I want to start this with last year formation:
The beauty thing of this formation was Alonso’s movement. First, it’s
so simple. He only needs to run the ball forward and pass it to
Gerrard/Kuyt/Riera. After he passes it, he waits outside the box and
pick up another pass. The three arrows show the spot where he used to
pick up a pass near the opposition’s box.
In this formation Gerrard, with his dynamic movement, was given a free role to roam and hurt the opposition’s defense (and linking up with Torres of course). Mascherano was selected with a simple duty: read the game, break up the opposition play and give it to Alonso. He’s the best in the world for this kind of thing. The partnership he builds with Alonso is a thing of beauty. They complete each other.
Now, whilst this formation is very stable, it’s somewhat one dimensional. For me, that’s the thing that has cost us two points when we faced an opposition who likes to sit deep and defend. We didn’t have enough imagination to unlock the window. We didn’t have a pure fantasisti. A Dalglish. A Barnes. A Baggio. A Totti.
At a couple of time, Benayoun was the answer to this problem. But he didn’t have a run of good game until a couple of weeks nearing the end of last season.
But, like I said before, this formation is so stable and dependable. Everyone knows their role perfectly and as a result we played our most attractive football in Rafa’s tenure. As for the answer whether it was Alonso or Gerrard who become our most influential players, for me it’s not as simple as stating this player is better than the other. Guardiola said it the best (bless him and his word of wisdom) when Messi received the Ballon D’or award: “I just hope Messi realizes how much he owes to Xavi, and Xavi how much he owes to Messi. They both need each other”
There’s so much truth in that line. Reflecting back to Liverpool, Alonso and Mascherano was the rhythm of our movement, whilst Torres and Gerrard was the melody. They need each other. Without the melody a song would simply be boring, and without a rhythm it would be chaotic.
Stable, dependable, and harmony are the three words I used to describe last season’s Liverpool.
Fast forward it to three months latter, we lost Alonso. Fast forward it to nine months latter (right now), our quest to cope with the loss of a playmaker presence have not been answered yet.
There’s this thing that bugs me the most. By logic, the loss of Alonso should be an opportunity for us to mould a more attractive and dynamic side. Why? Because we didn’t have to limit our attacking movement with only one channel. Aquilani knows this. He said it himself, that, with him being a more attacking midfielder, we simply have more option to press forward. We can choose to attack with our flanks or with our spine. There’s no necessity to penetrate through Alonso anymore.
So why haven’t we play a dynamic style of football and creating a lot of chance? The answer is lost in the middle of the players inability to adapt to a new formation and Rafa’s persistence to use the same, err, midfield pairing.
After our fourth league game, I remember Rafa changes his formation. He used Gerrard to accompany Mascherano/Lucas and put Yossi behind Torres. The result follows: winning games! Mind you, we were not solid enough defensively. But like the end of last season, what we lack defensively we make up by scoring goals.
Well, at least until that day in Florence.
Oh, how I dread that day in Florence. We were simply outplayed, outrun, and outclassed by Fiorentina. Montolivo had Gerrard in his pocket, and one 19 years old Jovetic torture our defense. It’s like what he have done on the previous six games vanished into the air. We lost to Chelsea the following week and since then Rafa never used Gerrard alongside Mascherano/Lucas, consistently, anymore.
My guess is Rafa feels the need to protect the defense by using Lucas and Mascherano. And maybe, the player themselves wasn’t ready to play a more attacking pattern. Insua and Glenn often caught after bombing forwards. Throw in the center backs lack of concentration; we find our own recipe for disasters.
As a typical Italian manager (oh yes, he learn from Sacchi, Rafa is as much an Italian as Mancini), Rafa revert to his old approach. Build from the defense, control everything, and try to nick something. Well the result is like this: 2-0, 0-0, 2-0, 1-0, 0-1, 1-0, and 0-0. Solid? Yes. Hard to beat? Defo. But the game is soul destroying. I even dare to say that between the top 7 premier league teams, we are the unimaginative one. But who am I to question the manager as long we grind out result right? Well, for me it’s not like that.
The thing is (there’s always a thing, isn’t it?) people keep saying as long as we keep getting result, it’ll be a golden sky ahead. When Torres, Johnson, and Yossi are coming back, we will be as good as anyone. We will be firing and flying again.
But I can’t just accept that. Simply because I still didn’t have a clue how we’re going to play. Having all your best one playing is one thing. Finding the one formula that will get the best out of everyone is another. I’m afraid there are questions that need to be asked first.
Let’s start with Lucas and Mascherano. I still don’t believe that this pairing will get us anywhere, because both are too similar. Their duty is to break up the opposition play and make simple passes. Lucas should be Mascherano understudy, and Mascherano should be paired with someone who can build our attack. But what does Rafa think? Will he still use this pairing in the future? Will he let go the need to control the game? Will he takes risk and attack our opponent?
And let’s not forget our beloved il principino, Aquilani. Where is he going to play? Having seen him play as a central midfield and as a second striker, I am more convinced that he’s suited for the latter role. He didn’t have that sense of defensive ability that a CM needs to master. Even Rafa didn’t trust him to play in away game. But, will Rafa give him Gerrard’s position? Where does Rafa want him to play?
As for the flank, as much as I’m not convinced with this position, I can’t blame our lack of quality to Rafa. Since the day Steve Mcmanaman went to Madrid, we never have one quality winger. It’s a dying breed too. It’ll cost us a fortune to have someone with Kuyt’s energy, Babel’s pace, and Riera’s technical skill (even Vargas cost 20 million). My wish is just sometimes Rafa will have the guts to drop Kuyt and opt to play two pure wingers.
So that’s basically my thought on Liverpool’s system this season. If I could propose one thing, then I would like us to play these three formations:
Glenn –—- Carra ——– Agger —-– Insua
Gerrard –—- Mascherano
Kuyt —————— Aquilani —————- Yossi
Torres
(gerrrard take over Alonso’s role)
Or:
Glenn –—- Carra ——– Agger —-– Insua
Mascherano
Kuyt ———-Gerrard —— Aquilani ——— Yossi
Torres
Or:
Glenn –—- Carra ——– Agger —-– Insua
Lucas –—- Mascherano
Gerrard ————Aquilani————— Yossi
Torres
In this formation Gerrard, with his dynamic movement, was given a free role to roam and hurt the opposition’s defense (and linking up with Torres of course). Mascherano was selected with a simple duty: read the game, break up the opposition play and give it to Alonso. He’s the best in the world for this kind of thing. The partnership he builds with Alonso is a thing of beauty. They complete each other.
Now, whilst this formation is very stable, it’s somewhat one dimensional. For me, that’s the thing that has cost us two points when we faced an opposition who likes to sit deep and defend. We didn’t have enough imagination to unlock the window. We didn’t have a pure fantasisti. A Dalglish. A Barnes. A Baggio. A Totti.
At a couple of time, Benayoun was the answer to this problem. But he didn’t have a run of good game until a couple of weeks nearing the end of last season.
But, like I said before, this formation is so stable and dependable. Everyone knows their role perfectly and as a result we played our most attractive football in Rafa’s tenure. As for the answer whether it was Alonso or Gerrard who become our most influential players, for me it’s not as simple as stating this player is better than the other. Guardiola said it the best (bless him and his word of wisdom) when Messi received the Ballon D’or award: “I just hope Messi realizes how much he owes to Xavi, and Xavi how much he owes to Messi. They both need each other”
There’s so much truth in that line. Reflecting back to Liverpool, Alonso and Mascherano was the rhythm of our movement, whilst Torres and Gerrard was the melody. They need each other. Without the melody a song would simply be boring, and without a rhythm it would be chaotic.
Stable, dependable, and harmony are the three words I used to describe last season’s Liverpool.
Fast forward it to three months latter, we lost Alonso. Fast forward it to nine months latter (right now), our quest to cope with the loss of a playmaker presence have not been answered yet.
There’s this thing that bugs me the most. By logic, the loss of Alonso should be an opportunity for us to mould a more attractive and dynamic side. Why? Because we didn’t have to limit our attacking movement with only one channel. Aquilani knows this. He said it himself, that, with him being a more attacking midfielder, we simply have more option to press forward. We can choose to attack with our flanks or with our spine. There’s no necessity to penetrate through Alonso anymore.
So why haven’t we play a dynamic style of football and creating a lot of chance? The answer is lost in the middle of the players inability to adapt to a new formation and Rafa’s persistence to use the same, err, midfield pairing.
After our fourth league game, I remember Rafa changes his formation. He used Gerrard to accompany Mascherano/Lucas and put Yossi behind Torres. The result follows: winning games! Mind you, we were not solid enough defensively. But like the end of last season, what we lack defensively we make up by scoring goals.
Well, at least until that day in Florence.
Oh, how I dread that day in Florence. We were simply outplayed, outrun, and outclassed by Fiorentina. Montolivo had Gerrard in his pocket, and one 19 years old Jovetic torture our defense. It’s like what he have done on the previous six games vanished into the air. We lost to Chelsea the following week and since then Rafa never used Gerrard alongside Mascherano/Lucas, consistently, anymore.
My guess is Rafa feels the need to protect the defense by using Lucas and Mascherano. And maybe, the player themselves wasn’t ready to play a more attacking pattern. Insua and Glenn often caught after bombing forwards. Throw in the center backs lack of concentration; we find our own recipe for disasters.
As a typical Italian manager (oh yes, he learn from Sacchi, Rafa is as much an Italian as Mancini), Rafa revert to his old approach. Build from the defense, control everything, and try to nick something. Well the result is like this: 2-0, 0-0, 2-0, 1-0, 0-1, 1-0, and 0-0. Solid? Yes. Hard to beat? Defo. But the game is soul destroying. I even dare to say that between the top 7 premier league teams, we are the unimaginative one. But who am I to question the manager as long we grind out result right? Well, for me it’s not like that.
The thing is (there’s always a thing, isn’t it?) people keep saying as long as we keep getting result, it’ll be a golden sky ahead. When Torres, Johnson, and Yossi are coming back, we will be as good as anyone. We will be firing and flying again.
But I can’t just accept that. Simply because I still didn’t have a clue how we’re going to play. Having all your best one playing is one thing. Finding the one formula that will get the best out of everyone is another. I’m afraid there are questions that need to be asked first.
Let’s start with Lucas and Mascherano. I still don’t believe that this pairing will get us anywhere, because both are too similar. Their duty is to break up the opposition play and make simple passes. Lucas should be Mascherano understudy, and Mascherano should be paired with someone who can build our attack. But what does Rafa think? Will he still use this pairing in the future? Will he let go the need to control the game? Will he takes risk and attack our opponent?
And let’s not forget our beloved il principino, Aquilani. Where is he going to play? Having seen him play as a central midfield and as a second striker, I am more convinced that he’s suited for the latter role. He didn’t have that sense of defensive ability that a CM needs to master. Even Rafa didn’t trust him to play in away game. But, will Rafa give him Gerrard’s position? Where does Rafa want him to play?
As for the flank, as much as I’m not convinced with this position, I can’t blame our lack of quality to Rafa. Since the day Steve Mcmanaman went to Madrid, we never have one quality winger. It’s a dying breed too. It’ll cost us a fortune to have someone with Kuyt’s energy, Babel’s pace, and Riera’s technical skill (even Vargas cost 20 million). My wish is just sometimes Rafa will have the guts to drop Kuyt and opt to play two pure wingers.
So that’s basically my thought on Liverpool’s system this season. If I could propose one thing, then I would like us to play these three formations:
Glenn –—- Carra ——– Agger —-– Insua
Gerrard –—- Mascherano
Kuyt —————— Aquilani —————- Yossi
Torres
(gerrrard take over Alonso’s role)
Or:
Glenn –—- Carra ——– Agger —-– Insua
Mascherano
Kuyt ———-Gerrard —— Aquilani ——— Yossi
Torres
Or:
Glenn –—- Carra ——– Agger —-– Insua
Lucas –—- Mascherano
Gerrard ————Aquilani————— Yossi
Torres
(let
Lucas and Mascherano sit deeps, but release the 4 upfront. It’ll be
similar to Genoa’s style. We maybe, errr, concede a few, but heck at
lest it’ll be entertaining)
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