13 Aug 2011

Downing on the right? Meirelles on the left? The spirit of Rafa Benitez lives on...

One of the most maddening things about Liverpool under Rafa Benitez was his frustrating penchant for playing square pegs in round holes (Peter Crouch on the left-wing, anyone?). After today's disappointing draw with Sunderland, let's hope history is not going to repeat itself under Kenny Dalglish.

I grew up idolising Dalglish so I wouldn't presume to question the King's tactics; however, I just can't understand the decision to move Downing to the right and play Raul Meirelles on the left wing for the last part of the game.

Meirelles is not a left winger and Downing is not a right winger. The change made no sense, and just contributed to the slack, disjointed second-half performance. What's even more mystifying is that Downing was playing relatively well on the left, so why move him at all, especially when we (arguably) had to win the game?

With all due respect to Sunderland, Liverpool should be brushing lesser teams like them aside, especially at home, and that's only going to happen if players are regularly played in their strongest positions.

Left wing IS Downing's strongest position, and he needs to grow into the role for Liverpool, not be yanked across the right for no apparent reason. Being moved to the right in favour of (ostensibly) a central midfielder will not be good for Downing's confidence either; it's basically saying 'You're ineffective, so we're replacing you with someone with no experience on the left because we think he'll do a better job than you'. Man-management right out of the Benitez playbook.

History shows that Liverpool's performances flourishes whenever its best players are consistently deployed in their strongest positions; conversely, the club's performances suffer when players are used in the wrong positions, as was so often the case under Benitez and, to an extent, Gerard Houllier.

We need aces in their places from this moment onwards, especially against Arsenal, where such misguided experimentation is surely more likely to be punished.

Please, can we *finally* exorcise the tactical ghost of Rafa Benitez?

Note: let me be clear: this is not an attack on Kenny Dalglish. I have 150% faith in the King, and he's definitely the right man for the job. That doesn't mean his decisions cannot be questioned though...

Jaimie Kanwar


86 comments:

  1. Although Downing did hit a belter against the bar coming from the right... Don't worry about the rseult today, LFC are heading in the right direction.

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  2. I think its OK to play Downing on both sides although I prefer to see him coming down the left side and cross the ball in to Andy or just bang it into the net. What I didn't understand today was how when Meireles did come on had to play on the left, he plays his good games in the center of the part.

    What I don't understand is why Liverpool had such a good start and then finished rather poorly. I would question why Kelly didn't play RB, I'm all for the youngsters gettting a fair shake but I think Flanaghan was too uncertain today and made some mistakes. He'll come back stronger, but today I felt we should have had some more strenght at RB.

    On the positive side I think Liverpool were direct and didn't waste time going forward in the first half. Must say I was surprised by the number of long balls flying over the top of the midfield and that Andy didn't look as sharp as in the friendlies. Maybe I was just hoping for a whopping 5-0......

    Look forward to next weekend already, if we learn from our mistakes and continue doing the right things I still think we're going to have a great season.

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  3. Spot on! Downing looked a hell o a lot more comfortable playing on the left. Enrique actually surprised me on his debut for us without barely any training with the rest of the team.. Lucas was horrible from the very beginning and I lost count of how many free kicks an turn overs he caused. As for Flanagan, why on earth Kenny started him ahead of Kelly is beyond me?? In my opinion he was arguably the worst on field for the reds today. He should have marked up a whole lot better than he did on larsson and not stand 3 meters away from him allowing him to hit that volley.. Henderson should not have started ahead of kuyt or even aquilani or maxi in my opinion. Everyone else however (Adam, Carroll, downing etc) played very well and I'm looking forward to the rest of the season and watching our reds hopefully get better with experience! What's everyone else think??

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  4. Agreed JK....I also think lobbing the ball forward to the big man is not the right tactic when chasing a game.young flano had a mare today.chin up though.

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  5. F**k you all. Kenny bought crap.Liverpool needs width.Instead of Henderson buy a quality right wing like johnson.
    These crap signings will bite Kenny big time.

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  6. It's the first game so I am confident we will finish 4th.

    However Jordan Henderson was not needed at Liverpool until Gerrard retired. He is no good out the right wing and is a centre midfielder. A proper right winger with tricks was needed and Kenny didn't buy. We looked far too clueless second half and the elephant in the room is that Andy Carroll makes us poorer in attack, not better. And we all know it. Like Crouch he encourages the long ball by his height and that makes it easy for defenders.

    Aquilani is the next best imagination passer in the squad behind Gerrard, and he wasn't even on the bench. No wonder we couldn't play clever passes.

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  7. Downing played on both wings last year, more often on the right if I'm correct. He was a goal threat from the right and can cross with his right better than most with his left. By the way, STILL trying to provoke division amongst Liverpool fans by bringing up Rafa? Again? Thought you had given up on modern football? Because Suarez was playing today. I assumed you wouldn't be watching.

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  8. By the way WE exorcised the 'ghost of Rafa' as soon as Kenny got the job. You're the only one still going on about it. We're finally largely united and behind the club. Why can't you just abide by that instead of coming out of the woodwork to provoke old and tired divisions?

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  9. Downing played the majority of his football on the right wing for villa and that was one of the reasons he was bought, hes a versatile player!! As for meireles, hes obviously a better player through the middle but with so much competition in the centre players will have to adjust if they want to play, and i think im correct in sayin he played a few games on the left last season, albeit with the freedom to drift!

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  10. Great to see you back Jaimie, love your insights. A football fan who knows what he's talking about. Keep up the good work!

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  11. Is Carroll any better than Crouch? 

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  12. Kophater is back again to discredit lfc again. Playing opposing wingers who cut inside is your humble roy hodgson s fav parlour trick. He has been doing for 35 years ....more like dog years ... Obviously you are a xenophobe too.... Frankly u have never had any good opinions abiut anyone bar your impartiality...when you went awol..... I kept looking under my car for road$&@. Second coming.....cadaver

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  13. Agreed 100%. Why was Flanagan played instead of Kelly? Yes Lucas was terrible. He always makes stupid mistakes and passes and I think we still need a good holding midfielder. For sure Aquilani should have started ahead of Herderson or even Mereiles. The lad is still too young and should be slowly integrated in the team. Adam shone and Caroll, Downing & Suarez too.

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  14. Want to have a £500 bet whether we finish top four or not this season?

    Go on.... I dare you!!

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  15. I have to agree with this, I couldn't really understand what Kenny was trying to do in the second half. That said, changes had to be made to try and regain some momentum.

    I think the bad man-management argument is stretching it a tad.

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  16. It is you who need to exorcise the ghost of Rafa Benitez.

    For heaven's sake, stop living in the past and come to the present moment. The people in charge of the tactics and player selection, now, in the year 2011, were Steve Clarke and Kenny Dalglish.

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  17. Hi William - I agree with you, the long balls were irritating; I hope that's not the template for the season. It's only the first game and we were bedding in new players but it's still slightly concerning that we can't kill off the likes of Sunderland at home.

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  18. Yes, it's mystifying why Flanagan would play ahead of Kelly, who has surely earned that position more.  Still, both are great prospecrts for the future, and hopefully Flanagan got all his mistakes out of the way in the first game.

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  19. Re Henderson, I tend to agree: what's the point in buying him if he's going to be constantly shunted over to the right and not allowed to play in his natural position?  And when Gerrard returns, where does Henderson fit in exactly?

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  20. Incredible insight.  You know me so well :)

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  21. In terms of goal ration, Carroll has to go a long way to go before he eclipses Crouch, for England and for Liverpool.

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  22. Nothing gets past you, does it?

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  23. To clarify - I wasn't suggesting KD is guilty of bad man-management, just that in this situation, it seemed like the kind of thing Benitez would do, i.e. shunting players around to different positions without considering how it might impact their confidence.

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  24. Really?  Benitez has left?!  =-O

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  25. Think is ok to put downing on the right towards the end of the game, his shot almost went in in the 1st half when he brought the ball forward from right in our own half... Good to change things around when isn't going well rather than just sit down, or walk around and rub face...

    Looks like I haven't exorcise the ghost of Roy :)

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  26. downing's best moment of the game came from him being on the right wing and cutting inside and shooting, and at villa he played left, right and behind the forward, so i don't really get where you're coming from?

    every manager in the game expects players to be able to shift positions - it's not just rafa benitez. players need to be flexible, and the days of players only being able to play one position are gone, although it seems that you know more about coaching and management than benitez, steve clarke and king kenny.

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  27. ??? But he played on the right many times for Villa last season. infact he recently gave an interview stating that he has the ability to play in various positions across the pitch. Why would it affect his confidence to be played in a position that he excelled in last year? Or was this just another cheap shot to get the Benitez debate going yet again?

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  28. The quality distribution and movement we demonstrated during the first half clearly shows that KD has developed a team and tactics to get us back in contention for a top four place. My main concern is that once Suarez came off, there was a tendency to focus purely on delivery to Carroll at the expense of our earlier intricacy of passing. It's quite evident that the players need time to gel, but the early signs are promising. Special credit should be given to Enrique who slotted in nicely, despite never playing with the team before. 

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  29. It has absolutely fuck all to do with Rafa Benitez - neither player was signed by him. Still got that agenda against him because he didn't sign an autograph for you outside Melwood.

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  30. Anyone forgetting Adam? He was fantastic yesterday.

    Downing is versatile so he can play on both wings but he is naturally left footed so that means he should be used on the left. Lucas had a terrible match yesterday and the same goes for Flanagan who is still young but surely Kelly should have got the nod ahead of him?

    I am signing of with a funny, can we all remember when Benitez played Mascherano at right back and Aurelio in the center of midfield =-O


    The spirit of Rafa is thankfully gone Jaimie but it is good to have you back mate!!!

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  31. yeah your right there defitely henderson should not of started ahead of my best ever player dirk kuyt, and i hope they put my kuyt on and not leave him out like that again or i will be really angry and upset, so lets hope the reds get better experince

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  32. You know that Henderson started his career as a right sided midfielder right?

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  33. On Dalglish i quote you"I grew up idolising Dalglish so i wouldn't presume to question the Kings tactics. On Saurez i quote you"If Roy Hodgson was to sign Saurez my support for him would dissapate immediately" Does this mean you would indeed question the Kings tactics (in signing Saurez) and your support for Dalglish has dissapated immediately?

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  34. You mean when Aurelio won us the game against Portsmouth when he played CM?

    Give over you fucking tit

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  35. I was disappointed we signed Suarez, yes, which is one of the reasons I just took 9 months off from the site, which constitutes my protest not only at the signing, but at cheating in the game overall.  

    It has nothing to do with Suarez's quality - he's a fantastic player; however, to do what he did on the world stage tells you something significant about him, i.e. when the going gets tough, he will cheat to get ahead, and he will do the same for Liverpool when the time comes.

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  36. Cheers mate.  And thanks a million to you, Sumon, Gab, Arabee, Burt and others for continuing to visit the site and post in my absence - I enjoyed reading your posts, and it's much appreciated. 

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  37. Yes, I was devastated by that.  I camped out all night in the rain just to catch a glimpse of the great man, but he shunned me.  I vowed then that I would dedicate my life to destroying Saint Benitez, and showing the world what an evil man he really is.  I will have my vengeance, in this life or the next! *evil laugh*

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  38. That doesn't change the fact that Downing is principally a left winger, and Liverpool have been crying out for a dedicated left-footed left winger for years, and when we finally have someone half-decent, he's shunted out to the right. Just stick him on the left and keep him there.  

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  39. My point is that Rafa was the king of using players out of position. Get it now Guest?

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  40. Hey Jaimie

    I think I frustrated quite a few people in your absence so it is my pleasure :-D  

    I knew you would be back eventually...

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  41. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rtUum_Moi0&feature=feedu

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  42. I do not condone cheating and was not happy with what Suarez did at the World Cup but so far up to now he has behaved. Think it has alot to do with Dalglish maybe telling him not to try such thing at LFC.

    Anyway, he is one hell of a player and I am thrilled that he chose LFC over some rich sheiks money. 

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  43. TheWorldsWorstJourno9:23 pm, August 14, 2011

    Wow, great article.. taking a another stab at the back of a great servant to this club, who always showed integrity and always fought for us... Over a bloody year after he's gone! You're truly a piece of work.  Not only is what you're saying not true (Crouch never played left-wing) but then you try to say you aren't attacking Dalglish, but do exactly that for your whole post!  How do you get published, with this dreck?

    For the record, I agree with you 100% about the team selection, I thought it was completely bizarre and makes me wonder about Kenny a bit, but at least I can just say that and not try and hide behind a flurry of backstabbing motions at a former manager.

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  44. Crouch DID play on the left wing, specifically against Reading in 2009, a game in which Benitez played two strikers on the wings: Crouch left, and Voronin right: http://www.liverpool-kop.com/2007/12/rafa-defeatist-self-destructs-against.html

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  45. But it does absolutely devalue your argument though. If a player has played and excelled many times in a certain position and has stated that he is happy to play there then why on earth would he being switched there during the match in any way have an effect on his confidence. If anything it would be recognition that he can do a quality job for the club in a number of positions. Personally I believe that Kenny moved him there as he thought he could provide more of a direct goal threat when cutting inside. I would have expected an insightful commentator on the game to take this into account. But of course if this was just another 'bait' article to bring up the carcas of a Benitez argument again then rationality or reasonable points are needed as long as you get to provoke a long dead debate. DON'T BITE THE BAIT PEOPLE. Let's keep it with subjects that are really relevent to Liverpool FC like say, the retirement of a Gijon B player or the latest Joey Barton fracas.

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  46. Couple of points

    1. I would also like to see a left footed winger play predominantly on the left and vice versa, however it is ok to swap wings every so often. Downing has an ok right foot and his shot off the bar showed the danger of cutting in from right - Ashley Young is a right footer who always plays on the left. Today he created the winner with his left foot from left wing

    2. Suarez is amazing but is volatile, he will get a red card or 2 this year. He was lucky twice last year, the hair pull on Rafael for example and a kick on a centre half (can't remeber who) I don't agree with JKs definition of cheating, deliberate handball is a foul which results in a direct free kick, just like a deliberate trip. I would deem simulation or a deliberate attempt to injure an opponent as cheating. This is just my opinion, I would never condone cheating, apart from Steven Gerrard's blatant dive in CL final in 2005 :)

    3. These players have massive egos. Moving Downing to the right wing to face a makeshift fullback on a yellow card (shoulda been off already) is hardly going to dampen his confidence

    4. Let's please leave out Rafa stuff. It gets us nowhere, I was an ardent fan of his at the time, but his time is up. He had a lot of really strong aspects and a lot of failings as time wore on. He loved the club and the fans, and he means a lot to the families of Hillsborough victims. In short, he has become an iconic figure

    5. Henderson is a difficult one alright. He is very young but with 70 - 80 first team games under his belt at 20 years old. £16 million for him should turn out to be a snip

    6. Rumours that we might get Paddy McCourt from Celtic, he would be amazing for us. He is a right footer who plays on left wing a lot. Scored a lovely chip over keeper after a mazy dribble for NI

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  47. I'm not too concerned with Downing moving to the right every so often, he did that for both Boro and Villa, with some success. I was slightly suprised to see Merielles on the left though. 

    However, you could argue that Merielles' best performances came when he was played 'out of position' last season in place of Gerrard as a forward.

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  48. So allow me to ask the question again, had it been Roy Hodgson who signed Saurez would, as you said your support for him have "dissapated" or have you conveniently changed your mind? Also allow me to ask do you still "hate football" and if so, why all this?

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  49. And there you have it! Downing was switched to the right to relieve the pressure on Flanno. I believe Kenny wants to make sure Kelly is fit for Arsenal - he IS known to be quite fragile.
    As for the comments on Lucas, I think he was as burned out as Suarez and certainly didn't have the same trust and understanding with Adam as he did with Meireles or Spearing.
    Furthermore, Sunderland worked very hard, and our boys do tend to struggle against such hardworking sides. The pressure also got to them as frustration turned into weariness and the desperation to win translated into long balls.

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  50. TheWorldsWorstJourno8:00 pm, August 15, 2011

    Oh yes, that one game where Crouch and Voronin played up front together.  I wasted a few seconds reading some of your other 'articles' where you tirade insanely against Rafa for doing things that other managers do, only somehow Rafa does it the wrong way or something.  The man took us to two champions league finals, we won the first one.  He had us an arsehair away from the title in 2009, if we had been given the goal we scored against Stoke and Howard Webb hadn't erroneously awarded ManU a penalty against Tottenham, we could be talking about a Prem league title as well.  And yet you still persist, he's shite, he does everything wrong, blah blah blah.  He was the best manager we've had in the Prem, hands down.

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  51. Don't bite the bait. Without Rafa-centric debates he doesn't have a website. At least not one to do with Liverpool FC. He wants you to rehash arguments to justify his trolling. Yet during the most significant period in recent Liverpool history he disappeared. He doesn't care about LFC only about his ego.

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  52. I refer to my question on 15/8/11 at 13:21 re.signing Luis Suarez, i would appreciate a reply.

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  53. I refer to my question on 15/8/11 at 13:21 re.signing Luis Suarez, i would appreciate a reply.

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  54. I'm busy at the moment but I will reply later thus afternoon. JK
    Sent from iPhone
    On 16 Aug 2011, at 13:17, "Echo" <js-kit-m2c-1hn7v1urs4irk8c4h31pm52a1957061jkqldg0e8g3qqci989img> wrote:
    </js-kit-m2c-1hn7v1urs4irk8c4h31pm52a1957061jkqldg0e8g3qqci989img>

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  55. Re your question: as I stated in another comment, if Suarez had been signed by Hodgson then yes, my support would have dissipated for him (and I've explained why at length several times on this site).  Re Dalglish signing Suarez: I took an 8 month break from the site between December 13 2010 and August 11 2011; Saurez was signed in January, so my absence for the first 8 months of KD's tenure should tell you something, i.e. I was unhappy with the Suarez signing and I prtested by not writing on the site (and by extension, not offering public support to KD).

    Just because I'm back writing doesn't mean i support the Suarez signing; I don't, and I believe KD was wrong to sign him. 

    And yes, I do hate football, which is why the majority of my posts from now on will be focused on highlighting the negative sides of football that don't get enough press coverage (e.g. cheating)

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  56. Ultimately, my position is this LFC should never sign players who are blatant, unapologetic cheats, which Suarez irrefutably is.  I would be similarly aghast if (historically), Liverpool had signed the likes of Rivaldo (after his world cup cheating incident); C.Ronaldo; Drogba, or indeed any other player who has a proven reputation for persistently cheating.  It shouldn't matter how good a player is - the reputation of the club is more valuable, and it can be tarnished by one incident of brazen cheating (such as displayed by Suarez in the World Cup).

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  57. Again you digress,the Rivaldo,Ronaldo and Drogba stuff is all hypothetical.Please allow me to once again quote you "I grew up idolising Dalglish so i wouldn't presume to question the Kings tactics" but now "Just because im back writing doesn't mean i support the Saurez signing;I don't,and I believe KD was wrong to sign him.However,I support almost everything else KD has done since his return to Anfield" surely you have just contradicted yourself and "questioned the Kings tactics". As for the hating football thing, I hate big brother so I don't watch it, i hate marzipan so I don't eat it, etc etc etc ... why don't you take up fishing and not put yourself through this awful persecution.

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  58. You know all our signings don't have to start. So what if Stevie G comes back, Henderson on the bench. It just makes our squad stronger. Utd don't worry about having Berbatov on the bench or having one of Valencia, Young or Nani on the bench. City will have some great players on the bench, Chelsea even benched Drogba. I see it as a good thing, competition for places and a stronger squad.

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  59. Totally right. In fact Downing's best goal from last season saw him come off the right and rifle it in with his left. Same thing happened in the game when he hit the bar. Modern day wingers need to be able to play both flanks. Robben does it, as does Messi, Ashley Young and Di Maria. Modern day wingers should be able to operate on both flanks. The switching of wingers serves to wrong foot the fullbacks, especially with the likes of Downing who can cross off both feet. Although when we had Raul and Kuyt i thought it would've been better to have Kuyt on the right of 3, Downing Left and Raul on the apex of a midfield free, giving him licence to roam.

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  60. But Carroll has time on his side, and I think is more dynamic than Crouch. Crouch has better feet, but Carroll is better at holding the ball, fending of defenders, and attacking a cross or corner. He also has a rifle of a left foot, and can scdore from 30 yards, this is something Crouch does not have. Carroll will prove to be the better player, whether he'll be worth 35 mil, I doubt it. But if we do win trophies with Carroll scoring, then the price is moot.

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  61. I don't know why you fail to understand the concept of switching flanks to confuse the opposition. As I've said so many teams do this, it helps to wrong foot full backs, and hopefully put them on their arses.

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  62. Where does Mascherano often play at Barca...CB...you do as you seem fit. Mascherano seemed to do quite well as CB in the CL final. And actually he was rather good for Liv at RB. Aurelio in MF was a bit odd, but he had played there for Valencia.

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  63. I totally agree with all your points!

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  64. Luiz Suarez is a little shit, but he's our little shit and i love him. If he scores the winning goal that makes us win the title, I will name my first born after him. It's not as if he bankrupted the country a la the bankers or criminally cheated on his expenses. Anyway, apart from a few exaggerated falls (he was still fouled but Luiz give the theatrics a rest)and hair pulls (it was Raphael/Fabio so who cares???) he is starting to behave himself. Then again, he hasn't come up against Barton yet.

    Does supporting him make me morally bankrupt...no because I'm going to help the lil ones at an Ethiopian orphanges with a football charity.

    But fair play for your protest.

    Carroll9 previously Torres9 (I missed beefing with you Jaimie)

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  65. ...and won the game against Pompy. There were actually a lot of injuries at the time...But enough with the Rafa bashing. Come on Jaime, new season, new start, new outlook. Let's move forward with our new onwners, manager and team.

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  66. Luiz Suarez is a little shit, but he's our little shit and i love him. If he scores the winning goal that makes us win the title, I will name my first born after him. It's not as if he bankrupted the country a la the bankers or criminally cheated on his expenses. Anyway, apart from a few exaggerated falls (he was still fouled but Luiz give the theatrics a rest)and hair pulls (it was Raphael/Fabio so who cares???) he is starting to behave himself. Then again, he hasn't come up against Barton yet.  
     
    Does supporting him make me morally bankrupt...nope,. Cheating in football is out of order, but I'm more concerned at match fixing, doping and corruption at Fifa. The way  they crippled local businesses in South Africa in favour of global behemouths and the blantant bribery in Fifa is disgraceful. A hand ball to stop another team scoring and then being sent off and the other team has a pen is nothing compared to the Fifa mafia.
     
    But fair play for your protest.  
     
    Carroll9 previously Torres9 (I missed beefing with you Jaimie)

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  67. I also totally agree - no-one seems to mention fitness. That was clearly holding LFC up on Saturday, & what we were also watching is a 4-3-3 when attacking the macks. I think you'll find that's why the players struggled to find any fluidity in the middle of the park; especially when their legs were tired.

    What I did wonder about was such a static midfield - you're definitely not going to get much fluid play from Hnederson, Adam & Lucas. I absolutely agree 110% that we should've seen Aquilani; but he wasn't even in the squad.
    As for Flanagan, he will become a top defender, & Kelly apparently had a problem.

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  68. Haha, that is an understatement!!!

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  69. Downing did come off the right a fair bit for Villa and he was their player of the year last season, so it must have worked for him. He is probably better on the left but he nearly scored from the right side. I think it is a good ploy to exchange players from time to time, our main problem is that we don't have two quality wingers. Would have thought that Kuyt would come in rather than Meireles, though.

    Kelly, apparently, had a shocker of a pre season, so, for now, Flanagan has probably crept ahead of him, but that has probably changed again after the Sunderland equaliser, and rightly so. About time we went with Kelly at right back and Glen Johnson at right midfield until Sterling comes through. Johnson can score goals from there and split that role with Kuyt. If we'd kept the Henderson cash, we would have Cahill or Mertesacker by now. Mertescker is going for 6 million, we might even have got both, with another 5 million. I used to defend Johnson with this all the time, and so will be the same with Flanagan, as long as we have Carragher in the team, our attacking play is going to suffer and our defenders, who are not as good at last minute blocks, will continue to look as if they are making poor mistakes because we defend too deep. The whole defence has operate as a paceless, last ditch unit because if we push higher up, as we should, Carragher will be exposed. With Enrique, Agger, as long as he is fit, and Johnson or Kelly in the team, we can defend further up. Bring in Cahill, and he can also play a bit, and we can press teams more. With Carragher, we simply cannot and the team gets too stretched. Carragher is great for tough away games against top sides, but not in home games against the likes of Sunderland. 

    Talking about cheats, if we sign Shawcross I will be unahppy. The worst kind of cheat there is, a dirty one. I'd rather see 100 handballs than the leg breakers he has come out with at least twice. Dangerous player and not as good as either Cahill or Mertesacker. 

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  70. p.s. Saw an article about our reliance on Suarez, and I think it is an issue. We don't look much when he is out but players like Downing and Adam will come to the fore in time. When Gerrard is back, it seems to me that Adam is his replacement, can't see them playing in the same team. We can rotate players to have striking options but we definitely need a couple of centre backs. Kyrgiakos should probably be moved on and Carragher should not play more than 20 games in a season. Skrtel should be 4th choice and Agger, 1st choice, is injury prone. If they could bring in Kjaer, Agger's Danish team mate, that might be good for us, otherwise, Cahill, good footballer and either Mertesacker, Hangeland or Samba would do a great job for us and see us challenging the top 4. Not sure why Bassong is so out of favour at Tottenham, like Collucini at Newcastle but they'd never sell him.

    The Henderson signing was our main error this summer, based on what we have and what we need. He will probably come good but we had other options that we could have used in order to get the players we needed more in other positions.  

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  71. I think the first thing to mention is - WHY should moving players around dent their confidence.  Downing played most of last season on the right.  These days, players need to be able to adapt.  Why not look at other teams, a lot of players swap about.  Historically, Liverpool have often swapped wide players during a game, to confuse the opposition.

    Second, KD is perhaps a better man manager than you give him credit for, so I don't think asking players to slot in somewhere will harm them.  They should want to play for the team.

    Thirdly, just because a player is positioned left or right it doesn't automatically follow they are a wide player or a winger.  An old example..... Ray Houghton, predominantly wide right, but cut in to supplement the attacks of Barnes.  Dirk Kuyt, a different example, a wide right forward player (not a winger) who creates enough bother to open up opportunities.  Even Zidane used to play wide left for Madrid, never stayed there though.

    Our formation allows flexibility, such as in the Fulham game last season.  Gone are the days of a rigid 4-4-2 (Roy took that with him).

    Rafa was not alone in swapping players about, all managers do it, even Ferguson and Wenger.  Give the guy a break, it's like you can't resist referring to him over and over again.  In my view, Hodgson did far greater damage in six months - lowering expectations, poor signings and alarmingly rigid negative tactics.

    With tom and gerry gone we are now looking at a bright new era, which obviously means letting KD get on with the job and giving him some time to tinker with his new signings.  That much he deserves.

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  72. In the 4-2-3-1 formation, which can form a 4-3-3 on attack, the 'wide' players are not wingers as such, they are right/left forward players.  For an example, check out the dutch national team formation during the last world cup.

    Similarly, in the 4-2-3-1, the players either side of the main striker might be titled 'right centre forward' and 'left centre forward' as per the AC Milan side circa 1980's, something popular in the English game during the 1960's.  Three strikers, left right and centre, ie not wingers.

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  73. Just wanted to add, that some of the criticism of KD after Saturday shows what a shallow, pathetic, spoilt and unfaithful fan base we have in some quarters.

    We drew a match.  It happens.  Hindsight is wonderful, and so is the playstation and xbox, but it doesn't mean peoples opinions will win matches.

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  74. Incidentally, I expect the 'spirit of Rafa Benites' does live on - probably because he is an absolute legend both as a manager at LFC, & as a man. You can add too, that he is LFC's most successful in the PL era.
    There aren't many top clubs around these days that can look back on the success they've had over recent years & point to such an inspiring legacy as Benitez left: No debt, a top class academy, & a realistic opportunity to build a stadium which accurately represents the aspirations of thousands of LFC fans

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  75. I think we will continue too see the long balls as long as Carrol is in the side. Dont get me wrong, I rate the lad very high but the pass and move style does not suit him, he is too static hence all the long balls. Last season Liverpool looked much better with Suarez, Kuyt and Maxi as a 3 prong attack. Would like too see Suarez upfront with Kuyt and Downing Either side of him which I know wont happen, Mereiles or Aqua supporting them, Adam dictating and Lucas holding. Flanagen out and Kelly In. The comments about Lucas are exaggerated, WATCH the game again and check the amount of tackles he wins especially high up the pitch in the first half and placed a lot of pressure on Sunderland. He had 2 fouls in the first 45minutes, 1 which was in a dangerous area. 2nd half he was poor but so was nearly everyone else but it seemed like Liverpool players looked suprisingly exausted 20 minutes into the 2nd half. Would have been better for Henderson too come on last 20 minutes or so in a central role his energy and stamina would have helped centrally

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  76. Benitez left us with no bebt? What a load of toss. Most of the crap players he also brought to the club was and still is eating up our wage bill. Thank f*** most of the crap has been moved on.

    It is FSG AND I REPEAT FSG who have left us wiith no debt by buying our club and it is they who will provide the the new stadium. They also returned THE KING to his rightfull place so now Rafa can now enjoy watching how proper football should be played in the english game, something Benitez was not made for.

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  77. I didn't say Benitez left us without debt, witless - what he undoubtedly did start though, were the contentions which got rid of corrupt, blood-sucking yanks; opening the way for FSG.

    And when you say "Rafa can now enjoy watching how proper football should be played in the english game"; you think The King will beat Rafa's best PL result do you? If so, put your money where your mouth is, & show us your betting slip!

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  78. You're continually spelling 'Meireles' incorrectly in various articles.

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  79. Downing statistically creates more goals coming from the right than from the left.

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  80. Interesting point.  Do you have the stats to back that up?

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  81. To say Rafa played coruch on the left wing is an outright lie

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  82. Crouch DID play on the left wing, specifically against Reading in 2009, a game in which Benitez played two strikers on the wings: Crouch left, and Voronin right: http://www.liverpool-kop.com/2007/12/rafa-defeatist-self-destructs-against.htmlRead more: http://www.liverpool-kop.com/2011/08/downing-on-right-meirelles-on-left.html#ixzz1Y8W7a9Tq

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  83. not many scousers on here mind you lfc hardly have any fans on merseyside justice for the 39 hey murderers

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