Our defence hasn't been good for two years, especially for a side that is so defensive. To be carved open as often as we were last year and as often as we have been this year is criminal for a defensive side. And I think you'll find that our attack has been slaughtered by myself over the past two years.
It's been horrendous this season but there's some logical reasoning for it and hopefully it will improve. Last season wasn't too bad in all honesty (but if you say it's sh*t you can then blame Glen Johnson for it because he dares have the audacity to play a role that wasn't: commonplace back in the good old days which you weren't there for/you're unfamiliar with/not used to seeing) and frankly it just seems odd to single out or defense constantly for abuse when last season our attack was the major concern. For the last time, our defense was good enough to be title challengers, our attack was awful, work out why that's the case. While you're there use your infinite footballing wisdom to answer me this: Why did we have the home form of title challengers and the away form of relegation battlers?
Xabi was here for six years, scored 19 goals in all competitions. That averages out at just over 3 a season. It's not great as I said, especially for a player of his ability. However it's much better than either Lucas' or Mascherano's.
Lucas has been here for 4 years (2 of those in the first team) and scored 6, luckily goals scored by individual players doesn't dictate who wins the league or cup. You're awfully daft and continue fail to recognise this concept. A team can score 30 goals in a season but if they concede none, that's still 90 points and good enough to win the league.
So why is it your job to define how they should play? You say it's alright if they do this, that and the other - defining what's acceptable for a Liverpool central midfielder. Read your own line above "if he stops one or two more, it evens itself out" defining there. Well done on the contradiction lad.
Never said it was, I don't make comments like "oh well that's what a central midfielder should do". Using my knowledge of modern football, I've explained why it is that Lucas doesn't score goals or the difference between a central midfielder/holding midfielder, fullback/wingback or a winger/inside forward. That comment is in no way, shape or form dictating how a central midfielder should play, but merely offering a valid reason as to why Lucas might not score as many as he "should be" because that's what central midfielders do.
Mascherano is a poor man's Didi and isn't better than Meireles. He's an average player who for some reason has such a great reputation. And yes defensive midfielders have been around for a while, they played as central midfielders who chipped in with goals as well as doing their defensive work. Souness and McMahon being two of our examples would allow Terry Mc and Jan Molby respectively to do more of the offensive work as that suited them but both Souey and Macca would still chip in. Something Mascherano didn't do at this club - something however that Didi did.
Again, showing your complete lack of footballing knowledge. He has a great reputation because he's probably the world's premier DM. He is the closest to a Makelele we've seen in many years (never once scored at Real Madrid and only 2 goals in his time at Chelsea but I'm sure he wasn't fit to lace Didi Hamann's boots because Didi scored 12 in his time here, right?). It pains you that football's advanced, I get that. For a kid who's 20 and never actually once watched those players play, you sh*t on an awful lot about them and how they did things the right way.
As I said, Rafa said it so it'll be swallowed.
As I said, just because you're too thick to understand the difference, doesn't mean we all are.
No our priority should be the League, first last and always. It's all very well putting Europe first if you're reaching finals but in the three full seasons under Hicks and Gillett we made the semi finals (07-08) the quarter finals (08-09) and knocked out at the group stages (09-10). So we didn't go on making too many finals there did we? Maybe with a slightly bigger push in the League we'd still be playing football in Europe's premier competition. But hey, it's alright if we put Europe as long as it was Rafa that was manager.
I agree, the league should be our priority because you said so. F**k this common sense rubbish. If additional progress in Europe requires you to play some half-assed games in the league, it should be done under difficult financial circumstances.
Right, so Europe hasn't started because Hodgson has got a decent run in Europe. If however we'd lost one or two games, Europe would of most definitely started for you and a few others. Europe started in our first qualifier, since then we've gone unbeaten. And Hodgson has priortised the League, picking overrated players who don't perform on a regular basis whereas in Europe he's gone with players who are hungry and want to prove a point.
The qualifying and group stages of the EL is a different kettle of fish compared to the CL group stages. Had we beaten Northampton like we should have and drawn Ipswich the following round, although the league cup had officially already started against Northhampton Town, only once we'd defeated those two and then drawn WBA would we be getting down to the business end of things. Hodgson's done well to qualify us undefeated using a ton of youngsters (thankfully poor showings by our opponents has helped) and long may it continue into the business end of things. Are you now beating the Hodgson prioritises the league drum? Make up your mind, last post you said Hodgson prioritised Europe.
And if he had, you'd of found someone else to blame.
You keep telling yourself that.
I'm not undermining anything, but for the record - it is as follows “football is a simple game made complicated by those who should know better”
2nd from bottom, you're welcome.
And for anybody who thinks the English game has copied those from abroad - Guardiola has admitted to copying Shankly's methods/systems. Funny that eh that the second best side in world football, is trying to emulate what the world's greatest side was doing over 50 years ago.
The Barcelona philosophy is "pass, offer, move, receive" (or something to that effect). The took the basics from the Liverpool teams of the past and still felt the need to evolve it that little bit more. Why is that?
Don't know why they're such a good team, when they carry deadweight like Busquets - he's only scored 2 league goals in his 3 seasons there and he's a "central midfielder". Surely, another case of him not being good enough to lace Didi's boots though because he scored 12 in his 7 years here.
edit:
If it was Rafa's time to go for having a poor season, then Gerrard should have been sold too for having a poor season, right?
Jovetic your thinking of red squirrel more of a lad to play in the hole though
Just briefly, Fiorentina play this sort of a formation:
*Can't remember their WB names but they really like to get forward
Not 100% sure if it's 4-3-3/4-2-3-1/4-4-1-1/4-5-1/4-2-1-3 or whatever (does seems more 4-2-1-3 to me).
Jovetic played 3 different positions left wing/off the striker/leading the line. If Gilardino was out, Jovetic always led the line (might not be the case anymore now that Mutu is back). I'm guessing Rafa had the same idea for him here. He was bought as a LW mainly but if Torres was out, he could lead the line. Also had the option to deploy him as a second striker and maybe shift Gerrard back to the right?
