Topic: The Attack

[RK7]

Sturridge, Coutinho, Lallana, Sakho, Moreno, Manquillo, and Markovic are all either proven or still young and looking pretty decent. I think it's too early for many of them to be labelled duds.

We have plenty of options going forwards. When we bring in two pacey reference points, in Origi and Sturridge, we will open the whole game up and our technicians, Coutinho, Lallana and Gerrard in particular, will all get a lot more time and space on the ball, and it will hopefully help the defence as that pace means we can push forward quicker once we clear our lines in transition.

Sturridge and Coutinho have proven themselves, the others still have a long way to go or like I said in the OP for some it is early days still.

[-Daws-]

Sturridge and Coutinho have proven themselves, the others still have a long way to go or like I said in the OP for some it is early days still.

So its to early to judge right? Brendan hasn't had access to players who would be entering their prime now. Anyway this isn't a transfer thread so let's not go there, rather we look forward to what our pacey strikers will do for us as a team. I think we will be scoring a fair few more goals in the second half of the season.

[Loo Pan]

Dirk was hardworking alright, but calling the former Dutch captain and Footballer of the Year a 'technically limited grafter' is very harsh.

So which part of that is 'very harsh'?

That he was technically limited? Compare him to our current attacking midfield/wide options, Sterling, Coutinho, Lallana, Markovic, Suso...yep, Kuyt was technically limited.

[penga]

Kuyt made 285 and had 1 in 4 game goal ratio- a big chunk of that from right mid. Yes at times his first touch was poor but he protected the ball, could pass in tight areas and importantly contributed to end product - GOALS
From right mid you are expected to contribute less.

I respect Borini for his hard work but nothing ever comes from it - no assists, no goals. I can agree that maybe he hasnt played at times when he should but whenever he does nothing happens.

As for Lambert - i feel sorry for him - its a night mare - unless we lump it up high to him he is non existent. And we are reluctant to do that.

Exactly (on the point about Borini). Some of the more recent forwards or wingers we have had while not outstanding could do a reasonably job and provide some end product or at least make things happen even with limited playing time like Maxi, Bellamy, Babel. When Borini enters the game its like a car crash except the odd 1 shot on goal which inevitably gets saved because it's just a bit too near to the GK or it hits his own teammate to his misfortune. There's no expectancy for him to make an impact, which you would have even for Mario or Lambert - chances can increase when they come off the bench. When Borini comes on it feels like nothing really changed most of the time.

[Danan]

Exactly (on the point about Borini). Some of the more recent forwards or wingers we have had while not outstanding could do a reasonably job and provide some end product or at least make things happen even with limited playing time like Maxi, Bellamy, Babel. When Borini enters the game its like a car crash except the odd 1 shot on goal which inevitably gets saved because it's just a bit too near to the GK or it hits his own teammate to his misfortune. There's no expectancy for him to make an impact, which you would have even for Mario or Lambert - chances can increase when they come off the bench. When Borini comes on it feels like nothing really changed most of the time.

Funny enough, the only time when Borini looked effective for us this season was against Swansea in the League Cup, when he was used as the right sided attacking player in a classic 4-2-3-1, the role that Kuyt performed so admirably.

[Keita Success]

So which part of that is 'very harsh'?

That he was technically limited? Compare him to our current attacking midfield/wide options, Sterling, Coutinho, Lallana, Markovic, Suso...yep, Kuyt was technically limited.

Kuyt is a far better footballer than Suso.

Tactically, Kuyt wasn't the best. But he was a prolific striker and his tactical awareness, versatility and willingness to graft meant that he didn't get much opportunity to show how good he actually was.

[Coolie High]

Kuyt is a far better footballer than Suso.

Tactically, Kuyt wasn't the best. But he was a prolific striker and his tactical awareness, versatility and willingness to graft meant that he didn't get much opportunity to show how good he actually was.

He really wasn't.

[Tobez]

I'm still holding out a lot of hope for Balotelli. I think he's been wrongly characterised as an immobile lump, a more deluxe Lambert or a cut-price Andy Carroll. In reality he's a technically gifted player with a good turn of pace who is decent at finding space and link-up play when he has players around him. I think a lot of the negative opinions of Balotelli come from his struggle to adapt to a system that often left him isolated from his team-mates; the 4-2-3-1 we were trying (and failing) to use successfully just didn't work for him. It's sad that after all the talk of making him feel wanted and giving him a club where he would be truly supported how many people want to bin him out after fewer than 10 league games. His cameo against United (where he would have scored against a lesser keeper, or had Sterling passed it to him when he had an open goal) gave some indication that he can play in a 3-4-3 system. With Lallana out, it might be a good idea to start him up front with Coutinho and Sterling in close support, Henderson and Lucas anchoring the midfield and the Spanish M's out wide.

[Tobez]

And speaking of Lallana being out, I was interested to see that in 13 league games he's contributed 4 goals and 2 assists which is a rate of providing a goal every other game. Not bad, especially when you consider injury/adjustment problems.

[paulsheridan08]

dya know who I think would be a decent signing for us at the moment would be edin dzeko, If bony signs for city he is gunna be pushed out even though he already has been pushed out but I honestly think he would be a decent buy.

[Loo Pan]

dya know who I think would be a decent signing for us at the moment would be edin dzeko, If bony signs for city he is gunna be pushed out even though he already has been pushed out but I honestly think he would be a decent buy.

Would cost us over £20m and isn't the pacy, mobile Sturridge replacement that we have been crying out for all season.

[mrantarctica]

Problem is that Lambert and Borini are no good and Balotelli doesn't seem to have anyone's trust. Worst group of Strikers we've had in a long time. Sturridge can't come back fast enough!

[JoeCole]

Guess who's back? http://instagram.com/p/xl7EjanNRu/

[the_red_pill]

I compared the playing role he could fit not his character, so that's completely irrelevant.

He's started 8 league games, we as a team have put in some awful performances in that time (not just Mario), and as you say he has been tried in probably 4 different set-ups over those 8 games.

So, the most amount of time he has had in any setup is approximately 180 minutes (in a team that has been generally under performing), which is hardly enough to judge him as 'the wrong player'.

Carried on from the WTF..

Balotelli has had time to affect the game as well by his sub appearances. Times when you'd expect him to be fresher than others and he just hasn't. He's sulked, has been running around in midfield- fouling people in frustration and does not work his bollocks off as the others would. That much is clear. That's why some are on his back, because they can see this guy just does not put a shift in. A spade is a spade.

It's absolutely certain Bony would have struggled in this team this season - why he's suddenly the messiah when he's completely wrong for the way we play I don't know
We've misused Ballotelli and managed to almost play up the fuss around him rather than dealing with it
You can argue Bony would have been a better buy and you might be right but the difference would have been marginal

One of the primary reasons for us struggling and the team lsoing confidence, was the lack of goals.
Balotelli is directly responsible for that.

His job is to score goals so as to lift the team and help them keep their confidence up. His(and Lambert's) lack of goals are direct factors of impact to the form and the confidence of the team. It's not the other way around. Had they scored, we'd have had better results and better performances overall, so you can't hold the team responsible for Balotelli's(or Lambert's) forms. They've had enough to feed on, but they failed.


That's not to say they won't get better, but don't blame the team for their lack of goals. I'm not convinced by Balotelli and it's the first time ever that I have either not entirely welcomed a signing in Red or given up on them as quickly and actually articulated it.

[eddymunster]

Balotelli has had time to affect the game as well by his sub appearances.

A total of 78 mins (3 appearances, one of which was 7 minutes)

 Times when you'd expect him to be fresher than others and he just hasn't. He's sulked, has been running around in midfield- fouling people in frustration and does not work his bollocks off as the others would.

That much is clear. That's why some are on his back, because they can see this guy just does not put a shift in. A spade is a spade.One of the primary reasons for us struggling and the team lsoing confidence, was the lack of goals.
Balotelli is directly responsible for that.

Yes, one of. And directly responsible is arguable at best, it's not like he's spurned a plethora of chances.

His job is to score goals so as to life the team and help them keep their confidence up. His(and Lambert's) lack of goals are direct impacts to the form and the confidence of the team. It's not the other way around.

Actually, it is the other way around as well, it works both ways. One of the factors in Balotelli's lack of goals is poor team performances. One of the factors behind poor team performances is the strikers lack of goals.

It's a team sport, one part can't really be isolated and blamed as you are attempting to.

[spider-neil]

We need to identify all the attackers who can play in the system and bomb out the players that don't. Frankly players that 'come in and do a job' are a waste of space because more often than not they don't do a job.

[eddymunster]

Carried on from the WTF..

Balotelli has had time to affect the game as well by his sub appearances. Times when you'd expect him to be fresher than others and he just hasn't. He's sulked, has been running around in midfield- fouling people in frustration and does not work his bollocks off as the others would. That much is clear. That's why some are on his back, because they can see this guy just does not put a shift in. A spade is a spade.One of the primary reasons for us struggling and the team lsoing confidence, was the lack of goals.
Balotelli is directly responsible for that.

His job is to score goals so as to lift the team and help them keep their confidence up. His(and Lambert's) lack of goals are direct factors of impact to the form and the confidence of the team. It's not the other way around. Had they scored, we'd have had better results and better performances overall, so you can't hold the team responsible for Balotelli's(or Lambert's) forms. They've had enough to feed on, but they failed.


That's not to say they won't get better, but don't blame the team for their lack of goals. I'm not convinced by Balotelli and it's the first time ever that I have either not entirely welcomed a signing in Red or given up on them as quickly and actually articulated it.

Surely you can see the other side of this?

If we had played better maybe he would have scored.

[the_red_pill]

Actually, it is the other way around as well, it works both ways. One of the factors in Balotelli's lack of goals is poor team performances. One of the factors behind poor team performances is the strikers lack of goals.

It's a team sport, one part can't really be isolated and blamed as you are attempting to.

So what you're saying is if a striker doe snot score goals, it does not affect the team or it's performances? Really?

You don't think other teams will attack the fuck out of that team because they know it does not have bite? You don't think they'll press that midfield with reckless abandon, knowing the other team is not good enogh to score?

You don't think that's what happened to us? Because I certainly saw it that way.

[eddymunster]

So what you're saying is if a striker doe snot score goals, it does not affect the team or it's performances? Really?

Read what I wrote again.

It works both ways.

Edit: I actually have no idea how you have got to that from what you have quoted in your post.

[spider-neil]

Still haven't given up on Daniel sparking Mario into life. I thought they dovetailed brilliantly vs Spurs. Mario hasn't looked the same since.

[the_red_pill]

Read what I wrote again.

It works both ways.

It doesn't always though(not in this case anyhow).

Sturridge scores from a handful of opportunities and he did so at the beginning of last season until Luis came back. That was at the a time when the team was crap due to a lack of matchfitness and they were playing crap and they were playing deep.
You can just see what his presence and inclusion in the team meant in the beginning of this season.

Sturridge gets injured, the confidence is still there and then slowly dissipates as we realise out strikers cannot score for dear life. The opposition sees this and feeds on it. We lose even more confidence and so on until Brendan has to go in there and manually fix it himself(temporarily) by deploying a formation that gets the best out of our players and nurtures the new additions.

[eddymunster]

It doesn't always though(not in this case anyhow).

Sturridge scores from a handful of opportunities and he did so at the beginning of last season until Luis came back. That was at the a time when the team was crap due to a lack of matchfitness and they were playing crap and they were playing deep.
You can just see what his presence and inclusion in the team meant in the beginning of this season.

Sturridge gets injured, the confidence is still there and then slowly dissipates as we realise out strikers cannot score for dear life. The opposition sees this and feeds on it. We lose even more confidence and so on until Brendan has to go in there and manually fix it himself(temporarily) by deploying a formation that gets the best out of our players and nurtures the new additions.

Yes it does, and that last paragraph is your skewed, biased and over simplified view of what is wrong with the team this season, not what is actually wrong.

A striker scoring does not mean we will defend better at the back, it does not mean we will retain the ball better in midfield, does not mean the keeper will make less mistakes.

A striker playing in a better team, will get more chances and will therefore (most likely) score more goals. That is a fact.

If we go back to my original statement, what you will find is that I simply said we could potentially employ a system, that Rodgers has previously used, that may get the best from our best available striker.

I'd agree, I'm confident Mario can be a good player for us, if we play a system that suits him.

I don't get why he can't be similar to Bony, if played with wide players high up the pitch to threaten in behind, affording him the space to play. I think he will also be effective in a two with a mobile partner.

Your argument has gone round the houses and changed each time I have rebuked one of your points. You are yet to give a realistic reason why what I said is not potentially valid. 

And your earlier statement that our poor performances are not a factor in why our strikers are not scoring is bordering on stupid.

You think Mario is 'the wrong player', basically based on tabloid reasoning about his bad attitude.

Similar is not the same as. Balotelli just doesn't have conviction in him and he can throw in the towel very quickly. We tried Balotelli in a variety of formations up to now, but so far it has not worked out. We've tried him with Lambert a few times and it hasn't worked out, we tried him with Markovic and Sterling on the sides a few times and it hasn't worked out, we tried him with Sterling and Lallana out-wide and it hasn't worked out. Sure- we can still give him time to adapt(and hope he does), but we can just as well sell him- recoup 8-10mil and get a striker in who can actually score goals, instead of plodding ahead after the mistake was amde while time is of the essence.

We already messed up, so now we need to fix our mistake early and quickly. The only other way I see, is trying him with Sturridge, which I think would work, but if this was Torres we'd be all over him for sulking. Balotelli will become better, but his attitude stinks and lacks. To even compare him to Bony is an insult to the man's(Bony's) character.

We got the wrong profile player, so we need to correct it and do it early and fast.

I think he should be given a chance.

[the_red_pill]

Yes it does, and that last paragraph is your skewed, biased and over simplified view of what is wrong with the team this season, not what is actually wrong.
Everybody has a view on what is wrong with the team. That's just part of my view. You have an opinion(which is that mine is biased, skewed and over-simplified; and that Balotelli needs to play with more mobile forwards down the sides), so do I.

A striker scoring does not mean we will defend better at the back, it does not mean we will retain the ball better in midfield, does not mean the keeper will make less mistakes.
That's not what I said. I originally replied(to JackWard33) who claimed that even Bony would've struggled in this team, that a "primary" reason(note- not THE reason, but the primary reason) why we struggled this season, was a lack of goals. Sure we would've still conceded, however "confidence"(which is one result of scoring goals) would've not seen us at such lows.

A striker playing in a better team, will get more chances and will therefore (most likely) score more goals. That is a fact.
So which is it? Is it a fact he will score more goals or is it a fact he will - most likely- score more goals? That fact doesn't make sense- it has to be one or the other.
Also- it depends on the striker. If he is shite, he doesn't score goals or he doesn't score enough. Aspas came from a worse team and it hasn't worked out. Lambert's coming from a team who was worse than us last season and he hasn't scored more. Robbie Keane came from a worse team and hasn't scored more. How is it a fact?

If we go back to my original statement, what you will find is that I simply said we could potentially employ a system, that Rodgers has previously used, that may get the best from our best available striker.
I acknowlegde that and you made a good point, in hindsight.
I gave my opinion of him- just as you did.

Your argument has gone round the houses and changed each time I have rebuked one of your points. You are yet to give a realistic reason why what I said is not potentially valid.
I'm not invalidating your point- what I'm saying is that we have tried what you have suggested with Balotelli and hitherto, it hasn't worked. Fair point- you did say that he played too few games. Keep in mind, I was replying to you and then also to JackWard33.
Your opinion is that he needs time and he can possibly improve with Sturridge and also- possibly with mobile, intelligent forwards either side of him, mine is that he has had time, has been tried out and is yet to score. From what I'm seeing- there has been no improvement at all. If there had been, I'd be optimistic about him, but as it is, I'm not. His attitude on the pitch is not doing him any favours. I also hope he'll fit in better with Sturridge, but it's tough, honestly.

And your earlier statement that our poor performances are not a factor in why our strikers are not scoring is bordering on stupid.
Where did I say that? I implied that if our strikers scored, we'd consequently have better confidence and we'd not struggle AS MUCH AS WE HAVE. You need confidence to perform your job to a better standard. What is so hard to understand, huh? If you don't score, your team will suffer! Easy. A look at last season's games at the start of the season, will refute your suggestion. We created extremely little, played deep and yet- while playing crap, Daniel scored a goal in each game to seal the win and it built confidence.
He didn't need the team to play well, he didn't need the team to create plenty and good opportunities- all he needed was one or two chances and that was it.

You think Mario is 'the wrong player', basically based on tabloid reasoning about his bad attitude.
I hate tabloids, I don't read the shite. I don't have a problem with Balotelli. He could kill someone off the pitch- I wouldn't care a jot, as long as he puts a shift in, I'll be happy. At the moment and since he came in, he hasn't shown a willingness to hunt down the ball, he hasn't shown a good level of skill on the ball(he gets the ball and is dispossed almost immediately- everytime), he is frequently fouled(goes down too easy) and sometimes sulks, is found often out of position- near the sidelines or bumbling through midfield. That's what's making me doubt him and that's what I mean by "profile". It means he does not display the same sort of attributes that we have currently in our ranks.

I think he should be given a chance.
I agree. I have advocated for him as well, since I believe he can play "well enough" with Sturridge, however I'm beginning to doubt if he will really be worth it.

[Uruguayan36]

The attack will be ok...because according to the Uruguayan press Luisito may return to Liverpool again.

He said to close friends he is not happy at Barcelona and he regrets leaving Liverpool.

According to him he does not like the passing game he is forced to play.

He hate it.

But the press overhere also says that City, Arsenal, Chelsea and United are eager to grab him next season.

Wish him to comeback to Anfield...

[eddymunster]

I acknowlegde that and you made a good point, in hindsight.
I gave my opinion of him- just as you did.

Lets leave it at that, I was merely suggesting that with chance he may come good, given more opportunity.

I can see why people may dislike his general demeanor / lack off effort (I find it frustrating myself at times - especially shooting from 40 yards when there's a pass on) but I think his attitude seems improved in general since City. And I think much of his issues were exasperated by Mancini at that time.

I think it's more than likely that he will ultimately go down as a failed piece of transfer business, but I do think there's a player in there, that if used correctly could improve the teams fortunes in the immediate future.

As I say, I think by the end of the season he will be gone and you will be right but I'd like to see him afforded more game time, in a set-up that suits him.

[the_red_pill]

Lets leave it at that, I was merely suggesting that with chance he may come good, given more opportunity.

I can see why people may dislike his general demeanor / lack off effort (I find it frustrating myself at times - especially shooting from 40 yards when there's a pass on) but I think his attitude seems improved in general since City. And I think much of his issues were exasperated by Mancini at that time.

I think it's more than likely that he will ultimately go down as a failed piece of transfer business, but I do think there's a player in there, that if used correctly could improve the teams fortunes in the immediate future.

As I say, I think by the end of the season he will be gone and you will be right but I'd like to see him afforded more game time, in a set-up that suits him.

I actually agree with you in how we could deploy him, come to think of it. Let's hope it works out somehow, because it would be a shame if it doesn't.

[eddymunster]

I actually agree with you in how we could deploy him, come to think of it. Let's hope it works out somehow, because it would be a shame if it doesn't.

It makes sense to me, quick widemen high up the pitch would stop prevent the opposition CBs staying too tight to Mario for fear of leaving space in behind.

He naturally drops deep, every time a CB followed him they would leave channels for Raheem/Markovic to exploit with their pace, he's also got the ability to play the ball round the corner/back heel when he has his back to goal to find the runs.

One of the main reason he struggled previously in this set up was a lack of men getting beyond him. The task of running in behind (which he can't be arsed / is reluctant to do) has to be taken on by the widemen & probably Henderson.

[MrEazi1]

Markovic was the stand-out today - what a performance, he's really come into his own, is taking on defenders and making intelligent runs. Would like him to be more willing to have a shot - he very nearly scored a jaw-droppingly outrageous volley so the lad certainly has the technique.

[SerbianScouser]

I`m truly starting to think if we can find a shape that gets all our best attacking players on the pitch and we somehow get the best out of each and every one of them we can be even better than last season. Just imagine Coutinho, Sterling, Lallana, Markovic all buzzing around Sturridge, assisting, scoring goals, dribbling. People won`t know how to defend against us.

Obviously it`s gonna take some time this attacking unit to grow in confidence and mutual understanding but I honestly think it could be the start of something special. And I don`t think it`s beyond the realm of possibility for this group of players to thrive within the same frame as they can all interchange and complement each other and pose different questions to the opposition.

[Bunter]

Markovic was the stand-out today - what a performance, he's really come into his own, is taking on defenders and making intelligent runs. Would like him to be more willing to have a shot - he very nearly scored a jaw-droppingly outrageous volley so the lad certainly has the technique.

A rich man's Niko Krancjar dontcha know. Seriously though he was fantastic today, you can start to see the pure ability ooze out of him. He seems to have perfect technique in the difficult situations, like the volley today and the Bournemouth goal. Like getting a new player all of sudden.

[bodhisattva]

I`m truly starting to think if we can find a shape that gets all our best attacking players on the pitch and we somehow get the best out of each and every one of them we can be even better than last season. Just imagine Coutinho, Sterling, Lallana, Markovic all buzzing around Sturridge, assisting, scoring goals, dribbling. People won`t know how to defend against us.

Obviously it`s gonna take some time this attacking unit to grow in confidence and mutual understanding but I honestly think it could be the start of something special. And I don`t think it`s beyond the realm of possibility for this group of players to thrive within the same frame as they can all interchange and complement each other and pose different questions to the opposition.

In some games we could play Markovic and Sterling as wingbacks with a front 3 of Coutinho, Lallana and Sturridge
it really was a stroke of genius playing Markovic as a wingback with all that space in front of him its very difficult to stop him when he makes that run in behind because of his pace and the same would be true of Sterling, like Sterling he looks to have the tactical discipline and stamina to do the defensive stuff too which i thought might be a problem.

I think the lesson we need to learn from this season is we don't really need plan B's like Lambert, for this team to function properly we need a striker with pace and good movement that can press from the front, when we don't have that the knock on effect to the team is severe. Origi will give us another Sturridge like player and Sterling has shown he can play that position too.

[B0151?]

Want to see a front 3 of Sterling, Coutinho and Sturridge, with Markovic and Moreno making those overlapping runs as WBs. Pace.

[SerbianScouser]

Thing with Markovic though is that only recently did he start to attack space, against Wimbledon was the first time I saw him making a run into the space before Coutinho received the ball. If you think of his early performances in almost 99.9% of cases he wanted the ball into his feet to pass it around.

Rodgers obviously deserves credit for this as he wants all his pacy attacking players to want the ball into space not just into feet especially when Coutinho our best through-baller is about to receive the pass. That`s why the early criticism of him was harsh as people need time to settle and find feet in new surrounding especially for these reasons of learning about their teammates and way of working.

[B0151?]

Thing with Markovic though is that only recently did he starting to attack space, against Wimbledon was the first time I saw him making a run into the space before Coutinho received the ball. If you think of his early performances in almost 99.9% of cases he wanted the ball into his feet to pass it around.

Rodgers obviously deserves credit for this as he wants all his pacy attacking players to want the ball into space not just into feet especially when Coutinho our best through-baller is about to receive the pass. That`s why the early criticism of him was harsh as people need time to settle and find feet in new surrounding especially for these reasons of learning about their teammates and way of working.

Markovic's early performances really reminded me of Sterling's substitute appearances first half of last season. When a player is struggling it's amazing how much slower and less direct they are. It was always a case of waiting for him to find his feet and get some confidence before judging him. He looked really bright on his debut vs City and I wanted to see him run like that again. Even though he's been good with the ball since he came in at wing back, I think today was the first time we saw that directness that we glimpsed in that cameo and his time at Benfica.

[spider-neil]

The attack will be ok...because according to the Uruguayan press Luisito may return to Liverpool again.

He said to close friends he is not happy at Barcelona and he regrets leaving Liverpool.

According to him he does not like the passing game he is forced to play.

He hate it.

But the press overhere also says that City, Arsenal, Chelsea and United are eager to grab him next season.

Wish him to comeback to Anfield...

If you are an attacker you will always be second fiddle to Messi because in attacking positions the team will look to play in Messi first and you (the new attacker) will be expected to do the same.

Regards to Suarez moving on, don't see it as there is a transfer ban on Barca.

[spider-neil]

I wonder if Brendan will use Raheem as a wingback when Daniel returns with Mario partnering Daniel up front.

[bigbear]

I wonder if Brendan will use Raheem as a wingback when Daniel returns with Mario partnering Daniel up front.

It's an option but I think he'll see Raheem more as one of the supporting strikers.

[spider-neil]

It's an option but I think he'll see Raheem more as one of the supporting strikers.

Just think if you have two powerful skillfull runners from deep (Raheem and Markovic) you are getting pace and penetration in all 3 thirds of the pitch, then you can have Daniel to hurt them in behind if they push up and Mario to hurt them in the box with his power and technique if they retreat into their penalty area.

[PoetryInMotion]

He really wasn't.

He was.

Suso is technically better, but football isn't just that. Kuyt's understanding of spaces was really high. His off the ball was so good, he was available for triangulation and then could get in the box to pick up loose balls and score. He was tactically aware and defensively brilliant, all areas where Suso's just a kid.

[PoetryInMotion]

Carried on from the WTF..

Balotelli has had time to affect the game as well by his sub appearances. Times when you'd expect him to be fresher than others and he just hasn't. He's sulked, has been running around in midfield- fouling people in frustration and does not work his bollocks off as the others would. That much is clear. That's why some are on his back, because they can see this guy just does not put a shift in. A spade is a spade.One of the primary reasons for us struggling and the team lsoing confidence, was the lack of goals.
Balotelli is directly responsible for that.

His job is to score goals so as to lift the team and help them keep their confidence up. His(and Lambert's) lack of goals are direct factors of impact to the form and the confidence of the team. It's not the other way around. Had they scored, we'd have had better results and better performances overall, so you can't hold the team responsible for Balotelli's(or Lambert's) forms. They've had enough to feed on, but they failed.


That's not to say they won't get better, but don't blame the team for their lack of goals. I'm not convinced by Balotelli and it's the first time ever that I have either not entirely welcomed a signing in Red or given up on them as quickly and actually articulated it.

Agree with this. When we start scoring, we'd suddenly look miles better overall. Balotelli still isn't in a position to take responsibility for anything, let alone scoring while he should at least be showing his potential even if he isn't the finished article.