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Peter Crouch


Rashid
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Most of them will have been bitching and moaning about him since the day he arrived though (if not, in fact, as soon as his name was mentioned in connection with us weeks beforehand).

 

I honestly can't think of a player in our recent past whose actual performances have had so little bearing on how he gets talked about. Hat-trick against Arsenal? They all go quiet. Doesn't play at all (as with last night)? He's slow, hopeless, and not good enough to wear the shirt.

 

A part of me will be glad when he's gone, if only because so much of the supporters' response to him (the internet supporters, to be fair, rather than those at the ground) has been embarrassing since the start.

 

My first response to the Crouch signing was: WTF?

 

However, I was a Crouch fan untill his performances slowly ate it away from me. It went from "Tough luck" to "Damnit!" to "He's useless!".

 

Part of the reason for the extra simmering on the Crouch position is that loads of people rate him! He's very skillful, yes, but he has physical ability limitations that are shocking and his mentality is questionable.

 

Also, nothing grates me more than being at a match and we'll miss a chance or something and I'll hear someone say, "BRING CROUCHY ON" like he is going to solve our issues. It absolutely rises my hackles and it's even more ridiculous when Crouch IS playing and the same guy will go, "Argh he's shite that lanky streak of piss!"

 

Like it wasn't evident from all his other shite performances. It's all blinders remembering his great goals and forgetting all the crap that he brings with it.

 

Straw that broke the camels back was when he refused to attack the ball against United at Anfield last season. I think he missed two absolute sitters including tapping a header at their keeper. WTF? Drive that shite home you twat! From that point on I have wanted him sold. He isn't good enough and never will be... period.

 

That said, I'll 100% support him whilst hes on the pitch.

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Call them “Pool-encia”. “It’s more or less the same system,” Benitez said of the 4-2-3-1 pattern he has settled upon, with Gerrard supporting Fernando Torres centrally, and Dirk Kuyt and Ryan Babel augmenting the attack in wide areas. With his Valencia players such as Mista, Vicente, Rufete, Pablo Aimar, John Carew and Miguel Angulo filled these four attacking roles

 

Rafa Benitez hopes Valencia style will turn tide | Liverpool - Times Online

 

Is Rafa lying, Rash?

 

He isn't but he is bending the truth a bit e.g. Vicente is nothing like Babel, he is a line hugging winger who wasn't as advanced as Babel is. He played out wide. Aimar is nothing like Gerrard - it was a 4-4-1-1 in my opinion but we can agree to disagree and still be mates.

 

If he was hell bent on playing this system he wouldn't have spoken of buying wingers every year, he wouldn't have tried for or bought players like Pennant, Nunez would he? None are suited to 4-3-3.

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Indeed... Now Rashid will tell us his true plans to make us into a 3-6-1 with five CMs and Gerrard sitting in front of them and Torres alone up top.

 

I prefer the one up top, link man formation in whatever form it is done actually. 4-4-1-1 is the dream formation with one of the wingers coming in and one staying wide... it add variety and stretched the opposition. It was the Valencia dream the ultimate wrecking machine.

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crouch's problem is pace and mobility, if he was as mobile as kuyt or as quick as babel he would play more games.

 

if we were playing 4-4-2 I'd play crouch in more home games against teams who have come for a point, a) he can hurt them in their penalty box when they defend deep b) he can help defend set peices when they come up for corners and free kicks.

 

but in the current formation I don't see what point he serves. I could certainly see why rafa bought him in the first place but we are undoubtably evloving as a team.

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If he was hell bent on playing this system he wouldn't have spoken of buying wingers every year, he wouldn't have tried for or bought players like Pennant, Nunez would he?

 

or Morientes, Crouch, Kuyt etc etc. Anyway, I'm not objecting, I'm just proving a point. Whatever wins us stuff is alright with me. Even Kuyt playing. :)

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Rash, no-one said Rafa was 4-3-3 at Valencia, you seem to be getting your wires crossed. There is a massive differnce between the two systems, as you don't necessarily need out an out wingers for 4-2-3-1. You just need mobile inteligent footballers in the wide positions..

 

And stringvest, you also dont need a pacy front man, again he just has to be mobile and a good finisher - look at Mista - worked his bollocks off but was by no means pacey.

 

I think some people on here are scared / reluctant for some reason (not you stringvest), to give Rafa credit for a system that seems to be working. It is my favoured formation and has been for years, our only problem is that we havent got anyone close enough at the moment to fill the 1 role if Torres cant play, as all our other forwards aren't mobile enough (Crouch, Veronin) or good enough finshers (Kuyt, Babel - yet) to fill that gap.

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Guest TK-421

Vicente actually got in the box a lot and ended up scoring a number of important goals. He was voted the best player in the league in Rafa's last season iirc.

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Vicente actually got in the box a lot and ended up scoring a number of important goals. He was voted the best player in the league in Rafa's last season iirc.

 

Vicente was a winger mate and spent most of the time out wide... lets agree to disagree if that stops an argument ensuing.

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Rash, no-one said Rafa was 4-3-3 at Valencia, you seem to be getting your wires crossed. There is a massive differnce between the two systems, as you don't necessarily need out an out wingers for 4-2-3-1. You just need mobile inteligent footballers in the wide positions..

 

And stringvest, you also dont need a pacy front man, again he just has to be mobile and a good finisher - look at Mista - worked his bollocks off but was by no means pacey.

 

I think some people on here are scared / reluctant for some reason (not you stringvest), to give Rafa credit for a system that seems to be working. It is my favoured formation and has been for years, our only problem is that we havent got anyone close enough at the moment to fill the 1 role if Torres cant play, as all our other forwards aren't mobile enough (Crouch, Veronin) or good enough finshers (Kuyt, Babel - yet) to fill that gap.

 

I don't think anyone is refusing to give Rafa credit for the formation change; I do think that you have to question the assertion that Benitez has always wanted to play this way at Poolencia. We have variously deployed Arsepool, LiverBolton, Barcepool and Sunderpool tactics before settling on this one.

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I don't think anyone is refusing to give Rafa credit for the formation change; I do think that you have to question the assertion that Benitez has always wanted to play this way at Poolencia. We have variously deployed Arsepool, LiverBolton, Barcepool and Sunderpool tactics before settling on this one.

 

Blondes - prefer shagging blondes, though for last 5 years my birds have been brunettes, could have got them to dye their hair but didnt, wouldnt have been the same.

 

But if a blonde came along now...

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I still cannot believe people are peddling this shit. Rafa did not use 4-3-3 at Valencia. He played with wingers... Vicente on the left, Rufete on the right. He also used two Central Midfield players - one who used to sit deep - Albelda, and one who used to attack and score a lot of goals - Baraja. The other player in the centre was Aimar - who certainly is not a central midfielder but a link man - it was 4-4-1-1.

 

Stop calling people names as if you have some kind of superior intelligence, in the real world you don't mate.

 

 

Rash, I think you're arguing over semantics a bit. AS is everyone else.

 

Valencia could easily be described as 4-3-3, or 4-3-2-1, or even 4-1-1.

 

Baraja and Albelda did usually BOTH sit quite deep to start off, except that Baraja had license (and the legs) to attack more than Albelda. However, he did then retreat back to a similar position on the pitch.

 

That formation could easily be replicated at Liverpool if we bought "an Aimar" to sit behind Torres, allowing Stevie to move back a bit and be "Baraja" (but miles better) with Masher doing "Albelda" (but better, although one could argue Albelda is a bit more like Alonso as a DM, and certainly not as dynamic or destructive as Masher).

 

It's a silly argument.

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Blondes - prefer shagging blondes, though for last 5 years my birds have been brunettes, could have got them to dye their hair but didnt, wouldnt have been the same.

 

But if a blonde came along now...

 

Exactly. We've been shagging sheep on and off for a few years though....

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what I found a little disappointing is crouch was written off before he arrived pretty much like bentley is now.

the only player I've written off before they arrived was gary macca (and look how that turned out) I give everyone the benifit of the doubt now.

 

I said before he arrived he didn't score enough goals, was too slow, wasn't good enough to play for Liverpool, and would never help us win the title.

 

*shrugs*

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Guest TK-421

When I watched Valencia, I saw Vicente and Rufete, or Angulo, getting in the box a lot and helping out with goal burden. It depended upon which side Valencia were attacking.

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