Enough of the whinging lets come up with solutions...

[alias75]

Far too many knee jerk reactions on the other thread, i think most fans agree Benitez is the right man, but at the moment too many of the players are letting him down.

 

Of the new signings Pennant is the only 1 im not happy with, hes shown me very little that he has what it takes to make it, its obvious he was only bought because right mid was a position we needed cover for desperately but the injury to Sissoko means he now start games he wouldnt have if Momo was fit, and so far hes not looked good enough.

 

Gonzalez has struggled but ive seen enough of him in La Liga to know what a good player he is, once he settles in and builds some confidence we'll see the real Gonzalez.

 

Its clear to me that the main problems this season is not the form of the new signings, they were always going to take time to settle in. The problems are with the performances of our established key players, that core that we've been used to being to able to rely on week in week out. Ill single out the following players, Reina, Carragher, Alonso, Gerrard all of these players were excellent last season, you could rely on them every week, this season they've all struggled and so that has a knock on effect on the rest of the team especially the new players.

 

Ok my short term solution is scrap 4-4-2 our wide players arent performing so we should go with 3-5-2 and use finnan and Riise as wing backs, this is a formation we've tried a few times before and on the whole its looked much more fluid. With Sissoko injured the midfield 3 id go for is Alonso, Gerrard and Garcia as the link man with Kujt a definite starter and Bellamy and Crouch rotated.

 

There has been some criticism of Bellamy and its true hes not playing well, but i can tell you as someone thats watched him play very often that he is a confidence player and im sure he'll improve, what you always get out of him whether hes playing well or not is lots of effort which we badly need at the moment, once he gets a few goals and his confidence grows we'll see a much better player.

 

Id also like to see Anderson on the bench for some PL games, he may not be ready to start but can he offer any less than Pennant has? I think bringing him on late in games he will play without the fear that Pennant is showing at the moment, in a similar way that Owen did when he broke into the side, that sort of fearlessness is what the team is lacking at the moment.

 

The Gerrard situation has obviously been a huge factor too, no matter what anyone else says hes obviously a key player for this team and hes been well below par most of the year. I have no idea if the stories about him and his personnal life are true but that would certainly explain a lot. At the moment he may have far more important things on his mind than a game of football but we need the real Stevie back quickly im sure hed rather be playing than not but he needs to show hes ready for the fight, hes supposed to be our leader but at the moment hes not setting the example.

 

I still have complete faith in Rafa i think the squad is certainly stronger than the last few seasons, but at the moment the players almost en masse are low on confidence, its not an easy thing to build but we need our key players leading by example and that will help the new guys.

[eskton]

When times are bad you go with a tried and trusted way. SOLID UP THE MIDDLE OF THE PARK

 

Goalkeeper, 2 good centre backs, 2 good centre midfielders, and 2 good forwards, and build from there.

 

Stevie and Xavi are the best two midfielders, so they start every week

Any two from carra, sammi, and agger at the back

upfront Kuyt and one other

 

I have slagged crouch off all season as a waste of space, but today he done more in 15 mins than the other 2 done the whole game.

 

I'm still a bit unsure about gonzales, Pennant needs to improve

 

All in all today apart from maybe garcia, i couldn't argue with the selection

 

Lack of confidence, plus poor finishing cost us. But its better than last week

[hideNseek]

First solution I can think of is not 9 players always relying n Gerrard to pull them out of it.

[harpoon]

I don't get why we don't play Crouch away.

 

I'm not going to slag Bellamy/Fowler with Kuyt or anything, I just thought Benitez solved the away problems last season with the purchase of Crouch and sure enough, with Crouch upfront we were doing a LOT better in our away games and Crouch was a prime reason.

 

So why suddenly not play Crouch, especially with us not keeping the ball on the floor as much away (which suits Bellamy a lot better)?

 

I don't think Crouch upfront is the only solution, think it's a loss of form and consistency overall but Crouch upfront for away games seems a clear step 1 to me.

[hideNseek]

harpoon I agree.

[alias75]

First solution I can think of is not 9 players always relying n Gerrard to pull them out of it.

 

I dont think thats been the case this season, at the moment Stevie isnt leading by example Alonso is the one playing like the captain at the moment.

 

I agree we need 4 or 5 leaders on the pitch and our main problem has been that the players that are usually reliable havent been and that has a knock on effect on the rest of the players especially young new players.

 

In an ideal world you have 4 or 5 players that play every week to a very high standard and thats what we had for the most part last season, then new signings come into a team full of confidence and that helps them settle. We've had the exact opposite happen this season, the team struggled from the word go, even in pre season and thats had a knock on effect.

 

its time to get back to basics and its time for the leaders in the team to step up, Alonso has been our best player the last month and Carragher was solid today, we need Stevie desperately to find some form and find some passion.

[hideNseek]

Re-read your first para mate.

[harpoon]

another thing is the consistency in the team...not one of ours have gotten away without at least a couple of stinker games this season but virtually all our players have shown their class at some point.

 

Zenden? MOM against Brum, excellent in Charity Shield.

Pennant? Great against Reading (Carling Cup), MOM in the Haifa game.

 

One week a player gets stick, the next it's praise, I've noticed it in the forums over the last couple months. It makes it torturous as a supporter watching the team right now, you really don't know if good or bad versions of the players are going to show up...most worrying is that includes the main players (Gerrard, Carra, Alonso, etc). I haven't seen more than 2-3 games this season where every one of our 'main players' (for lack of a term) have played well.

 

Our team's spine isn't even consistent, and that's the first thing we need to get sorted. And I'm talking about our play more than our results, even at home we haven't always convinced.

[alias75]

Re-read your first para mate.

 

My point is i cant remember many (if any) occassions this season when Gerrards been the difference between winning a game and not winning a game. Yes the players should take more responsiblity, but the fact is Stevie is our key player hes the one player we have that can do it all in the attacking third, his not performing is certainly having a knock on effect on other players. In a perfect world we'd have 11 leaders all chipping in and sharing the work load but football isnt like that, just as Arsenal look to Henry or Barcelon to ronaldinho we look to Stevie and at the moment he doesnt look bothered which is the most worrying part.

[Nebraska Red]

"Ill single out the following players, Reina, Carragher, Alonso, Gerrard all of these players were excellent last season, you could rely on them every week, this season they've all struggled and so that has a knock on effect on the rest of the team especially the new players."

 

what do all of these players have in common?

 

they all played on teams in the world cup that did not do as well as expected.

 

i am convinced tha tthis year's world cup has had a detrimental effect on these players, the number of games played and the pressure that goes with the world cup has knocked these players off form.

 

is there a solution? not really, it is up to the players to get past this spell of poor form and get back to normal. rest would be a good idea, but when?

[alias75]

another thing is the consistency in the team...not one of ours have gotten away without at least a couple of stinker games this season but virtually all our players have shown their class at some point.

 

Zenden? MOM against Brum, excellent in Charity Shield.

Pennant? Great against Reading (Carling Cup), MOM in the Haifa game.

 

One week a player gets stick, the next it's praise, I've noticed it in the forums over the last couple months. It makes it torturous as a supporter watching the team right now, you really don't know if good or bad versions of the players are going to show up...most worrying is that includes the main players (Gerrard, Carra, Alonso, etc). I haven't seen more than 2-3 games this season where every one of our 'main players' (for lack of a term) have played well.

 

Our team's spine isn't even consistent, and that's the first thing we need to get sorted. And I'm talking about our play more than our results, even at home we haven't always convinced.

 

I think when your winning regularly these things get over looked, im sure if youd watched Man utd or Arsenal or Chelsea a lot this season the same happens where players play well one week and not so well the next the difference is they keep winning and that deflects all the criticism.

 

Players arent machines but certain players in our team have performed consistently at a certain level and that level isnt being met at the moment, whereas last season a Gerrard goal might have taken the deflectino away from an average performance now if we dont get the win everything is scrutinised.

 

The truth is today we were the better team and deserved to win, had we done so the boards would have been far more positive.

 

if we compare our current team with Man Utd, Chelsea, Arsenal id say the 1 main difference is they have those 2 or 3 real world class players that perform most weeks. Utd werent great today but they have players like Rooney, Giggs, Ronaldo that can produce out of nothing, similarly Arsenal have Henry. Stevie has been our goto guy for a while but at the moment the simple fact is he isnt playing well.

[Sir Tokyo Sexwale]

score more than the opposition, that's my suggestion

[SkippyjonJones]

score more than the opposition, that's my suggestion

 

too f***ing radical.

[Cooldude]

Crouch and Kuyt has to start every game, every f***ing game

 

Crouchzinho's really been shafted by Rafa this season, dropped when he shouldn't have been

 

Keep playing Gonzalez and Luis, keep Agger in the team and keep Zenden away from the team.

[floyd the barber]

is garcia injured at the mo??!?

 

anyway if he is fit..

 

-----------------reina------------------

finnan---carra----agger---warnock-

----------------------------------------

garcia-gerrard--alonso-----riise----

---------crouch---kuyt---------------

 

 

with gonzalez and riise roatating...

[eskton]

is garcia injured at the mo??!?

 

anyway if he is fit..

 

-----------------reina------------------

finnan---carra----agger---warnock-

----------------------------------------

garcia-gerrard--alonso-----riise----

---------crouch---kuyt---------------

with gonzalez and riise roatating...

 

 

 

 

Warnock is not good enough. Mate

[Stevie H]

score more than the opposition, that's my suggestion

score goals would be a start. f***ing appalling lack of clue in the final third at the moment.

[ali]

from Sky -

 

Alonso worried by 'negative' Reds

By Chris Stanton - Created on 19 Nov 2006

 

Xabi Alonso believes the doom and gloom engulfing Liverpool has already all but scuppered their hopes of competing for the Premiership title.

 

Another below par performance from The Reds in a goalless draw at Middlesbrough on Saturday evening means the team trail leaders Manchester United by 16 points after just 13 matches.

 

A run of just two points from 21 available away from home has left their title hopes hanging by a thread.

 

Alonso admits he would be able to see a light at the end of the tunnel, were it not for the negativity pervading the Anfield dressing room.

 

"The fight for the title is getting more and more difficult for us," said Alonso.

 

"Not just because of the points difference but because of the atmosphere I see at the club.

 

"I see pessimism and in that respect it is going to be very hard to come back.

 

"We can't put three straight wins together and are unable to transmit the spirit of Europe to league games.

 

"I don't know if it is something psychological but we are very annoyed."

 

 

a piece on Sky last week from Xabi said the club had had the psychs in, so surely he would know by now if it is something psychological .

[Otocon]

First solution I can think of is not 9 players always relying n Gerrard to pull them out of it.

 

Sell Gerrard.

[melia]

Sell Gerrard.

 

Any threads you've missed with this message? You're getting boring.

[D.Boon]

Sell Gerrard.

 

I have a solution, go and feck yerself you thick as s*** d1ck