For me the balance between the direct and short passing is crucial to how successful Liverpool will be in the future. With Carroll in the side, the Reds have a fantastic weapon which will definitely be beneficial for the team in future in tight matches. It is a weapon that needs to be used wisely however, and shouldn’t be overused which could sacrifice the pass and move philosophy which is crucial to how the best Liverpool teams have played in the past. Currently the lack of decent width means our crossing abilities cannot always be up to the standard to use Carroll effectively. It will be a situation that will need to be addressed in the summer.
Until then though, with Luis Suarez looking very promising, it is a great opportunity to find a good balance between short and direct passing. If we go too direct, we may not get the best out of Suarez, while if we consistently play it short, we will definitely not get the best out of Carroll. As a pairing Carroll and Suarez could be deadly, and they could easily be each other’s supplier of goals. With Suarez dropping deep and onto the flanks to provide space for Carroll in the middle, the Uruguayan can also provide crosses for Carroll to get his strikes in on goal. Carroll can also be the ideal chance creator for Suarez too. In the mould of Toshack & Keegan, Carroll has the ability to both hold up the ball and provide the knock downs from crosses which Suarez can take full advantage of.
With the talents of Carroll and Suarez, the possibilities are endless but with the absence of the Uruguayan tomorrow night, it is essential that we just don’t focus on delivering balls to Carroll’s head. He may win his fair share and cause havoc, but for a convincing win against Braga, a variety of approaches will be needed and hopefully we will see a well rounded performance by Liverpool at Anfield on Thursday.
Follow us on twitter @live4Liverpool or like us on Facebook
Live4Liverpool is recruiting columnists. For further info contact the site editor at live4liverpool@snack-media.com
INTRODUCING THE WINDOWS PHONE 7!
This week it is former LFC WAG Jennifer Metcalfe!
————–
CLICK ON THE IMAGE OR HERE TO GET TO THE GALLERY
–
John Aldridge is right. There’s no point hoofing the ball up to Andy Carroll even if he manages to win all headers cause that itself doesn’t cause a threat. What’s needed are crosses from wide areas to Carroll who can attack the goal directly from his headers so wingers are what we need to get crosses in. Defenders just cannot physically deal with Andy Carroll and even more so in Europe where defenders are just not used to defending long balls and crosses. Liverpool tomorrow should play with more width (unlike in the first leg where four central midfielders were played) to get in crosses to Carroll. SC Braga are rubbish and are inferior to Liverpool and we should beat them easily. With the absence of Suarez and Gerrard, Liverpool should focus more on crosses and getting the ball to Carroll directly as the guy will destroy their defenders. Forget about substandard players like Spearing and Poulsen and start Carroll right from the start cause Kuyt up front alone is not enough. This is the starting XI that Kenny should field:
Reina
Carragher Skrtel Agger Johnson
Maxi Lucas Meireles Cole
Kuyt
Carroll
Eric: who exactly is going to put in the crosses in your lineup?
lol exactly @ Kenny! That lineup looks dire, and doesn’t even have the benefit of looking like it’s experimenting with anything that could help the club out down the line!
My lineup would be:
Reina
Johnson-Kyrgiakos-Carragher-Wilson
Cole-Lucas-Meireles
Pacheco-Carroll-Jovanovich
(Jones/Agger/Skrtel/Coady/Suso/Kuyt/N’gog)
I wouldn’t risk Agger from the start just yet, nor would I waste any more time with Carroll on the bench.
Johnson is the only player that gets up and down the line in our squad (aside from Kelly) so I’d stop stunting his attacks by putting him back on the right, encouraging him to hit the byline and whip in as many crosses as he can.
I don’t like Wilson as left back but we don’t have much experienced options at full back, so I’d just give him the opportunity to grow in the role. Jovanovich is quicker than Kuyt or Maxi, and has a decent enough left foot, so I’d put him ahead of Wilson on the left of the front three and hope that he could provide a little width in our attack on the opposite side of the pitch to Johnson.
On the other side of Carroll, Pacheco should finally getting his chance in the free narrow role that Maxi and Kuyt have underwhelmed in so consistently.
Finally, Cole should get a chance to play in a deeper role through the middle, with the hope that he could inject a bit of creativity that he has failed to do when played further upfield. Rather that than sticking Spearing or Poulsen in there alongside Lucas and Meireles in a game which we need to score a couple of goals…
Kenny Dalglish clearly does not have faith in Jovanovic. He has hardly played under Dalglish and the guy wasn’t even included in the squad to Portugal last week so I wouldn’t expect him to be included in the starting XI. Similarly for Pacheco he has not played under Dalglish so I wouldn’t be surprised at all if he’s left to warm the bench for the whole game again.
In defence, I am quite sure the manager will stick with Skrtel no matter how you much you dislike him. However, you could be right about Agger but I still expect him to start alongside Skrtel at the back with Carragher moving to the right and Johnson on the left. Wilson at left back is a disaster by the way.
I am quite certain that for this game Kenny Dalglish will not take the risk to play youngsters such as Wilson and Pacheco right from the start. There’s also no way Kuyt will be dropped to the bench for this game so I think it’s quite likely that both Kuyt and Maxi will be starting.
I’m not predicting the way that I expect us to line-up (which will probably end up being closer to that uninspiring lineup listed by Eric for whatever reason); I am saying the way that I’d prefer to see us line up and why.
There is no attacking game to speak of from Carragher, whether he plays on the right or left, which is why I would put Johnson back on the right and Carragher at left back if worst comes to worst.
I also see Skrtel, Maxi and Kuyt as just as much of a risk as playing Wilson, Pacheco and Jovanovich. Whereas the quality of the latter names is still relatively ‘unknown’, the former names have proven to be consistently mediocre and as far as I’m concerned, the sooner they are dumped from first team duties, the better!
some good selections but i think young flanagan could solve a problem there on the wing if kenny was bold enough to give him a chance