What is wrong with our team?

[Boomshakalaka]

This is not a post by a Rafa hater and personally I do not want it to be about the Yanks but they are the tumor eating away at us in my opinion.

 

It really should concentrate on why they cannot beat the likes of Wigan and Portsmouth.

 

Alonso is a massive blow even though many do not seem to like to admit it. Creativity seems to have disappeared. This is easy to remedy.

 

Yet I cannot help but think they are arrogant. Cue Rafa's confident wink to tasty ESPN lady before kick off as key evidence. I was scared from that moment on. Just before they scored I texted a friend predicting nil nil. One of those nils was correct. At that time it was the one I feared most little did I know what was about to happen. Arrogance breeds contempt. That performance was contemptable.

 

The lads also seemed too relaxed. Before now I believed relaxed players to be better players but I feel they need to be pumped up. They have to want it, not expect it. I believed relaxed players would be freed to express themselves better through throwing away the shackles of doubt. For nine months they must have the fear of failure pumped down their throats and then come out and deliver under immense pressure. A certain type of pressure is beginning to build but it is the worst type of pressure. The pressure of a world of faithless reds as oppossed to "we could miss out unless we deliver week in week out". Really we should provide the faith and they should deal with the pressure of delivering for us to enjoy and them to store the medals and memories of achieving.

[INTORRESTING]

We don'thave enough pace or strength for the Premiership.

[piscinin]

We don'thave enough pace or strength for the Premiership.

 

We got rid of a really slow player and have done worse.

 

The problems are far more complicated than that.

[Guest Pistonbroke]

We lack tactics, guts and determination on the whole. We play turgid football and are too easy to read. Instead of going for the game from the off we have to suffer " the let's be cautious approach " game after game.

[Unrighteous]

What's wrong?

 

Rafa Benitez built a team in his image.

[JohnnyH]

It's gone beyond players out of form and bad management decisions. We are now fucked from top to bottom. I don't know what is going to fix it.

[piscinin]

This is not a post by a Rafa hater and personally I do not want it to be about the Yanks but they are the tumor eating away at us in my opinion.

 

It really should concentrate on why they cannot beat the likes of Wigan and Portsmouth.

 

Alonso is a massive blow even though many do not seem to like to admit it. Creativity seems to have disappeared. This is easy to remedy.

 

Yet I cannot help but think they are arrogant. Cue Rafa's confident wink to tasty ESPN lady before kick off as key evidence. I was scared from that moment on. Just before they scored I texted a friend predicting nil nil. One of those nils was correct. At that time it was the one I feared most little did I know what was about to happen. Arrogance breeds contempt. That performance was contemptable.

 

The lads also seemed too relaxed. Before now I believed relaxed players to be better players but I feel they need to be pumped up. They have to want it, not expect it. I believed relaxed players would be freed to express themselves better through throwing away the shackles of doubt. For nine months they must have the fear of failure pumped down their throats and then come out and deliver under immense pressure. A certain type of pressure is beginning to build but it is the worst type of pressure. The pressure of a world of faithless reds as oppossed to "we could miss out unless we deliver week in week out". Really we should provide the faith and they should deal with the pressure of delivering for us to enjoy and them to store the medals and memories of achieving.

 

The confidence is bluster IMO. You don't jettison your expansive game plan for a backs to the wall setup out of confidence. Imagine being a player who was told at the start of the season you were good enough to play like manure and then a couple of months ago being told to play like Stoke.

 

BTW That Brian Beswick fellow wrote a paper about the ideal mental state going into a game and like you he leant towards an anxious confidence.

[straight_red]

What's wrong?

 

Rafa Benitez built a team in his image.

 

I'm afraid I have to agree with this. There's no point in Rafa moaning about players lacking passion and the right attitude when he's the one who a) signed them and b) should be motivating them for each game. Of course you can't blame Rafa 100% for his players' bad attitude, but you can blame him for bringing the players to the club in the first place.

[Liverpool lad]

No pace, no urgency, no width and no confidence seem to be the main problems on the field. We are far too easy to play against

[Guest LFD]

- We play with two defensive midfielders, more often than not. In this league one win and a loss is better than two draws. It pays off being attacking and adventurious, plus making the opposition worry more about us than vice versa. We should dominate possession in most games, therefore we should have our best footballers in possession on the pitch, more often than not.

 

- Insua is not convincing at left back. Fne for back up, but not good enough yet to be first choice and he's struggling.

 

- We've had numberous changes in our back four which leads to little stability.

 

- Kuyt, Maxi, Benayoun and Riera do not create enough chances as wide players, due to lack of pace mainly and when you play with one lone striker, it is essential that the wide players contribute far more than they do. How many team have won the leaguye playing with a lone striker? Chelsea did a few season's ago, but then again they had Robben, Cole, Duff, SWP all contributing with goals, assists and general threat to the oppoasition, our wide players by contrast are better at defending than attacking.

 

- Players out of form: everyone except Mascherano and Reina really.

 

- Injuries: when you play with a lone striker and have little depth in that area of thr squad you can't afford to lose Torres as much as we have done this season.

 

- Gerrard shouldn't be taking the corners, then again I don't see any obvious replacement who could do better.

 

- Our side look vulnerable everytime we defend a set play (zonal?).

 

- Our manager won't make subs when they are needed and things need to be changed.

 

- I have seen no evidence in the six season's Rafa has been in the job that he can motivate a team. It is not hard getting the players up for games in Europe against Barca, Real etc, you need to motivate them against Benfica, Uriea, Stoke, Wigan etc and Rafa drains the confidence from some of our players - such as Babel making him scared to run at players in case he loses the ball and it will affect his pro zone stats.

 

- Ultimately what is wrong is Benitez isn't getting the best out of these under performing players. These are his players, we use his tactics, his team selection, his backing staff, his coaching methods at set plays, he does the subs and ultimately he is vastly under performing and I think he has lost some of the players - such as Gerrard, who has probably had enough of the man who subbed him off agaisnt Everton when he changed the game a few season's back getting their player sent off and winning the penalty, or the fact he has to play alongside some average players in Insua, Degan, Kuyt, Lucas, Babel, Maxi etc.

 

The buck stops with Benitez.

[llego]

Not to single anyone out but Insua stuck out as a fuckin liability. Dirk had a very off form game, sure, but that lad Insua just cannot defend. Always caught out of position or easily turned, it's a problem that needs to be sorted.

[piscinin]

No pace, no urgency, no width and no confidence seem to be the main problems on the field. We are far too easy to play against

 

Those have been a problem for years, it doesn't explain how this season is so different from last does it.

[Furmedge]

We have one style of play. If a team susses that out, then we struggle.

[Guest LFD]

We have one style of play. If a team susses that out, then we struggle.

 

Which is one of the disappointments with Rafa.

 

When he got the job people went on about how he changed his tactics game to game depending on the opposition. We loooked one dimensional under Houiller and this was freshing to hear.

 

However we play the same way each game, the only changes are due to injuries and occasionally Gerrard plays in centre midfield rather than in the free role.

 

I can see numerous similarities with Houiller and that is not a good thing as he didn't cut the mustard.

[aws]

An inability to show a consistent level of leadership, enthusiasm, energy and ambition on the pitch. Players performing when they feel "up for it" and coasting when they don't.

[Boomshakalaka]

The confidence is bluster IMO. BTW That Brian Beswick fellow wrote a paper about the ideal mental state going into a game and like you he leant towards an anxious confidence.

 

Think you could be right regarding bluster.

 

Do you have a link to the paper please? Would be interested to read it. If not I will use my good friend Google.

 

This thread is turning out worse than I thought. Most are posting very valid opinions whilst some good questions are being asked mainly by you.

[ARockWithACape]

Anyone with half a brain could see this would happen, we've earned more money than we've spent the last two summers.

[Liverpool lad]

Those have been a problem for years, it doesn't explain how this season is so different from last does it.

 

If you look at the four factors together and how they all sort of link together you can see why. We are far easier to play against this season than we have been in previous seasons. That is my reason anyway, it is all about opinions though so I would like to hear your opinion.

 

Of course, you have the media circus around the club and the general sense of despondency amongst some sections of the fans. It was clearly evident from where I was standing last night, I don't remember people singing the manager's name last night, I might be wrong though.

[piscinin]

Think you could be right regarding bluster.

 

Do you have a link to the paper please? Would be interested to read it. If not I will use my good friend Google.

 

This thread is turning out worse than I thought. Most are posting very valid opinions whilst some good questions are being asked mainly by you.

 

I don't think it's on the internet, if you PM me an email I'll send it.

[Unrighteous]

If you look at the four factors together and how they all sort of link together you can see why. We are far easier to play against this season than we have been in previous seasons. That is my reason anyway, it is all about opinions though so I would like to hear your opinion.

 

Of course, you have the media circus around the club and the general sense of despondency amongst some sections of the fans. It was clearly evident from where I was standing last night, I don't remember people singing the manager's name last night, I might be wrong though.

 

When I stopped going to home matches, I noticed that less and less people were joining in singing Rafa's name.

 

I know there will always be a certain portion that always will sing for him, but its interesting to see the singing section of the kop have obvious gaps when it comes to that song in particular.

 

A game, or even a string of them, without Rafa's name being sung would definitely send him a message.

[deacon]

As Craig Burley said last night, and Lee Dixon has said a few times on MOTD2, our failure to move the ball quickly makes it very difficult to get the ball to Torres and Gerrard in space. I don't know how much this comes from a lack of movement elsewhere, but it was very noticeable when Aquilani came on that we had a player in the middle who was confident in making a pass without taking a touch first.

 

Secondly, as Slaven Bilic pointed out on MOTD2 after the Man City game (very refreshing to hear a pundit talk tactics for a change), a 4-2-3-1 formation only really works if your full backs overlap and help create space for the midfielders.

 

With Johnson and Aurelio out and Insua generally being clearly not good enough, our paucity of full back quality has had a detrimental affect on our set up.

[stringvest]

I maintain one of the key differences is the lack of quality ball retention and distribution from just in front of the back four. We are hurried into playing the wrong ball, at the wrong time. Torres getting fitter should at least improve the movement and help to pull opposition defences around, creating space. We need players in the team who can take advantage of that space.

[GJM]

I have come to the conclusion this season that the players do not believe in the job that they are being asked to do. Too many times this season, away from home against inferior opposition, the players have looked disinterested. Benitez was clearly fuming post-match at their inability to follow his direction.

 

Why is that? Are they stupid? I don't think so. I think that they don't have any belief in what they are being asked to do on a football pitch.

 

It goes beyond being 'professional' or 'but they are paid to do what the manager tells them'. I think it's an emotional thing - every bone in their body tells them 'this isn't the way to do it'. Motivating yourself to high performances under those conditions is very difficult.

[Guest Dog Chaser]

One of the problems i have with our teams tactics is that we have this 'play not to lose' mentality rather than a 'play to win'. This is obviously a tactical approach used by Benitez and results in us having no creativity and pace in our attacks making it easier for teams to defend against.

 

I would also pinpoint the safety first approach tactics as a another reason why we can't keep the ball. It's as if the players are so concerned with tactics and positional play that they do not express themselves or make the kind of runs that create space etc. Movement off the ball helps in creating options for the player with the ball thus helping to retain the ball. Barcelona are a good example of this type of movement as their formation is more free and evolves to suit the play

[Delmar]

I maintain one of the key differences is the lack of quality ball retention and distribution from just in front of the back four. We are hurried into playing the wrong ball, at the wrong time. Torres getting fitter should at least improve the movement and help to pull opposition defences around, creating space. We need players in the team who can take advantage of that space.

 

That's just another way of spelling Alonso. The problem really is the back four, especially the CBs. Yesterday there was acres of space between the CBs and the midlfield. Without Alonso our CBs have to take more of the responsibility for moving the ball and finding the right passes.

 

Rafa needs to go back to what he started with this season, forget about the clean sheet stuff, and start playing with full backs providing the width and never again with Kyrgiakos and Carragher defending 10-20 yards too deep as they are so slow.

 

One sentence answer to the original question: lack of shape and discipline, and massive gaps between defence, midfield, and attack.