Puskas

Christ this forum sucks. Even the Genny sucks these days. It used to be worth coming here. Not any more. Adios amigos, I'm off to find pastures new.

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I think the idea was to stretch the full backs as wide as possible in order to open up space in the middle. If we had 'wide' midfielders who like to tuck in like Benayoun and Babel then the full backs are more able to stay very narrow with the center backs and completely squash the available space on the edge of the penalty area. This is the space that Torres needs. To an extent the plan worked, Torres found the space to turn and put both Gerrard and Mascherano clean through, and the extra width we used made the space for Finnan to run into and cross for the goal. Having the wingers so wide puts a huge goal scoring burden on Gerrard and Torres though, as they are the only ones in the middle likely to get on the end of something. I don't think you can can class the Gerrard and Mascherano chances when clean through as that difficult. Both should have been scored.

If you combined last season's home form (won 7 drawn 2 lost 1, roughly) with this season's away form we'd currently be third on 44 points, 5 points off the top with a game in hand. Signs that we're getting closer maybe, but we really do need everything to gel at the same time.

If you look at the goals conceded column alone, I would agree. But, looking a bit deeper I think the problem IS at least partly in defence. We have only won 1:0 in the league once this season. We have frequently been 1:0 up in a game and have given up a goal (or two). We were 1:0 up against Arsenal, Chelsea, Wigan and Spurs - all at home - and ended up drawing all 4 matches, which has cost us 8 points (although to be fair we can't blame the defence for the shocking decision that gifted Chelsea a penalty). We managed to find late, late winners against Villa and Derby (both away) where - once again - we had been 1 up and cruising until they scored. Yes, one answer to this is certainly to score a second goal. The other answer is not to concede an equalizer, especially not at home. I think this is where Agger may have been missed. We've been defending well, but not quite well enough.

Absolute complete and utter b******s. As usual. We got Masch, Gerrard and Torres all clean through behind their defence - which was a pretty nifty trick given that it was precisely three yards in front of Kirkland most of the game. Finnan created the goal by running beyond the defence. Alonso was clearly playing ahead of Mascherano most of the time. We did have width in Pennant and Kewell, with Finnan and Aurelio both overlapping. There was plenty of pass and move. The defence was playing the ball out to feet most of the time - in fact in the last ten minutes there wasn't enough 'hoofing'. Your only valid point. If you're looking for reasons as to why we failed to win the match, then look no further than Mr. Gerrard. Although he was involved in the build up to the goal, he spent most of the match way too deep (in a free role...) and missed a couple of glaring opportunities - while handing a goal to Bramble on a plate. That 'clearance' was shocking. Without that we would have won the game 1:0.

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Goran Pandev has said he would like to play for us, according to Setanta. He might be worth a look, he plays as a withdrawn striker yet gets his fair share of goals (38 in 85 appearances for Lazio, apparently). He's only 24 as well.

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