John Aldridge summed up my feelings perfectly about the current central midfield situation at Liverpool. He said in the Liverpool Echo:
“I’ve seen the midfield axis of Lucas and Christian Poulsen twice now and I don’t think it is working – they are far too similar. Pairing them together from the start, though, suggested Roy Hodgson was happy to settle for a point (against Birmingham) or, perhaps, pinch it; if we can build on the result all well and good but, if we are so negative again at Old Trafford next Sunday, you would have to be worried.”
It is my belief, with the return of Joe Cole from suspension and the arrival of Raul Meireles, that in all future matches either one or the other plays, but never again both. In fact in some home matches, it would be advisable to play neither for Meireles and Gerrard are combative enough to play in central midfield while Cole plays behind Torres.
Creativity is of central importance to all football teams, and it is something we have struggled with in the opening matches of the season. I agree with Roy Hodgson that a solid defensive base is essential, especially in away matches, but the option to start both Poulsen and Lucas not only hinders the opposition as an attacking threat, it also nullifies the threat that us ourselves pose going forward. Without going into the merits of either player, Lucas and Poulsen are what they are, defensive midfielders; if they are instructed to play the holding role they will do exactly that and will not venture forward and pull the strings in midfield. The consequence of this was plain to see on Sunday when Gerrard and Torres were completely isolated further up field.
If Gerrard is to play the position behind Torres, he needs service. It is something he used to get from Xabi Alonso and it is something he has said in past interviews he has missed. Meireles arrival should negate this problem, and although not quite the same to Alonso in style, he can certainly pass the ball in central midfield. The return of Joe Cole could also mean Gerrard moves back into central midfield to pull the strings; something which would also solve the supply problems to Torres up front.
Against Birmingham of course these options were not open to Roy, and in this respect the selection of both Lucas and Poulsen does appear to be enforced. That’s only of course if Roy insists on playing 4-5-1. There was a big case on Sunday for keeping Gerrard in central midfield alongside either Poulsen or Lucas and putting another striker alongside Fernando Torres. The reversion to playing Gerrard in midfield for the last 15 minutes suggest that this could have worked although it would have been a risk. Remember Hodgson played 4-4-2 away at Manchester City and lost 3-0. If he lost by playing more offensively he would be criticised as well and in this sense he was damned both ways.
In any case, the availability of important creative midfielders such as Cole and Meireles will hopefully usher in a more attractive style than the static and sterile play which underpinned the games that both Poulsen and Lucas have started in. Reds fans are longing for a time when our team can play some good football and are not satisfied with draws away to good but far from spectacular teams like Birmingham City. Time will tell if anything will change in the coming weeks and months.
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seen enough already of the 2 of them
get shut asap
Sell them.
Or one of them at least, and no prizes for guessing which one it must be.
Perhaps Woy will have a change of heart after we get thrashed by Man Hoof on Sunday, no doubt after them being gifted their annual penalty against us in this fixture.
Shoot both
get rid of lucas, he’s never been good enough! keep poulsen only as back-up for meireles, starting 11 up until january, when hopefully roy will buy some quality width
pepe
kelly skrtel agger konch
johnson SG raul cole
babel
torres
my ideal team after transfer window
pepe
johnson shawcross agger konch
turan SG meireles A young
cole
torres
sell lucas by giviing the money to the buyer instead…amd play spearing
I have some suggestions regarding Lucas & Poulsen:
Sell them and then buy Mascherano from Barca, he’s a very good def midfielder, then complement his tough tackling with a player called Alonso who is a gifted deep lying playmaker, who is able to control the tempo and initiate attacks with his precision passing. If Alonso is unavailable there is an Italian called Aquilani who is a little more attack minded, he too has great technique and an eye for a pass. He’s had some history with injury but one of the world’s top sports scientists, an Aussie doctor, has declared him fully fit and his ankle fully healed. Aquilani is available on loan apparently so it would be a bargain.
@vinod
puleeeeeze? spearing, like lucas, will NEVER be good enough for Lfc!
Lucas should not even be chosen – i would also think its high time Johnson plays in the midfield, instead of the defense…My team for Sunday would be
Reina
Skrtel Carra Agger
Johnson Aurelio
Meireles
Babel Gerrard Cole
Torres
gerard, raul in midfield joe on the rite milan on the left babel n torres up front
Having a solid defence is overrated in this day and age. Can’t remember the last time a non-attacking team won the league.
It’s 3 points for a win and 1 for a draw. Doesn’t take a genius to figure out that in the long run it’s worth risking a loss to go for a win.
The only time I’d play Poulsen and Lucas (ever) is if we’re already 2-0 up with 15 minutes to go.
Johnson to play RSM Hmmm not a bad shout. who would play RB ? I like Kelly but would it be a too much to ask ?
there was absolutely no need to play the two of them together irrespective of the absence of Cole and Meiereles.
The team is supposed to be built around Gerrard, not having him chopping and changing his role every other game dependent on who else is available or not!
If Hodgson absolutely insists n sticking with a flat four man midfield that does not suit our squad, then Johnson should definitely be moved up to right wing. Preferably though, the team will be built around a 3 man central midfield, with Cole/Babel/Pacheco/Jovanovich/Kuyt competing to support Torres in the wide forward roles
Dumb and Dumber is a better name for these two midfielders. If Hodgson plays them again – unless in emergency – then he is heading for the sack quicktime.
SELL THEM BOTH WHICH I DON’T SEE WOY DOING, WELL SELL LUCAS FOR STARTERS, WE SHOULD HAVE SOLD HIM TO PALERMO WHEN THEY WANTED HIM FOR 3 MILL THE BOARDS STUPID IF THEY THINK THEY’LL GET 5 MILL +. LUCAS ISN’T GOOD ENOUGH FOR CHAMPIONSHIP FOOTBALL NEVERMIND THE PREM, ALL WE CAN HOPE FOR IS THAT BRAZIL KEEP SELECTING HIM IN THEY’RE SQUAD AND THAT MIGHT MAKE SOME MANAGER HAVE A POP AT HIM AND BUY HIM OFF US.
POULSEN SHOULD ONLY BE BACK UP TO MEIRELES, HIM AND LUCAS SHOULD NOT START TOGETHER OF BE ON THE PITCH AT THE SAMETIME NEITHER HAS THE VISION OR PASS TO PASS IT FORWARDS WHICH IS NEEDED TO TAKE SOME OF THE PRESSURE OFF GERRARD AND MEIRELES HAS THIS IN HIS GAME, IT DOESN’T TAKE A GENIUS TO WORK THIS OUT, SO WHY ISN’T WOY GETTING THE MESSAGE……YNWA
PLEASE TO ANY NEW PLAYERS THAT THEY WANT TO JOIN LIVERPOOL….. dont come to our team liverpool because we already underdog team with 2 american bustard and we having 1 STUPID OLD MAN AS MANAGER to spoil our team… He is spoiling the team and players…like torres, babel, gerrard… Very lucky to benayoun, Aquilani and reira because they know this is stupid manager so they run away from this stupid team….LIVERPOOL WILL BE THE NEXT NOTT FOREST or LEEDS UTD….!!!!!
We win 18 times league title..but its only ONCE OPEN A TIME…!!!
We CAN”T win it ANYMORE!!!
Im stopped watching football from now, until Liverpool change the owner and manager..!!!
Bye Bye Liverpool…
Good Bye!
Poulsen played fairly well against birmingham.his passes under pressure were good and he was marking quite good.lucas is young,has been developed since last years and might come good.but right now poulsen is better than lucas.i would play against smaller teams a 4-4-2 formation with gerrard-meireles partnership,and against difficult teams a 4-5-1 with poulsen as dmf,gerrard and meireles cmf.babel should also get chances this season.should by january we have new owners with some money to spend,i would buy a winger with pace.maxi,kuyt and jovanovic are good,but not like ashley young for example.i would also like to see maxi as center midfielder,as he plays for argentina.4-3-3=Reina-Johnson-Carragher-Agger-Konchesky-Maxi-Gerrard-Meireles-Kuyt-Torres-Joe Cole.i have faith in liverpool and think we will win something this season.4th spot plus europa league or fa cup is a very succesful season and i think it will be something like it.cauz we lost to man city and drew with arsenal and birmingham,which all of these are difficult games.tottenham have lost to wigan,aston villa 6-0 to newcastle and city have already two stupid draws.now we go to old trafford,which is also a difficult game and then at last we have 4,5 games till november which are easier.
welcome back akash, i see you,ve stopped taking your medication again!
well done rangers, that slammed slur alex’s disrespect back down his throat, you can tell when ferguson is taking his oponents lightly, he names michael owen in the squad!
Jonjo SHelvey is another name to throw into the hat for central midfield. I’d like to see him get about 15 games this year – Carling Cup and Europa League at first, and a few sub appearances in the league, and then see him push on from there.
Our manager playing 2 defensive midfielders against lesser opposition instead of opting for more attacking options. Hmmmm … has Uncle Woy been talking to Rafa?
Stavros – I’m no fan of Lucas but he’s better than Poulsen in every game they’ve played together so far…
Also, you might not have noticed but for whatever reason Maxi did seem to switch to central midfield for us against Birmingham, and he was just as pointless there as he was for Argentina in the World Cup, or when out wide for us