After an international break and poor league and cup outings, things are looking bleak again for our ambitions for this season. The following will highlight what I think would help us achieve those goals.
Our lack of chances in front of goal is now becoming a real worry for us. The main problem I have seen that maybe causing this, is a lack of movement from the support players when the receiving player is receiving a pass. I would like to see players running from deep when a pass is played forward, or following in on there own pass, which will give the receiving player some options or even help the receiver find some space to hold on and create a chance for himself! I would also like to see attackers who are already up in the front line taking a gamble and running into space in between or beyond the defenders, instead of waiting to see where the ball is being played to by the receiving player. Hopefully the above suggestions would lead to less moments when we think, “if only he had made the run a fraction of a second earlier, he would be clean through etc etc!”.
Overall I would like to see us keep it simple. Keeping possession of the ball means the opposition don’t have it and therefore they will not be able to score. If the way forward is blocked, don’t hump it forward in hope, play back, switch the play, pull the opposition out of position. Doing that will create the space for us to play into and hopefully give us far more real chances on goal. When we have done this in the past, we have worn teams down and got ourself a late goal or two, or dominated games, creating plenty of shooting opportunities and improved are goal difference significantly.
I still believe we will scrape 4th, but we need the players to work hard for 90mins now, they need to stop coming in out of games. I would also like to see two players left up as outlet men, when we are defending free kicks and corners.
YNWA
Are you a football coach or something ????
Well ..I hope Rafa reads you analysis..
Nope but do have an England cap and Fa cup winners medal in the family, maybe that’s where I get it from lol
I have racked my head to no small end trying to figure out this season. No doubt fellow Reds have been at it too. How many players did we really lose? Basically, two, Alonso and Arbeloa. How crucial were they? A deep-lying playmaker and a back whose bombings forward gave us quite a few goals. That said, the injuries we’ve had notwithstanding, we more or less have much of last season’s squad. It’s not about the “failure” of zonal marking or Rafa’s patented 4-2-3-1, but more like total loss of confidence by the team. Are the players getting affected by the infighting at Anfield? It is hard to say. Have our so-called fringe players carried their weight? Lucas and Soto to me sum these up and they’ve been consistent performers. What I’m most disturbed by is the captain’s seeming lack of passion. I might be mistaken but I see more from Masche, Reina, Kuyt and Lucas than from Gerrard (I sincerely hope I’m wrong coz I love my captain). I do agree with an aspect of this article, that we should think counter-attacking during setpieces (keeping runners outside our box). We are also playing too high a defensive line, contrary to those who think our gaffer’s cautious, and I feel it’s a problem. We aren’t too pacy and can get caught out. The Wigan game summed up something I have observed this season, failure to use wing play. Our wingers keep cutting in and all our play, including hoofing the ball forward, is being played through the middle. We are ending up playing too narrowly. To me we can do it and possess what it takes to clinch fourth and lift the Europa Cup. Let’s believe, siempre es posible! I still believe. YN(Ever)WA(Ever)!
Nicely said. A pattern im noticing which reinforces your assessment is that we are playing too deep in defense and when the ball lands in midfield the only players there are the opposition, and the ball comes right back at us. YNWA
1. New Owners, including fan represetation on the board.
2. Finish 4th.
3. Win Europa Cup.
4. Stadium started.
5. Gametime and debuts for the youth at the expense of deadwood.(Darby, Ayala, Kelly, Spearing, Plessis, Pacheco, Threlfall! and maybe bench spots for Gulacsi, Irwin and Bruna)
6. More pragmatism and less dogmatism selection/tactics wise from Rafa.
I feel there is a general lack of drive, and a sense of surrender in our play. We are not playing attacking football and when we do we are too predictable and even more so repetitive in our approach. At times I almost feel the players have given up on Rafa. We seem to be without ideas and we are currently playing the most boring football in the PL. Last monday was the first time in years that I could not bring myself to see the whole game…11 minutes into the second half against Wigan I gave up and switched the telly off. I cannot say what the Reds did at Lille as I only saw the last 10 minutes of the game and Lille’s fortunate goal where our defence and Pepe got it wrong completely!
James I am not as confident as you for 4th, sorry mate!
Well, finaly someone who thinks the same as me. There has to be more motion on the pitch, more running, action, fighting for the ball, not standing arround and waiting for it. I hope our lads will read your post. YNWA
TONIO ..WHAT SAY ABOUT A 6TH THIS TIME..REALISTIC..??
a sense of surrender in our play. We are not playing attacking football and when we do we are too predictable and even more so repetitive in our approach. At times I almost feel the players have given up on Rafa. We seem to be without ideas and we are currently playing the most boring football in the PL