TOMKINS - Rafa's new Assistant

[Rashid]

I have highlighted my comments. Not too bad by his bum licking standards.

TOMKINS: RAFA GOING DUTCH?
Paul Tomkins 03 March 2008

A few questions from the victory at Bolton: Has Rafa Benítez found a winning formation? Why do linesmen make so many bad calls for the Reds at the Reebok? And who takes plastic bags to games on windy days just to release them onto the pitch?

The formation - 4-2-3-1, or 4-2-1-3 depending on how you look at it - is one that appears to suit the personnel at the manager's disposal, and is also one that both Ryan Babel and Dirk Kuyt are very familiar with, with the pair having regularly been deployed either side of a main striker for the Dutch national team.

It also appears nearer to what Benítez deployed at Valencia, but which he struggled to mimic at Liverpool with the players at his disposal. Maybe that's now changing. (This is absolute rubbish, he used a 4-4-1-1 at Valencia with a number 10, not 3 CM's and two inside forwards)

I keep hearing that Kuyt is not a natural wide player, but it's not only where he has played for Holland but also where he started out at Utrecht. Rather than a winger with silky skills (Babel is doing that role nicely on the other flank), he is a wide attacker. (Kuyt isn't a wide anything and has currently lost his place in the Dutch squad)

He has the energy and intelligence to make a nuisance of himself in dangerous areas, and with two goals and an assist via the post in his last four games, he has shown he can get into the box as much as when playing as the second striker. His wide work is tidy and terrier-like at worst, but at best he can put balls into the box with the knowledge of the way a striker likes to receive them. (Forgive me but I prefer quality over the nuiscance factor)

There's no doubt that the area the Reds are strongest in the centre of midfield. Despite what some people seem to think, Steven Gerrard, like all of the major players, has always played nearly every game possible under Benítez. With his recent deployment in advance of two other central midfielders, he can play a free role without ever looking stranded up there, as he can if playing ahead of two midfielders in a 4-4-1-1.

The downside of Gerrard starting games as the second-most advanced player, as seen in Athens, is that he can end up playing with his back to goal, where he's less effective. The current formation seems to get the best out of him: he can burst forward with his energy and drive in support of Torres, Kuyt and Babel as part of a powerful quartet capable of sharing 70 goals a season (they already have 55). Add Benayoun, who could replace either Kuyt or Babel, and you have 65 goals between the five of them.

But the system also means two out of Alonso, Mascherano and Lucas can feature; in a flat 4-4-2, where Gerrard's role is more traditional, two of those other three central midfielders have to miss out. Lucas was rightly rested at the Reebok, having looked tired last week, but he has adapted well for a young overseas player thrown into the cut-and-thrust of a Premiership midfield. There's a lot more left to come from the young Brazilian, and next year, as with Babel, we should see a player more acclimatised.

Liverpool's form in the main two competitions (therefore excluding Barnsley) has been excellent in the last five games, with three goals scored in wins against Sunderland, Middlesbrough and most recently Bolton (never an easy place to go), a 0-0 draw at Stamford Bridge when the better team, and the famous 2-0 defeat of Inter Milan. Chances are being put away at last.

If anything, it is the defending that has been uncharacteristic of a Benítez team at times, with a few sloppy goals conceded lately. Perhaps this is down to the changes in the back line: Arbeloa, Finnan and Aurelio have been in and out due to several niggling injuries, whilst Agger's six-month absence has seen him missed as both a destructive and constructive force.

Meanwhile, another new defender has been introduced in the shape of Martin Skrtel, and while he's been excellent on an individual basis after a shaky first game, it takes time for the defence to gel as a unit. The same applies with marking set-pieces, where the zonal system relies on understanding and, like any other factor in football, relies on confidence.

But as with the form at Anfield which has taken a dip this term, we know the defending can, and almost certainly will, be better in the future.

There's much to play for until May, but also, looking beyond that, I can sense Liverpool improving radically next term. The new players Benítez added this summer are approaching 50 goals, and each can still improve. (You surprise me Paul)

In 2006-07 United surprised people by improving dramatically to win the league without changing a lot of elements from the previous season, while this year, even more surprisingly, Arsenal are leading the way, again after only only adding one new player to the regular starting line-up (Sagna). It is largely down to existing young players, like Adebayor, Hleb and Fabregas, suddenly going up a level or two. (But nothing to do with the new boys Gallas and Sagna adding steel to their defence?)

I think winning the league in 2009 will be a tall order for the Reds, but now some key new players have bedded in at Anfield I'd expect a more cohesive challenge next term. A number of new first-team players have been signed in the last 12/13 months –– I make it eight who have featured very heavily. But in most positions you can now see that Rafa finally has the players he wants.

Unlike the top three, whose squads were closer to completion by 2005-2006, this is still a relatively new project. I cannot stress this enough. Yep my four old car is advertised in the papers as new I hope they don't notice.

When building towards success you have to wait for the elements to align –– for the new players to adapt to the league and to the tactics, and to gel with the existing players; for the existing key players to be sharp and on form; for confidence to be high; and for there to be no major injuries to those few irreplaceable players. There is no magic formula to make the fates align.

And you need luck at the right times, both in games and in the season as a whole. After dreadful luck at the Reebok in recent visits –– Luis Garcia's wrongly disallowed goal for offside in 2004/05 and Pepe Reina's ludicrous penalisation for handling outside his area last season –– the Reds got a lucky break with Jaaskelainen's own goal. By the time the bad officiating hit again –– a corner awarded against Kuyt when the ball was nowhere near out, which soon led to a goal –– it was too late in the game to derail Rafa's men.

When Benítez first arrived, the squad needed rebuilding but he couldn't afford to go for the real top-end players everyone was after, as they were too expensive. Nor could he rely on hugely promising youngsters who were not yet ready (players of the ilk of Theo Walcott), because you have to wait two or three years for these to mature and a new manager needs to get up and running quickly.

But it's now that the squad really has the look of a project nearing completion. There are still one or two positions where improvements can be made, and a club like Liverpool has to consistently be on the lookout for top talent, but Reina, Torres, Mascherano, Agger, Babel, Lucas, Arbeloa and now Skrtel fit the profile of young, dedicated players with technical ability, a winning mentality and a real turn of speed.

Until last summer, Rafa had been getting in lots of cheap and medium-priced players (£2m-£6m), keeping and polishing the gems like Agger, Arbeloa, Crouch and Reina and offloading good players like Bellamy and Sissoko who made contributions but didn't offer absolutely everything he wanted. Sensible buying meant profits could be made on those being offloaded, allowing Rafa to reinvest in better players, as seen with the trading up from Sissoko to Mascherano. This is a gradual process; improving bit by bit, year on year.

It made more sense in those first three years than blowing the budget on a couple of big names, because were they to fail to adapt, like Shevchenko or Veron and countless other star names, or were they to get seriously injured, he would have been left with the same fairly weak squad he inherited and little room for manoeuvre.

But I'd expect a slower turnover of players from now on, because it's getting closer to a situation where the team will 'settle' and naturally improve, as seen with Manchester United and Arsenal recently.

And in the next two years, you can expect to see some graduates from the successful youth and reserve sides, such as Insua, Nemeth, San Jose, Anderson, Hobbs, Spearing, Pacheco and Plessis –– who are already wise to the tactics and settled at the club –– pushing for places; but being introduced gradually and naturally, rather than thrust in because the team is struggling. The success of the Reds' youth and reserve sides since 2005-06 shows the strength of the club as a whole, but it's now about waiting for the very best talent to be ready to make the step up.

Benítez has had some criticism for not previously playing Babel enough (now the Dutchman is finding his feet), but if you look at how Arsene Wenger eased in Eduardo before his broken leg, you can see a very similar pattern: using the player in Europe more than the Premiership initially, but then increasing the league minutes. Now Babel is looking an integral part of the team.

Hopefully the current form is indicative of the way the team is heading. The Reds are proving harder than ever to beat this season, are generally scoring more goals, and the away form is title-winning class. A return to the fortress Anfield had become between 2004 and 2007, and more consistently killing games off when totally dominant (to avoid those frustrating draws), and suddenly, without an awful lot needing to be altered, a big improvement could be seen.

[Thants]

.

[Ulysses Everett McGill]

Originally Posted by Rashid

I have highlighted my comments. Not too bad by his bum licking standards.

Why slag the lad off, whats the point, he's not here to defend himself is he?

[wiiksie]

Here is a version of Paul's article that isn't covered in dribble:

Originally Posted by Paul Tomkins via Offal

A few questions from the victory at Bolton: Has Rafa Benítez found a winning formation? Why do linesmen make so many bad calls for the Reds at the Reebok? And who takes plastic bags to games on windy days just to release them onto the pitch?
paul tomkins

The formation - 4-2-3-1, or 4-2-1-3 depending on how you look at it - is one that appears to suit the personnel at the manager's disposal, and is also one that both Ryan Babel and Dirk Kuyt are very familiar with, with the pair having regularly been deployed either side of a main striker for the Dutch national team.

It also appears nearer to what Benítez deployed at Valencia, but which he struggled to mimic at Liverpool with the players at his disposal. Maybe that's now changing.

I keep hearing that Kuyt is not a natural wide player, but it's not only where he has played for Holland but also where he started out at Utrecht. Rather than a winger with silky skills (Babel is doing that role nicely on the other flank), he is a wide attacker.

He has the energy and intelligence to make a nuisance of himself in dangerous areas, and with two goals and an assist via the post in his last four games, he has shown he can get into the box as much as when playing as the second striker. His wide work is tidy and terrier-like at worst, but at best he can put balls into the box with the knowledge of the way a striker likes to receive them.

There's no doubt that the area the Reds are strongest in the centre of midfield. Despite what some people seem to think, Steven Gerrard, like all of the major players, has always played nearly every game possible under Benítez. With his recent deployment in advance of two other central midfielders, he can play a free role without ever looking stranded up there, as he can if playing ahead of two midfielders in a 4-4-1-1.

The downside of Gerrard starting games as the second-most advanced player, as seen in Athens, is that he can end up playing with his back to goal, where he's less effective. The current formation seems to get the best out of him: he can burst forward with his energy and drive in support of Torres, Kuyt and Babel as part of a powerful quartet capable of sharing 70 goals a season (they already have 55). Add Benayoun, who could replace either Kuyt or Babel, and you have 65 goals between the five of them.

But the system also means two out of Alonso, Mascherano and Lucas can feature; in a flat 4-4-2, where Gerrard's role is more traditional, two of those other three central midfielders have to miss out. Lucas was rightly rested at the Reebok, having looked tired last week, but he has adapted well for a young overseas player thrown into the cut-and-thrust of a Premiership midfield. There's a lot more left to come from the young Brazilian, and next year, as with Babel, we should see a player more acclimatised.

Liverpool's form in the main two competitions (therefore excluding Barnsley) has been excellent in the last five games, with three goals scored in wins against Sunderland, Middlesbrough and most recently Bolton (never an easy place to go), a 0-0 draw at Stamford Bridge when the better team, and the famous 2-0 defeat of Inter Milan. Chances are being put away at last.

If anything, it is the defending that has been uncharacteristic of a Benítez team at times, with a few sloppy goals conceded lately. Perhaps this is down to the changes in the back line: Arbeloa, Finnan and Aurelio have been in and out due to several niggling injuries, whilst Agger's six-month absence has seen him missed as both a destructive and constructive force.

Meanwhile, another new defender has been introduced in the shape of Martin Skrtel, and while he's been excellent on an individual basis after a shaky first game, it takes time for the defence to gel as a unit. The same applies with marking set-pieces, where the zonal system relies on understanding and, like any other factor in football, relies on confidence.

But as with the form at Anfield which has taken a dip this term, we know the defending can, and almost certainly will, be better in the future.

There's much to play for until May, but also, looking beyond that, I can sense Liverpool improving radically next term. The new players Benítez added this summer are approaching 50 goals, and each can still improve.

In 2006-07 United surprised people by improving dramatically to win the league without changing a lot of elements from the previous season, while this year, even more surprisingly, Arsenal are leading the way, again after only only adding one new player to the regular starting line-up (Sagna). It is largely down to existing young players, like Adebayor, Hleb and Fabregas, suddenly going up a level or two.

I think winning the league in 2009 will be a tall order for the Reds, but now some key new players have bedded in at Anfield I'd expect a more cohesive challenge next term. A number of new first-team players have been signed in the last 12/13 months –– I make it eight who have featured very heavily. But in most positions you can now see that Rafa finally has the players he wants.

Unlike the top three, whose squads were closer to completion by 2005-2006, this is still a relatively new project. I cannot stress this enough.

When building towards success you have to wait for the elements to align –– for the new players to adapt to the league and to the tactics, and to gel with the existing players; for the existing key players to be sharp and on form; for confidence to be high; and for there to be no major injuries to those few irreplaceable players. There is no magic formula to make the fates align.

And you need luck at the right times, both in games and in the season as a whole. After dreadful luck at the Reebok in recent visits –– Luis Garcia's wrongly disallowed goal for offside in 2004/05 and Pepe Reina's ludicrous penalisation for handling outside his area last season –– the Reds got a lucky break with Jaaskelainen's own goal. By the time the bad officiating hit again –– a corner awarded against Kuyt when the ball was nowhere near out, which soon led to a goal –– it was too late in the game to derail Rafa's men.

When Benítez first arrived, the squad needed rebuilding but he couldn't afford to go for the real top-end players everyone was after, as they were too expensive. Nor could he rely on hugely promising youngsters who were not yet ready (players of the ilk of Theo Walcott), because you have to wait two or three years for these to mature and a new manager needs to get up and running quickly.

But it's now that the squad really has the look of a project nearing completion. There are still one or two positions where improvements can be made, and a club like Liverpool has to consistently be on the lookout for top talent, but Reina, Torres, Mascherano, Agger, Babel, Lucas, Arbeloa and now Skrtel fit the profile of young, dedicated players with technical ability, a winning mentality and a real turn of speed.

Until last summer, Rafa had been getting in lots of cheap and medium-priced players (£2m-£6m), keeping and polishing the gems like Agger, Arbeloa, Crouch and Reina and offloading good players like Bellamy and Sissoko who made contributions but didn't offer absolutely everything he wanted. Sensible buying meant profits could be made on those being offloaded, allowing Rafa to reinvest in better players, as seen with the trading up from Sissoko to Mascherano. This is a gradual process; improving bit by bit, year on year.

It made more sense in those first three years than blowing the budget on a couple of big names, because were they to fail to adapt, like Shevchenko or Veron and countless other star names, or were they to get seriously injured, he would have been left with the same fairly weak squad he inherited and little room for manoeuvre.

But I'd expect a slower turnover of players from now on, because it's getting closer to a situation where the team will 'settle' and naturally improve, as seen with Manchester United and Arsenal recently.

And in the next two years, you can expect to see some graduates from the successful youth and reserve sides, such as Insua, Nemeth, San Jose, Anderson, Hobbs, Spearing, Pacheco and Plessis –– who are already wise to the tactics and settled at the club –– pushing for places; but being introduced gradually and naturally, rather than thrust in because the team is struggling. The success of the Reds' youth and reserve sides since 2005-06 shows the strength of the club as a whole, but it's now about waiting for the very best talent to be ready to make the step up.

Benítez has had some criticism for not previously playing Babel enough (now the Dutchman is finding his feet), but if you look at how Arsene Wenger eased in Eduardo before his broken leg, you can see a very similar pattern: using the player in Europe more than the Premiership initially, but then increasing the league minutes. Now Babel is looking an integral part of the team.

Hopefully the current form is indicative of the way the team is heading. The Reds are proving harder than ever to beat this season, are generally scoring more goals, and the away form is title-winning class. A return to the fortress Anfield had become between 2004 and 2007, and more consistently killing games off when totally dominant (to avoid those frustrating draws), and suddenly, without an awful lot needing to be altered, a big improvement could be seen.

[coop]

Rashid can i ask you why everything seems to be a go at Rafa and players like Kuyt and when someone prints something positive about them you consider it bollcks.

Dirk Kuyt has played very well since shifting to this formation and has become far more of a goal threat.

The role Rafa is asking him to play requires high workrate and the ability to get into the box when we attack, something Kuyt is doing very well.

I actually think that the Tomkins article is a very good one and identifies that a rebuilding of a team on a limited budget can not happen over night.

[RedinSweden]

Originally Posted by Rashid

I have highlighted my comments. Not too bad by his bum licking standards.

Rash is a big spaz

I highlighted my comments.

[philyburkhill]

Kuyt hasn't played very well, he has just played better than he did earlier in the season. He has still been pretty crap, and isn't good enough, one of the players we'll have to shift if we're going to challenge.

[sh#t waffle]

Originally Posted by coop

Rashid can i ask you why everything seems to be a go at Rafa and players like Kuyt and when someone prints something positive about them you consider it bollcks.

Dirk Kuyt has played very well since shifting to this formation and has become far more of a goal threat.

The role Rafa is asking him to play requires high workrate and the ability to get into the box when we attack, something Kuyt is doing very well.

I actually think that the Tomkins article is a very good one and identifies that a rebuilding of a team on a limited budget can not happen over night.

Bang on. If something suits Rashid's agenda then it is automatically more worthy.
Also agree that this is definitely one of Tomkins' better articles. Relatively concise for him as well..

[Thants]

Originally Posted by philyburkhill

Kuyt hasn't played very well, he has just played better than he did earlier in the season. He has still been pretty crap, and isn't good enough, one of the players we'll have to shift if we're going to challenge.

AND you think the 360 is a good piece of kit. Wronger.

[silverlining]

Originally Posted by philyburkhill

Kuyt hasn't played very well, he has just played better than he did earlier in the season. He has still been pretty crap, and isn't good enough, one of the players we'll have to shift if we're going to challenge.

That's a bit unfair, he's been playing well since the Chelsea game

[philyburkhill]

Kuyt has no pace, poor first touch, and misses too many chances. At most he can be back up for better players, when they need resting.

[danielo]

Good article, and a breath of fresh air with the positivity of it.

Shame Rashid had to pollute it with his anti-Benitez rhetoric.