The most notable difference between the match against Manchester United on Sunday and Roy Hodgson’s last match against Blackburn Rovers a week before was the change in formation. After starting off the season with a familiar 4-5-1 formation, utilised by his predecessor, Roy Hodgson reverted to type by going back to 4-4-2 against Manchester City away and never really changed back to having just one up front. Definitely, this was in part to accommodate Steven Gerrard in central midfield rather than in behind the striker, and partly due to Roy’s own preference for the formation.
The facts were however, that Liverpool didn’t have the players to make the change of formation a success. Against Manchester City, Roy opted to play forwards out in the wide areas, because he had a lack of wingers in the squad. The belief at the time was that the change of formation of 4-4-2 was because of the absence of Javier Mascherano from the team, but it became apparent in later months that Roy was more than happy to play the formation despite the lack of natural width in the squad. To this end Raul Meireles found himself out of position wide right, to accommodate the inclusion of Gerrard alongside Lucas in the middle, and Maxi Rodriguez managed to dislodge a poor Joe Cole on the left hand side.
Roy invariably played 4-4-2 both away and at home, partnering Fernando Torres more often than not with David Ngog. On the face of it, this should be more attacking than Rafa Benitez’s 4-2-3-1/4-5-1/4-3-3 formation but it plainly became apparent that the players were just not suited to playing the formation. Despite playing the formation both at home against Wolves and away at Blackburn Rovers, the Reds looked inept going forward and equally fragile at the back, with Roy’s reputation for strict organisation in tatters.
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Dalglish needs to make some radical changes in his lineup. Ideally the team as follows. Goalie: Reina. Rightback: Kelly, Centrebacks: Skyrtel and Wilson, Leftback: Aurelio. Rightwing: Johnson, Central Midfield: Lucas and Kuyt, Leftwing: Agger.
Centreforward: Torres with Shelvey in the hole.
Thank god you are not Liverpools new manager!
i’m sorry u dnt know anytin abt football.hw will u use Agger in leftwing?wat happen to maxi nd babel.tank God u are nt liverpool new manager.
i think our line up will look like this:
Reina
Kelly Skrtel Agger Aurelio
Kuyt Lucas Meireles Maxi
J.Cole/Babel Torres
My friends and have said for months that Johnson should be on the right wing! Agger needs to stay in defence though.. Wilson is not ready.
Kuyt is not good enough for the middle. Maybe Meireles next to lucas with Cole in the hole.. although I just don’t think he’s good enough either…
I like Jovanovic… think he could play left wing or hole too or up front next to Torres…
My team would be:
Kelly, Skrtel, Agger, Aurelio
johnson, lucas, meireles, jovanovic(/babel)
cole(/babel)
Torres
Shelvey, Wilson, Kuyt on the bench
He doesn’t need to do anything radical to get the best out of the team, or to get more players playing in roles suited to their abilities in the absence of Gerrard.
Just drop the link man a bit deeper into a central midfield triumvirate, and push the wide men forwards to form an attacking trio with Torres. And get Kuyt, Maxi & Skrtel out of the team for younger, quicker players!
Reina
Johnson-Kelly-Agger-Aurelio
Meireles-Lucas-Cole
Babel-Torres-Jovanovich
(Subs: Gulacsi, Wilson, Skrtel, Poulsen, Pacheco, Kuyt, N’gog)
Lucas and Cole have no pace, putting Jovanovich and Babel in a 4-3-3 would leave your fullbacks totally exposed to attack by the opposition. Meireles cannot handle the physicality of the Premiership and he still has not scored yet or do fans think Liverpool can afford yet another player who does not score any goals. Playing 4-3-3 will bunch all the front six into the middle of the pitch and make it difficult to create chances. Agger and Johnson are very good offensively and it is ridiculous not to use them in midfield. We need to start blooding young players for the remainder of the season like Shelvey and Wilson instead of playing hasbeens like Cole. Wilson has played Champions League football so to say he is not ready for the Premier League is ridiculous, playing him in the reserves is a backward step. Babel has had enough chances. Jovanovich is not a leftwinger. Kuyt is an average player, the logical thing is to put him in central midfield as he spends most of every game pushed infield.
@ Kenny,
I agree with you that we need to start bringing the younger players through this season while there is little pressure to deliver results, but I disagree with you on a number of points
– playing Kelly AND Wilson together in the middle is a step too far for me (even with the season already being a write off) and wouldn’t be good for the team or for the individuals either. One youngster + one experienced player is the way to develop partnerships, not to just chuck them in at the deep end and watch them lose confidence as they sink
– The myth about Jovanovich and Babel being defensive liabilities on the wings is just that – a myth. Their pace would allow them to press the ball more cover ground across the pitch a lot more effectively than Kuyt or Maxi. I saw Evra and Rafeal reach the byline a lot more in one game against Kuyt and Maxi, than our two WINGERS have managed in an entire month! Obviously they are not a deterrent to opposition full backs pushing on at all, and at least the pace of Babel and Jovanovich would force the oppostion defenders to actually think about having to defend
– you need MORE energy and athleticism to be succesful in a two man central midfield than with three men being deployed there. The point of sticking all three together is to cover up the individual deficiencies and allow the midfield to outnumber the opposition through the middle.
– Jovanovich actually IS a left wing forward (which is what he’d be in a 433, where he plays for his country and where he played to good effect in Belgium – fwiw he also has the attributes to be a better winger than Maxi, Kuyt Meireles or Cole anyway…)
– Agger and Johnson are defenders and should remain as such
– I agree that Kuyt would be a much better ball winning central midfielder than winger or striker, (like old school Sissoko or Fletcher at Man U) but he is ageing and has a decent reputation still so could generate funds to get in somebody bigger, younger and better 🙂
Hodgson is very stupid to play 4-4-2. It’s clear that our players are more suited to play 4-5-1/4-2-3-1/4-3-3. The players are much more comfortable playing in the formations I mentioned and they are just not used to playing with 2 strikers. Ngog is a young player with potential but he offers very little up front. The best is to play Torres up front alone with Joe Cole behind him (since Gerrard is suspended) and Lucas and Meireles in central midfield. Both Maxi and Kuyt have no pace so only one of them should be played. In this case, Kuyt should be played on the right with a pacy player on the left (Jovanovich or Babel). Or, Johnson can play right wing and Martin Kelly comes in at right back. Whatever the case Kenny should not play 4-4-2, especially when we have no top draw striker to partner Torres and no real out-and-out winger. I expect Liverpool to play with Torres up front and one attacking midfielder/second striker.
My team for Blackpool is:
Reina
Kelly Skrtel Agger Aurelio
Johnson Meireles Lucas Babel
Cole
Torres
Bench: Gulacsi, Soto, Shelvey, Maxi, Kuyt, Jovanovich, Ngog
okay i might put in a ridiculous proposition. what about el-zhar. not great, but honestly we havnt seen much of him. he has quick feet decent control, plus how much harm can he do to may be use him as a 20-30 min sub for a few games and see how he fares in a 1-vs-1 against defenders. if he can get past defenders i wont mind giving him a chance.
In my post I said Kelly at rightback,I said Skyrtel and Wilson at centreback. The Belgian League is a poor league. Jovanovich has struggled constantly on the left side of the pitch, the only impact he had was on the rightside cutting in, this narrows the play too much. Babel is overweight, has a dreadful first touch and is not a team player. Agger is one of the few we have with playmaking ability and a fierce shot but yet he is stuck 90 yards away from the opposing goal at centreback. Johnson has had a significant role in the numerous defeats incurred in the last 2 seasons, he is targetted in every game because of the gaps he leaves. He is however one of the few players with pace we have and is a proven attacking threat in and around the opposition box. Shelvey is bigger, stronger, faster and 10 years younger than Joe Cole. The definition of the player in the hole is that he moves back and forth between the forwardline and midfield depending on the ebb and flow of the game. Impetous though Shelvey might be he, Kelly and Wilson deserve a chance to establish themselves in the remaining Premiership games, rather than going backwards playing in the training sessions paced games that the RESERVES play in. Some good can still be salvaged from this season by getting these 3 players established in the first eleven, this would be a huge motivation for the many other promising young players at the club. Wilson has played Champions League football. Persisting with the same failures that have the club only 4 points above the bottom three makes no sense. This continual one dimensional play centred around Torres is too easy for the opposition to deal with, Agger and Johnson have proven they can score goals, it would be wasteful not to try them in midfield. Tottenham would not have made the Champions League without Redknapp being forced to push Bale forward to the leftwing.