After Liverpool midfielder Raul Meireles’s goal scoring exploits in January and February, there was justifiable praise for the Portuguese international’s performances. He scored some important goals in the Merseyside Derby against Everton as well as the winning goal against Chelsea away from home. After not scoring at all since his arrival from Porto in the summer, his goal against our Merseyside rivals was a start of a hot streak in front of goal which got many praising his contribution to the team.
Since then however, many Reds fans have noticed that the Portuguese star has gone off the boil slightly. Considering Meireles has never been a prolific goalscorer in his career, he was never going to become a 15 goal a season man overnight despite his good form in front of goal, but it has led some to ask what else does he contribute to the team other than goals?
I have heard suggestions that as he doesn’t tackle as well as the best defensive midfielders, or pass as well as Xabi Alonso used tp, he might not be as useful as some have stated over the past couple of months. I disagree with this assessment though as Raul has one fantastic attribute which will hold him in good stead for his entire Anfield career: his ability to make forward runs.
You may say, well doesn’t every midfielder make forward runs? Well, no. Although there are many midfielders who like distributing the ball from deep with their passing range, or to run at opposition defenders with the ball, the ability to make a perfectly timed run from deep to carve open an opposition defence is a fine art, and Raul just has that knack. He will never control the midfield area with his passing range or go in with crunching tackles but he will always be a threat around the opposition penalty box.
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Useful one-two passes, runs late into the box, venomous long range shots; he is in many ways similar to Steven Gerrard and it has caused a problem all season in my opinion as to where to play the pair. It hasn’t always been a problem this campaign as both have had injuries but when both are fit, Dalglish has tended to play Gerrard deeper while Meireles has played more advanced. Of course, this is when both players have played centrally as Meireles has invariably been moved wide right, and even wide left against Sunderland to ensure the midfield has enough midfield bite.
Especially with the return to fitness of both Suarez and Carroll, the temptation will be to play them as a pairing, leaving one less place in midfield. Against Sunderland, Meireles was moved wide left so he could be accommodated into a 4 man midfield, but he was noticeably less effective. The question in the long run will certainly be how to fit Gerrard, Suarez, Carroll and Meireles into the team without sacrificing their best attributes. The problem may become especially apparent if, as expected, Kenny Dalglish looks for wingers in the summer
I am big fan of Meireles and believe he will only get better with every game as he slowly adapts to the Premier League in his first year. We may begin to see the best of him next season, but the question remains that if he doesn’t play in the position that bests suits him, as an attacking central midfielder, will we actually see him at his best?
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thats a good one i was very mad sunday at meireles because sunderland players wear just passing by him and he dont even make a takle and every time he get the ball he lose it just like again braga he have a very porr game i dont know what happenes him the last few games i hope he come back to his old form because he is a good player
I think your conclusion is in reverse. Gerrard made his name as one of the best well-rounded goal scoring midfielders of the deacade playing as free range attacking midfielder (with Xabi Alonso and Masch(/Sissoko/Hamman) supporting. Meireles made his came as a central midfielder. To me Gerrard should be employed closer to Caroll and Suarez with Meireles further back.
Meireles can’t tackle. With the state of our defence at the moment, we can’t afford to leave Meireles in a supporting attack role, were we rely on him for defensive duties. We either use him solely as an attacking option, or don’t use him.
Meireles shouldn’t be playing wide, hes more of a threat in the middle either off the front 1 or 2 striker(s) or back in centre midfield.
Now Carroll’s fit he should be played alongside SUarez up front with Kuyt and Maxi the wide men, or what id love to see Johnson on right wing and Kelly when fit behind himas right fullback, but then that leaves left fullback???????
Even when he was scoring I wasn’t buying into the hype, while most of you were there singing from the rooftops how he (and Lucas) needs to send Gerrard into retirement!
Tbh, although he is a good player, I prefer my central midfielders to have more of an impact on the entire game than just on the edge of the box, so I’d rather have Aquilani or Adam in my team as the “ball movers”, Diego as a playmaker, Sissoko or M’villa as the ballwinners, or Gerrard as a box to box, goalscoring, versatile type.
Meireles is a good option to have in central midfield but he is by no means a lock for a starting berth in a top team
What I’d suggest is to play 4-3-3 when both Gerrard and Meireles are fit. With Lucas protecting the defence, both Gerrard and Meireles will be able to play with more freedom, making forward runs and tracking back when needed. Playing 4-3-3 would mean that Suarez would be pushed out wide which may not be his natural position but as I’ve stated in previous posts, Suarez, like David Villa, is a very versatile attacker capable of playing anywhere along the attacking line. He has been part of a 3 man attack (with great effect) while playing for both Uruguay and Ajax. Take for his instance his assists against West Ham and Man Utd., he started his moves at the edge of the penalty box moving in from a wide position. Even his goal against Sunderland was scored moving in from a wide position. Getting a winger forward like Podolski, Gervinho or Sanchez on the other wing will complete the formation leaving us with 5 dedicated attackers, without counting the attacking runs of our full backs. All this would however result in Dirk Kuyt becoming a squad player.
Very well said and I couldn’t agree more, something along the lines of 4-1-4-1 or 4-2-3-1 with Mereiles and Gerrard taking in in turns to defend or make forward runs. A good pacy, dribbling winger to swap left and right with Suarez to challenge Dirk would be perfect.
Agree with Pedro..Suarez is a player capable playing anywhere on the field.he’s played at the wings,behind the striker,center forward,with another forward.he’s an all-around striker and play anywhere in attack.bringing another wide striker like gervinho,podolski,hulk will make this formation:
Reina
Johnson Carragher Agger Baines
Adam
Gerrard Meireles
Hulk Carroll Suarez
It’s an attacking way of football but it can unlock easily tight defences like Stoke,Wigan,Sunderland,..etc.against teams like chelsea,man united,arsenal it’s better recommended to play something like this:
Reina
Johnson Carragher Agger Baines
Meireles Adam
Hulk Gerrard Suarez
Carroll
that’s a 4-2-3-1 while the 1st was a 4-3-3..Kenny will decide come summer(if he obviously gets the job permanently) and then we’ll see what he’s thinking..YNWA
I would suggest a sort of 4-1-2-3 formation with both Gerrard and Meireles in centre midfield with Lucas covering them. This would allow the pair to play more freely and support the strikers as well as providing enough bodies in centre midfield to cover the defence. Playing either Gerrard or Meireles out wide would be a complete waste of their abilities as a central attacking midfielder. In contrast, we’ve seen that Suarez is quite effective on the left, cutting in shooting and creating goalscoring opportunities. This would mean that we have Lucas covering midfield and Gerrard and Meireles in front of him, Suarez as a left striker, Kuyt on the right of a three man attack and Carroll as a target man. You would ask who would provide crosses to Carroll but at the moment, we have no natural winger who can do the job effectively so if we were to adopt a more direct approach, Kuyt will have to whip in more crosses while the full backs like Johnson, Kelly and Aurelio will have to help out. So this is my preferred team for the rest of the season:
Reina
Kelly Skrtel Agger Johnson
Lucas
Meireles Gerrard
Kuyt Carroll Suarez
How do you expect Johnson to whip in crosses from left back? And when has Kuyt ever shown the ability to whip in crosses at all? Liverpool need to get Kuyt out of the team asap if we are to be an elite team again
Just saying that this is the best team we can put out since we have no out-and-out wingers who can cross the ball. It’s not like you’re going to rely on Maxi or Cole to get crosses in. Johnson is played at left back cause Aurelio is always injured but obviously if Aurelio is fit we can have Johnson back on the right and Aurelio on the left which would be better in terms of getting balls into the box. Another option would be to play Jovanovic on the left and Suarez on the right and drop Kuyt since the guy at least has a decent left foot, some pace and can cross the ball but this seems unlikely to happen since Kenny will not drop Kuyt and field a player he has no faith in.
How about the hat-trick againts MU.And how about his loyality when he got an offer from Inter when Liverpool in bad condition.He make a decision to stay in the club.He not a natural winger but he is a hardworking player hard-working player.Please think about it.
How about the hat-trick vs MU.And how about his loyal when he got an offer from Inter when Liverpool in bad condition.He make a decision to stay in the club.He not a natural winger but he is a hardworking player hard-working player.Please think about it.
The hat trick is evidence of Kuyt’s ability to whip a cross in? There are plenty of hardworking players that would love the opportunity to play for Liverpool – that doesn’t mean that they deserve that opportunity.
Kuyt’s been given more than enough by Liverpool; I for one was hopeful that he would pi55 off to join Rafa at Inter and was deeply disappointed that that transfer didn’t go through
3-5-2
kelly, carra, agger
lucas
g.johnson, gerrard, meireles, nzogbia
carroll, suarez
Raul is quality. Seems to be far more effective sitting behind the forwards than simply in the centre and certainly not on the wing.Gerrard can drop back a little because for me now will have more if an impact from a deeper position as he cant bomb up and down the pitch forever.Lucas has to go out the team and bring a masch style destroyer to protect the back 4 (with skrtel around they need protecting)Need width width width if we are going to start challenging again at the top 4 positions.Xabi prieto been sounded out a for the right price is a good shout but could be the next Riera