Valencia Mark II?

September 17th 2002, Valencia CF came to Anfield & gave Houllier's men a footballing lesson. Their manager at the time? A certain Rafael Benitez.

Looking at the Valencia squad he had back then & the squad he's in the process of building here, I can see a lot of similarities that I feel give an idea of what we can expect to see over the coming season. Both squads are built on a solid defence, but the Valencia one had something we haven't been so good at until now, a serious attacking threat.

In defence where we have Carragher & Agger at the heart, Valencia had Ayala & Marchena. These are very similar partnerships, one being more of a passion player throwing themselves into challenges (Ayala & Carra), the other being more of a technical player (Agger & Marchena). As with ourselves now, this central partnership was pretty consistent, with Pellegrino coming in from time to time a la Hyypia, and the fullbacks open to a bit more rotation.

In central midfield is where I think we have the biggest similarities personell wise, and Rafa's preferred lineup at Valencia can give us a hint regarding possible tactics next season. Raul Abidal is a player similar in style if not class to Alonso. Both play a 'holding' role, but their forte really is their passing. Albelda, like our Mascherano, is much more of a pure holding player, brilliant in the tackle & playing a simple ball. Though a completely different class, Gerrard & Baraja are similar types of players, both box to box midfielders with abilities in all areas. The other option is Sissoko, who also played under Rafa at Valencia, and is very handy for breaking up play. The reason I said the Valencia model might give us an indication as to how we'll play next season is because the majority of the time Rafa's preferred partnership was Baraja & Albelda. I've said all along that I feel Gerrard has only been played on the right as a result of us having no-one better for the job, and with the arrival this summer of more options for the role I would predict a return to the centre, mainly playing alongside Mascherano. Obviously this is subject to rotations, but I think it will be the partnership we see most often. On the wings Valencia had much better options than we've had up until now, with players like Kily Gonzales, Vicente, Jorge Lopez & Gavilan, but our summer activity looks set to change our options in those areas, and we should be a lot stronger as a result.

Upfront Valencia had a target man in Carew, a goalscorer in Mista & a deeper lying creative player in Aimar. At Liverpool now we have Crouch, Kuyt & Torres to fill those roles, and with the exception of possibly Crouch the options we have are better. The preferred pairing at Valencia seemed to be Carew & Aimar, but in a league where defenders tend to be better aerially I expect our partnership to be Kuyt & Torres most of the time, with Crouch getting the nod whenever his aerial threat can benefit the team.

Obviously the teams play in two different leagues & there will always be variations, but overall there are a lot of similarities. As I said before, with the summer arrivals I feel we will have a squad similar to Rafa's Valencia but with a bit more class. One thing is for certain though, if we can start hitting the same level of domestic form I will be a very happy man.

If we start playing like that Valencia team id be happy they were aewsome and tore us apart in the Uefa cup.

Excellent post there Eddie.

I had noticed a similarity over time but not to the extent of how well you've broken it down. It makes a lot of sense.
One thing that I really admired about Rafa's Valencia is how well they passed the ball. With having the foundation of a strong defense and an attack of numerous dimensions, it made them a class act. And that's how they won La Liga.
When we played them at Anfield, we certainly did see a lesson in very good football and they were rightly acknowledged for it. I was applauding.

Another thing to think about is how very good Rafa is tactically. He's been learning a lot about the Premiership and to think he's still building in all aspects of our club, there's a good possiblity we can match that Valencia style in our own way and maybe surpass them.

A you said, if we can start hitting the same level of domestic form, then we'll all be very happy people.

Excellent post eddie, now you've brought it up we do have a lot of similarities to that valencia side, and if we can get anwhere near that level of football then we would be the best in the league!

Interesting point about the Baraja-Albelda/Gerrard-Mascherano idea. I myself always thought Rafa played Stevie out on the right as he wanted two defensive players in the middle, but maybe I was wrong. Time will tell I guess.

I think Rafa has chosen to play Gerrard out on the right for two reasons in recent seasons (and let's not forget that he was very effective in 2005/06 in that position).

A lack of decent right wingers. Pennant came in but failed to impress early on and was shunted on to the bench and secondly Rafa has preferred two more defensive minded midfielders only to protect the defence.  Unfortunately our lack of attacking potency has meant we have had to eek out some results.  In a more expansive Liverpool side with opponents bricking it every time we had the ball we would have less need to play two defensive central midfielders.

In an ideal world, Gerrard would be in the middle.  If we had Cristiano Ronaldo on the right then Gerrard would be in the middle. Unfortunately we haven't got that world class right winger yet, and so Rafa occassionally has to pick his best 11 and we have an abundance of central midfielders in that 'best 11'.

That Valencia side were a great side but I wouldn't say they were all out attack.  They very much played solid football but where a pressure side - rarely making mistakes, using the full width of the pitch and with players in positions capable of playing 'out of position'.

I remain convinced that the key to Liverpool's success rests on the shoulders of those playing on the right wing.   Liverpool need to start pushing much higher up the pitch (our midfield sometimes lies only 10-15 yards in front of our defence) and we need to be capable of posing a threat down BOTH flanks and with Gerrard in the middle there is no reason why we can't recapture the elusive number 19.

That Valencia side were a great side but I wouldn't say they were all out attack.  They very much played solid football but where a pressure side - rarely making mistakes, using the full width of the pitch and with players in positions capable of playing 'out of position'.

I totally agree that Valencia under Benitez weren't all out attack, they had a very solid defence & played a lot on the counter, but when they did attack they had players capable of really turning it on, like Aimar, Kily Gonzales & Vicente. Rafa's built a defence here better than the one he had at Valencia, but hasn't had the money to get the attacking options in. This season I reckon we will see a team that plays a lot more like his previous club, still very solid defensively but lethal on the break.

Well from this statement Benitez it seems he's going to try a different style.


Benitez: We want to attack this season
Jul 14 2007 by Ian Doyle, Liverpool Daily Post

RAFAEL BENITEZ has vowed to send Liverpool on the offensive this season after completing the latest stage of his squad overhaul.

Ryan Babel and Yossi Benayoun were both unveiled at Anfield yesterday as the manager sent his summer spending through the £40million mark.

Forward Babel put pen to paper on a five-year contract after agreeing an £11.5m move from Ajax with attacking midfielder Benayoun having already made a £5m move from West Ham United.

With record signing Fernando Torres and Ukrainian striker Andriy Voronin also arriving at Anfield, Benitez will have a host of new attacking options at his disposal for the forthcoming campaign.

Despite boasting one of the top flight’s meanest defences, Liverpool have struggled to score in comparison to their main Premier League rivals in recent seasons, having failed to break the 60-goal barrier in any of the three league campaigns under Benitez.

But Benitez believes he now has the resources and firepower to ensure his team are nearer his intended vision.

“The squad is better and the value of the squad is bigger,” said the Liverpool manager. “It is clear that we have quality players coming in and normally that should mean that we will play better.

“When a manager makes a mistake, a good player can correct it. Hopefully, that will be the case.

“The best teams are proactive rather than reactive. We have been quick in the market and hopefully now we can be quick on the pitch.

“I hope we can play more like the way I want us to. Defensively the team has been good and we want to attack. We had more crosses and shots than anyone, but we needed to improve our accuracy. Hopefully, with these players the crossing will be better and also the finishing.”

Benitez added: “In Valencia, we had three of four players who could all scored between 10 and 15 goals and that is the idea here.

“If you have one player who can score 20 goals then that is good, but what if he has an injury? Also if the other teams know he is the only player who can score goals, it will be easier for them to control your team in attack.”

Benitez had previously made clear his desire to bolster his attacking options on either flank, but a lack of available dedicated wingers led the Liverpool manager top pursue more versatile alternatives in Babel and Benayoun.

“If you analyse the market, there are not too many wingers,” said the Spaniard. “You decide either to sign a winger who might not be good enough or someone who can play in that position.

“Babel was playing in Ajax as a left winger and Benayoun was playing as a right winger, both players know they can play there, and as second strikers.

“For a manager as well if you have to change your plan in a match then players like these are important because they can change positions too.”

yeah there is simalarities but i now think rafa realises the valencia team would not win the prem and chelsea and man u would not of won the la liga the valencia team were still miles technicaly better but we are not that far behind but what we miss in technical ability we make up for in strengh and stamina which is what we need in the prem!

yeah there is simalarities but I now think rafa realises the valencia team would not win the prem and chelsea and man u would not of won the la liga the valencia team were still miles technicaly better but we are not that far behind but what we miss in technical ability we make up for in strengh and stamina which is what we need in the prem!

I would disagree, but for a lack of pace in the back four I believe Rafa's Valencia could have won the Premiership. I also believe Man Utd could have won La Liga last season, though I'm not so sure Chelsea's negative tactics would have worked.

Great posts alround, i think there are alot of similarities, but in the sense that liverpool will play more attacking i think this will take more time to acheive then rafas Valencia side. Liverpool without playing negative have not played super attacking over the past few seasons but i think when they adjust our liverpool side can become much better then rafas Valencia

Cracking spot Eddie. If Liverpool turn out like the Valencia team of old i will be chuffed