Would be available in the summer?
I'm not even going to get into the debate about Rodgers future.
We were crying out for a player with Masch's tenacity in midfield today. We need someone like him desperately. We've got a soft underbelly. Hendo, Can and Allen are all tidy footballers, but too often teams run through our midfield without really facing a tackle.
Even Lucas is very much "wave a leg" when it comes to the tackle. His real strength is reading the game and interceptions. But there are times when, like today, we were getting hounded in possession, where you just need someone to put in a proper tackle, get the blood flowing, and even get the opposition rattled a bit.
I'm not saying Karl Henry or Lucas Neill legbreakers. But when we're in a situation where we can't win the game through speed and intricate passing, when someone comes and takes the fight to us, we're very much found wanting.
Couple that with our complete lack of goalscoring prowess, and it's really not hard to see where it's all fallen down.
If you can combine the two, like we had in Luis, then you're golden. Unfortunately, those sort of players are few and far between.
Anyone know if Mascherano...
posted on 19/4/15
He chocked because of Gerrard. Next year he will be fine and its one game and if the club were as reactive as your comments we would have new players every week. Stop being so short sighted FFS!
posted on 19/4/15
Ah yes that old excuse that Hendo didn't play well because Gerrard was on the field
Gerrard wasnt on the pitch when United dominated us that first half or on the pitch against Arsenal. Both games Hendo went missing.
posted on 19/4/15
Coquelin > Masch
posted on 19/4/15
We lost today due to one thing. Benteke bullying Skrtel. He's done it before and will do it again. Skrtel us our best defender but he's useless against players who physically dominate him. As soon as he loses his first couple of aerial challenges he thinks "sod this" and drops off deep. Benteke has now done his job. Rest of the match is a by-product of our defence being too deep. It has happened so many times now that it is a joke.
Regardless if Skrtel is losing duels or not...he still neds to keep a higher line. High defensive line means that knock downs are not in as dangerous areas and secondly, our midfield can engage and start ratting around picking up loose balls. As soon as the gap between defence and our strikers lengthens, it means our midfield has to cover too much of the pitch.
Nothing wrong with our desire. But tactically we were second best.
posted on 19/4/15
we lost because we couldnt string 2 passes together in attack, everyone played like they were scared, and we were missing too many players
not sure how thats skrtels fault
posted on 20/4/15
comment by Bungee9 (U12983)
posted 1 hour, 21 minutes ago
We lost today due to one thing. Benteke bullying Skrtel. He's done it before and will do it again. Skrtel us our best defender but he's useless against players who physically dominate him. As soon as he loses his first couple of aerial challenges he thinks "sod this" and drops off deep. Benteke has now done his job. Rest of the match is a by-product of our defence being too deep. It has happened so many times now that it is a joke.
Regardless if Skrtel is losing duels or not...he still neds to keep a higher line. High defensive line means that knock downs are not in as dangerous areas and secondly, our midfield can engage and start ratting around picking up loose balls. As soon as the gap between defence and our strikers lengthens, it means our midfield has to cover too much of the pitch.
Nothing wrong with our desire. But tactically we were second best.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Completely 100% disagree. We were fine defensively. Other than the goals Villa offered very little.
How you can honestly say there was nothing wrong with the desire is beyond me. It was gutless, lazy, insipid performance, from a team that totally bottled it. We weren't putting bodies on the line, challenging for second balls, any of the simple stuff that you do if the more complicated stuff isn't coming off.
Honestly, I think Jay Spearing would've done a better job in there today. He couldn't have offered any less than our midfield in possession of the ball, and least he has the commitment to get after the ball and make a tackle. One thing he could never be accused of is hiding. Not sure you can say the same of Hendo and Allen.
posted on 20/4/15
Reason they couldn't string 2 passes together is because the gaps between defence-midfield-strikers is too big. Not the strikers fault as they have to make the pitch as long as possible in order to score goals. Not midfield fault as they have to play in the areas diu6ñnctated to them by the strikers and the defence behind them. The players who control how much the game is squeezed up are the CBs.
Nothing wrong with defending deep (see JT and Chelsea) but the whole team has to buy into it. We play best when we press and hunt in packs....won't work if only 5-6 are doing it. Everything gets disjointed and everyone looks a bad player. They are not bad players, just victims of being tactically outmanoeuvred.
Deep defence = deep midfield = isolated strikers = frustration all round. Flip side of this is Villa defence = in control = Villa midfield on front foot playing in our half =
posted on 20/4/15
Having tough tackling DMs was a philosophy for the mid to late 00s. The game has move away from that to a more fluid midfield that is more possession based where tackling is done more as a team.
Mascherano, as great as he was for us, that type of DM player isn't needed anymore. We've got Can and Lucas. Once the defensive jitters are sorted out we don't need an orthodox DM.
posted on 20/4/15
comment by Bungee9 (U12983)
posted 4 hours, 14 minutes ago
Reason they couldn't string 2 passes together is because the gaps between defence-midfield-strikers is too big. Not the strikers fault as they have to make the pitch as long as possible in order to score goals. Not midfield fault as they have to play in the areas diu6ñnctated to them by the strikers and the defence behind them. The players who control how much the game is squeezed up are the CBs.
Nothing wrong with defending deep (see JT and Chelsea) but the whole team has to buy into it. We play best when we press and hunt in packs....won't work if only 5-6 are doing it. Everything gets disjointed and everyone looks a bad player. They are not bad players, just victims of being tactically outmanoeuvred.
Deep defence = deep midfield = isolated strikers = frustration all round. Flip side of this is Villa defence = in control = Villa midfield on front foot playing in our half =
**************************************
^^This
posted on 20/4/15
There seems to be a certain utd fan who comments on every Liverpool article at the minute. I reckon he was a Liverpool fan in the 80s and is missing supporting our club that much that he camps on here all day long.....