Maxi Rodriguez

[Mostar]

Is that such a bad thing? Do you all seem disappointed because you don't rate Henderson, or simply because you rate Kuyt more?

I think Henderson is going to be a v.important player for us this season but Kuyt deserves to be in the team on merit. It's a shame we have Carroll otherwise both could play

Off the topic but while watching AFC vs Udinese yesterday I was thinking it would be great if we could sign a striker like Lavezzi, which is completely different type of a player than Carroll.

[dww]

Is that such a bad thing? Do you all seem disappointed because you don't rate Henderson, or simply because you rate Kuyt more?

I think Henderson is going to be a v.important player for us this season but Kuyt deserves to be in the team on merit. It's a shame we have Carroll otherwise both could play

My feeling is that there is a real danger that if we play Kuyt wide and Carroll up top we will get pushed back and struggle to break from deep (similar criticism would apply if you swap Maxi for Dirk). Kuyt is best against the big teams but at the minute I don't have faith in Adams to run the game so I think I would go with Henderson for this one actually.

[Kenneth]

How is Henderson going to help run the game from RM?

[dww]

How is Henderson going to help run the game from RM?

That wasn't my point - I think his pace and mobility will help us break from deeper positions - lessening the need to control where the game is played. Kuyt and Maxi benefit massively when we can ply higher up the pitch, when we are pushed back they are much less effective.

[RedReet]

One game, one goal and some nice play leading up to Suarez goal.

Maxi.

[saj]

Off the topic but while watching AFC vs Udinese yesterday I was thinking it would be great if we could sign a striker like Lavezzi, which is completely different type of a player than Carroll.

Lavezzi doesn't play for either team though?

Lavezzi isn't a out and out striker - he is damn good though

[Lee]

Very unhappy and likely to leave in January, according to DJPhal (good reputation) on RAWK.

Have just read this article too.

http://www.anfieldindex.com/3878/maxi-rodrguez-unluckiest-man-liverpool.html

Maxi, Maxi Rodríguez runs down the wing for me.

Well, not this season he doesn’t. The subject of one of the Kop’s favoured songs and the hero of the closing games of the last season, Maxi Rodríguez has played only 13 minutes in the Premier League in 2011/12. It seems hard to fathom for someone who seemed to be so integral to the way the ‘new’ Liverpool played as the 2010/11 campaign wound down, but just how has Maxi fallen so far from grace?

Having joined the club in January 2010, it is fair to say that Maxi didn’t immediately win the hearts of every Liverpool supporter. At the height of protest against the Hicks and Gillette regime, his arrival on a free transfer from Atlético Madrid was only heralded by a few as good business. As the team struggled in what was to be Rafa Benítez’s final season in charge, eventually falling short of Champions League qualification, so Maxi took time to settle in, but by the end of the campaign he had a pass completion rate of 82% and had created 21 chances (20 of which came from open play).

Under Roy Hodgson’s short tenure, Maxi was one of the few to impress. Perhaps alongside Lucas Leiva and Dirk Kuyt, Maxi’s tireless work ethic won him favour, and goals against Bolton, West Ham and Aston Villa showed his value. It was under Kenny Dalglish, and when playing alongside Luis Suárez, that he truly began to flourish, however.

Maxi is one of those players seemingly born to play ‘pass and move’ football. Comfortable and creative on the ball and with an intelligence of run off it that has a wonderful habit of creating space for his team mates. It’s unsurprising that Maxi began to work his way into Dalglish’s team, and he hits his height during a three game spell which saw him score seven goals and complete 89.33% of his passes.

It wasn’t just in those three games that Maxi impressed though. Whenever he was in the team the Reds seemed to play more fluidly, his linking of defence and attack and superb ball retention a big part of that. While last season his appearances generally came at the expense of Andy Carroll, whose fitness issues often made him a lumbering weight around the team’s neck, this campaign the Geordie has improved and impressed, and it would be Dutch Duracell Bunny Dirk Kuyt who would miss out.

Maxi’s problem, however, came when the club paid £18.5M for Stewart Downing. A direct rival for his position on the left of Dalglish’s 4-4-2, it would be fair to expect that a player who was chased so hard and who cost so much would be the favoured choice, and that meant that Maxi would be left kicking his heels.

One can understand why Downing was the man identified to fill that role as well. In the 2010/11 season he created 77 chances for his Aston Villa team mates, and though many of them came when he played on the right flank, his ability as a traditional winger had long been established. Simply put, when one looks at the statistics, Downing seems the better choice. In 2010/11 he created, on average, a chance every 43.99 minutes, and this season has trimmed that down to a chance every 42.35 minutes. Maxi, on the other hand, seems positively dull in comparison, with a chance every 58.37 minutes in 2009/10 and every 57.48 minutes in 2010/11. Given that a winger’s job, one could argue, is purely one of being a supply line, the Downing selection seems justified.

Liverpool under Kenny Dalglish in 2010/11

When one considers Liverpool’s record under Dalglish last season, both with and without Maxi in the side, it becomes less cut and dried. Dalglish was in charge for 18 league games, 10 of which saw Maxi start. In the 10 games in which Maxi started, the Reds’ win record was 70%, scoring an average of 2.4 goals per game and conceding just 0.8. In the eight in which he was either missing or began on the bench, the win record drops to just 37.5%, scoring just 1.38 goals per game but with a similar goals against record of 0.82 per game.

It seems ridiculous that a man who made such an impact on the side and fitted so perfectly into the way that the club play has been cast aside so easily, and even more so when one considers the formation that Liverpool are using. Although there are occasional adjustments, such as the back three that was used against both Chelsea and Stoke last season, by and large Dalglish’s Liverpool are set out in what is nominally a 4-4-2, but with the right players (such as Maxi) becomes a hybrid between that and a more modern 4-3-3. It is a system very close to how Liverpool played under Dalglish in his first stint in charge, and can be quite happily said to suit the players at his disposal.

How Liverpool's hybrid 4-4-2 would work with Maxi

One key aspect of the formation and its potential success in the modern game are the two wide midfielders. On the right side of the four, the player (usually Jordan Henderson so far this season, but a role that would suit Steven Gerrard perfectly) is asked to tuck in slightly, providing something of a midfield trio alongside Lucas and Charlie Adam. The left sided player, a role that John Barnes made famous, is asked to push on, linking midfield and attack and certainly has a creative burden on his shoulders.

When Downing is played in this position, his tendency is to stick to the flank, which is all well and good and has brought a number of chances this season, but also stymies, to a certain extent, the attacking flair of José Enrique. The full back is a great attacking weapon for Liverpool, and that would only be enhanced with Maxi in the side, his cutting inside dovetailing perfectly with Enrique’s forays down the flank. With Suárez dropping deep into the ‘Beardsley’ role as well, the two South Americans would be more than able to continue their fruitful link up play.

In all honesty I simply cannot understand why Maxi has been reduced to just 13 Premier League minutes this season; his performance against Stoke in the Carling Cup was evidence that he has not magically lost his talents over the summer. For a player who has reached the age of 30, and who will more than likely end his career back in his native Argentina, such a lack of game time may signal the beginning of the end of his Liverpool career. If it does, it would be a great shame that only briefly did the Liverpool fans get to see such a talent run down their wing for them.

13 minutes of PL football this season.

[RichC]

he's such a good technical footballer I just don't understand how he's not got more game time, he'd surely link well with Suarez et al going forwards.

[Lee]

he's such a good technical footballer I just don't understand how he's not got more game time, he'd surely link well with Suarez et al going forwards.

I suppose explained in the article to an extent - we're not going to spend £18.5m on Downing (Maxi's supposed replacement), and stick him on the bench. It's staggering how we can't find room for him though ffs.

[Shaggy]

What has DJPhal said? He gets the team on Twitter most weeks.

[Lee]

Pretty much that really mate.

There's a Maxi thread on RAWK and DJPhal posted on the 31st October that Maxi is really unhappy and is likely to be gone in January.

Here y'are

http://www.redandwhitekop.com/forum/index.php?topic=256694.2320

[Mostar]

he's such a good technical footballer I just don't understand how he's not got more game time, he'd surely link well with Suarez et al going forwards.

It is difficult to get him some playing time as clearly Kenny doesn't see him as first or second option.

That said, he did play against Stoke (imo he had a very good game) and made it to the bench against WBA as well (not sure if that's more the result of Stevie being injured than anything else) but I personally cannot see him breaking into the starting rotation unless we have injuries to the players ahead of him in the packing order.

Would be sad to see him go but if we would go and replace him with a player of greater qualities in the next transfer window then so be it.

Last thing we want to see is that he leaves in January and we don't find any replacements.

[cream]

It is difficult to get him some playing time as clearly Kenny doesn't see him as first or second option.

That said, he did play against Stoke (imo he had a very good game) and made it to the bench against WBA as well (not sure if that's more the result of Stevie being injured than anything else) but I personally cannot see him breaking into the starting rotation unless we have injuries to the players ahead of him in the packing order.

Would be sad to see him go but if we would go and replace him with a player of greater qualities in the next transfer window then so be it.

Last thing we want to see is that he leaves in January and we don't find any replacements.

He's not gonna get any playing time in a team playing 4-4-2, it's just not suited to his game.

[sean_lfc]

After how he helped us towards the back end of last season along with Kuyt, playing some excellent football and scoring great goals (2 hattricks and a brace in 3 consecutive games - 11 in total last season) great workrate, technically sound, fantastic attitude, never complaining, gets on with it, I really am disappointed that he's been given literally **** all time to play. He must be right ****ed off and I don't blame him.

[Fredo]

But we don't really play 4-4-2 though, don't we? It's more of a 4-1-3-1-1, sometimes 4-2-3-1 than a rigid 4-4-2 so I think Maxi has his place.