Why do we look so ordinary?

[lfc4ever]

Benitez is too cautious he starts each game with the philosophy of not losing instead of going out to win. This belief exhibits itself in the players sitting back,letting others take the risk of attacking,cautious set piece attacks,everybody in the box to defend a corner.
He plots each game like a military commander( probably due to to board game he plays) who reacts to the movement of others instead of instigating his own offensives..

Yup, I think he is over tactical, nullifying the opposition is his first & foremost priority hence the teams are picked on that basis and is shown by the rotation he uses on a match by match analysis on who we are playing.

Teams with an ability for flair will easily get past us now and the unpredictable always outweighs the predictable, and on top of that the chavs have a better squad, we will always be fighting for a CL position rather then the league title if we stick to our current set up & philosophy.

Unleash the team, get the best 11 week in & week out on the pitch, rotate when we are 3-0 up, and let the players express themselves first & foremost.

Get rid of the dross in the squad, improve on what we have and reduce the whole squad to a manageable 22-25, with a core of 16 who will play the majority of the games, get world class players in instead of decent squad players, then only 1 or 2 additions per year would be needed, keeping an eye out for the really top players if they ever become available.

[bigfooty]

The thing that annoys me though is that last season went 3-4-3 against West Ham, or so I seem to recall, with Bellamy, Kuyt and Crouch all in the same side. It may have been 4-4-2 with Agger at LB and Bellamy at LM but either way we started with Agger, Carra and Sami too.

The point is that almost exactly a year ago against a not too dissimilar West Ham we went with 3 strikers. A year on and it is indicative of how defensive Rafa has become of late that we played effectively 4-4-1-1.

[Tee]

The only time I recall us playing the kind of pressure high tempo football I enjoy was away to Man City earlier this season. We were superb - played great attacking football and were genuinely very unlucky not to win.

That is how we should approach games - get at the opposition rather than sit and wait to see what they are doing. When we play with this attacking mentality we are as good as any team - we just seem scared to come out of our defensive shell.

[Warren]

eh, not its not, most teams would know the day before or the morning of. rafa is known for keeping it very late, under houlier etc , they would know for days

Have you ever played professional football? I know a couple of lads who have and the squad is normally known before but the actual starting line up isn't until right before the game. Its a pretty standard thing

[stevie_gerrard_8]

eh, not its not, most teams would know the day before or the morning of. rafa is known for keeping it very late, under houlier etc , they would know for days

Most managers do it just before. Capello is one of them

[DomL]

Its easy to say pass and move is a simple concept well it may have been in a team of Liverpool's of old when we had some of best players to ever grace these shores.

To have a player likes Barnes a player only in my mind similiar in affect and as a plyer is Ronaldo, then we have rush and Kenny, Torres and Rooney possibly if you are looking similiar players but cant really touch their level.

Thats how good thoughs players were and we many players that are nowhare near that quality and untill we do our football will allways be what it is.

Having a back four that can bring freedom will help us, having skrtel and Agger at the back will bring the ball out set the tempo playing the ball on the deck.

Having full backs confident in their skill takcing on players running with the ball, not just standing their worried like Finnan does now, Arbeloa has been a breath of fresh air with his attitude and that is worrying.

Rafa is getting more and more footballers into our team and its showing in starts and fits.

A setled team with better footballers all the way round the field will create a better atmoshpere on the pitch and the club.

Its been a while since i saw a player like lucas, Babel and Masch playing it one touch then moving on and finding space.

We need more of it and better coaches within our team to get it out our team affectively, Rafa cant do it all and shouldnt hopefully he knows that and will get better people in for this.

[Parm]

I dont think we are as bad as some make out, but the problem with us is that our priority is not to concede a goal. Which is at odds with Arsenal and Manure who just go and play their stuff and let other teams worry about conceding goals. I think also Rafa's tactical neurois seems to inhibt the players. I do remember a year or 2 ago one of the Arsenal lads saying that Wenger does not concentrate on set pieces or the opposition line up that much. He allows them to express themselves on the pitch, attack from the off and let the oppo **** themselves trying to stop them. It's clear the Arsenal players are (by and large) ones who are very skillful, confident with the ball and in passing it and are quick in moving with and without the ball.

However, when Rafa takes the shackles off us we can be just as potent as Arse/Manure, but those shackles are very rarely release for the start of a game and when we do finalyl start attacking in a game and going for it, sometimes its a bit too late in the day to do much and we start snatching at our chances. This is what happened to us at say Pompey, Blackburn, Sunderland, Villa, Man City

[Nic83]

we only have 1.5 forwards mate. And no top quality wide men. Although babel will soon be. That's about the long and short of it