Rodgers In

[KopOut]

Or, 3-2-3-2

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -Reina - - - - - - - - - - -

 

- - - - - - Skrtel - - -Carragher - - Agger - - - - -

 

Johnson - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -Enrique

 

 

- - - - - - Henderson - - Lucas - - -Gerrard - - - -

 

 

- - - - - - - Sturridge- - - - - - Suarez - - - - - - -

[KopOut]

You consider Suarez an attacking midfielder?

Oh my lord.

 

He's unselfish, and a superb passer forward, capable of goals galore. Why does BR get him to sit in midfield when we lose possession?

 

It would be a waste, and indeed has been, to stick him at centre forward.

[DooooodekNo5]

If people don't like Code can they stick him on ignore then?

 

But you have the likes of NV who for whatever bizarre reason has a huge hardon for Code and is always constantly quoting the joyless prick.

 

It amazes me why anyone bothers playing Codes games, ok maybe every now and then he will induce a bite but to be all over nearly all of his posts like some slobbering rabid dog is weird, not to mention a completely pointless waste of time , but each to their own.

[FrenchEyeGlass]

Formations really don't matter as much as people think they do.

 

As Rodgers said himself, you can be just as shite at 442 as you can with 433 or 451 or anything else. What matters is the personelle, the application and the style of play.

 

Things take time. Finally we're seeing the team look a lot more cohesive. Lets see how we do in the second half of the season and try progress some more this summer.

[boomer39]

the best formation... 10 men attacking, 10 men defending....

[Code]

Why Can't Liverpool Win Against The Top Ten?

Liverpool have still not beaten a team currently in the top half of the Premier League this season. WhoScored.com's Ali Tweedale looks at why that may be the case...

 

...Hold on. Aren't Liverpool supposed to be having a terrible season? Aren't they supposed to be worse than they have been in recent memory? Isn't Steven Gerrard supposed to be past it, over the hill and on the way out? And yet the Merseyside club are climbing the table after impressive performances and draws against Arsenal and Manchester City in their last two games, while captain Gerrard remains one of only 12 players and the only midfielder or attacker to be ever-present in the Premier League this season.

 

After a disastrous start to life under Brendan Rodgers saw Liverpool lose three and draw two of their opening five league games, this youthful team seem to be settling in together with performances and results both improving. The hard-fought loss at Old Trafford is their only defeat in the last six matches, and things are looking up for the Reds. But questions remain as to whether they are as good as recent form suggests.

 

An astounding statistic sticks in the mind. Liverpool are one of only two teams - along with Southampton - yet to win a single game against a side currently in the top half of the Premier League table and it is plain to see that this is a serious problem. Even though they led at both the Emirates and the Etihad in their last two games and were good value for those leads, the Reds eventually succumbed to pressure to throw away what could have been a pair of fantastic results.

 

Liverpool scored four goals against Arsenal and City, yet only Daniel Sturridge's wonder-strike at the Etihad had a string of more than one pass preceding it and even then it was as simple as Stewart Downing finding Gerrard, who passed for Sturridge to hit from distance. It was hardly what could be described as a great team goal and only came after Javi Garcia failed to clear his lines on the edge of his own area. Gerrard's goal in that game was fantastic, and highlighted his continued importance to the team. The captain's strike came directly from a weak clearance, and both of Liverpool's goals against Arsenal were the result of the opposition's failure to clear the ball.

 

What does this show? Firstly, that Liverpool are doing well to get into positions high up the pitch from which goalscoring chances can fall. Secondly, that they are very good at winning possession high up the pitch - only Arsenal (94) and Southampton (85) have won the ball in the attacking third of the pitch more times in the Premier League this season than Liverpool (84), with Suarez unsurprisingly leading the individual charts (22).

 

However, despite Liverpool's impressive passing statistics - third most possession (58.3%) and fourth best pass success rate (85.3%) in the top flight this season - which can be seen on WhoScored's statistics page - the Reds tend not to be scoring goals as a direct result of their passing game, particularly against the bigger teams. And that might be why results against the other teams in the top ten haven't been up to scratch.

 

In fact, in Liverpool's 13 games against those nine teams this season, the longest series of passes they have registered directly in the lead up to a goal is four - in the 2-2 draw against Everton at Goodison Park. Even then, the build up to that goal consisted of a Jose Enrique cross that evaded everyone, Suarez firing the ball back towards to goalmouth, only to be finished courtesy of a Leighton Baines own goal. The Reds' second-longest passing move leading to a goal against a top ten side is the two passes prior to Sturridge's long range strike against City on Sunday.

 

The fact of the matter is that while Brendan Rodgers' commitment to a short passing game is commendable and seems to be something that the Liverpool squad are beginning to enjoy some success with, it is not working against the better teams.

 

Of course, when you have the likes of Steven Gerrard and Luis Suarez in your team, and now Sturridge too, goals from range are certainly something that you can come to expect. Along with Chelsea, Liverpool have scored the most goals from range in the Premier League this season, with nine, already surpassing their tally of seven from last term. Again Suarez leads the individual rankings with four - the joint most with Juan Mata - whilst Gerrard has bagged two long-range goals in his last three Premier League appearances.

 

Expecting goals of individual brilliance is one thing, relying on them is quite another. So while Liverpool are keeping the ball well, they need to work on the transition from retaining possession in midfield to creating goalscoring chances. With Suarez moving into an attacking-midfield role since Sturridge's arrival, that may well come in due course. For the time being, though, Liverpool's high pressing game - and Suarez's in particular - is working to some extent, and that may just have to be enough for now.

 

Why Can't Liverpool Win Against The Top Ten? | Mediawatch, Mailbox, Ref365, John Nicholson, Spanish Thing | Football365

[billypilgrimnz]

Funny, I would have thought it was because we consistently give away cheap goals over and over and over again.

 

But no, it is in fact that there aren't enough passes strung together before our goals. Of course.

[Code]

Funny, I would have thought it was because we consistently give away cheap goals over and over and over again.

 

But no, it is in fact that there aren't enough passes strung together before our goals. Of course.

 

Ehh no not really, like some wise people have pointed out earlier, its because we pass the ball too much and at times just for passings sake instead of actually attacking.

[moof]

Well we're scoring plenty of goals so its obviously not an issue.

[Guest Numero Veinticinco]

What a load of ol' bollocks.

[billypilgrimnz]

Ehh no not really, like some wise people have pointed out earlier, its because we pass the ball too much and at times just for passings sake instead of actually attacking.

 

Liverpool 2-2 Man City

Man City 2-2 Liverpool

Arsenal 2-2 Liverpool

Oldham 3-2 Liverpool

Liverpool 1-3 Aston Villa

Liverpool 1-3 Swansea

Everton 2-2 Liverpool

West Ham 2-3 Liverpool

Liverpool 2-3 Udinese

Liverpool 2-2 Young Boys

 

 

No, you're right, the defense is sound and we don't attack enough.

[Code]

Liverpool 2-2 Man City

Man City 2-2 Liverpool

Arsenal 2-2 Liverpool

Oldham 3-2 Liverpool

Liverpool 1-3 Aston Villa

Liverpool 1-3 Swansea

Everton 2-2 Liverpool

West Ham 2-3 Liverpool

Liverpool 2-3 Udinese

Liverpool 2-2 Young Boys

 

 

No, you're right, the defense is sound and we don't attack enough.

 

 

Oh dear you are not very bright are you?

[Liquid football]

I dont see goal scoring as a problem. We have 44 goals. Man City have 47 and they are 2nd in the league, Spurs have 2 less than us and they are 4th. Obviously we need to score even more because we are letting too many goals in but there's just as much room for improvement just by tightening up.

[Code]

Being caught on the break because of aimless posession is a problem, our best away game this season was away to Arsenal and we had the least posession we have had this season.

 

We sat back more than we have used to do, we defended well even if Arsenal scored two goals and we hit them on the break when we had the opportunity.

 

If we had used this pragmatic approach a bit more away from home we would have more than 3 away wins this season.

[Guest Numero Veinticinco]

Our best away game was Arsenal, where we were on a knife edge the whole time, hoping we'd get a foot on the ball so we could control the game rather than allow them to attack? It wasn't City, where we had lots of the ball and passed it more than they did? Yeah, having the ball is a real issue.

[Code]

Yes, that was easily our best away game against half decent opposition this season.

 

If you knew anything about football you would obviously agree.

[Liquid football]

I would seriously have to question the thought processes of anyone who thought Arsenal away was better than Man City away.

[ChrisM]

...our best away game this season was away to Arsenal and we had the least posession we have had this season.

 

We had a good half against Arsenal, we were fantastic for the entire City game.

[Guest Numero Veinticinco]

Yes, that was easily our best away game against half decent opposition this season.

 

If you knew anything about football you would obviously agree.

 

Ah. Right. Let me try your your debating method.

 

City are significantly better than Arsenal, have a vastly better home record, make far fewer mistakes in defence, and we outpassed and outplayed them. If you weren't such a stupid, useless, nordic robocunt, you'd agree.

 

Hmn... yeah, I like it.

[Code]

The City game was far from being fantastic, the City team on the day were pretty shite as well if I'm honest.

 

We had 5 shots on target against City and we had 5 shots on target against Arsenal.

[billypilgrimnz]

Oh dear you are not very bright are you?

 

Ah, Code's code for "Why can't people just agree with my insane ramblings instead of actually using logic to put holes in them?"

 

How about instead of being a whiny girl because I disagree with you, you try to explain your position better than that pointless article.

[billypilgrimnz]

.

We sat back more than we have used to do, we defended well even if Arsenal scored two goals and we hit them on the break when we had the opportunity.

 

If we had used this pragmatic approach a bit more away from home we would have more than 3 away wins this season.

 

So play more like Rafa's Liverpool then?

[Guest Numero Veinticinco]

I would seriously have to question the thought processes of anyone who thought Arsenal away was better than Man City away.

 

He doesn't. It's just that Reina made a mistake in against City, and we had less possession against Arsenal. For some strange reason he wants to believe Reina doesn't make mistakes, and that our problem is that we have possession.

 

If he'd take a look at his spreadsheet, he'd see that the top seven teams in the Premiership table at the moment all come inside the top 9 teams for possession. City, Arsenal, Chelsea, and United make up four out of the top five spots in the league. They're also four of the top five teams in the league for possession (we're the other one). Almost the same is true for passing percentage.

 

It turns out, you see, that if you have the ball and pass it to your team mates without losing possession, it's fairly hard for other teams to score. We've a long way to go, but it's not passing the ball to each other and holding onto it that's the issue.

[ChrisM]

He doesn't. It's just that Reina made a mistake in against City, and we had less possession against Arsenal. For some strange reason he wants to believe Reina doesn't make mistakes, and that our problem is that we have possession.

 

Sums him up, from the Arsenal match thread -

 

Erik Thorstvedt and Thomas Myhre in the Norwegian PL studio completly disagree with you, when it comes to keepers I think I go along with their judgement at leaszt when it supports mine.

 

The pace of that shot from Walcott gave Reina no chance.

[Guest Numero Veinticinco]

Sums him up, from the Arsenal match thread -

 

He likes to bang on about us playing it aimlessly around in the wrong areas. Yet against City we spent much more time in their third than we did against Arsenal (just 18% compared to their 38%). Plus, they created more chances and had more shots than City. So it really isn't much to do with any of this stuff, or how Rodgers wants us to play.