If you have watched Liverpool for the past two or three seasons one of the main observations you would probably have made is that there is a distinct lack of width within the squad. The players that do play wide are played there fundamentally out of their preferred positions. These players all prefer to cut inside and with the exception of Ryan Babel all possess very little pace to beat a man. This is an area I’m sure the manager will look to address sooner or later.
The problem at this present time is that money is tight. If the majority of funds are made available from the Mascherano deal Roy will look down his list of priorities and find a winger probably comes fourth behind a replacement for Mascherano, a first choice left back and a capable striker. With players such as Shaun Wright-Phillips reportedly available on the cheap it is a real shame that events out of the managers control have meant that other positions take priority.
In my opinion, if you are going to challenge for top honours you need players who can beat a man get to the byeline and put a decent ball into the box. Over the past few years Liverpool have often found it incredibly hard to break down teams that set their stalls out to defend and protect from the first whistle. Because of the lack of width, the midfield becomes flooded with players and there is no space to find the killer ball that can split a defence open. With many teams now playing with three men across the middle of the park it is essential to have technically gifted wingers that can stretch the game and drag players out of position. As it stands Liverpool have none and due to the financial restrictions the fans are unlikely to see one any time soon, at least not before January.
January is a long way away and until the club are able to invest in some width it is going to prove incredibly difficult to get the club back to where it belongs. As fans all we can hope is that the players and the manager can see us through until then.
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arda turan theres your ansa wtch him on youtube n then youl c this guys got his own set of wings!ynwa
jovanovich is no slouch, mman city virtually gave bellamy away before they would sell to a rival so wright philips is a non starter, over the years we have had an over cautious manager when at home, that is the main reason we have made hard work of teams we would have overun in our better days, of course once or twice it comes unstuck but the end result is more points that we would otherwise have got playing safety first.
Great wingers have seering pace – beat people for fun – make chances galore – win matches – still cant remember – what about mathews, finney, best, heighway, barnes, giggs , ronaldo .messi GET THE PICTURE – LETS HOPE ROY DOES
babel, Pacheco, jovanovic (when he’s settled), gerrard (if needed on the right) can all play the wings and all possess pace. cutting inside isn’t a bad thing in my view, and with a bit of discipline (see gerrard’s left sided world cup run) could be taught to not cut in as much and run to the lines.
I would really love to see Pacheco/jova on the left and babel on the right of a 3 man attack with Cole in behind Torres and gerrard + a new signing ( meireles is being touted now ) in the middle.
Meireles would be a mega signing, gerrard and him are very similar players in there style. they both play centrally and can hold there own in defending, but also both like to burst forward into the box and help the attack.
We are not as thin in the squad as people think. we have 2 keepers, 2 right backs, 5 central defenders, 1 left back, 2 defensive mids, 2 right wingers, 2 left wingers, 2 attacking mids, and even 2 strikers (counted kuyt as striker babel as right wing). we need 1 left back (konchesky) and a really decent midfielder to replace masch (meireles) and maybe a backup striker as I don’t really rate kuyt highly.
youngsters play Europa league and cups, main team plays prem. should give us at least 4th place + maybe a cup run somewhere.
masch out for £22million.
Meireles £10.7million, Konchesky £4million, wolfswinkel £9million. 3 players in for 1 player out, good return in my view. Ngog, babel, kuyt, pacheco, torres, wolfswinkel, not really a bad group of players to choose your attack from if you think about it.
we have a really nice squad when everyone is fit and match sharp.
The answer already exists and is worth an experiment if roy is the manager we hope he is. Brian clough always said footy was a simple game where you put players in positions that maximise their strengths and minimise their weaknesses. Roy should put glen johnson on right wing, ryan babel on left wing. They are quickest players on team can go both on outside and cut in to shoot. Jonno is not a rb, stick more solid defensive full backs there – kelly and konchevsky.
agree candide, Johnson would make a fantastic right winger. but babel is not comfortable on the left as much as he is on the right from what I’ve seen.
Jova will be mega there for us this season, we’ve already seen his strength and his pace is mental ( I really didn’t expect him to be as quick as he is )
Kelly is ready for an extended run at right back in the prem as well, and with Johnson ahead, would provide protection when needed.
Reina
Kelly rb
Konchesky lb
Skyrtl cb
Agger cb
Gerrard cm
Mereiles cm
Johnson rm
Babel lm
Cole am
Torres cf
mascherano big deal ? souness, macmahon, case, mcdermott and others all better than him and with goals too.
You forgot Jovanovic, he’s even faster than Babel, though he lacks his (Babel’s) strength..
i still think jovanovic would be better on the left with him being naturally left footed and able to provide better crosses. The ability to switch johnson and jova to opposite flanks and come inside for shots/inswinging crosses is also good.
im really looking forward to seeing what happens with meireles. I hope the rumours are true and he signs. Gerrard and Meireles alternating there bursting runs into the box is enough to scare any defence.
But regardless of what we think, roy wont play johnson at rm, it will be kuyt, kuyt and some more kuyt 🙁 with maxi in reserves.
team i expect to see against wba:
reina
johnson: rb
carragher: cb
skyrtel: cb
agger: lb
poulsen: cm
lucas: cm
gerrard: am
kuyt: rm
jovanovic: lm
torres: st
i really hope he doesnt play 4-4-2 just because we have no masch now and no am with cole out. No reason not to play 4-2-3-1 really.
Pete, the lm slot is the problem area. The season we finished 2nd was rieras best year. Jova is not quick at all and had a nightmare against adam johnson in city game. Hope i’m wrong but he just looks like a left sided kuyt to me (he was rafas signing). We need genuine pace on left and that has to be babel for me. If he was given more of run in side on left im sure he can contribute. We have seen flashes of what he can do on left. When he cuts in he has a cannonball shot, and I have seen him go outside and use his left foot to supply cutbacks.
@hey there!,
did i just read right? you think jovanovic lacks babels strength? i think youve been watching a different player then, cuz the only person ive seen push jova around atm has been richards of citeh (who isnt exactly a pushover himself…)
jova has amazing strength, and bear in mind hes only just joined the premiership and is finding his feet. theres more to come yet 😉
promising times people, have faith
@candide,
yes he got ran ragged by johnson, but who wouldnt, the boy is brilliant.
jova isnt very defensive minded, which is why he got badly beaten that day, but in a way, thats good. but he does have pace (may not show it all the time, but like i said above, hes finding his feet).
i want a player to push forward on the wings, which is why i want to see babel on the right not kuyt.
i dont think left is AS much of a problem as people think, kuyt and maxi worry me more than jova,pacheco on the left and i think kuyt at least should be ousted for a backup speedy winger for the right with babel as main rm.
basically we need 4 good wingers to cover our flanks, we have babel, jova atm who im happy with, maxi is borderline, he can be good on his day, and we have pacheco coming of age too. not all bad
just to add, the reason why johnson battered our left side, is because agger isnt a left back, and we played 4-4-2, so they had the extra man in midfield so milner was always playing as the floating man coming over to our left and skinning us with johnson.
4-2-3-1 and that wouldnt of happened… thanks masch.
OWNERS OUT
against city richards was getting away with loads of stuff, he should have been booked before he was but the so called ref called him micah like he was a mate before letting him off.
if jovanovich is a left sided kuyt we have hit the jackpot.
i just hope uncle woy has the sense to play babel on the right and not kuyt. were playing wba not chelski, we should be playing attacking and trying to stick 6 or 7 past these guys.
my prediction if 4-2-3-1 played: jova and torres to come good 2morrow, 5-0 win with torres getting 2, jova 1, gerrard 1, and id like to see a headed goal from one of our defenders to top it off 😉
my prediction for 4-4-2: jova and torres to still come good, 1 goal a piece for them 2-0 win.
1. Yes we need wingers, i’ve been saying that for years.
2. FAO Kamaal – just because a player looks good on Youtube, Champ Manager or FIFA on the PS3 does not mean that they are that good at the real thing, i.e. Turan. For the love of god, he wants to come but that’s as close as its ever going to get – move on and actually watch some football.
3. Jovanovic is a striker not a frickin winger. Only Liverpool managers buy a striker and then move him into midfield, i.e. Cisse, Voronin, Babel, Kuyt – though in their cases they were poor up front.
Guys I agree about city game. Against better teams away from home we should always play 4-2-3-1. It was naive and worrying that roy did not see that. We were overran and could not get control of game. Still not convinced about jova. Very strong but for me babel is quicker. Having 2 kuyts is not hitting jackpot! Cant agree with that. I just hope roy builds team around players strengths and weaknesses. He is 62 and I hope not too set in his ways
@lee,
no, torres is a striker, drogba is a striker, rooney is a striker. these players play down the middle its what they do.
jovanovic, babel, walcott, kuyt (altho i dont rate him as a wide player), and many others too numerous to list are attackers, gone are the days of being a winger or a striker, these days you can be both quite easily. yes sometimes your a dedicated striker or a winger, but most players now in the attacking positions can fill a few places confortably.
all these players can play as part of a 2-3 man attack in either the center or on the wings. Theres absolutely nothing wrong with playing babel and jovanovic out on the wings to support torres. and with the funds we have, and the time left in the window, what do you suppose we do differently?
maybe next year when weve been sold to new owners, we can push on and buy some top class young pacey wingers and improve on the rest of the team too, but until then, babel and jova are the best wide men we have (barring johnson as woy aint gonna play him as rm)