Into the mind of Rafa Benitez; Steven Gerrard and the asymmetrical midfield

[CAD]

Riise has been our most potent player against the Chavs in the last couple of years so I disagree about him being an emergency option.

He's scored against them many a times and this has a mental boost I'm sure Rafa would've taken into consideration. He had 3 or 4 chances on his left which I would've expected him to put away at least one but it wasn't to be that day.

He's not silky but he's a powerhouse that deserves more credit.

I don't think I agree. Riise at LM/LB always takes something away from our general play. 64 shots on goal in the PL last year and 1 goal. Imagine what a skillfull LM could have done for us instead. Everytime you throw the ball away like Riise tends to do the entire team has to start over. If I could change one thing about LFC I would pull Riise from the XI.

[Maxiedge]

I don't think I agree. Riise at LM/LB always takes something away from our general play. 64 shots on goal in the PL last year and 1 goal. Imagine what a skillfull LM could have done for us instead. Everytime you throw the ball away like Riise tends to do the entire team has to start over. If I could change one thing about LFC I would pull Riise from the XI.

Didn't know that. That is a frightening stat but......

... he has scored some vital goals for us and , attacking wise, takes up some excellent positions.

I think outside the top 4 every other team would love to have him but, yes, in the long term a more silky LM would be handy.

[homer1]

I like Riise in Midfeild, he got caugh ball watchg a few times on sunday, but as was mention Arbeloa was never really pushing in Midfeild so he could be forgiven for taking a few liberties.
Riise for me is very direct, the amount of times he beats the full back and gets the cross in is a major plus for me, he will always hit it past them and get the run on them, which most of the time he does.
He also plays well when inter-changing witht he deep striker on the left and does a nice little one two with an attacker to confuse the full back then put the ball in back post.
The problem i noticed on sunday was he was using Kuyt and Torres was attacking the front post, which ok Riise maybe should of put it there but we should have someone back post as it has been worked on.
Riise very rarely looses the ball when he is dribbling with it aswell, he has the ball right on the touch line so if it goes out it is 9/10 a throw in to us, in an attacking area, rather than loosing possesion, and getting hit on the counter attack.
Kewell maybe better when fully fit and on form, then again he never is, so we will probably never know, i thought Riise had a good game on sunday and was quite surprised to see him gettting stick of some quarters.

I think Alonso had a poor game on Sunday no matter what you say, he got caught in possesion far too many times and 10 yard passes from him where going astray.
I dont agree with people expecting too much from Alonso, because in his first and season he played alot games as a defensive midfielder and was playing great, he hasnt hit that form in a long while yet. His awareness and quickness he could pass the ball with was astounding he seems to have lost that edge for me. He reminded me of a Jari litmanen type of player, he knew what blade of grass everyoner of his team mates where on and pass it to them.
On sunday he got caught delaying his pass several times, a few of which led to a Chelsea attack.

At the risk of turning this into another Riise bashing thread, I couldn't disagree more with your comments Abro

I feel he seldom gets around his opponents & even more rarely gets decent crosses in (ie ones that are inviting for a striker to attack as opposed to it being lobbed in making defenders favourite). One of the most frustrating things about Riise for me is exactly what you said above, he always hits it past his opponent but usually in a schoolboy style, knock it to the left and run around the right and I have lost count of times he has lost possession doing this. I agree he is usually on the touchline and we often get throws but from our LM / LW we need him attacking & beating players and whipping in crosses, not getting us throws barely into the opponents half

Riise as a regular at LM will severely hamper our attacking play over the course of the season, no problem for particular games where we need more protection for our FB but this has got to be the exception as opposed to the rule IMO

[CAD]

Didn't know that. That is a frightening stat but......

... he has scored some vital goals for us and , attacking wise, takes up some excellent positions.

I think outside the top 4 every other team would love to have him but, yes, in the long term a more silky LM would be handy.

He was ACE for Norway against Falkland city last night. Playing LM.

[Maestro]

Good post John Doe, if that is your real name