Liverpool 0-0 Swansea: Post Match Sorrows

Or even get forward.  If you play 4-4-2 like we are - you can't afford to have a midfielder who doesn't want to get anywhere near the penalty box.

Aye.

I was saying before, it seemed Danny Agger was the only one who was willing to burst forward from deep and when he's a defender and the only one showing that kind of desperation to get a goal, your in trouble most games.

Onwards and upward.

Still can't believe Pepe is man of the match. What saves did he make apart from the one cross from Routledge (at least I think it was Routledge)? Oh, you mean the double save that should have been an easy catch, that he fumbled right in to the striker's path? Or the moment where he took an unnecessary touch on a backpass and almost gave up a goal right on the line?

I love Pepe to bits and I'm not trying to be critical, but that was hardly his best game by a long shot.

Swansea goalkeeper Michel Vorm claims Liverpool rely on Luis Suarez too much.

Vorm produced fantastic late saves to deny Liverpool on Saturday and condemn Liverpool to their fourth draw in six home matches.

Suarez has arguably been Liverpool's best player since arriving from Ajax in January for £22.8million, but Vorm feels his ability means other Liverpool players are not stepping up.

He said: "We played well and Liverpool had a hard time to keep up with us, because of our shape and tactics.

"Maybe they rely too much on Suarez. He is a player with incredible qualities. He's a world-class player - I've played a lot of times against him in Holland (when Vorm was at FC Utrecht) and he has scored a few goals against me, so it is funny to see him again.

"But maybe they rely too much on him. He is a player who can make a difference, you know that. But he didn't, and they didn't score.

"Maybe because we kept him quiet they didn't have other options. Perhaps that is unlucky for them, because in the future he will score, you can see that.

"We did our homework and we worked hard for the full 90 minutes to deny him the chances, and that is what you have to do when you arrive at Anfield."

http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11669/7298541/Vorm-Reds-rely-on-Suarez

Right now it would be hard to argue with that.

Liverpool forward Luis Suarez claims Swansea rely on Michael Vorm too much

Still can't believe Pepe is man of the match.

Ditto. When I go the the game I'm always baffled when I get back and see who is getting praise.  And likewise when I watch on TV I'm always baffled by the people who have been to game and their choices.

There isn't a cat in hells chance Pepe was the man of the match.  Some of his distribution and short suicide passes out from the back almost left us with egg on our faces. 

When you watch a game on TV you are watching the game the producer wants you to see - following the ball but not seeing across the full width of the pitch - at the match you can tell before a player passes exactly where on the pitch he should play it to.

Liverpool forward Luis Suarez claims Swansea rely on Michael Vorm too much

He'd be right too.

Could really use Aquilani at this stage.

You don't miss your water 'till your well runs dry.

 Don't know about Aquilani, my heart was aching for a Steven Gerrard. What we needed was a player who has proven it in the Premiership, not just against relegated teams that start with P either. God knows we need our captain back as soon as possible.

This prem proven thing is nonsense imo. If you're good enough and able to adapt into the system the team uses..... then you're good enough to play in any league.

This prem proven thing is nonsense imo. If you're good enough and able to adapt into the system the team uses. .. then you're good enough to play in any league.

Sadly Aquilani proved he couldn't adapt and wasn't good enough. Hence 3 Liverpool managers hardly used him.

Sadly Aquilani proved he couldn't adapt and wasn't good enough. Hence 3 Liverpool managers hardly used him.

Never really given the opportunity due to injury, Hodgson wasn't a fan of pass and move so loaned him out and Dalglish couldn't fit him in due to other players.......so I guess we may never know if he could've adapted to the PL or not.

But from the little he started or came on as sub, he did look good.

Ha Ha Aquilani proved he couldn't adapt ?

What in all 12 starts ??

We best loan Adam out then as he's hasn't scored as many as Aquilani or got as many assists in his 11 starts.

Don't know about Aquilani, my heart was aching for a Steven Gerrard. What we needed was a player who has proven it in the Premiership, not just against relegated teams that start with P either. God knows we need our captain back as soon as possible.

Your heart can ache all it wants for Gerrard he's injured, Aquilani is our player, he's fit and having a good season in Italy.

Could quite easily have been having a good season here.

What makes me laugh is both you and Saint say you have faith Adfam and Carroll will come good, when Aquilani probably showed more than both them put together in a similar number of starts.

Seriously, F**k off with Aquilani. He's on loan and isn't coming back this season so it's pointless mentioning him just as pointless as mentioning Gerrard in a game in which he was injured. Just as pointless in saying how we could of done with a Robbie Fowler or Ian Rush or Roger Hunt or Gordon Hodgson or Jack Balmer to net us a couple. And just as F***ing pointless as people still whinging about not getting Silva or Aguero or Mata.

These players were not able to contribute against Swansea so tough sh*t, live with it. Talk about those that were.

Ultimately, the credit goes to Swansea for me. They gave it a right F***ing go in the second half and thoroughly deserved their point.

It's good to read some analysis on our formation and midfield problems from this game. Also about our lack of urgency. Some very good points.

I was really concerned how flat we were on the flanks though as well. Enrique was surpassing Downing on the left and Henderson was drifting deep all the time which left Johnson reluctant to get forward. I've watched the game back on tv and you don't notice this as much. But it was achingly obvious at the game.

For me this intensifies the spotlight on midfield. And when you have two players in the middle in Lucas and Adam, you need a lot more strength from the wings otherwise that gap between midfield and attack becomes painfully obvious. The strikers get isolated and people start getting frustrated. This was happening quite a lot on Saturday.

Just one point I'd make on the 4-4-2. Like all formations and positions in football, there's 4-4-2 and there's 4-4-2 and much depends on the players who are playing in the system. It's players which make it work nine times out of ten, not blackboards and theoritical planning.

We may set up as 4-4-2 at kick off but what formation is it when the two full backs are deep in the opponenents half.The modern football team have a fluid formation and I think people get too hung up on formations.

Two good points here.

A 4 4 2 or 4 4 1 1 can easily look like a 4 2 3 1 depending on which players are selected and also how they are playing during the game.

When Suarez is dropping deep behind Carroll he is the middle of the three with two wide players. Both have two central midfield players but if Gerrard is playing for example and the middle of the three he will always play a bit closer to the midfield that Suarez naturally would.

Also a 4 3 3 can be interpreted as a 4 5 1 if the two wide players play deeper and defensive and like wise this can change during a game depending on who is playing and how they are playing.

It was never a formation problem. Formation was okay and good enough.

We had one defensive midfielder and an attacking midfielder; a very good one at that. We had the left winger working well with the full back and Johnshon on the right, more than covered up a lot for Henderson.

The only problem we had was With the goal-scoring.

Had KK gone with the 4-2-3-1 formation, some of us would have criticise the formation as being too defensive at home.

We failed to score. We did not fail to attack well.

The only problem we had was With the goal-scoring.

What game were you watching?

Had KK gone with the 4-2-3-1 formation, some of us would have criticise the formation as being too defensive at home.

4-2-3-1 isn't a defensive formation.  It's got four attacking players - not to mention two midfielders to help cover Enrique and Johnson to head off on runs down the wings.

 As I said, two holding players is just about OK if you've got Gerrard and Torres sparking off each other and ripping defences to pieces. If you haven't though and you're struggling to score heavily, then at least one of your midfielders has got to be looking to score, and hopefully more. As it is, Lucas never scores, Downing hasn't yet, Adam has once but isn't getting into the box, and Henderson has scored once.

 Add all that together, and we are putting far too much onus on our strikers, and in particular Suarez. Teams are quite rightly coming to the conclusion that if you stop him, then you stop Liverpool. He's even coming to that conclusion himself, that's why he tries to do too much very often when he gets it.

4-2-3-1 isn't a defensive formation.  It's got four attacking players - not to mention two midfielders to help cover Enrique and Johnson to head off on runs down the wings.

'We' in this forum criticised Rafa's love for the 4-2-3-1 formation severally. 'We' claimed his preferred use of Torres as alone striker was the primary reason behind this formation.

There were clamours then for the more attacking 4-4-2 then. Now we have a manager who loves the 4-4-2, we not happy about that.

Scoring was the problem. Suarez has been quiet after seven goals this season. He came with a huge reputation for scoring goals. Kuyt and Bellamy have been on the bench needlessly due to Henderson and . . . .Henderson.

Carroll is kinda slow to partner well with Luis.

We have out-played teams using the 4-4-2 formation.

The only problem we had was With the goal-scoring.

So the acres of space Swansea got was not a problem? The static midfield was not a problem?

Saying the only problem was that we failed to score is the obvious answer to the question of a 0-0 draw. Yes we are not clinical enough at times, but most people who watched that game properly know that wasn't nearly the most major issue.

I'd say the second half in which we were very often second best is a major issue myself.

Ha Ha Aquilani proved he couldn't adapt ?

What in all 12 starts ??

We best loan Adam out then as he's hasn't scored as many as Aquilani or got as many assists in his 11 starts.

The fact that he made only 14 starts only emphasises how little trust our managers have placed in Aquilani, especially when you consider that he only completed 3 of those games for Liverpool, while being on the bench for a further 25 games, and being an uncalled upon substitute in 11 of those games.

If the managers of our club don't trust him. . . why should I ?   


Ray Houghton :-
 “I honestly think Liverpool aren’t far away from putting a good run of results together consistently,” he continued. “They’ll be there or thereabouts for fourth place. People are always too quick to say Liverpool should be doing a bit better but the games that they’ve drawn they could have easily won. They weren’t games that they were going to lose. In most of them they dominated the match and it’s just the finishing that let them down.”