Feck everything, Our midfield is 0 without Lucas. Back up DM top priority next summer.

Nishank wrote:Feck everything, Our midfield is 0 without Lucas. Back up DM top priority next summer.

NOTE: THIS IS NOT SAYING THIS WILL SOLVE THIS PROBLEM OR THAT WE SHOULDN'T INVEST IN A BACKUP DM.

But apparently Jonjo requested to be played in the holding role in the reserves so that he could learn the spot and be more able to contribute to the first team. Class move by him, I think.

Nishank wrote:Feck everything, Our midfield is 0 without Lucas. Back up DM top priority next summer.

I don't think it's so much about another DM as it is about numbers.
Gerrard hasn't got the legs to be a very effective CM without the ball or when we are being put under a lot of pressure. He is outstanding when he's got a moment to pick a pass and in attack, but I think we need to play 2 CMs besides him against most oppositions and at least on the road.

So I believe we can cope without Lucas or another DM if we just play 3 CMs, for instance Gerrard, Henderson and Shelvey - and also that even with Lucas it might not be enough to just partner him with Steven in the middle.

HBA rumors are getting stronger by the day (in this forum, that is). Funny thing is I was rather upset when New Castle signed (instead of us), but now I don't fancy him.

Why don't we scout for some one from Germany, East Europe. I fancy those countries :-)

I am very fond of scouting from Eastern European countries as they always seem to have some great talents. Same with Scandinavia.

Messiah "Aggerswagger" wrote:I am very fond of scouting from Eastern European countries as they always seem to have some great talents. Same with Scandinavia.

Not that we ought to have UN XI, but our squad doesn't have any players from Africa, East Europe or Asia. But I'm kinda happy that we ended the infamous French Liaison under GH :-)

Well Assaidi is form Africa so that's one. Although I would love to get some more players from the African continent. Also Slovakia and Hungary are Eastern European countries in my book, so we've got some there as well. We definitely need to dip in the Asian talent pool some more as we have many fans in that continent and not many players from there.

Thing is I don't really care where the players come from as long as they are good and will help the team. Field 11 Scousers for all I care as long as they get the job done.

Liverpool have apparently agreed to sign Iturra from Malaga FC on a pre-contract.

Not too sure of the player himself. Anyone know anything about him? Most I know is that he plays with Isco.

Nishank wrote:Feck everything, Our midfield is 0 without Lucas. Back up DM top priority next summer.

Our midfield is 0 when Rodgers decides to play 2 midfielders on the pitch. The day we go back to a 4321 is the day we go back to dominating teams in the midfield. We need to drop one of Downing or Coutinho, and I'd rather Cou plays. Already a better player.

Free signings has never been good for us :-(

Our midfield is 0 when Rodgers decides to play 2 midfielders on the pitch. The day we go back to a 4321 is the day we go back to dominating teams in the midfield. We need to drop one of Downing or Coutinho, and I'd rather Cou plays. Already a better player.

This. Since Coutinho's arrival, we've started playing 4-2-3-1 and this has led to us having zero control in the midfield. We are just attacking toothlessly and getting battered on counters. Need to start playing with 2 central mids in a 4-3-3 to play proper football which BR intends the team to play.

We don't even get battered on counters to be fair. We get dominated from majority areas of the entire pitch.

We couldn't get the ball into the final third cleanly against Soton.
We got lucky Spurs basically gave us 3 points the week before.
The last time I remember us playing with a 4231/424 formation was against Oldham where we got battered aswell.

ynwa, we played that formation against Swansea which we won 5-0 but they were a weakened side, so you may have a point.

I don't know why Rodgers is insisting on this 4-2-3-1/4-2-4, we played 4-3-3 all season and got used to it to the point where we should've beat Arsenal and City back to back barring some minor individual mistakes.

He's trying to fit Coutinho into the side.

We played something like a 4-2-3-1 in most of the matches where Henderson played... it certainly wasn't any more a 4-3-3 than a 4-2-3-1 with the way Henderson covered Suarez's movement.

I think it's time Suarez goes back to his false 9 position and Sturridge can go play on the right. With Coutinho on the left.

That way Henderson, Lucas and Gerrard are in the centre and we can go back to winning games.

Because we certainly haven't had any success with Sturridge playing as the striker...

This is Liverpool FC Red, not Sturridge FC.

Suarez is A LOT better as a false 9. He's head and shoulders over Daniel Sturridge leading the line. The team plays much more efficiently and freely with Luis uptop. We create more as a team and it's not as if Luis is a poor finisher - he can put the ball in the back of the net with ease. Sturridge can exploit teams with his movement from the right hand side cutting into his favoured left foot. Not a fan of a player saying he see's himself as a more central player and not adapting to the side. If Stevie, our captain, has to adjust and do what's best for the team and play as a CM, the likes of Sturridge and co should be able to sacrifice their personal preferences too. Sturridge on the right frees up a position for the midfield area and puts an extra player in there. Something Rodgers has tried to implement (a 3 man midfield) during his time here.

In the rush to jump to a conclusion about how to fix the side you're over-emphasizing certain aspects and underplaying others... not the least of which what I said. At no point did I suggest Sturridge was somehow the star of the side, the crux of our team, or in ANY WAY WHATSOEVER bigger than the club. Fact is, we've played very well on several occasions with Sturridge as the CF and Suarez playing off of/behind him. His arrival and Suarez's subsequent move to a slightly deeper position is not what has caused the ONE LOSS since the arrival of the new lads into the side.

There are several potential causes (or, most likely, factors) to the slip at Sotton but the suggestion that Suarez moving away from the false 9 role is the key just isn't supported by the results, performances, and statistics. Up until the most recent match, Sturridge's arrival and Suarez's move deeper was being hailed as freeing Suarez up to play even better given the added threat up top.

We all know what stu has added to the team, after addition of coutinho BR is trying to figure out what formation to play against which team and how to use current pool of talent. So i think BR has got enough experiments already done now and I believe he has to drop someone. I dont like the idea of straight away dropping downing, I am sure BR wont do that. I think the 11 should be used according to the requirement and with the gameplan against that particular opponent. After bringing allen against spurs and removing cou, we saw the result although there were other factors also responsible for that win.

We’ve been linked with Sakho from PSG as he’s had a fallen out with Carlo. Don't think we'll get him as other teams will be in the hunt but we should try. I haven’t seen a lot of him but he looks very good from what I’ve seen. He has a decent passing range and is very good in the air.

HEIL MEIN REDS wrote:We all know what stu has added to the team, after addition of coutinho BR is trying to figure out what formation to play against which team and how to use current pool of talent. So i think BR has got enough experiments already done now and I believe he has to drop someone. I dont like the idea of straight away dropping downing, I am sure BR wont do that. I think the 11 should be used according to the requirement and with the gameplan against that particular opponent. After bringing allen against spurs and removing cou, we saw the result although there were other factors also responsible for that win.

What exactly does Downing bring to the side that the likes of Coutinho, Suarez and Sturridge do not? It's fine experimenting and all, but playing with four players up top and a weak midfield has shown on most occasion that we're on the back foot and end up with a negative result. It's time for a change as it's obviously not working. We may as well go back to playing how we were a couple of weeks / months ago where we were playing fluid attacking football and actually showing signs that Rodgers philosophy could work in the future.

RedOranje wrote:In the rush to jump to a conclusion about how to fix the side you're over-emphasizing certain aspects and underplaying others... not the least of which what I said. At no point did I suggest Sturridge was somehow the star of the side, the crux of our team, or in ANY WAY WHATSOEVER bigger than the club. Fact is, we've played very well on several occasions with Sturridge as the CF and Suarez playing off of/behind him. His arrival and Suarez's subsequent move to a slightly deeper position is not what has caused the ONE LOSS since the arrival of the new lads into the side.

There are several potential causes (or, most likely, factors) to the slip at Sotton but the suggestion that Suarez moving away from the false 9 role is the key just isn't supported by the results, performances, and statistics. Up until the most recent match, Sturridge's arrival and Suarez's move deeper was being hailed as freeing Suarez up to play even better given the added threat up top.

Suarez and Sturridge have only worked when we have a three man midfield on the pitch.
It’s not the one loss against Soton I’m disappointed at. Rodgers has seen playing with four attackers on the pitch hasn’t worked. He’s tried it numerous times and we continue to drop points / crash out of domestic cups. I mean, it hasn’t even worked against a League One side in Oldham. We need a three man midfield if Rodgers wants to spread his ideas at the club or else we’re going to get a lot more disappointing results. Suarez is our best player. He should be the focus man of the team. He’s developed a lot since being at Liverpool and his best current position is as a false 9. Sturridge has played well as the CF but Liverpool as a team will be much more efficient if he gets pushed out to the wing and let’s Suarez strut out of his stuff. One of Downing and Coutinho should be dropped and my opinions on Downing are well known.

Coutinho Suarez Sturridge
Henderson Lucas Gerrard

Something like that will give Suarez the opportunity to drop deep and let the likes of Henderson or Gerrard to roam forward. Sturridge and Cou have very good movement and will find space. Suarez will do his role absolutely anywhere in the final third. It’s no surprise people are happy with his performances behind Sturridge – he’s just that good of a player. But the team will play a lot better with Suarez leading the line.

I think we should adopt/keep a formation (4231/4411) where Suarez is playing behind Sturridge.

It will have the impact of Messi playing behind Villa. Also in a 433 we will have four players clustered in the middle while the width is left to the wing-backs.

If the HBA rumors are true and we do end up with a wide player, we will see some thing like this:
---------Sturridge---------
Coutinho-Suarez-RW/WF

Don't think Sturridge in RW/WF will be any better then Downing.

Barcelona play some unorthodox formation with Villa, Messi and Sanchez/Pedro uptop. They definitely do not play a 4411 or a 4231. They play some sort of a 433 with inverted roles. I mean, Pique is more adventurous than half their squad! The movement uptop is what makes them hard for teams to break down. The likes of Iniesta, Messi, Villa, Pedro and Alves/Alba movement off the ball is absolutely top notch and teams struggle to keep up with them. Xavi and Busquets are always staying back playmaking and shielding the defence. Something Gerrard and Lucas currently do for us. We just lack that other midfielder to do Cesc's most underrated role recycling position. It's why I'm a massive fan of Henderson. Coutinho on the left is sorta like our Iniesta. (I'm only comparing us to Barcelona as Rodgers look's up to Barcelona's tiki taka style.)

We'll need to buy a RF/RW but I doubt we'll sign HBA unless we do infact exchange him for Carroll. His injury record is a massive turn off. Can't see us offering any money for him myself. He'll sorta demand high wages too. Regardless if he does come in or not we'll play a 433/4321 or something else that involves 3 players in midfield and 3 in the final third.

Also, you honestly don't think Sturridge will be better than Downing??????

ynwa wrote:Barcelona play some unorthodox formation with Villa, Messi and Sanchez/Pedro uptop. They definitely do not play a 4411 or a 4231. They play some sort of a 433 with inverted roles. I mean, Pique is more adventurous than half their squad! The movement uptop is what makes them hard for teams to break down. The likes of Iniesta, Messi, Villa, Pedro and Alves/Alba movement off the ball is absolutely top notch and teams struggle to keep up with them. Xavi and Busquets are always staying back playmaking and shielding the defence. Something Gerrard and Lucas currently do for us. We just lack that other midfielder to do Cesc's most underrated role recycling position. It's why I'm a massive fan of Henderson. Coutinho on the left is sorta like our Iniesta. (I'm only comparing us to Barcelona as Rodgers look's up to Barcelona's tiki taka style.)

We'll need to buy a RF/RW but I doubt we'll sign HBA unless we do infact exchange him for Carroll. His injury record is a massive turn off. Can't see us offering any money for him myself. He'll sorta demand high wages too. Regardless if he does come in or not we'll play a 433/4321 or something else that involves 3 players in midfield and 3 in the final third.

Also, you honestly don't think Sturridge will be better than Downing??????

In winger/WF role!!! Doubt that. Don't know how much he played in a similar position at Bolton or Chelsea, but these are positions made for the likes of Suarez or Coutinho.

Sturridge will be 10 times better than Downing as a winger/inside forward role... lol

ynwa wrote:Sturridge will be 10 times better than Downing as a winger/inside forward role... lol

Perhaps. But he will be only one-tenth of what he could be as striker.

iftikhar wrote:

ynwa wrote:Sturridge will be 10 times better than Downing as a winger/inside forward role... lol

Perhaps. But he will be only one-tenth of what he could be as striker.

Again. This isn't about Sturridge. It's about the team. Sturridge can do a role on the right flank. He's shown he can do it under AVB. He's 10 times more of a threat than Downing where ever they play in the final third. The team performance and getting the result is much more important than Sturridge's self performance. It's not as if he'll find himself constantly on the wing anyway. Sturridge's movement will find himself in central postions and get opportunies to score whilst Suarez collects the ball from deep.