Villa Post Match

[Armchairkopite]

hope kelly/darby are fit for the RB role the thought of agger/skrtel in the centre is frightening!!

we need to keep carra and agger at CB.

Agree completely, now is not the time to bring Skrtle back into the team particularly as it has taken so long for us to get Carra and Agger playing solidly at the back.

I would especially like to see more of Kelly I though he was fantastic when he got a chance earlier in the season.

[The Birdman]

And another thing, for anyone wanting Martin O'Neil as our manager please reconsider after watching his side put 10 men behind the ball at home then launch it up to Carew, exactly how Houllier had us playing, scared to pass the ball just sit deep and launch it.
If Villa had beat us last night it would have put them in a really strong position but he was so negative as the manager of the home team, higher in the league, in better form and with a terrific home record.

Usless long ball merchant

[Armchairkopite]

To be really effective Kuyt requires movement around him. Yesterday Johnson and Gerrard didn't offer much. In the circumstances I still think he would be better off in the middle, swapped with Gerrard. In theory Kuyt, Benayoun and Gerrard could form a very fluid attacking combination behind Torres. At the minute they spend too much time bunched together in the middle in attack or too deep to hurt the opposition.

Would this not leave us with the same problem?

Imo Lucas and Aquilian need to drop more ball over the shoulder of the left back this is what Kuyt excells at, finding that space and picking out a cross.
Short balls to Kuyt will only result in one of two things a short pass back to the rightback of back inside to the midfield in other words harmless.

[Armchairkopite]

And another thing, for anyone wanting Martin O'Neil as our manager please reconsider after watching his side put 10 men behind the ball at home then launch it up to Carew, exactly how Houllier had us playing, scared to pass the ball just sit deep and launch it.
If Villa had beat us last night it would have put them in a really strong position but he was so negative as the manager of the home team, higher in the league, in better form and with a terrific home record.

Usless long ball merchant

If Agbonlahor had scored in that one on one O' Neil would have been a hero, counter attacking is part of football and to be fair they tried to play in the first half but they couldn't hold onto the ball.

[The_weatherman]

I have been fidgeting with the chalkboard thingy, if you compare the passing of Lucas to the passing of Xabi in the corresponding Villa fixture last season you will find that they are passing the ball to similar positions and spread the ball similarly. They also manage a similar amount of passing, I think if Lucas keeps this up and manages to add long range passes to his arsenal maybe, then we have to consider if Mascher is hampering our play.

[red g]

And another thing, for anyone wanting Martin O'Neil as our manager please reconsider after watching his side put 10 men behind the ball at home then launch it up to Carew, exactly how Houllier had us playing, scared to pass the ball just sit deep and launch it.
If Villa had beat us last night it would have put them in a really strong position but he was so negative as the manager of the home team, higher in the league, in better form and with a terrific home record.

Usless long ball merchant

not a big fan of o'neil but they do play some decent stuff and to be jonest if i was an opposing manager playing Liverpool i would tell them to hit it high into our box we have hardly done well in that dept recently have we!!

[dww]

Would this not leave us with the same problem?

Imo Lucas and Aquilian need to drop more ball over the shoulder of the left back this is what Kuyt excells at, finding that space and picking out a cross.
Short balls to Kuyt will only result in one of two things a short pass back to the rightback of back inside to the midfield in other words harmless.

I don't think so what Kuyt excels at to me is finding space in the final third and fighting for the ball. If we play high up the pitch and people are close to him he is quite creative, on the wing and deep he is occasionally capable of a great ball as he has good vision but in general he doesn't have the foot speed to make the room or the pace to advance the ball. If he was played centrally close to the striker the he I think his fighting would keep the ball higher up the pitch, he would also be more inclined to run both flanks than Gerrard at the minute which would also leave Torres more freedom to stay central which is where he does most damage.

When Gerrard is fit and on form he does all the things I think Kuyt would and more centrally which in turn benefits Kuyt. At the minute he isn't so I think a swap might benefit both.

[Fosterbloke]

Aye. Problem is those kind of players tend to cost the kind of money of which we are sadly so lacking.

Why do teams like Man City, Bolton, Wolves and Aston Villa seem to find them for peanuts then?

[Guest]

Why do teams like Man City, Bolton, Wolves and Aston Villa seem to find them for peanuts then?

Bolton and Wolves aren't particularly good examples though are they? Milner cost a fair bit of money, as well as Petrov or whoever City has signed lately, so I'm not sure you're being sarcastic here.

[Armchairkopite]

I don't think so what Kuyt excels at to me is finding space in the final third and fighting for the ball. If we play high up the pitch and people are close to him he is quite creative, on the wing and deep he is occasionally capable of a great ball as he has good vision but in general he doesn't have the foot speed to make the room or the pace to advance the ball. If he was played centrally close to the striker the he I think his fighting would keep the ball higher up the pitch, he would also be more inclined to run both flanks than Gerrard at the minute which would also leave Torres more freedom to stay central which is where he does most damage.

When Gerrard is fit and on form he does all the things I think Kuyt would and more centrally which in turn benefits Kuyt. At the minute he isn't so I think a swap might benefit both.

The problem I have with that is when Kuyt has been played off Torres in the past he hasn't offered enough however I would like to see Kuty Play up front with Torres in a 4-4-2 but thats a different ball game.

Kuyt cant run the right flank how on earth to you expect him to work the right and the left.

Now is not the time to change Gerrards postion either when he is starting to discover some form (at long last) imo.

[dww]

Why do teams like Man City, Bolton, Wolves and Aston Villa seem to find them for peanuts then?

To whom do you refer?

[Armchairkopite]

Why do teams like Man City, Bolton, Wolves and Aston Villa seem to find them for peanuts then?

Bolton and Wolves aren't particularly good examples though are they? Milner cost a fair bit of money, as well as Petrov or whoever City has signed lately, so I'm not sure you're being sarcastic here.

Must be, wingers do not come cheap.

[Fierce]

Why do teams like Man City, Bolton, Wolves and Aston Villa seem to find them for peanuts then?

Umm, got any examples??

Robinho - £32m
Tevez - £30m
SWP - £15m
Ashley Young - £12m
Milner - £13m
Downing - £15m

And I have no idea who you could possibly be thinking about at Wolves or Bolton!

Damn my slow typing skills

[dww]

The problem I have with that is when Kuyt has been played off Torres in the past he hasn't offered enough however I would like to see Kuty Play up front with Torres in a 4-4-2 but thats a different ball game.

Kuyt cant run the right flank how on earth to you expect him to work the right and the left.

Now is not the time to change Gerrards postion either when he is starting to discover some form (at long last) imo.

I don't think Gerrard has really shown any great form. He looks to be getting fitter but his general play hasn't overly impressed me.

I'm not asking Kuyt to run the flanks though - just to move out there to give and option at times. I think that sort of opportunist wide play is where he is good - not having to attack a wide position fro deeper. Last season he did well as we played higher up the pitch and Alonso played great diagonal balls to put him in positions in the inside right sort of channel a lot. We don't have that in the team at the minute.

[Roboklopp]

Umm, got any examples??

Robinho - £32m
Tevez - £30m
SWP - £15m
Ashley Young - £12m
Milner - £13m
Downing - £15m

And I have no idea who you could possibly be thinking about at Wolves or Bolton!

Damn my slow typing skills

Quite- people were in outrage at the thought of paying such high prices for such mediocre players at the time.