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Midfield Trinity Central To Success

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IF we take a look at the teams that implement the tactical philosophy Liverpool’s new manager Brendan Rodgers has been talking about implementing in Liverpool FC, we will see immediately a very strong group of midfielders who are technically gifted, talented players who are able to play together as a cohesive unit.

Rodgers’ style of football, like the tiki-taka style of football employed by the all conquering Barcelona and the Spanish national team, calls into play 3 midfielders surrounded by a circle of 7 players.

The 3 midfielders in the middle move about the field completing the triangles to enhance the passing accuracy, and help the rest of the players to get and keep the ball, circulate it and move it forward.

In Barcelona, the midfield combination of Xavi Hernandez, Andres Iniesta and Sergio Busquets keep the passing machine well oiled, moving from end to end, helping relieve pressure from the rest of the players.

When he was the manager of Swansea, Brendan instilled the same sort of work rate among their midfield, which was crucial in making Swansea one of the standout teams of the last season. Joe Allen, who Brendan now wants to bring over to Liverpool had a passing success rate of 91.2% last season, a staggering amount for a midfielder from a team which had just been promoted.

After taking over reigns as the manager of Liverpool, Rodgers will have immediately started to chalk out his plans on the team he wants to play. Of our current crop of midfielders – and we do have quite a few – there are some who should excel at the kind of style the team will be playing with.

The first player that springs to mind is Lucas Leiva. It was very evident that without him in the squad, Liverpool were that much poorer in the second half of the last season. He is one of those rare gifted holding midfielders who are able to have an excellent understanding of the game, and be at the part of the field where the play is going to be. He also has a great eye for passes to relieve the pressure from an area, and is able to hold on to and circulate the ball well.

Our very own captain fantastic, Steven Gerrard, should thrive under this style, playing from end to end helping to create opportunities while also helping alleviate some of the pressure from the defenders when the situation calls for it.

Another good choice for one of the midfield roles, although he has, in my opinion, never been given a proper chance in this club, is Alberto Aquilani. He is a very gifted footballer, and with a bit of encouragement, should be able to play at his best for Liverpool. The short passing game that Rodgers will want from his team is also something Aquilani should excel at, and I think he should get a chance this year rather than being shipped off to Italy once again.

Rodgers is also planning to bring in reinforcements for the midfield. We have already been linked with Joe Allen & Clint Dempsey, both of whom would make excellent additions to the team. Whoever is brought in, and whoever Rodgers chooses to play in the midfield of Liverpool this season, will, I think, be the most important players in the team, and be players to look out for in the upcoming season.
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12 comments

  • Elias says:

    We still need 2 strong wingers

  • Nigel says:

    Suarez should play off the left side forward position, nutmegging, cutting inside and being a general nuisance to the opposition. Borini has been bought for the first team so I guess he should play right and Carroll as the central striker- assuming we don’t buy anybody else up front. Lucas can play as the deep def midfielder in your picture of the formation. Joe Allen and gerrard the other two. Suarez we know Is a hard worker, so he should track back on his side so Borini will have to do the same. It won’t get better than that this summer? Would like to see some skilful attacking players like Ramirez though. Cole/downing/Adam/spearing aren’t going to get us near top 4.

    • devon says:

      Are we serious with allen! I really don’t think we need him. He just had one good season, and it not like he set the PL on fire. Im getting tired of that senseless 91% pass rate crap. It not like the stat proves he’s on a par with xavi and the likes.if you have a closer look at those stats, majority of the passes have been either back or lateral, check on that at statzone, also the fact that he managed a meager 2 assists in his entire campaign says alot of his creativity.we are much better off with aqualini. And there is shelvey and suso who are more than capable of filling in when needed.

  • nesti says:

    ramirez 16
    allen 14
    belhanda 18

    ————-reina————-
    jonson–skrtel—agger–enrique
    gerrard——-lucas——-allen
    belhanda—-suarez—-g.ramirez

  • magnumopus says:

    Important? Indeed, but if we don’t score more goals than last season then we can kiss 4th place goodbye! This makes our front 3 players very important too!

  • FACE FACTS says:

    WINGERS – WINGERS -WINGERS – NO WINGERS – NO PENETRATION – END OF

  • Paul says:

    Wrong, there’s two players deep protecting the back four and a diamond formation, the width is provided by full backs supported by inside left and right players

    …………..Reina…………….
    Johnson…Agger…Skrtel….Enrique
    ……..Allen…….Lucas……….
    ………….Gerrard……………
    ……Ramirez…….Suarez………
    ………….Borirni……………

  • Tobbi3 says:

    Neva count yur chicks till they’ve been hatched

  • Denis says:

    The owners need to back B Rodgers heavily this summer with £90M to bring in these 7 players.8
    But B Rodgers will need to ship out these 7 players asap asap :

    1: B Jones GK
    2: Doni GK
    3: J Flanagan RB/LB
    4: J SpearIng CM/DM
    5:J Cole AM/LW/RW
    6: C Adams CM/DM
    7: J Carragher CB/RB

    J Carragher has been a great amazing loyal servant to club for many years but his best is three years behind him and he should hang up his boots and get onto the coaching side of club now.

    The other 6 players are simply not good enough to play for our club and do not do the shirt proud wearing it, those players would all struggle to get in the likes of Aston Villa, Everton,Fulham,Norwich, Stoke, Sunderland, Wigan, West Brom’s first eleven, so why and how are they good enough to play for our club?

    And these 7 players should be brought in as soon as possible:

    1: Al Habsi Of Wigan should be brough for £3-£6M to compete with Reina GK

    2:J Allen Of Swansea should be brought for £10-£13M to compete with Gerrard and Henderson. CM

    3: I Munian Of A Bilbao should be brought for £16-£20m AM

    4: G Ramirez Of Bologna should be brought for £14-£17M RW/RWF

    5: S Sinclair Of Swansea should be brought for £3-£7M to compete with Downing. LW/LWF

    6: N Dyer Of Swansea should be brought for £3-£5M to compete for RW/RWF Position.

    7: C Dempsey should be brought in swap deal with C Adams and £2M.

  • WC says:

    ————–Reina————
    Johnson-Skrtel—Agger-Enrique
    ————–Lucas————
    ——-Gerrard—-Allen——–
    Ramirez—————–Suarez
    ————-Borini———–

    We could do with a new left back also as Enrique has been poor. Ramirez and Suarez can interchange as can Suarez and Borini. Allen or Gerrard can drop back to help out Lucas if he wants 2 holding midfielders and we have so great young players in reserve if needed. Carroll would be a good player to bring into a game where we need to change things.

  • A loyal fan says:

    BR should as a matter of urgency buy Gaston Ramirez.he is a very fantastic players who can help us out on d left flank.and the Joe Allen deal should be done ASAP

  • bjowolabi says:

    reina
    johnson srktel agger enrique
    lucas
    gerrard allen
    suarez borini
    carroll
    shelvy,spearing,downing,herderson not good enough for out squad.

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