No replacement for Keane - who will benefit?

[hamshanks]

I agree with this analysis. It would also be nice if it gave Nemeth the chance to get involved in a few match squads when he returns from injury.

think he was sent out on loan wasn't he?

[Reece]

think he was sent out on loan wasn't he?

Yes but he got injured on his first appearance and is out for 6 weeks I think.

[FatTony]

I don't think anyone will in normal circumstances, only under injury.

I believe that Rafa wants to play only with one up front, Gerrard behind so he can field both Mascher and Alonso in the middle. Ngog, Babel and Kuyt are only good enough to play bit part/filling in roles (and probably quite happy to do this) fitting in with Rafa's needs. Show me another world class striker that would be happy to let Torres lead the attack? He cannot drop Gerrard and he cannot shackle Gerrard to a defensive role as this would be a real waste, also both Alonso and Mascher are very good at this, so the only thing he can do is play Stevie and Torres as a partnership. That to me is the reason, he's building a team around those two in that formation and he likes the security of two holding midfielders.

The problem then arises if anything longterm happens to Torres, but as I said, what world class striker would be happy to fill in when he's injured? Hence we're left with (bar Torres), a very poor line of attack.

[DannyMan2006]

The thing people bang on about with Keane is that we have weakened our side yet many people felt he didn't contribute much in the first place so in that case, you can't have it both ways. Personally, Gerrard will be allowed to play in his best position with Torres. Mascherano will get a sustained run in the side which we might see him return to last seasons form. I hope Babel realises this is a door which has opened up for him - he comes across as the sort of player who relishes the big occasions - from now on to the last day, its cup finals. Lets hope he can get his act together.

Spot on about Mascherano and Babel.

[EwarWoo]

If we go back to the 4-5-1 we finished last season with (form wise as well as formation wise) we'll gain from it. Definately.

We're a better team now if we can just mesh like we did then.

On the other hand, if Torres get's injured we're grade A ****ed.

Playerwise I can see Kuyt shoved up when needed (a mistake, but it'll happen) and Benny gettibg a game out right.

[Harv]

If we go back to the 4-5-1 we finished last season with (form wise as well as formation wise) we'll gain from it. Definately.

We're a better team now if we can just mesh like we did then.

On the other hand, if Torres get's injured we're grade A ****ed.

Playerwise I can see Kuyt shoved up when needed (a mistake, but it'll happen) and Benny gettibg a game out right.

Torres has been injured all season mate...we weren't ****ed then

[badpiggy]

i hope n'gog steps up and does well. he's very raw but he's done a few good things when he's been on. potentially make or break time for babel as well but i have a sneaking suspicion he's not going to cut it.

[cadmium]

Torres has been injured all season mate...we weren't ****ed then

exactly

[EwarWoo]

Torres has been injured all season mate...we weren't ****ed then

Maybe. But I get a bad feeling.

Not normally a negative type but I feel concerns currently.

For one thing Dirky's 5 so far this season is more than he got all last season. And he's gone back off the boil. I doubt we'll see anymore goals from him.

We're back to depending upon Gerrard scoring from midfield and you wonder how much pressure even he can take in one season.

[FatTony]

Torres has been injured all season mate...we weren't ****ed then

I can see the point but you have to also agree that both Manu and Chelsea have underperformed. At this stage I'm not sure how many points we have now compared to last season? I don't think there's much difference at all.

We've been dropping lots of points in the last couple of months, even since November and Manu have made back something like 12 points on and over us since then. They're now flying in top gear and have hefty resources, especially in attack. They also have the tightest defence in the league and all of this with large numbers of injuries to decent players.

I think the argument that "we've had Torres injured most of the season we weren't f*cked then" is said more in hope?

[wiw]

I can see the point but you have to also agree that both Manu and Chelsea have underperformed. At this stage I'm not sure how many points we have now compared to last season? I don't think there's much difference at all.

We've been dropping lots of points in the last couple of months, even since November and Manu have made back something like 12 points on and over us since then. They're now flying in top gear and have hefty resources, especially in attack. They also have the tightest defence in the league and all of this with large numbers of injuries to decent players.

I think the argument that "we've had Torres injured most of the season we weren't f*cked then" is said more in hope?

Fairly certain we're 8 points better off

[Rich]

We're now hugely reliant on the goals of Torres and Gerrard, we came up short last year with the same team (bar Reira) will the added stability of playing for a yeara together be enough?

[red g]

Not saying he will benefit, maybe in last month of the season but do we know how long nemeth is out for?

[mersey86]

I was thinking about this yesterday, desperate as I was to see us pick up Saviola as cover. Then I thought how we always complain about the youngsters not getting a chance - and how an unfit Saviola would be a kick in the teeth to the younger players.
I wouldn't be surprised to see El Zhar getting more bench time. A shame Nemeth is unavailable, though.

[memzey]

We're now hugely reliant on the goals of Torres and Gerrard, we came up short last year with the same team (bar Reira) will the added stability of playing for a yeara together be enough?

Same as before we sold Keane then?