PLEASE RAFA, READ THIS!!!!

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Last night could of been great, good or OK, we could have snatched a draw via the hand of Fab, we could of sneaked a lead via Ngog and held on until Babel crashed one in the top corner to make it 2, but no we lost and here is why it happened, I think!
To be honest, I would have probably picked the same starting lineup, and not because the team has been doing better, but because we know Arsenal have a quality midfield and that would mean a need to play defencive away at the Emirates. I certainly would not have started Degen and move Carra back inside, just because he was on the bench does not mean he is match fit. When he came back into the side before, he looked dodgy but grew as he got games. When he came on last night he was rubbish, so that proves my point.
Having Gerrard up front with Ngog is supposed to bolster our attack, thing is though, if Ngog was in form and playing well, it would not matter who was up front with him. Having Gerrard up front is a waste. Stevie can open up an defence with the flick of the outside of his Predators, or a slide rule pass through the channel, we need him back in midfield, yes attacking but not in the box, around the box is where he got his reputation! Lucas is OK and sometimes even has huge games for us, but they are to few. If he is playing as a defencive midfielder, why is it every time we had the ball around the box, it was him there fluffing a chance to shoot, or passing a ball to a Gooner?! I have said this all season, it should be one or the other, Lucas or Masc, not both, only when we need to settle in first in a big game!
I have no problems with our wide play, we get down there very well, left and right, final ball is sometimes dodgy, sometimes great, but what can you do when you have 1 target in the box and not 3 maybe more charging in, for example if Insua and Maxi link on the left, with Maxi sliding one down the line for Insua too wrap his foot round. Maxi should start going towards the goal but staying left of the goal, Kuyt should be coming in on the right but right of the right post, then we should have Gerrard coming from deep and of course our striker already there. Any ball dropping 16-20 yards out would Gerrard’s on a plate, to short it goes to Maxi, too long and it’s Kuyt’s, on the button it’s our front man’s. See easy isn’t it, and that is basics, Sunday league sides play that, that’s why there are so many chances. Then you can vary it a little, dead end down one wing, knock it across the pitch, either 40 yards or 10 at time, stretch the defenders make them run. Then build on that, play it across but then back or play it forward for a runner from deep, 1-2 in on goal. I am sick of us just getting the ball going forward, reaching a dead end then either crossing to nothing of note or passing it back to the opposition!
Next game we must change and try all this, but most of all we must play Babel up front. When we signed him he was forward, he plays like a forward, he knows where the posts are. He has more pace, can create space in the blink of an eye and has a twinkle in his play when he is central. Yes his touch is lousy sometimes, but he is playing in a area where he should not be playing. I know from experience when playing out position, you need time to learn it and to get used to the different needs it requires.
Therefore, we must drop Lucas, bring Gerrard back in alongside Masc, when attacking let Masc support and apply a sweeper system of 3 when doing so. Keep Ngog up front till Torres fit again, but then have Babel as his partner. Sorry Kuyt but Maxi has better ball control, maybe he needs a rest but he does look jaded, so give Maxi a 3 game run on the right and bring back Riera or Aurelio on the left, this will give us great balance and options going forward, as well as not unsettling our defence when defending.
Oh for Gods sake at least leave Ngog/Torres up front with Masc or Gerrard in between the box and the striker when we are defending. This would at least give us a good chance to either hit on the break or regain possession with no further immediate threat!

YNWA


good day

James

23 Comments

  1. Not to be rude, but there are far too many grammar and spelling errors for me to finish reading this. It’s making my brain hurt.

  2. I’m sure rafa will read this and be thankful to have the ‘basics’ of management given to him on a plate. Strewth, after this lesson I am almost ready to take over at Anfield.

    It’s amazing that this post only comes out after we lose again. When we went on a decent run, worked hard, played more as a team than I have witnessed all season and finally strengthened the defence to give us a platform from which to win games, none of this type of knee-jerk reaction surfaced and that in itself was a delight after the total vitriol being spouted by the media earlier in the season. Now we suffer one defeat, against a good side who still harbour championship ambitions and this sort of post rears it’s ugly head again.

    In fairness I have no argument with the Degen comments. It was probably the poorest performance I have seen from him and as a defensive unit we lost shape and let in a weak goal.

    If in doubt, drop Lucas. You know, he is only in Opta’s top 5 midfielders for both tackling (attempts and success rate) and passing (attempts and success rate) along with Masch. Thats not the sort of player I want in my team, I would rather bring in a player such as Babel who has shown no real development since some early cameos, has a first touch like the grim reaper and has no apparent desire to chase or tackle back when losing the ball like the rest of our team. Yes Lucas did miss a couple of chances but the fact that he is in those positions one minute and then is at the other end putting in the tackles the next tells me he really is the box-to-box midfield engine that Rafa invested in.

    Maxi to replace Kuyt? Again an odd choice considering Dirk’s infectious enthusiasm and desire, composure on the ball and intelligence off of it. Maxi IS a good player, no doubt about that and I’m sure, more importantly, given time, he will be a good player for us which is what matters. Against Arsenal though he still looked like a player that needs to adapt to the power and pace of the Premier League.

    If we go on from this defeat and lose 90% of games between now and the end of the season then yes, ok, lets get down, lets get frustrated and lets vent. Until then lets save the management lessons and put our trust in a manager who has done an underrated job wiith underwhelming backing.

    YNWA

  3. Guys, we played Arsenal at Highbury after they had been literally blown away by Man Utd and Chelsea. They were hurt and like us, they have pride. They were also playing at home infront of 60,000 plus fans.
    The game deserved to be a draw. It was very tactical and in the end we were unlucky with Babel and with Stevie’s freekick which was goal bound. That is football for you.
    I think the game was average because it was tactical, but we did not have a bad game. Much better than at Wolves to give you a comparison.
    Babel did well for Ngog, Degen was a mess. Sorry to disappoint but Rafa won’t read this friends. Rafa is Rafa, you either love him or hate him, there is no compromise, and as long as he is our manager, we gotta stay behind him.
    This game is done and dusted so let’s get on with it.

  4. what disturbs me most of all is that we only really have a couple of attaking incidents to analizeo Babel’s shot and the free kick. I find this worrying personally. I thought Ngog and Kuyt were ordinary- Ngog inparticular. Babel needed more minutes annd where the hell is Pacheco?

  5. i support some context of the Article but not all,it depends on the fitness and strength of Babel maybe he can play full match or still come on as a sub i would only go for Babel as our centre forward on away matches because Ngog hasnt scored away from home as we all know he is a growing understudy striker,Gerrad and Mascherano in the midfield Kuyt and Babel upfront(on away matches depending on Babel’s fitness)Maxi on right maybe Aurelio on the left dropping deep in midfield assisting the midfield and making the killer pass couple with set pieces he is our best set piece taker so far maybe its time for Kelly to come in right back incase Carragher hasnt recovered yet

  6. If I had to choose between N’Gog, Kuyt and Babel to start in the forward position, I would choose Kuyt. I don’t know but it seems really clear to me that Kuyt does much better up front than on the right, and N’Gog is simply not strong enough. And I was also thinking that since Agger, Kyrg and Skrtel are settling comfortably at CB and Carra’s doing well at RB, when Johnson comes back he could maybe be put at the right wing because he does pose quite a sizeable threat in front.

  7. Wow!
    If only real life management was as easy as playing the Football Manager game series. We’ll be 3 times defending champions by now!!

    Too many armchair “manager-wannabes” around criticizing for Rafa to do his job quietly.. You lot better don’t miss him when he’s gone. Tsk

  8. Maybe some paragraphing for such a long article would be nice too! I’ll ask Rafa to sort that out :P

    I did but when posted it didn’t show as, can you not see the line breaks?!

  9. If you’re going to post an article please get someone to proof read it first. I agree with the first comment from ‘P’, the amount of basic grammatical errors has made me dizzy. By the time I got to the end of your article I had forgotten what your point was!

    I’m seriously thinking of never looking at these forums again. Everyone saying Rafa should be doing this and doing that. There’s a reason why Rafa is manager of the greatest club in the world and why you’re not. Stick to playing Football Manager. The formation and tactics Rafa used against Arsenal (lets not forget we were away from home) have been good enough to beat many teams this season. I bet you weren’t complaining then!

    I don’t know what you do for a living but whatever it is I bet you wouldn’t appreciate being told how to do your job from someone who has never done it!

    In RAFA I will ALWAYS trust!

    YNWA

  10. Whatever be your english..(which i know needs massive improvement like our team..)..I agree completely with you..Indeed i have been posting comments here for about a month or so..and this is the first time i find somebody’s perception about whats going on matches with mine logic by logic..
    e.g.,
    1. Ya lucas (brazilian player of the year when we bought him..thats quite a something) & masch (strong bull..brilliant CDM)..but ya playing both together makes no sense..LUCAS has been criticised for no fault of his..CMMON RAFA he is not a goal scorer..whats he doing as an “attacking feilder” role..!!??

    2. Play BAbel RAFA ..!!! baffles me..why put poor NGOG in front so confidently..THIS IS LIVERPOOL FC..not an average club that any ordinary talented 20 yr old is doing a striker..had NGOG the talent of S.Aguero, Messi or even Balotelli it would have been different..but you are just being arrogant now..play BABEl..otherwise why carry a talented boy in the squad and waste his talent..

    Belive me RAFA I understand we don’t have fire power to “kill” clubs now..but atleast throw the best dice..Hope U get the point!!

  11. my preferred lining and i think everyone thinks so:

    reina
    kelly skrtel agger aurelio

    mascherano

    maxi gerrard riera

    kuyt

    babel

    subs: insua( definitely not better than aurelio), darby, pacheco(i would surely like to try pacheco behind kuyt as a sub around 65mins), carra(if fit he will be on right back), lucas( if masch has to be substituted), aquilani( if gerrard has to be subs which is not possible; prefer him behind the striker)

    result of this formation
    gerrard will see more balls; more passer; more one touch; rapidity of game increases; gerrard will have much more chance to score one of his fantastic goals.

    riera and maxi will bring intelligence and good passes and great team work

    kuyt will torment the defenders allowing space for babel

    out fo 5 shots babel will score 2. ngog is not a player who can play outside anfield.

    i would really like to see the skills of pacheco behind the striker though.

    best of luck against city

    YNWA

  12. we are still the best club in the brittish isles. What we need is to stick by Rafa and not to write crap about the Great manager who brought the Champions league in the Brittish Isles for the first time in the 21st century.
    Who ever thought about what would have been had Tevez and Barry come to Anfield?

  13. KOP if only Rafa thought like you..reira is good but i would have played aquilani if fit..at kuyt’s position and played Kuyt and Maxi in turns..and have not seen much of kelly so not sure about how he will be..?

  14. KOP if only Rafa thought like you..reira is good but i would have played aquilani if fit..at kuyt’s position and played Kuyt and Maxi in turns..and have not seen much of kelly so not sure about how he will be..? Is Ayala or Darby good enough ..heard Darby is our youth team’s captain..??

    see frankly i don’t belive in wasting resources..so i would have tried EL zhar also sometime if babel failed..or may be as a substitute..he has good pace too..

  15. Heard Pacheco telling in an interview that he would play more next year ..so i think if not him El Zhar can be tried..

  16. Fine my grammer is not the best, I don’t really care, but spelling, hmmm, I’m in the UK not the states.

    Yes I know it looks like I only wrote this because we lost, but I would have written it even if we had won. Don’t doubt my support, after all this is a place to air our opinions and support, not a place to have a go at each other and our club!

  17. Why do you some of you asume I am having a go at Rafa? I’m not, never have and never will. My postings are what I would be doing if I was in charge, with the same set of players and situations.

    Grammer haters, feel free to say so, I left school in 92, have not needed to worry about my grammer since, I also do not have word on my NETBOOK. In other words, I don’t care!

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