A Priority

[Cooger]

I think most people agree that in the summer the club should be looking for a partner to play alongside Torres. Some rate Crouch highly, however it is clear Benitez isn’t going to play him too often. Voronin and Kuyt are clearly not good enough for the level we require.

 

I have read many posts wanting a supporting striker for Torres. A Bergkamp or Zola type player who can link the midfield and attack. I can see the logic behind this and it would certainly solve one of our problems, the lack of creation or invention in the final third. Too many games this season (and last) we have failed to break down deep, stubborn defenses and we have little answer. Garcia used to help with this having the audacity try things others wouldn’t. Man City, Man U, Birmingham, Wigan are all games where we had enough possession to win the games, but we lacked spark in the final third. In reality only Gerrard and Torres are going to produce this spark consistently. Therefore maybe a link player, supporting Torres would help.

 

By contrast I think Kuyt, who is often seen outside the box, gets in the space Gerrard looks to drive into. A supporting striker might just do this and cram up the field centrally, not giving Gerarrd the space to thrive. Also I’m not sure Torres is an out and out number 9. At times he clearly is when he’s playing on defenders shoulders, defending from the front and his scoring would indicate he is. But Torres does drop deep to receive the ball, does link the play, turns runs at teams and does a lot of work outside the box. He’s almost a cross between a number 9 and a number 10, given his all round ability.

 

One of Liverpool’s problems over the years is getting players in the box. Bellamy would be seen down the channels, more than in the box. Kuyt is usually seen outside the box. Given Torres can drop off and link play, maybe a number 9 would be more suitable alongside him than a supporting striker? This way we’d have more scoring threat and more players in the box.

 

I do think our squad lacks another player who can lead the line of attack and offers some pace / goals. If Torres gets injured or rested them we lack cutting edge.

 

I’m undecided what would suit our team more, a supporting striker for Torres or one to lead the line, as he drops off. One thing is clear it should be a high priority this summer, regardless of who is in charge of the club.

[RedLars]

A top class forward and atleast one winger should be a priority in the summer.

[Cooger]

  RedLars said:

A top class forward and atleast one winger should be a priority in the summer.

 

The left wing is more of a priority than the right for me.

 

I don't see what Kewell has done to earn a new deal. Babel for me isn't a left winger and should be used upfront next season.

 

On the right we have Gerrard, Pennant, Yossi, Babel if needs be and between those four we should have enough quality.

[CaptainXabi]

I think I may be joining teh Benzema bandwagon soon. I thought he was overrated but I've been making a big effort to watch him lately and I have to say I'm impressed. Him and Torres up front would be a great pairing. Both can drop deep and link play. Both can do damage in the channels. Both can be on the end of moves. It would be a new type of pairing, but I think it has the chance of being very very effective.

[RedLars]

  Cooger said:

The left wing is more of a priority than the right for me.

 

I don't see what Kewell has done to earn a new deal. Babel for me isn't a left winger and should be used upfront next season.

 

On the right we have Gerrard, Pennant, Yossi, Babel if needs be and between those four we should have enough quality.

 

Completely agree Kewell is not good enough and Babbel should move upfront. I do agree we have more options on the right handside but it is still along way from good enough. Both Gerrard and Babbel should be played in other positions, and Yossi \ Pennant do not perform consistently at a high enough level. Good squad players but nothing more.

[Gray - YPC]

Can we buy Villa please?

 

Either 'David' from Valencia to play alongside Torres or 'Aston' so we can claim Barry for left back, and Agbonlahor for up front and the wing too? Ashley Young is better than what we've got too.

Edited February 3, 2008 by Gray - YPC

[Rimbeux]

I think the only reason to shift Torres from no 9 long term is if there is a better number 9 available. I'm thinking Eto'o or Drogba. Otherwise it's deffo number 10 for me, we really need to shift the creative hub upfield, with someone capable of playing in the hole to a high level and still chipping in with goals, it's Berbatov in my book. If we cant get the level of player, we should look at other ways to play, like Babel and another similar player playing of Torres ahead of a three man midfield, with fullbacks flying up and down.

[MFletcher]

Torres is our long term number nine, so we'd need to look for a number 10 to partner him long term.

[liveabiglife]

As fanciful as it probably is given finances, Kaka down the middle, Masch/Lucas holding, Gerrard down the right then sell Alonso, Voronin and Kuyt to fund a left winger. That'd work for me.

 

Assuming we don't tidy up the back line (decent right back and left back) it could look like this:

 

Reina

 

Arbeloa/Finnan ------ Carragher ------ Agger ------ Aurelio/Riise

 

Lucas ---Mascherano

 

Gerrard ------------------------------------------ Simao (?)

 

Kaka

 

Torres

 

And we've still got Big Pete and Babel for the 4-4-2 options, plus Babel could stand in for Kaka when he gets rotated

Edited February 3, 2008 by BennyBobo

[Cooger]

  Rimbeux said:

I think the only reason to shift Torres from no 9 long term is if there is a better number 9 available. I'm thinking Eto'o or Drogba. Otherwise it's deffo number 10 for me, we really need to shift the creative hub upfield, with someone capable of playing in the hole to a high level and still chipping in with goals, it's Berbatov in my book.

 

I agree with most of this.

 

Not sure I'd want Berbatov. I rate him highly, however it seems when the going gets tough his body language goes.

 

Having said that I'd rather a stroppy player capable of top quality, rather than a top professional with little quality such as Kuyt.

[Lanus]

Berbatov would be the best bet.. that or Robbie Keane who has always scored lots of goals in the premiership and is a smarter team player than he gets credit for.

 

 

edit: also yes, i agree on the Berbatov talk there... he is a class player but it seems he can bring the wrong kind of attitude to the team at times... and to be consistant and to win the league, you need someone who is not only incredbly talented but mentally tough and determined.

Edited February 4, 2008 by Lanus

[Mike]

benayoun would be a great option behind torres. why rafa cant see this is baffling.

[boohog]

A priority should be ensuring thatmore of our players wear magic hats.

 

We should have an online petition or a march before the game so that the owners fork out for more magic hats.

[Raj]

  Mike said:

benayoun would be a great option behind torres. why rafa cant see this is baffling.

 

I agree.

 

I think we should move Voronin and Kuyt on in the summer. Keep Crouch, as a squad player, if he is happy with that.

Benayoun is more than capable of playing as a link striker, as he proved with Santander. He can also cover a left/right wing too.

 

Therefore, we would only need to purchase one top quality striker. However, I think that Crouch will move on too.

[Magic8Ball]

  Cooger said:

I think most people agree that in the summer the club should be looking for a partner to play alongside Torres. Some rate Crouch highly, however it is clear Benitez isn’t going to play him too often. Voronin and Kuyt are clearly not good enough for the level we require.

 

I have read many posts wanting a supporting striker for Torres. A Bergkamp or Zola type player who can link the midfield and attack. I can see the logic behind this and it would certainly solve one of our problems, the lack of creation or invention in the final third. Too many games this season (and last) we have failed to break down deep, stubborn defenses and we have little answer. Garcia used to help with this having the audacity try things others wouldn’t. Man City, Man U, Birmingham, Wigan are all games where we had enough possession to win the games, but we lacked spark in the final third. In reality only Gerrard and Torres are going to produce this spark consistently. Therefore maybe a link player, supporting Torres would help.

 

By contrast I think Kuyt, who is often seen outside the box, gets in the space Gerrard looks to drive into. A supporting striker might just do this and cram up the field centrally, not giving Gerarrd the space to thrive. Also I’m not sure Torres is an out and out number 9. At times he clearly is when he’s playing on defenders shoulders, defending from the front and his scoring would indicate he is. But Torres does drop deep to receive the ball, does link the play, turns runs at teams and does a lot of work outside the box. He’s almost a cross between a number 9 and a number 10, given his all round ability.

 

One of Liverpool’s problems over the years is getting players in the box. Bellamy would be seen down the channels, more than in the box. Kuyt is usually seen outside the box. Given Torres can drop off and link play, maybe a number 9 would be more suitable alongside him than a supporting striker? This way we’d have more scoring threat and more players in the box.

 

I do think our squad lacks another player who can lead the line of attack and offers some pace / goals. If Torres gets injured or rested them we lack cutting edge.

 

I’m undecided what would suit our team more, a supporting striker for Torres or one to lead the line, as he drops off. One thing is clear it should be a high priority this summer, regardless of who is in charge of the club.

 

I kind of agree with this post, we certainly need a good link striker ( who can score his fair share of goals) to work with Torres.

Other than that we have several other problems we need to solve:

 

1 Gerrard - I'm sorry but I don't see Gerrard as an out and out CM for Liverpool -- I would like to see him play in a midfield 3 OR as a Right Attacker - not RW - so thing more 433 with Gerrard on the right ( hell I'd play him on the right in a 442!)

2 - Defense - there is no doubt Rafa is good at teaching a team to defend. However our team is not the most athletic and when they have defense on their mind they dont make speculative runs forward. We need to make it easier for players to make speculative runs.

One way to do this is for the defenders (CH's ) to hold a higher line - I want our defenders to be able to move into midfield and move 20m closer to the opposition. This would mean that Mash wouldn't have to be so deep. that would mean Gerrard wouldnt have to come too deep to get the ball - this would suit Babel too. If Xabi and Mash are playing together it would mean Mash would be closer to Xabi so Xabi would always have the option of the easy ball to Mash to get out of trouble - actually I expect this would give Xabi more space and time to pick out his passes

 

Now add your link striker to that mix and we would be mor able to turn our possession into goals

The Players wouldn't have so far to run, to make space for a pass, the players could afford to gamble on a speculative run without having to worry about sprinting the entire length of the field to get back and defend. In effect we should be camped on the opposition 18-25 yard line

 

Also our FB's need to over lap more and learn to cross the ball, we dont just need floated crosses we need the ball whipped in, and balls between the defender and keeper

 

I can't wait to see Skytl and Agger play together, as CH's - as we shouldnt be in our own half at all when playing most teams in the league

Edited February 4, 2008 by Magic8Ball

[Rimbeux]

  Mike said:

benayoun would be a great option behind torres. why rafa cant see this is baffling.

 

to be fair, he's been moved there during games a couple of times in the last six weeks.

[Guest Ant]

  Rimbeux said:

to be fair, he's been moved there during games a couple of times in the last six weeks.

 

Aye for 5 minutes

[Huyton_Red]

  Cooger said:

The left wing is more of a priority than the right for me.

 

I don't see what Kewell has done to earn a new deal. Babel for me isn't a left winger and should be used upfront next season.

 

On the right we have Gerrard, Pennant, Yossi, Babel if needs be and between those four we should have enough quality.

 

You can not play two strikers up front with exactly the same qualities (pace etc)

 

Babbel and torres would not work, who would drop off dee etc

 

We need a striker who can drop off and create but can also score goals. A beardsley or dalglish.

 

Babbel should be played left wing, where he was bought to play

[Bigal]

  Huyton_Red said:

You can not play two strikers up front with exactly the same qualities (pace etc)

 

Babbel and torres would not work, who would drop off dee etc

 

We need a striker who can drop off and create but can also score goals. A beardsley or dalglish.

 

Babbel should be played left wing, where he was bought to play

 

why? whats she doing there?

[Magic8Ball]

  Huyton_Red said:

You can not play two strikers up front with exactly the same qualities (pace etc)

 

Babbel and torres would not work, who would drop off deep etc

 

We need a striker who can drop off and create but can also score goals. A beardsley or dalglish.

 

Babbel should be played left wing, where he was bought to play

see my post above:

 

I used to be a fan of D Villa and F Torres playing together, but I've checked their effectiveness for Spain

and it's and either or situation. D Villa works well with a linker like D Silva.

 

We need someone who can link the play and score goals to work with Torres. Let's start with Benny ( as he's here ) and monitor how the team progresses.

However the link striker is not the be all and end all of our becoming a better team ( see some of the other points I raised, above).

[Bootle Buck]

  Rimbeux said:

I think the only reason to shift Torres from no 9 long term is if there is a better number 9 available. I'm thinking Eto'o or Drogba. Otherwise it's deffo number 10 for me, we really need to shift the creative hub upfield, with someone capable of playing in the hole to a high level and still chipping in with goals, it's Berbatov in my book. If we cant get the level of player, we should look at other ways to play, like Babel and another similar player playing of Torres ahead of a three man midfield, with fullbacks flying up and down.

 

Berbatov would be ideal. He has such a nice touch and would lay on a lot for Torres. He can also find the net himself.

[alias75]

I dont actually think we need 2 wingers, if you look at a lot of teams in the PL not many of them play with 2 out and out wingers, Chelsea have Joe Cole who tucks inside a lot, Man Utd have Giggs whose not an out and out winger anymore, Arsenal have Hleb and Rosicky neither of whom are traditional wingers.

 

But what these teams have that we don't is good attacking fullbacks that give them that width, Utd have Evra, Arsenal have Clichy and Sagnol, Chelsea have Cole / Bridge and Balletti. The closest we have is Arbeloa.

 

My priority would be a top quality attacking right back like Alves, having him here would allow Rafa to play a midfield 3 of Gerrard, Mascherano, Alonso (or Lucas) knowing the right side is covered by Alves who has the energy and ability to get up and down all game with good quality.

 

Left side is also a priority the left footed players we have arent good enough excpet Babel (and i think hes both footed) Riise, Aurellio, Kewell just arent good enough and we need to bring in a left back and left winger (id like Quaresma) promote Insua to back up left back and let those 3 players go.

 

Obviously the final position we need to fill is a top class partner for Torres i think we need someone like Berbatov that can pick a pass and bring other players into the game, but someone thats also able to get that 15 goals a season, i dont think we need another Torres like player.

 

But the players we bring in should all have good pace as thats something we're lacking throughout the side.

[Rimbeux]

I think the major issue with recruiting wingers is that there is no abundance of world class available talent in that position, there are a few expensive looking question marks.

 

With all the money in the world Chelsea haven't found any who were up to it long term. Utd took a risk on a very expensive teenager and developed him. We have no track record to speak of regards bringing in mid priced attacking prospects or rough diamonds and turning them into world class performers. I think we should be looking at attacking fullback and a more compact, shorter game with creative attacking players in the three positions behind the striker, not chasing wingers that probably wont cut it.

[RedLars]

  alias75 said:

I dont actually think we need 2 wingers, if you look at a lot of teams in the PL not many of them play with 2 out and out wingers, Chelsea have Joe Cole who tucks inside a lot, Man Utd have Giggs whose not an out and out winger anymore, Arsenal have Hleb and Rosicky neither of whom are traditional wingers.

 

But what these teams have that we don't is good attacking fullbacks that give them that width, Utd have Evra, Arsenal have Clichy and Sagnol, Chelsea have Cole / Bridge and Balletti. The closest we have is Arbeloa.

 

My priority would be a top quality attacking right back like Alves, having him here would allow Rafa to play a midfield 3 of Gerrard, Mascherano, Alonso (or Lucas) knowing the right side is covered by Alves who has the energy and ability to get up and down all game with good quality.

 

Left side is also a priority the left footed players we have arent good enough excpet Babel (and i think hes both footed) Riise, Aurellio, Kewell just arent good enough and we need to bring in a left back and left winger (id like Quaresma) promote Insua to back up left back and let those 3 players go.

 

Obviously the final position we need to fill is a top class partner for Torres i think we need someone like Berbatov that can pick a pass and bring other players into the game, but someone thats also able to get that 15 goals a season, i dont think we need another Torres like player.

 

But the players we bring in should all have good pace as thats something we're lacking throughout the side.

 

Personally I used the term 'winger' fairly loosely. Ronaldo, Giggs, Shaun Wright-Phillips, Malouda, Cole are players I would definitely label as winger. Comparing said players to Yossi, Pennant, Kewell and I see a world of difference in attacking qualities. Therefore I reckon getting two quality wingers should be of the highest priority.

[alias75]

  RedLars said:

Personally I used the term 'winger' fairly loosely. Ronaldo, Giggs, Shaun Wright-Phillips, Malouda, Cole are players I would definitely label as winger. Comparing said players to Yossi, Pennant, Kewell and I see a world of difference in attacking qualities. Therefore I reckon getting two quality wingers should be of the highest priority.

 

My point is i think Gerrard can be our Joe Cole or Ronaldo but because hes going to be tucking in a bit and not hugging the touchline you need a top quality attacking full back on the right to give that width and attacking threat from out wide, Alves is the perfect player but he'd be pretty expensive.

 

On the left i agree we need to get someone in at both fullback and left midfield / left wing, but i think having 2 good attacking fullbacks would make a huge difference to our play, along with at least 1 more top quality attacking midfielder and a partner for Torres that can link the play.