With all this great sense of anticipation for the future though, how does it all fit together? What tactics will Liverpool begin to employ with the departure of our main man Torres and the arrival of his replacements? You can disagree with me on this fundamental premise if you like, but I cannot see the Reds sticking with the 4-2-3-1 which was a mainstay under Rafa Benitez and now under Dalglish. It was a formation that Torres flourished in when on the top of his form but with the arrival of Carroll and Suarez, the formation seems to be less conducive for them both to fit into the starting eleven.
When Carroll and Suarez are both fit, the 4-2-3-1 formation would mean Carroll filling the lone striker position while Luis Suarez gets a spot in one of the two wide positions. I would be very uncomfortable with such a scenario as a player who is bought for £23million and is primarily a goalscorer should not be pushed out of position. He needs to play in his favoured role behind the striker. In that case some would say the 4-2-3-1 could be kept with Suarez taking up the Gerrard role behind the striker but this again has a fundamental problem. Do you play both Meireles and Gerrard in the holding midfield roles negating their attacking attributes or do you play one of them out of position to play a holding midfielder such as Lucas?
If you take the second option, the problem of width and service to Andy Carroll becomes a problem. For Carroll to excel in his role as target man, he needs quality delivery from wide areas, and wingers are essential for good service for the 22 year old. In the long term, quality, pacey wingers will be required and to get the best out of Carroll and Suarez, a 4-4-2 formation will probably be required. How this affects the positions of Steven Gerrard, Raul Meireles and Lucas Leiva, it will be interesting to find out and it will be intriguing to see how Kenny Dalglish lays out team tactically in upcoming matches. Against Stoke on Wednesday I can see them sticking with one up front as Andy Carroll is still sidelined for a few weeks with a thigh injury, but in the long term, Liverpool’s tactics will change.
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I can only assume we will play 4-4-1-1.
Reina
Kelly Carragher Agger Aurelio
Johnson Meireles Gerrard Maxi
Suarez
Carroll
In the summer we will sign a young LB and LM.
Then the next stage will be to look at developing Wilson to take Carraghers place and Shelvey to take Gerrards place.
Maybe we need to look again at Insua & Aquilani or just cash them in, either way the future is looking very bright.
the best tactic is 4-3-3
Reina
Johnson Charagher Skrtel Agger
Gerrard Meireles Cole
Suarez Carrol Kuyt/Jovanovi?
I WAS going to say I’d go 4-1-3-2, with Gerrard and Meireles running riot…
Kelly, Skrtl, Agger, Aurelio
Poulson
Johnson, Meireles Gerrard,
Suarez, Carroll
But I can’t see that working… although Gerrard cutting in from the left could be lethal…
you could also put Johnson on the left and Gerrard on the right!!!!
Tough one.. but I’m sure Kenny knows exactly what he is doing.. I(we all) have faith!!
even in a 4-2-3-1 formation, suarez can play in the hole behind carroll…
but i think we need width in our game if we are to make full use of caroll’s heading prowess, playing glen in the wings wud be very beneficial to that effect..
I can assume a 4-3-3
Reina
Kelly Carragher Agger Johnson
Gerrard Lucas Meireles
Pacheco Carroll Suarez
My team sheet for sure
4132
reina
kelly carra agger johnston
lucas
gerrard miereles maxi
suarez carrol
although hodgson flogged the 442 of ineptness to death with liverpool, in essence it can be a very fluid system that can create and control a game. however, it will depend on 2 pacey wingers being signed. against most teams in the premiership we could easily play gerrard and miereles in the middle without compromising the integrity of our defence, however, i would much prefer to get someone like diarra from rmadrid to build a foundation upon, although i can see spearing getting more game time in the makalele role, just to buy the owners enough time to put together enough funds to buy someone of quality. i think lucas may go this summer, which would be a real shame, i think he’s been quietly excellent for 2 seasons now but gerrard will be number one for at least 3 more seasons and miereles is a more than capable back up to him. lucas is being played as a holding midfielder when really he is a creator, like the two mentioned earlier, a player adept at keeping the ball moving and pushing forward into space rather than holding back and making sure the space behind the attacking half of the team isnt exploited on the break. however, earlier in the season lucas and miereles were forging quite a prtnership in the middle and i would love to see them carry this on, with gerrard being pushed out to the right and maxi on the left.. i think this would creata a fluid 442/433 combination that would bring out the best of gerrards dynamic movement and his crossing ability, suarezs vision and touch and carrolls power and hieght, with maxi/lucas/miereles all able to run into the box late and create chances.
reina
kelly carra agger johnson
lucas/poulsen
miereles/kuyt maxi/jovanovic
gerrard suarez
carroll
maybe. in kenny i trust.
Carroll is now injured so i consider this line up for tommorrow:
Reina
Kelly Skrtel Agger Johnson
Lucas Meireles
Gerrard
Kuyt Suarez Maxi
but when Carroll and Carragher are 100% ready i expect this lineup:
Reina
Kelly Carragher Agger Johnson
Lucas Meireles
Kuyt Gerrard Suarez
Carroll
Kenny will stick with 4-2-3-1 i think till summer..it’ll be a bit risky to play 4-4-2 but we can with Suarez-Carroll up front.YNWA..GREAT thanks to NESV,Kenny and Comolli for the transfers..we paid a lot for Carroll but he’ll be greeat i’m sure of it..i like his style a lot!!at summer consider Ashley Young and Charlie Adam!!
Steve spot on mate! Completely agree with you. 4-2-3-1/4-3-3 is definately the formation Kenny is planning.
Tomorrow:
Reina
Kelly skrtle agger johnson
Lucas gerrard
Kuyt meireles maxi
Suarez
Rest of season:
Reina
Kelly carra agger johnson
Lucas gerrard
Kuyt meireles suarez
Carroll
Next season potentially:
Reina
Johnson cahill?? agger contreau??
Adam?? gerrard
meireles
Young?? carroll suarez
bringing back aquilani can give liverpool the option of 4-3-1-2 with aquilani just behind suarez and carroll. With Gerrard, Meireles and Adam(or someone else with great passing capabilities). The pass and move system and playing on the wings can both be implemented. With the back 4 of Johnson, Agger, Skrtel, Coentrao, we will have to pacey players running from the back and Meireles and Adam covering for them. Gerrard and Aquilani as a support to the strikers. We need to bring in one more striker, just for the sake of having 4 capable strikers.(Man U 1999 any1??). With Lucas,Wilson,Ayala,Pacheco,Suso,Conor,Kelly,Amoo,Eccleston,Spearing,Shelvey,Flanagan,Sterling,Hansen,Gulacsi etc… We have a team for the future.. And not forgetting Carragher,Jovanovic,Cole,Aurelio,Kuyt etc as backup..