Birmingham Away Build Up

[Craig_H]

Anyways, back on track.

------------------Reina------------------
Johnson----Carra--------Agger--------Kon
------------Gerrard---Meireless-----------
Maxi-------------Babel----------Jovanovic
----------------Torres--------------------

I'd also consider

------------------Reina------------------
Johnson----Carra--------Agger--------Kon
------------Gerrard---Poulsen-------------
Maxi-----------Meireles---------------Babel
----------------Torres---------------------

Or maybe even switch Gerrard and Meireles around.

Well quite - i dont know why you'd consider Meireles more advanced than Gerrard in the first place

[danperkins]

IMO Merieles shouldn't start against Birmingham, Konchesky will most likely be in at LB with our resident crock Aurelio being injured already, **** sake! IMO its not advisable to have to debutants starting against a really difficult side in Birmingham and at St Andrews. Also if the enigma that is Ryan Dum Dum Babel is going to play at role for LFC he should only be used at CF and only at CF, he is putrid on the left its a no no position, he is tad better on right but he doesn't have the skill,smarts or crossing ability to be a winger, instead i think he can possibly (well hopefully) utilise his pace and that hammer right foot of his by playing him in a CF role some point, maybe playing him higher up the pitch and more central, might catch out defenders with his pace.

IMO:

--------------Reina---------------
Johnson--Carra--Agger--Konchesky
-----------Poulsen---------------
Maxi-------Gerrard-------Jovo
---------Babel-------------------
---------------Torres------------

Or

--------------Reina----------
Kelly--Carra--Agger--Konchesky
-----------Poulsen---------------
Johnson-------Gerrard-------Jovo
---------Maxi-------------------
---------------Torres------------


LM is a problem for us and has been for ****ing years now, ridiculous that we didn't sort it out. Jovo has looked woeful but deserves time, if he flops at that position then maybe Cole when he's back could deputise but i'd perfer to see Cole central. Short of playing Aurelio ahead of Konchesky we really don't have any natural width on that side.

[DannyMan2006]

Well quite - i dont know why you'd consider Meireles more advanced than Gerrard in the first place

Roy said he can play in any of the three central positions - So we know he is available to play there.

Stevie has been playing central a bit of late and is doing well. I think first and foremost we need to win the midfield and a debutant from Portugal may find the going tough. Put him further up and if he's a bit lightweight it's less likely to cost us.

Personally I'd play him with Stevie and Put Babel off Torres.

[DannyMan2006]

IMO Merieles shouldn't start against Birmingham, Konchesky will most likely be in at LB with our resident crock Aurelio being injured already, **** sake! IMO its not advisable to have to debutants starting against a really difficult side in Birmingham and at St Andrews. .

I think we should be playing Meireles. He is hopefully going to be one of our better players and we need the best players on the pitch. After Birmingham we have Man Utd and if he handles Birmingham I think we can pitch him in against United.

If he has a tough time we can sub him and play him in the Europa and bring him in for the league game after the United Clash to give him a bit more time.

[Ben_Itez]

Say what you like, but the original team was 4231 with Mascher in. Masch dropping out forced him to change it. Poulsen may have been fit enough to play some part and that was why he was on the bench. Roy may also have felt that next to Masch, Poulsen could get away with being slightly off the pace - as he clearly was against Trabzonspur.

Having witnessed Poulsen and Lucas as a midfield pairing against the Turks he was probably under the impression that it would fail against City as it did against the Turks.

My only problem that night was the way we stuck with it for so long. At 2-0 and after we failed to socre after the flurry of chances, it should at an absoloute minimum have been changed then.

Well yes i will say what i like, much like what you do.

I just don't see how at first he seemed to be playing two defensive midfielders then changed it to playing none. I'm not having a go at Roy for the sake of it but surely you can see that he made an absolute balls up from the start which was compounded by his inability or reluctance to change it when it was apparent very early it wasn't working.

For the last time Masch dropping out did NOT force him to change it.

Flurry of chances? You are joking right? We hit the post twice in one move but that was it....absolutely toothless display. Roy may have felt this, that or the other but the fact is he got it wrong.

[ronanm]

I think we should be playing Meireles. He is hopefully going to be one of our better players and we need the best players on the pitch. After Birmingham we have Man Utd and if he handles Birmingham I think we can pitch him in against United.

If he has a tough time we can sub him and play him in the Europa and bring him in for the league game after the United Clash to give him a bit more time.

F*ck this easing him in. We need to win at Birmingham. We'd like get something at the Scum (even though again it seems, the sum of their parts FAR outweighs the names on the teamsheet).

[Mostar]

I think we should be playing Meireles. He is hopefully going to be one of our better players and we need the best players on the pitch. After Birmingham we have Man Utd and if he handles Birmingham I think we can pitch him in against United.

If he has a tough time we can sub him and play him in the Europa and bring him in for the league game after the United Clash to give him a bit more time.

He was brought in to start and I'd throw him in immediately without any hesitation. He needs to get the feel for PL and I think the game against BCFC is a great opportunity for him. If he handles it well, which I hope he does, then he should be ready for a much more difficult visit to Old Trafford.

[Icon]

--------------Reina----------
Kelly--Carra--Agger--Konchesky
-----------Poulsen---------------
Johnson-------Raul-------Babel
---------SG-------------------
---------------Torres-----------?

[pondus]

Tale of the game

Stuart Parnaby undergoes a test on a hamstring injry while Kevin Phillips is closer to a return. But Sebastian Larsson, injured at Bolton, is missing with a knee problem.

Liverpool are missing Dirk Kuyt, with a shoulder problem, while David Ngog is also out with a hamstring injury. But left-back Paul Konchesky, signed from Fulham, and former Porto midfielder Raul Meireles are expected to make their debuts. Joe Cole misses out again by serving the third of his three-match suspension.

Steven Gerrard has scored in six of the nine Premier League matches he has played against Birmingham City.

Birmingham have gone 16 homes games without a Premier League defeat - but 46 games since they last won by more than one goal. This is the 50th League game between these teams at Birmingham. In the previous 49, Birmingham have won 21 while Liverpool won 15.

Last season: Liverpool 2 Birmingham 2, Liverpool 1 Birmingham 1.
Stat of the game: The last four Premier League meetings between these sides have ended in draws.
Betting tip: A 2-2 draw is 16-1.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/foo...h-preview.html

Why are we so ****e against the brummies?

[SB]

I like Danny's 2nd side the best TBH. Let Raul get a feel for the Prem playing higher up the pitch where any slip ups won't cost us dearly. It may be a bit much to expect both the new lads to play well together in a new league ? Stevie can sit back and help Poulsen and then get forward when the time's right.

------------------Reina------------------
Johnson----Carra--------Agger--------Kon
------------Gerrard---Poulsen-------------
Maxi-----------Meireles---------------Babel
----------------Torres---------------------

[SB]

Tale of the game

Birmingham have gone 16 homes games without a Premier League defeat - but 46 games since they last won by more than one goal. This is the 50th League game between these teams at Birmingham. In the previous 49, Birmingham have won 21 while Liverpool won 15.

Last season: Liverpool 2 Birmingham 2, Liverpool 1 Birmingham 1.
Stat of the game: The last four Premier League meetings between these sides have ended in draws.
Betting tip: A 2-2 draw is 16-1.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/foo...h-preview.html

Why are we so ****e against the brummies?

That's a terrible record we have there Must do better this time around for confidence

[dww]

We should never contemplate 442 until we have proper wingers.

Although I think the balance wide is one problem I think the biggest problem we have is getting a front partnership that is well balanced. The real issue with the 4-4-2 we used against City was the flat three line setup. With Ngog and Torres both similar tactically - neither are target men but they want to be at the point of the attack - the formation is very easy to play against. Neither of them naturally tends to make movements or look for balls that would help the other.

There is a temptation, which we have all tended to give in to, to caricature a formation and complain about the numbers we use to describe a formation when really the issue is more complicated than that. Obvious example being that that Spurs use a bigman/little man 4-4-2 and were effective against City. one reason being that a partnership like that allows you to split the strikers and have out balls from different positions (I think a settled midfield also helps).

I actually think this is one of the problems with Torres - it is hard to find a suitable forward partner. Villa for Spain has worked okay but then Torres has become the minor partner and we are obviously unlikely to get someone that good. Keane, Voronin and Crouch have all to varying degrees not quite worked in my view. I tend to think getting the bets out of Torres is one of the best reasons for using a formation geared towards a single main striker.

[BobTheCharmer]

I can't see any other result other than a Liverpool victory.

Two Nil. Torres and Johnson.

[JohnDoe]

Yeah, silly of me to think that Kuyt and Jovanovic arent in Pires and Ljungberg's league. Our pair are obviously easily as good, if not better...

It's not about them not being wingers, though. It's because it's a **** pairing.

[Craig_H]

It's not about them not being wingers, though. It's because it's a **** pairing.

Ok then - we shouldnt play 442 until we have people who can play as wingers.