for anyone...Kaka? No thanks. Besides - I don't think Kaka's ever reached Gerrard's numbers for a season.

As for CM, Gerrard is world class, but the way Rafa wants it played, he's an inferior version of Alonso. So by suggesting Gerrard there, aren't you really just giving us three problems:

1) Our style remains the same/very similar. We're not adapting to life-post alonso at all, merely putting someone like him back into that position.
2) In terms of that style, Gerrard is inferior to Alonso, so at best we can expect to be slightly less cohesive than last season, Gerrard's goals being compensated for by the couple of reds he would very likely get, and also the general loss of vice like grip over midfield that we've seen also in games past where Gerrard has dropped back there.
3) We then leave a gaping hole behind Nando. Why would we want to replace the best in the world with 'decent'? There's no-one in our side who's at a higher level than that anyway. Maybe in a few years time when Pacheco matures we can look at this again but now? I don't want Voro or Benny instead of Gerrard, and I'll wager 'Nando doesn't either.

What do we, as fans, want to see Gerrard doing - and what does he want to do as a player?

Score goals and make killer passes?
Or keep possession and make tackles?

Besides. If we don't bed in this new style NOW, doesn't that just leave us with the exact same issues when Aquilani comes back, only with added pressure and CL games to deal with, and less time to come back from any screw ups we make in the transition process?

Better get any teething problems out of the way now so we can build momentum and have Lucas and Aquilani competing, rather than give up on that transition for now, destroy Lucas' confidence, give us the same issue for when Aquilani gets fit only without Lucas to give him proper competition, with absolutely no guarantees that anything will improve in the mean-time anyway, seeing as it's not like Gerrard has suddenly made us miles better when he dropped deep against Spurs/Villa?

Indeed, as soon as Voronin came on we kept possession pretty well in the final 3rd in both those games, which strongly suggests that Gerrard playing poorly in that role has been more the issue that midfield.

[b_joseph]

With Gerrard back in midfield he would still score his fair share

Not really, there is a reason why the vast majority of his Liverpool goals have come in the short time he has been playing under Rafa. Rafa from the get go tried to find ways to release the shackles and put more emphasis in his best qualities...some I admittedly didnt understand at the time.
Stevie is an instinctive player that likes to try spectacular things. One minute he'd look great in the middle and the next he'd try a 10% pass and try to slaughter Nigel Reo Coker for no apparent reason.

If you want Gerrard to see more of the ball, fair enough...we all wnat that. But that is on Gerrard to understand that he can move to wide areas in search of the ball sometimes. In fact, it will help him in the long run and avoid players like Essien bottling him up in the odd game.


Same team as Monday night please...but not the same attitude or tempo. Bolton is a nice big pitch and might actually be a quality surface for once because of when we are playing there.
I expect to see the superstar duo have the game of their lives before International break.

[CHOPPER]

CM is NOT Gerrard's best position.

I'd agree to a degree, people wanted him on the right when everyone said his best position was CM and now it's changed once again with everyone saying he should play behind FT instead of CM, simply speaking wherever he plays he's the best in that position so theoretically his best position is everywhere, but for this game, the type of game they play and the pressure of needing a win I'd play him CM for this one and place Yossi behind FT.

[hesbighesred]

I'd agree to a degree, people wanted him on the right when everyone said his best position was CM and now it's changed once again with everyone saying he should play behind FT instead of CM, simply speaking wherever he plays he's the best in that position so theoretically his best position is everywhere, but for this game, the type of game they play and the pressure of needing a win I'd play him CM for this one and place Yossi behind FT.

Surely Bolton spend most of their time bypassing midfield? Surely they defend very physically too? Doesn't that mean Gerrard, in CM, night well spend a lot of time with the ball sailing over his head, and Yossi spending a lot of time on the floor? Gerrard destroyed them last few times we've played. Either because they've put a man on him, so the rest of the team has had time and space to kill them with, or because they haven't - in which case Gerrard's killed them?

Then also, what problem are we solving by moving Gerrard back to CM? We aren't solving the Alonso 'problem' - Gerrard is no more Alonso than Lucas or Mash, though he does play a lot more like him in CM - only without the control and discipline which is exactly what we ARE missing from Alonso's absence. Then of course the creation of that big hole behind Nando where we bang on all the time about our lack of strength in depth anyway -

I see Bolton as the ideal game to keep betting in the shorter passing style and more attacking CM approach we've been working on - and we need that to work WITH G&T up front, because that's most certainly our biggest strength.

What ever happened to all the 'play to your strengths', 'never break up good partnerships', 'put your best players in their best positons stuff?'

Dont' for a moment think I'm including you here Chopper - I'm going on a more general rant now - but it's amazing how quickly all that stuff goes out of the window after a bad result isn't it?

Incidentally - I say Gerrard's best position is n10 for the reasons I gave above. It allows him to do what he's best at more often with less risk - behind Nando he is free to drive forward, to try shots, to try high-risk passes. A lot of that becomes a borderline liability when it's tried from CM, which is exactly why Gerrard hardly does any of that stuff when he does play CM for us these days. That won't change just because Alonso's left and we've lost a couple of games. The reasons why Rafa wanted to move him out of there in the first place haven't changed, nor the benefits of playing him behind Torres - and I simply refuse to believe that partnership somehow only worked because of Alonso. Alonso was good but not THAT good.

[CHOPPER]

I agree and understand what your saying hesbighesred, no one can replace Xabi and I wouldn't say even putting Steven there is any sort of long term answer, For me it's just for this game. To be fair to Bolton there not as bigger hoofers of a ball than you or I make out, they just battle and battle hard and this game is going to pan out like a derby, where expansive football is never played. The game is won and lost in the center of the park. so I'd play him their for this one and to be honest i find yossi quite tough for one so skillfull, he does take a fair few knocks, rides them quite well and gets straight back up when laid out.
To be honest though as I said in me OP if we don't show up and fight tooth and nail with this lot then formations and the personnel won't matter one bit, we'll get beat.
You just know there going to be flying into tackles from the first whistle so we have to match that first, then we can start playing our game

[CorKopite]

Hope Riera plays in this,dont know why he didnt at least come on against Villa,would of changed the game up a good bit IMO

Pepe

Johnson
Carra
Kyriagos
Insua

Yossi
Masch
Lucas
Riera
Stevie

Nando

Bring on Kuyt after about 60 minutes for some fresh legs.3-0 redmen

[hesbighesred]

Ah, I get you Chopper. That makes a lot of sense now you've put it like that.

Still, I also personally think it's essential Lucas plays this game - if he's 'dropped' for this one I don't think he'll ever get the fans or team-mates back 'on-side' as it were. Just think - if Gerrard drops to CM for this one then next time Lucas plays he'll be 'replacing' him. Already a hangable offence in the eyes of many, sadly.

If it weren't for that I might well agree with you - the way you put it does make a lot of sense.

[hyypia04]

I agree with what a lot of people are saying on here - get Stevie back in the middle and Yossi behind Nando.

[HarryLabrador]

Much as I loathe posting blogs from Balague, he tries to offer an explanation as to the absence of Riera thus far. I wonder what you make of it.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

28/08/2009 

Liverpool Will Challenge for Title

There is a black cloud over Anfield and the mood at Liverpool`s Melwood training ground could not have been darker this week....

Writing in my weekly column in The Daily Mirror this morning I suggested that the atmosphere is more brooding than the usual despondency that follows a defeat: small issues have been blown out of proportion as the blame game takes hold. It happens at every club, but when expectations are great, the disappointment is even greater when things go wrong.

After defeat to Aston Villa, Rafa Benitez highlighted the poor form of key players; while some players shifted that blame elsewhere: citing tactics at corners, for example. Jamie Carragher was particularly vocal in the aftermath of defeat, telling everyone things must improve.

The despondency of defeat prompted a feeling, in certain quarters of the club, that Liverpool will struggle to mount the title challenge they anticipated and that Alonso`s absence has not been addressed: Mascherano and Lucas are too similar and, because neither can open up the opposition, there is an over-reliance upon Gerrard to create.

Rival managers even think Liverpool have become predictable. Alberts Riera`s absence remains a mystery - but appears an attempt to focus the player rather than a personal vendetta. Seen through the lens of defeat, every tactical decision seems wrong – yet perspective is required and with the scoreline at 2-1 against Villa, Liverpool seemed capable of turning the game - it was an individual error that killed off the fightback.

So, expectations at Anfield have been brought crashing down to earth, yet are they not more realistic now?

 Liverpool fans have spent the summer dreaming of Villa, Silva, Ribery, and lately, Robben and Carrick despite the fact that the possibility of such purchases belongs to clubs with very different financial circumstances.
 
What about Benitez following those false resignation rumours? He is seen as more distant than ever, but stays true to his course in the knowledge that he has heard the same criticism before after a poor start: not to mention last season when Liverpool ultimately finished four points behind the Manchester United of Ronaldo, Tevez, Rooney...
 
Yes, things could be better – and yes, there`ll be more moody weeks at Melwood. But it`s too early to start drawing conclusions and, based upon previous experience, unfair. 
I have no doubt Liverpool will challenge for the title.

http://www.guillembalague.com/blog_desp.php?titulo=Liverpool%20Will%20Challenge%20for%20Title&id=334

[Chivasino]

Dreaming of Carrick? Guillem at his very best with that one!

[Bosshog]

C'MON REDSSSSSSS!!!