Coutinho doesn't deserve to start, so sterling should play behind a proper front 2 of Mario and Fabio
Should make us slightly more potent
West Ham v Liverpool Pre Match Thread
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Should make us slightly more potent
Mate. My .... 'dropping like flies' .... comment referred to Allen ... who's out for a few weeks according to BR
Studge to start full training next week.
After BR's comments about Coutinho today he'd look a right cunt if he dropped him now.
I don't think it has to be seen in that light. Just because he defends his player doesn't mean he has to then stick with him for the game right after that though. He's not going to agree with the interviewer because it'd then just add pressure or hit the player's confidence, so the logical thing would be to just support the player while still sticking to the gameplan. If that means Coutinho isn't the right person to start the game, then that's that too bad. Besides, he did say that Coutinho wasn't in his best form and was going to have games in which he'd be great and others in which he'd be just about average.
As for the team - this wouldn't be a good game to drop Gerrard in my opinion. We'll probably have 2 CBs, Gerrard, Henderson and Balotelli while they can and will likely field at least 6 of their physical, hideous 6-foot or more creatures at any one time (they have about 9 of these creeps and that's excluding injured guys like Carroll and Nolan). We're already down numerically on 6-footers and people who can put up a bit of physical aerial challenge and taking out Gerrard is just going to weaken us in the numbers game here even further.
Gerrard's lack of defensive tracking, compared to Lucas' rash free kick giveaways in midfield, might just be the lesser evil for this game (not every game, but for this game, it could well be so). We really can ill afford to give away silly free kicks (and corners).
Gerrard's lack of defensive tracking, compared to Lucas' rash free kick giveaways in midfield, might just be the lesser evil for this game (not every game, but for this game, it could well be so). We really can ill afford to give away silly free kicks (and corners).
Maybe a case for 3-5-2 then. Skrtel-Lovren-Sakho.
We played with two strikers and we need to get to that ASAP.
And to be fair we could've easily conceded at least two against them.
Just put 2 up top. Balotelli alone doesn't work, he's too isolated and drops deep to pick it up. He needs support.
Can the Deestroyer would have been ideal for this game.
Lucas starting makes sense - sterling in the diamond behind borini and Mario
Lucas starting makes sense - sterling in the diamond behind borini and Mario
I hope Rodgers instructs Henderson to run forward at every opportunity, to compensate for Gerrard and Lucas's tendency to stay back. Then, maybe, this midfield 3 could work. Or actually, if both Lucas and Gerrard stay back, it would be a midfield 4. Something like this (ultra-narrow midfield):
Sterling--Hendo
Lucas--Gerrard
With the fullbacks and the 2 strikers providing most of the width. 2-2-2-2-2 formation
The thing about Balotelli's game, he is very good at holding up the ball, but he needs runners near him to get on the end of his flicks and knockdowns. That should be Hendo's role in this game. But he needs to be sure Gerrard and Lucas will hold their positions rather than try to "support" the attack and being caught in no-man's land whenever we lose the ball.
Sterling--Hendo
Lucas--Gerrard
With the fullbacks and the 2 strikers providing most of the width. 2-2-2-2-2 formation
The thing about Balotelli's game, he is very good at holding up the ball, but he needs runners near him to get on the end of his flicks and knockdowns. That should be Hendo's role in this game. But he needs to be sure Gerrard and Lucas will hold their positions rather than try to "support" the attack and being caught in no-man's land whenever we lose the ball.
Individually he is more of a threat with his superior pace and technique, but I feel Borini has a much better grasp how to move and position himself as a striker to find chances. In general, Italian strikers have good understanding how to play with narrow midfield formations, such as the "diamond" or 3-5-2 – that's how most teams in Italy play anyway. Italian strikers are expected to know how to find space on the wings (because there teams often playing without specialist wingers), making diagonal runs, crossing paths – all these little tricks that make even physically and technically average strikers dangerous. That's the part of football they empasize in Italy - if you know how to move right, you dont NEED to dribble past 2 defenders to get a shot on goal.
At this point I would prefer Balotelli and Borini as a front 2.
I think that after every game we play at the moment.
I wouldn't drop Sakho, either.
On the basis of the past couple of games neither Coutinho or Lallana should start. So a midfield 4 of gerrard, Lucas , hendo and sterling makes sense especially the way the hammers play.
We Deffo should go 2 up top and I would go with lambert due to the fact I think we will be just launching it at times and he should hold it up better than borini
We Deffo should go 2 up top and I would go with lambert due to the fact I think we will be just launching it at times and he should hold it up better than borini
We do need someone else up there with Balotelli, he gets isolated too easily and doesn't work hard enough, so Borini or Lambert is ideal. I guess the thinking with Borini is that he'll cover more ground and play wider, rather than in a flat front two, which is what it would be with Lambert and Mario.
Surprised Coutinho is playing though, Rodgers said he was going to give him a breather (drop him) last week, but he had to play due to injury.
Surprised Coutinho is playing though, Rodgers said he was going to give him a breather (drop him) last week, but he had to play due to injury.
Big test, we badly need 3 points
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