AS the seasons roll on, the game has become more and more dynamic, with full-backs becoming increasingly adept in midfield who in turn need to be able to multi-task as ball playing defenders.
Youth development has put a strong focus on the all-round footballer, just as comfortable spraying a pass as he is breaking up play, while slotting into surrounding positions giving the team a more fluid feel.
This brings me to the forward positions where Andy Carroll is the only number 9 at the club in the truest sense of the word. It has become clear that he can leave if the price is right. So where are the potential replacements to lead the line once Brendan Rodgers wish is finally granted? You would need to be trawling the most desperate of rags to find such a rumour. Mobility is what he is looking for, a “false number 9” as it were. Barcelona are the modern prototype since they discarded of the sulky totem Zlatan Ibrahimovic with the likes of Messi, Pedro and Villa flitting in and out of the central position, tying the opposition defence up in knots in the process.
Borini won’t sit on the last defender all game, at his former club his team-mates gave him the monikers of “NASCAR” and “Taz” after the hyperactive character from the kids show Tazmanian Devil! He told Four Four Two magazine that these were predictably because of his aptitude on the pitch. His penchant and appetite for perpetual motion should marry well with Luis Suarez’ constant forays all over the final third.
With the signing of Heerenveen winger Oussama Assaidi, it is apparent that Rodgers is looking at reinforcing the wide positions, with adaptable, hungry, relatively young players with something to prove. It is not always necessary to have a solitary outlet tying up the defenders, when you have mobile assets buzzing about the pitch. With 20 goals in 68 appearances for the Dutch club, we may have someone who can contribute as a goalscorer, after letting Maxi Rodriguez and Dirk Kuyt go, this was a box which needed to be ticked.
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The courting of Real Madrid’s forgotten man Nuri Sahin and Barcelona’s Cristian Tello signalled our Northern Irish gaffer’s intent to pack the side with creative, hard working recruits, who are most importantly comfortable in possession and capable to fit around his way of thinking, capable of playing in midfield or defence, he has the ability to find a run from deep, which is vital in a team where movement is key to a set up high on ball retention.
Playing with a false 9 also increases the responsibility on the team as a whole rather than investing time, money and faith in one or two to stick the ball in the net. This has been our problem since Fernando Torres’ departure; a reliance on a solitary figure to capitalise on chances has proved detrimental, in particular last season when chance after chance was spurned and the lion share of the blame lay on a half-fit Andy Carroll, who’s confidence was shot to pieces for most of the year.
So is this the way forward? Or do we need an outlet to hold things up on the last defenders toes? Can possession football outweigh the need for a target man?
As always your comments are welcome.
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I f assaidi turns out to be another Downing – we are going down next year – but hopefully he will be everything Downing is not – how can England play him ?? If they do they will get battered by Spain etc
I mere mention of Downing makes my blood boil. We must never forget the 2 clowns who paid 20 mill for a player that offers us 0 assist and 0 goals.
Didn’t Dempsey lead Fulham’s scoring and outscore most of LFC combined as a false number nine last season?
Yea we need a classic CF but Carroll is rubbish. His touch is terrible and passing as bad. Unless we spend all day crossing it I find it hard to see how he can succeed. People bang on about how he finished last year strongly, rubbish, he just was as atrocious as the rest of the season.
We need a CF with a great touch who can score but also put others in. Who? I really don’t know because I don’t know what money we have. I never really liked demba ba but at least he knows where the goal is.
I feel sorry for Rodgers given he’s inherited some rank players who just need to go – Cole, Spearing, Adam, Carroll and Henderson to a degree but he’s only played 1 season, so deserves longer.
First of all lfc should stop buying epl players,we r overpaying ..i wonder if we bought jelavic ,arda turan and michu in the first place but we turned down these moves and bought clap.roystone drenthe is another powerful midfielder and a free agent who can help as cause gerrard is getting older , we must buy a spanish or german type of striker to pair up with suarez and borini,dries mertens is a good option in the wings or jesus navas but we stick on expensive flops
A half decent CF could score 20-30 goals for us based on the chances we created last year, but we need someone to assist him, preferably NOT Downing (you can count his assists on one finger). Borini is young and Suarez is’nt a out and out CF, so yes we need someone to lead up front, not sure Carroll has the quality needed for the job ,but better hurry before we’re out of it by november.
Of course we need a classic centre forward. But, not Andy Carroll. There is a fundamental difference between a stallion & a donkey. Barca plays tiki-taka, with so many options, but Lieonel Messi is CF, so is Ibra, Benzama, El Nino, RVP & Cavani while Carroll is not.
A CF needs 5 fundamental qualities – speed so that he can beat the marker in chase or force him to a professional foul, acceleration over a short distance so that he can beat the off-side trap, silky first touch so that he can go to a shooting position in his second touch, quick on heel to that he can turn sharply & wrong foot the marker & 3 way precision shooting skill (both feet & head). On top of that, dribbling & position skill for tap ins, body strength to hold on to the ball & stamina.
Carroll is a garbage & had biased KD not got that idiot Yanky money, Carroll would have been available at best for 20mn, @ 60K/week in June ’11. One year down the line he has depreciated to 12mn & by the end of his contract, he ‘ll go to Championship.
I’d say the only thing Carroll has from your list is strength but he is otherwise plodding and ungainly. He had better buy himself a good book as he’ll need something to occupy his time while warming the bench. An expensive and poorly thought out panic buy.
PLS WE REALLY NEED A CENTRAL FORDWARDER A FINISHER.SO DAT SUAREZ CAN OPERATE AS WINGER LIKEWISE IS USE TO AS AJAX. PLS RODGER,