Christian Benteke

[baitman]

If we are playing a narrow forward line and expecting the full backs to provide width we need an out and out DM, Can doesn't match that description, it has to be Lucas (or we sign someone) the player in that position almost has to have no interest in getting foward otherwise we'll get caught with 7 or 8 men up the field all the time.

we will often fall to counter attacks. us, kings of the counter attack game...
when we are committed forward we are suckers for it. nearly got dry bummed by swindon.
without lucas we would be wide open and lubed up.

[danperkins]

If we are playing a narrow forward line and expecting the full backs to provide width we need an out and out DM, Can doesn't match that description, it has to be Lucas (or we sign someone) the player in that position almost has to have no interest in getting foward otherwise we'll get caught with 7 or 8 men up the field all the time.

[redmike65]

What i'd like to see

I like that formation I have to say.

Firmino and Coutinho should work in tandem if Liverpool are playing one up, but again Lucas not Can has to be the DM.

Can really does need to see grass ahead of him and be able to charge across it. Hardly the right sensibility for a DM!

[elrichio86]

What i'd like to see

The hexagon formation?

I imagine we'll see something like this for the first few months of the season, at least until Sturridge is fit.

[Angryred]

FFS, stop this twaddle about our ****ing midfield in a thread about Benteke...where are the mods!

[microbe]

To get back to Benteke I was not a supporter of his signing for the amount Villa wanted but the deed is done now and I hope he is a success. I was pleased with his performance on Sunday

[G]

Can has barely played in pre season and got back late. I can't see him starting games for a while and to be honest, in midfield I'd have quite a few lads ahead of him in the pecking order right now.

[frank the tank]

Some of the formations and tactics we are seeing advocated have been very offensive, far more than the sides Brendan was putting out in 2013/2014 when he was really going for it in the run in

have a look at the teams that Brendan put out when he was really going for it in the run in. When we beat Arsenal 5-1 at home, and Spurs 4-1 at home, then we started with a diamond formation of Gerrard, Henderson and Coutinho.....with Sterling behind Sturridge and Suarez...... the suggestion that Milner replace Gerrard in that central position and communicate with Henderson to take turns on who defends and who attacks isn't that crazy.

Also, going back to my post suggesting it, then i was saying that i hope we line up that way against the likes of WBA, Bournmouth, Norwich, Villa etc in the first half of the season at home - when teams come to put loads of men behind the ball.

[frank the tank]

Benteke is going to do well here.....

[Assassin]

Benteke is going to do well here.....

Is he currently in lurking mode?

[Cormack74]

Gerrard was absolutely **** last season. Anyone would be an upgrade FFS.

Anyone apart from Allen obviously.

[SB]

Why do we need three central midfielders all capable of 'going forward'? Just don't get it at all.

You sound like you're wanting up to 8 players getting forward (3 attackers, 3 midfielders and both fullbacks)?! Is that right?

Assuming our fullbacks crack on then it is vital that we have a proper defensively minded midfielder - Can isn't that player.

I don't want all 3 going forward all the time but is it too much to expect a DM to be able to bring the ball out if that's what's needed? It's a bonus no?

[RedReet]

have a look at the teams that Brendan put out when he was really going for it in the run in. When we beat Arsenal 5-1 at home, and Spurs 4-1 at home, then we started with a diamond formation of Gerrard, Henderson and Coutinho.....with Sterling behind Sturridge and Suarez...... the suggestion that Milner replace Gerrard in that central position and communicate with Henderson to take turns on who defends and who attacks isn't that crazy.

Also, going back to my post suggesting it, then i was saying that i hope we line up that way against the likes of WBA, Bournmouth, Norwich, Villa etc in the first half of the season at home - when teams come to put loads of men behind the ball.

We played 433 against Arsenal. That was in the run of games I mentioned previously when Coutinho played in the position we are expecting him to feature in this year. We also beat Everton 4-0 with the same system, so it shows we are capable of beating good teams with that set up.

[Chazza]

Christian Benteke has revealed how he confronted Tim Sherwood after being dismissed as a battering-ram striker.

And Liverpool's new £35million forward insisted he left Aston Villa because he grew frustrated at being pigeon-holed as an old-fashioned centre-forward who can’t play any other way.

Those comments, when Sherwood insisted Benteke shouldn’t join the Reds because they don’t provide crosses backfired spectacularly, with the Belgian marching into his then-manager’s office to put him right and explain he wanted to play a more expansive game.

Sherwood had claimed: “There’s no point going to a club where they don’t cross the ball.”

But the 24-year-old said: “I don’t believe that and I told him - I spoke with him and I explained to him the situation.

“I said football has changed and football now is modern and I can adapt.

"It is not just about crossing, I can score normal goals, too. I told him I am not afraid about it.

"If Liverpool bought me, then they know how to use me.

“Is that aspect of my game overlooked? I think so - that is why I came here and I can show I can play with my feet, too.”

Benteke is now a man on a mission for Liverpool — and also to prove a point to Sherwood.

He believes Sherwood took too much credit for “transforming” him last season into a goal machine who saved the Villans' Premier League status.

Benteke’s 11 goals in the run-in after bagging just three goals in the first half of the season followed Sherwood’s February arrival at Villa Park.

But the 24-year-old had been finding his way back to form after an Achilles injury that kept him out of the World Cup finals, and says: “People don’t understand. It was a bit frustrating. It was like I had never been injured.

“He came in at a good time, at a time when I was getting fit and getting better, so it was like a good time for both of us. The right time for him and for me.

“Okay, he helped me a lot, but I had been injured for a long time and I was getting back to what I could do. It was just a question of time.

“With [Sherwood's predecessor] Paul Lambert it was hard because I had just come back and had to help the team. We were struggling, and when Tim came I was feeling better than before.”

Benteke will make his Liverpool debut this weekend, when he travels to Stoke with new team-mates who will be looking towards him to help erase the pain of a trouncing there on the final day of last season.

In fact, it is clear they will be looking to him to deliver a huge amount this season after his transfer, but far from fearing such pressure, the striker believes he will be energised by the challenge — and far from needing Sherwood’s “crosses”, he is confident he’ll thrive at a club playing less directly.

He added: "I believe whatever level I play at I will score goals.

“I think the pressure will bring the best out of me. There was pressure at Aston Villa – a different pressure – but I scored goals. It is the pressure to be at the top and with Villa it was the pressure of not to go down.

“I knew if I joined a big club I would have some pressure, so I am ready for this challenge.”

According to Sherwood, the move is a risk because “going to bigger and better clubs, they don’t actually play, so then they end up looking for a new home again”, but Benteke sees it differently — thanks to a message from his friend and countryman, Chelsea midfielder Eden Hazard.

“Eden sent me a text message. He is happy for me. He said now I have a chance to win and to beat him," revealed Benteke.

“I think we have a chance [to catch champions Chelsea, who finished 25 points ahead of Liverpool last season]. We have a good squad. It is up to us now to show them.”

You suspect he may just want to show Sherwood, too.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/liverpool-new-boy-christian-benteke-6207767

[Chris]

What a great lad. He's going to be a legend here, I don't think there can be any doubt about that!! Stoke skulls are going to be cracked on Sunday.