alias75

Its very frustrating, we aren't scoring enough goals given the chances we're creating, we should have been at least 2 goals clear before they scored today. On top of that we're not keeping clean sheets. Its difficult to know what to do to improve, i do think we need better CBs, often this season we're conceding poor goals and defending too deep does invite pressure onto you. In terms of taking the chances we create there's not a lot you can do about that apart from buy better attacking players. Suarez could have had 2 or 3 with more luck and better finishing but you can't be too harsh on him because often he's creating the chances for himself. Downing was poor today and im not sure why he spent so much time on the right, Bellamy looked dangerous and should have stayed on. Found it strange that we brought Downing off when Carroll came on, but the truth is the game should have been comfortable. We were a little unlucky hitting the post 3 times but its happened too often already this season.

Could have had a few goals but for some great goalkeeping (and the odd crossbar) and would have some really important assists with better finishing. In terms of what was available for that position im happy with him i think he'll improve the more he plays with Enrique and as the team gets more settled with Gerrard in there. With Gerrard back it might mean he spends less time on the right as that's somewhere Gerrard can play and i do think he needs to play primarily as a left winger.

the biggest plus is the performance of Adam with Gerrard in the team, if thats a taste of things to come he could be a good player for us. I have no problem playing a 4-2-3-1 if thats going to get the best out of players like Adam and Henderson, it does put a lot of onus on the attacking players but I think a combination of Gerrard, Suarez, Downing, Bellamy, Carroll, Kuyt is good enough and if we're struggling the option is always there to put a forward on for a midfielder.

.............................Reina................................. Kelly..........Carra...............Agger..............Enrique ..............Gerrard....Lucas.....Adam..................... Kuyt.......................Suarez.........................Downing Tough choice not to play Carroll but midfield is crucial we need to dominate there and i think we'll struggle to do that in a 4-4-2. Kuyt and Downing to work hard out wide to stop their full backs getting forward plus when we attack we have good movement and lots of flexibility with that front 3 plus Gerrard.

If Stevie isn't fit to start how about Henderson in central midfield?? He does have the energy to get about the pitch and does have a physical presence that Adam doesn't. I do think his better games for us have been when hes played more centrally he certainly looks more comfortable there at the moment. Assuming Gerrard isn't fit enough to start games at the moment and with Agger injured... ........................................Reina............................................. Kelly.............Carragher.......Coates.................Enrique .....................Henderson...Lucas........................... Kuyt...........................Suarez............................Downing ...................................Carroll........................................... Or you could swap Bellamy for kuyt and maybe Kuyt for Carroll??

Adam is a luxury we can't afford in a 4-4-2 because defensively he's not good enough and hes not mobile enough he gets run passed too often. In a midfield 5 id play him as long as the 2 alongside him are disciplined defensively. He does offer the team lots in terms of his passing and his set piece delivery but if its leaving you exposed at the back is it worth it?? Henderson needs time to feel comfortable and at the moment i don't think its doing him much good playing every week, we have Bellamy or Kuyt who would offer more, i do think he'll be ok eventually because he does look like someone that will work hard and there are aspects of his game that are good, but he needs to do it for 90 min and at the moment he's doing the bare minimum which isn't good enough. At the moment Lucas and Gerrard is our best central midfield but i hope we look to sign someone like Lucas, in the modern game having 2 holding type midfielders is fine as long as you have 4 attacking players in front of them and as long as they can pass it as well as destroy. Another Lucas type should be our # 1 priority at the moment because I think it would help the team in so many ways.

Agree with that, another Lucas type that can get around the pitch plug the gaps and pass the ball well is all we need, we have enough attacking options in Gerrard, Downing, Suarez, Bellamy, Kuyt, Carroll, we don't really need that creativity from central midfield at the expense of more important things.

Probably the most important area of the pitch in terms of controlling the game and also protecting your back 4, at the moment the balance is clearly not working with both Adam and Henderson not doing enough to justify starting every week. Obviously getting Gerrard back will help, i think he has to play in the middle because that's such a key area, the question then is who do you play on the right? do you stick with Henderson and hope he improves or do you put Kuyt or Bellamy in there, because at least with one of those two you know they won't go hiding and you know they'll work extremely hard for the team.

Think we have to start defending higher up the pitch because if we want to play a high tempo pressing game making the pitch so big creates so many problems not only in terms of fitness but also in terms of getting numbers to support the forwards. Pepe is the perfect keeper to play that way but until we get a bit more pace at CB its not going to happen because it leaves us to exposed to the ball over the top. But an extra 5-10 yards will make a huge difference to many different aspects of our play.

I don't really mean as a number 10 behind the front man more the more forward thinking of a midfield 3 with less defensive duties or at least those duties involve pressing further up the pitch rather than being a holding midfielder where if someone runs past you they're running at your back four. Something like this... ....................................Reina.................................... Kelly.........Carragher.......Agger..............Enrique ...............................Lucas.................................. Bellamy.........Gerrard....Adam..........Downing ..............................Suarez............................... You give him less responsibility defensively by having Gerrard and Lucas do that, they are both much more mobile, and that frees him up to playing slightly further forward where he can be more of an attacking threat.

I think we've done ok, we've improved the strength of the squad you only have to compare our bench this season with last season to see that and thats with Gerrard and Johnson injured all season. Suarez, Enrique and Downing clearly improve our first 11. Henderson is a young player with lots of scope to improve, he shouldn't be in our strongest 11 but he looks like he has a good attitude and im sure he'll improve. Carroll is also very young and offers us something not many teams have, however we have played the majority of our best football when he hasn't been in the team and he clearly needs to improve. In hindsight i think the £35 million could have been spent better but he's our player now and we need to forget about the fee and get behind him, but he also needs to show an improvement in terms of his attitude. Haven't seen much of Coates but Carragher needs replacing soon so he should get a chance.

I do wonder if Adam would be better used further forward, i know he likes to pick the ball up from the CBs but his strengths are in the attacking third and hes too much of a liability defensively to play that deep for us. I watched him a lot at Blackpool and he would get caught out defensively a lot most games and you'd see players just running past him often, he can't get away with that here. When Gerrard is back id play him alongside Lucas as traditional central midfielders, play Adam further forward with little defensive responsibility apart from closing down etc high up the pitch. He does offer a lot in terms of his goal threat and passing and set piece ability but he can't play as a defensive midfielder because he can't tackle and is too slow when people run at him which is a huge weakness if you're playing as a defensive central midfielder.

Agree he looks like a level headed lad and he will improve but at the moment he's a passenger which we can't afford, for the money we paid for him you'd hope he'd have come in with more of a confident / arrogant attitude that a lot of top players have but he looks nervous so we need to be patient with him and he will improve as he gets more comfortable but he shouldn't be in the first team he has to earn that place and he hasn't yet. The way we finished the season last year with Maxi and Spearing its a little unfair that players like Adam and Henderson have come straight in.

Downing too

everyone knows with Spurs you have to stop Bale and Modric, we had Skrtel playing right back which was a mistake, but im not sure who else we could have played there if Kelly wasn't ready, the safe thing was to have Kuyt in front of him. Defensively Adam isn't quick enough to cope, i saw it so many times with Blackpool last season but he can't get away with it here, either he has to play further forward and we bring in Spearing or Gerrard or he has to start on the bench and come on when the game is more stretched and players are more tired and he can find the time and space he needs to play. With no european football there's no excuse for starting games slowly like we did today, we should be focussing all week on these league games.