by Having been a diehard supporter since the successful 80s and
through the low 90s, one wonders how much time it will take to
actually have Liverpool competitive enough to be once again a force
in English Football. The joint management does not seem to be
working, but worse yet, the players themselves appear not keen to
take on the challenge of disproving many of their critics. One
wonders if they are even capable of it.
The current Liverpool team to my mind aren't good enough. To
replace David James in goal whilst he was out of sorts, we went and
bought Brad Friedel?? A lot of stability he's added to the team. As
far as performances go, James deserves his place back in the starting
lineup, but he needs REAL competition. With the Liverpool defence
the way it currently is, it might be better to bring someone in who's
used to having lots to do, someone with ENORMOUS presence, bossy and
knowing what he wants out of central defenders, or all defenders
period. Neither James nor Friedel are either of these.
I thought it might not have been a bad idea to bring Chilavert,
the eccentric Paraguyan keeper in since he is all the things I
mentioned above, and a great keeper to boot. My only qualm is that
I've not seen him play enough (aside from the World Cup) to see what
he's like in the air (in terms of fielding crosses and the like), but
he would certainly add to the defence. With him marshalling it, we
might even be able to get away with Jamie Carragher and Steve
Staunton in defence. I was certainly impressed by the way he drove
his teammates on in the World Cup and displayed enormous confidence
despite Paraguay being under huge pressure in every game!
*Defence?* Liverpool don't have any real excellent defenders,
although Staunton looks alright, but Carragher either needs to play
alongside someone who can "bring him along" or should be used in his
usual midfield role. I'd like to see Matteo given more of a chance,
but he's injured at the moment. Too bad Rob Jones is injured again,
he was a pretty solid and dependable right back. I've not seen
enough of Heggem to judge his defensive abilities yet. Bjornebye?
<sigh> Doesn't seem the sort to play left back for Liverpool. When
Babb returns we could try to use him or Staunton out on that side -
since buying someone doesn't seem to be a real option. A central
defender with authority *is *required though.
*Midfield?* A pity we sold Kennedy before we were able to really
see his potential. We don't have an out and out "winger" in Patrik
Berger, and McManaman seems to find himself on that side a lot even
though it's supposed to be where Berger lurks. I like Redknapp's
range of passing when he is on song, it gives us more options - but
our movement these days seems very, very limited - which rather
limits the passes he can give. Of course he's injured more often
than not, so why don't we try Danny Murphy?? I've never seen him
play, but the performances I've read about when he HAS played appear
to be very good. So what's keeping him out of the team when we have
Redknapp injured? Young David Thompson seems to have impressed also.
These guys are HUNGRY to make a name for themselves, shouldn't they
be given a chance? Paul Ince ....... needs to lead more by example,
rather than biting at referees all the time. He still has some
presence, so he should use that, rather than wasting his time getting
booked all the time. Be hard, but sensible.
It might be a good thing now that McManaman is injured for
Liverpool. It allows us a time to try and find ways to play without
him. Too often we depend too much on his creativity, which has to
stop. The whole team, the entire midfield should be able to create
for each other and the forwards. At the moment, we don't have this,
but now we have an opportunity to find our way without him. Perhaps
the inclusion of some of the youngsters?
*Forwards?* We have good forwards. Riedle is good in the air
and we don't have to talk about Owen. Fowler's not quite back to
form yet - very rusty, but I hope reports that I've read of him
questioning his role to the Liverpool Management complaining about
being the 3rd choice striker are untrue. Selection should be based
on merit, and he's not scoring them at the moment. He needs to be
more patient, to build up his match sharpness. It's too bad that
Dundee is now injured. I've never seen him, but I believe he's quite
a big fellow and reasonable in the air no? Wouldn't that have been
good to try him out so that the team are not predictable? It gives
us options, and allows a more reasonable route, especially with our
current "Just cross the ball into the box" tactics. There's no point
to that when Fowler and Owen are up there - unless they are pinpoint
accurate, and they aren't!
*Tactics?* Does anyone else think that perhaps Liverpool did
better with the wing-back system than they are doing with the current
4-4-2? I don't see why we have to stick to a rigid 4-4-2. Why not
vary it a little? (but I guess our defenders will get more confused
than usual!) Movement throughout the entire team has to improve.
There's no-one ghosting into space, or doing any real intelligent
running off the ball, which limits passing options. We've gotta get
that back. Movement is the key, I think (IMHO) to the style of
Liverpool's play. Besides, it's important anywhere.
Oh well, i'll leave it there, but additions or comments would be
welcome! ;-) Geez, we just lost to Spurs.
Daniel
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